It was a rainy night at the Trainee Corps when they heard the knock on the door.
A soldier rushed to open it, and was surprised to see a small girl about the age of eleven or so standing there, in a large raincoat that dragged on the ground.
"It's cold outside," the soldier said. "Where are your parents?"
The girl's sad eyes looked up at hers.
"Here."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Your parents? Here?"
She nodded.
"What are their names?" she asked.
The girl looked puzzled.
"I don't know."
That complicated things.
"Oh. Well, we can look for them, then," the soldier said. "Come inside."
The young girl stood there for a while before finally entering. She took off her raincoat, revealing a dirty long-sleeved shirt under torn pants, revealing cuts and bruises on her pale skin.
The soldier woman and the girl walked towards the dining hall.
"They're all eating dinner," she informed her. "We can look for your parents there."
The girl nodded and looked down.
The soldier couldn't help but feel sad.
"Mommy and Daddy will be there?" she asked.
It suddenly occurred to her that they might have died or been cut.
She swallowed.
"Yes," she fibbed.
The girl's face lifted and she walked with more bounce in her step.
Finally they reached the dining hall, where everybody was eating.
When she opened the door, everybody turned to look at her, their eyes sadly pitying the little girl in the doorway.
"Attention! Whose daughter is this?" she asked loudly, her voice filling the room.
There was nothing but silence.
The girl looked around desperately, scanning everyone's faces thoroughly.
The soldier bent down to whisper to the girl.
"Do you see them?" she asked.
She shook her head in reply.
Suddenly the girl's eyes widened and she broke out into a sprint, running towards the corner of the room where the recruits from the 104th trainee squads were sitting.
"Mommy!" the girl began to cry and ran towards the table. "Mommy!"
It took everybody a few seconds to realize she was heading straight towards Mikasa.
Mikasa looked at her in surprise as she hugged her, wrapping her short arms around her neck.
"Mommy! I missed you!"
At first Mikasa didn't respond but then hugged the girl back.
The girl released Mikasa and turned to Eren, who was gaping at her in shock.
"Daddy! I missed you too!" she gave him a huge hug, staining the front of Eren's uniform with tears.
Mommy? Daddy? Eren thought.
He looked over to Mikasa, who looked to be in just as much shock as he was.
The whole room was silent, everybody staring at Eren and Mikasa.
It's not possible, he thought. Mikasa and I never...
Her face was still buried in his shirt, but he guessed she was about ten or eleven.
Ten or eleven? They weren't nearly old enough to be her parents.
"Um," he finally said, breaking the silence. "I think you have the wrong people."
The girl looked up at him, then shook her head.
"No," she disagreed. "You're definitely Daddy. And she's Mommy," she stated, gesturing to Mikasa.
She looked back up at him expectantly with the same sea green eyes he saw in the mirror.
"Right?"
Her dark black hair was wet from the rain and a singe lock stuck to the center of her pale face. It reminded him of the nights when he and Mikasa ran back home when it began to rain outside.
"Umm," he said again.
"Yes," Mikasa said in a decisive manner, and placed a hand on the girl's hair. "We are."
The girl smiled in relief and hugged them both.
"Let's get you cleaned up," Mikasa said, scooping the girl up her arms.
"Okay," the girl softly replied.
As she began to walk out of the room Eren followed.
"We'll be back, soon," he whispered to the rest of his friends.
They watched quietly as the two left the room.
"Mikasa," Eren said, grabbing her shoulder. "We need to talk."
Mikasa made a "shh" signal, gesturing to the sleeping girl she was carrying.
Eren shut his mouth and followed her to her room, where Mikasa laid the girl on the spare bed.
After a minute the girl was snuggled under the covers and covered with extra blankets, her head atop the pillow.
The two stood there, watching her.
"She has your face," Eren said.
"She has your eyes," Mikasa responded.
Eren collapsed on Mikasa's bed.
"Just what's going on?" he sighed.
Mikasa sat down next to him.
"I don't know," she replied quietly.
After a long pause Eren spoke.
"What do we do? With her, I mean?"
Mikasa's hands clenched together.
"We'll just have to wait and see."
Eren walked over to the girl, and stroked her hair.
"She has your hair," he commented.
"She has your smile," she said, gesturing to the smile that the girl's lips stretched into when Eren's hand touched her head.
It caused Eren to smile, too.
Mikasa stood by the bedside.
"How can this be?" she asked.
Eren shook his head.
"I don't know."
Removing his hand from the girl's hair, he turned to face Mikasa.
"I'm going to bed now, alright? See you in the morning."
He turned to leave.
Mikasa woke up to someone shaking her arms with small hands.
"Mommy! Mommy wake up!"
The soldier opened her grey eyes and sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Good morning, Mommy!" the small girl greeted her.
"Good morning," Mikasa replied.
She got up and made her bed before dressing up while the girl waited on the bed.
Mikasa looked over to her.
"We should get you some new clothes," she suggested to the little girl.
"Okay!"
Pulling out a white dress and a pink sweater, Mikasa handed them to her.
"These were mine before," she explained. "But you can have them now since I outgrew them."
To be honest, Mikasa wasn't sure why she kept the old clothes. It was probably because they reminded her of her home back in Zhiganshina with Eren.
The girl smiled and put the clothes on, and Mikasa was stunned to see that she looked like a mirror image of herself, but with Eren's eyes and bright smile.
"Let's go find Eren," she said.
"Who's Eren?" the girl asked, confused.
"He's your daddy," she explained.
"Oh yeah! Daddy! Let's go find Daddy!"
Her hand reached up.
At first Mikasa was confused but then she realized she was reaching for her hand.
Mikasa held the girl's hand as they walked through the hallway and went down the stairs and to Eren's room.
She knocked on the door.
"Eren! It's Mikasa."
Mikasa heard a shuffling noise before he opened the door to see Mikasa and the little girl with her.
"Good morning, Daddy!" she let go of Mikasa's hand and hugged Eren.
"Good morning, uh," he paused awkwardly. "... What's your name?"
She was quiet for a few seconds
"I don't know," she said, looking down. "But you and Mommy can give me one, right?"
Eren and Mikasa's eyes met, and they knew immediately what her name should be.
"Your name is Carla," Eren said.
The girl pondered over this.
"I like my name!" she exclaimed. "It's pretty!"
Mikasa placed her hands on Carla's shoulders.
"Carla, we should eat breakfast while your daddy gets ready."
She looked at Eren.
"Meet us downstairs at the dining hall."
"Yeah."
Mikasa and Carla went downstairs to eat, and Mikasa split her serving to save food.
They sat down at an empty table and ate.
It was eerily quieter than usual, and Mikasa heard whispers and felt stares, but she ignored them.
While they were eating, Armin came and sat next to Mikasa.
"Good morning, Mikasa."
"Good morning."
"Carla, this is Uncle Armin," Mikasa introduced her to him.
"Hi, Uncle Armin!" Carla smiled happily.
"Hi, Carla," Armin said in response.
"What's your favorite color?" she asked him.
"Blue," he replied.
"That's cool! My favorite's red, just like Mommy! She likes red because of the scarf that Daddy gave her."
Mikasa's eyes widened.
"Carla, how did you know that?"
Carla opened her mouth to reply, but then shut it.
"I don't know how I know it," she said unsurely. "But I know I do!"
"Mikasa Ackerman!" a voice boomed from the other side of the room. It was the instructor, Eren behind him. "Come here. And bring the girl, too."
Carla buried her face in Mikasa's sweater.
"He's scary..."
Mikasa held her hand.
"It's alright."
Every step they took could be heard on the boards of the floor due to the complete silence.
"Follow me," the instructor told them and began to walk down the hallway.
Carla clung to Eren's arm while holding Mikasa's hand.
"Daddy, what's he gonna do?"
Eren felt uncertain, but looked her straight in the eye.
"Everything will be alright."