"Hey Jean!" called Marco as he scampered up to his fellow soldier like an excited puppy might to its master.

"Uh, hey, what's got you so excited?" Jean couldn't help but be thrown off by just how adorable Marco looked. Running up to him, freckles sparkling in the sunlight. Wait, do freckles sparkle? They do when they're on Marco.

"So Jean, I was talking to Armin before and he was telling me all about the world outside the walls! He has this big book about everything, and his parents taught him all this stuff too, and…"

Truth be told, Jean was hardly paying any attention to the words coming out of Marco's mouth. Something about talking to his parents or getting his arm in a book, right? It didn't matter a bit what he was saying though. Lately, all Jean really cared about when it came to Marco was just being near the guy.

"…and Jean, the outside world seems awesome, right? There used to be these things called countries! They're almost like the three walls, but there were way more and they could be huge! Some could be hundreds of times larger than Wall Maria! Can you imagine that? And all these countries had their own languages too!"

"Ah, yeah, really? You don't say?" replied Jean who had no clue what the hell Marco was going on about.

"But Jean that's where you come in!"

"Huh?"

"The different languages and things, Armin said that you know one of them! He said you have ancestors from a place called Frence or Franch or something like that!"

Finally in tune with the conversation Jean let out a laugh at Marco's adorable mistake. "Ah, I think you mean France."

"Oh yeah, that's what it's called," said Marco thoughtfully. Then perking up again like a child he asked, "So can you show me how they spoke there?"

"Haha, sure, my dad taught me when I was younger, and I think I still remember it. My family's been so diligent about keeping that part of our history alive. God, I wonder how many years it's been since this language has been spoken by more than just the Kirstein family..."

"Well can you teach me some?"

"I don't know, you're not actually part of the Kirstein family, Marco," joked Jean. It's not as if he wanted Marco to be a part of his family, right? Pfft, how would that even happen? Would he marry Marco? What a thought! Marco Kirstein. That idea didn't make Jean feel the slightest bit of unrelenting joy or giddiness. Or so he lied to himself.

"Oh come on Jean, just one phrase?"

"Well, okay. How about…" Jean thought for a moment trying to remember his stupid French lessons that he always found so tedious. Suddenly the perfect phrase came to mind. "How about, 'Je t'aime'?"

"Gu-ge-ja time?"

"No, je like in Jean and t'aime."

"Je t'aime!"

"Et je t'aime aussi, mom petit lapin."

"What does je t'aime mean though?"

Jean froze. He hadn't expected that to come up. Thankfully, when it comes to shitty excuses, Jean Kirstein is the king! "Um, it doesn't really translate well…it's just something that, uh, best buds like you and me say!"

"Oh, okay! Can I say it to the others as well?"

"No," he almost yelled. Then realizing his overreaction by the surprised look on Marco's face Jean tried to correct his outburst with a forced smile and a laugh, "haha, I mean, no, just say it to me, okay. And you better never say it to that Jäeger kid, got it?"

Grinning like the freckled angel he is, Marco replied, "Okay! Oh and Jean, je t'aime!"

"Je t'aime."

"Je t'aime!"

"Je t'aime."

And, predictably that continued for the rest of the afternoon. Meanwhile, within earshot of those two was another Frenchman with his petit lapin.

"Hey Levi, aren't you Franch too?"

"It's pronounced French, sale gosse."

"Oh… So do you know what je t'aime means?"

"Um, it's something that a solider says to his corporal."

"Really? Nobody else ever says that to you."

"Well, only certain soldiers say it. So for instance, only you can say it to me, got it?"

"Yes sir!" said Eren banging his fist against his chest in a salute, "er, I mean, je' t'aime, sir!"

Levi stared at the boy for a long moment unsure whether he should be baffled by his stupidity or overwhelmed by his cuteness before finally replying, "we'll work on that later." Then saying under his breath, "maybe I can teach you some other French things as well…"

"What was that corporal?"

"Je t'aime."

"Je t'aime!"

Translations:

Je t'aime – I love you

Petit lapin – little bunny (term of endearment)

Sale gosse - brat