Chapter 1

Author's Note: **Spoilers warning!** While this story is going to branch a bit from the actual plot, and there will be inconsistencies, it WILL contain spoilers up to at least chapter 78 of the manga, which is far beyond the end of season 1 of the anime. If you don't want spoilers from the manga/anime, then please do not read this story. You have been warned! Otherwise, please enjoy.~

Let me not forget to mention that this is my first entry within this fandom, as well as my first fanfic in quite a long time. I apologize for any bad grammar. I also welcome any constructive criticism, so please let me know what you think. :)

Just Another Day

'Another day that will be as uneventful as every other day for the past four years', Mikasa thinks dully to herself while wrapping her scarf firmly around her neck. A soft yawn escapes her lips as she tries to grasp for the energy to get her through the day, a feat that is increasingly difficult as the days go by. Her gaze moves towards the window, gray eyes scanning the nearly empty streets below, too cold and early for most people to venture out.

Her mouth opens slightly as she spots a short woman with blonde hair passing by. She notices a basket filled with bread in her arms, most likely on her way to set up a food stall before the morning crowds begin to emerge. It makes her think of a certain other short blond haired woman.

'That insufferable woman', she thinks bitterly while pulling her scarf up to cover her mouth. She grinds her teeth as she recalls the last time she saw Annie, before she hid herself away in a crystal tomb. Before she revealed herself as the female titan. Mikasa remembers feeling nothing but rage as they led Annie to the underground tunnel, but she did well to hide it up until it was obvious things were about to explode, literally.

She recalls how Annie looked in that moment she gave up the act. That maniacal, gut-wrenching laughter of hers seemed so out of character compared to her usual stoic, and often emotionless self. To Mikasa she looked like a broken woman at the end of her rope, doing irrational things out of desperation. The laughter likely served as a mask to hide how she really felt in that moment. She can't help but think how unfortunate it is that that's the only time she's ever heard Annie laugh. She then wonders how a normal, carefree laugh from her might sound like.

Despite her destructive actions, she feels that Annie is not an evil person herself. That there had to be another side to the story that she just couldn't let out. For what reason. Fear, perhaps.

'What could possibly have someone like her afraid? What exactly was at stake?' With that thought she recalls the colossal beast titan who clearly played a major role in it all, him as well as Reiner and Bertholdt. Her eyebrows draw closer as she falls deeper into her thoughts. 'What motive could they possibly of had to capture Eren? Is his unique co-ordinate skill that vital to them? Sure, it's extremely useful in what it does, but why did they feel that they needed to have it for themselves? Couldn't they have found a more peaceful way to go about things? Co-operating with us and telling us what they knew surely would've been far more productive than the method they chose to go with.'

The information that was found in Eren's basement, while informative about the origins of the titans through terrible experiments, among other things, it held nothing pertaining to a possible motive for those guys to attack humanity as they did. She also remembers what Bertholdt when Armin made his final attempt to negotiate with them. 'You are not bad, or evil really. But still, all of you must perish. It's too late.' This memory always manages to rekindle Mikasa's anger, that someone would think like that and make actions based on it that affected everyone. 'You're all my dear comrades, so I will make sure to kill you properly.' It was selfish, that's all that it was. A completely baseless excuse for mass murder, trying to justify their cause with twisted logic that only they could of understood. She fumes, slowly pulling herself out of those memories, this isn't how she wants to start her day.

There's no point in getting worked about these things because they will never be answered. All of them are dead now thanks to the efforts of the scouting regiment. Only Annie remains, locked far below ground in her crystal tomb. Some want to believe that she is actually dead within it, body preserved by whatever that thing is made out of. Hanji and herself are among the few that strongly believe Annie is still alive and likely waiting for the optimal time to come out. Or perhaps waiting for a rescue that will never come.

'It's been four years, there's no logical way she could still be alive, but then again titans are anything but logical. Even Ymir, when we found her near death after the battle with the beast titan, revealed her own history. How she'd wandered as a rogue titan for nearly 60 years while locked in a nightmare within her titan. Up until she ate Reiner and Bertholdt's friend and regained her humanity thanks to his shifter ability. One would think that 60 years would at least make her an old woman, yet she's still young in appearance, and certainly acts like any average teenager.'

With a sigh she pulls herself back to the present, she has a job to do, even if part of her thinks it to be a pointless waste of time, the other part is hopeful that Annie will awaken. She releases her scarf so it falls away from her face and looks up to the gradually lightening sky outside.

'Why do I care if she wakes up? Even if she does, nothing will change. Surely she would resist right away, she might even kill more people and wouldn't reveal any new information, or reasoning for the things she or the others have done. Torture wouldn't even be an option for the risk of her turning into a titan from the wounds.' She closes her eyes and takes a slow, calming breath.

'They will either keep her bound in a dark cell for the rest of her life as punishment, or execute her. Execution is by far the more widely supported option by those in command. If she were to be willing to co-operate, perhaps she could be spared and maybe even return to a normal lifestyle someday, but the likelihood of that happening is minuscule. She really seemed to have lost it in that final fight against Eren's titan. Could she even be the same after something like that, after everything. The weight of her actions may prove to be too much. Eren did say Annie had tears running down her face when he ripped open her titan's neck just before she turned to crystal. Perhaps that's why she refuses to wake, had she truly given up, was she that terrified, or is she trapped in an endless nightmare as Ymir was. Surely she has something, or someone, worth living for somewhere out there, I doubt she could have done all that she did without having something to protect. Or maybe I'm giving someone like her too much credit.'

Exasperated with her own thoughts Mikasa finally clears her mind as she leaves her room. Her hand still grasping the doorknob as a final thought crosses her mind, her face taking on its usual serious and determined expression.

'Regardless if Annie wakes up or not, someone has to be there on guard duty at all times. It may not be the most exciting job, but if, or when Annie wakes up I'll be there to stop her from hurting anyone, including herself, and to make sure she doesn't try to kidnap Eren again.' Mikasa runs a hand through her short black locks. Her break is nearly over, but she should still have enough time to grab a bite to eat before she relieves whoever took up post while she was away, most likely Hanji or Levi.

Sasha is loitering around the dining hall as usual, scavenging as much food as she can for breakfast. It's when she is scarfing down a bowl of oatmeal that Mikasa wanders in, sitting down at the table across from the brunette with her own tray of food. Sasha doesn't even notice her until her bowl is empty, setting it down with a pout that it's all gone already.

"Oh Mikasa, good morning!" Sasha's loud cheerful voice resonates in the big open room, offering a toothy grin to Mikasa.

"Morning," Mikasa offers a soft response as she focuses on her meal of eggs, bread, ham and some seasonal vegetables. Placing her elbows on the table and supporting her chin on her hands Sasha watches Mikasa in silence. A small frown pulls at her lips as she notices the dark bags that have formed beneath her friends eyes. She understands Mikasa's job, and has always tried to make it a point to go and visit her as often as she can during her shifts guarding over Annie's crystal. What she doesn't understand is why Mikasa works such long shifts, no normal person could last as long as she has. No one makes her do it either, she could easily get others to. But for some reason Mikasa just feels that she should be the one out there the most.

'Is it really necessary? Annie's probably dead in that crystal thing whatever it is anyway. Poor Mikasa is going to work herself to death at this rate.' She keeps her thoughts to herself, trying not to let the concern show too much. Having matured a bit over the past four years, Sasha's learned to respect the fact that Mikasa prefers eating in silence, especially this early in the morning.

It's not long before Mikasa is neatly stacking her empty coffee mug and utensils onto the now empty plate.

"Uh, Mikasa?" She stops her just before she picks up her plate to leave, gray eyes now focused on her.

"What is it Sasha? I don't have any leftovers for you today." Sasha can hear how tired she is, her voice cracking a bit. She chuckles and waves her hand in dismissal towards the comment about food.

"Ah, no no, I wasn't going to ask about that. I just wanted to see if you're working all day today. Although, I guess it would be better to ask if you'll have a free day anytime soon? Everyone misses you, and we're trying to plan a little get together." She watches on expectantly as Mikasa crosses her arms and hums in thought.

"Well, I plan on working everyday for the next week or so before I take any extended time off." At this Sasha frowns, she knows that Mikasa's definition of 'extended time off' only means one day, two at the most. But she also knows it's the most free time she'll give herself and offers a small smile.

"Alright, so in about a week after you've rested up let's do something fun with everyone, okay?" She flashes a grin and a thumbs up at her, her grin widening when Mikasa offers a small smile of her own and nods.

"That sounds fun Sasha, I'll let you know an exact day later in the week."

"Okay, it's a deal! I'm holding you to it!" Sasha gets up and walks the short distance around the table and pulls Mikasa into a tight hug. Something that most wouldn't attempt but Sasha knows she can get away with it, once in a while anyway. Her voice softens in this close proximity to her friend. "Don't work too hard okay? I'll come by tonight and keep you company for a bit while you're on duty, and I'll sneak you something tasty to eat. I saw someone making sweet bread with icing earlier and I stashed a few pieces." She pulls away with a sly grin and offers a wink at Mikasa before grabbing her tray for her. "I'll take care of these for you."

"Thank you Sasha, you're always looking out for me. I need to get going now though. I'll see you tonight." Mikasa bows slightly, patting Sasha on the shoulder as she walks by towards the exit.

"Anytime Mikasa, you just let old Sasha know if you ever need anything, okay?" Mikasa waves over her shoulder as she heads outside into the cold, the sun is now just above the wall, still morning. The dining hall is a short walk to the stables, which is where she is headed. She has to ride by horse to a re-purposed castle, much like the scouting regiments other castle that they use as a base occasionally. This one is a few miles outside of Stohess within Wall Rose's open fields, just far enough away from civilization should something bad happen.

Riding there at a comfortable pace she arrives within two hours, riding at full speed would take much less time, about an hour, but she is in no rush today. She walks through the cold empty halls, lit only by the glowing stones that they excavated from the cavern where Historia's father turned into a massive titan. They still don't know much about them, but their glowing light has changed everyone's way of life by providing them with a constant source of light.

Mikasa walks down several flights of stone stairs bringing her deep below ground, and down a short hallway with a heavy steel door at the end. Only a single small barred hole just big enough to see through decorating it.

"It's Mikasa." She knocks once, calling out clearly to whoever is on duty right now. She waits a moment before she hears the sound of maneuver gear clanging softly against fabric, accompanied by soft footsteps getting closer to the door. A husky voice greets her as the door slowly opens outwards.

"Yo Mikasa, you're here a little early aren't you?" Hanji stands in the doorway, a small notebook and pencil in hand. Their face shows how tired they are, but their smile doesn't falter. They step aside so Mikasa can walk into the next section of hallway, locking the door shut again.

"I woke up a bit earlier than I meant to, it's not a problem though. I'm ready for my shift, and you look like you could use some rest." Mikasa turns her gaze towards another heavy steel door with multiple locks on it at the end of the hallway, she frowns slightly.

"Any updates?" She focuses her gaze back on the taller brunette standing next to her. Hanji shakes their head and offers an exaggerated shrug.

"No, nothing new about the crystal, it's as solid as ever," they pause a moment and flip through the notebook, pointing to a few numbers indicating temperature. "However, I have noticed a slight increase in the temperature of not only her cell, but within this hallway as well. The heat does seem to be radiating from the crystal as it feels warmer the closer you get to it, but still there are no noticeable physical changes. The crystal is still cool to the touch as well. I'm not sure if this is any indication that things may change soon, but be on high alert and keep an eye out for any minor changes. If something does happen be quick in following the procedure we've gone over in such a case." Hanji's serious tone sets Mikasa a bit on edge with this new development. However small it might seem, this is the most that's happened in these four years.

Hanji hands Mikasa the small notebook that is shared between everyone that does guard duty, making it easier to keep all related notes in one place. A quick flip through shows just how little has been added. Only a few pages and most of those were from the first few days, randomly a doodle can be found when someone got really bored.

"I'll perform more visual checks than I usually do, just in case. As small as the temperature change is, I have no doubt that it's a sign that she's becoming active within. I noticed a few more extra guards than usual up stairs on my way in. If something happens I'll make sure they are alerted and get the message out as quickly as possible. I'll hold things down here as long as necessary." Mikasa's face taking on the expression of a hardened soldier ready to fight.

Hanji nods and pats her shoulder with a smile, her own expression softening a bit from the gesture.

"If she does awaken do try to keep her alive, the information she holds could be of vital importance. If she refuses to co-operate however, don't hesitate to destroy her. Even if her knowledge could be of value, it's not worth losing any more people over it." Hanji stretches and yawns before handing a ring of keys to Mikasa.

"Well, I'll be on my way then. I need to take care of some things tomorrow. I think Erwin mentioned that he would come by here at some point to check in on things soon. You take care of yourself, Mikasa."

Hanji makes their way out. Mikasa offers a small wave when they turn back, flashing a smile before turning down the next hallway out of sight.

Mikasa locks the door and takes a slow breath before turning back to face the cell door further down the hall, Annie's crystal is locked within. She shoves her weariness aside and looks down to the small armchair next to the cell door. That will be where she stays for the majority of her 120 hour shift. Silently she walks up to the chair, sitting down and finding a comfortable position. She pulls out the notebook Hanji left with her, flipping it open again to the last few scribbles that were left in there.

It's all about the temperature changes, which hold no explanation but is clearly radiating from the crystal. Her eyes shift to the sealed door unable to see within from where she sits.

'It certainly feels warmer than it ever has, it's always been a consistent temperature down here but never warm like this. Annie, are you finally going to wake up? What will you do when that happens?' She leans back against the chair closing her eyes.

'It doesn't matter whatever she decides to do. When that happens I won't let her out of that room, no matter what.'

There isn't much to keep herself entertained down there. So she spends her time taking short naps, taking quick peeks through the small hole in the cell door, and giving status updates to the guard who is tasked with checking in with her. Today it's someone she doesn't know, a newer recruit probably. He makes the trek down to the basement door every few hours to make sure if Mikasa needs anything.

Seven hours into her shift Mikasa decides to do a full visual check by going inside the cell. She unlocks the several locks on the door before pushing her full weight against it, it's heavy and the hinges are a bit rusted so it takes more effort than it should to open it. Like everywhere else the cell is lit only by the illuminated rocks hung up along the walls. Closing the door behind herself Mikasa descends a few steps and crosses the moderately sized cell. It's big enough to have several people within at once but not tall enough to allow Annie to transform into a titan without risking her own life.

'It's so much warmer standing next to it,' she realizes when she's so close to it. The height of the crystal puts Annie's face just above eye level for Mikasa. The light from the rocks glint off of the sharp clear edges, making it easy to see Annie within, and to make it easier to spot any abnormalities. She slowly circles around the crystal, examining it thoroughly from top to bottom.

"Nothing looks any different," she says softly while placing a hand against the surface. Despite the warmth it is radiating it still feels cool to the touch, just as Hanji said. "This doesn't make any sense, Annie, just what are you up to?" Gray eyes narrow as she studies Annie's face closely. Her harsh gaze softening only moments later. The sorrowful expression frozen on the blonde's face tugs at something within herself. "Why did you have to get frozen with that look on your face?"

Mikasa pulls her hand away from the crystal but continues to stand there. 'She always carried herself with a cocky or bored expression, that sad look doesn't suite her at all. Then again, why do I care how she looks?' With a huff she heads back for the door, tossing a glance over her shoulder once more at the crystal.

"I wish you would hurry and wake up Annie. Haven't you slept long enough? Watching you in there like this is getting old. I'd love to have the chance to kick your ass again as soon as you do come out. Just like I did that time years ago when we were just trainees, when it was just you and me out there that night." Her voice grows quieter as the memories from that night flood her mind, a light blush paints her cheeks, which only makes her angry. Those memories always leave her feeling confused. She shuts the train of thought down before it gets to her, forcing the color from her cheeks.

Mikasa leaves the cell with a blank expression and sits back down on the bench. 'So embarrassing. It's pointless to think back on such things,' she leans back and closes her eyes, relaxing as much as she can. Perhaps a short nap will help clear her head.

Out of earshot and out of sight, within the cell a small crack begins to form on Annie's crystal. The tiniest amount of steam begins to seep out, the woman within remains motionless, for now.

A/N: So that's it for this chapter, sorry if it's a bit slow, and short. I'll try to work on longer chapters later on if I feel it's necessary. Shorter chapters mean faster updates though so, we'll see. I'm about half way done with chapter 2 already, so expect it up withing a few days. Also I'm sticking to Hanji being genderfluid as they are in the source material (I think that's the right term, correct me if I'm wrong), so they'll be referred to as 'they/them/their/etc.' Again please let me know what you think so far, concerns, things you are looking for to possibly seeing come out of this, anything! Until next time. :)