I took a miniscule bite out of the slice of bland bread my mother had handed me.
"Hana, eat your bread. You need to put some meat on those bones if you want to join the Survey Corps like you've been writing about." My mother slid a glass of water towards me.
"You've been reading my journal? You know that's private. I didn't want you to know about..."
"It's your choice, Hana. If your dream is to join the Scouting Legion, then that's that.
I stared at her in disbelief. My mother, my strict, condescending mother, telling me that it's my choice if I wanted to join the Survey Corps? Throughout my life she would always get angry at me for getting in even the tiniest bit of danger, but now... "R..Really?"
She nodded, a miniscule smile turning up the corners of her lips. "Just..." She was cut off by a loud knock at the door.
"HANA! HANA HANA HANA!" The door swung open and Mei barged in. "It's the Survey Corps! They've returned!"
I stood up quickly, glancing at my mother.
She nodded. "Go on. Let me know how it goes."
Mei gripped my hand and led me through the bustling crowd lined along the street. It appeared that practically everyone from the Shiganshina District was here, waiting to catch a glimpse of the victorious Survey Corps. "Right here works." Mei halted beside a few kids our age. "Armin!" Mei ran over and hugged a smaller blonde haired boy tightly. "Can you believe it?! We're about to hear about how many titans the Survey Corps destroyed!"
He smiled. "I can't wait. It'll be nice to know that they at least were able to put a dent in those damned..." He stopped, a look of pure shock over-took his face.
"Armin? What's wrong?" Mei shook him slightly.
He pointed over her shoulder. "It's them."
I looked towards the entrance of Wall Maria to see the Survey Corps entering.
"Why are there so little of them? I thought there were much more than that that took part in that mission." A brown haired boy who looked oddly familiar to me mumbled.
We all looked in awe at what was left of the Survey Corps. The men and women who we relied on to protect us from the beasts that we had feared. The beasts that 100 years ago, penetrated our walls and brought the human population close to extinction.
"Moses!" An older woman broke through the crowd. "My son, Moses! Where is he?!" She cried out, stepping infront of one of the soldiers.
The man had a blank expression on his face. "This is his mother. Bring it here." He was handed a blood soaked cloth that was wrapped around something unknown. "This is all we could recover of him. I'm sorry."
She looked at him for a few seconds, a look of terror on her face. She slowly unwrapped the cloth and let out a heart-wrenching scream. "No!" She fell to the ground, her body wracked with sobs.
The crowd went silent. The only thing that could be heard was the whimpering of the woman still hunched over on the ground. "I can't watch this any longer." Mei whispered as she pushed her way back through the crowd towards her home.
I followed closely behind her, not saying a word. I couldn't believe what had happened. I thought for sure they would have been at least some what victorious against the titans. There were so few of them. So many men and women had lost their lives to those... Those creatures.
Mei stopped in her tracks and faced me. "Please, Hana. Please tell me you aren't still considering being one of them."
I looked down at my feet. "I'm sorry, Mei. I need to..."
"You need to what, Hana?! I can't let you do that, I just can't. I'm not seeing you some day come back looking like them! All bloodied and beaten up. Or even... No. I am not letting you do that! I'm not losing you, Hana. I... I can't."
I stepped forwards and hugged her. "I'm sorry, Mei. I know you don't want me to do this, but I have to. I have to avenge every single person that those monsters have killed. They've killed so many and ruined so many peoples lives. I need to do this. I have to."
She pressed her face into my shoulder and I could feel her warm tears soaking the fabric of my shirt. "I..If you're going to go for the Survey Corps, th..then I am too."