She woke up screaming, sweating. Someone was immediately by her side, comforting her. She opened her eyes a bit to look at her friend's face. « I'm sorry to wake you again, Mikasa. » « Don't worry about this. I was already up. » The dark-haired girl smiled faintly and left the brunette's side. « Another nightmare, Red? » « Yup. And this time, I kind of understand why. »
It's been a few days since they stopped the Titan invasion in Trost District. The girl named Red Already had nightmares before that, but after, it was even worst. And she could't help but worry a lot for her best friend Eren. Someone knocked the door and Red opened it. Armin was in front of it, smiling. « Today's the day, girls. Excited? » « More stressed, I think » The two girls dressed in their uniforms and left with the blond guy. They arrived in a big plain area, where all the other recruits were. They joined Sacha, Connie and Jean, and waited. « It's been five years, huh. » Said softly Red. « You all know where you're going? » She asked the other three that were with her, not Armin nor Mikasa, because she knew exactly where they were going, and she was doing the same thing as them. « I don't really know… » said Connie. « I'm kind go frightened of what might happen. What about you? » « Don't know either. You, Red? I know that you three will be together or sure, and you could go to Military Police…» Jean didn't spoke. He was hesitating. Red smiled. « Survey Group. It's kind of obvious for me. » « Why that? »
She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and remembered with pain the day she promised herself to go there.

Flashback
« We'll see you tomorrow, Red! » « See ya', Eren! » The little girl started to run but suddenly stopped and turned around, felling like something really bad was there. She heard people scream. She finally saw the wall. And the Colossal Titan's head. Eren, Mikasa and Armin were stoned, like her. Someone screamed « Run! » But it was like the four children didn't hear it. Eren and Mikasa started to run to their house, and Armin to his grandfather. And the girl realized her house was next to her friend's, with was in the direction where the Titans were coming from. She started to run after them, screaming a name. « Demon! Demon! » He was waiting for her. She was supposed to come back, a smile on her lips, with the bread he asked her to go get. He was at their house. She ran as fast as she could, and stopped immediately when she saw the Titan. He was smiling. And he was holding something in his hand. Demon. She ran a bit, screaming and crying. But he saw her approaching and yelled at her. « Don't come here! Hurry and leave » « But I can't let you there, Dem! » She cried. She started to run again but something felled on her. She was stuck under a big piece of wood, and another Titan was approaching. She screamed again, and so did her brother. There was a big sound. The Titan holding the young man fell down, and something caught Demon before he could land on the ground. The little girl sighed, happy that her brother was still alive. But a giant hand approached and the Titan took her and approached her from his mouth. In an instant, she saw her brother between two men, fighting s that he could save her, but the tow men were holding him. She closed her eyes and whispered. « May you all be killed, Titans. » One second later, she was in someone's arms. She barely saw his face, but she knew she saw him before. The man left with her in his arms and putted her in a boat, ignoring her protestations to go and find Demon. She joined Mikasa, Armin and Eren. That day was the last time when she saw Demon. Along with her three friends that became her family, she promised the eradicates the Titans and to join the Survey Group.
End of the flashback

« Because, » she replied. « I have to. » She smiled and started to talk about something else.

In a room near the area, two men were talking, and another one was sitting silently, waiting for his time to come. « I met one of the recruits that survived both Wall Maria crashing and Trost District's invasion. She was a pretty cute girl, and se was a bit creepy. But I think she passed through a lot. If I weren't that old, I might have fallen for her! » The man laughed with his companion. « And what was her name? » « Red, I think. I met her yesterday. » « Red? But isn't that a color? » « Yeah, but she said everybody called her that, and she wouldn't tell me her real name. » The silent man slowly started to awaken from he's daydream when he heard Red's name. He suddenly came closer to the first man. « Red? Do you know where that girl is? » « Yeah, why do you ask? » « Tell me! » « When I think about it, she kind of looks like you, Demdem. Pretty strange. » « Just tell me! » « Right, right! She's just with the other recruits, she's choosing in with regiment she'll be. » He ran out of the room without thanking him. The two others quickly forget about it, but the fourth man, who was hiding in the shadow of the room, didn't.

Red started to laugh when Jean started to fight with Sacha because she was still eating. But her smile soon faded. As the minutes past, she was more and more stressed. Mikasa tied to relax her, but she just faked she was okay so that her friend would stop caring about her. Not much before it would start, they heard someone screaming. « Angel! » She turned around, frightened. Nobody knew what her real name was, so why? She tried to convince herself that maybe someone else was also named Angel, after all, she wasn't the only one in the world with that name. But she quickly changed her mind seeing the brown-haired man with blue eyes at the other side of the plain area. She advanced by one step, then an other one, and started to run. Armin and Mikasa were so surprised they almost forgot what they were doing. Red ran without stopping, and jumped on the man, sobbing. « What the… » started Jean. « So even Red can cry! » « That… That's mean, Jean. Everyone can cry. It's just that… Some people are able to keep it inside of them. » Said Armin after a while.
Red was still sobbing on the man, that had fallen on the ground and was smiling, with tears in his eyes. He waited for her to calm and got back up, pulling her up too. He putted his hands around her waist and hugged as she was the most precious thing in this world for him. Which was probably true. « You've become a beautiful woman, in five years. » He said with a soft voice, that she bought would never hear again. « I missed you, Demon. »

« Where were you, all this time? » « I was a recruit too, and I became an officer as soon as I could to get out of these walls. » The brunette smiled again, with a true smile, which was rare. She was more the kind to look cold-hearted, but in reality, she was a clumsy girl with a sugar heart, that loved having fun and taking care of others. Connie and Jean were startled and were looking Demon and Red one after another. « What's with you guys? » Asked Red. « You two… you look the same! » Said Connie « You both have brown hair, and blue eyes, and your face are similar! Except that his is more masculine and yours more feminine. » « I guess I'm not surprised you said that. Lots of people thought we were twins but that I came out late. » Demon laughed, and the others soon joined him. « But… Why'd you call her Angel? » He looked down to look at his sister's face, hesitating, but she only smiled at him. « Red's my nickname he gave me when we were younger, and my real name's Angel. » Jean stared them, concerned. « How strange. The big bro's Demon and the lil'sis is Angel. Your parents… were a bit strange, I think. » « Our parents… Well, they hated Dem but adored me, so they said he was the family's demon and that I was their angel. They kicked Dem out of the house, but followed him, and I haven't seen them since. » Sacha, still eating, smiled. « Well that explains a lot. »
Demon had to leave after a while, but Red asked him something before he left. « In which regiment are you? » « I don't want you to come in my regiment because I'm there. I won't tell you until you chose. See ya' later. » « See ya'… » A few minutes after, the commander Erwin came on the stage to map his speech. Whatever he says, thought Red, I'm still going in your regiment. She remembered her conversation with Reiner and Bernthodlt earlier. « We heard you were going in the Survey Group. » « Yup .» « But why? You can go anywhere, since you have the number 0. Why the Survey Group? » « Because of my promise, Reiner. I won't break it. »

Number 0. She was even higher than Mikasa. The fact that she was number 0 permitted her to go anywhere, of course, but she could also ask to be a high officer, with only passing a test. Only a few people, in all the squads, were able to have the very honorific number 0. She was the fifth to have it. After his speech, a lot of people left, not wanting to be in the Survey Group, but after a look exchanged with Mikasa and Armin, she stayed, her fist on her heart, respecting her promise. She saw some her friends staying too, and she smiled. She was happy at the idea of seeing Eren again, too. Erwin smiled when he saw her, but hid it so that no one could see that he was happy she stayed. The only to remark it was Mikasa. They soon left to go at the castle where they would stay with the rest of Survey Group. Mikasa and Red were having a room together, which didn't surprised anyone. At the castle, their training started. They were all more determined then ever.

A week later, while Armin was simply walking, he gasped. The two man that passed besides him turned around, and one of them gasped too. « Armin? What the heck are you doing here? » « I'd like to ask you the same question, Demon! » « Why are you here? You joined the Survey Group? And Mikasa? And Red? » Armin looked kind of embarrassed to be the one to announce him his sister was there, but the other man took charge of it. « I've seen their names in the newbie's list. Congrats, your sister might die with you. » « Man, I never thought she would be that stupid! » He turned back to Armin, that was a bit stoned of hearing him say that she was stupid. « Can I go and see her? » « Well, I, um… sure. » Armin showed him the way to Red and Mikasa's room, and Demon went there, pulling his friend with him. « Why the hell are you bringing me? » « I want you to be there, Levi. And I want you to meet her. » Levi sighed but didn't protest. It was the first time he saw Demon like this, and he wasn't going to complain about it.
The brown-haired guy stopped in front of the door and stared at it for a minute. « Why don't you just knock? You know how to, right? Even if you don't do it often, you know how to! Just do it. » « But… what will I tell her? » « How would I know? Just knock, already. » « You really are cold-hearted, Levi » « Maybe. » He finally knocked on the door, and immediately looked like he regretted it. He almost looked like he was going to run away, and he would have done it, if Levi wasn't checking on him and if the door didn't opened. Red passed her head through the entrance, and starred at the tow men. She slowly opened her mouth to talk, but shut it. Levi made a « tsk » and pushed Demon in the room, entering after him. He shut the door and stared at the brother and the sister, exasperated.
« Well. Aren't you going to say anything, either of you? » « I… » started Red, but Demon cutter her. « Why are you here? You joined the Survey Group? Why? » « Hey! Too many questions at a time! And you? I wouldn't have thought you'd be here! » « Neither did I! I'm a captain, here! » « And I'm a newbie! I had to! » « Why? » « God, stop asking why! I had to because that's like this! If you're not happy, well I'm sorry but that's how life is! » « But it's dangerous! You might be killed! » « And what about you? You might die too, you know? And I would lose you when I just knew you were still alive! Don't you know how it had been hard for me? For us? I almost killed myself because I thought you were dead! What would I do if it happened now? »
Demon was holding his breath, stoned, and Red was almost bursting in tears. « Red, I… I wouldn't survive without you anymore. I knew you were alive, but—« « You what? You knew I was alive? How did you do that, sir? That's impossible! And even if it was, then why did you left me there? Why didn't you joined me? » « I… » He stopped, not knowing what to say anymore. She was right. He did find a way to found out of she was alive or not, but why didn't he came to see her? It would have been a lot easier for them both. And even more for her. But he was egoist, he just left after to fight Titans. To accomplish his own vengeance. He ignored the last thing that was important to him. He took a deep breathe, but she pointed the door.
« Please leave. »
She said it with an indifferent voice. Her eyes weren't full of tears anymore, but his were. She kept pointing the door, but he didn't move until Levi finally talked. « If she wants you to leave, you should do it. » « But… » The look his friend gave him stopped him. Pitifully, he left the room, holding his tears, and he left to his own room. Levi stayed with the girl, who was now bitting her lip so hard that blood came out. « He wanted me to meet you. But we already did, five years ago, when I saved you. » She looked him with surprise. « You're the one who saved me? » But he left without answering her.

The brunette woke up screaming again, but this time, no one was there with her, since Mikasa left the room early. She shook her head, like to make disappear the last traces of her nightmare, and stood up. After preparing herself, she went to the cafeteria and saw Armin had already got her her breakfast, knowing she would sleep late. « Thanks… » « No problem » She ate without really being hungry, not paying much attention to what the others were saying. She woke up of her daydreaming when someone poked her. « Hey! What was that for? » « I asked you if you knew we were going outside the walls in a month. We thought your brother would have told you. » « Well he didn't. » In fact, she avoided him for the last week. He seemed lie he tried to talk to her some times, but it looked like he finally abandoned. She left with the blond guy and Mikasa. As they walked outside, she heard a familiar voice.
« Eren? » They turned to see the young man with Levi and some of his new companions. She smiled and almost jumped on him. « Red? So you did join the Survey Group! And Mikasa and Armin too! » « What'd you expect? That we'd leave you alone? You're so fragile we have to keep an eye on you or you'd die! » Red ignored the look Levi gave her, even if she knew he was a bit vexed. But they didn't care, because what was important was that they founded Eren. She hugged him for a moment the let him go. « You better be careful with him. » « I have to make sure he doesn't put us all in danger. » « I don't care. As long as he's okay. » They finally left, leaving Eren alone with his squad.

Few days later, when Eren's arm become a Titan's one, his squad was ready to intervene, and were yelling at him. He realized they didn't fully trusted him, maybe not at all. As he panicked a little bit, Levi tried to calm them, but Eren lifted his head when he heard a scream of… joy? Hanji was running in their direction with behind her Demon. And Red appeared of nowhere, her blades already out. She got in front of Eren, ready to protect him, whatever the price would be, even if it was her life.
« Red… » « You okay? When I saw the light, I immediately came here. » « But what about your squad? Weren't you training with the others? » « That's not important right now. » Levi glanced at her, surprised, while Demon looked her with anger and surprise. « What are you doing here? You're not supposed to! » « Shut up, will you? » Petra was trembling and pointed her. « She's with him! She's betraying us too! » Demon started to say something but stopped when he saw the look his sister gave them. « I don't care if you think I'm a betrayer. You might even kill me if you want to. But don't you dare hurt my family, or I won't hesitate to cut you in pieces. » At the sound of her voice, they knew she wasn't joking. Eren finally managed to get his hand out, with Hanji complying about not being able to examine it anymore.
The brown-haired girl checked another time if her friend was okay, then started to leave, ignoring the others. « Hey. » She turned as Levi spoke to her. « I'll cover you up, but don't do something like that again. »
She thanked him briefly and left, followed by Demon. « What do you want? » She said. « I will cover you up too, it's better. » « If you want to. But remember I didn't ask. » He looked at her sadly. « Why are you acting like this? » « Like what? » « You look so upset about me. Hey, I didn't mean to abandon you, okay? I just… » He stopped, hesitating. The girl was looking away so that he wouldn't be able to see the tears running down her cheeks. « I did this to be able to go and fight. I wanted you to admire me when we would met again. I wanted you to look at me and still see me as the big brother that's supposed to protect you. » She stopped walking and suddenly slapped him, bursting in tears. « I already see you like that! You don't have to do this, you dumb! » He slowly touched his cheek where she slapped him, the pulled her against him in a hug. He letted her cry until she wasn't able to anymore, and then finally looked at her again. « You pardon me? » She hesitated and whipped her tears. The she looked him with that determined look of hers. « Only if you do what I say until we leave to go outside the walls. Everything. » What? But that's unfair! » « Then I'm not forgiving you. Ever. » « But… Fine… »

Two weeks later, as they left the security of the walls, she couldn't help but to look a last time behind her. SHe sighed and fixed her eyes right behind her, bitting her lip. « It will all be fine. Nothing bad will happen. Nothing at all. » She had the misfortune to be the only one separated from her friends. She hoped she could have been with someone she knew, but they were all new faces of people already in the Survey Group from a long time ago. They ignored her for a while, but they weren't able to when the first green shot in the sky appeared. « There's a Titan near. Very near! Get the newbie somewhere safer! »
Two of them guided her somewhere else while the other was also sending a signal, but soon after, the Titan appeared. It was an abnormal, and he was running right in their direction. The last member of her little team got eaten before they could do anything. Another man, with very short dark hair, turned to go and fight the Titan. « Stop! » She yelled, but he was so angry he didn't heard her.
His head got bitten off while he was still on his horse. The last man with her was almost sobbing. Red knew she wouldn't be able to escape like that. She activated her 3D maneuverer and jumped in the air, ready to kill the Titan. The man didn't move, nor tell her to stop. In fact, he used this opportunity to escape without her, but he got interrupted by another Titan, that sent him flying in the air. As she tried to cut the nape of the Titan's neck, she saw the man movie in a way that was beyond normality. His body was entirely broken by the impact and he was full of blood. She finally put her Titan on the ground and went to kill the other, but failed.
He sent her flying too, and for a moment, she was sure she'd die. But the Titan fell as someone catched her. She opened her closed eyes and saw Mikasa. They both fell on the ground, but in a better way then the man with her. Sacha stopped near hem with a horse. « That sure was close. » « Yup. Thanks girls. » She stayed silent for a moment. « Where's the rest of your team? » « Dead. They all got killed. » « O-oh. That's sad. But we should get going. » Red called her horse, that survived, jumped on him, and left with the two girls.