Annie could never comprehend the appeal of putting your tongue in someone's mouth. Free time had given her the luxury to read a few novels, stories of stolen touches and passionate kisses. It wasn't exactly unpleasant to read. But the visual of it seemed so…invasive. Or maybe it was just Sasha's enthusiasm as she attacked Nikolo's face that made her wary. It wasn't very different from how she had treated the chocolate cake they had just shared.

In a strange turn of events, Bertholdt had shocked her and Reiner by actually making a friend. She didn't believe he interacted with anyone in the college. It didn't help that he was a few years older than the other attendees. But he had hurriedly explained his newfound friendship with Nikolo when they met at a mixer that he had accidentally attended, much to Reiner's amusement. They had accompanied Bert to a charity bake sale that Nikolo had invited him to, with Sasha's casual "Oh, and bring your friends."

Annie had run into Eren at the Walmart so many times that the guy no longer looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whenever he saw her. She had also run into Mikasa a few times, although they never talked. The woman went to the expensive Dojo in her studio's plaza that Annie could never afford. Not that she wanted to go. She trained at home with Reiner. Annie often wondered if they taught them real fighting in there.

Life had seemed to even out since her last talk with Mikasa. While her unease at the changes around her was not completely gone, she was adjusting into a new normal. But some things never failed to remind her of the fact that her normal wasn't what was normal for actually normal people. In fore, quite literally thanks to Sasha, was intimacy.

A couple of years ago on Christmas, when the three of them had had too much to drink, Bertholdt had pulled her in a gentle hug, murmuring confessions of how much she meant to him. He had then bent down to kiss her, and she had let him. It had felt like holding his arm. Contact. It wasn't unpleasant, but she couldn't reconcile it with anything remarkably more. He was more perceptive than most other people she knew, and he never brought it up again. It was their sweet little secret, tiny attempts at imitating what came so naturally to people their age.

"You're not gonna make us pay for these, are you, Nikolo?"

They all looked up to see Eren grabbing a few of the muffins on display. Armin and Mikasa followed behind, shaking their heads, and the tall woman kept a few bills on the display counter. Reiner grunted at the sight of Eren. He still hadn't entirely forgiven him. She was surprised to see Mikasa followed by an older woman. Porcelain skin, Asian features. Her mother? Holding the lady's hand was a little boy with the same features. They were probably her family. She saw a couple of the stall owners walk out to greet Mikasa, offering her scones and bread, mocking outrage at the offered money.

"Why do they like her so much? I mean, I know she saved the bank and all. But still." Annie quietly asked Bertholdt. He sighed and took a sip of water.

"She's, kind of a model student. Straight As. She helps out a lot too, community service, social projects. They respect her."

It sounded incredibly exhausting to Annie. She got up to get some space to herself, and Bert left to chat with Nikolo. Buying a few doughnuts, she made her way to the nearby lake. She ate her doughnuts in peace, wondering if she could feel what that felt like. Having people respect her. She could tell that the parents of her kids liked her. They respected her craft. But they barely knew her. How do you respect someone you don't truly know? Do you respect them, or your idea of them? Her father used to say, people respect you when they are afraid of you, but maybe it wasn't the same. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the little boy that had been with Mikasa. He looked at her shyly and then sat down beside her to stare at the lake.

"What's your name?"

"Itsuki."

She offered the boy a doughnut, and they ate in silence. Annie liked kids. She wondered how people could bring themselves to hurt them.

-x-

"I'll give that back in a week Mika, with the previous bills and all." Eren sat down across from Reiner on the empty bench. He seemed frustrated, mumbling in thin air-

"You think they'll be the ones who are broke, with college." He looked up, surprised to see Reiner, and contemplated leaving the bench. The blond felt at unease, considering the same, but it wasn't exactly pleasant to be by himself on the bench either.

"I get that, you know." Reiner said quietly after a bout of silence. Eren looked up to give him his attention. It was a cruel thought, but Eren looked so pathetic, he didn't mind showing a little bit of his own patheticness.

"With Bert in college, and all. Back when we…when we were young…I used to be the one to take initiative. I thought I'd be taking care of them. But in the real world, Bert showed me, I guess. And Annie, God she's so tough...I used to have that, you know, that anger like yours..still do. She helped me clean up my act."

Eren looked over his head to see Mikasa conversing with Armin. She hadn't let him go out alone since the fight.

"What, she stuck around no matter how despicable you got?"

Reiner stared at him. "Nah. She told me I'm a fucking asshole."

They both chuckled at that, going back to eating in silence. Half an hour later, Annie and Itsuki made their way back to the fair. From there she left with Bert and Reiner to train at their place.

-x-

It was such a pleasant evening, Annie chose to jog back to her home. A couple of blocks away from her building, she heard the sound of someone crying. She turned around to find Itsuki in tears, standing on the sidewalk.

"Hey, kid. What happened to you?"

He pointed up towards a huge tree by the road. On top of a branch, she could see a tiny kitten mewling in distress. It was entirely white and looked so small, Annie wondered how it got there in the first place. She ran a hand through Itsuki's hair, trying to reassure him.

"We'll figure something to get it out. Don't worry." He stopped crying and looked up to her in discomfiture.

"Itsuki! I've been looking all over for you." Annie turned to find Mikasa jog towards them.

"Annie."

"Hey. I found him here. You live around?" Mikasa pointed to the housing colony across the street. She followed Itsuki's gaze to the kitten and frowned. She looked up the tree to find foot-holdings, realizing like Annie that the lowest purchase was too high to jump and grab. Her gaze fell on the blond in resignation. Ah, fuck. Annie turned away, annoyed. She looked down at tiny Itsuki-

"I don't suppose you climb much, kid?"

"Annie-" Mikasa looked cross at the suggestion.

"Fine. You'll have to brace. Sure you can lift me, with the bruise and all?"

It had been a while since the bar fight, but she wasn't going to miss an opportunity to piss-off the taller girl. Mikasa looked like she had a sharp retort on her tongue, but seemed to decide against it. She released a short breath and nodded. She shrugged off her jacket, and Annie was happy she made the jibe before, because it would be hard to say it now. Her arms, shoulders, Mikasa was sculpted. They were fairly lean, but the structure let Annie know of the strength in those muscles. And Mikasa's pale skin shone so exquisitely against the setting sun, Annie had to deliberately pull her gaze away.

Mikasa got on one knee near the base of the tree, hands clasped behind her back, forming a footstep for Annie. She shucked off her shoes, and putting one foot on the step, pulled a knee on Mikasa's shoulder. Annie's stomach did a flip as Mikasa flexed to adjust to her weight, then stood with apparent ease. Gaining her balance, Annie stood on Mikasa's shoulder and jumped a little to grab the branch just above her head. From there it was fairly easy. Annie had climbed much higher before, so she couldn't understand why her heart was pounding. She cleared her head as she reached the kitten. The tiny thing practically jumped in her arms. She looked down to see Itsuki beaming at her.

Putting the creature safely in her hoodie pocket, she started descending. Just before she reached the lowest branch she felt the kitten panic at the sound of a bird perched on the tree. The movement in her hand-pocket was so strange, it startled her and she misstepped roughly on a thin branch. She heard a sickening crunch. One hand went instinctively to hold the kitten, while the other searched frantically for something to restore her balance. Clad in shorts, her bare leg grazed against a sharp twig and she grimaced as she felt it rip her skin. Her hand found another branch while she landed on the lowest one.

"Annie. Are you okay?" Mikasa sounded calm, but there was a note of urgency in her voice.

"Yea. It's okay." She crouched on the branch, flicking a finger on the kitten's head in half-hearted reprimand. She had planned on jumping from here, but her injured leg protested at the idea. It wasn't a deep wound, but it wouldn't absorb the shock well.

"I'll catch you." Mikasa had followed the same thoughts. But Annie found something reprehensible about the idea. Standing up, she said-

"Fuck off, Mikasa."

"There's a kid here. I thought you taught kids. You can't land on that leg, Annie. Let me catch you."

"Look just, get some-"

"Annie." She looked down to meet her eyes.

"I won't let you fall." It sounded like a promise. And a request. She couldn't jump without trusting Mikasa to catch, and she could tell that Mikasa knew that. Annie couldn't remember ever trusting someone to have her back, other than her friends. It was such a small thing really, but could she trust Mikasa? She wasn't sure. Her thoughts blanked out as she closed her eyes, and then trusting her gut, she let go.

It wasn't entirely painless. But Mikasa did lessen the impact by bending as she caught her. She could tell her hand was touching Mikasa's collarbone. She could feel the warmth of her body. The other hand pressed between their bodies. Mikasa's shallow breath gently caressed her face. She could tell it was longer than she should, but she kept her eyes closed.

Annie would never tell another soul, but amongst all her senses, she loved to touch the most. She could form images in her mind, distort voices to tell her things that comforted and tormented her. Colour memories, form stories and live entire lives in her head that seemed to pull her out of her real one. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't manufacture touch in her head. The softness of silk sheets, coarseness of fresh uniforms. The touch of a child's hair. A pair of strong arms. They reminded her of the difference between reality and thoughts. The past and the present. They reminded her she had to live.

"I'm sure."

Her eyes snapped open at the words. Mikasa's voice had been soft, her expression softer. Annie felt a little empathy for all the people that were so fond of Mikasa. Those features, they didn't exactly make it easier to dislike her. But there was a hint of amusement in Mikasa's shining eyes. Maybe at her prolonged silence, Annie realized.

"What?"

Mikasa bent a little and whispered "I'm sure I can lift you, bruise and all. You're so fucking small."

Annie pushed herself out of Mikasa's arms, as the latter laughed at her expense. She felt her previous irritation return. "You were just dying to say that, right?"

Mikasa smiled at that, "Yea. But I figured I had to wait. At least till you rescued the little guy."

Itsuki launched himself on Annie with joy, fishing out the kitten from her pocket. "Ryan! You're safe. Don't ever do that again."

Annie ruffled the little guy's hair and started to walk towards her home. Mikasa blocked her way as she eyed the cut with concern.

"You're hurt."

"I don't need you to carry me, Mikasa."

"I know. But my house is closer. Let me patch you up." Before she could reply she felt Itsuki grab her hand and drag her towards the house. She looked down at him and smiled a little. Oh well.

"Why Ryan?"

The little boy grinned at her "There's this kid on Youtube, he's really cool…"

-xxxx-

Annie stayed for the patch-up, and for dinner. Mrs. Kiyomi Azumabito, the elder lady and Mikasa's aunt, had simply refused to take no for an answer. She figured she could stay. If Bert could make the effort to make friends with normal people, she could at least have one dinner with them. She learned that Itsuki was Mikasa's cousin. And that he lived in Hizuru and was on a visit here with Mrs. Azumabito, who provided for Mikasa's education. She had been Mikasa's legal guardian since her family died in an accident. So she's an orphan too.

Mikasa was on a call with her uncle, asking if he could make it to dinner in time. Her eyes flitted across the room to glance at her, and they both turned away with surprise at the eye contact. As much as Annie had thought that she hated Mikasa, it was, she realized not her but the idea of her persona that she had disliked. The admiration, attention. In the confines of the home, where she wasn't subjected to those, Annie couldn't find a single reason to dislike Mikasa. She was apprehensive to consider the possibility, but she might actually like the girl.

"He'll be here in 10. You don't mind waiting up, do you?" She shrugged, trying to look uninterested.

They exchanged a few glances, even fewer words, speaking a little about her classes and Mikasa's majors. Sitting across from Mikasa on the couch, Annie felt so warm all over, she was thankful the room was dimly lit. She busied herself with Ryan until it was time for dinner. Mrs. Azumabito warned her that they hadn't expected her, so it was pretty traditional fare. She smiled at her to reassure her. The elder woman looked over her at the sound of the door opening-

"Ah, you are here. What took so long?"

"Nothing. Just catching up with some guys. And who's this?"

"This is Annie; Mikasa's friend." Annie recoiled a little at the F word, but turned in her seat to greet Mikasa's uncle.

"Hi Annie. I'm Levi."

There was a prolonged silence as Annie simply stared at him. Mrs. Azumabito interrupted -"Annie?"

"You…are Mikasa's uncle?"

"Yes." Levi frowned, and asked- "Is there something wrong?"

Annie drew in a breath as she continued to stare at him. "You…you look…you just look so young."

The entire room rung with laughter and Levi settled in to have dinner. Mrs. Azumabito joked how Levi barely aged over the years, and urged her to eat more. She fussed over if Annie liked the taste, but the blond assured her the food was fine. Truth being, she just didn't feel all that hungry.

She hadn't expected to dine with her father's killer.