The next morning came around after the mysterious woman was found at the back of the wagon. Still lying in the bed, she woke up feeling empty. There was nothing there. She didn't feel anger, fear, sadness, or even happiness of any sort. The instability of her mind had truly taken over her entire emotions. She didn't care that she could die today, she didn't care that she had lost everything, nor did she even care about getting out anymore. All she could think of was what the point in everything was anymore. All of her situations end the same. She always ended up lost, hurt, and, alone.

Levi and Erwin came down for her to proceed with the interrogation. Levi opened up the door and calmly approached her limping with shackles in hand. He cut the cords that she was tied with and immediately forced her arms behind her back. She didn't resist at all and remained a blank slate, not letting any emotions affect her in this situation. She let him put the shackles around her wrist. In silence, he forced her from out of the bed, pulled the cloak off of her, and pulled her out of the room. Both Erwin and Levi grabbed a hold of each arm and guided her through the castle once again.

As they walked through a hallway a few people stared at them. Some even proceeded to follow and witness the apparent open interrogation. They led her outside and through a field as more and more people began to join the small forming crowd. They stopped in the middle of the field where two people appeared to be waiting. One larger man holding a metal rod and a fairly tall person with glasses and long brown hair tied back. Erwin let go as Levi turned her around. Her arms were pulled back by the one wearing glasses as the larger man slammed the rod in between her arms.

"Alright, let's begin. Hange, in this circumstance I want you to take notes on anything that she says," Erwin ordered.

They pushed up their glasses and replied, "Yes sir,"

"Mike, I want you on standby."

The taller guy nodded and proceeded to stand next to Levi. He pulled out his blades and had them at the ready.

"Now, why don't you start by telling us your name," Erwin said as his bright blue eyes stared her down.

Given her situation she decided to just cooperate, "My name? My name is Lana," she replied staring right back with her green eyes beginning to show concern.

"And do you have a surname, Lana?"

"….No…I disowned that years ago. I go by Lana only now," she replied hanging her head down. Her long black hair draping down below allowing her to conceal the immediate sadness that struck her.

"Are you, or are you not a titan shifter?" Levi asked.

She quickly snapped her head up with slight tears in her eyes, "What?"

"Are you, or are you not a titan shifter?" he repeated.

"…I…." she paused, and thought to herself. A titan shifter? She wondered how much these people knew about titans and their capabilities. Immediately she began to fear for her safety.

"You're hesitating, answer the question," he said loudly.

"…I…..I….I don't want to be chained up anymore!" she yelled as anger began to fill her veins. She was scared for what they could do to her.

"That wasn't the answer I was looking for," he replied.

She pulled forward slamming the shackles into the rod. Everyone moved into a defensive stance. She knew that if she were to say yes, then they might kill her on the spot. But if she were to lie and say no, they might find out anyways later and kill her. All her life she knew that her gift would land her in trouble. She didn't want to let it seal her fate anymore. Slowly she looked up at her interrogators with great anger in her eyes. She was going to use her gift to get out.

"I've seen this look before," Levi quietly said, "Everyone stand back!"

In that moment, Lana had broken both of her hands with enough force to pull them through the shackles. Wincing in pain she held her broken hands in front of her. Steam began to rise from her skin as her hands began to heal. She looked back up as many were ready to attack, Mike especially. Anger had swept her entire body, but it wasn't until she made eye contact with a few of those that stood at the ready behind Erwin, Levi, and Mike. Fear, one which she knew too well. In that moment, she realized that all of her emotions where flooding at her all at once. She needed to calm herself down and reason with them to ensure that she would get out without having to kill anyone. After nine years without confronting anyone, it was almost as if she couldn't control herself to fit into society anymore.

"You want to know if I am a titan shifter?" she asked sternly. She took a deep breath and once again peered out to those at the ready. "Then let me show you your answer."

She took another deep breath as a gust of wind began to surround her. Hange pulled their glasses down to prevent debris from getting in their eyes. Others proceeded to shield themselves with their arms or blades. Erwin and Levi remained perfectly still as the wind continued to form around Lana. She became completely encased in a tornado like formation.

"Get ready!" Erwin yelled.

As the formation began to dissipate, a large hot bolt of lightning struck behind the group. The group began to scatter as a large monster began to charge at them. It grabbed a hold of what was in the tornado and yelled. As the steam and wind cleared, everyone was able to see the incredible sight that stood before them.

"What…what is this?" Hange asked with amazement on their face. They dropped the book they were holding and stammered towards two giants that stood before them.

"This doesn't make any sense," they proclaimed.

Standing before them was unlike anything that they had ever seen before. What they expected to be a distorted giant figure was actually something different entirely. What was in the grasp of the monster was in fact Lana. Everything had remained the same including her clothes, but she was fifteen meters tall. Nobody could put together what they were witnessing before them. They remained still and did not attack.

"STOP! PLEASE! STOP!" She yelled out at the monster. He held her face close to his as spit fell onto her face each time he yelled.

Shielding herself from the spit, she tried to protect herself from her attacker. He responded to her calls and stopped yelling at her. Like the others below, he had realized what he was grabbing and stepped back.

Once he was standing back, Lana was able to take a good look at the creature. Standing before her was a creature like the unwanted. They had brown shaggy hair, elongated ears, skinless mouth, but this one was not like the stumbling idiots, this one was intelligent.

Now she knew that these people had more information than she had realized. Where did he come from? Who is he? Why is he with this group of people? Why is he not attacking anyone else? Does it really have intelligence? All of these questions flooded into her mind as she stood before this creature. The others down below had the same type of idea. They were all curious as to who she is, why she looked the same, where does she come from, and so much more. With the creature that stood before her, Lana's goal changed.

"Please, just don't hurt me," she said looking towards him as well as those below her.

"She can talk too!" Hange yelled.

In that moment, Hange immediately ran up to her.

"Squad Leader Hange get back here!" someone called out for them.

The monster standing before Lana got closer to her. Its grey eyes stared deep into hers. In that moment, the two felt a connection with another. This creature did in fact have intelligence.

"You…You are not like the others are you?" she asked.

It almost made a sound as steam come out of its mouth. But what had sounded like a normal growl or grunt to others to Lana, it came out clear as day, "No I'm not."

Shocked she continued to speak with the creature out of mere curiosity, "If you're not like the unwanted….then what are you?"

"I'm not sure myself."

"But you have intelligence. I can see it, especially in your eyes, your movements," she said reaching out towards him but dropping her hand.

"Wait…are they actually communicating with each other? She can actually understand him?" Hange said in amazement.

"If you're not like me and you're not like them, then you must be something different entirely," she wanted to know more about this creature, but in order to do this she needed to get closer to it. "Do you trust me?" she asked him.

He nodded. Everyone down below had put their blades away at this point and began to intently watch the two interact with each other. Lana looked down to see if the situation had worsened but saw that it seemed to be calmer than before. Looking back, Lana calmly approached the monster before her and gently placed her hand on his chest. She felt nothing but the warmth of his skin. She held her other hand against her own chest and felt her heart beat. She proceeded to bring her ear to his chest to be sure. Still nothing but the warmth. She ran her hands all over his abdomen. Finding nothing, she moved around to his back. She started lower down at the base of his spine and slowly began to move her fingers up. She knew from her experience with the unwanted that the weak spot was at the nape of the neck. Once she reached the nape of the neck he quickly spun around and grabbed her hand crushing it and causing it to break. She yelled in pain.

During the entire process, Hange was frantically taking notes while they were watching the two interact with each other. Everyone was amazed at this site.

"I see, you're more like the unwanted than I thought," Lana stated as she winced in pain, "My apologies, I did not mean to upset you."

He let go of her hand. She stretched it out and once again steam rose from her skin as it began to heal.

"Something like you must have a name as well,"

"We should properly meet then," Lana interpreted as steam began to arise from the monster's body. The grey eyes she saw earlier had become dull and lifeless. The body began to deteriorate and collapse in a cloud of steam. She was amazed, and thought "could this be a titan shifter as well" someone like her? She closed her eyes and breathed in as the wind began to surround her once more. She stepped out of the wind back to her original size and made her way closer to the lifeless monster. The nape of the neck broke open and someone was inside, a young teenager whose head was bandaged up. He struggled to pull himself out but eventually managed to break himself free of the muscles that encased him. Burn marks appeared below his eyes as he lifted his head up high. He began to regain focus and looked out for Lana. He saw her down below and proceeded to jump down from the large body that had fallen. Everybody else was still standing there in shock at what they had just witnessed. Nobody was saying a word, they just stood and watched them. The boy made his way slowly towards Lana. Once again his grey eyes that had once appeared through the monster, stared right back at her.

"Eren Yeager," he held out his hand to shake hers.

"Lana, no last name, just Lana," she replied and shook his in return.

"Who…no…what are you?" Hange asked as they approached.

At this point Lana wanted to know more about Eren, and to do this she figured that she would share information in exchange, "I am Lana, who hails from the Land of Rhea. Better known as the Land of the Titans, and perhaps you can help me answer your question. When I was a child I was unaware of my hidden gifts and went about my days trying to survive. Eventually, one day, I was awakened as a titan. It was believed that my kind were extinct. As far as I know, I am the only one who holds the natural ability of a titan or so I go on to believe, but it appears that there are some new findings out there that are yet to be fully explained," she said looking back at Eren.

"Eren is a titan shifter, we just learned this not too long ago ourselves. However the difference between the two of you seem to be remarkable," Hange replied.

"You mentioned something about the unwanted earlier to Eren," Levi stated.

"Yes, I think there might be a misunderstanding. Where I come from, the ones that roam the land and eat people are called the unwanted. They were casted off and therefore not really a threat to us. Is that not what they are called here?"

"We call them titans," Erwin said as he approached Lana.

"Interesting, so the unwanted here are really titans, whereas titans are almost considered as deities back home. But you, Eren, you are different. You have the ability to change and obtain great strength like a titan, but appear as an unwanted," said Lana. She brought her hand to her face and held onto her chin in thought. "Perhaps there is a deeper connection between you and me after all. You see, as I said I am the only one with the true titan power, at least that I know of," Lana paused and began to assess the situation that she had brought herself into. At this point she was still unsure of what they knew about titans and the comparison to what they call titans. Eren, was a benefactor that made her want to stay even more.

"However, at some point in time there were others. My kind disappeared long ago. I broke into the archive chamber in an old city and found a few books on the history of the land. It turns out the people who lived there didn't originally live there, it was the titans, my people. Eventually the population of the titans began to decline."

"Incredible, how does a race of people such as yourself begin to decline?" Erwin asked.

"That's the part I'm not sure of, I couldn't get a hold of those documents. I was caught before then which eventually led to my exile."

"You were exiled from your home?" Levi responded.

She began to think that she was telling these strangers too much information, but in order to gain their trust she continued, "Yes, I was forced by boat and landed on the shoreline here. I roamed around for over nine years and found you."

"NINE YEARS! OUT THERE! ALONE" Eren yelled. "Does that mean, you've seen the ocean?"

Everyone was caught off guard by Eren's question, although he was dead serious as to what he had asked. Confused, Lana responded.

"Ocean? Of course I have, I often was living near the ocean."

Eren's jaw dropped as he was surprised by this new found fact.

"Anyways, the last part of the book I had stated that my people began to disappear around the same time that the unwanted, or rather what you refer to as titans, began to appear. I feel like there is a connection. You see I wrote everything I know and observed in my…" realization came over Lana as she remembered the sight of her losing her bag.

"Go on," Hange said.

"My journal, everything was in my journal," she replied.

"Ok, so where is this journal?" Hange asked.

"Gone…when I was in your wagon, I dropped my bag."

"Do you remember where?" Erwin asked.

"In the forest," she said as she lowered her head.

Nobody responded to her after she had given the location of her missing things. At that point the crowd had lost interest in the interrogation and began to go their separate ways. Concluding the interrogation, Erwin decided to pull all of the squad leaders together to discuss what they had learned about Lana. From there, they would decide her fate. Lana was brought back to her room and was once again locked up. Although this time she wasn't tied down to any furniture which proved to Lana that there was some level of trust. Eren was forced to return to the infirmary room where he was meant to stay after having to face against the Female Titan and almost being consumed by it.

Later that day Erwin, Levi, Hange, and Mike had a brief confrontation about the decision for Lana. Many of the others remained on high alert as this new person was able to stay around for a little longer. However, they remained more curious over the fact of what type of being she was. Never before has anyone laid sight on someone of her state before. Word spread around quickly as people began to purposely visit Lana in her locked up room. She began to feel like an animal in a cage. But she accepted it. With the discovery of Eren, she was one step closer to figuring out the question that she had been asking herself for over twenty years. She decided to go against her original plan since she was exiled and decided to try and stay near this boy as long as she possibly could.

Footsteps could be heard down the hallway. Mike along with two other men approached the door. One of the men had the key and opened it.

"Alright, come with us," he said.

"I don't like to be ordered," she replied.

"We'll if you're going to be here for much longer get used to it,"

"Are we really supposed to trust her like this? I mean she is a titan shifter after all, and a stranger at that," whispered the other man as Lana was being guided out of her room.

Mike leaned in to Lana as close as he could get making her feel uncomfortable as she was trying to get through the door. He took a large sniff and stood back to where he was. The two men watched him intently. He snorted, smiled, and proceeded to walk down the hallway.

"Well, there you have it. If Mike thinks she's ok then so do I," the first man said as he followed.

"I guess I can't argue with that one. Sorry if you heard what I said, I just can't help but to be a little on edge with everything that is going on," the second man replied.

"It is quiet alright, but does he always do that?" she asked.

"What, Mike? Oh yeah, it's normal for him. Kind of his way of saying hello and determining whether he likes you or not. After the little stunt you pulled this morning I'm a little surprise you're on his good side," the man chuckled. "I mean, he was ready to kill you right on the spot."

The four of them proceeded into a mess hall room. Levi was sitting down with a black jacket draped over his shoulders. Erwin was at the very end of the table as Hange sat eagerly across from Levi with their bright eyes shining as the group walked in.

"Welcome Lana, have a seat," Erwin said gesturing to the seat opposite of him.

She sat down and waited for one of them to speak. Mike sat next to her as his two associates left the room.

"It has been brought to my attention that if we are going to do things right, proper introductions are in order. To my right is Captain Levi Ackerman. To my left is Squad Leader Hange Zoë who handles most of the research done on titan activity. Next to you is Squad Leader Mike Zacharias who as you probably already know has a keen sense of smell, and once again I am the Commander of the Survey Corps, Erwin Smith."

"It really is a pleasure to meet all of you. It really has been so long since I have laid eyes on people. Although our initial meet was not ideal for me, it was one which I will remember as the day I finally walked out of hell."

Erwin nodded towards Lana almost as if he understood her circumstances.

"Shall we proceed then? You had mentioned a journal that you had lost?" Hange asked.

"Yes, I've had it since I was exiled, but as I had said, I had lost it when I was in the wagon in the forest."

"And in it contains information that could relate you to the titans here?" Levi asked.

"I believe it will contribute to any sort of research you have already conducted yourselves."

"Then I believe that we can all agree on one thing," Erwin stated placing his hands on the table.

The four Survey Corps members exchanged nods towards each other.

"Our next expedition will be to retrieve your belongings alongside of travelling towards our main goal," said Erwin as he placed his hand against his chin to rest his head.

"Seriously?! You're going to help me? But why?" Lana proclaimed confused.

"Because in return, we have a proposition for you, but the choice is yours," Hange replied immediately presenting a more serious demeanour.

"I'm listening," Lana leaned in intently.

"We can take you to the nearest village and have you start a new life. Or go through the process of officially joining the Survey Corps, retrieving your lost belongings, and allowing us to have you go under various experimentations," said Erwin placing his chin on his hands.

Everyone around the table starred at her as she was given the choices.

"I understand. Be brought to the village and forced to live on the streets until one day I can scavenge enough money to do something with my life and move on away from everything. Or, become one of your soldiers and perhaps one day find out the truth behind everything," she paused and placed her own head in her hands. It didn't take her long before she slammed her hands on the table and abruptly stood up. "When can I start my training Commander, sir?"

After the meeting it was decided that Lana would undergo a brief training period much like 104th division cadets that had recently joined. However, before training would begin she would need to improve her hygiene and proceed into a physical examination. After being out on her own for more than nine years it was a great deal of concern for one of the leaders to undergo a well needed bath before going onwards to the physical examination. Levi had shown her into a small room with a bathing tub already prepared for her arrival. He requested her to strip down and soak herself in the water as he grabbed her new clothes.

Levi went into his own bedroom and pulled out some clothes of his that he believed would fit her. Most of the other women were either too tall or too short for her to possibly be able to fit into their clothes in a decent manner for the time being before she can get a uniform. However, there was one person whose height wasn't far off from Lana's. Prior to the meeting with the squad leaders, it was jokingly mentioned to Levi that the new person appeared to be the same height as him. Although at the dislike of being reminded of his shorter stature, he took advantage of it to help someone.

Levi returned to the bathing room and without hesitation opened the door. The door was too quiet for Lana to notice. She seemed to be too calm to even notice that he had walked in. He looked over at her sitting in the tub with her eyes closed sinking deep down with her lips just below the waterline. Her tangled hair draped out of the tub onto the ground. Levi placed his clothes on a table and picked up her dirty rags she once worn. Nearby was a burlap sack to which he put the old clothes in. Still without making a sound he saw a bucket used to fill the tub still full with some water. Lana sat back up and stretched her arms out completely letting her guard down.

"It has been far too long since I last took a warm bath,"

Just as she had said that, Levi had walked over and dumped the remaining water on her head drenching her long tangled hair.

"What the hell?" she proclaimed and turned around to see him. Immediately she pulled her legs towards her and covered up as much of her body as she possibly could. "What do you think you're doing?" she yelled.

Levi knelt down behind her slightly leaning to one side to relieve pressure from one leg and rolled up his sleeves. He grabbed a bar of soap that was on the ground and part of her hair, and began to wash it. "I'm helping you get this filth off of you," he replied.

"Like hell you are, get out you pervert!" she continued to yell as she pulled her hair out of his hands.

"You are disgusting, I don't want to even think about how many times you've even bathed yourself while you were out there on your own," he said standing back up.

In a fit of rage, Lana quickly stood up from the water and slapped him across the face. He only moved his eyes to meet back at Lana's, keeping his head still. His head followed his gaze.

"You hair is a mess, you have dirt all over your face and body, and you reek of shit. I can't have you walking around the others in this sort of condition. I want to be sure that you are fully washed before heading into the examination so that they can fully review your condition. Besides, if you were self-conscious about exposing yourself, you wouldn't have quickly stood up and slapped me the minute I offended you."

After what he had said, she quickly realized that she was standing in front of him fully naked. She realized that she was more upset at what he had said than him being in the room. She knew that he was right, she didn't really care about who saw what about her, but the minute she felt offended was what triggered her to act. She could feel her face getting redder as she quickly slammed herself back down into the water. Completely embarrassed by the entire moment she caved in and allowed Levi to wash her hair and pull the dirt out.

"I've never had anyone actually take care of me like this before," she began to remember her youth and her mistreatment. She remembered what it was like to have someone help her and it felt good. "I'm sorry, perhaps you're right. But next time give me some warning before you barge in like this," she said pulling her face to her knees.

"You're implying that there will be a next time?" Levi replied as he knelt back down to continue washing her hair.

"That…that's not what I meant!" she shouted in embarrassment.

Levi had a small smirk to his face as he held onto her long black soapy hair.

A moment of silence passed as Levi continued to wash out the dirt from her hair.

"You don't trust anyone here do you?" He asked breaking the silence.

Surprised, Lana was a little hesitant to respond, "It was that obvious?"

"I could tell, and I'm sure a small handful of others could too. Why?" he asked as he stood up and limped over to a counter.

Seeing how there were already people who could see right through her, Lana felt that her motives would be found out quickly. After all, in the past it has been said that she always wore her heart on her sleeve.

"My entire life has always resulted in the death of someone, being mistreated, or even just down right betrayed and left to die. You can say my relationship with people isn't the greatest anymore."

"You should think otherwise here," he said drying his hands.

"Oh really. And why should I."

"You trust me don't you?"

In that moment it had occurred to Lana that she did in fact trust him right from the beginning. In fact he was one of the reasons that allowed her to be here to begin with.

Levi could see it on her face that she had realized that he was right, "Trust me when I say that you can trust them. Yes there are some who you can't within our regiment, but in the end we are all fighting together to reclaim humanity and we have to put our trust in one another. Now think about that and finish up," he said leaving her alone for a while.

Once Lana was all bathed, she felt incredible. Levi had given her his clothes to wear once she was dried off and walked her into an examination room. Once in this room a man and woman measured her. They measured her height, waist, and chest, just about everything and documented each number down into a book and jotted done some notes on a report. They checked her eyes, teeth, heart, everything that defined a normal medical examination. However, one part of the examination was different for her type of case. The woman had asked her to hold out her hand. Once out, the woman grasped it steady while the man took a knife and cut it open. Lana quickly pulled her hand away in pain causing the cut to become deeper and longer. With blood dripping down her hand she watched them in disgust as the woman wrote notes down in the book. She understood that this was all part of the procedure but still felt upset by how they went through the test.

Steam rose from her hand as the bleeding stopped and the wound closed. The man pulled her hand back and cleaned off the remaining blood that had yet to disappear in the steam. From the medical side of the records they concluded that she was a healthy human being with the unique capabilities of a titan. With their findings they were able to pass off any information to Hange to further the research of titans.

Medical Examination Report

Patient: Lana

Born: April 13th 817

Gender: Female

Age: 33

Height: 160 cm

Weight: 56 kg

Eye Color: Green

Hair Color: Black

Patient appears to be in peak condition. No fault in their health is present. This must be due to their abnormal abilities of a titan. A test of the abilities by cutting the flesh on the hand has proven this theory. Accelerated healing had occurred with no scarring present. No further examination is required on the medical aspects. Further experimentation required to explore the capabilities of a titan.

After the examination, it was starting to get late and stomachs were growling. Lana was brought back into the mess hall, only this time it was filled with Survey Corps members. There were many present who were recovering, calmly trying to enjoy what meal they were able to have.

As Lana and Levi walked further into the room, Lana could hear her name being called. She searched around the room before finding Eren waving his hand. Glad to see that he was in a stable condition, Lana was about to approach him. He sat a table with a few others who appeared to be close to his age. The room fell silent as everyone realized that she was in the room. She stopped in her tracks the moment things went quiet. Once again all eyes were on her. She stood there as some unfriendly faces were there to welcome her. In their eyes, she was still a titan and a stranger.

Eren left his table and approached her without hesitation but was stopped by the girl he sat next to.

"Mikasa let me go," he stated.

Her stern face glared at him as she pulled him back to the table.

"Everyone I have an announcement," Levi called out, "from this day forth, Lana will now be serving under the Survey Corps. Treat her as you would any other soldier. If anyone has anything to say on the matter, you are to bring it up to Commander Erwin or deal with me."

The entire room went back to their meals as chatter could be heard once more. At the table Eren was at sat girl whose blonde hair dangled below her shoulders. She stared at the new woman from across the room until her gaze was broken.

"Krista, you're soup is going to get cold," a dark haired woman said as she placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"I feel bad for her Ymir. I don't understand how someone who has gone through what she has can still stand to live."

"What are you talking about?" a bald headed boy asked as he took a bite out of his bread.

"She loses everything, is forced to live out in a land filled with death and despair in search of a new home, only to find us and be shunned by everyone. It's just not right!" she said as she watched Lana and Levi sit down at a table with their food.

"She isn't shunned by everyone, she's with Captain Levi!" said a girl shoving a piece of bread in her mouth.

Everyone at the table stared at her in disbelief to what she had just said.

"Captain Levi was instructed to keep her under watch probably," replied the boy with a slightly elongated face and darker colored undercut to his hair.

"Besides, I don't think that the entire time they've been sitting there they've even said a word to each other," the bald headed boy stated.

"Connie is right, I think they've just been sitting there in complete silence this whole time." Eren responded with a bit of worry in his voice.

"We'll…I'm going to end it!" Krista proclaimed as she stood up from the table.

She looked back at Lana and Levi and then back at her hands as she clenched them into fists. She gained composer and walked towards them. With some hesitation, she approached the table. Lana and Levi both looked up from their bowls to see a nervous girl standing before them. She kept her head down and fists clenched.

"MY NAME IS KRISTA LENZ AND I JUST CAME HERE TO WELCOME YOU TO THE SURVEY CORPS AND TO SAY THAT I THINK YOU'RE REALLY PRETTY!" she shouted as she kept her head down.

The entire room fell silent once again. Everyone at the table she once sat at were in a complete shock at what they just saw. Levi leaned back in his chair and watched for Lana's response. Lana put her spoon back into the bowl. In a brief moment she saw how calm the girl was but she still had a slight tremble of fear residing within the twitches of her fingers. She began to realize the meaning behind what Levi was saying. Yes the world could be cruel, but in all the bloodshed and tears lies a flower. She considered maybe trying one more time. Lana smiled and quickly started to laugh out loud. Her heartfelt laugh was enough to make the embarrassed Krista finally look up.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE THE MOST ADORABLE PERSON EVER!" Lana shouted in response.

Levi had gotten up to grab another piece of bread. A small smile appeared on Krista's face as her cheeks continued to glow red. Ymir stood up from the table and quickly walked over. The rest of the table responded and did the same. Each one stood behind the little Krista.

"Lana, welcome. I am Ymir," Ymir said as her intimidating eyes made contact with Lana's.

"My name is Sasha Blouse… and I was…wondering…if you're….going to eat that bread," a girl with long brown hair said as she crouched down to the table and stared down at the bread. Lana chuckled and pushed it towards the girl who was not hesitant to snatch it and chomp down on it.

"Hey, I want to apologize for yesterday," said the boy with blonde hair. "My name is Armin Arlert and I really am sorry for grabbing your face like that. I just wanted to be sure," he said holding out his hand.

"I understand, you had to do what you needed. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for you I might not even be sitting here," Lana replied to return the hand shake.

Each one standing in front of the table introduced themselves. The boy with the darker colored undercut to his hair called himself Jean Kirstein, the bald headed boy Connie Springer. A taller skinner boy introduced himself as Bertolt Hoover and the larger built blonde boy said his name was Reiner Braun. However, one darker haired girl hid her face slightly behind a red scarf. She was the one Eren called Mikasa. She didn't make eye contact at all and remained behind Eren keeping a cold shoulder towards her.

Lana felt that this young girl saw her still as a threat like some of the others in the room. However she wanted to break down that barrier and try to establish a connection.

"I'm sorry I don't think I caught your name miss," she said trying to coax her to join in.

Her fierce eyes glared at her. They were filled with a form of hatred almost. Something about this girl was unsettling.

"Mikasa Ackerman of the 104th division. She trained alongside the recruits here before joining the Survey Corps. She already has an outstanding kill rate, which is no surprise for her natural talent," said Levi sitting back down as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Impressive. Well Mikasa, I hope you and I can become friends one day," Lana replied with a smile.

"Tch", was the sound Mikasa made as she looked away.

Lana blew off Mikasa right away and stretched her arms out. She ran her fingers through her long clean hair and placed her hands behind her head.

Krista wanted to make Lana feel more welcomed amongst the group. After their introductions she wanted to take it a step further and try to make her feel more comfortable. In her eyes, there was one thing that she knew how to do that would be suited for the situation.

"Ummm, can I….braid your hair?" Krista asked nervously.

The question took Lana by surprise, but in excitement she quickly said yes. Lana wasn't as used to having a longer hair length that she has now and believed that a simple braid in her hair would make her upcoming training a lot easier.

The eager little Krista quickly sat behind Lana as she turned her back towards her. Everyone standing before the table began to grab the rest of their meals and joined Levi and Lana at the table. Krista braided the long hair as Lana continued to converse herself with her new found comrades. However, something deep down inside of her still wanted to keep her walls up. The young soldiers that sat around her welcomed her warmly into their group just like others have in her past. Her feelings of her past had caused these walls to go up. She wanted the walls to come down, but the pain she has felt before was still there.

Lana looked up at Eren trying to figure out if there could be something he was hiding. It was possible that like her, Eren had some sort of unique past that caused him to be this way. There might be something with the way he talks or moves. She intently stared at the boy sitting across from her trying to piece together what his involvement to her family could even be. In the light of the candles she could see something shine underneath his shirt. Eren was wearing some sort of necklace. Something about that necklace must be important.

Putting everything aside, she wanted to enjoy herself in the moment while she was able to have it. She wanted to get to know these kids better seeing how she was unsure about the amount of time she would have with them. The more she was able to get to know about them, the more information she would be able to gather on what they know about titans and their history. If any of these kids have any sort of information that could help her along her journey, then that would be everything to Lana.

Once Krista had completed the braid, she pulled out the small ribbon from her pocket and used it to tie off the end of Lana's braid.

Once Armin had finished his meal, he began to become more a part of the conversation within the group. Armin began to feel drawn to Lana, but in a different way aside from friendship. He found her to be charming, sweet, and caring. That's when it started to hit him.

"Hey Eren," Armin whispered.

Eren leaned in closer to hear, "Yeah, what is it?"

"Don't you think that Lana kind of…reminds you of someone?"

Eren watched Lana as she started laughing at something Jean had said. Once the braid was tied off, Krista threw Lana's hair over her shoulder and let it drape down her chest. In that moment it hit him.

"Mom," he stammered.

Lana happened to glance over at Eren as he said that not hearing what he had just said. However, the look on his face was of great concern to her.

"Eren, are you ok?" Lana asked as she reached out for him from across the table.

He quickly tried to back away only to cause him to fall out of his seat. The similarities were throwing him through a range of emotions. But he quickly pulled himself back together as Hange came running into the room.

"LLLLLAAAAANNNNNNAAAAA!" They yelled as they nearly ran into the table.

Hange slammed their hands on the table causing a massive bang. Drool began to roll from their mouth as they pulled their hands up to their face in a trembling manner.

"Is your hand really healed from the cut earlier?" they asked.

Everyone at the table aside from Levi had confused expressions on their faces.

"Umm, yeah did….you want to see?" Lana replied holding out her hand towards Hange.

Hange immediately grabbed Lana's hand and pulled her closer causing her to practically fall into Levi's lap.

"Don't you realize that you were there when she broke both of her hands out of the shackles," Levi responded pushing Lana back up causing Hange to let go.

"That's right, both of your hands healed immediately afterwards!" Hange replied in excitement. "Right now, you are coming with me! I need to see it again! I want to see it! I have to see it!" Hange continued to yell. At this point, people were staring at the table over Hange's excitement. Eren sat back onto the table and rolled his eyes. However, relief was upon him knowing that Hange was after Lana and not him this time.

Hange lunged towards Lana disregarding any dishes that remained on the table. The deranged Hange looked up at Lana as she looked towards Levi for help. Levi had no change to his expression and stood up from the table allowing Hange to jump in. Once he stepped away from the table, Hange jumped back up and grabbed Lana by the shoulders. They pulled her out of the seat and practically dragged her out of the room.

"We'll then, she was fun while she lasted," Jean said as he watched Lana being pulled away.