Over the next few weeks [Name] had begun training with others. She had to admit that Bert had been partly right, the others had all improved a lot too and she enjoyed seeing other fighting styles. She felt that it wasn't as fun when she wasn't sparring with Reiner. She was paired with Annie this time and secretly she was dreading it. [Name] was quick and could avoid hits easily but when it came to Annie it was a different story and she was pretty sure she was top of the cadets for had to hand combat. She had witnessed even Reiner being floored by her. Annie wasted no time in getting right into it, using her full force she pushed out her fist aiming for [Name]'s face. She dodged it narrowly by moving her head to the side. "So…" Annie began to talk while they continued to spar, she punched with her left this time and again [Name] dodged it. "Do you think you are improving?" Annie tried to hit her with a right hook this time but [Name] blocked it by holding her arms up close together. "I guess so." This time [Name] tried to punch back, Annie took a step back to avoid it. "Even without training with Reiner?" [Name] continued with her assault and attempted an upper cut which missed "Yeah, he's probably doing better as well." Annie countered her next attack and hit [Name]'s side. "Ouff!" She winced then fixed her stance, Reiner was always telling her not to leave her left side open when she attacked. [Name] winced again and got back into her stance. Annie made a curious face and lashed out again "You just did what Bertolt asked, despite your feelings on the matter? It's not like you to do what you're told" [Name] smirked at her as she tried with her hook again "But it is like me to listen to a friend" Annie smiled, and it took [Name] off guard, she didn't know if she had ever seen her smile. Annie took the opportunity to use a leg sweep and completely knock her off her feet. She winced and rubbed her lower back as she sat on the floor. It was an act of kindness that came from Annie next, she reached her hand out to offer to help [Name] up, she gladly took it. It was the first time she had felt like her and Annie had had a real conversation, even if it didn't last very long. "Thanks" [Name] shone a grateful smile.

"Now you fairies have had a warm up, pick up a rifle and find a new partner!" Shadis cut through everyone's warm ups and several quiet groans corralled around the cadets. Hand to hand combat was bad enough without introducing heavier hitting objects into the mix. [Name] made her way over to the rows of unloaded rifles lined up against the fence of the training field and picked one up. She weighed it in her hands with a sense of dread and then looked around to find a new partner. Deep down [Name] knew who she really wanted to spar with, she could see his broad shoulders not too far down the rows from her. It took almost all of her strength to not ask Reiner to help her train, but reluctantly she pulled her head around to find another partner. "Hey! Sparks what do you say, you and me?" Jean called out to her as he approached her through the crowd of cadets. He wore a wide cocky grin that said 'I'm gonna kick your ass' and [Name] couldn't refuse the challenge. Jean was just pleased to finally get a chance to spar with her as rivals and not enemies "All right my time to shine!" He thrust his fist into the air "Prepare for a butt kicking sparks!"

0nce in the correct stance the two were ready to fight. Fighting with the fire arms was more blocking a wallop than any actual skill. Not being very physically strong [Name] always struggled to land a heavy blow. "I hate this type of practice…" She complained while panting and continuing to block Jean's attacks "We might as well be fighting with clubs…"

"Quit your whining, just because I'm better than you!" Although Jean was being more playful than aggressive, it didn't sit very well with [Name]. If she had been sparring with Reiner, he would have been giving her constant pointers in where to improve. She found her gaze drifting across the field to try and find him briefly to see who he was sparring with. She spotted him on the other side of the grounds with Mikasa, and he even seemed to be struggling. He wore a wide grin and although [Name] couldn't hear him she could tell he was praising her. Without realising it her face changed to that of disappointment. Suddenly she felt like she was never good enough to spar with Reiner to begin with and for some reason that hurt a lot. [Name] had let her guard down and Jean took advantage of the situation. Jean swung the bottom of the rifle and slammed it into [Name]'s abdomen. She was knocked back and keeled over onto the floor coughing and spluttering for air "Oh shit, Sparks?! I didn't think you were that zoned out." [Name]'s only response was several more coughs and breaths followed by a groan. [Name] couldn't remove the idea from her head that she had never been any good to begin with. She didn't bother getting back up on her feet and instead she crossed her legs down on the grass "Sparks. What are you doing." Jean asked in an unamused tone, she looked as if she was about to have a tantrum the way she was sulking. "I know I'm not great at combat training… Jean do you think me training with Reiner all the time was holding him back?" Jean raised an eyebrow and eyed the field until he spotted the 'big brother' of the 104th trainees. When he saw him sparring with Mikasa he realised what was going on and picked up [Name]'s rifle for her "Oh ho ho!" he laughed while holding it out to her "I think little miss sulky over here is jealous."

"No" [Name] snatched her rifle back from him defensively as she got up from the ground frowning at him "It's just what if I was stopping him from reaching his full potential, because he was helping me?" Jean let out a laugh as he got back into a fighting stance "HA! Have you even looked at Reiner? He could fight a cow with nothing but his bare hands and come away with no experience. He's build like the damn wall." [Name] let out a laugh and lifted her rifle above her. She was happy that Jean was trying to make her feel better and he was cheering her up. "I guess you are right about that; I don't think anything can take him down. Besides Annie…"

[Name] was about to begin her assault when a few shouts came from the cadets. "Why the heck did you come flying through the air?!" She heard Eren shout and she lowered her weapon. Mikasa had managed to knock Reiner off his feet and throw him through the air. [Name]'s disappointment came back to her now her point had been proven. She just wasn't good enough to spar with him. She didn't know why that stung so much but something about it made her limbs grow cold and her heart hurt. "Sparks don't take it like that, you saw the way him and Bert were fighting that day. Whatever it is it's bigger than just you sparing with him." Jean reassured her. [Name] decided that was a reasonable argument and put it out of her mind. "Yeah, you are right. Okay Jean, my turn to wind you!" She said with a cocky grin and Jean smirked back at her "I'd like to see you try!" Without any hesitation the pair swung their weapons at each other ferociously and they slammed together with a crash. Each of them pushed their full force upon each other, Jean winning the fight with strength and with a quick jerk to surprise her he lunged forward and knocked [Name] on her behind. He began to celebrate but before he could get so much as a 'hell yeah' out [Name] swung her rifle at his legs, knocking him from his feet. "Hey! That was a dirty blow!" [Name] shrugged with an innocent smile "I always fight dirty. Go hard or go home!" She punched Jean in the arm and they both laughed.

The next evening it had becoming painfully obvious to Reiner that he was being avoided by [Name]. She had panicked when he tried to talk to her that morning and made some excuse about having to go to the stables, but he had seen her moments later heading towards the training field with Eren and Armin. He sat at his table with Bert watching her with what looked to be a quizzical face. [Name] was talking with Armin at his table at the back of the room with Eren and Mikasa. "Okay, what about this one," she pointed to another page in her little book that was flat open on the table. The page she had pointed to had a drawing of a strategic battle plan of a scenario she had thought of. "You've got the wall, the residential district and a breach, assuming it's through the gate. My suggestion would be 2 distraction teams, a few clean up teams in the district near the flank and several other teams making up a vanguard" Armin listened intently taking in the whole scenario and weighed up the options "That sounds okay, but why the distraction teams and what about the breach?" [Name] pointed to the hole in the wall on the diagram she had drawn "That's the problem, with no way to plug the hole, more and more titans will keep entering the area." Armin nodded in agreement and frowned puzzlingly as he viewed the diagram. "I do however have what I think could be a temporary solution…" [Name] continued as she pulled out a pencil and began drawing on the diagram. "If we assume the breach is what, twenty meters high? I think it's possible to close the breach using the wall above the breach."

"What? But how?" Armin inquired and [Name] crossed her arms in triumph "Explosives." She pointed to the new addition to the diagram. "If we lowered enough explosives on a pulley to above the hole, I think we can destroy enough of it gradually to fill the hole beneath it. It would only have to be tall enough to stop them from getting in." Armin smiled in thought "I see how that could work." He began to rub his chin "I have a feeling that rubble and debris won't stop the titans for very long though…"

"Yeah, it might work as a temporary fail safe, to give the residents a decent chance of evacuation, but ultimately you will be left with a slightly larger hole. Damn, I thought I had something there." She cursed herself and frowned. "The amount of explosives needed would probably be unrealistic as well, it was just a thought."

"It's still a good idea, don't put yourself down for it. Even if we couldn't plug the hole, your strategic plan seems sound" Armin smiled widely at her "Only issue would be gas consumption, should probably add a delivery and pick up team to the squads." Eren had been quiet up and till now eyeing the diagram up "Is that… based on Trost?" [Name] tucked a strand of her [H/C] hair behind her ear and nodded "No shame in preparing early. I'm almost positive that this is where the colossal and armoured titan will show up next."

"I still don't know how the colossal titan just disappeared, the armoured titan too. As far as we know they haven't been sighted anywhere right?" Eren asked sitting forward with burning eyes. "As far as we know sure, but you think trainees are gonna be told anything like that though? You do have a point though, the first day you said it just vanished?" Eren nodded and gritted his teeth from the memory. [Name] pulled her hand up to her chin "I wonder why all titans can't do that…"

"Those two seem to be more intelligent though, don't they?" Armin added "Plus they are the only variation from other titans ever seen beside abnormals."

"That means they might not be the only variation out there…" [Name] added with an underlying tone of gloom. There was a long pause before she spoke again "Damn it." She cursed and picked her book back up and began flicking through the pages. When she found the one she was looking for she placed it back on the table. She let out a sad sigh and rested her head on one of her hands. "The further back they chase us, the further we are from finding the ocean."

"Don't lose hope like that Sparks! We are gonna defat the titans, the four of us together!" Eren reassured her, resting a hand on her shoulder. The drill instructor had been watching the group from another part of the mess hall, listening to their conversation.

Marco walked over to the group with his usual big smile on his face "Hey guys" He greeted them politely and turned to address [Name] "Um… now might be a good time to go talk with Reiner. He's been… staring at you really aggressively"

"Aw man... Thank you Marco." [Name] excused herself and made her way over to Annie, Bertolt and Reiner. Reiner watched her approach them "Hey Reiner," She greeted him with a smile as she sat down in front of the three. He had his elbow on the table and rested his head on his fist. "Sparks, what's up?" He asked, sounding as friendly he usually did. "You wanna go for a walk? In fact, you look a little down. You know what will cheer you up?"

"Would it be… that extra personal training I keep offering you?" Reiner smirked cheekily at her and she felt slightly better seeing him back to his usual self. "No~" She sang back at him "But it does involve physical contact." She winked at him and stood up jerking her head towards the door and his smile widened as he got up to follow her out. As she approached the door she began taking her tan jacket off "Hey, c'mon Sparks, at least wait till we are somewhere privet before you show off the goods," Reiner joked in earshot of Jean who raised an eyebrow at the pair leaving. He narrowed his eyes and Marco found himself chuckling at him. He had noticed Jean paying attention to [Name] more often than usual, and couldn't help but take a few guesses why.

Once [Name] and Reiner were outside, [Name] began walking towards the training grounds. "C'mon, it will be better on higher ground." Reiner raised an eyebrow at her but continued to follow beside her. The night sky was clear and not a single cloud obstructed the great orb of the moon or the many stars. "So, what's this physical contact you had in mind?" He asked as they reach their destination. The moon looked much larger from here and the whole area was illuminated with its glow. [Name] threw her jacket on the ground and stepped into a fighting stance. "Let's spar." She said pulling her fists up. Reiner matcher her playful smirk while he removed his own jacket and lay it beside him "Alright Sparks. Let's see how rusty you got while not sparing with me" He pulled up his fists and adjusted his stance "I bet you can't even get one punch to hit me."

"That a challenge, Braun?"

"Damn right it is." Without hesitation Reiner lashed his right fist out, [Name] smoothly dodging it as she had done while sparing with Annie the day before. Reiner tried several more times to hit her but with [Name]'s speed faster than his own, she dodged with ducks, step-backs and head dodges. [Name] took the opportunity to attempt an uppercut. Like usual she had left her left hand side wide open but before Reiner's fist could connect with her side she withdrew quickly and blocked it with her arms. She grunted as she was knocked back and Reiner smiled "Learned not to leave your-self wide open for attacks? Good. Now try that upper cut with the left hand." [Name] tried to get him with a right hook instead and he dodged it, she could feel herself getting angry at the whole situation "We aren't training Reiner; I'm trying to beat you." Reiner left hooked and she blocked it with her arm "Ha! Give it up, you're speedy, not strong. Strength isn't your strength." Reiner grunted as he threw another fist at her. "But how are you supposed to improve your fighting against an opponent you can beat?"

"What? You think you are easy to beat?" [Name] tried to attack his abdomen but he blocked her "Sparks, you are not easy to beat"

"Bullshit, you could take me down anytime you wanted to." She could feel herself getting more and more worked up from her words, angry at herself for being so weak. She gritted her teeth and dodged an incoming attack "Sparks, I can barely hit you. Let's prove it, an all-out fight, no holding back." [Name] was reluctant at first, she was pretty sure she was about to get her assed kicked into next week. "I'm so sure that you can dodge and block my direct attacks, that I'm putting that beautiful body at risk of bruising, so c'mon - come at me with everything you got." Reiner smirked at her and if her face wasn't already red and hot from all the exercise, she wouldn't have been able to hide the blush on her face. Eventually [Name] agreed and soon the pair were in a fast paced frenzy of flying fists. The two of them were panting and sweaty from all the exercise they were getting, beaded droplets clung to their faces. Attack after attack [Name] managed to dodge, only having to block a few with her arms.

She was surprised that Reiner really meant what he had said, the contact that his fist had made with her arms were full force and sure to leave several big purple bruises on them. She didn't like to think of the mark it would make if he landed a hit on her face and it made her even more determined to fight at full strength. She started to notice that after a few minutes, Reiner was slowing down; clearly using all his energy in his attacks. She gritted her teeth as she tried to put all of her strength into an attack. She raised her left arm to block an attack aimed at her head rather than dodge it and using her right hand she pushed her palm as hard as she could into Reiner's face, pushing his chin up, ultimately knocking him back. While he stumbled for balance she slammed a fist into his abdomen, winding him and throwing him to the floor.

He keeled over and coughed for a few seconds and [Name] stood completely stunned at her actions. As Reiner began to pull himself up from the floor she flung her arms into the air "I beat Reiner Brawn! I am good enough to spar with you!" Reiner used the moment to charge straight at her, he grabbed hold of her and swung her over his shoulder "Is that what all this has been about? And here I thought you didn't like me," [Name] poked her head over her shoulder to look at him "I… Um…" She didn't want to bring up Bertolt's involvement, she didn't want to cause any trouble between them. "Yeah, I'm sorry Reiner. I thought I was holding you back because you couldn't improve by fighting me…" Reiner shook his head while he bent down to collect their jackets, still carrying [Name] over his shoulder. "That was stupid" he scolded her "The only reason you couldn't beat me was because you were trying to use strength. See just now you used speed and cunning."

[Name] felt her head and chest heat up with both pride and embarrassment. "Just use those tactics more often and it will be fine, so Sparks…" He placed her down just before they exited the training field "You can spar with me whenever you like." His large hand ruffled her hair and [Name] felt a terrible guilt build up in her chest, Reiner must have been feeling awful. She chewed on her bottom lip, unsure how to make up for avoiding him like that. "Reiner I'm sorry!" She called out suddenly feeling angry and upset with herself, she grabbed onto his arm and held onto it tightly "You aren't mad, are you? I feel really stupid now, you forgive me, right?" She pouted up at him holding even tighter onto his arm. "I uhh…" He found it hard to think when she was holding his arm up against her chest like that. Light blush painted his features that went unnoticed. He smiled at her and reached with his other hand to ruffle her hair again "Yeah. I forgive you."

She smiled back at him and let go of his arm, a happy spring in her step as they walked towards the sleeping quarters. It was getting late and they didn't need Shadis catching them out at that time. As they walked back, still drenched in sweat, [Name] could only imagine the accusations that Mina was going to throw at her and her face heat up. She tried to steal a glance at Reiner and she felt her chest tighten up. He noticed her looking at him and curiously grinned at her "What?" he asked her with a smile and she found her words caught in her throat "Uh...I..." Reiner couldn't help chuckle at her and placed a hand on her shoulder "You okay their Sparks? Didn't knock you around too hard, did I?"

"N-no! I'm fine..."

"Yeah? Well I'm sure you're pretty tired, it's lots of 3DM training tomorrow, your body will need some rest."

"Yeah, sure Reiner," [Name] waved him good bye as she hurried to her quarters "Night!" She called out to him hastily as she tried to hurry away. For some reason she, when she wasn't focused on training with him, she found it becoming more and more difficult to talk to him. She couldn't get what he had said out of her head, or at least the way he had said it. She was suddenly reminded of the joke Connie had made about her horse and she couldn't help but wonder if she had missed something in their conversation, 'Knock you around too much' and 'your body will need some rest' in particular. She couldn't disguise the blush on her face when she entered the girls room, and after dismissing their claims of inappropriate conduct with Reiner, she quickly climbed into bed for the night.

…

The next few months almost returned to normal and Reiner and [Name] began sparing with each other in their free time. It had become a sort of extra training for them and Shadis had no complaints since they were both improving impeccably. Soon Reiner was completely unable to land any hits on her and [Name] could read him better than anyone and know what move was coming next. She wasn't able to beat him very often though and due to her agility, it was often a draw. Reiner would constantly make flirty remarks about a 'tie breaker' held in his quarters but [Name] always told him to shut up and stop messing around. It became noticeable to others that Reiner's flirting towards the others had decreased dramatically. But things carried on how they were for several long and hard months filled with tough training. Everyone pushed themselves to a seemingly impossible limit to be able to use their 3DM gear accurately, and soon enough, titan slaying training stated and even more months passed by. Over a year since their initial enrolment came by quicker than anyone could have imagined, despite the long days of training. It had been constant training and exercise in order to successfully be able to use the 3DM gear, but at last the cadets could adequately fly through the trees and attack the titan dummies with succession. [Name] had never gotten over the feeling of pure joy that ran through her every time she sored through the air feeling the wind on her face. She was heading towards top 10 of the class, although she didn't have a lot of physical strength, her manoeuvrability was unparalleled amongst the cadets. Nobody could swoop down and take out dummies ankles like she did and still be able to propel herself back up into the air in a matter of seconds. Shadis had taken notice in her 3DM gear skills and was impressed by how well she had adapted to using it, it proved to him how determined she was on joining the scouts.

[Name] whizzed through the trees only occasionally getting flashes of her fellow trainees from the corner of her eyes. Those [E/C] orbs scanned the forest floor for her next target, a dummy untouched by the others. "If you think you are getting there before me Sparks you can think again!" Jeans obnoxious voice called out to her from somewhere above her. Tilting her head up she saw him and his wicked grin smiling down at her. This time he thought he had one up over her, she always seemed to beat him to the target. He was at least glad she knew where her strengths were, she fitted better in the area of assist, taking down titans before they had a chance to attack anyone instead of going for their nape. She didn't need to get in the way of anyone going for a 'kill'. [Name] smirked back up at Jean and he raised an eyebrow at her when she slowed and pulled back out from his sight. He tried to turn his head to see where she had gone but couldn't locater her.

Shadis watched amused from the trees as [Name] lifter herself to Jeans altitude and retracted her wires. She propelled herself forward with a small burst of gas and outstretched one of her legs as if taking a step. Her foot made contact with the centre of Jean's back and using him as a stepping stone she pushed herself up and forward in order to gain lead over him. "W-what the-!" Jean exclaimed as he felt himself being pushed down and almost losing his balance. He looked up to [Name] now flying directly in front of him, tongue pushed from her mouth mocking him. All he could do was smirk back at her, she was crafty he would give her that. Although the pair still argued a lot, since they had found a common goal they had managed to get along slightly better, maybe even considering themselves friends when they were in a good mood. This was much to the relief of Marco, who had been worried about them at first. Marco laughed to himself as he watched the pair at a distance. It was moments like these [Name] and Jean seemed to look happiest in each other's company, Marco thought maybe it was because it was something they were both good at and friendly competition was good for training.

After training the cadets were returning their gear to the equipment sheds and everyone seemed to be in a good mood. "Sasha, you're a maniac on that gear!" Connie said with a laugh "I heard you before I could see you." [Name] laughed at the conversation as she logged her equipment back into the gear lockers. She looked over at Marco who was frowning down at his own gear, an unusual expression for him. "What's wrong?" she asked him, and he held up the cylinder that they wore at the back of their belt "I think I dented my gear when I collided with that branch earlier," he pointed to a small indent on the side of his gear and [Name] took it from his hands. She examined it all over and looked at the connecting valves to make sure it didn't affect its performance. "It's only on the outer casing, the internal mechanisms should still be working fine." She smiled as she handed it back and Marco thanked her, it wasn't the first time she had looked over someone's gear for them, she was good with that. "You did pretty good today [Name]," Marco told her with a warm smile "I don't think anyone can keep up with your assist count."

"Next time you want to beat me," [Name] heard Jean as he joined the conversation "maybe don't step on me. I've got a boot shaped bruise in the centre of my back!" [Name] chuckled at him "It's not funny!"

"I saw you smiling at me when I leaped over you, quit moaning" Just as he was about to retaliate Connie slapped his back pretending to be congratulating him. Jean shouted and gritted his teeth at him "You had a pretty good score today Jean!" Connie said though snickers. "Connie you little twerp!" [Name] could only laugh with Marco as Jean chased Connie and the laughing Sasha across the room.

After the long day of hard work, [Name] sat on her bunk with her notebook on her lap as she reached for something to write with. She hadn't written much in it over the past year since she was so busy with training that usually she didn't have time to research the titans. Not to mention the extreme lack of books found around the facility. She had been secretly gathering materials over the year and had successful created a single, crude jar grenade. She wasn't planning on using it of course, it was for educational reasons, hidden below one of the floorboards in the back of the girl's quarters. After a moment of being unable to think of anything to write, she placed her book down and turned her attention to some of the other girls. "Hey, do any of you think anyone has ever survived outside of the wall on their own?" Several of the girls pulled themselves away from what they were doing and looked at [Name] bewildered. "What makes you ask that?" Annie asked in her usual cold tone. "Well I was just thinking of all those stories you hear of people being left behind during scouting missions and being presumed dead. Surely some of those people must have just been separated from the groups, those people must have gotten lost amongst the forest of giant trees and either had to find a way to survive or perish?"

"No one can survive outside the walls. It's swarming with titans, even if people were left behind, they would have been killed within hours." Annie grew board of the conversation and turned back to folding her clothes, [Name] put her head down in thought. "So what if we created a way that gave people a better chance at making it back to the walls?"

"And just how would you do that? They already take horses with them for mobility, what more can you do for them…"

"What we need is a method of evasion from the titans-"

"I don't need anything" Annie butted in "I'm going to join the military police; I don't need to evade anything." [Name] wore a disheartened look on her face "Ah, of course, sorry Annie…" She jumped down from her bunk and slipped her shoes on "I'm gonna go grab some fresh air." Mina popped her head up from her under her bunk "But it's already past curfew?" [Name] shrugged with an apologetic smile and the girls knew there was no way to stop her. She sneaked down the corridor towards the back entrance and slipped out to the stand beneath the dark sky. She let out a sigh as she sat on the step that lead into the building. "Hmm…." She pondered to herself, lifting her hand to hold her chin in thought "A way to evade the titans…" she withdrew her notes again and looked through them. She had accumulated a range of ideas from capture nets to hand cannons, but as she learned more with her training she had to scratch out some ideas. Titans bodies were too hot, so nets wouldn't be able to withstand the heat and hand cannons were completely impractical. "Catapults? Too risky. Grapeshots are used to slow and shells are inaccurate... why hasn't that been improved yet?" she crossed out ideas and scribbled down more, she was grateful for the moonlight. "How can we cause the most damage to them while minimising the risk?"

"A very good question cadet." [Name] flinched and looked beside her to see Shadis stood beside the building, he must have been on his way to check up on them she thought to herself. "I'm sorry, Sir!" She said hastily as she pulled herself back to her feet, almost dropping her not book as she fumbled "I know its past curfew I just wanted some air to think!"

"At ease cadet. I understand your thought process. It's not easy to figure out the titans." There was a sadness that painted over his face that made [Name] remain silent. "I too, once wished I knew the answer to that question. It would have saved many lives. It gives me hope to see you working so hard to find the answers." [Name] smiled softly at the surprisingly soft side to Shaids. She sometimes forgot who he was and what he had been through "Now Cadet, return to your quarters. And don't let me catch you outside after curfew again!" [Name] couldn't help but smile widely as she saluted, gave a 'Yes Sir!' and headed back inside. As scary as he was, [Name] had grown to respect Shadis and was actually very fond of him. Perhaps it was all that time she spent washing the dishes or scrubbing the stables with him shouting at her, or maybe it was just his aggressive 'charm' that she was used to now more than anyone.

The next day Shadis broke the news to the cadets that their training for the next few weeks was going to be an off-site endurance test. "Alright dipshits listen up! You've been here more than a year, but your training has only just begun, it might be chilly here, but you worms don't know cold till you've dragged your sorry butts through the snow for eight hours! You don't know cold until you are forced to build a fire because your life depends on it!"

"The snow?" some people whispered complaints around. It was noticeably chilly around that time of year, but it was never so cold that they couldn't train, the cadets had barely even seen any snow, being the southern division. It quickly became apparent that they would be travelling and many of the cadets felt conflicted about it. During meal time that evening there was little else the cadets spoke about. "This is gonna suck..." Connie moaned as he took a seat beside Marco "Trudging through snow for eight hours? Whose great idea was that."

"Yeah, we know Connie, it sucks. Moaning about it won't change the fact we are going, shut up." Jean scolded him as he tried to enjoy his meal. "Well I think it's a great idea," [Name] told them while not looking away from her notebook. She hadn't stopped writing in it since they had sat down, her bowl of broth lay untouched beside her. "If I'm right, this is the perfect opportunity for me to test some of the ideas I've been working on." Armin happened to overhear from the table beside her and peered over her shoulder to have a look at what she was drawing. The others noticed the worried expression on his face and felt the need to question her "What ideas have you got?" Marco asked politely "We haven't been told much about the exercise."

"Just a few things, things that involve fire, mostly." While [Name] didn't seem concerned by her words a few others did, but didn't say anything, it was her thing after all. "Hey, [Name]," Armin said to get her attention "How did your communication ideas go?" he asked her curiously and she paused what she was doing to flick back a couple of pages. "Not well. Commander Erwin of the scouts already has some form of long distance communication, with flairs I mean. But I was looking at it differently." She handed over her notebook and pointed to a diagram she had drawn. It was of a cannon, most commonly seen mounted on top of the wall "There's no way to contact the scouts once they leave the walls, but what if there was an emergency?" Jean rolled his eyes and tried to zoned out of the conversation. "What kind of emergency?" Armin asked "Like a breach?" [Name] nodded and pointed to her diagram again "The cannons on top of the walls have a three hounded and sixty degree pivot, so they can shoot either side, right? Meaning that theoretically, they could be modified to shoot at a ninety degree angle, with some supporting." For a moment, those listening were convinced that [Name] wanted to shoot cannon balls or explosive shells directly into the air. "What if we could modify a shell to work more like a signal flair, and launch a signal into the air from on top of the wall? It would be seen from a great distance and could maybe even be used to warn the inner walls in advance."

"That's incredible, you came up with a solution to a problem we didn't even know we could have!" Armin praised her, but she didn't look pleased. "It's not good enough though," she said shaking her head "Using a normal cannon like that would cause recoil damage and destroy it, not to mention a risk to the user. Unless an entirely new type of upright cannon was made it would be pretty dumb to damage a working cannon, not to mention the resources needed."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself!" Marco told her "That's a really good idea, don't write it off, it could still be useful." [Name] tried to smile reassuringly, but it was hard to smile when she doubted herself all the time. She found herself scratching out more ideas than she did creating working ones, it was disheartening for her to think she wasn't good enough. "I'm sure whatever ideas you have for the endurance training will be useful." She smiled back at him weakly, but she wasn't convinced. Just before she was about to excuse herself, Jean spoke. "There not bad ideas," he told her, as much as he tried to zone out he found it difficult when she spoke so enthusiastically "you just need experience into how to put them into action. Stop writing things off so early in the game." [Name] hadn't been expecting something like that from Jean of all people, it filled her with a little more confidence. She smiled and held her book close "Thanks, Jean."

"Whatever."

…

The endurance training was beginning to sound like more trouble than it was worth. It had taken several days for them to reach the foot of the mountain they would be training at, and Shadis hadn't been kidding about the cold. [Name] had never seen so much snow in her life and she clung to the fury overcoat tightly as they were directed into the large cabin they had been assigned. With there being limited facilities in those conditions, the cadets had all been split into smaller subsection and taken to different locations, coincidently [Name] seemed to be with many familiar faces. "So, we finally made it, huh." Eren said trying hard not to stutter from the cold. "There's no way I can go through two weeks of this!" Connie protested as the cadets filtered into the cabins large entrance way. "What happened to wanting to build a snow man?" Jean attempted to joke, but the cold had also gotten to him. Mina and Sasha held onto each other tightly for warmth and [Name] had followed closely behind them. "Okay, listen up!" Fortunately, there was an upside this time, their instructor had been replaced for this training by their theory instructor and a survival specialist that worked on sight "You have today to rest, then tomorrow to prepare for your training! I suggest you get the fires lit and find yourselves a bed." He made it obviously that he wasn't sticking around to help, and told them he had other groups to attend to "What about room allocation?" Christa asked before he left, and the instructor raised an eyebrow "You think you get to pick a cosy little room on an expedition? There are no choices in survival, get used to it. If there are any emergencies, the instructor cabin is in the centre of the grounds, I don't want to see anyone there unless it's a life or death situation!" He left swiftly, and everyone looked around dumbfounded "Then, we're on our own?" Marco asked but Mikasa and Annie had already begun moving toward the back of the room towards the hallway. "If titans pushed this far back, you wouldn't be able to pick and choose where you slept." Mikasa said calmly. "I-I'll sort the fire," [Name] said as she placed her equipment bag down and withdrew her gloves. She was shivering so much she had to hold her hands to her mouth and use her breath to warm them before she could do anything. "Not used to the cold, Sparks?" Jean asked, also placing his bag down beside hers. "Not like this... we never really got snow inside the interior." Soon the others began moving to find a bed, or to remove their wet coats. [Name] began digging around in her bag to find some of the supplies she had packed in preparation, but found extras sitting on a table for them. She chewed on her quivering bottom lip and her hands continued to shake while trying to set the kindling on fire. Her fingers were so numb she could barely even hold the match. Jean leaned over to take the matches from her "You aren't going to get anywhere like that, give them here," as he took them his skin brushed against her own and he frowned "Why are you so much colder than everyone else?" he examined her slender fingers and realised they were beginning to turn blue. When he noticed the faint dusting of charcoal on her fingers he gritted his teeth "You idiot! You where writing in that damn book of yours, weren't you?!"

"N-no," she tried to lie, but Jean knew her better than that now. "Do you wanna lose your hands? I can't believe you took your gloves off in this weather." Although he was angry, [Name] could tell that he actually cared. She found it nice to think that he was worried about her. Jean routed around in his bag for a second and took out a pair of badly knitted gloves, then handed them to her. "Put these on, they're dry and will keep your hands warm till I get this lit. [Name] looked at them for a second before she realised where they could have come from "You wrote back to your mom," she said happily and he avoided her gaze "Shut up, just put them on." With no complaints, she fumbled them onto her hands and could already feel her fingers beginning to warm up. "Such an idiot..." Jean mumbled to himself as he started the fire in the fireplace. "Did she post them over for you?" [Name] asked him, now curious about his family and he tried to brush her off "Who cares. Yeah, my mom sent me those stupid gloves." She looked down at her hands and realised how much bigger Jeans hands must have been compared to hers, there was space left at the end of all her fingers. Like the time she had compared their feet during their run. "It's sweet," she said with a soft smile "My mom could never have done something like this." There was a bitterness in her tone and Jean picked up the past tense "She not around?" he asked as poked at the small flame he had made to get it to catch onto the wood. "No, but, she wouldn't have wanted to knit me anything anyway..."

"Not the knitting type?" [Name] shook her head "Not the 'stay at home type'. My dad was the same."

"Oh." Jean felt a little bad about bringing her parents up, he didn't know anything about them and didn't realise they weren't around. [Name] picked up on the sudden awkwardness and offered an explanation "They were MP's," her sentence was simple, but it cleared a lot of fog from Jeans eyes about her. She had her reasons for wanting to be a scout, and he had never really respected that. "I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. They died for nothing, without even trying. The military police are-" She stop herself, realising who she was talking to and chewed on her bottom lip. Jean stared at her silently for a moment before turning back to the fire. He finished getting it going without another word between the pair and soon Marco joined them. "You two should get those wet coats off, the others have lit the other fireplaces, the place should warm up soon." She thanked him and stood up to go find a place to rest for the night, not realising she was taking Jeans gloves with her.

When training started a few days later, nobody had been prepared. After being split up into further smaller groups, each team was taken to a different location by cart and left to find their own way back. [Name] held her hood tightly to prevent the storm from blowing it off her face and she frowned. Her group had been walking for an hour already, following the cart tracks, but the heavy snow had quickly covered them up. "Now what?" Bertolt asked and it took some time for anybody to have an answer "We need to keep moving in one direction, the snow should ease up towards mid day and give us a better chance to get our bearings," [Name] said when no suggestions came up. "Yeah, we can't stop. It's too dangerous," Reiner backer her up. It was important to keep everyone moving and warm in those conditions, they had been warned during their preparation that cadets did occasionally die during this part of training. As if to torment them the wind picked up and [Name] quickly pulled up her scarf to cover her face. She didn't like the cold, and she was disappointed that her squad didn't have Sasha, she was good at tracking. Jean and Marco where also members of their squad, Annie and Mina too. And although Bertolt had been appointed the squad leader, Reiner appeared to be leading the group. They pressed on and after hours of walking they needed a rest, thankfully, the snow had lightened a little like [Name] had predicted and they quickly went about creating a fire to melt the snow for water and to hand put rations. Unfortunately, everything was covered in snow and therefor, wet. "This just isn't taking..." Marco said as he tried to get the kindling to light. They had stopped a couple of times previous to attempt a fire, but nothing seemed to be working. [Name] hadn't come unprepared, but she was a little nervous to step in. "Umm, guys?," she got their attention timidly and they looked at her quizzically. She ducked her hand into her bag and before pulling anything out she smiled uneasily "I can get the fire lit, but you gotta trust me."

"Nope." Jean was the first one to speak out, he didn't even need to see what she had in her hands to know what it was. "If you have brought what I think you have out here with us, you're an idiot." Reluctantly, she withdrew her small glass jar that she had once pilfered from the kitchens. It was hard to see what was actually inside it, but the grey powder was unmistakable gun powder. "Sparks, is that a grenade?!" Reiner asked suddenly and everyone took a step back "Not really... It's more like... I dunno, it just makes a little bang, and a light and... look I'll just show you." She didn't wait for permission and suddenly she threw the small jar at the fire pit they had set up. There was a bang that caused a bright light after the sound of shattered glass and everyone put a hand up to their faces to shield from the explosion. When they looked over however, the fire was lit and burning brightly, a great heat radiating from it, and only a few flaming twigs had bounced away from the pit and lay dying on the snowy ground. Mina looked at her amazed, but [Name] wasn't all that surprised. She could feel a scolding coming on, and before anyone could say anything she explained herself "I made three, just like that, years ago. I used them to blow up the equipment shed in my garden. I knew it was only a small reaction, I thought it might come in handy with the wetness." Jean was about to shout at her for risking something like that, but the others beat him to it "That was pretty risky Sparks," Reiner said with a disapproving look "but, if you hadn't have done that we probably wouldn't have let you try it. So thanks." He smiled at her and she felt her heart flutter for a moment, it always felt nice to receive praise, especially from Reiner. She apologised to the others and hastily began to gather what they needed to melt the snow. With the fire like that they where easily able to light a handful of lanterns for the way back too, it was going to get dark quickly. They didn't stay long, if they had gotten to comfortable around the fire they wouldn't have wanted to continue.

Hours past and Jean noticed that [Name] had been quiet since the fire fiasco, but he didn't think it was exhaustion like everyone else. They had been walking in the cold, wet and now dark snow fall for around seven hours now and nobody had much to say, but he noticed something off with her. "Hey," he said as he walked in step beside her, pulling down his scarf. She looked at him from the corner of her eye confused, and after a moment pulled her own scarf down. "So... um..." Jean realised a little too late that he didn't have a plan, but [Name] took a guess at what he wanted. "Just memories." She told him, trying to sound like she didn't care that much. "About the snow?"

"About the garden shed." Her answer confused him, until he remembered what she had said earlier. "You blew it up you said, that doesn't sound like a bad memory for you?" [Name] chewed on her lip in thought, and Jean found himself watching her face closely. The way she had snow caught in her eyelashes made her look pretty. "I didn't just blow it up for fun... I was nine." Jean laughed, the idea of an angry, little, nine year old [Name] blowing up a shed was an amusing image. His laughter had drawn the attention of Marco who joined them on the other side of [Name]. She smiled weakly at him and she could see how tired he looked when he smiled back. "So, why did you do it?" She smiled bitterly at him and avoided his gaze "To destroy what was in it."

"Okay Sparks, now yours staring to sound a little scary," Jean held his hands up defensively "You said it was an equipment shed?" Marco added, he had heard them earlier.

"It was. My parents used to hide military documents in it."

"Important military documents?" [Name] nodded, she could hear the reluctant in Marco's voice to see her side of the story at this point. "Documents about where Military gear was stored, when it was being moved... things like that." Both guys remained quiet to listen to her story "My parents were selling it."

"What?"

"To the black market, who then auctioned it off to the highest bidder who would then go steal the gear, and sell it, most likely back to the black market, for profit." There was anger in her voice, she hated her parents for things like that. "That doesn't sound like something a pair of MP's would do..." Jean said feeling doubtful but [Name] frowned "Doesn't it? My parents didn't even need the money, they did it so they had an income they could gamble away, like the rest of their money."

"[Name]..." Marco said sympathetically "Sounds like you had it kind of rough." She didn't answer him, and for a long time she stared ahead of her, watching the snow float to the ground. "So, you're sort of a hero. Or a vigilante," Marco said trying to the lighten the mood, but [Name] let out a giggle. "No... I'm really not. About two years after I destroyed the shed I blew up a market stall."

"Was it a front for the black market?" Marco asked hopefully, but she only laughed again. "No, no it was not. Just a regular, old, family-run fruit and veg stall." There was no way she was getting out of that one with out explaining and smiled sadly. "It was owned by a small family, not very rich, but rich enough to live in the interior and sell fruit and veg. I was really good friends with the son, us two kids used to play on the streets of hours, and sometimes I would even help him on the stall when he was looking after it." She took a moment to think about all of her memories and tucked a stray strand of her hair back inside her hood. "I thought I liked this kid, eleven year old crush I suppose, he was actually a little older than me. But, he used to tell me about this girl we both knew, about how her dresses always looked pretty, her long, gorgeous, blonde hair, even the way she spoke he adored. Her family where merchants, a little higher in the chain than him. Her parents made a little more than my parents, but hers didn't gamble it all away, so I... I never had the nice dresses, or the nanny to do my hair..." Jean and Marco could see where the story was going. "One day he told me how he was going to marry that girl, how his family would be better off for it and how much he would love her. It hurt. Because I thought that if my parents were like hers, then I could have been like her, and then maybe, he would have liked me instead. But then I thought, what should it matter if my hair wasn't perfectly curled or that my dress wasn't as pretty? I realised that, he just didn't like me... So, in a fit of anger... I blew up his stall."

There was a long pause where both boys were thinking about her words, when suddenly Jean began laughing and Marco tried to hide a chuckle. "You destroyed an entire market stall because you didn't get the guy?" Jean questioned through his laughter and [Name] felt her face heat up, a welcoming feeling in that weather "Shut up! It wasn't like that!"

"No, I get it," Marco said trying to sound supportive "rejection's pretty tough."

"I... suppose, yeah." [Name] didn't feel like telling them about the wagon she exploded for a book and ducked her head down in embarrassment. "Sounds like you had a temper tantrum," Jean teased her and she looked away from him annoyed "Yeah well, I learnt from it." She said stubbornly. "How to deal with rejection?" Marco asked but she smirked "How to create an explosion the right size to explode just what you want, and nothing else." She smiled widely and both guys had found some energy in talking to her. "You know... I haven't actually told anyone any of that stuff before. I've never had anyone I could tell stuff like that, not just about my parents, all that stuff."

"We're your friends, [Name]," Marco told her with a smile and she felt a tugging in her chest "You can tell us anything, right Jean?" He frowned, reluctant to agree with him, but when his piercing amber eyes met with her own, he felt like he was being too stubborn. "Yeah. We are you're friends." The way that [Name]'s expression changed slightly to his words caused a feeling in his stomach that was unfamiliar. He liked seeing her light up to his words, and after that, the trio stayed close together while they walked to try and get back to the cabins.

At some point along the way, their team met up with Erens. Everyone was exhausted, and everything hurt. After over nine hours of dragging their feet through, what was now, knee high snow, all they wanted to do was get into their cabins, warm up, and sleep. The lights of the training grounds illuminated the snow in in the distance and everyone knew they didn't have far to go. There was no joyful celebration from any of them as they silently dragged their feet towards the end where their instructors where waiting. "Come on! You're almost there, keep it up!" they encouraged the cadets that walked like zombies. The two teams could already see a few others who had made it back before them, but since everybody had been dropped off differently, timing was all that mattered. "Nine hours and twelve minutes, not bad, given the conditions you've been through."

To everybody's dismay, nobody was allowed to retreat indoors until all teams were back and accounted for. Even though they sat beside a large bonfire, it did little to warm them up after what they had been through. [Name] stood next to Marco shivering, in an attempt to warm themselves by the fire. She had however managed to keep her hands warm this time, and not just from not removing her gloves. Underneath the large, military mittens, [Name] had equipped Jeans knitted gloves, to make sure she didn't lose them. She realised that she probably should have given them back for him to wear and felt guilty. She moved over to where he was sat against a fence and took a seat beside him. "I thought we where dead out there," Eren said as he also took a seat, not too far from the fire "Nobody said training would be this cold." As much as [Name] wanted to point out that that was all Shadis had said, she was too cold to care. "Anyone else not feel their legs?" Jean asked and [Name] turned her head to look at him. "Jean, I'm sorry," She said almost too innocently for her usual self "I wore your gloves..." Eren raised an eyebrow at them when She pulled off her mitten to show Jean his mother's knitted glove. ""I-idiot!" he said when he realised the others would see and he tried to pull her mitten back over her hand "Just keep them!"

"What? But they're to big, look my fingers don't even go all the way, and-"

"Shut it!" She stopped talking and pouted at him, she felt bad about keeping them, but at the same time she felt happy too. She returned the mitten to her hand and pulled her knees to her chest to sulk for getting snapped at, she was too cold and tired to snap back this time. Nobody said anything about it, but Jean could tell they wanted to, Connie especially who was making a face at him. But the matter of the fact was that everybody was too cold. "When are they gonna let us in... it's freezing out here!" Connie moaned.

"Hey!" A familiar voice called out to the group and Reiner approached them. "You guys seen Christa?"

"Not for a while," Mikasa said after a moments thought "She was with Daz, and he wasn't doing so good."

"Yeah, well he's not here. Ymir isn't back yet either." Although he sounded like his usual calm self, there was a hint of urgency in his voice. "They're probably mixed in with the last squad" Marco suggested reassuringly but Reiner turned his attention to the entrance of the grounds "That's just it, Thomas was leading the last squad. He said they never saw them." [Name] didn't like how this was sounding and she eyed the flag at the top of the pole, it wasn't looking good, the wind had been picking up ever since they got back. "Oh no," Armin seemed to notice as well "do you think that they're lost?"

"If they get stuck in the incoming snow storm, they're done for..." Connie said less than cheerfully and Eren gritted his teeth " Son of a-" he cursed as he dragged himself to his feet. Mikasa grabbed his arm when he took a step forward "Eren!"

"I have to go back out there and try to find them!" He wasn't the only one who felt that way and [Name] jumped to her feet when she saw the look on Marco's face, he was always ready to help "I'm with you"

"Me too!"

"In the cabin, now!" One of the instructors ordered, but nobody wanted to move. "But Christa is-"

"No. A rescue team will be sent out at first light." Eren was reluctant to stand down "They'll have frozen to death by then!"

"Do you want more people to die?" Nobody wanted to do what they were told, but orders were orders. Another second later the wind picked up again and [Name] turned her head from the wind to shield her face. She prayed that Christa, Ymir and Daz were all okay, the weather wasn't going to make it easy for them.

When they returned inside, nobody felt like eating. [Name] kept looking around and from look on everyone's faces, they were all thinking the same thing. Eventually, cadets began to get up and leave, and when Marco stood she followed him out of the front room. She grabbed his arm "Not without me you don't."

"Or us." They both turned to see that both Sasha and Connie had also left with them, a determine look on their faces. Quickly the group tried to gather a few things to take with them, but Jean blocked their path in the hallway "Oh no you don't, do you know how dangerous this is?"

"Jean, are you not even the least bit worried about Christa and the others?" [Name] frowned at him but his face remained serious "Of course I am! So don't make me worry about you as well." She was taken aback by his words for a moment, as were the others, but she blinked away her confusion "I'm still going! We all are! We can't just leave them out there!" Jean let out a frustrated grown and gritted his teeth "Fine! Then I'm coming with you." She smiled widely at him and hurried to get some things ready. As Connie and Sasha walked past him, they both gave him smarmy grins "Worried about Sparks, are ya Kirstine?" Sasha said but hurried away when his face turned furious "This is your fault," he told Marco annoyed and he tilted his head doubtfully "You know her better than that, Jean. She would go, with or without us." Jean stormed away from him, now aware that he had to put his coat back on to trek through the snow. It quickly became apparent that they were not the only group with the idea. When they finally made it to the entrance way they could see Eren, Mikasa and Armin talking to Reiner and Bertolt "The more eyes in you're search party, the better right?"

"I suppose we should use all the help we can get" Eren admitted and Connie made their presence known "Great, then count us in too."

"Sounds like the storms letting up a little bit, we should be okay" Marco reassured them and Sasha showed off the extra rations she made sure to grab. "We wouldn't leave them out there," [Name] smiled at them but Jean stood stubbornly with his arms crossed avoiding looking at anybody. "You guys too?" Suddenly there was a loud noise that sounded in the distance, like a low rumble and [Name] felt her heart sink at the thought of an avalanche "What was that?" Eren asked and quickly everyone made their way to the doors. After a few seconds of observation, it was Sasha who noticed the light in the distance first "Look! Somebody's coming!" All eyes where now on the strange figure heading towards the grounds, surprisingly, through the field and not on the path. The only reason they could see them was the faint light that illuminated their figure and quickly the instructors where notified. Everyone was surprised to See Ymir, dragging a half dead Daz back through the snow. She told everyone that Christa was just behind her, and she had gone ahead to get Daz back safely. While everyone would have liked to wait for Christa, they were being reprimanded for disobeying orders. "I'm very disappointed in you all, Instructor Shadis will have to hear about this..." that was one sentence nobody wanted to hear. But everything had turned out alright in the end, Daz had been brought back alive, and soon enough Christa made it back too, overjoyed to see that Ymir had made it.

...

The whole ordeal was quickly placed behind them and everyone had been thankful to make it back to the normal training grounds. There was no time to rest and regular training quickly started up again. One afternoon, about a month later, everyone was in the mess. [Name] spotted Armin and was reminded she wanted to talk to him about her ideas she had been working on. Wanting to get another opinion on it, she pulled out her book and flicked through the pages till she found what she was looking for. "Another idea?" Marco asked before spooning more mash into his mouth. "Yeah, I have been working on evading the titans. Assuming they can't smell us of course…" Marco eyed the pages that [Name] pointed to. "It's for scouts that get left beyond the wall, to help them make it back."

"You think it will work?" Marco asked, genuinely interested in her ideas. "I think it has a good chance to, I can refine it when I actually see them, get to see how they act. I have several different ideas but I think this is the best one," [Name] pointed to an illustration she had drawn. It was a horse with some kind of harness underneath it. "It would prevent the horse from running very fast by limiting leg space, but if you hid under the horse I think it could work." Jean let out a doubtful laugh "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard sparks,"

"Well it can be combined with a decoy, only problem is you would need two horses, broken 3DM gear and something like a corpse." No one had noticed that Shadis had entered the room and was listening in behind [Name] and Marco "What about that one?" Marco asked pointing to another "Well that's what I thought about in case the Titans can smell us, it's not cheery but, they don't go for cattle or the horses, so if we smelled like them maybe we could hide from the titans." Marco grimaced "Gross, I know. But I also had a think about types of explosives. If only we had the materials to make more, I think if every scout had a hand explosive large enough to knock the titans back or blow its jaw out, a lot of lives could be saved, solo."

"like a sunder bomb…" Shadis said in thought from behind her making her jump. He was rubbing his chin in thought as he eyed the pages. [Name] was more than embarrassed and had turned red. "Cadet, I have been watching you and your ideas for some time now. I would like to forward these ideas to the scouts, there is a scientific research team working with them who I think would find these ideas… interesting, if not useful."

"I-I um…" [Name] rubbed the back of her neck "R-really? Sir? You think they can make use out of these?"

"You were correct before about them needing refining, but that is not a fault of yours, only a lack of experience. If you write me up a report on these ideas for say... a months time, I will forward them to Squad Leader and Scientist Hanji, I think the scouts will be more than happy to receive these. [Name] beamed and stood up quickly "Y-Yes Sir! I will get that done right away!" With a quick smile towards Marco and Jean, she quickly zipped out of the room to begin the report. "She's certainly eager." Shadis said before exiting the room and Mina took a seat beside Marco. "What was that about?" she asked curiously, and he explained "A month? Ha! Does he know Sparks? She'll have that written up in a week." They shared a laugh and when Jean didn't join the conversation Mina turned her attention towards him. He was staring at the door, the way [Name] had left. "You stare at her a lot," she said bluntly, and Jean recoiled defensively "No I don't!" Mina smiled widely at his reaction and he scowled at her "You mean, [Name]?" Marco asked, and Jean put his fist down aggressively "Shut your mouth, Mina. As if I'd wanna stare at her dumb face all day."

"Then why did you crash during training today?" Mina probed him "I got a bug in my eye."

"Oh? And it wasn't because when she missed her mark, it was Reiner who dragged her out of the air and onto that branch?" Jean gritted his teeth "Or the way she looked at him when he took off again, her face was bright red..."

"I don't know what the hell you think you're getting at, but you better knock it off." His tone was low and aggressive, causing Mina to hold her hands up defensively and leave the table, a cheeky grin plastered to her face. Truthfully, Jean had been watching her a little more than he used to, part of him thought he was just more curious about her than he used to be, there were something like friends now. Ever since she had spent some time talking with him about her parents, he had felt a little closer to her, and he found that strange, considering how much they used to fight. "You know Jean," Marco said putting his spoon down "You do seem happier around [Name] now."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Marco smiled to let Jean know he didn't mean anything by it before he continued "Just... You seem like good friends now. I'm glad." Jean calmed down, he had found himself becoming more and more defensive when it came to [Name] "I guess we are. It's sorta weird, like I'm not over the fact we aren't arguing anymore."

"Like, you miss it?" Jean didn't think he missed the arguing, but he wasn't sure he liked the idea of being friends. "No... It's just, damn it Marco. I was worried about her when she wanted to go off in that snow storm, how am I gonna cope when she becomes a scout?" That was not the answer Marco was expecting and it took him a moment to realise what Jean was saying "I... don't want her to join the scouts..."