Mikasa and Armin were sat beside each other, talking quietly. Save for the light from the small fire in front of them, the night held nothing but darkness and the hushed sounds of their conversation. Suddenly, Mikasa stood up, her hand already on the weapon on her hip.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

"Mikasa, it's me," Eren called out.

"Eren," she greeted, the tone of her voice already soft. "What are you doing here?"

Eren's face came into view as he neared the fire. "I heard you two were on sentry duty tonight so I thought I would drop by."

Armin peered at him. "Weren't you supposed to be on kitchen duty tonight?"

Eren's voice sounded deeper against the backdrop of the still night. "I was, until I made a trade with Sasha. She covers for me and she gets half of my dinner tomorrow."

Armin slapped at a mosquito on his arm. "That doesn't seem like a fair trade," he observed.

"She also gets half your dinner."

"What?" Armin yelped.

"And half of Mikasa's too," Eren admitted. Mikasa couldn't help but emit a low groan.

Eren gave his two friends a big smile before they could protest further. "I missed you guys," he admitted. "We barely get to see each other anymore, so I thought that I would take this chance."

Mikasa glanced at Eren. It was true. The past couple of months have seen them pulled into different tasks so that they barely saw each other. Armin had become a valuable intelligence asset for Scouting Legion and was always called to attend confidential meetings. Mikasa was spending a lot of time with Captain Levi, either training with him or assisting him with his duties. Most of Eren's time was spent conducting experiments in the hope that he would learn to control his titan powers better.

As far as back as Mikasa could remember, the three of them spent their days together. But now, she was hard-pressed to recall the last time they were even all in the same room. Mikasa couldn't help but give Eren a small smile. She sat down, tugging at Eren's shirt so he sat down beside her as well. Armin grinned at his friends.

"Do I seem different to you?" Eren suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" Mikasa said.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just different. I feel like things are changing."

Armin stoked the fire, lighting his face into shades of orange. "We've been through a lot, Eren," he observed. "It's inevitable for all of us to change."

"Eren," Mikasa said, sitting beside him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

Eren sighed. "It's just that home seems so far away."

"Maybe that's not a bad thing," Mikasa said quietly.

Armin and Eren turned to face Mikasa. "Mikasa, how can you say that?" Eren said, his voice rising.

Mikasa wouldn't meet their eyes. "It just holds a lot of bad memories, Eren."

Eren's jaw clenched involuntarily, hardening his expression. "I know about bad memories, Mikasa. I was there too." He closed his eyes to rid himself of the picture of his mother's face. "But there were some good parts too, right?"

Mikasa's gaze softened and she took his hand. "Of course, Eren. We were happy."

"Do you guys remember the day before the titan broke the wall?" Armin suddenly said, his voice sounding like it came from far away.

Eren couldn't help but break into a smile. "Yes, it was so hot that we decided to just jump into the river."

Mikasa giggled, "And Armin had the brilliant idea of building a boat."

Armin sheepishly smiled, "I thought it might be good practice for when we reached the ocean."

Eren playfully punched Armin on the shoulder, "Yeah, except that it was more of a raft. A small one at that. We couldn't even get on it."

Armin scratched his head. "I still don't understand what went wrong. It should have worked."

Mikasa gave Armin a reassuring smile. "I'm sure your plan was sound, Armin. The materials we used were pretty flimsy. They were just the wood we used for fire."

Eren burst out laughing. "You should have seen my mother's face when she saw what we did to the firewood. His laughter faded a little as soon as the memory crept up, but he continued, "I thought she was going to get so mad, but she just made me promise to get some more first thing in the morning."

"Yes, except I was the one who actually gathered the firewood. You just slept." Mikasa said, pretending to grumble.

Eren's face brightened up again, "as always."

"As always," Mikasa agreed.

Suddenly Eren stood up. "Let's make a pact," he declared. "Let's promise each other that no matter what happens, no matter how many changes occur, we'll always be there for each other. We'll always be best of friends. We'll return to Shiganshina together."

He put out his hand, "Deal?"

Armin stood up. "We'll always have each other."

Mikasa stood up as well and held both of her friends' hands. "Always."

A few hours later, Eren had nodded off, his head leaning against the trunk of the tree. His breathing was heavy. Mikasa silently watched the moon begin to vanish into the day. She, Armin, and Eren spent most of the night talking, mostly about their memories from childhood.

By her feet, the remnants of the fire they made lay smoldering into ashes. Armin suddenly put his hand on her shoulder. "Duty's almost over," he said, with more than just a hint of weariness on his voice. "Should we wake up Eren?"

Mikasa shook her head. "Let him sleep some more."

"Okay," Armin sighed as he lowered himself to sit down next to her. "This night was nice."

"It was, wasn't it?" Mikasa agreed.

"Yeah," Armin said. "But Eren was right, you know."

"About what?"

"About feeling like things are different," Armin said, looking at her intently. "I feel different myself."

Mikasa didn't say anything, but instead thought about what her friend had just said. "Do you want to return to Shiganshina?"

"No," Armin responded immediately. He let a few seconds pass before speaking again. His voice was gentle, but his gaze was firm. "Do you want to go back?"

"I want to be happy," Mikasa said after a long pause.

Armin didn't said anything and instead looked at the horizon. The first rays of the sun were peeking through. "We all want that Mikasa. But where is that for you? Is it with Eren?"

Mikasa felt her jaw tighten. "That's all I've known," her tone catching.

Armin turned to face her. "That's not true, you know. Mikasa, I worry about you. I don't want you to miss out on the chance to be happy, because you feel like Eren is the only kind of happiness there is."

Mikasa found that she couldn't speak. A memory came flooding back to her. It was a few months ago, and the Scouting Legion was on a mission. From the corner of her eye, she saw Levi walking towards her. Before he could say anything, she said to him, "I needed to save him, Levi," knowing that she was being defensive.

"I know that, Ackerman," Levi said resignedly. "I just needed you to hold on to these." He handed her something small. "We'll need to deliver these to the proper people once we get back within the walls."

She looked down at the crumpled objects in her hands. They were several patches from the uniforms of her fallen comrades, still stained with blood. Did they belong to the soldiers she left behind to get to Eren?"

She felt the Captain's eyes on her. "I know that you've always protected him, Mikasa" he said quietly, "and when you signed up for the Scouting Legion, it was so you can continue protecting him, but we're in the middle of a war, not a personal struggle. I had hoped by now that you would realize that."

She felt the fabric burn through her fingers, causing her eyes to sting. "Yes, Captain. I understand."

When Mikasa looked up, Levi was already gone.

Armin stood up, startling her out of her reverie. "I'm sorry for saying those things, Mikasa," he apologized again. "I think the war is starting to get to me. I just feel like we're all running out of time."

Mikasa stood up, and caught his hand. "No, Armin. We're friends. I trust you, and I know what you mean. I feel the same way sometimes."

"You do?"

"Yes," she said sadly. "We were children when we left Shiganshina. Now, we're not. Whatever shred of innocence we had, well, it's all gone."

"I won't go back, you know," Armin said dejectedly. "To Shiganshina, I mean. If I survive this war, I want to go away. Someplace new. Somewhere far. I want to start fresh."

From the corner, Eren suppressed a soft sigh. He had woken up a while ago, feeling refreshed and happy, but when he heard his friends talking, he felt his heart sink. All he could do was to turn his head, pretending to still be asleep.

It's all gone.

I want to start fresh.

What about him?