A/N: Thank you for all your comments about the story in general as well as those who reached out about my last A/N. My family and are doing alright. Here's the next chapter in our story. I'll try to post a new chapter every Friday but once school starts, all bets are off.

Chapter 25: While She Slept

"Mikasa! Listen to me. You have to hang on." She could hear a female voice calling her, "Mikasa, come back to us." It was so far away that she could barely make out the words. Mikasa withdrew into herself, moving deeper into her mind. She didn't want to wake up. She was fine where she was. She had gone through so much pain and to leave the confines of her mind meant enduring more pain.

In her imaginary world, Mikasa was living on the edge of a meadow. On the south end of the meadow was a forest with great trees and large branches. Its many leaves blocked out the sun, never allowing sunlight to reach the ground. She didn't like the forest. So she always took care to stay on her side of the meadow.

Everything she needed could be found by her home. She had a stone well a few paces from her home. In her backyard was a thriving vegetable garden. She would draw the water she needed for the day at dawn. Most of her mornings were spent tending her garden. During most afternoons, she would go out into the meadow and sleep. Her life, as mandarin as it was, was peaceful. But every once in a while, she would hear a voice on the wind calling her out of the meadow but she didn't want to go. She remembered parts of her life before the meadow and she knew that she did not want that life.

Every once in a while, images from her past would come crashing down on her. She remembered being in the great dark forest, vines wrapped around her body, pinning her to the ground. They suffocated her. Always it was hard to breath. It was hard to think. She only knew one thing for sure, she was a prisoner. Her master would call to her and the vines would make her dance. When she made a mistake, the vines would tighten, plunging splinters into her skin. The vines would coil around her, pushing the air out of her lungs. It would hold her like this until her vision grew dark. Even while, dancing she was never allowed much motion. She hated the man who kept her in captivity, playing with her like a toy. She hated that man. A deep hatred burned within her. As the days of her captivity passed, the hot fire within her turned to ice. She turned her heart into stone. She had too much pain within her and to allow herself to feel was to allow others to injure and abuse her further. One day, she broke free from the vines and she killed the people who had enslaved her. But even after killing her captors, the vines still trailed behind her, once again restricting her motion. People came into the woods and tried to hacked down the vines. But the vines had made their mark and she knew that she could never be whole again. The vines persisted. Always following her, trying to hold her down once more. She ran from the forest and into the meadow. There she stayed, living a solitary life of peace and quiet.

A peaceful lull settled over the Survey Corps. Expeditions were put on hold and interrogations with the captured titan shifter were uneventful. With the discovery of a trafficking ring within the innermost wall, most of the Survey Corps assisted the Military Police with tracking down and arresting any remaining members the trafficking ring. Erwin spent most of his time in the interrogation room. Hanji, along with Armin, cataloged the "old world" items found in the mansion. They found numerous books written before walls came about. They also found strange technology that needed some sort of electrical power source to function. Hanji had Eren run different tests on his abilities. Over the weeks, he gained more and more control over his titan form. Eren, Armin, Levi, and occasionally Hanji, took turns by Mikasa's bedside. Levi spent the most time with her since he wasn't assigned to a particular task. Levi sometimes told her stories. Sometimes he told her what the other members of the Survey Corps were doing. Sometimes he sat beside her, silently contemplating their past.

Levi picked up the book that Armin chose for Mikasa. They took turns reading it to her. It was about a little village. In that village was a young maiden who sold yarn for a living. One day, she found a man, injured by the side of the road. She brought him into her home and nursed him back to health. When he awoke, he thanked her for her kindness. He told her that he was a warrior. His master had died in battle and he was left to wonder the country, disgraced and without a home. The winter months were coming and the weather changed with the season. Unable to travel in the harsh weather, the young woman allowed the solider to stay in her home. As time passed, they fell in love. However, the Maiden did not know the Warrior loved her and the Warrior did not know that the Maiden loved him. She believed that he was suited for a life of adventure, one she could not give if he stayed with her. He believed her too precious to end up with a disgraced knight. She was kind and beautiful. A more suitable match might still be found for her, he thought to himself. And even if she would have him, he still had to avenge his master before he settled down.

Levi opened the book and read aloud "The days passed and her love for him grew. She knew that he would be leaving soon and her heart ached at the thought of losing him. The winter storms had passed and he said that he would leave her in three days time. She knitted him a red scarf and presented it to him on the day of his departure. She pressed it into his hands and said, "I can never give you the life of adventure you once had. But I can give you my heart. Together, we might make an extraordinary life for ourselves. Take this scarf, as a symbol for those you have lost. Once your journey is over, and you have laid your dead to rest, bury this scarf with them. I will look to the Great Bridge at dawn on the first day of summer. I will look for you every day, even until the leaves fall from the trees. If I see that you still wear the scarf, then I will know that you are not ready for the life that I can give. She placed a white strip of cloth in his hand and said, "If the scarf is gone, and this is on your person, then I will know that you are coming home to me."

"I am not the man for you," said the Warrior, "I cannot bring you happiness."

"You have already brought me joy. I know that this life is hard and that it will not always be filled with happiness but there is no one else I would rather spend my life with. Think on this. I will wait for you until the first snow falls. If you have not returned by that time, then I too shall move on."" Levi closed the book and replaced the bookmark.

"The two of them are much like us, I suppose," said Levi, "In our case, you are the traveling warrior."

As the days passed, Mikasa felt the influence on the vines receding deeper into the forest. Day by day, it became easier for her to breath and think. Down the hill form her meadow, she noticed a little village. She did not remember that village being there before but it somehow felt familiar. She could not explain it but she knew a young woman lived in that village and that she waited for her Warrior to return. Mikasa, looked to the village and somehow knew the stories of the people that lived there. Deep in her mind she knew that someone waited for her, just as the Maiden waited for her Warrior.