Discoveries

Rain stretched out her arms and yawned. The warm morning sun beat down on her face, doing nothing to help wake her up as she sat upon Flame's back.

"Tired this morning?" Hange asked.

"Yeah." Rain nodded.

"Well, you wouldn't be if you and Levi didn't stay up so late last night sucking each other's faces," Hange said with a smirk.

"Hey! We didn't not stay up late sucking each other's faces," Rain protested, leaning forward to see to the other side of Levi. "We actually got to bed early last night!"

"Going to bed and going to sleep are two different things, Rain, my dear," Oluo said.

"Oh, shut up!" Rain glared at the man from over her shoulder.

"If you two don't separate into different bedrooms we're going to have a little Levi or a little Rain running around pretty soon," Oluo said causing Petra, Gunther, and a few other soldiers around them to chuckle.

Rain turned around more and smirked at the man. "For your information I lost my period shortly after I got it due to a thing called hypothalamic amenorrhea. And that means that the hormones that are produced in the brain and then go down to signal hormones that are produced in the ovary are not produced. Meaning the gonadotropic releasing hormone that's produced, triggers the follicular stimulating hormone, and the luteinizing hormone that are produced in the ovary, that signal doesn't translate to production of estrogen and progesterone, so the woman loses her periods. Some may become irregular initially and then they may stop completely."

Oluo's mouth hung open.

Eld laughed. "She sure showed you!"

"Shut up! I'm not even sure of what she said!" Oluo said.

"Basically when a woman does extreme exercises or, in our case, a job like we do they often lose their period," Eld said. "There have been female soldiers of the Survey Corps that's had this happen to them. And considering how hard Rain works out I'm not surprised this is the case with her as well. It's just the woman's body protecting itself from getting pregnant since the baby wouldn't be able to survive the extreme amount of stress. So if she wanted to have a baby she would have to stop being a soldier and live a normal life."

"How do you know all of that?" Oluo asked.

"When I spend time with a woman I have intelligent conversations," Eld said. "I don't just try and get her into bed."

"Gates open in thirty seconds," Erwin yelled, breaking into their conversation.

"Just shut up already," Oluo said. "Hey, Petra, do you have your period?"

"That's none of your business!" Petra shouted at him before looking to Rain. "You seem rather relaxed about this kind of stuff. Doesn't it bother you?"

"Why would it?" Rain asked. "It's just how women's bodies work. It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"All hands prepare to leave!" Erwin shouted to the soldiers behind him.

"Maybe," Petra said. "But I feel like it's an invasion of privacy."

"And there's nothing wrong with that," Rain said. "I'm this way because that's how Hange helped raised me."

"I see," Petra said glancing at Hange.

"Ah! This is tantalizing!" Hange said gripping her reins hard with a crazy smile.

"She is rather forward," Petra said. She chuckled nervously upon remembering the crazy stuff she has seen Hange do.

"Hey, Levi!" Hange said.

"No," Levi said.

"I haven't said anything yet," Hange said.

"You want me to help you capture a titan, right?" Levi said. "I don't intend to help you with such a hassle. And don't drag Rain into it either."

"Hey! I can make my own decision!" Rain said.

"You going to help her?" Levi looked at Rain.

"I might," Rain said. "She has a good point. We should study them to see what they can offer us."

"You're still not allowed," Levi said. "At least until Erwin gives the okay for us to capture titans."

"Yeah, I know," Rain said. She faced forward and waited for her dad to give the signal to move them all out.

"How about you Mike?" Hange looked at the man but he only looked down. "As always, boring answers from boring men."

"We will now begin the forty ninth expedition beyond the walls!" Erwin announced. "Forward!"

"Let's go, Flame!" Rain tapped her boots on her horse's sides. She rode side by side with Levi's horse as they passed through the gate. The stone tunnel gave them a moment's relief of shade before they broke back out into the warm sunshine.

"Yahoo!"

Rain turned her eyes to Hange when the woman cried out and spurred her horse faster. The eccentric woman sailed passed her dad with a laugh that was bordering on maniacal.

"We should just lock her up in an asylum and get it over with," Gunther said.

"I think the captain would help you with that," Eld said.

"We'd have to get past Rain first," Petra said.

"You know it," Rain said.

"They should just throw you into an asylum with her," Adam said as he rode up beside the group.

"Great," Eld said. "He's back."

"Adam, get back to your squad," Rain said. "That's an order."

"You don't out rank me," Adam said.

Rain rolled her eyes. "Dad should just kick you out of the Survey Corps."

"Or you should be a man and fight your own battles without running to your precious daddy or boyfriend there," Adam said.

"I don't need them to fight my battles," Rain said with a glare. "I just don't think you're worth wasting time on."

"Or you're just too scared to fight me," Adam said.

"Adam, get back to your squad before I kill you," Levi said.

"See? You have no idea how to fight your own battles." Adam smirked while pulling away from the group.

"Why can't a titan just eat him already?" Petra asked.

"We're not lucky enough," Gunther said.

"Don't worry about him," Rain said. "I'll deal with him when the time is right. For now we need to focus on the expedition."

"Yes, ma'am," her squad said.

An hour later a red flash shot through the sky. Seven titans descended upon the Survey Corps. The titans separated the a few squads from the outer areas of the formation. The ones in the middle turned and gathered around them to help take out the titans. Soon the area was filled with the steam of dead titans and the blood of three dead soldiers. Among the living soldiers Adam stood proud of having taken down two titans in a row. He shot a smile over at Rain.

Rain rolled her eyes and turned Flame away from the guy. "What a jerk. How has he not gotten eaten from being so cocky?"

"It's only a matter of time," Levi said.

"The question now is will he be eaten before or after you two come to a head?" Eld said.

"I still don't want to fight him," Rain said. "I hope he gets eaten first."

"Let's go!" Erwin called out.

The soldiers pulled back into formation. Two more titan attacks and a loss of ten soldiers total hit them before finally reaching their destination for the day. On Erwin's command some of the soldiers scattered around the small abandon neighborhood they came decided to use as a base camp to keep an eye out for titans.

"Finally!" Rain jumped off Flame and stretched out.

"I have to use the bathroom," Petra said.

"Same," Rain said.

"I'll come with you," Oluo said.

"No you won't!" Rain and Petra said.

"Babies," Oluo said.

"Take care of your own business," Petra said as she and Rain disappeared around a house. "So how long have you and Adam been going at it like this?"

"Since he arrived at the Survey Corps," Rain said. They women stepped behind some bushes to relieve themselves. "He's just a jerk. Always has been."

"I can tell," Petra said. "In all honestly I'm surprised that the captain hasn't done anything yet to stop him."

"I think he wants to," Rain said. "But murder is still frowned upon even for us soldiers."

"That's true," Petra said.

Rain chuckled before the headed back to their horses. She climbed upon Flame and looked around. "Despite the lingering threat of titan attack, this place is really nice. It would be even better if I could kiss you."

Levi glanced over at her.

"You're just not going to be one for kissing in public," Rain said.

"I've already told you. I'll kiss you when and where I feel like it," Levi said.

"Then kiss me," Rain said.

"I don't feel like it," Levi said turning his eyes back out to the field.

"You're so mean." Rain smiled. A red flare shot through the sky, drawing everyone's eyes. "Figures our break wouldn't last long."

"Squad Leader Hange! You can't go out alone!" a soldier said.

Rain and Levi turned their eyes to the woman just as she mounted her horse.

"Erwin, I'm going ahead!" Hange said spurring her horse forward.

"Hange! Wait!" Erwin said but it was too late. Hange flew passed everyone without stopping. "Levi!"

Levi, Rain, and the squad took off after her. He said, "Rain, your horse is the fastest! Go after her and make sure she doesn't do anything even more stupid than this!"

"Okay!" Rain tapped her boots on Flame's sides. The horse dashed forward, leaving the others behind. Her eyes locked on to Hange's back. The woman and her horse had a head start on her. She wasn't sure if she would catch up to her. Yet, Flame drew closer and closer. "Good girl, Flame! Keep going!" Flame sped up. Her hooves thundered on the ground, kicking up dirt and grass before finally catching up with the rogue woman. "Hange! What do you think you're doing running off alone like that?! You trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Says the one who ran off from her squad!" Hange said. "You should know better by now!"

"Don't lecture me! You know I'm not going to sit back and do nothing when one of my loved one's is in danger!" Rain snapped. "Besides Levi told me to come after you since Flame is the fastest! This is completely stupid! You need back up! Why didn't you wait for us?!"

"Okay, I'm sorry! But I want to really catch this one!" Hange said. "It's a smaller one so it should be easier to catch!"

"Without any equipment other than our ODM gear?!" Rain asked. She glanced up at the titan. It was indeed smaller than the ones they have dealt with today, though it had a rather large head on its shoulders.

"We'll think of something! Let's just get this one to follow us! I'll take the lead! You stay behind him!" Hange said.

"Fine," Rain said with a sigh. "But if we die here I'm going to kill you."

Hange pulled ahead of her. "Come on, big boy! This way!"

Rain kept Flame far enough behind the titan so she wouldn't distract it, but close enough to help Hange if the woman got into any trouble. She watched then as the small titan slam into a tree.

"Hey, you okay?" Hange asked.

Rain watched it stumble around. "Is it an abnormal? Or did it run into that tree by accident?"

The canopy of the trees quickly gave way when they broke out of the tree line. Rain turned to the left and continued to follow after the titan and Hange until a red flare passed in front of the titan. She looked to find Levi was holding his flare out. He said, "Over here, stupid."

"Hey! Don't interfere!" Hange yelled back at him.

"Rain, catch up with her," Levi said. "And don't let her get killed."

"Right!" Rain rushes to catch up with Hange when suddenly the titan stopped chasing her sister. She pulled up to Hange as the titan turned and ran off in another direction. "Hey, where's it going?"

"I'm not sure," Hange said following after the titan. They followed it until it came to a stop in a small round clearing with white flowers and a single tree sitting in the middle. The titan was starting at the single, stand alone tree before it started banging its head on the trunk. Hange dismounted her horse and walked towards the titan. "What? What's going on?"

"Hange," Rain said. "What are you doing?"

"Just stay there." Hange walked closer to the titan, readying her gear to fight. "What are you doing? Is this where you wanted to go?" The titan whipped around and threw a punch at her. She fired her gear and pulled herself to a branch of a tree nearby. "Whoa! Close!"

"Hange!" Rain jumped from her horse. She grabbed her gear and loaded her swords.

"I'm fine." Hange jumped back to the ground. "What? What's going on? I'm listening."

"Got it!" Oluo cried out as he appeared.

"Oluo! Wait!" Hange said.

"What?" Oluo paused. In his hesitation the titan reach out and grabbed him.

"Crap!" Rain rushed forward. She fired her gear, embedding her hook into a tree then pulled herself towards the titan. Suddenly its hand came out of nowhere and slammed into her body. Her body flew backwards until slamming into the tree. The familiar snap of her gear told her it had broken. Her hair loosened, her body crumpled to the ground, the wind completely knocked out of her. Pushing up on her arms, she found the titan swinging at her again. She jumped up, her gear falling off. She landed on the titan's arm and ran up to its shoulder where she launched herself into the air. Snapping out her wings she glided away from the titan. She looked back over her shoulder at the titan just in time to see Levi swing towards it. Steam lifted up into the air. Levi had killed it. She dropped back to the ground; relieved she didn't have to fight as her lungs filled back up with air. Once she as able to breath again, she dropped down to her knees.

"No! He could have been a precious test subject!" Hange's voice cried out in despair.

Her eyes lifted to look at the woman but stopped when she saw Gunther, Eld, and Petra staring at her in shock. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Then a smooth strain of her hair fell against her cheek. Her blood turned ice cold. Her trembling hand reached up and touched her visible horns. Her wings flinched reminding her she has used them. A curse flew out of her mouth. "I…it's not…"

"What's going on?" Eld asked holding up a sword. "Why do you have horns and wings?"

Levi rushed over to Rain and stood between her and their squad. "Don't do anything stupid."

"But she has horns! And wings!" Gunther said.

"Horns?" Oluo asked while joining the group. His eyes landed on the horns on top of Rain's head. "What in all the bless world are you?!"

Petra elbowed him hard. "Way to be tactful, Oluo!"

"Ouch! What?!" Oluo said rubbing his ribs. "We all were thinking the same exact thing! No way this is normal! Normal people don't have horns! Are you some sort of monster that's going to eat us?!"

"Yeah, but we weren't going to be that rude in asking about it!" Gunther said.

"Answer me now, Rain!" Oluo said. "What the heck are you?!"

"Just tell us what's going on!" Petra said. "Are you really our friend or not?!"

Rain dropped her eyes down to the ground. Her heart and head pounded inside of her. Her stomach spun with the force of a tornado. She tried to figure out how to talk to them about this, but the only thing that came to her mind was to run. She tried to. But she couldn't. Her body was frozen in place with all of their eyes staring right at her.

"If he had been captured…humanity could have taken a step forward," Hange said.

"Shut up, moron!" Levi stomped away from Rain and grabbed Hange by the front of her cape. He pulled the woman to his face. "Don't you even realize what you've done?! You've caused Rain's secrets to be revealed! I don't care if you want to end up as titan feces, but don't pull her or anyone of us down with you!"

"Titans don't defecate," Hange said after a pause. "They don't have digestive systems, after all."

Levi shoved her back to the ground and walked over to Rain. "You all right?" When she didn't reply he placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a little shake. "Rain, talk to me."

Rain blinked and looked up at him. Tears gathered at the corner of her eyes. She whispered, "They know."

"I know." Levi nodded. "But we knew this would be a possibility. Just because they know doesn't mean they're going to hate or hurt you."

Rain placed her hands over his wrists with a nod. "I know. I'm just a bit scared."

Levi nodded back. "I won't let them hurt you. Let's stand up now."

"Okay." Rain allowed Levi to take her hands and pull her to her feet. With a slow exhale she turned to face the squad. They were all still staring at her, their eyes full of shock, betrayal, and confusion.

"Rain, you want to tell us what's going on?" Eld asked carefully.

"I guess I don't have much choice now," Rain said. She paused, wiping her sweaty palms on her pants. "First of all, I am human. I'm not some form of monster that's going to eat you all."

"That's good to know," Oluo said earning another elbow from Petra.

With a heavy sigh, Rain undid her hair completely then spread out her wings. She bit back a flinch when everyone gasped. "I have no idea why I have these. I just do. And in addition to them my eyes can glow red and I can shoot some kind of beam from my mouth."

"Are you serious?" Eld asked.

Rain nodded.

"I've been testing Rain on these extremities but haven't found a reason to why she has them," Hange said. "She appears to have been born with them."

"This is amazing," Petra said. She stepped closer to the Rain and looked at the black and red wings. "You can fly?"

"I can only glide," Rain said.

"How is it possible your eyes can glow red?" Gunther asked.

"We're not sure," Hange said. "But it appears to happen most when Rain is under a lot of stress or during heightened emotions." She glanced at Rain. "Though it doesn't always happen. As you can see she's under plenty of stress right now but nothing's happening."

"Does that have something to do with the way you two walked away from me in the cathedral?" Petra asked.

"Yeah." Rain nodded. "My emotions got out of control when you grabbed onto Levi. He saw my eyes were red and took me away from you so you wouldn't notice them."

"I see," Petra said.

"Who all knows about this?" Eld asked.

"Besides you all here my dad and Mike are the only ones that know," Rain said.

"So this is why you're socially awkward," Oluo said.

Rain nodded. "Dad knew what would happen if people were to find out about all of this. So I kept to myself because of all of this, especially after a boy learned about my horns when I was a kid. Luckily, no one believed him, not even his parents."

"Have you really always had them?" Petra asked.

"As far as I know." Rain nodded. "Like I've said before, my dad found me out here. My horns were broken and so was one of my wings. Since I don't remember anything before that I very well could have been born with them." A silent pause past between them. She looked up at them. "So that's it? You're not going to run away from me screaming?"

"Why would we?" Eld asked. "Did you really think so low of us that we would hate you?"

"Maybe," Rain mumbled. "I'm not normal. People fear what's abnormal." With a shiver, she wrapped her arms around her body. "I'm abnormal."

"But you're still you," Petra said.

Rain lifted her eyes up to the woman when her hands landed on her shoulders. She then looked to the guys who had moved closer and were smiling.

"She's right, Rain," Eld said. "We know you. We know you're not a monster."

"And if I hurt you? As we told you, I can't control my abilities at times," Rain said.

"We all lose control from time to time," Gunther said. "We still trust you. And we do wish that you have trusted a little bit more to tell us about this." He elbowed Oluo. "Right!"

"Uh, yeah," Oluo said. "I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it. I was just shocked."

"No. I'm sorry," Rain said dropping her eyes back to the ground.

"We better regroup with the others," Hange said. She stepped up to Rain and wrapped her hair back around her horns. "Erwin will want to know all about this."

"What about those markings on your horns?" Gunther asked.

"We think they might be some form of writing but we're not sure," Rain said. "Let's go. We can talk more later."

The group turned but stopped when Petra said, "Huh? Captain?"

"What?" Levi asked.

"Is…is that a titan's doing? It can't be. It's impossible," Petra said.

"What are you talking about?" Levi asked.

Petra pointed to the tree the titan was hitting his head against. Everyone turned their eyes to the tree. There was a large hole inside. And inside of that hole was a body, or a skeleton still clothed.

Hange climbed up to the hole and looked inside of it. "The armband of the thirty fourth expedition. A soldier who died a year ago. Name is I…Ilse Langnar. I can't believe a titan would do something like this."

Rain turned her eyes to Levi when he bent down and picked something up off the ground. She looked over his shoulder and read the pages with him as he flipped through them. "What?! It can't be!"

"Rain? Levi? What is it?" Hange climbed down from the tree.

"What Ilse Langar achieved," Levi said.

"She actually communicated with a titan," Rain said.

"What?!" Hange snatched the book from Levi's hand and flipped through it. "This is amazing!" She bolted for her horse and jumped on. "Let's go!"

"There she goes again," Oluo said. "At least this time she's not chasing after a titan."

"Titans can still appear," Levi said. "Let's mount up."

"Yes, sir," the squad said before returning to their horses.

"You okay?" Levi asked.

"I'm not really sure," Rain said. "They really don't seem to mind that I'm different."

"You know everyone won't fear you," Levi said.

"Maybe," Rain said.

Levi placed his hand on her head, avoiding her horns. "Get on your horse. We'll talk about this later."

"Right," Rain said. She whistled for Flame then climbed up on her. She rode silently beside Levi as they made their way back to their base. Her dad was waiting for them when they returned.

"Erwin!" Hange said waving the book as they approached them. "You're not going to believe this!"

"Calm down. The news isn't going to go anywhere," Levi said. He dismounted. "We should speak about this in private."

"Sure." Erwin nodded then led Levi, Rain, and Hange into the command center tent. "So what happened?"
"They know," Rain said. "My hair came loose in the battle with the titan when it knocked me against a tree. I ended up using my wings to escape as well."

"It was my fault," Hange said. "If I hadn't gotten so insistent on catching that titan this wouldn't have happened. Rain could have gotten hurt because of me."

"Enough self pity," Levi said. "What's done is done. We have more pressing matters to attend."

"What do they think of Rain now?" Erwin asked.

"They don't seem to care," Levi said. "They're of course shocked about it. But they seem to pose no threat to her."

"I see," Erwin said. "And what do you think of all this Rain?"

"I'm not really sure what to think," Rain said. "My head feels a bit clouded right now."

"Understandable," Erwin said. "Why don't you and Levi take a break? I need to speak with Hange."

"All right," Rain said. She turned and followed Levi outside then followed him around a few of the buildings where they could have some privacy. "This is insane. I think I'm going to be sick."

Levi crossed his arms and leaned back against a tree. "At least it's out now. And you know they're not going to tell anyone."

"I can't help but wonder," Rain said.

"You still don't trust them," Levi said.

Rain looked at them. "I do trust them. I just know how humans can be."

"They won't betray you," Levi said. "I'll kill them if they do."

With a small smile, Rain walked over to Levi. When he lowered his arms she leaned into his chest and his warmth. "I'm glad you're with me."

Levi wrapped his arms around her waist. "And I'm not going anywhere."

"Good." Rain leaned forward and captured his lips.

Rain sighed as she watched Hange from a crack in the door of her workroom. Hange had locked herself in her room a few days ago when they got back from their expedition. She knew Hange was working on a plan to try and get her dad to allow her to capture a titan. She closed the door and walked away. Everything that happened on this expedition really threw them all for a loop. She agreed that they needed to capture a titan alive. And she knew that Hange would be able to do that if she just had the proper back up. And there was only one way she could get that. Rain headed up the stairs and into her dad's office. Like usual he was sitting at his desk. "Daddy, can we talk?"

"About what?" Erwin looked up from his papers.

"About Hange," Rain said. "I think you should let her capture a titan."

"After what she did?" Erwin asked.

"You know she didn't mean it," Rain said. "And after what we found out in Langnar's journal, it seems like that would be the next step in moving forward."

"I see you've put a lot of thought into this," Erwin said.

"Some," Rain said. "I know Hange. She wants as much information on the titans as you do. How can we get that if we do nothing but kill them?"

"Understandable, but giving this to Hange will only reward her for making a very stupid mistake," Erwin said.

"So you're not going to do it." Rain dropped her eyes to his desk.

"I never said that," Erwin said.

"Then what?" Rain looked back at him.

"I'll have to think about it for a while," Erwin said.

"Why bother?" Levi said entering into the room. "We know you're going to let her do it. Like Rain said, capturing one will move us forward. And there's no one better to do that then Hange."

"I guess so." Erwin smiled.

"So you'll do it?" Rain asked.

"I suppose so," Erwin said.

"That's great! Hange will be thrilled!" Rain said.

"Not that that's settle, let's get going," Levi said.

"Where are you two off to?" Erwin asked.

"We're going to gather up some supplies to go on a camp out with the squad," Levi said.

"It's kind of a wind down from my secrets being revealed to them," Rain said. "We just want to spend some time together without anyone around since we have a few days off," Rain said.

"Is see," Erwin said. "Well, have fun then."

"Thanks, Dad." Rain waved to him as she and Levi left the room. "See you later."

"Seems like we're getting a lot of stuff for a two night sleep out," Rain said. She ran her eyes over the packs that Oluo and Petra were carrying on their backs.

"You're right," Levi said. "We should just leave them here and us two only go out."

"Very tempting," Rain said squeezing his hand. "But this was their idea. We can't just abandon them."

"We can," Levi said.

"Maybe some other time." Rain kissed his cheek.

"Aren't we done yet?" Oluo asked. "I'm tired of shopping."

"Will you quite whining?" Petra asked taking their purchase from the merchant. "We're almost done."

"About time, Uh, Squad Leader Hanji," Oluo said.

"What about Hange?" Rain asked.

"I just saw her," Oluo said. "We should go after her. I need to apologize for my actions out on the mission."

"Levi?" Rain looked at him.

"Fine," Levi said. They left the store and followed after Hange.

"Where do you think she's going?" Petra asked as they walked alone a quieter path.

"If I know Hange, she's taking Langnar's journal back to her family," Rain said.

"Oh." Petra lowered her eyes to the ground. They followed Hange until she disappeared into a house. "Guess we wait until she's done."

Levi huffed and leaned against the wall.

Rain stepped closer to him and slipped her hand into his. "You'll survive a little wait."

"Shut up," Levi said.

"I'm sure it won't take her very long," Rain said. As she thought, Hange came back out of the building about fifteen minutes later.

"You guys have an odd habit of following me around," Hange said upon finding them standing there.

"About before," Oluo said. "I'm sorry. If I hadn't messed up, we could have captured him. If so, it would have been a benefit to humanity. In that case, my life is a cheap-"

Hange grabbed him and pulled him to her face. "No. I'm the one who needs to apologize. I almost got you and Rain killed. I'm sorry. But never again say your life is a cheap thing. Alright?"

"Uh, Hange?" Rain said. "You're choking him."

Hange drops him. "Ah! Are you okay?! Oluo?!"

"All well," Petra said staring down at Oluo. "I never like him anyway."

"Hey!" Oluo protested.

"Let's go." Petra walked off with the others following.

Oluo jumped up and followed them too.

"Oh yeah. Erwin has given the go-ahead," Levi said a few minutes later.

"Yahoo!" Hange cheered. "Let's get started!"

"I will never get use to her," Oluo said.

"This is so amazing!" Petra exclaimed while looking up at the starry sky above. "The stars are so bright and full!"

Rain looked at Levi, who was looking at the stars too, wondering if this was bringing back memories of his friends. The crackling fire lit up his features, giving him a softer look. She scooted closer to him.

"I think this was a good idea," Eld said leaning back against the log behind him. "It's nice to get away. Next time we'll have to do this for a few more days and go fishing."

"That does sound like fun." Gunther stretched out on the ground. "Have you gotten use to us knowing your secrets?"

"I guess so," Rain said.

"Are you going to tell your other friends about them?" Petra asked while putting another log on the fire.

"I'm not really sure," Rain said. "I probably should tell them."

"Hey! I know!" Petra clapped her hands together. "Why don't I teach you how to cook?"

"Huh?" Rain's shoulders dropped. "Where did that come from?"

"Come on. It'll be fun," Petra said. "You haven't had the chance to learn. You're going to want to cook for Levi one day."

"I think I'll pass," Rain said.

"Not going to happen." Petra grabbed Rain's arm and pulled her to her feet.

"Hey! I don't want to!" Rain protested. "Levi! A little help here!"

Levi closed his eyes and took a drink of his tea.

"Thanks a lot!" Rain snapped. The boys laughed at her predicament. She glared at them.

"It'll be fun," Petra said. "We're making vegetable stew. It's an easy dish."

"Yeah right," Rain said.

"Why don't you start with cutting up the vegetables?" Petra handed over a knife.

"Fine." Rain took the knife. "But don't blame me if this turns out horrible."

"It'll be fine," Petra said. "I'll guide you."

"Then it's her fault if you all die of food poison." Rain looked at the guys and pointed at Petra.

"We'll probably die from Petra's cooking anyway," Oluo said.

"Shut up!" Petra snapped. "I'll have you know that I'm a great cook!"

"Personal opinion doesn't count," Oluo said.

"You'll see!" Petra said. "My mom taught me how to cook!"

"Then I hope you'll make a wonderful wife for me," Oluo said.

"Shut up!" Petra said.

Rain sighed and picked up a potato. She blinked at it, completely at a loss on what to do.

"Just remove the eyes and chop it into squares," Petra said.

"Right." Rain snipped of the eyes of the potato then started cutting it up. "Okay, now what?"

"Just place it in the pot," Petra said.

Rain picked up the potatoes and dumped them into the pot. "I already hate this."

"You've only cut up a few potatoes," Petra said. "What would you and Levi do if you owned your own house?"

"Who said we would?" Rain asked. "We're soldiers. We'll stay in the Survey Corps until we die."

"While that maybe true, you don't know that for sure," Petra said. "Besides, you still might want to cook for him one day."

"Levi, do you want me to cook for you one day?" Rain asked.

"I don't care," Levi said. "Do as you want."

"See?" Rain said.

"You two are just so pathetic," Petra said.

"They're definitely not normal at all," Gunther said.

"Thank you," Rain said. "Can I stop now?"
"No," Petra said. "You're going to help me cook whether you like it or not."

"I don't like it," Rain said.

"Do it," Petra said.

Rain looked down at their gathered vegetables. She really didn't want to do it yet found herself reaching for a carrot. Grumbling she started pushing the blade through the carrot's body. Once that was cut up she moved on to another then another and another until all of them were cut up. "That was such a pain in the butt."

"It wasn't that bad," Petra said pouring water into the pot.

"It was to," Rain said.

"Next time pretend the vegetables are titans you have to kill," Eld said.

"You couldn't have told me that half an hour ago?" Rain asked with a frown.

"Sorry," Eld said. "But I was enjoying your misery too much."

"Jerk," Rain said.

Eld laughed and winked at her.

"Keep it up and I'll just let a titan eat you the next time we see one," Rain said.

"You will not," Eld said. Standing up he walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulders. "You actually love us."

"Don't push your luck," Rain said. "We might be friends but that doesn't mean I necessarily love you."

"You're so stubborn," Eld said. "It's cute. I bet you were a really cute kid."

"I was not!" Rain said.

"Here add in this salt," Petra said holding up a spoonful of salt.

"I'd rather not," Rain said.

"Come on," Petra said. "Just think of it as another training session."

"This will not make me stronger," Rain said.

"It'll make you smarter," Oluo said.

"Shut up!" Rain kicked out her foot but only managed to clip Oluo's boot. Grumbling she grabbed the spoon and dumped the salt into the pot. "There!"

"Good girl!" Petra said.

"Don't start talking to my like a dog," Rain said. "Only Levi can do that."

"Right," Petra said. "Sorry."

After the group settled down Rain reluctantly took over stirring the stew and adding in a few more spices when Petra told her to. When it was done she plopped back down on the ground beside Levi, a bowl of steaming stew in her hands. She sniffed it. It didn't smell bad. So she took a bite. The spices flooded over her tongue, making her frown. "I over spiced it."

"Well, it's not bad for your first try," Petra said spooning her stew.

"I think it's fine," Eld said. "You're a great cook."

"Flattery will get you no where with me," Rain said.

"I think it's in the middle," Gunther said. "It's not the worst I've had, but it's not the best either."

"That I can believe," Rain said.

"I hate it," Oluo said. "It's too salty. My tongue is sensitive."

"Only because you bite it so much," Petra said causing everyone but Levi to laugh.

"Might as well tell me how bad it is," Rain said turning to Levi.

"It's not bad at all for your first try," Levi said. "Though if we ever did get our own place I'd handle the cooking."

Rain glanced down at her bowl. "Fine by me."

Author's Note: Got to drop back to one chapter a week for a while. Feeling a bit burnt out. And its taking a while getting all the cannon stuff off the manga. After a break and get some of the manga typed out I'll go back to two a week.