Yavena suffered no nightmares that night. When she woke up, it was due to the sunlight creeping through the thin drapes of the lounge and the chirping of a few migrating birds outside the windows. She was warm and comfortable; the latter being a bit of an achievement seeing as she did not normally sleep laying sideways. There was a pillow underneath her head, which perhaps explained why she didn't have a horrible crick in her neck.

Still in a chair next to her was Levi, whose eyes were closed. The book he'd been reading had fallen to the floor at some point, its pages mildly bent. Yavena rose to her feet and grabbed it, taking care to dust it so there would be no dirt upon its covers.

She sighed and looked over to him once more. He seemed peaceful; the slow rise and fall of his chest told her that he was still asleep.

As much as she wished to remain, Yavena was starving. There were the subdued sounds of soldiers in the dining hall, obtaining some breakfast—she took the blanket off of her shoulders and placed it across Levi's lap, tied her hair back so it wouldn't be obvious she hadn't brushed it, and left the lounge.

The dining hall was not too far away. She was able to find it easily; a few people, like Nifa and Lauda, waved at Yavena as she entered. The recruits from the 104th were sitting at a table on the far side of the room. When Yavena glanced over to where the meal was displayed, she was surprised to note that there were eggs along with the usual toast or potatoes.

"Erwin decided to splurge today."

Yavena blinked and looked behind her to see none other than Hange, who was grinning like a madwoman. Before Yavena could say anything, her friend added, "I hope you aren't too mad at me. I forgot I had a report to file and send off with the couriers this morning…"

"Bullshit," said Yavena, though she grinned to show Hange she wasn't mad.

Hange giggled somewhat and, looking mightily pleased with herself, admitted, "Aye, okay, it is. But I couldn't help it. You should've seen him pacing across the foyer all day yesterday, waiting for you and Erwin to come back. I had to do something."

For some reason, the image made another smile appear on Yavena's face. While she knew she'd likely never see these things that Hange was saying, knowing that there were other gestures suggesting Levi cared—even if he kept them from her—was enough.

She and Hange grabbed some of the eggs and toast and sat down together. Hange spent the time speaking about what Moblit and some of the other members of her research team found when they'd taken a trip to Ragako Village.

"There's an immobile Titan there," murmured Hange, her eyebrows furrowed. "Just like what Conny had said. In the midst of all the scattered belongings, we found a family portrait of the Springer household. And the strange thing is… Moblit says the Titan within his house looked scarily like Conny's mother."

Yavena took a pensive bite of her toast, knowing that since Conny wasn't the only one who saw the resemblance, then it was more likely to support a horrifying and gruesome theory… the bread turned sour in her mouth as she swallowed and said, "I think that lends credence to the idea that the citizens of Ragako were turned into the Titans we fought, Hange."

Hange sighed and set down her fork. "Me too."

"So does that mean… all of the Titans that we've fought the last fifteen years… they've all been people, too?"

The light from Hange's face fell away, which surprised Yavena. She would've expected her friend to be over the moon with the new discovery, considering her penchant for Titans… but it seemed this was simply too dark a revelation, even for Hange, who said, "There's no proof. But it's possible."

None of the other soldiers within the dining hall had the same disquiet. Some, of course, were still recuperating from the recent excursion, but they were doing so with friends by their sides. Some were raising their mugs of juice or water in cheers for the fact that the Armored and Colossal Titans were identified and had been driven away. A few were proceeding through the day as always, content to continue living the way they always did.

"Erwin is going to have you overseeing the hardening experiments soon," said Yavena, wishing to change the topic. She picked up her fork and placed a bite of eggs into her mouth. Her eyes almost watered as she tasted them; it had been so long since she had had eggs. She had almost forgotten how soft they could be.

Hange's eyes gleamed at these words; she too had pushed the disturbing news aside, to be dealt with later. Her familiar enthusiasm had returned to her face. "Aye… I'm so excited!"

"Just make sure you don't overwork Eren too hard," said Yavena, realizing how quickly Hange might forget that he was still a human underneath an impressive Titan ability. "We'll need him in top shape at all times, just in case."

"You sound like Erwin," pouted Hange, stabbing at her eggs with her fork.

Yavena shook her head and used all of her willpower to avoid rolling her eyes. She knew that she had grown a lot more cautious within the last number of months, and that it largely stemmed from her trying to take care of her friends. Before meeting Squad Levi or Eren, Yavena would've likely dedicated everything she had to these hardening experiments; the sooner they could plug up Wall Maria, the better.

Now was a different story. If Eren was overworked, that could cause delays. If something else were to go wrong inside the Walls—and knowing the Scout Regiment's consistent stroke of bad luck, Yavena figured this was entirely possible—then he would need to have the strength to fight back.

"Good," said Yavena, after a short pause. "Erwin's never lead us astray."

Not even Hange could argue with that; truly a minor victory in the non-argument at the breakfast table. The two of them sat for a little while longer before Yavena excused herself so she could grab a mug of tea.

"I'll see you at the meeting later today, then," said Hange. She stretched widely and grinned again. "I've got a few reports to send in and research to do, anyway. That damn crystal is taking up all of my time. And I should also check in on Pastor Nick."

Yavena nodded at this, admittedly more interested in the crystal than the priest. But she said nothing, choosing instead to wave as she grabbed a couple of mugs and filled one with green tea, the other with black and a half-spoon of sugar—just as she was about to exit the dining hall, however, something stopped her.

Over at the table where the recruits from the 104th were sitting, Yavena noted that Conny's face was bedecked in shadow. He was holding onto something: a sliver of silver shone from his palm.

She bit the inside of her lip, already knowing what that was.

As she approached the table and carefully set the mugs down, Yavena heard Eren's voice say, "Morning, Yavena. Sleep well?"

Yavena spared him a quick glance and immediately noted the jest in his face. Based on the fact that Armin was smiling brightly, Sasha was looking at her with genuine delight, and Jean too had a glint within his eye, she figured that Eren had not decided to keep his mouth shut.

But she wasn't bothered. If he wanted to tease her, then fine. Yavena was happy, and nothing would take that away from her. "Very," she answered, not bothering to conceal exactly how much truth was in this one word alone.

Eren picked up on this instantly. The knowing expression on his face melted into one of sincerity. "Good. We were up for forever, anyway."

"Are there any orders, Captain?" asked Jean.

"No," said Yavena. "I actually came over here to talk to Conny. Can I pull you away for a second?"

Conny blinked and looked up at her, his hazel eyes remarkably dry, and yet still swimming with emotion. True to Yavena's suspicions, in the palm of his hand sat a silver brooch—one of the exact same that she had received five years ago, after her Aunt Dorothea had perished during the fall of Shiganshina. But he nodded and followed after her as she took a seat on the far side of the table, in a place where they could not be overhead.

Once they were sitting again, Yavena asked, "Did Commander Erwin give you that?" She gestured to the brooch, as if her question wasn't obvious enough.

He nodded again and said in a scratchy voice, "Aye. For my bravery and to symbolize the sympathies of the Scout Regiment… for the loss of my family and friends. Of my home."

There was no bitterness about him, no anger or denial. Only sorrow, and a struggle to find any sort of acceptance. Yavena reached across the table and slapped a comradely hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry about what happened to your village, Conny. Is there anything I can do for you?"

He was quiet for a moment; and then he shook his head. "No. But if you ever see a giant Titan, one covered in fur… maybe seventeen to twenty meters tall… if you ever see it, let me know. Ask it about Ragako. And then kill it."

"A… Titan covered in fur?" Yavena repeated.

"Aye. It looked like a beast. A Beast Titan," he said. His eyes ducked down to the table, perhaps afraid that he sounded insane or unstable. "We saw it at Castle Utgard. You can ask Historia. The Beast Titan was the one that brought all of the others. Everything that happened… the evacuation, the deaths of our officers, what happened to my village. Everything is his fault. I'm sure of it."

His fists clenched with these last few words. Now there was anger; a thirst for vengeance that Yavena was far too familiar with.

She would not attempt to dissuade him from his anger. On the contrary, if his anger gave him a goal, one that he would fight for and stay alive for, she would encourage it. Even so, Yavena found herself saying, "I hope this does not come off as anything except supportive, because my only intention is to aid you. But I may know exactly what anger you are feeling right now, Conny. If we ever see that Beast Titan again… I'll be there with you. And we'll make it pay for what it has done."

Conny took a deep breath, finally looking up at her again. Now there were tears in his eyes—but they accompanied a smile upon his face. He retracted his hand from hers and saluted; a strong, sharp salute unlike any he had ever made before. "Aye, Yavena. We'll make it pay."

She leaned across the table and slapped a hand upon his shoulder before rising again. "I'm sure we'll be seeing it again at some point. But in the meantime… you should rest and recover your strength. Peace is a rare commodity in the Scout Regiment. Grab hold of it while you can."

"I will," he said. Then he too rose from his seat, took a deep breath, and returned to his prior spot at the table with his friends.

Yavena grabbed the two mugs that she had set down and left the dining hall once more, although she couldn't help feeling a tug from somewhere deep in her chest. She knew it was because she was worried about Conny—she hoped that he wouldn't repeat her own mistakes. He needed to begin to grieve… and the upcoming days seemed like a good time to do so.

The four names in her pocket were still there, as they always were now. Yavena could hardly believe how short a time it had been since she had lost them. So much had happened, it felt like it had already been years since they were killed.

It had barely even been a month.

She sighed and stepped back into the lounge, this time to see that Levi was awake, and the book was in his hands again. Noting how engrossed in its pages he seemed, Yavena smiled and placed the mug of black tea upon the table in front of him with the words, "There are eggs at breakfast today. You might want to get some before they're all gone."

Levi looked up at her from above the top of the book and raised an eyebrow. He did not speak, but Yavena figured to know what he was saying anyway: that he was perfectly content right where he was, thank you very much.

"Just wanted to let you know," she said, a lilt in her tone. Then she retook her seat upon the couch from which she'd woken up and proceeded to drink her tea, staring into the hearth. The fire had long since died, its embers snuffed out, but she remembered the flaring warm colors that she'd watched for so many minutes the previous night.

Unfortunately, one thing that Yavena was not able to replicate from the prior evening was that feeling of peace, the one that felt as though it protected her. Something sinister had reached underneath the veil; the chilling possibility that Titans had been people all along…

It seemed so outlandish, and yet—four months ago, the idea of a human wielding the power of a Titan had been too. The world had been so quiet, so secretive, for so long; and within the span of a few months, its secrets were being unraveled layer by layer, piece by piece.

Yavena couldn't help frowning to herself. She had been so riveted by the idea of mystery for so long. After all, wasn't this what she had wanted? To learn about the Titans and the world beyond the Walls, to know where Titans came from and why they hunted humans?

Perhaps her unease was because she had never expected this answer, or for it to be so dark. Perhaps it was because she hadn't been ready to know how very cruel the world could truly be.

People turning into Titans. If it was true, then the Scout Regiment had been killing people all of this time… Yavena had killed seventy-eight all on her own…

There was the slightest shuffle of movement.

Yavena blinked as she noted that Levi had risen from his chair and was now kneeling in front of her. He reached out, placing one hand upon hers, both of which were clutching at the empty mug of tea. He clearly knew that she was troubled over something, but he did not ask any questions. All he did was give her a look; stern, but not unkind. It was a message: to take care of herself.

The edge of his hand brushed the inside of her wrist as he retrieved the mug from her grasp. The smile that appeared on Yavena's face was a wistful one. Upon seeing it, Levi rose to his feet and walked out of the lounge, in the direction of the dining hall.

Her fingers curled slightly around the thin air once he was gone. It had been a simple gesture, but one still full of meaning. She knew that whatever relationship she and Levi now had, it would largely be built on their mutual understanding; the one that, intentional or not, they had been nursing ever since she had been recruited to his squad.

In truth, that was the way she liked it. She and Elias had had the same thing, almost six years ago. Theirs had been a relationship comprised of understanding and respect—and that, to Yavena, was better than any set of empty words.

She sighed and stood again, deciding to go for a walk to clear her head. Her thoughts were a curious combination of dark and light, which only brought about an irritating buzzing in her ears.

Yavena left the lounge in the direction of the courtyard. When she stepped outside, she was greeted by a cool breeze from the east. A few leaves brushed across her shoulders, flitting through the bright sky. It seemed like autumn's way of signaling that soon it would be gone, for winter to replace it.

"A shame," she murmured to herself. It was like she'd never really gotten to appreciate her favorite season at all. With that rather disappointing thought in mind, Yavena began to walk down the steps of the courtyard—

"Oye, Captain Verman!"

At the sound of her name and title, Yavena turned around. It was Hannes, who was being supported by Armin. They had been sitting beside some of the planters within which flowers would grow once it was spring. She was relieved to see that Hannes was sporting a new brace, one made of leather and iron; if her assumptions were correct, he had been testing it out to see if he could walk upon it without struggle.

Each of them waved at her as she approached and, unable to keep a smile from her face, asked, "The Wall Garrison was able to find you a prosthetic then, Hannes?"

"Aye, and it's a springy one!" he replied. Hannes ruffled Armin's blond hair. "Armin here made some adjustments to better tailor my own needs. I should be back in action soon enough, according to Commander Pyxis."

"Not too soon, I hope," Yavena laughed. "You need to rest for a while after this last mission, Hannes."

He scoffed good-naturedly. "Nonsense! I'll be back to blasting those Titans with cannons from atop the Wall before the week is up, just you watch. My only wish is that I'd been able to kill that Titan—the one that had eaten Carla…"

Yavena could only guess that this had been Eren's mother's name. She took a seat next to Hannes upon the planters and crossed her arms, largely for some warmth due to the chill in the air. "You did an admirable job weakening it. And it did end up dead in the end."

"Aye, it did," he said, but he did not sound convinced or comforted.

She glanced sideways at him. There was obviously more to the story than he was admitting. But Yavena would not speak; if Hannes wished to tell it, it would be of his own accord.

Hannes noticed her curious look and sighed. He scratched the back of his head, alternating between glancing at Armin's sad smile and Yavena's look of understanding. After a long period of thought, he said, "When Shiganshina fell five years ago… Carla had been trapped under the debris of some of the Wall. Eren and Mikasa were trying to lift it to save her, and that big-ass Titan was headed their way. I was going to go fight it—kill it. To save all three of them. But… when I looked at it, when I really saw it… I turned around, like a coward. I grabbed the kids and left her to die."

He cleared his throat, his face conspicuously absent of the cheerful light that Yavena had come to expect from him. There was only a dim glow behind his eyes now; a look of disappointment, of a deep-rooted shame.

"You saved them," said Yavena. She did not reach out to put a hand on Hannes's shoulder, like she would've with any of the recruits. There was something different about Hannes—despite the brightness with which he carried himself, at this moment there was an obvious shield around him, guarding him away from anything or anyone else. "Eren and Mikasa would've died without you. We all know they would've stayed, trying to save Carla, until they had been grabbed and eaten."

Armin nodded beside her in agreement. Seeing this, Hannes chuckled. "Aye, they probably would've. Stupid kids… but they've always been brave."

"As have you," said Yavena. She knew now why he was being so hard upon himself. Killing that smiling Titan would've been his own way to redeem himself from his perceived failure five years ago. It would've been his way of apologizing to Carla Jaeger, and maybe even to Eren and Mikasa.

Hannes cleared his throat again and scoffed, saying, "That's kind of you, Captain, but it's not true. Five years ago, I was little more than a drunkard, and a waste of people's taxes. Eren, though… Eren was always talking about the world beyond the Wall, and how humanity needed to fight back against the Titans. Even at ten years old, he was preaching that. It would've been nice to prove to him that I've changed—that now, I'll stand by him every step of the way."

Yavena smiled and looked out over the streets leading towards the courtyard. It seemed that at long last, citizens were allowed to return to Trost District; it had been appropriately cleaned from the attack. Some of the citizens were rebuilding the destroyed houses or market-stands, while others were attempting to resume exactly where they had left off before being evacuated. It was reassuring, to see that people were attempting to bounce back after such chaos.

Then she looked back to Hannes, and her smile deepened. "You already did. You proved it to him when you dove in front of him to protect him from that Titan. You proved it to him when you leapt off to fight it with me. And more than that, Hannes… I think you proved it to yourself. You didn't need to kill the Titan in order to show Eren and Mikasa that you're dedicated to them. In fact, I think it might've been better that Eren was the one who inadvertently killed it—knowing he caused the Titan's death will give him a long awaited closure. You, meanwhile, overcame your past self through your own actions. Eren may sometimes be stupidly reckless, but he is smart. He knows what you've done for him… who you've become."

Yavena was met with a stunned quiet from beside her. She did not look towards the Captain of the Wall Garrison; her eyes were focused upon some of the people in the streets simply walking by, admiring the new Scout Regiment base as they passed. Many of them held loaves of bread in their hands, or other groceries they needed.

It was peaceful… calm. Being within Trost District was not so very different than being within Shiganshina District, when she thought about it. People were always doing the same thing: living the same way with those whom they loved. It had always been that way.

Hannes clapped a hand on Yavena's back with a thump so powerful it almost propelled her off of the planter she was sitting on. He sniffed once and cleared his throat again before saying, "Thank you for that, Captain. It's much appreciated."

"Anytime, Captain," she replied. She grasped his forearm and squeezed it once before letting it go.

"Well, I'm going to take a walk and test out this newfangled brace," said Hannes next. He got to his feet and upon noticing Armin had risen and was about to accompany him, added, "Don't worry about it, kid. I've got to learn how to use this thing on my own if I want to be back on top of the Wall in a few days."

Armin looked as though he wanted to protest before thinking better of it and nodding instead, saying, "Be careful, Hannes."

He nodded and grinned; and then he was off, whistling an off-key tune.

Once he was gone, Yavena sighed and leaned back against the wall, hoping that she wouldn't dirty her uniform from the planters. Casting Armin a sideways glance, she said, "Hannes seems like a good man. I'm glad he seems to be recuperating."

"So are we," replied Armin with a small smile. It was no longer tinged with melancholy. "I think we all know he would've died without you."

Yavena sighed and looked up towards the sky, which was a lovely powder blue with only a few wisps of white clouds drifting ahead. She lay down atop the stone and placed her hands behind her head. "It's possible. But I try not to think too hard on situations like those, because there may come a time where I can't be in the right place at the right time."

She thought back to all of the people she had watched be plucked off of their horses or brought to a Titan's mouth. There had been so many that Yavena had been unable to save, even though she had been able to help a few. She wished she could've done more.

"If you push aside all of your successes, all you'll be left with are your failures. One day, that will overwhelm you."

Yavena tilted her head backwards so she could look at Armin, whose face was young but resolute. A grudging smile appeared on her own as she said, "That's true. I suppose you're right."

A formation of birds flew overhead in the direction of the south. They were little more than black specks from so far away, but Yavena couldn't help noticing that one of them was trailing ever so slightly ahead of the others. For some reason, it reminded her of Eren.

There was a light rustling—and then something blocked Yavena's vision of the sky. She blinked, suddenly realizing it was… a crostata?

She looked back to Armin again; sure enough, he had split a crostata in half and was handing her one of the pieces. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Are you sure, Armin? These are pretty rare…"

"I'm sure. Mikasa already gave me part of hers, so I'm just paying it forward," he answered. Armin lay down on the stone of the planters as well, turning his bright blue eyes to the sky just as she had done.

Yavena grinned and gently grasped the treat. "Thank you. I've always loved these," she said. As she took a bite into it, the unmistakable flavor of strawberries danced across her tongue.

As soon as she realized this, tears sparked her eyes. She held the crostata up to the sky. "Cheers, Gunther. Wish I could share."

She continued to nibble the treat that Armin had so graciously given her, but now there was a heaviness in the air that hadn't been there before. Yavena put her other hand atop the pocket where the four names were hidden and sighed.

"Gunther Schultz, from your squad?" asked Armin.

Yavena nodded, forgetting that since they were both lying down, he probably wasn't able to see it. "Aye. A damn good friend he was. If he were here, I'd have split this with him. He lost a bet a few days before you recruits arrived at the old headquarters and had to give another one of our friends his dessert."

"What was the bet?"

Now she chuckled. If there was an afterlife, Yavena was certain that Gunther, Eld, and Olou would all be howling with laughter at the question. After all, she could no longer deny that Olou had been right in all of his suspicions, loath as she would be to admit it. But Yavena figured she was safe in telling Armin the truth, and so she answered, "In short, they were trying to figure out if I cared for the Captain… and probably vice versa."

"Heh. Eren told me about that, actually."

"Damn it," sighed Yavena, rolling her eyes. "What did he say, exactly?"

While she had no way of seeing Armin's face, she knew that he was smiling. "He said that he hoped things worked out, because he wanted you to be happy."

Yavena arched her head again and looked at him in surprise. "Did he really?"

Armin nodded.

More tears sprung into her eyes, but this time, they had spawned of gratitude. Once again Yavena kept them from trailing down her cheeks. It was both reassuring and heartwarming to know that just as she wanted to look out for Eren, so he was doing the same for her—in his own way.

"Tell me about them," said Armin's voice. He sounded genuinely curious; it did not appear to be a statement made only out of pity.

And so she obliged. Yavena told Armin about how she and Eld would read books in one another's company, and how Olou was always cracking some sort of inappropriate joke. She told him how kind Petra was—kinder than herself for certain—and her love of baking. And she spoke of Gunther's dedication to the cause of the Scout Regiment; his never failing faith in his comrades and his friends.

"You should've listened to Olou and Petra bicker, though," said Yavena with a laugh. She rolled her eyes at the recollection of how constantly they fought. "It's almost worse than Eren and Jean. Or maybe not. I can't say. But it was bad, Armin."

He laughed lightly at this. "It probably wasn't as bad as Eren and Jean. It sounds like Petra and Olou were at least friends. Sometimes I think those other two just hate each other…" This last was said with an exasperated sigh.

Yavena chuckled, unable to help it. "Aye, they were friends… good friends, when it really came down to it. It was obvious to me that Olou loved her. I don't know if Petra noticed, but… I think given more time and communication, they would've been good for each other. Gunther sometimes liked to joke about their future wedding—when neither of them could hear, of course."

The thought of a potential marriage between Olou and Petra should've made her happy, but all Yavena could feel was despair. They had had so much waiting for them… all four of them did. Petra had only been eighteen. Even Eld had only been twenty-four…

Even so, Yavena did not feel on the verge of tears again. Her throat burned, that was true, but her eyes were dry. Talking about her friends again, freely and unrestrained, for the first time since their death… it was hard. But it was also quite helpful as well. It was freeing, in an odd sort of way.

She looked over at Armin, who attentions were still locked on the sky above. There was wonderment within his eyes as he gazed up at the clouds.

"Thanks, Armin," she said quietly. She knew that this had been his way of checking up on her, the way that Yavena had tried to do for the recruits as well.

He did not say anything; all he did was smile.

They spent the next ten to twenty minutes in each other's company. Yavena was grateful that she did not have to speak much more; Armin was a quiet person most of the time, just as she preferred to be. It was easy to pass some of the late morning away by his side, lazily watching the goings-on of the district and of the clouds up ahead.

After a little while, however, Yavena knew that she had to rise and find Erwin for that meeting he wished to hold. Restraining a reluctant sigh, she sat back up and smiled at Armin again. "Sorry to have to leave, but I need to talk to the Commander. It was nice to chat with you."

"You too," Armin said with a wave. He did not make a move to get up from his spot on the planter, which Yavena was lightly jealous of. But she had a meeting to get to, and so she walked back inside the castle, grateful for the opportunity she'd had to speak and relax with a friend.

She wondered whether to ask him about Marco or Reiner or Bertholdt or Ymir the next time she saw him—or anyone else within the 104th, for that matter. It was likely that they were still reeling from the three-sided betrayal. At the same time, Yavena did not wish to be pushy or pry.

Hopefully she had done enough to foster goodwill and establish that she was there to listen. If they wished to speak with her, then they would.

It did not take long to reach the room in which Erwin was taking refuge. When she knocked on the door, no time was wasted before the Commander's voice said, "Come in."

Yavena opened the door to see that Erwin was sitting up in the bed within the room, his torso still wrapped in bandages. However, he was not alone; sitting in two chairs next to him were Levi and Commander Pyxis.

She saluted when she noted the Wall Garrison's leader within the room. Before Yavena could even offer a greeting, however, Pyxis appraised her and approvingly said, "Ah, Captain Verman. I've recently been informed that you saved one of my top soldiers in the recent excursion to retrieve Mr. Jaeger. For that, you have my gratitude."

Keeping her right arm in steady salute, Yavena replied, "Of course, Commander. I'm glad I was able to assist."

Pyxis chuckled and waved her into the room, pulling out another chair so she might be able to sit.

Yavena finally dropped her salute and took the chair. Commander Pyxis had a bowl of what looked to be some sunflower seeds next to him—he held it out to her, and with a quick thanks, she took a small handful.

"How are you feeling, Erwin?" she asked. It looked like his dressings had been changed recently; the bandages were almost pure white, which they had certainly not been during the ride back to Trost District the previous evening.

"My arm is well. I, however, am concerned." Erwin's blue eyes bore into her. "There is still a long way to go until we are able to seal Wall Maria."

Yavena nodded. "True, but I have faith that Eren will learn what he needs to in order to fix the breach. And having Hange assist with the experiments will hopefully make things better."

Erwin smirked, apparently having caught on to the word 'hopefully' that Yavena had included. "To that end, I would like you to help oversee all of her preparations, and to continue keeping an eye on Eren. The three of you will be relocated to a temporary housing situation while the experiments are underway… and you will not be alone."

With this, the Commander turned towards Levi. "I'm putting together a new Squad Levi comprised of you three, Armin Arlelt, Mikasa Ackermann, Jean Kirchstein, Conny Springer, Sasha Braus, and Historia Reiss."

If this surprised Levi at all, he did not show it. He merely nodded and said, "Have they been informed?"

"I leave it to both of you to tell them."

Yavena glanced over to Levi and raised an eyebrow to a minimal degree. He lowered his chin, apparently in acceptance of these new orders. She hoped that this was not just a front that he was putting on; after all, their previous squad still held a close place in each of their memories…

Something else was bothering her with this, however. The six additional members that Erwin had mentioned were all new recruits, and being in Squad Levi with the goal to protect Eren and Historia was likely to be dangerous…

"Commander," she said, hoping her voice didn't sound as uncomfortable as she felt. "Do you think these six members of the Scout Regiment will be able to harness the necessary survival skills, should the squad ever be in a compromising position?"

Erwin chuckled as he perused Yavena's face. Just as she had always been, the Commander was decently gifted in the art of reading another's expression. "I know you are worried for them, Yavena, but each of these recruits has more than proved themselves in the last few days. They all have a unique skill or dedication that will keep them alive. I'm certain of that."

Yavena trusted his judgment, and so she relaxed and leaned back in her chair, popping a few of the sunflower seeds from Commander Pyxis in her mouth. If he was that certain the recruits would stay alive, then… she would have to believe it, too.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"That's Hange," said Levi. "Come in."

The door opened and true to Levi's suspicions, in walked Hange—but she was not alone. Yavena cocked her head sideways in confusion upon seeing that Conny was with her. "Sorry for the interruption, Erwin. I'm glad we came while you're here, Commander Pyxis. This is one of our soldiers."

Conny stepped forward and saluted, though Yavena noted there was a faraway look in his eyes, behind which dread was hiding. "A Scout from the 104th. Conny Springer."

"Conny comes from Ragako village," said Hange.

Pyxis raised an eyebrow at this. With a mildly interested tone, he leaned forward in his chair and said, "Oh? The village the recent Titan invasion originated from?"

Hanged nodded once, a stiff movement. "Aye. Actually, I confirmed with him the findings of our investigation on the village. This only brings further credibility to that hypothesis. Here's the report."

She stepped forth and handed a number of documents to Commander Pyxis, who distributed them to Erwin as well. For a long number of moments, they studied the papers in their hands. Yavena figured to know what was already written in the report, and so she carefully watched their expressions.

Each of the Commanders was quite good at restraining their true emotions, although there were hints as to what they were thinking here and there. A raised eyebrow—a crease in their forehead.

"As you can see," Hange said quietly, once Erwin had set down the papers. "We have a theory that those who were within the village four days ago were not evacuated, but turned into Titans."

Commander Pyxis took a deep breath. "Say again? The Titans responsible for this incident… were the citizens of Ragako?"

"In other words, the true identity of the Titans… is humans?" said Erwin.

Yavena clenched her fists. It seemed like this was the correct conclusion with each passing second. She glanced across the room to see that Levi's eyes had widened, and he looked wary, like a cat forced into a corner.

Hange cleared her throat. "We don't… have proof yet. But we have this."

Conny stepped forward, handing Commander Pyxis a sketch. It was obviously one of him and his family; Yavena's eyes immediately landed upon his mother. She seemed a prim and proper woman with a thin, severe lip and the same hazel eyes as Conny. Accompanying her in the picture was a tall, thin man with a short moustache, Conny himself, and two smaller children: one boy and one girl. Each of them had toothy smiles.

"In the report, you can see that Conny's household was host to an immobile Titan. The similarities between his mother and the Titan in question are… many," said Hange.

Levi hissed through his teeth and stood up from his chair, fists clenched. "So you're telling me… that I've spent all this time and energy running around killing people? Is that right?"

Hange's lips pursed. "I said we don't have proof yet."

But Yavena knew it was unlikely that they would find irrefutable proof. Just as the Scout Regiment had never recovered proof that Annie, Reiner, and Bertholdt were traitors, so they would likely never have proof that humans were being turned into Titans. All they had were their wits and their guts.

"Thank you for bringing us this report," said Erwin, nodding towards Hange and Conny. "We'll continue to look into this hypothesis."

This seemed to be a fairly firm note of dismissal; both Hange and Conny saluted once more and turned to leave. As he turned around, Yavena was saddened to see ghosts swimming past Conny's eyes again. He did not look at her as he left the room.

After the door had clicked shut behind them, Commander Pyxis held a hand to his forehead and groaned, "What a mess. Poor lad, to have to see his own mother turned into one of those monsters…"

No one seemed to have anything to say to this. Yavena was still reeling from the possibility that Titans were humans, and humans were Titans—all she could wonder was if this new revelation turned her into a murderer. And if it did… if there would be any way to redeem herself.

"Well, I'd better return to the remainder of my own troops," said Pyxis next. He offered the bowl of sunflower seeds to each of them once more, but none of the three remaining in the room accepted the offer. "Keep me updated on this hypothesis of yours, Erwin. Something tells me there's more going on here than we can see."

Yavena figured this was very true. She saluted to Commander Pyxis as he walked past her, and then he exited the room as well.

"Erwin."

She glanced towards Levi, whose face was sharper than Yavena had seen in recent memory. His silver eyes narrowed. "Oye. Tell me. The hell you smiling for?"

Her eyes went to Erwin; and there she was able to see why Levi sounded so furious. There was a light to the Commander's face that Yavena would've never expected to see from him. He was not necessarily happy, but fascinated, as though he had just been enlightened.

"It's nothing," said Erwin. He looked up, and then the expression was gone. "It's just… with this, we've taken one more step towards the truth."

Levi scoffed. "Just one step, huh? We'll run out of people before we learn the truth. It's not worth the cost."

Yavena focused on Erwin, who had been looking at her in turn. In that moment, she realized that for a very long time, their goals had been the same. He too had wanted to know the mysteries of the world. He too had been searching for answers for as long as he'd been in the Scout Regiment—and Erwin had been dedicated to the Scouts for even longer than she had.

The difference was that Erwin was still dedicated towards that cause. In a strange, macabre way, his motivation inspired Yavena. Looking into the brightness of Erwin's blue eyes, she knew that she couldn't let herself be thrown by what was discovered. She needed to continue the search, for the sake of humanity.

No matter what those answers might be, she needed to continue to learn. She needed to help unravel the mysteries of the world.

Erwin nodded at her, having seen the same thing in her face as she had with him. Then he turned back to Levi—who was doing what he could to restrain how disturbed he was—and said, "But it is still a step towards the truth. One day, we'll break it down. This wall hiding the truth… will fall."

As Yavena had come to expect from him, Erwin's voice was strong: full of confidence. It still seemed like there was so much work still ahead of them, and yet she could not help but believe him.

So... I've had a few people ask me about possibly writing a chapter from Levi's POV sometime during this story. I thought about it for a long while, and I'm delighted to tell you that I've completed it! I won't tell you exactly where it will fall within the story, but I promise it will make sense once it comes. I'm actually quite happy and proud with it, too, so thank you to all of you guys who encouraged me to give it some thought!

As always, thank you all for your support 3 Big thanks to vain-gl0ry and HeavenlyCondemned for their reviews recently, as always, I'm super appreciative of those! I was kind of going through a rough time the last few weeks thinking about my story and how, despite your wonderful comments, I didn't think it was good enough. I'm feeling a lot better about it now, fortunately. Self-doubt can be a bitch sometimes, but we just gotta keep on going. :)

Have a great day, everyone, and as always, take care of yourselves!