Hey everyone! Here's chapter two of the story!
Masquerade
Chapter Two: Graduation
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of AOT, obviously :)
"Are you excited for today?" Marco asked while they inspected Hazel's gear, not to anyone in particular, but Armin looked up nervously at the two.
"Yes, and no. I think it'll be interesting to see how everyone does under pressure."
"Especially Eren and Jean." Hazel snickered and then cleared her throat when she saw the two boys looking at her. "What I mean is, they always get so riled up about everything. I'm excited to see how well they perform."
"And what about yourself? How do you think you're going to do?" Marco asked her and she frowned, thinking.
"Aha, I figured it out! Your wiring is all messed up. Your gas and release buttons are cross wired, so both of them would release gas." Armin cheered and Hazel looked thankfully at him.
"No wonder I wasn't able to stop..." Hazel picked up the gear and looked at the part Armin was talked about and took a mental note. "And honestly, I don't know. I'm worried, because I'm not as great as everyone else. Like how Annie's an amazing fighter, Armin, you're so incredibly intelligent. Jean and Mikasa mastered the ODM gear practically in no time. Eren might be a bit hotheaded but he fights with a purpose-"
"Yeah but you're not completely useless Hazel." Marco looked up at her from his gear, his eyes were reassuring as usual. "You're really swift, and you have great battle planning skills, your accuracy is also pretty much the best that I saw out there the other day. It was crazy." She smiled at him as he spoke. Marco had to have been one of the most genuine and kind people she had ever known. How he was friends with Jean of all people was a mystery to her... She looked down at their gear set-up on the table and looked at Marco's' gear.
"Yikes... how did you get that dent in your gear?" Hazel's eyes widened as she leaned over it.
"Eh... I had a few run ins with trees myself." Marco scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. Hazel lifted it and examined the dents in his gear.
"We can probably buff that out if-"
"Hey guys, Shadis is..." Jean opened the door and saw Armin and Marco and then Hazel with them and cleared his throat. "Shadis is asking for us to get morning chow and then head out for evaluation."
"Thanks Jean." Armin sighed nervously and went to grab his gear from the table. "You should be good to go today, Hazel. No more near death experiences for you."
"For now at least." Jean murmured under his breath and Hazel looked at him, narrowing her eyes. She was about to reply when the door burst open again.
"Hey guys!" Eren walked in with a determined look on his face with Mikasa trailing not too far behind him.
"Oh great, here we go." Jean scoffed and Eren glared at him.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?! I'm surprised you even fit in this tiny room with that big ass head of yours!" Hazel pinched the bridge of her nose as she grabbed her gear to strap on and patted Marco on the shoulder.
"Thank you for all of your help, Marco. I really appreciate it."
Hazel flew through the air, and swung through different parts of the forest, found a few different Titan boards that weren't sliced up. "Here goes nothing!" She pulled out her weapon and sliced through the first Titan like butter, using her gas to lift herself up higher.
"Called it!" Eren flew behind her and she let herself fall back and swung around him.
"No way! This one's mine!" She yelled back out at him, and she saw that determined glint in his eye. 'Shit...' She thought to herself.
"Well, I guess whoever gets it first gets the points, then." Eren winked and laughed, flying towards the "Titan".
"Damnit, Eren!" She flew after him, and pressed to release more gas.
"Eren!" Hazel heard Mikasa's voice getting closer and cursed. She needed this Titan for more points, but if Mikasa got the chance, she'd make sure Eren got it or take it for herself.
Hazel could see the Titan below her and she had gotten past Eren, but a split second before she got to the Titan, Ymir flew in and sliced its neck.
"Sorry guys!" She chuckled and flew back to where Krista was waiting for her.
"Damnit!" Hazel and Eren called out, and they saw the flare to come back. The cadets all flew back to the beginning of the testing area and got ready for the next portion of testing.
They got out of their ODM gear and took their cadet jackets off for the hand-to-hand combat part.
"Okay first up, we have Hazel Stahle and Jean Kirstein." Shadis looked at his clipboard and then the two as they stepped out of the crowd.
"You're joking right? You're gonna make me fight a girl for my exam?" Jean's eyes widened and he scoffed. Hazel was wrapping up her hands with white gauze, stepping forward to the circle. In other areas, different people were getting ready to battle it out.
"What's wrong Jean-boy? Are you scared?" Hazel smirked and put her hands up. He narrowed his eyes at her at the use of his 'nickname'.
"You got something to gripe about, Kirstein? I can just fail you right now if ya want!" Jean sighed and looked at Hazel who was bouncing back and forth on both feet.
"I don't wanna hurt you, Stahle." Jean murmured to her as he put his hands up.
"You won't." She smirked and she ran at him as soon as Shadis said, "Begin!"
Jean watched her closely and timed his punch at the right time... or so he thought. She dodged out of the way at the last second and ran behind him, using her leg to kick one of his legs out from under him. He caught himself, spun himself around and used his arm to catch her arm. She used her elbow to hit him in the gut, spun around and uppercut him so he fell to the floor holding his jaw.
"Shit!" He stood, putting his hands back up in defense, even though his jaw was throbbing.
"Get 'im Hazel!" Sasha called out cheering, and Jean turned to glare at her, giving Hazel the opportunity she needed to land a spin kick to the side of his head, sending him flying to the ground. She didn't kick him hard enough to hurt him, but doing so got her the win.
Shadis threw up a white flag and blew a whistle.
"Stahle is the winner." Hazel cheered and offered her hand to Jean.
"Sorry about that." He held his jaw and pushed her hand away, standing up on his own.
"Yeah I'm sure you are..." He spit some blood to the side of them and she sighed, watching him walk towards the others.
They each fought three rounds with different people, and then it was on to the academic testing portion of the exam.
Finally, it was the evening of the ceremony to find who was in the top ten. Everyone was spread out from all of the Cadet Corps in all of the different regions. Hazel was astounded by the numbers of soldiers that remained, but also felt a bit of pride, seeing everyone who was yearning to fight for their kingdom.
"Hey Hazel! Come stand by us!" Connie waved to her, and Hazel happily walked over to them.
"Great job today you guys. I'm so proud of you both." She gave them a small smile and they returned her smile.
"Aww, thanks Hazel! You did really amazing too! It was a complete turn around from yesterday." Sasha smiled. "I can only hope they'll reward us with meat for our great job well done." Sasha nodded happily clasping her hands, practically salivating, and Connie sighed.
"Do you ever think of anything else?"
"Actually!" Sasha pointed her finger up at the sky, looking at Hazel. "I heard a bunch of people are getting together at the saloon later for a celebration. You should come, you don't get out with us enough." Hazel watched the flames from the torches bounce off of their faces and gave a short nod.
"I'll see what I can do." She smiled and turned. Jean and Marco were standing about two rows behind them, whispering and talking to each other. She saw Jean's eyes trail over to her as they scanned the crowd... he locked eyes with her and then he shook his head and looked away. 'What's his deal...?'
"Hey Hazel!" Krista smiled, walking up to her with Ymir following right behind her. "Are you excited? I'm so nervous!"
"I keep telling her she did just fine, she's going to make top ten and then we can report to the Military Police. Ahhh, that's going to be the life." Ymir put her hands behind her head and Krista smiled up at her.
"That's the plan anyway!"
A few moments later, Shadis walked up the small stage with a few different commanders to each of his sides, in front of the cadets, and cleared his throat. "ATTENTION!" The group of cadets in front of him sprung to their salute within a seconds notice, all emotion leaving their faces. "Tonight signifies that you all have graduated the Cadet Corps Training.
This is not an easy task, and the kingdom recognizes all of the risk you put on your lives. I wanted to say, it has been a pleasure to train all of you, and I can't wait to see how you all progress as soldiers."
"Is that his example of sappiness?" Connie scoffed, whispering. "A 'good job' would have sufficed." Hazel smiled knowing what a hard ass Shadis was.
"The following recruits have been selected as the Top Ten of this years Cadet Corps. Step forward when I call your name. In tenth place, Krista Lenz, followed by Sasha Braus, Connie Springer" Connie and Sasha gave a low, quiet 'high' five and could hardly contain their excitement, "Hazel Stahle, Jean Kirstein, Eren Yeager, Annie Leonhart, Bertholdt Hoover, Reiner Braun, and Mikasa Ackerman in first rank. You all may join the Military Police if you so desire. The rest of you have the choice between the Garrison Regiment and the Scouts Regiment. The choice you make here today will forthcoming affect your life forever. Congratulations." Keith Shadis started slowly clapping, as did the rest of the attending officers and already graduated members.
Hazel stared off into the distance in front of her in surprise. Seventh place...? That wasn't too shabby. She felt surprised actually. She felt Sasha and Connie grab her into a tight hug and they all sort of bounced together. Marco had walked over to Jean and gave him a congratulatory pat on the back... but Jean just looked taken aback and irritated about Eren being ahead of him.
"Ymir... what am I going to do, I don't want to join the Military Police without you..." Krista frowned and wiped her eye.
"Eh, I'll be fine Kris. Besides, I want you to be safe, and this is the best way." Ymir was doing her best to console Krista.
"Why don't you guys come out tonight?" Hazel spoke to the two girls and Krista turned to look at her, sniffling. "Tomorrow you can worry about this, but tonight let's just celebrate us all making it here in one piece." She smiled. Krista sniffled, nodding.
"You're right, Hazel. We should celebrate. What do you say, Ymir?"
"Anywhere you're at, love, I'll be there too." Krista smiled once Ymir gave her her answer. Hazel looked around the crowd some more. A girl with long, deep brown hair ran up to Eren, Mikasa, and Armin.
'Oh... Armin. I'm surprised he didn't make top ten.' Hazel bit her lip and waved goodbye to Sasha and Connie. "Hey guys, congrats Eren, Mikasa. Top five and number one, wow. That's amazing!" She smiled.
"Thank you, Hazel." Mikasa smiled at her. Eren was busy talking to the girl that Hazel didn't recognize and noticed her a few seconds later.
"Oh crap. Sorry Hazel. Hey congrats! I guess we both pulled through, huh?" Eren grinned at her. "And I beat that dumb horse face! Hopefully that'll shut him up."
"Be nice, Eren." The mysterious girl warned and turned to look at Hazel. If she had ever wondered what Eren would look like as a girl, she no longer needed to. This girl was almost an exact replica, just a bit shorter than him, with more toned muscles.
Her eyes were also a brighter green emerald than his, a color that was extremely rare in Paradis. "Hi, I'm Erica. It's nice to meet you." Hazel could see her adorned in Garrison Regiment gear, probably for the ceremony tonight.
"It's nice to meet you, as well! I've heard a lot about you."
"Ahh, congrats you guys! I'm so excited this day has finally come. I'm so proud of each of you." Hannes walked over and pinched the cheeks of Eren, Mikasa, and Armin who groaned and pushed his hand away as he chuckled. He had known Eren since way longer than Eren even knew.
"They did great." Erica smiled lovingly at her brother. Hannes knew who Hazel was, but never gave any indication to it. He had known her mother first hand, and Hazel resembled her so much, he would have been a fool not to recognize her.
"Actually, you're Hazel Stahle, right?" Hannes spoke to her and Hazel stood up straight looking at him curiously. "Commander Erwin and Commander Pyxis asked for you to meet them in the office."
"Uh-oh, what happened Hazel?" Armin looked at her with a worried look on his face. She shook her head.
"I'm not sure. Maybe some paperwork got messed up. I'll see you guys at the saloon tonight, yeah?" Mikasa nodded, a small smile still present on her face.
"We should be there."
Hazel made her way through the cobblestone street of the Military Compound. Without the body heat of her comrades surrounding her, she folded her arms over her chest and walked towards the Commanders' offices. It was pretty dang cold out that evening. Erwin had asked for her? She sighed.
'I'm sure he wants to talk about what regiment I'm going to join... but there's no other option for me. I have to join the Scouts... hopefully Father didn't figure it out. I'm gone the same night as the graduation ceremony...' She finally got to the door and pushed it open. Erwin was standing in front of his desk, leaning against it. Pixis was sitting in a chair perpendicular to him, both with their arms crossed.
"Ah, Alexandra, you made it. Congratulations by the way." Pixis smiled and gave her a small clap, and she bowed her head in thanks to him.
"Thank you, sir. I really wish you would call me Hazel, though."
"Nonsense! I have been calling you Alexandra since the day you were born. That's not ever going to change." He smiled and her and her eyes shifted to Erwin who was staring her down intensely.
"There has been talk, especially talk that Levi has heard, of the names of those planning to join the Scouts." Hazel looked away and sighed. Of course he found out, why wouldn't he? She looked back at him as he continued. "Why is your name on that list, Hazel?"
"..." Hazel stared back at him, not really knowing what to say.
"I told you when you started in the Cadet Corps that I would not allow you to join the Scouts. You don't understand how dangerous this is, how easy it is for you to get killed out there. I can't protect you."
"I'm not asking you to! When I joined, did I know that I would want to join the Scouts? Hell no. My heart was in it to join the Garrison just like mom."
"So, what changed your mind?" Erwin raised a brow and Hazel shrugged.
"I... I don't know." Erwin sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, as he walked to the back of his desk, pulling something out from a drawer and slammed down a very long rolled up sheet of parchment and Hazel jumped from the loud bang.
"This is the list of names of people that we have had to bury, or who have gone missing on Scout missions just this past year alone. I do not want to, and will not add your name to the list." Erwin's face was hard. She slowly picked it up, and looked at him and then down at the parchment.
His gaze at her was not kind as it usually was... and Hazel felt herself gulp as she read through the names. These were people's mothers, daughters, cousins, brothers, sisters, fathers... "The likelihood of you ending up on that list versus coming back alive from a mission is 100 to 1, Hazel. This job is dangerous, and everyone who enrolls in the Scouts vows to give their hearts every time they strap on their gear."
"Alexan...I mean, Hazel," Pixis cleared his throat, and Hazel looked up from the list at him. "There is a spot readily available to you in the Garrison Regiment. It's easier to commute to the castle, and a lot safer. Plus you could still help out your kingdom in the way you desire. We fight Titans when necessary, but also get to spend time and build connections with the community." Pixis offered to her, before coughing into his arm.
"I already know what you all do..." Hazel whispered. Erwin stared at her for a second and leaned forward on the desk.
"Your number was so high on the list because I was hoping you would "join" the Military Police, and then fade back into your royal duties. This was never meant to be a long term job for you... just something to help you cope with the loss of your mother, and understand the people of your kingdom better." Erwin's expression had changed and he looked at her with sad eyes. "I don't want you turning into your Father and I need you alive." She felt a pang in her heart as he mentioned her mom, and then her dad.
"I... I can't go back to that life." Hazel squeezed her eyes closed and sighed, shaking her head. "...fine. I'll join the Garrison Regiment..."
Pyxis chuckled and lightly slapped her on the back. "And we will be so honored to have you, my dear." Hazel set the pages down on Erwin's desk, saluting the two.
"May I be excused?"
"Of course, your highness." Erwin saluted back to her and she sighed, turning back to the door and walked out back into the night.
Hazel got back to the castle a bit later in the evening, after walking around to clear her head. She headed straight for her tower and started looking through things to wear. "Ugh, I have nothing casual enough. I swear..." She frowned, tapping her chin. She had enough ball gowns to last her a lifetime, but casual dresses..
"Good evening, Hazel." Alyse opened the door, and brought her in her dinner. "You got back late."
"We had the graduation ceremony today." Hazel answered her, digging through her closet. "Actually... what do you say about taking tonight off and coming out with me?"
"You're leaving again?" Alyse looked surprised. Her blonde, short hair was down and straight.
"Yeah.. I wanna hang out with everyone one last time before we all go our separate ways." Hazel murmured. "Do you happen to know where any, casual but not too casual dresses would be? This closet is pointless." She sighed.
"That's very risky, Hazel." Alyse sighed, shaking her head. "But... yes, I may have a few options for you."
Alyse walked out and Hazel undressed and grabbed a towel from a drawer and wrapped it around herself. A few minutes later, Alyse came back. She had about five different dress options, and one stood out to Hazel.
"This one... is beautiful." She looked at Alyse and then chose another dress, holding it up to her. "You should wear this one."
"And where are we going, exactly?"
"Out." Hazel looked at the dress again and then back at Alyse, smiling.
Hazel walked from the cobblestone street and pushed the doors to the saloon open. There were already a bunch of cadets from 104th there, as well as some other training regiments from different regions of Eldia. Alyse shifted awkwardly next to her,
"So how are we going to explain who I am?" She asked.
"What do you mean? You're just an old friend, remember?" Hazel winked at her. Hazel had her hair down in super loose waves, reaching just below her shoulderblades with her makeup minimally done.
She wore an off white flowy dress that was hung off her shoulders. It had flowered lace covering the bodice of the dress, and came to her mid-thigh. Off the edges hung "eyelash lace" to make the dress look textured, and she used a thick light brown belt to enhance her curves.
She didn't want to stand out compared to her comrades or common townsfolk. Alyse was wearing a fair pink dress, the color of pink in a sunset. There was crochet detailing at her waist with buttons that ran down the center of the dress, which was already cinched at her waist. It wasn't Hazel's first time out with people from 104th squadron, as she had gone out with Sasha before. Sasha liked to go square dancing, and with Hazel's multitude of years of dance lessons, she was a perfect teacher for Sasha. Other than that, they went out occasionally with others when they had the time or just needed to burn out some stress.
But this time, everyone had come out, including Jean, Marco, Armin, Mikasa and Eren. They never usually went out. Jean most likely never went out because Mikasa never went out, and Mikasa never went out because Eren was so obsessed with being perfect at training and killing titans.
Hazel smiled, looking at Alyse. She never really got to leave the castle as she resided there most of the time. Hazel knew that it was risky to bring her out, but she wanted Alyse to have fun for once.
The only people she didn't see once getting a good look around were Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie. To be frank, it was hard to get them to go out and have fun. It was like they were always punishing themselves, or scared or something.
She looked around and saw Marco and Jean sitting at booth and smiled, pointing to the boys. "I'm gonna go sit with them!" Hazel yelled at Alyse over the music, "Can you get me a whiskey sour? Double shot please." She handed her some money and Alyse nodded before heading to the bartop. Hazel pushed her way through the crowd, and slid across from Jean and Marco.
"Hey! You made it!" Marco smiled and Jean rolled his eyes seeing Hazel, and looked at the wall beside them.
"I did!" Hazel smiled, looking over at Alyse at the bar and then back to the boys. "I'm surprised you're not dancing. This crowd is so wild tonight."
"I'm surprised you came out. Don't you have a sick family member to take care of or something." Jean murmured loud enough for her to hear and Hazel looked at him.
"Actually, a neighbor is helping me out, so I'm good. I wanted to celebrate."
"Okay, one whiskey sour for Hazel and a double tequila shot for me." Alyse slid in next to Hazel and winked at her. Marco stared at Alyse, taken aback for a second, and Hazel's eyebrows rose, seeing his expression.
"Marco, Jean, this is one of my oldest friends, Alyse Hill."
"H-hi..." Marco held out his hand and Alyse took it softly. Marco and Jean were almost matching, they both wore button down shirts and slacks, they just had different colored shirts on.
"Hi." Alyse smiled at Marco tenderly, and then looked at Jean. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah.. you too." Jean sighed and sat back in the booth.
"What's with him?" Hazel asked Marco who was absentmindedly still holding Alyse's hand and let go, shaking his head.
"Huh? Oh, the usual. He and Eren got in a fight at dinner, Mikasa took Eren's side, and of course, Mikasa is out of his reach, so he's pouting because she won't leave Eren's side." Marco shook his head and took a long sip of his drink. Jean had nothing but water in front of him, Hazel noted.
"You know, I'm right here." Jean glared at them and Hazel laughed.
"Then stop trying to blend into your seat!" Hazel rolled her eyes, taking another sip of her drink through the straw.
"Hey guys!" Sasha and Connie were dressed up. Sasha had her hair down, was wearing a dark, off-shoulder lace shirt and a knee-length skirt. Connie had on, what looked like a white wife-beater, slacks like Jean and Marco and a black fedora on his head.
They were dancing in a straight line and wandered back to the dance floor, getting lost in the sea of people.
"Umm.. Alyse.." Marco had a slight blush on his cheeks, and he cleared his throat. "Would you like to go dance?" Alyse blushed and looked at Hazel for approval.
"Go for it!" Hazel smiled at them and Alyse downed her shot before getting up to go dance with him.
"They're cute." Hazel mentioned and Jean followed her eyes to Marco who was dancing awkwardly with Alyse.
"They just met." Jean said pointedly, looking at the two, a bored expression on his face.
"Doesn't mean they're not cute." Hazel rebutted, and looked at Jean. "So I have a question. Why don't you ask Mikasa to dance? You're so forward with everything else, where are your balls at now?" Hazel took another sip of her drink and looked at him, tilting her head.
"Tch, I know better than to do that."
"I mean, it's not like she's going to ask you." Jean felt his face growing hot with annoyance and anger. Why wouldn't she just leave him alone?! He already had had it out with Eren earlier in the evening, his head was still sore from landing flat on the ground. His ego wasn't feeling any better, especially after that comment. He was quiet and glaring at the wall next to them, so Hazel leaned forward and smirked at him. "Why not dance with me, then?"
"You know what Stahle-"
"Hazel! Jean!" Sasha called out from the dance floor, waving at them.
"Come dance with us!" Connie joined in, waving. The two hurried over to the table, and Hazel sipped up the remnants of her drink, feeling the buzz hit her.
"Well?" Hazel lifted her brow and looked at him expectantly.
"Damnit... fine! If it'll get you idiots to shut the hell up." Hazel cheered and hopped out of her seat, grabbing Jean's hand, pulling him to the dance floor.
The owner of the saloon had bought an old artifact called a record player that was found and dug up with a nice collection of records a few years back. He had apparently been working on getting it running again, and alas, they all had new music to dance to.
If you wanna run away with me, I know a galaxy
And I can take you for a ride (for a ride)
I had a premonition that we fell into a rhythm
Where the music don't stop for life (for life)
Hazel and Sasha danced in the middle of all the people, swinging their hips and Connie kept dancing between them. Jean awkwardly swayed next to them.
(Just a heads up, I am going to use current music, as it could be played on a vinyl record, since that is a way that artists still release their music these days.)
"Wow, you look like you're having so much fun!" Hazel made funny faces, dancing around Jean. He looked down at her, raising his brow. Sasha giggled and danced on the other side of Jean, swinging her hips to the music on beat. Connie stood next to Sasha and twerked next to Jean and Hazel was trying not to burst out laughing at them.
"Hey!! It's Krista and Ymir!" Connie cheered from the side of them. Krista was holding Ymir's hand, leading her through the crowd and also started dancing to the music.
"This music is so catchy, I love it!" Krista cheered, giggling as she swung her hips against Ymir.
I need you, moonlight
Starlight
I want you, all night
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!
"Hey! I come baring more drinks!" Alyse danced over to Hazel with another drink with Marco close behind her. Hazel grabbed the drink from her and held it up in the air as she swayed to the music.
"LooK at that, you made it out to the dance floor!" Marco clapped Jean on the back and laughed, watching Sasha and Hazel trying to get him to dance.
Hazel took another sip of her drink and handed it to Jean. "Try some! You need to loosen up!" He looked at the drink in his hand and sighed, looking away.
"Oh, so this is where the party's at, huh?" Reiner, Bertholdt, and Annie walked into the saloon and Annie went straight to the bartop.
"You know it! Finally you guys came out!" Hazel ran over to Reiner and side hugged him.
"Oh yeah, you're wasted." He chuckled. "You seen Krista anywhere?" Hazel motioned with her head over to where Krista was dancing with Ymir to the beat. "Let's go that way Bertholdt." He waved Bertholdt to where Krista was dancing and Hazel watched them walk over. The song changed to a slow song (something similar to Touch by Josh Abbott Band) and she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Can I have this dance?" Marco asked her and she smiled, nodding.
"Of course." The dance floor dispersed a bit, but Sasha and Connie were dancing, not so gracefully, together. Alyse had stopped Jean from going back to the table, Mikasa and Armin were dancing, meanwhile Eren walked over to Bertholdt, and Annie at the bar. Hazel grabbed his hand and he gracefully spun her into him and back out, and then they swayed to the music.
"You're pretty good at this." Hazel smiled, looking out at their friends. This was one of the last times they would all be hanging out, and it was fairly bittersweet. It had taken a while for everyone to find their niche and get along.
"My mom used to force me to dance with her after school and on weekends. 'Ain't no boy of mine, gonna try to win over a lady and not know how to dance!'" He mimicked her, and Hazel laughed. "But you're not so bad yourself."
"Y'know... moms..." Hazel gave him a sad smile and leaned her head on his chest. Marco was quiet for a moment as they swayed.
"I have a question, and I hope you don't mind me asking." He spoke quietly and she pulled her head back to look at him. "Do... you have feelings for Jean?" Hazel stood back and stared at him, wide-eyed.
"W-what...?"
"I don't want to offend you or make you mad. I've just noticed glances and... the way you act around him." Marco placed his hand back on her lower back and started to sway with her again. "I'm not judging and I won't say anything. I was just wondering."
"..." Hazel was silent, and looked over at Jean and Alyse again.
"He's so wound up in winning over Mikasa." Marco murmured. "I don't even think he realizes that there are other options out there."
"And Mikasa is never going to not choose Eren." Hazel whispered back to him. Her answer confirmed it for him. But Marco truly wasn't going to say anything, he'd just hoped that Jean's eyes would open before it was too late. Marco spun Hazel out and into him again and led them towards Jean and Alyse.
"Mind if I steal your partner?" Marco offered to Jean and Alyse broke away from him, spewing out a sigh of relief. She smiled at Marco and took his hand.
"Please! He keeps stepping on my feet."
"I do not!" Jean growled and Marco laughed.
"He's all yours, Haze." Hazel stood with her hands behind her back. Jean looked away and huffed.
"I was not stepping on her feet." Hazel smiled at his reaction and laughed to herself.
"I'll help you. Same way you helped me with my ODM gear a while back." Hazel held out her hand to him, and the song switched to another slow song, in the fashion of Bruno Mars' Talking to the Moon'. He looked at her, then looked over at Mikasa who was smiling at something Armin had said, and nodded.
"Fine... I don't need the help though." He held her hand and she positioned his hand on her lower back and she put her hand on his shoulder, moving in closer to his chest.
"Okay Jean, whatever you say." She laughed softly and he fought her for control of the movements.
"Just follow me for now. Your feet are moving too quickly. Follow the flow of my body." She heard Jean huff, but after a few seconds he also loosened up. She felt his grip on her back tighten, and she looked up at him. "Okay, spin me out," he did that, and then accidentally jerked her back towards him and she slammed into his chest. She laughed, rubbing the side of her head. He couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly out of embarrassment.
"Okay, ow. Not that hard! Let's try again." He spun her out, and let her lead him back in, and his hand returned to the same spot. They swayed together for a minute, and Hazel laid her head on his chest, she could hear his heartbeat.
At night, when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself
Talking to the moon
Trying to get to you
In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me too
Or am I a fool, who sits alone, talking to the moon?
Oh
"So, here's the game plan." She felt him look down at her. "I'm going to go ask Eren to dance. Mikasa will most likely want to follow, so you need to swoop in and ask her before she pulls Armin out onto the floor." Jean pulled back from her and lifted his brow.
"...how do you know he'll say yes?"
"I don't, but I want try to help you to get at least one dance in with her." Hazel lifted her arm and Jean used that cue to twirl her.
In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me too
Or am I a fool, who sits alone, talking to the moon?
Do you ever hear me calling?
"...why are you helping me?" Hazel spun back into his chest and placed her hand back on his shoulder.
"Because I know what it's like to not be able to have the one you want..."
Jean was silent and Hazel and he slowly swayed to the music until the song ended. They pulled away and the song changed back to fast paced and Connie and Sasha rushed over to them.
"Yes!!! Let's go!" Connie jumped to the beat of the music, and Hazel laughed as she copied their dance moves and Jean shook his head, chuckling. He looked around, and Alyse and Marco had disappeared from the dance floor and the bar.
After a few more songs, Hazel looked over at Jean, caught his eye and nodded. She walked over to where Eren and Mikasa were sitting. 'Hopefully a slow song comes on again...'
"Hey guys... Eren, mind a dance?"
"Uhhh..." Eren looked from her to Mikasa and then nodded. "Sure Hazel." Hazel felt a pang in her heart, seeing Mikasa's face. The poor girl looked devastated, but as Eren led her out to dance, she saw Jean swoop in to save Mikasa's night. She said "yes" even before he finished the question, and had her eyes on Hazel and Eren.
"So Eren, tell me. What's the master plan to defeat the Titans?" She asked him, and he was about to answer... but then a scowl came across his face as he looked behind her.
"Ugh, is that Jean dancing with Mikasa? He would swoop in like that and just take her, grrr..."
"Hey, you're dancing with me, remember?" Hazel tilted her head to block his view. "Titans. What's your game plan?"
"Huh? Oh yeah." Eren was an even worse dancer than Jean. Jean actually took the time to figure out the steps, but Eren was just jerking her around the room. She was trying to concentrate on what he was saying but-
"Okay, Eren, I think we should be getting back to the barracks." Mikasa stepped next to them and Hazel looked for Jean. He was back in the booth with his head down.
"You're probably right." Eren stretched. "Thanks for the dance Hazel, that was fun!"
"Sure..." Hazel waved at them, and Armin ran from the bathroom area to catch up with them leaving.
Hazel went to the bartop got two whiskey sours and took them over to the table, sliding one to Jean as she sat down across from him. "Drink up."
"I still don't get why you're being nice to me..." Jean murmured, taking the drink.
"Why not? It's our last day together, right? You'll be heading off to the Military Police soon..." Hazel frowned as she said the last part, and set her chin on her hand. She looked away from him.
"That's right." Jean grinned. "Life of luxury for m-" He saw her expression change, and tilted his head. "What's wrong? You placed in the top ten, so you can join the Military Police too if you want. Honestly, I see you fitting in there more than the other two regiments." Hazel looked from the wall back to him and shook her head.
"Military Police life isn't for me." Jean stared at her for a second and then shrugged.
"To each their own I guess..."
After a while, mostly everyone had disappeared from the saloon. Hazel hadn't seen Alyse since she and Marco disappeared, Sasha and Connie had dipped out at some point, Reiner and Bertolt were busy at the bar.
Eventually, Jean and Hazel drunkenly decided to leave the bar. She giggled as he fell over while trying to walk.
"Are you even going to be able to make it back to the barracks? You're a mess."
"You should see yourself!" Jean snickered. Hazel kept walking and then stopped suddenly and dropped to the ground. "What the hell're you doing?" He asked her kneeling next to her. Hazel made a cat calling noise and clicked her tongue next to a bush and some trees. Jean looked around and then heard a meow, and some pitter patter.
"Ahhh there you are!" Hazel stood smiling and picked up the cat that came to her. "This is my stray that I take care of."
"Why the hell do you have a stray cat? Is it even yours if it just lives outside?"
Hazel smiled at him, "Every life matters, no matter how small." She pet the cat as it rubbed against her leg. "She's pregnant, so that means there will be more cats to catch rats and other pests soon." Hazel walked over to a butchershop nearby and grabbed a small amount of meat left under a rock.
"Sasha would kill for that." Jean murmured and Hazel nodded.
"I know.." She frowned, and shortly sighed. "I know you're probably not going to remember any of this in the morning, Jean. But I'm glad we could spend this time together... when it comes down to it, you're a nice guy. Just try to remember that, and don't let the Military Police change you." Hazel took the meat over to where the cat was rolling around on the ground and laid the meat next to it. She stood and wiped her hands off. "I go through this tunnel to go home so... see you tomorrow." He was staring at her in a drunken daze.
"Yeah... tomorrow..." He gave her a small wave and started walking in the direction of the barracks. She watched him walk to make sure he would be okay... and he looked sober enough, so she made the trek back to the castle.
"Alright Lexi, after today I have a whole week off from duty."
"A whole week?! Yes! I can't wait!" Hazel could feel herself bursting with excitement from her mother's news and followed her through her room as she got ready. She donned an older version of Hazel's own uniform with a special crest next to the Garrison patch. In a flash, she saw her mother covered in blood, and then everything was back to normal again. "We can go take picnics, you can come watch me at dance rehearsal, I can show you what I've been learning at my singing lessons..." She clasped her hands together and her mother smiled.
"Queen Rachel, it's time to go." One of the handmaidens's came to get her and she nodded her head. Rachel looked almost identical to her daughter. Hazel had a few of her father's qualities, but most of her was made up by her mother, who was her best friend.
"I'm coming... alright my darling, I'll see you after I finish my rounds, checking up on everything, okay?" The Queen smiled and she lifted the younger Hazel in a hug and set her down and kissed her on the forehead. She gave her one last smile and wave, and then disappeared from view. Hazel saw a flash of memories with her mother, saw her waving goodbye on repeat, and then she was suddenly in the fields in front of Wall Maria, and watched as the Colossal Titan threw a many giant boulders, Titans, trees, and other giant things into the buildings surrounding her. She saw where she was heading, where her mother was, had been destroyed by the Colossal Titan, and felt an arm wrapped around her waist, as she flew back away from the destruction.
"The hell are you doing out here, Princess?"
"No, no, no! Put me down! Mom! No!" She held her hands out, reaching for the wall.
Hazel jumped up in a cold sweat out of her bed. The sun was already shining brightly through the window near her bed. "Shit! Shit shit shit!" One day after graduation, and she was already running late. And she had to go even further than usual near the outer walls to help with inspection and cannon duty.
She hurried to put her uniform on and ran out of the door. There was no time for worries if someone would see her, and she ran out the door of her tower and down the stairs to her "secret" tunnel.
'This should hopefully buy me some time.' She ran down the tunnel as fast as her legs would carry her, until she got to town, and she cut through to the Military Courtyard and into the equipment room, where only her stuff was left waiting. "Damnit, gotta make this fast." She hoisted the heavy gear into place, made sure all of her straps were tightened and put her hair up in a ponytail before hurrying to the wall where everyone was would hopefully still be waiting.
It took her but maybe ten minutes to get to where everyone said they would be meeting, but no one was there. There were citizens, some of the Garrison Regiment members, but no corpsman.
"They must be on the-" As soon as she was getting ready to find a way up to the wall, there was a strange lightning bolt that shot up to the sky, and Hazel felt as though time stood still and she was brought back to a memory she had pushed back to the far end of her mind. She felt as though her body was slowly moving as she looked up towards the wall... and there it was, like a scene replaying inher head.
The Colossal Titan.
Within a split second, and even before she knew what was happened, there was a large hole in the wall and huge pieces of cobblestone and rocks flying towards her and other citizens in the path of destruction.
"Watch out!!" Hazel yelled, grabbing two kids out of the way and launching herself with her gear out of the path of the large pieces of wall. She could hear the citizens screaming about the wall being broken, and people crying out in pain.
No... not this again..
She squeezed her eyes shut and she could feel herself shaking. Was it anger? Fear? Worry? Anxiety? She didn't know, but one thing she knew was that she wasn't helpless this time. Her comrades needed her, her people needed her.
"Go to your house, find your mommy and daddy and get to the inner walls. NOW!" She pushed the kids off in a safe direction and looked to the wall where the Colossal Titan stood, and then it had disappeared.
Then... there were more screams and Hazel's breath caught in her chest as she saw them walking through the giant hole in the wall.
"TITANS!!"
Hi everyone! We're finally getting to more exciting parts of the story(not that any part of AOT is boring, there's sadness and despair to go around for days lol) and I'm so excited! I'm also excited for you guys to see how Jean and Hazel's relationship will develop, as well as her friendship with the others!
I know this chapter was fairly long, but I really love it. Marco didn't really have a love interest in the show (other than Jean if you're a Jeanco shipper lol) so I wanted to give him one, to make his death even more heartbreaking. Also, because he's sweet and I believe he deserved one!
What do you guys think of the story so far? I hope you all have been enjoying it, and again, I want to thank all of you who have read for giving this story a chance :) it really means a lot! Don't forget to leave a review if you enjoyed!!
XO
Beautifuldisaster993