AN/ Hi,although I do read a lot of fanfics, this is my first time actually publishing one so I'm trying to get used to the system! Please feel free to tell me any errors.
The story will mainly follow the anime but it will have an original ending. I hope you enjoy the story :D
A girl with black hair slowly opened her eyes. It was night and dark. She could tell that she was confined as she felt the rough ropes tug around her wrists and ankles. She then remembered what happened. She was kidnapped by some human traffickers and was knocked out unconscious. With great effort the girl pushed herself off the ground only to find two other kids and three bodies lying on the ground. She realized the pool of blood and the knife in the little girl's hand. The kids noticed her and cut her free, then removed the gag that hindered her speaking.
"Oh my god…." Was all the girl could say. Those little kids just killed off three people. But then it must've been inevitable. She noticed from the dim lighting of a lamp that the little girl was Asian. She knew that these bastards were looking for Asians to sell so this girl must've been kidnapped too. The girl stood up and said to the kids.
"Let's go outside. We need to get out of here."
When they got out a man with brown hair and glasses stood out there. The girl immediately went into fighting stance but the little boy ran to the man.
"Dad!"
"Did you kill them Eren?" that man looked displeased. "Murder is a thing you should not do."
"But they were going to do something to Mikasa!"
So the little Asian girl's name was Mikasa.
"That's no excuse."
"Where do I go now?" the little girl murmured blankly. The man's expression softened as he turned to Mikasa.
"You'll be coming with us." He turned to the other girl. "And who may you be?" The man questioned the girl with long raven hair.
"Lyla, Lyla Peltner." The girl answered.
"Well, I'm Grisha Jaeger. If you don't have a place to go, you can come with us."
"Thank you sir,"
All of them boarded the carriage as they made their way home. Lyla learned that Mikasa was the daughter of Mr. Ackerman, who was a client of Dr. Grisha Jaeger. His son Eren, had draped a muffler around her in an uncomfortable way but the little girl made no attempts to adjust it. She seemed to like it.
"So, can you tell me about yourself Lyla?" Grisha asked.
Lyla opened her mouth but was only able to provide her age: 14. That was all she could remember. She couldn't remember her parents, where she lived, or how she even got kidnapped.
When they got home, Grisha's wife, Carla was quite startled. But she treated Lyla equally as a family.
"Lyla. Lyla."
Lyla snapped out of her trance as she heard Mikasa call her. It has been three years since she started living with the Jaegers and they were more than a family to her. She cared deeply for them and their children. Mikasa and Eren were already her little siblings along with their friend Armin.
"Lyla, you need to pay for the groceries," Mikasa said calmly, again pulling Lyla out of her ever wandering thoughts. Just then Armin came running.
"Mikasa! Lyla! You have to come quick. It's Eren."
At his name Mikasa pricked up. Lyla always knew that Mikasa was overprotective of Eren. You could almost say obsessed.
"The bullies took my bread and I told Eren about it and he…oof!" Mikasa shoved the groceries in Armin's arms and ran off. Lyla quickly payed for the groceries and followed her.
No sooner after finding Eren with the bullies Mikasa flew and kicked the boy who was holding Eren by the collar. Soon it turned into a fight and Lyla stood there debating if she should just stand by and watch or if she should intervene and finish it quickly. It would be easy. Fighting came naturally to Lyla so these boys were no problem. But she knew Mikasa would want to deal with them herself. Well, what harm would some discipline do as long as it didn't turn big? After all, this was just a kid's fight. Lyla decided to just stand by and watch for a while. The Garrisons nearby just laughed at it too. She could see Mr. Hannes among them. But then a merchant shouted out.
"You soldiers! Do something!"
And then a fight broke out between the merchant and the soldiers. Lyla now found this situation quite overwhelming and it started to irritate her. As if on cue another soldier appeared.
"Hey you there! What are you doing?"
Lyla stepped in and said, "All right juniors, time to get lost." And she kicked the bullies' asses. Mikasa took hold of Eren and they left as well.
That evening Carla wasn't quite pleased with the fact that her son has gotten into a fight, again.
"Eren, you can't just fight everybody like that. All though standing up for your friends is a good thing, you should be careful. You didn't just get hurt, but you caused trouble for Mikasa, Lyla, and Armin."
Eren hung his head over his soup. Carla kissed his head and proceeded with eating dinner, which ended with no further events.
After dinner Eren and Mikasa went ready to go to bed. They sat on Eren's bed expectantly as Lyla came in the room with a candle. Eren was almost bouncing on his bed.
"Hurry Lyla, hurry!"
Lyla chuckled, "All right big guy. What shall today's story be? Hm…" She pretended to think, "I know, today's story is the Hare and the Turtle."
Lyla told animatedly how the hare and the turtle ended up having a race. The hare was sure that it would win, but in the end the turtle crossed the finish line first. Eren gave out a sigh and flopped down on the bed.
"Well it served it right for belittling the turtle."
"That's right. You can never be certain of the outcome. But one thing's sure. Slow and steady wins the race. Okay now off to bed."
Eren tucked under the blankets and Mikasa hopped to her bed which was on the other side of the room. Lyla then hummed a simple lullaby she made up to lull them to sleep. After that she kissed their heads in turn and closed the door quietly behind her. She caught Carla smiling at her as she made her way to her own room.
"You take care of them wonderfully." She said. Lyla blushed and shook her head.
"Not as well as you do. I'm always thankful that you took me in."
"You know I'll always do that."
Lyla smiled. Carla was such a sweet person. She bid her good night and retired for the day.
Lyla shot up from her bed, panting and sweating. The sun was seeping through the curtains, indicating that it was morning. She gave a moan and got out of bed. Her body felt heavy as lead. Lyla tried to recall her dream but only remembered everything crumbling down and falling through darkness.
After wiping herself with a wet cloth to clean away the stickiness of her sweat and tying her black hair into a ponytail, she went down stairs for breakfast.
"Good morning," she said to the Carla who was preparing breakfast and to Mikasa who was helping.
"Good morning," the woman answered back, "Is Eren up?"
Mikasa's head perked up at the name. Lyla chuckled and said, "I don't think so. I'll go wake him up. Want to go with me Mikasa?"
The girl nodded eagerly as she followed Lyla upstairs. They pushed into a room where a boy with messy brown hair was drooling in his sleep.
"Eren Jaeger! If you don't wake up right now there's no breakfast for you, sir!" Lyla said as she pulled the covers off. The boy whined in protest but Mikasa started dragging him out.
"Eren," Mikasa called firmly before she proceeded to drag him down the stairs. At some point Eren was awake enough to brush her off. "I can walk by myself."
After everyone gathered around they started eating and breakfast was a merry affair filled with light conversation.
"Well then I'll be off for the day." Grisha said as he pushed back his chair. They all bid him good bye. Grisha was the man that decided to take Lyla in along with Mikasa. She was truly grateful and loved him but something about him didn't sit well with Lyla. Somehow Lyla always felt that the man was hiding something that even Carla didn't know and the basement of the house was highly suspicious. She never question about it though and kept Eren away from it.
"Now you guys go along and get some wood." Carla said briskly. So Lyla took hold of Eren's and Mikasa's hand and set out.
They started filling their load and after that they went to the meadow as Eren insisted. Lyla thought they had some time so she agreed. They sat on the grass under the shade of a tree and Lyla thought about her dream last night more carefully, trying to remember as much as possible.
She was in a town but suddenly everything started to collapse and the next moment she was falling in endless darkness and she could almost remember a voice telling her to live, to survive, to remember. Lyla couldn't identify the voice but it sounded familiar. But the meanings of the words she couldn't understand. Remember what? She was drawn from her thoughts by Mikasa's voice.
"Eren, Eren. Wake up." Lyra headed towards Eren. "Eren, why are you crying?" Mikasa asked blankly. Eren wiped his eyes in surprise. "Um… Uh…?" Lyla gave a small laugh and said, "Let's go."
"Lyla! Can I have a cookie?" Eren asked innocently, he knew that Lyla always carried cookies in a handkerchief. Lyla rolled her eyes. "No, eat lunch first." He was just crying in his sleep and then he's asking for a cookie? What a kid.
"Hmph," Eren pouted and Lyla ruffled his hair with a laugh. Really these kids were her own siblings now. She could do almost anything for them.
They encountered with a soldier on the way home. It was Mr. Hannes from the Garrison. In a way they were close and in another they weren't. Lyla recalled the small fight yesterday and smiled.
"Oi Eren. Why are you crying? Did Mikasa pick on you?"
Eren said with a red face, "That's not it! Are you drunk again?"
"Well today we're guarding the doors and if you stay here for some time you get hungry and thirsty. It's not our fault that liquor was among our stuff to drink."
Eren shouted with wide eyes, "How are you supposed to fight in such a state!?"
"Fight? What do you mean? Do you mean when the walls break down?" Eren was serious. Hannes started laughing. "The walls hadn't broken for the past 100 years." A few other soldiers laughed along. Eren's voice started trembling at this statement. "Then you have no intentions to fight against the titans at all?"
"No." Eren's face contorted at Hannes's clear statement.
"So you're fine as long as there's food and shelter? You're fine with living in these confinements? You're no Garrison! You're just wall repairers! You just get drunk all the time!"
Everyone fell silent at Eren's words. Hannes gave a sigh as he spoke,
"We're better off as useless drunken soldiers."
Lyla agreed in that part. The need for soldiers meant that the peace was broken. Eren shouted out again, "Living like this, hiding behind the walls. It's like we're stalk!" He then left the place.
"Does he want to join the Survey Corps?" Hannes mumbled to himself in disbelief.
On the way home Mikasa told Eren, "You should give up on joining the Survey Corps."
At this Eren shot Mikasa an angry look, "Do you think the Survey Corps is stupid too?"
"I didn't mean that." Just as Eren was about to retort Mikasa's words the sound of bells filled the village. Eren's face lit up at the sound.
"The Survey Corps are back! Let's go Lyla, Mikasa! It's the return of the heroes!" Eren started pulling the two.