Author's notes: Hey hey! How are we all doing? I hope you've had a good weekend and start of the week! I'm excited to share this chapter with you! I hope you'll enjoy it!

Panthera Gilt: Look who we have here! I wasn't expecting to see you again, but I can't say that I'm unhappy about it, quite the contrary! I'm glad you're okay, and I'm glad you're sticking around :D And I totally feel you! I feel like writer and reviewer interactions are the most important thing not only for both but also for the story! Haaa i'm unworthy of such words! I try my best to develop characters at a believable pace, and I try to keep them in character at best, while also taking into account new experiences that they endure through this story and ones that they didn't experience in the original. So hearing you say that you still connect with the characters is the greatest praise ever, thank you! Well you're kinda right, she wasn't sure at first, and it seemed to her odd that eren would check her out. out of the blue xD Well, can't wait to hear from you again, stay safe and *hugs*, ehhe!

MONSTER

Carla Wayman was utterly spent. Her face and blond hair were tainted in crimson, as were her clothes and equipment, by the blood of her regiment. She looked around the fallen city with her unsettled eyes. The city that watched her grow was ruined, its proud buildings smitten by the sheer might of the titans.

"Carla, I... I don't think I can do it anymore..."

The voice of her friend was soft, almost inaudible. Beside him laid the remaining people of her squad. Jürgen and Mia were their names. Jürgen was cloven in two, and Mia was still agonizing from her wounds. A titan had intercepted her flight, breaking any bones in the way. As the faint groans of her dying friend reached her ears, so did the cries of the tormented city. She turned and faced Jonas, who was fixating his gaze upon his bloodied hands.

"I know," she replied in a similar fashion.

She was appointed as squad leader for the second time. Her squad was part of the ones that were charged with assisting the elite force sent to back Eren Yeager. They had the mission to patrol every crack and crevice of the city and eliminate any titan that dwelled within. Eren Yeager was the man whom every person in the city knew the name of. She couldn't make heads nor tails of what the commander Pixis declared in the plaza, but she understood that it was expected of them to die for his protection.

"Why? There are more skilled people than us out there, why should it be us? Why couldn't we lure them away like the rest of them are doing?"

She had no answer.

"Oh... Mia's dead..." Jonas announced, his tone distant, as if he was relieved of no longer having to watch her suffer.

Carla brought her calloused hand to her face. Just like that, Mia was dead. As were Jürgen, Mari, Tom, Wilhem and Finn. They were all dead. She couldn't save a single one of them. She was weak, but more than that, she led them to their deaths. All her orders led one of them to their end. She wanted to cry.

Never in her life was she as destroyed as she was during that moment. She had hoped of making a difference, she had believed in her strength, in her power. But all resulted in the destruction of the people who counted on her, the people who believed in her. She didn't know what to do, she wasn't even thinking about taking her life, she was past that already. She felt empty, inside, she lacked the motivation to even end her own life. How pitiful was that?

"What now?"

She sniffled, trying her best to save face.

"I don't know... Do what you want, I- I'm just gonna stay here, I'm done."

Jonas looked at her, and she saw in his eyes the same fading light that animated Mia's in her last moments.

"You're giving up?"

"What else should I do? Just- get away, I don't want anyone else to die."

"There's still that plan! Yeager is gonna seal that hole, isn't he?"

"Oh my fucking god," she started.

"What? Isn't that what the commander-"

"That was a fucking lie! don"t you see?"

"-said. It's not!"

"Where is he? huh?"

"They- I'm sure... It's a matter of time!"

She scoffed. She was a fool for believing such blatant lies. How disgusted she felt with herself. She brought her clenched fist to the wall next to her, nearly destroying its bricks. She was the biggest fool out there. How could she have believed that such a miracle was about to happen? Her other fist met the same fate as the first, and blood dripped from her knuckles, but she couldn't care less.

"Carla..."

"Stop, please, stop it," she pleaded, her eyes watering. "Stop harboring that look in your eyes, it's making me mad!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not gonna let you hurt yourself anymore."

Why couldn't he understand? She had enough of that look, the one she bore whilst hoping for someone to save them, the look that she bore when Pixis announced that there was a way. The look that Mia had whilst she... That stupid look, that plunged its bearer into an illusion deeper than any gulf in this world.

She felt a hand softly land on her shoulder.

"Come on, let's move, we may be able still to make it to the wall."

She brushed his hand away. How could she think of escaping the scene whilst her comrades died there? She had no right to think about her well-being, no right to survive.

"Don't let their deaths go to waste, they wouldn't want you to die, not while you can still fight. This isn't like you, Carla."

He was right, but she didn't want him to be. She wanted him to be wrong.

"Listen around you, listen to the voices of the ones who still fight, the ones who die in this very moment. How many friends have they lost? How many comrades have they left behind? I- was about to slit my throat, just moments ago, when Mia... Passed. But then it struck me, how selfish would it be of me to end my life while others are sacrificing theirs on the battlefield. They all suffered, as much as we did, yet they keep on going. Could you face our friends knowing you could do something but did nothing?"

"But, I don't want to die..." She confessed.

"Neither do I, yet fighting remains our last chance of survival, don't you think?"

She swept her tears away. His words made sense. She approached Mia's body and knelt. Her face was marked by several scars, her lips were swollen, and her teeth were gritted from the pain she endured. She brought her fingers to her eyes and closed them. As she was about to stand up, the house shook.

"I can't believe my eyes..." Jonas whispered in awe.

Joining him promptly over the edge of the destroyed house, Carla's mouth fell open.

In the distance, a titan was carrying a boulder and was heading toward the demolished gate. Jonas broke into an incredulous laugh and embraced Carla who was still in shock from what was unfolding before her eyes.

"They were right! They did it!"

Her heart felt alive again, she could hear it beating inside her chest. So many emotions ran through her that she couldn't keep up. Hope she felt again. Her state was broken however as she spotted two aberrants approaching Eren Yeager from the rear. She was quick to act.

"Jonas! Let's support him! We can't let them reach him!" She cried, and together, they leaped at their pursuit.

Flying through the streets, they caught up to the running monsters.

"Die!" She raged, and using their inattention to her advantage, she brought down one of them with a clean cut. Its body landed against the stone, and she used its shoulder to propel herself to meet the other. She eluded its jaw which it aimed at her, and spinning lightly, she changed her course and blinded the titan. Jonas followed her attack with another, and he managed to strike its nape. But there was no time to celebrate. Carla gained some height, and what she saw made her heart skip a beat. Fellow soldiers were being decimated by a group of titans who had recently breached the walls.

"Jonas! let's kill what we can!" She ordered.

"Yes!"

She spotted Mikasa Ackerman, the ace of their promotion, slicing through any titan that approached Yeager. Carla paved a way to assist her, and with Jonas tailing her, they fought, and they defended their last hope.

With a shuddering roar, Eren finally plugged the wall. Riko immediately fired a yellow flare, announcing the complete success of the plan. She couldn't contain the tears that glided down her cheeks. They did it, at last, humanity's first victory. Mitabi, Jan, and most of their squad were dead, but she would mourn them later. Quickly, she rushed to Yeager's side. Mikasa, Armin, Carla, and Jonas were all standing above the shifter's carcass.

"What's the matter?"

Armin was holding onto his friend's body.

"He's practically burning up, I can't- he's trapped!"

The boy's limbs were covered by the titan's flesh. She clicked her tongue and looked around, thinking.

"Titans are coming our way!" Jonas warned.

"We have to cut it!" She decided.

"Wait- Captain!"

But unheading Armin's doubts, she cut through the flesh, setting Eren free. The momentum she created by the cut sent Armin flying backward, and while holding Eren, they fell into the titan's evaporating hand. As a 5-meter and 10-meter approached, the smaller one extended its hand to reach the helpless duo. But Carla was closer, and without thinking twice, she sliced the titan's fingers clean, and as she was about to finish what she had started, the other titan closed in the distance.

"Eren! Armin!" Mikasa warned, and she sprung to their rescue, in vain.

Like starfall, a pair of swords plunged against the titan, cutting its head like butter. The giant's head didn't meet the ground yet that the attacker already doomed the smaller titan. He spun until only the light reflected against the steel of his swords betrayed his movements, and he crushed the remaining foe. Finally, when the head collapsed, the man landed on it. The smoke revealed the intimidating lieutenant of the survey corps.

Eren lifted his head, and he recognized the sigil imprinted on Levi's cape.

The wings of liberty...

"Hey, brats, what the hell is going on here?"

Afterwards, thanks to the survey corps and Garrison's engineers' quick response, wall rose had once again repelled the titan's advance. An entire day was required to eradicate the titans from Trost District, with the wall's fixed canons firing around the clock.

High-explosive shells annihilated the majority of the titans swarming the wall, and the survey corps eliminated the few that remained. Furthermore, a 4-meter and 7-meter class were captured alive. On the other hand, 207 soldiers were either killed or missing, and 923 were injured. Repelling the titans for the first time in history was a noteworthy feat, but simply far too many lives had been lost to celebrate.

Mikasa sat against a doorstep. One that had a few stairs leading to it. The city was calm now. No building was collapsing, and no cries could be heard. It almost felt out of place. She glanced over the end of the road, and she could swear a titan would surge from somewhere. She sighed. For the past few days, they've been collecting bodies and burning them. She hadn't met anyone from her squad yet, aside from Armin. She didn't know who survived and who didn't. She didn't want to find out, she was tired of death.

She laid against the stairs and put her hands behind the back of her head. Her gaze was met by a small lantern hanging from the little alcove where the door resided. She trailed her eyes over the gilts that adorned it, contemplating. it was a nice lantern, she concluded. The artistry was refined, and she could see that a great deal of thought went into its creation. She didn't know what kind of metal was used, but she liked it. If came a day when she would own a house, she wanted a similar one. If she survived long enough, that is.

What now? she thought. Where does she go from here? Should she join the survey corps like she initially wanted, or should she think of another future? If not killing titans, what use would she have? She was empty. So empty it hurt her. She had no dream, no ambition, nothing except her desire for vengeance. If she stepped down, what would she do? She had no family, and the closest people she regarded as friends were probably dead for the most part.

What was at first slow-paced footsteps became erratic as it closed the distance.

She didn't have time to rise before someone darted into her, embracing her.

"Mikasa! I'm so glad! I'm so glad you're okay!" Sasha sniffled.

Realizing who it was, Mikasa brought her own arms around her crying friend and pulled her closer. she couldn't control her tears, nor did she want to, and so she cried as well. She was a mess, but she didn't care.

"I'm so glad," Sasha said again, affirming her hold.

They remained as such for some time or another until Mikasa recovered from her outburst.

"Is, Eren okay?" Sasha asked as the raven-haired let go of her.

Mikasa nodded. "Armin is also okay, they're safe." She replied, and with a hesitant voice, she queried. "Are the others...?"

"They're good, they're fine." She cut her short, but something was troubling her, Mikasa could feel it.

"Marco... Didn't make it. We just... Found him there! I don't, I don't understand how-"

The young girl put a comforting hand on Sasha's back and stroked it lightly. She wasn't particularly close with Marco, but he was a good and soft person. He was a part of their group, and it wouldn't be the same anymore. Marco, Thomas, Mina, they were all gone.

Sasha calmed down, and she sat next to her.

"I don't know if you've been told, but you're summoned to a military trial, as a witness."

"Really? About what?"

Sasha supported her chin with her hand.

"Beats me, but I'm pretty sure it's about Eren."

"Right..."

She hadn't thought about it, but it made sense for the rest of the military and the government to evaluate what fate Eren would suffer. She turned her head and smiled softly. Sasha had fallen asleep and rested her head against her shoulder. She never saw her this exhausted before.

Carrying Sasha on her back, Mikasa arrived at the Trost District headquarters.

The surroundings were empty. Almost all soldiers had confined themselves in their quarters, aside from the few people still on the lookout for any unrecorded bodies.

"You look terrible," Ymir greeted her.

Mikasa was, in fact, looking terrible. Her wound wasn't looking so good, and the trails of blood that had glided from it dried on her cheek. Her hair also carried clots of a mixture of crimson and dirt. Her clothes were torn, shredded, and redder than white.

Ymir was sitting before one of the many entrances of the building. Judging from her appearance she had bathed and made herself presentable. She was wearing a dark green loose shirt and black leathered pants.

"Where's everyone?"

"Inside, they're pretty roughed up. As you can imagine. I'm glad you're safe, though."

"Likewise."

She left Ymir behind as she entered the imposing gate. The great hall was rearranged in the manner of a cafeteria, with tables spread on its better part. The hall was deserted, save for the few people who were still dining. It didn't take her long to spot the remnants of her squad. They all had cleaned themselves, like Ymir, and were sitting and eating quietly.

Krista was the first to notice her and she rushed to her side.

"Mikasa! I've been so worried about you! Where were you?" She exclaimed.

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they all gathered around her.

"Everyone, I'm glad you're okay."

"We searched everywhere for you, honestly, you gave us lots of trouble!" Connie chastised her, crossing his arms.

"You really need a shower though," Sasha mumbled behind her back, causing Bertholdt and Reiner to chuckle.

She smiled. They were all happy to see another person from their group alive. They surely thought that she was dead as well. Even Annie seemed somewhat relieved.

"The suicidal maniac isn't with you?" Jean noted, "is he..?"

"He's alright, the survey corps are looking after him and Armin."

A sigh of relief escaped their lips.

"Well, that's good to hear," Reiner said.

"Enough talking, Mikasa you really need a bath, come on," Krista intervened, guiding her to the showers.

"Right, I'll rid you of that for now," Jean said as he retrieved Sasha from her. The latter grumbled, "Who are ya calling 'that'?"

Mikasa couldn't argue as she was pushed by Krista into the girl's quarters. Still, she was happy that they survived, and she felt a little more light. Her only worry went toward Eren, as she didn't know what would be done with him.

"There, fresh clothes have been dispatched, since so many died... There's more than enough." Krista informed her as they entered the room.

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

"You're the star after all, without you, we wouldn't be here."

Mikasa was surprised, she didn't know where this came from.

"That's not-"

"Don't try to deny it, it's true. If you didn't do what you did, we wouldn't have left that roof. You gave us a chance to survive." She smiled, and without notice, she hugged her. The young girl didn't know how to react, but she didn't have to as the blonde had already let go of her.

"On a second note, maybe I'll wait until you've cleaned yourself to express my thanks," she laughed, and she left without adding anything.

Mikasa was alone now. She sighed, she didn't know how to react during those situations, she needed proper warnings before. She hadn't experienced them that often after all.

Slowly undressing, she took off her jacket, followed by her shirt. She brought her hands to the scarf she had borrowed and caressed it gently. Eren didn't claim it yet, he didn't have the chance to. She wanted to give it back to him as soon as possible though, she didn't want him to think that she'd stolen it. She unwrapped it from her waist and placed it with care on top of a cupboard. She took off her pants and tossed them to the side.

She noticed a mirror hanging in the corner, and she hesitated. She observed it until she covered it using a towel. She had no business in seeing herself.

Mikasa sighed. Partially nude, she allowed the steaming hot water to pour over her body. She was bruised all over, and as the layers of dirt were cast away by the water, she uncovered more of them. It didn't bother her. When she felt clean, she took off her remaining garments and cleaned them as well. She wasn't sure to find some in those piles of clothes. Habit spoke there anyway.

Her long hair began to grow as well, she needed to take care of it, in time. She didn't have the heart to cut it any time soon though. With that in mind, she put on a new set of clothes and headed out.

Monster.

Author's notes++: We're finally done with Trost's battle! It was a long segment but a fun one (lol) I'm curious to know your impressions of it, whether you found it too long or too short, not focused enough on certain characters, etc etc. This is the time to send your feedback (if you have any) So I can know what to improve for the next longer ones, otherwise, you'll be stuck by a format you may not like going further into the story.

Also, BIG NEWS (not really) I polished all the chapters, (god it needed it), so this is the perfect opportunity for those who wanted to reread everything in a more refined way, (mainly I corrected everything, changed some phrasings, added some sentences or two to better contextualize things and to better the flow of reading, etc...). You're not obliged, of course, this was done solely for me first, because I wanted to do that long ago, and for people who wanted to reread bits so that they are at least offered something worth the reread. Anyways, stay safe everyone, love you!