It had been almost a month since Zofia had last seen her.

Everyday she would wake up and pray that today would be the day that Pieck would be teaching. But every day she was disappointed. The other teachers weren't bad by any means. Zeke was a fascinating man, and his lessons were always incredibly informative. Reiner was, well, not the greatest tutor in the world, but he was trying his best and Zofia made sure to make notes as best as she could. He was the Armored Titan, after all, so she wanted to learn as much as she could from him. Although she was still confused as to why Pieck had told her that she reminded her of him. He seemed so frazzled all the time, like his mind was elsewhere. Like he was never truly present in any given situation. Was she also like that?

She tried not to worry about it too much. This was clearly not Reiner at his peak. It had only been 2 months since he'd returned from infiltrating Paradis, and from the looks of it things hadn't gone well. He would sometimes just start shaking and have to leave the room, with some random Marleyan general having to fill in. Once, someone accidentally dropped a metal pencil-case on the floor and he became suddenly unresponsive, collapsing into his seat with a million-yard stare. It frightened Zofia. She wondered just what had happened on that island. Whatever was over there had shattered this man. It had hit him so hard that even the unbreakable Armored Titan had crumpled under the pressure.

She wondered how the infiltration had affected Pieck. She'd been there for a significantly less amount of time, but it still must have impacted her in some way. Then she wondered if Pieck was secretly just as broken as Reiner, and maybe that's why she wasn't teaching. The thought of Pieck suffering at all made Zofia want to cry, so she tried not to worry about that either. Still, she missed Pieck. It was stupid to "miss" her, because they'd spent less than 2 hours together total, but she did. She did miss her. She wanted to see her again.

The whole thing was so confusing to her at times. Why couldn't she stop thinking about this woman? Why was she suddenly so obsessed with this person who was basically a stranger to her? It was surely not normal. Zofia never felt normal. Something must be wrong with her. Other girls her age all had boyfriends, or at least boys they crushed on, but Zofia had never had any of that. She liked boys okay, she supposed, but could never emulate this infatuation that all of her peers seemed to posses. The girls in her neighbourhood were always whispering about how cute Reiner was, always telling Zofia how lucky she is that she gets to spend so much time with him, but she couldn't seem to wrap her head around why. His features were all so angular and harsh. He reminded her of the appartments in the Eldian ghetto; well-built and functional but completely lacking in any homeliness or personality. Not like Pieck. She was smooth and soft, like the verdant, rolling hills that Zofia had loved to visit as a child. She just wished that she could see those features once more.

Thankfully, her wish came true during one particularly dull lecture. Reiner was explaining how best to initiate a titan transformation. An interesting topic, in theory, but incredibly boring in practice.

"-and so, whilst it's easier to cut into the Superficial Palmar Arch, that's really a mistake because you should be aiming for what is known as the Deep Palmar Arch, also known as the Deep Volar Ar-"

*knock knock*

Reiner flinched, as he always did whenever there was a sudden loud noise. It took a few seconds for him to remember where he was, but when he did he quickly let the guest in. Zofia's eyes lit up as she saw Pieck, dressed in full military uniform and looking considerable more kempt than when she had last seen her. The navy-green hues of the thick woollen coat complimented her naturally dark hair, making it look even darker by comparison. She looked incredible.

"Good afternoon, Mr Braun. Would you mind if I interupted for a few moments just to introduce myself?"

"Oh, uhm, yes, yes of course go ahead."

Reiner looked like he very much did mind being interrupted, which made Zofia smile. Pieck made her way to the front of the class.

"Good afternoon, warriors. My name is Miss Finger, and-"

A couple of students at the back of the class, Udo and Gabi, both snickered to eachother after hearing her last name. Pieck shot them a stern look. Zofia would have done the same, if she wasn't busy making up for lost time by staring at Pieck. She looked somehow even better than she had in her daydreams. This uniform gave her this strong, handsome look that Zofia immediately fell in love with.

"-and I shall be aiding in physical training, which will start tomorrow."

Zofia breathed a deep sigh of relief. It felt like she was exhaling all the built up anxiety of the last month. It now made sense why Pieck hadn't been teaching, as they had only had sit-down lectures until now. Now she would be able to see Pieck much more. She wouldn't have to just fantasise about their conversations anymore, she could enact them in person. The thought made her unreasonably happy. It was probably the first time she'd smiled this much since that rainy afternoon.

Pieck explained the details of the upcoming training, and as she spoke for longer and longer Zofia could see Reiner getting progressively more and more annoyed. He was far too polite to say anything, of course, so he just stood awkwardly in the corner and waited for any opportunity to butt in. Pieck gave him no such opportunity. Zofia had an inkling that Pieck was well aware of Reiner's annoyance, and was taking this opportunity to wind him up as much as possible. Eventually, after around 15 minutes, she finished her speech.

"Anyhow, I shall let you get on with your lesson, Mr Braun. Good day, warriors."

As she was leaving, for just a second, Pieck looked directly at Zofia. This was surely not just a passing glance, there was deliberate intent with this look. It must have been her way of saying "Hello Zofia Reitsch, we meet again~" without having to speak at all. At least, that's what Zofia read into it anyway. It almost certainly *was* just a passing glance, and she knew that, but she couldn't help but fantasise about exactly what that look could have meant. She spent the rest of Reiner's class daydreaming.

Physical training was hard work, mainly focusing on increased endurance, but Zofia looked forward to it every day as it meant she got to see Pieck. It was an extra incentive to push herself. They were made to run half-marathons around the Eldian Quarter, spanning almost the entire perimeter. The run was made extra gruelling by the many steep hills included on the route, especially towards the final stretch. And although Zofia was far from the fittest of the recruits, she would always finish first, just so she could spend a few precious minutes alone with Pieck.

Pieck was waiting at the gates of the academy, one hand filled with various stopwatches and the other with a large flask of water. Zofia came panting up the hill, still running until she passed the threshold, then collapsed onto the ground in a sweaty heap. Pieck clicked one of the stopwatches, halting it's steady tick.

"What was *cough* what *cough cough* what's the time?"

Pieck crouched beside Zofia, handing her the flask. Zofia drank as much as she could whilst Pieck checked the time.

"Oh my goodness, 1 hour and 22 minutes! That's almost 10 minutes faster than last time!"

Zofia smiled between deep, wheezing breaths.

"I tried to *cough cough*-"

Pieck held out her hand, motioning Zofia to get up.

"Here, come sit up, it'll make it easier to breathe."

Zofia hobbled over to the wall and slumped against it. Pieck did the same, sitting close to her.

"I tried to *pant pant* to push myself during the *pant pant* the final few hills, because I lost a few *pant pant* a few minutes there last time."

Zofia took another long gulp of water. She could feel the burn in her legs now. Whilst she was running she'd barely noticed it, but as soon as she stopped they'd started to hurt like hell. She was just trying to get as much fluid inside her as possible when she suddenly felt a hand lightly patting her on the head.

"You've made such good progress these past few weeks. I'm so proud of you, Zofia~"

Zofia spat out water all over the pavement, nearly choking. She absolutely not ready for that. The headpat compliment combo was far too much for her. Pieck giggled, which made Zofia wonder if that had been on purpose. It took a while for her to reply, still trying to catch her breath.

"Th-thank you, ma'am.

Umm, I mean, thank you... Pieck..."

Zofia was thankful that her face was already red from the run, so Pieck couldn't see just how hard she was blushing. Maybe it was just left over adrenaline, but hearing those 5 words made her feel she was in heaven. "I'm so proud of you". For a few moments she simply revelled in that bliss, closing her eyes for a second. Then, out of nowhere, a wave of lethargy hit her all at once. She'd pushed through it until now, but her body was finally processing the fact that she had just sprinted for 13 miles non-stop. She tried desperately to keep her balance, but she could feel herself about to fall.

"Pieck, I'm-"

It was like a switch had been flicked off in her brain. One second she was awake, the next she was fast asleep. The only thing she was aware of now was that her head was resting against something warm and soft. And right now, that was all that mattered to her.

GABI'S POV

Gabi's time clocked in at 1 hour 42 minutes. It was an extremely good time for a half-marathon, especially for a beginner, but she'd somehow only managed 2nd place. Udo finished around 3 minutes after her, and Falco at around 1 hour 50 minutes. All three of them couldn't help but stare. Zofia was there, completely passed out, with her head resting in Miss Finger's lap. When she first arrived, Gabi thought she saw the teacher had been running her fingers through Zofia's hair, but as soon as others started finishing she'd quickly dropped her hands to her side.

"Maybe she took a shortcut or something..?"

Udo whispered into Gabi's ear, clearly just as confused as she was. It would have been understandable if she'd been maybe a few minutes before her, but apparently Zofia had finished a whole 20 minutes faster than anyone else.

"Yeah, probably..."

Gabi whispered back. She knew that was a lie. There was no way that Zofia would cheat. She wasn't that type of person. The weirdest part of this was that Zofia didn't seem to excel at sports or fitness at most other times. Whenever they did strength training with Reiner, or practiced shotput with Zeke, she would be nothing but average. But in endurance training with Pieck, she was almost superhuman. It was just bizarre.

"Hey Zofia, wake u-"

"SHHHH"

Pieck almost hissed at them. There was something ferocious in her eyes. It was such a shock to Gabi that she jumped back a little, startled. It was like she'd just stepped on a rattlesnake and narrowly avoided being struck. That ferocity quickly faded, and Pieck instructed the kids to all go cool off in the showers, but Gabi was still shaken.

"What was that all about?"

Udo spoke in hushed tones as they headed into the courtyard.

"No idea. Miss Finger is weird."

"Yeah. So is Sophia though. Something's wrong with her, I think."

Gabi took a moment to reply. She liked Zofia well enough, but Udo was right. Something was wrong with her. She hadn't known this girl for a long time, but she knew that there was something up. She didn't talk much, and wouldn't hang out with the other recruits whenever they asked her. She always seemed like her mind was elsewhere, never truly present. Gabi didn't know what to make of her. After a few seconds, she spoke.

"Yeah. Probably."