Farlan and Isabel leaned into every word with rapt attention, pausing to scowl at him whenever he dared stop to drink or think. Levi never considered himself a good storyteller, but they knew he wouldn't lie, and when he finished they all sat back in still silence. Isabel scratched the splinter on her broken knee.

"And I thought I had wonderful luck to join the scouts and meet an abnormal."

"Please. Can you imagine if we didn't have the Jaegers on our side?" Farlan countered.

"Mmm."

"Something on your mind, Levi?"

"Yeah." Isabel grit her teeth when he didn't elaborate.

"If you've got something then tell us! Mumbling to yourself like that…"

"I wonder where they're going to strike next. We only have one combat-ready titan against this Marley's six excluding the Warhammer."

"Let's work off what they believe and see if we can think if any thoughts that would point them too."

"The Industrial City might be a target." Isabel offered. "Logically, destroying the Industrial City would cripple our military. Taking out the King wouldn't do much to us especially with the chain of command still intact. But the Industrial City isn't exactly the biggest secret in the Walls even if it isn't very well hidden."

"They might go for a northern district to spread us thin as well, makes it hard to concentrate. They could infiltrate our military… So many vulnerabilities." Farlan scowled, either at his own conjectures or the cold tea in his hand.

"We're soo unlucky to be ali- born during this time." Isabel groaned.

"Alive?" Levi asked her.

"I corrected myself!"

"Hmm. Maybe we're just not lucky." Levi agreed. Farlan's head snapped upwards.

"Come on. Why should you say that?" he asked them both. Levi bowed his head as Isabel playfully grimaced at him, using one hand to hide her expression from Farlan.

"We were all born in the Underground! Our life goal was to leave that filthy place and here we are. We are lucky! The three of us could have met our end in damp ditches never seeing the Sun but we live here! Commander Erwin came to rescue us and he made us citizens of Wall Rose, we'll never have to look over our backs for MPs again-"

"Hey! He didn't pick us on a bet! We're the ones who had to learn how to fly their gear ourselves! We earned it!"

"Like we earned surviving our first expedition? Everyone agrees! That abnormal titan should have killed us next not frozen up. That-" He pointed at Isabel's broken leg. "Is nothing compared to our lives. To YOUR LIVES! If our deaths come now then, I'll take it above the earth and under the sky, got it? Where were we two years ago? Relaxing beneath dirt! Then Commander Erwin came along and even after we made a deal to kill him he forgave us!"

"What did you think he'd do? He needs soldiers, can't very well take on the titans on his own." Levi corrected.

"And sending an escort to carry our effects?"

"I believe the official term was seizure." Isabel pitched in.

"He gathered our friends and gave them citizenship."

"He arrested everyone who was associated with us and then graciously offered them a pardon in exchange for being the Scout's horse-muckers and floor-scrubbers for the rest of their lives, Farlan."

"Those are lives under the sky." Farlan countered, "We owe a lot to Commander Erwin, especially that I got to see all of us meet the sunlight and leave the Walls in one lifetime."

The three of them sat silently, Isabel flexed and cracked her fingers. Levi caught her furtively glancing at both of them and turned his face fully to her.

"Oh! Well… Farlan's leave is ending tomorrow and he's up for review."

Why?

"Commander Erwin is considering me for the post of Squad Leader."

"That's a bit fast."

"Not really, and in any case there are less than twenty active squad leaders. He said that the review is just to certify I understand most of their military procedures."

"Because we weren't trained?"

"Because we weren't trained."

"SO, uh, I was thin-" Isabel started off as both Levi and Farlan cut her off.

"No."

"No! We've said it. You're not going to rejoin the scouts after this leg heals."

"Fine…"

Not many things were right with this world, but Farlan was right, all things considered… They had been on the better side of fate.

Eren crept up the stairs, then past the first room of Grandpa Arlelt who snored loudly through the open door. Hopefully, the noise would mask him past her door.

I'd almost forgotten how annoying she can be.

Her door was closed and before he breathed a sigh of relief he opened his door and sure enough there she was dozing on the desk, back against the wall opposite his bed. He had half a mind to push her off and nicely explain she had a bed.

What am I thinking? I would never do such a thing.

Careful not to tip the half- melted candle in his hand he lifted her up and she shifted and started.

"Just stay still." He said. This body may not have been strong enough to carry a horse but he could carry her back to bed and put her down on the bed. As he turned to leave she held on to his sleeve.

"Huh?"

"Could… you stay?"

"No." Too harsh. "You have to learn to stand on your own Mikasa." And he shut the door and headed to a well-deserved rest.

By morning his own words still bothered him and he decided to put a little test, when she was serving breakfast he made an off-hand comment about being hungry and sure enough, his plate had the largest serving.

Start soft.

"Mikasa." He patiently asked, "Did you take out of your food to add to mine?

"Yes. You need your strength." Armin glanced between them. Eren raised his plate to return back the pudding to her plate but she moved it away. He set his plate down and Armin stiffened. She looked away and Armin tried to signal him to calm down with his hands.

"This has to stop."

"It's just food Eren."

"Only food? Really Armin?!"

"Mikasa's-"

"What is this?! Th-this is slavery! She's acting like a slave! Can't you do anything for yourself?!"

"Eren!" Armin jumped at him to put a hand on his mouth as Mikasa tightly shut her eyes. He dodged and pulled the scarf off her neck. Her eyes snapped open and she lunged at him over the table. His wrist was twisted with a painful flare and he lost hold of the scarf as the plates and their contents spilt and tumbled to the floor. As he tried to stand Armin knocked him with a stinging backhand. At least neither of them apologized. None of them could say that they hadn't meant it.

"That food," Armin pressed out in a shaking voice "Was from both of us. Because we thought you'd be hungry."

Too bad, was what he was about to say before a tin can crashed into his head and he fell to his knees from the violent hit. Armin's grandfather stared at him shoulders shaking and he raised another box before dropping his hands to his sides.

"Get out. Go out of here." Eren waited till his wrist healed before he got up and strolled from the room. He had gotten his point across anyway. Grandpa Arlelt locked him in his room the whole day and slid food under the door the next. But it wasn't so bad… The bowl wasn't so full anyway.

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Looking forward to That Bright Dawn!