It was already snowing heavily when Mikasa placed her lantern down. She was in the same team with Floch and Mina and fortunately, they were able to finish this mission before anyone else. The mission itself was quite hard, as they had to walk a long distance through the snowstorm, in the mountains.

"Brr…" Mina expressed as she hastily opened the door to the cabin which was their destination.

"Y-yeah" Floch seconded as he walked inside after the girl "I-I agree…"

Mikasa rolled her eyes at that. Many cadets preferred to whine once they've encountered some sort of a difficulty during training, but some were taking it to the next level.

"Oh, come on!" She exclaimed as she made her way to her very much freezing colleagues, sitting by the fireplace within the room "it wasn't all that bad."

"E-easy for you to s-say" Mina said, holding her hands over the flame "you're l-literally s-some kind of a monster…"

The redhead simply gave her a sour face. Ever since their encounter with commander Erwin, he was trying to be way more serious about his training, which was clearly doing him much good.

"Eventually, no matter what we do, the queen will disband the survey corps" the blonde commander spoke, after the three of them found a peaceful, secluded place to talk.

"What will happen then?" Floch asked with much concern

Erwin closed his eyes, before speaking up.

"You must not tell anyone, but I have a plan. Your confession assured me that there is a person in the government who can change people's memories. Some time ago, I met with the queen herself. The impression I had of her was that she had to be that person…"

"The manipulator…" Mikasa interjected "I wasn't sure if it was the queen…"

Erwin looked at the two of them.

"I have some inside knowledge about what exactly happened with the military police, during the last few years" he continued "she got rid of everyone who didn't do their job correctly or showed any signs of corruption."

"She must be extremely paranoid…" Floch concluded.

"That's what I'm thinking as well" the commander affirmed "and rightfully so…"

Then, he looked at Mikasa with wonder.

"After all, there are some people she cannot control."

"It all makes sense" the redhead exclaimed "but what is that plan of yours?"

"The scouts will go incognito after the corps is disbanded. Most of us will land within the military police, as our level skill is way above average. But while there won't be any official survey corps, we will make the real opposition to the royal court."

The two teenagers widened their eyes at that.

"Opposition?" Mikasa asked after a moment of silence "you mean like… you want to bring the government down?"

"That's right" Erwin spoke, much to their surprise "this is the only way we can find your friend. If that 'manipulator' kidnapped him, then he must be of some importance to them. The government won't let this matter drop, that easily."

"Wait" Floch exclaimed in consternation "I wanted to help, but to bring down the ruling government? What do you even plan on doing after that? Do you want to become a king or something?"

"I just want the truth to be revealed" the commander slowly responded "I don't want to be the leader of this world. If we actually pull that off, I assure you that the organization will find a suitable person to lead us."

It seemed to be the only possible way to find Eren. And years ago, Mikasa swore that she would do it, no matter what. Even if the world would fall, she would find him.

"We're in" the dark-haired girl exclaimed without hesitation.

At that, Erwin only smiled at them.

"Welcome to the Scout Society…"

"Hey Mikasa…"

The female looked up to see Floch standing over her. While she reminisced the talk with the commander, she never noticed that she was spacing out. Some time must have passed, since Mina was no longer nearby, and the firewood was much more charred than before.

"I spoke to Shadis" Floch exclaimed after gaining her attention "we are getting the highest marks!"

"That's great" Mikasa said looking into the fire "one step closer…"

"Yeah…"

Silence filled the air, as the two cadets thought of their perspectives. While the girl was always set on her goal, the boy had been pulled into this madness, pretty much against the odds. Floch never considered himself to be brave, or even a good person, but he simply couldn't ignore the wrongdoings of the government.

"All of it is just crazy" the redhead spoke suddenly "one day I approach you for advice on how to get into the top ten, another day I find myself in the middle of an organized plot…"

Mikasa just smiled at that. She never said it out loud, but Floch's support meant for her way more than anything else.

"What will you do after this ends?" He asked all of a sudden.

That made her wonder. She never thought of anything more after the rescue of her adoptive brother.

"I'll probably settle with him, somewhere" she responded with honesty.

For whatever reason, the boy's face turned into an expression of dejectedness. Not knowing why this occurred, Mikasa got a little nervous. Did she say something wrong?

"And what about you?" The girl asked, trying to change the topic "what will you do?"

"Oh, I don't know, really" he responded in an indifferent tone "get a nice house by the river, marry some beautiful girl…"

This time, it was her turn to feel weird. Him saying stuff about marrying another girl made her insides twist.

Wait… Another girl?

"Am I beautiful?" She asked all of a sudden.

Then, a huge blush which in terms of colour could put Floch's hair to shame appeared on her cheeks. Why did she ask him such a weird question? Now, she wasn't even able to look the boy in the eyes anymore.

"Very."

This simple answer made her feel as if the entire ice around her heart that was there ever since Eren had disappeared, melted. For whatever reason, the female spurted a wide grin. With that, she looked at her dear companion.

"I'm not saying that I want to marry you, or anything…" he exclaimed, trying to look away.

But for now, this was everything she needed. As they were sitting in front of the fireplace together, Mikasa leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah" she responded "by the way, I would like a nice house by the river as well…"