What happened after that was a blur. Isabelle went to an orphanage in the Trost district. We lived as refugees inside of Wall Rose, working fields to try and cultivate land to grow more food. With the loss of all the lands in Wall Maria, the amount of food left for the remnants of humanity wasn't enough. Terribily disguised as an attempt to retake Wall Maria, 250,000 refugees were sent to out of Wall Rose to fight the titans. Our grandpa was one of the ones sent, but he wasn't one of the 200 that returned.

I knew that the chances of him returning were slim, but that didn't make it hurt any less when we received the news. Armin held Grandpa's old straw hat while I held him, and we cried. Grandpa was the one who raised us, taught us, and consoled us after our parent's deaths. I wasn't just losing my loving grandfather, I was losing the last piece of direction and the last piece of my childhood. All I had left now was my twin, and our two friends and stood by while we cried.

Finally, Eren broke the silence, "It's all the titan's fault. If we could just subdue them, we could retake our place in the world again."

He sat down next to us on the wall we were leaning against. "Armin, I plan to apply for the Cadet Corp's next year. I'm going to gain the strength to fight the titans"

"Me too."

The three turned and looked at me, shocked. For the past year, I had been quiet and docile about everything. I didn't express my lament or anger over losing our home like Eren, but I still had it. It had been boiling inside and stewing for a while.

I kept my arms around Armin's shoulders and met Eren's eyes, and then Mikasa's. "Did I ever tell you about the soldier I talked to when we escaped from Shiganshina? He only said two sentences to me, maybe three. But I'll never forget it. While we were running away, Garrison soldiers were running to the titans. I yelled at them that it was pointless, that they were just going to get eaten just like everyone else. They all ran past me, because they knew that and they didn't care. One stopped to explain it to me though. He said that their mission was to keep the citizens of the walls safe, and that's what they were going to until the end. Even if they just die in a titan's mouth, if it saved someone else, let at least one person get away, it was worth it. They willingly walked into hell on the chance that they could help at least a few get out. It reminds me of you, in a way, Eren, that sort of determination and bravery."

I stopped talking for a second and looked back into Eren's and Mikasa's eyes. I couldn't bring myself to pull away from brother long enough to look in his eyes yet. Eren looked stunned, I don't think he expected me to say something like that. Mikasa's eyes looked sad, although her face was as expressionless as ever. I'm sure she was imagining me dying in a similar fashion.

"I know you think living is what's most important Mikasa, but I agree with Eren. I don't want to live and die in a cage like cattle. I don't want to not be prepared when this happens again because I know it will. I want my life to have purpose. I want to be brave like those soldiers because if someone doesn't take their place, then their sacrifices would've been for nothing."

After my speech, we were all silent, before Armin pulled out of my arms so he could look me in the face. "I'm joining too."

"Armin… are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Me too," Mikasa spoke for the first time since we learned of my grandpa's death.

Eren stood and looked at her, surprised, "But, didn't you say that living is what was most important?"

"Yes, that's why I'm joining, to make sure you don't die."

I couldn't help but laugh. It felt good. I hadn't laughed in over a year. My friends looked at me like I was crazy but I didn't care. "The four of us, then?"

"The four of us," Eren repeated while Mikasa and Armin nodded.

Later that night before we went to bed, I pulled Mikasa aside.

"Mikasa, are you sure about this?"

"Are you?"

I looked at my feet. "I'm sure of what I want to do, I just don't know if I have to ability to do it."

"What do you mean?"

I looked back up at her eyes again. "I don't know if you've noticed, Mikasa, but you're special. You're strong, and you can fight easily without ever having to try. I'm not like that. I'm smart, but not as smart as Armin. I'm determined, but not as determined as Eren. I'm nowhere near as strong as you, but could you help me get better?"

"Get better? Isn't that what the training in the Cadet Corps is for?" she said confused.

"Yes, but I'm so weak, I'll be in the back of the pack when we get there. I don't want that. I want to start now."

She nodded, "I… I wake up before everyone else in the mornings, and I train to get stronger. I like being the strongest out of the four of us. All I want is for the four of us to be safe together. I've always felt like if I was the strongest I could do that better, so I know how you feel. I'll start waking you up with me."

I threw her arms around her neck, "Mikasa… you're the best friend anyone could have, ever."

I felt her laugh a little into my hair. I couldn't help but wonder if that was the first time she had laughed in a year, too. I couldn't remember her laughing during that time.

"I know I am," she said and she squeezed me back.

After another year of hard labor in the fields and training with Mikasa in the mornings, it was time to go to apply to the Cadet's. A week before we went to the training camp, I made a trip to Trost. When I told Armin, Eren, and Mikasa what for, they insisted they go with me.

Walking through the town, I wasn't sure I'd find the place, but I did. I knocked on the door to the orphanage and a middle age lady with a sweet face answered.

"Hello young ladies and gentlemen! How can I help you?"

I looked to Armin, who nodded, and I reached out to take the lady's hand.

"I'm Alex Arlert. This is my brother, Armin, and our friends, Mikasa Ackerman and Eren Yeager. Two years ago, we came to Wall Rose as refugees from Shiganshina."

The lady's smile faded, "Oh."

"When we got here I brought a little girl that I had saved to this orphanage. We're joining the Cadet Corp's in a week, and I just wanted to know how she's doing."

"Come on in, please," she said. "I'm Harriet McKinney. You can call Mrs. Harry, that's what all the children call me. Do you want tea? Cookies?"

"No," I said while Eren said "Yes."

Mrs. Harry laughed, please sit in here while I get some for you.

When she came back, she had a tray full of tea cups and cookies. We all sat up in our seats. It had been a long time since any of us had drank anything warm or ate anything sweet.

"Help yourself," she said, and we dug in while two other ladies entered the room, one tall and thin while the other was short and chubby.

"Harriet? Who are these teenagers?"

"These young men and women are refugees from Shinganshina. They say they're joining the military next week and want to check on a child that they left here two years ago."

We all shook hands with the two women. The tall, thin one was named Gretchen Hindleston and the short one was Jocelyn Jones.

"Can you tell me about the little girl you saved?" asked Mrs. Harry.

"She had green yes and blonde hair, and was maybe a year and half then, so three and a half now. Her name is Isabelle. Her parents were crushed by fallen debris, and her first name was all I caught. I felt bad when I didn't have a last name or birthday to tell you all when we left her…"

"Don't," interrupted Mrs. Jones. "A first name is more than most children have when they're left here. Many of our children are victims of the tragedy that happened two years ago. I'll take you to the nursery to see her."

We all stood to follow her as Mrs. Hindleston said "I know what girl you're talking about it. I'm so glad you saved her, she's an angel."

I nodded and smiled at her. We went up a flight of stairs and passed rooms full of children divided up by age and sex. There were many of them.

"Do the three of you take care of all these kids by yourselves?" asked Armin

"No. Many women work here at the different times of the day. Only Harriet stays her full time. She's the owner and director of the orphanage."

We reached a door marked "1-4: Girls" and Mrs. Hindelston announced, "She's right in here."

When she opened the door we were met with a room full of young girls. It was still early morning, so most of them were still asleep, but some were up and were playing in the floor.

"Isabelle," Mrs. Hindleston called, "You have a visitor."

One of the girls playing on the floor looked up and walked over. She looked surprised to have a visitor, and so did the other girls that we awake. I knew that this was probably the first time it had happened to any of them. Her pale hair had gotten longer and was currently messy and tangled from a good night's sleep. I could still the sleep around her eyes, and she was wearing long, plain white night dress.

"Sorry she's not presentable, we haven't had chance to make our rounds and start their morning routines yet."

I shook my head, "That's fine."

"She's cute," added Mikasa.

"Hello, I'm Isabelle. Who are you?" said Isabelle shyly. She sounded like she could talk well for still being so young, and I was glad. I had always heard that growing up in crowded orphanages caused some children not to develop well mentally.

"I'm Alex," I said and shook her hand. Eren, Armin, and Mikasa also all stepped forward to introduce themselves and shake her hand.

"We meet a while ago, although you probably don't remember. I'm the one who brought you here."

"Did you know my parents?" she asked quickly, eyes shining with hope. It hurt to crush it.

"No, not really. I didn't even know their names."

Isabelle clearly looked disappointed but didn't do anything but nod.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay. Are you happy here?"

Isabelle looked at Mrs. Hindelston who nodded for her to go ahead speak. "I have a lot of friends, and my moms are nice to me, so I'm happy."

I smiled and looked at my brother and friends to see they were smiling too.

"That's good. I'm… We're glad."

I realized I didn't have anything more that I could say to her. She wasn't even four yet. She couldn't understand anything that I had to tell her.

I looked at Mrs. Hindelston and she started to usher Isabelle back in the room.

"Go brush your hair and get the other girls up. Breakfast will be soon."

"Yes ma'am."

We all walked back down the steps silently and left after saying goodbye to the women. Just before going out the door, Mrs. Harry said, "Be careful in the military. Most of the women working here, including myself, work for free to help these children because we lost our own. Most of them died in service. Mine died in the Survey Corps, on an expedition three year ago. He was only sixteen. Please, be careful, and feel free to come back to visit anytime you can."

I didn't what to say to that. None of us did, so smiled and nodded at her before closing the door behind us.

"Wow," said Armin.

"Yeah," I said, "I didn't think Eren's manners were really worse than a three year old's, but you never know."

Mikasa and Armin laughed while Eren shoved me with a scowl.

"You just proved my point!" I exclaimed, joining in on the laughter.

We continued walking down the street, and after we were silent again, Mikasa said, "Seeing those children… makes me want to do the best I can."

Eren made a noise of agreement, "Most of those children are orphans because of the titans. We're orphans because of the titans. We need to do the best we can so we can fight for them."

With that, we were ready to officially ready to join the Cadet Corp's.