(Jean's POV)
At first, I didn't know why she felt so familiar. I knew for a fact I'd never met her before, but she obviously knew me because she locked eyes with me as she walked up to me and the rest of Levi's squad. It dawned on me, as I looked her over, that she bore a striking resemblance to... no it couldn't be. But then again, the hair, the eyes and, oh god, the freckles. She had to be related to Marco. She made an awkward coughing sound and looked down at the ground. The girl stuttered when she first opened her mouth. "I-is any one of you... Jean?" she had such a small voice. Everything about her was small and timid looking. Her height, her voice, how she carried herself, even her hair, that she let fall down her back and in her eyes. It covered her face from the world. Her face, was admittedly, pretty cute. But that wasn't something I was about to say out loud. Not with Mikasa standing close by, staring curiously at the younger girl. I had to pull myself out of my thoughts when I realized she had been asking for me.
"Oh! Yes, that's me." I confirmed, giving a slight wave. When she looked up at me, she blushed and immediately looked away again as she shoved a letter into my hands. "Here." she said timidly "This is for you." I took the letter from her, mumbling a 'thanks' as I read the handwriting on the back of the crumpled envelope. "Marzia," it read. "If I die, give this to Jean Kirstein. Love, Marco." I nearly broke down as I read the last two words. This confirmed it. She must have been his sister. Thinking back to the days in that camp, I do remember her. She is a little taller than she'd been when we were trainees, and she wore her hair down, now. If I can think back, I can remember a girl a year behind us in training. She was sitting, watching me and Marco go through drills as she ate her lunch. I recall elbowing Marco. "Looks like you have a little fan club over there." and pointing over to her. When Marco saw her, he waved and she enthusiastically waved back, with a big, stupid grin on her face. Back then, I must have thought she was just a stupid little girl with a crush. But now, looking at her, with a name, and a face, I realized: She was a loving sister who is now mourning her brother. Because of me I thought. Because I fucked up, she lost a brother. She's all alone now because I couldn't save him. I could feel tears burning at the corners of my eyes as I opened the letter and started to read. Out loud, of course, so that she could hear.
Hey, Jean.
If you're reading this, I'm dead. Sorry about that (haha). The girl who's giving you this note is (hopefully) my sister, Marzia. Please look after her. Keep her out of trouble, and for god's sake, keep her out of the Scouts. Take her to the interior, where you probably are. Make sure she marries a good guy, and that she has a happy life. I'm not around to be her brother anymore, so you have to do it for me. Take care of yourself, man. Who am I kidding? Of course you will. You're always looking after number one, right?
-Marco
When I finished reading the note, I folded it up, and shoved it in my pocket. Tears were streaming down my face after reading the note from my old friend. I couldn't break down yet. Not with the girl, Marzia, standing there silently sobbing. I had to be strong for her. I have to protect her for Marco. I couldn't save him, but i can save her. I put a hand on the top of her head, and rustled her hair, putting on a weak smile. "No worries, I'll keep you safe, I promise." She looked at me, wide eyed with a strange look on her face as a blush crept onto her face. Oh boy. I knew that look. I'd given it to Mikasa once or twice. This was going to be harder than I2 thought.
(Marzia's POV)
When he finished the letter, he put a hand on my head. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe." he said, putting on a smile for me. I stared at him in awe. He was the most beautiful boy I'd ever seen. He was a prince, really. I mean, yes, he looks a little like a horse, but I kinda look like a chipmunk. No one's perfect. He was still a prince to me. My very own white knight. A protector, he'd said so himself. My daydream was cut short when a man, no taller than I was coughed very rudely. "Yes, that's all well and good, Jean. But she's probably going to be nowhere near you when we go on recon missions. Her squad will probably be miles from ours. How do you plan on keeping her safe?" "Well, uhm..." Jean seemed to be a little afraid of this man, though I didn't know why, seeing as he towered over him. "W-we do have an extra space in our squad, don't we? That you were going to fill with Ymir before..." he paused looking back at a beautiful blonde girl standing among the other members of his squad. "Sorry, Chris-...Historia, I didn't mean to bring up..." "No, it's fine." The blonde assured him, though the look on her face made it seem like it wasn't fine at all. "Are you two done with your little tea party yet?" the man snapped. Yikes! Maybe that was why everyone was so afraid. "Yes, it is true, we do have a spot open..." he mumbled looking me over. "What rank did you get in training?" he asked. Realizing that he must have been a captain, I sprang into a salute "I ranked 4th, sir." I reported. "Hmmm. You rank fourth even while you don't know which hand you use in your salute?" Embarrassed, I realized while I'd been intimidated by the small man, that I had used the wrong hand in the salute. My face burned with shame and I heard two of his other squad members snickering. "Very well, then." the man said. "Come along." as he started to walk away, the others followed. In a hurry, I ran to catch up with them. Jean turned around, and waited for me to catch up. "Umm, shouldn't he have like, I don't know, reported to his superior that he was taking me with him?" Jean let out a nervous laugh "Yeah, no. That's Captain Levi. He pretty much does whatever he wants..." and that was the end of that.