"Is something wrong?"

Mikasa stiffened in her chair, pulling her arms towards herself and dropping her still uneaten food back on her plate.

"I'm sorry."

Mikasa turned to Sasha. She truly did look sorry, her eyes wide and mouth set in a deep frown. Her hands were at her side and not her plate.

"You just seemed like you were thinking too hard about somewhere or something else."

Mikasa pushed her plate forward, wincing at the sound of it as her glass plate rubbed against the wooden table. "Look, if you want my food then you can have it. Eat up."

It was a whole plate of good meat, warm, fresh bread, and warm vegetables - carrots and butter covered mashed potatoes in fact. Normally, Mikasa would have been excited to eat such fine food (Hanjii had said that they managed to convince the Military Police to feed them while the Survey Corps was in the area in return for silence on Annie). Now, however, she could not even bring herself to look at the food, let alone actually eat it.

Sasha's frown deepened, and wrinkles began to line her otherwise youthful face. Surprisingly, she pushed it back without eating a bite. "You need it, Mikasa. You haven't touched anything all night."

Mikasa stiffened. "I heard that you just got in here today after facing off against titans. If anyone deserves it, it's you." It took all her energy to sound concerned.

Sasha merely reached across the table, broke the bread into two pieces, and left the larger half on the plate below her.

"I'm worried about you, Mikasa." Sasha took a bite out of her bread. "I don't know what happened, but you seem different now."

Mikasa wanted to speak up, to tell Sasha that the only person that she needed to worry about was herself. However, the look on Sasha's face was genuine. Besides, if Mikasa did tell her to mind her own business, then surely she would only grow more suspicious.

Mikasa's eyes drifted down to her plate. All the food seemed like sand paper.

Familiar eyes fell on her. Eren and Armin were wordless, though she need not even imagine what they thought. She picked up her fork and ate a small bit of mashed potatoes - a mere forkful. A bit of the melted butter ran down her chin and landed on her scarf.

It took far more effort than usual to swallow.

Just like the food, the rooms that Hanjii had gotten were delightful. Mikasa had once thought that the Yaegers had the softest mattresses in the world, but this put Mikasa's old bed to shame.

It was luxuriously soft; the moment Mikasa had laid down on it, her limbs had relaxed instantly. The sheets were silky and smooth, while still keeping her warm. They were dyed a beautiful blue, one that screamed of wealth. Even the pillows were heavenly, as if clouds had been plucked from the sky and placed on the bed for her.

It needed only one more thing to be the best bed in the world: Mikasa actually being able to sleep.

No matter how heavy her eyelids were, she just ended up closing her eyes and listening to herself toss and turn. Once she grew tired of it, her eyes would open once more. Closed or open, her eyes only saw darkness.

A private room, Mikasa thought. Hanjii went out of their way to get you a private room, and you can't even sleep in it.

She wrapped her arms around her waist, and pulled herself further under the silken blankets, until she was completely under them. At least then she would not have to see the shadows that dashed and danced along the walls.

Mikasa couldn't even be sure if she was awake. Though the bed was around her and blankets on top of her, cold arms reached up and wrapped around her waist.

It had to be a dream; the body would have to be below her.

Mikasa's eyes remained firmly trapped on the blanket above her, though she had seen pale white hands and arms before they had wrapped around her.

"Mikasa?"

Her heart skipped a beat.

"Mikasa, what's wrong?"

Something cold touched her neck - perhaps lips, perhaps another's skin, perhaps even hair.

"Mikasa, what's wrong?" repeated the voice. The longer that she listened, the more that she recognized it.

"I'm worried about you, Mikasa." The tone wasn't mocking - far from it. Her tone of voice sounded as though it would have belonged to Eren, Armin, or Sasha.

But never Annie.

Annie didn't care or worry about anyone - anyone but herself at least.

The arms around her waist tightened.

For a moment, Mikasa could only stare wide eyed at the wad of bills in Armin's hands.

"Where did you get that?"

"Huh?" Armin looked up to her. "Oh, this? It's definitely a lot; I counted." His frown deepened. "The Female Titan caused a lot of damage."

As if she didn't know.

"A lot of it has to be paid off." Armin held the bills up. "Hanjii asked me to use this to hold off some people and keep them from getting angry." His eyebrows slanted, and he clutched the bills ever tighter. "There was a Titan inside the walls, risking the lives of thousands, and yet all they worry about is money."

Mikasa nodded.

"Want to come with me?"

Mikasa froze for a moment. Finally, she nodded. There was nothing that she needed to get done at the moment.

She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Tired?"

Mikasa nodded.

"Did something happen to you?" Armin's eyes widened.

"You don't need to worry about me." Mikasa's voice lowered. "I just had a hard time sleeping."

Armin nodded, and then motioned for her to follow them.

As they walked, they passed the wall. It was in the distance, but the tall, looming structure was impossible to ignore. It was even harder to try and ignore the Titan, dead as it may have been, that stared at nothing with it's still open eyes.

A shiver ran up Mikasa's spine, and she picked up her pace.