"Enter," came a booming voice from inside the office. Hanji opened the door with one hand, Hana's hand held in the other, and entered the office.

"Commander Keith. I want you to let my sister live here," Hanji said, point blank.

"Well, aren't we blunt today. Why don't you sit down, get comfortable, and we can talk about this first, before you go flying off the handle at me," he said, without even looking up from his paperwork. This threw Hanji off slightly. She had expected an 'I-said-no-and-that's-final' no-nonsense type of response. Next to her, Hana giggled softly, "He's funny," she said, pointing at the Commander. Keith looked up when he heard her voice.

"Ah, you must be Hana Zoe, then," he said as he stood up from his desk, and walked around it to where the two were standing. Crouching down so that he was at eye level with Hana, he continued, "I am Keith Shadis, Commander of the Recon Corps," he held out his hand for her to shake, which she did happily with both her own. "It's very nice to meet you, Sir! I can't wait to be a soldier like you an' Hanji!"

"I like your enthusiasm," he replied with an eye smile. The Commander then stood to his full height and addressed Hanji, "Considering the circumstances, I will allow her to stay here at HQ. But," he added, before Hanji could 'whoop' for joy, "anything she may need – clothes, entertainment, and such – those expenses will come out of your salary. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" Hanji saluted. Turning to leave, she took Hana's hand and said, "come on, Hana. Let's go get some dinner, 'cause I'm starved! How about you?"

"Yup! I'm hungry too!" Skipping ahead of Hanji, Hana suddenly skidded to a halt right at the door, almost tripping on the cloak she was still wearing, and turned to look back behind her and say, "Thank you, Mr. Commander, Sir!" before leaving to catch up with Hanji, who was already walking down the hallway.

When they entered the mess hall, it was moderately crowded, the air filled with several conversations. Hanji led her sister to one of the tables closer to the wall, which weren't as crowded. Dumping her backpack onto the bench and seating Hana next to it, Hanji then turned to prepare two plates. As she turned to walk back to the table, she almost crashed into her friends, Erwin Smith, and Levi Raoux. Despite the fact that they had been in the trainee class above her, the three of them had become fast friends when she entered the Corps.

"Hey, Hanji," Said Erwin. "We were slightly worried when your squad returned from patrol without you this afternoon. What kept you?"

In response, Hanji pointed a single finger towards the table Hana sat at, patiently waiting for her return. When Erwin and Levi looked in the direction she was pointing, Hana looked over at them and waved in the enthusiastic manner of any five-year-old. "That," she said, making eye contact with both men, "is my sister, Hana. She'll be living here now. So be nice," Hanji directed the last part at Levi, with a look in her face that screamed 'DON'T ASK WHY'. Walking back to her sister, she turned to look back at them, "come introduce yourselves! Don't be shy!" They followed her back to the table, where Hana was swinging her legs back and forth, looking even smaller and cuter with the overlarge Recon Corps cloak draped around her. When Hanji set a plate of food in front of her, Hana's face broke into an enormous grin that warmed Levi and Erwin's hearts.

"Here you go, duckling." Hanji said, ignoring the glare Hana shot at her, "Oh, and this is Erwin and Levi," she added, pointing toward the two men that had seated themselves across from the sisters, "why don't you say hi- Hana?"

When Hanji turned beside her to look at Hana, she noticed that Hana wasn't sitting there. Looking around in a mild panic, she calmed down when she saw that her sister was next to Levi, staring at him intently.

"What?" Levi asked, slight irritation showing in his voice. She just kept staring at him until finally she said.

"You're really short."

Erwin choked on his drink. Hanji however, was frozen half in fear for her sister's well-being and half from trying not to laugh. Levi, however, took a sip of his tea before setting down his cup, "I guess I am, but you know what?" He asked Hana, looking her right in the eye and then saying, "I'm still taller than you."

"Yea, but not for long! Just you wait!" Hana exclaimed her face scrunched up in frustrated determination. Erwin was chuckling into his drink at her antics, so he didn't notice Hana scamper over to his other side, and stare at his face. When he did notice, he gave her a questioning look, but she just kept looking at his face. Mentally, he braced himself for whatever she was about to say and sure enough:

"Why are there yellow caterpillars on your face?"

This time, Hanji spat out her drink, and Levi had to duck to avoid the spray of juice headed his way. When he sat back up and glared and Hanji, she had fallen off her bench and was now rolling on the floor, laughing so hard tears were welling up in the corner of her eyes. Erwin didn't really know how to respond so he ruffled Hana's hair and said, chuckling, "those are my eyebrows, silly." Gasping, Hana clapped her hands over her mouth in shock, staring at Erwin's eyebrows with now wide eyes.

"Nooo! Really?"

At this point, Hanji surfaced from the floor and sat back on the bench, still gasping for breath. She picked up her drink and took a long swig then set it down as she recollected herself. Hana, who hadn't been paying attention to her sister in the slightest, just now noticed her gasping for air. Looking up at Erwin, she gestured toward him and when he leaned towards her, she whispered in his ear, "She's really weird," He merely chuckled, wisely deciding not to take sides.

"Oi, shitty glasses, you done over there?" Levi deadpanned at Hanji. The only response he got was a slap to the back of the head from Erwin and uncontrollable giggles from Hana, "what's so funny?" he asked the giggly five-year-old.

"You said a bad word! Daddy says that's a-"

Hana suddenly realized what she just said, and memories of the rest of the day came crashing down on her. Hanji, who had sobered up immediately, jumped up, backpack in hand, and hurried around the table to scoop up her sister, who was on the verge of tears. "I think-" she said as she tried to stem the tears that threatened to spill out of her own eyes, "I think we should be going to bed. Goodnight, Erwin. Levi." And with that, Hanji turned and hurried out of the mess hall, the sorrow filled eyes of the two men following her until she was out of sight.

When Hanji entered her bedroom, she shut the door and let the backpack fall off her shoulder as she slid down to lean against the door, holding Hana close to her and stroking the girl's curly hair in comfort, as her own tears spilled over and landed on Hana's head. They sat there for what seemed like an eternity, holding each other as they mourned for their parents. After a while, Hanji noticed that Hana had stilled, and when she looked at her, she realized her sister had fallen asleep crying. Wiping her eyes, Hanji stood up and walked over to the bed and laid Hana carefully down on it. Pulling a child-sized nightdress out of the backpack, she then carefully removed Hana's shirt and pants and pulled the pajamas over her head. Tucking her in, Hanji pulled the bear out of the backpack and placed it under the blanket, which was immediately engulfed within Hana's arms, which put a small, sad smile on Hanji's face. Hanji them began the long process of removing her military uniform, doing so without letting Hana out of her sight. After she pulled on a pair of lounge pants and an old t-shirt, Hanji walked around to the other side of the bed and placed her glasses on the small table next to it. She then pulled back the blanket and hunkered down under it. After she was comfortable, she pulled Hana's small form closer to her and held her as she joined her sister in dreamland with tear tracks still glistening on both their faces.

Hey guys! I hope you all like the story so far! Let me know what you think, please!

(FYI, I used a random french name generator to come up with Levi's last name)