Eren leaned against the wooden railings of the Mess Hall entrance as he watched the girl run past the building, panting in complete exhaustion and hunger. "Man, she's still going?" He muttered as his eyes tracked her moving form. He saw how much pain she was in, and even though he knew she brought it on herself by sneaking and eating that potato, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He looked at the bread that he held in his hand, debating whether or not to eat it before he made his decision. She deserved it more than he did, anyway.

Walking over to the girl, who seemed ready to collapse, he called out to her. "Hey, Potato Girl!" He yelled, extending the hand that was holding the bread. "I got you something to eat!"

He regretted those words an instant later, as the brunette immediately went feral and lunged towards the bread with her mouth open, her eyes glowing a demonic red as Eren let out a definitely-not-a-girly-shriek and stumbled backward until he tripped. He turned his head toward the sounds of someone munching on bread to see the girl hunched over the baked good before she suddenly stood upright.

"It's bread!" She suddenly declared, a smile forming on her face as she turned to Eren, who was calming down from the sudden panic.

"Hey, if you're done acting feral, how about we get you some water, alright, Potato Girl?" He asked, earning a sudden look of shock from the girl in question.

"POTATO GIRL?!"

Later

"Well, excuse me for eating the potato, but I can't just let it go to waste!" The girl exclaimed as she gulped down a large amount of water before setting it back down on the ground she and Eren were sitting on. "If I waited until lunch or dinner, it'd have gotten cold by that point!"

"Yeah, or you could've gotten another baked potato," Eren stated with a deadpan expression. "Or you could've also gotten some of the stew here. Just because lunch wasn't going to be for a while longer, doesn't mean that you were gonna go the whole day without food."

"You know how it is in these kinds of situations!" The girl exclaimed before she began to rant. "They say they got enough food here, but then people start clamoring for it, and then we run out before everyone can get any! Then they start rationing the food, but it's barely enough to survive! Even if everyone started to share their food, who'd want to, and who even knows if that'd be enough!"

Eren would've said something to retort against her, but he saw the look in her eyes. They weren't the same as the Wall Maria survivors, but they were just as haunted. Then it hit him.

"Your village didn't have enough food, did it?" He inquired, not out of malice, but out of pity. "After Wall Maria fell, there wasn't enough food to go around, was there?"

The brunette let out a sigh. "Yeah. We ended up sharing any excess we had with the survivors that came through, but eventually, we realized that there wasn't enough food to go around with, especially after some nobles from Wall Sina bought more food than they needed." She explained. "Some of us grew weak, others went on that expedition to take back Wall Maria, and we all know how that went." She was quiet for a few moments before frowning, her fists tightening in anger. "Sometimes, a couple of us had to steal back some of the food, and on one of the few times, I did, I overheard some rich assholes talk about how they found some food disgusting, so they threw it away to rot. Thinking about how they wasted all the food that my village could've eaten just pisses me off."

Eren nodded his head in sympathy. "I getcha," He said. "They're living the high life, being pampered every day while the little guy has to fight to make it through another day without the food and resources that they have."

He glared up toward the stars. "But all this could be avoided if it weren't for the Titans," He stated. "They took away humanity's freedom, keeping us caged in these walls and making our world smaller. If it weren't for them, we'd be able to venture the whole world and see what it has to offer." He took a deep breath before continuing. "There's so much out there that's kept away from us thanks to them, but I swore that, someday, humanity can be free to explore the world once again, to decide what their place in this world will be, to see what our world is, and make it into something better."

"Yeah, I understand," The girl spoke as she looked up at the stars. "Thinking about what our life could be without Titans, without the walls… that sounds like a really good dream. I kind of want to see what's out there, too. What kind of plants and animals we can find, and what kinds of food we can make with them."

"Yeah, you get it!" Eren said excitedly with a grin as he stood up, which was shared with the girl. "There's a whole world of possibilities and "what-ifs" out there! That's why I'm gonna do my best to join the Survey Corps and get rid of the Titans, and finally free humanity!"

"I gotta say, I almost feel the same way," the girl said as she picked herself up. "You make a crappy speech sound almost decent!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" He asked in a bristled tone before he saw the teasing grin on her face, realizing that the girl was just messing with him. He let out a small laugh before he extended his hand. "By the way, the name's Eren Yaeger."

The girl shook his hand. "Sasha Brauss," she introduced herself. "And I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship!"

Seven Years Later

Eren looked out to the sea as the boat carrying him and the Survey Corp made its way to the country of Marley, the wind flowing through his hair as he felt a small smile form on his face at the memory.

"Eren!" He heard his wife, Sasha, call out as she walked up toward him with her familiar smile. "There you are, I was looking for you! We're about to land at the port!"

"Oh, we are?" He asked in a soft voice. "Alright, I'll get ready."

Sasha's smile only seemed to grow a bit larger. "What were you thinking about?" She asked him.

Eren chuckled. "Just thinking about how we first met." He told her as they began to make their way toward the front of the boat, readying themselves for the day that was to come ahead.

And that is chapter 2, folks! I hope you all enjoyed reading it just as much as I did writing it! Before I close this off, I want to clarify something I should've last chapter: This one-shot collection will be focused on my AU, but there will be some chapters that take place in their separate universes! I just wanted to clear that up since I felt like I didn't explain it all that well last chapter!

To those who are wondering when my other stories are going to update, however, the next update will be my DBZ/P5 Crossover, followed by Thief of Wonder, and maybe Bloodied Heroics will be next if I can write out chapter 6 as well as I can. With that out of the way, I'll see you all soon! As always, be good people, and keep it fizzy!