1ST DAY IN TRAINING:
Keith Shadis walked down the lines inspecting us each closely. He looked me in the eyes, and I stared blankly ahead. He walked right by, without a second glance. Suddenly he stopped in front of a girl, she was about 14.
"What is your name?" He asked her. The boy next to her shifted uncomfortably.
"Her name is Annabell Swan Sir!" He said. We starred in disbelief. This kid was a fucking idiot. Keith walked over and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Did I ask you what her name was?"
"No sir." He replied. Keith then gripped the boy's head and brought it down to meet his knee. The boy fell like a brick. Keith walked back over to Annabell.
"Where are you from Annabell?" He asked.
"We're from Stohess sir." The boy answered again. Keith walked over and kicked the boy roughly.
"I asked the girl" he said, his voice made those near me cower in fear. "Annabell!" Keith barked, "why have you come here today!?"
"We want to stop the titans." The boy said. Keith frowned and pulled the boy up, by his collar.
"I'm getting tired of your shit boy. I asked Annabell, what do you not understand about that?" He growled.
"Sir, she can't talk. She is mute." The boy said.
"GO HOME!" Keith suddenly yelled at the girl. Instantly tears streamed down her face, and shook her head, saluting. "YOU ARE USELESS HERE!" He screamed. The girl frowned and punched Keith Shadis right in the face. Keith didn't move, but his head budged an inch.
"Sir! She didn't mean it!" The boy tried to sooth things over. The girl pointed at herself then nodded. We all realized she was trying to say she meant it.
"You better prove yourself worthy, and never leave that boy's side Annabell. I see potential in you." Keith said very quietly in her ear. I stood next to them, and I was the only one who heard it. Annabell graduated 3rd in the class. Alex, as we later learned the boy's name was, in 10th.
PRESENT:
I sigh at the tidal wave of memories that came rushing at me. "Jaq?" Mark asks.
"Sorry, what did you say?" I ask as I'm handed some bread.
"Could we... be friends?" He asks, looking down at me.
"Ah... I suppose so." I say and his face breaks into a large smile. Nobody had ever been this excited at the concept of me considering them a friend. I always forget he's so young, and naïve. He follows me over to Nana, Bree, and Jess as I sit with them. Leo chose this squad for me, I suddenly realize. Something jumps in my stomach at this kindness. Nana smiles at me.
"Hey there." She says, I notice under the table she and Bree are holding hands.
"Hey." I say simply. Someone suddenly sits on my other side, shoulder against my own.
"Alright everyone, we have tomorrows mission." Leo says. We all look at him waiting. "There is a survivor, a girl, the only one in her squad to survive. She's young, 14 so she must be scared. Another squad said they saw a flare and got her to a safe place in the trees, but they were unable to bring her back. They were short on horses, and most of their men had died."
"When do we leave?" I ask.
"We leave tomorrow before noon. This girl, Mar, she knows something important. About an aberrant." Leo says. Mark suddenly stands up, tears are streaming down his face.
"Her entire squad is dead!?" He sobs. The people around us glance at him. "She must be terrified. I told her not to join the Survey Corps. I told her she wasn't cut out for it." He whispers.
"Mark?" Jess asks, standing up to go and comfort her.
"Mark..." Leo starts. "What is your relation to this girl?" His voice is filled with worry.
"She's my sister. Or my Twin actually."
Mark chokes out. I stare at him in shock.
"Leo..." I whisper.
"I know." He sighs. "Hey Mark?" He starts. Mark starts shaking his head and backing up.
"No! I'm going with!" He shakes.
"Listen Mark, I'm not going to force you to stay. But it would be better for everyone. Your emotions would get in the way." Leo tries to convince Mark.
"No Leo! I'm going with you! She's my sister!" Leo sighs at his stubbornness
"I guess there is no convincing you otherwise. But if I feel you are letting to many emotions get in the way, I will order you to stay in a tree, and wait until we get back." Leo warns.
"Yes sir. Thank you." Mark begings to cry again, Leo pats him on the back.
"Hey, come on kid, you're a soldier. Man up. Yes?" Leo asks. Mark sniffles and nods. "Your a good kid, Mark, and your sister will be saved. I promise." Mark smiles a little. The rest of the meal goes by, and Leo gave us the information. Afterwards he taps ne on the shoulder.
"You gotta second, Jaq?" He asks, I follow him outside.
"Yeah." I reply. I bite my lip. He stops after we've reached a more secluded area.
"I chose this squad so you could get some more friends, Jaq."
"I figured. But I don't want friends Leo. I didn't even want to get close to you, it just happened."
"I still don't understand you after all these years." He sighs, and runs hand through his hair, he doesn't have it up so it barley brushes his shoulders in the back. I lean back against a wooden wall, and cross my arms.
"I still don't understand you after all these years." He sighs, and runs hand through his hair, he doesn't have it up so it barley brushes his shoulders in the back. I lean back against a wooden wall, and cross my arms.
"I don't want people to understand me." I say quietly. He frowns.
"Jaq..."
"Don't say it, Leo."
"Jaq, I love you"
"Dammit Leo, you know why we can't be together." I growl. He walks closer me and puts his arms on either side of me. I clench my jaw.
"Jaq, please... I know." He says, his breath hot on my neck. I shiver, and look up at him.
"You know what, Leo?" I ask softly.
"I know that you love me too." He whispers. I bite my lip.
"Leo, I don't-"
"Don't lie to me!" He whispers, clutching, helplessly at my button up shirt. I look up at him again.
"I... Leo" I mumble. He suddenly kisses me, my eyes widen as he clings to me, lifting me to his height, and he presses me against the wall. I gasp and push him back, blushing fiercely. "Leo!" I breath.
"I'm sorry, I... was that your first kiss?" He whispers. "That was stupid of me."
"I-" I blush. He smirks.
"You're cute when you blush" he whispers. I suddenly pull him to me, winding my fingers through his hair. One of his hands are braced on the wall, the other is wound up in my hair. We pull back for breath, I'm blushing fiercely. "I like this side of you." He chuckles, brushing hair from my face.
"...thanks." I whisper. "Put me down" I say suddenly, pushing him back.
"What? Why?" He frowns.
"Leo, I heard something."
"So what?" He asks, kissing my neck.
"Leo!" I shove him back, causing him to drop me. "They can't find out about us. The age difference is to great, it's wrong" I frown. I know he had a wife and a kid, but I don't say it. Because whether I want to or not, I have fallen in love with him. Tears weld up in my eyes, threatening to spill.
"Leo, I feel like I not worth putting your time in." I say, trying to form a sentence.
"Did you just say you are unworthy of me?" He asks shocked. "Listen here, Jaq Makosky, I love you. And I'm not taking this bull shit of how you're not worthy of me. Got that?" He asks. I nod my head, after moment.
"Leo, I still don't want people to find out about us."
"Would you like to go back to my room?" He asks, a smile forming on his lips.
"No." I reply, as he pokes me in my stomach. I hold back a giggle.
"You're ticklish, I find that adorable. It lets me know you're not all sharp edges. You have some soft sides to you as well." He smiles.
"I don't find it adorable, when I'm sparing with someone and they accidentally poke me, I laugh. It's frustrating." I complain. This is a side I have never, and I mean never, shown anyone. Leo in my 4 years in the military is the only one who knows anything about my history. And he doesn't know much. But I have a feeling he'll try know more. He has never been content with how my sister and I lived on the streets, and he doesn't know what happened to my parents.
"I think you have a cute laugh.." he whispers, caressing my face. I sigh, and lean into it. His normally tired blue eyes, are shining with happiness.
"I've never seen you like this, Leo." I murmur, watching him curiously.
"I-" Leo is cut off by a voice calling his name.
"Leo, you around here?" The voice calls.
"Mark." Leo says simply. I lean against the wall, and put my mask back on, crossing my arms and looking indifferent to the world. "We're over here Mark." Leo calls out. Mark rounds a corner, and sees the two of us. He pauses for a second and assesses the situation before he continues to walk towards us.
"Hey Leo, are they... sure it's Mar? Is Mar really out there... all alone?" He asks.
"They said her name was Mar, but it could be someone else. I am unable to recall her last name." Leo gives an apologetic look. Mark nods his head,
"I suppose it could be. I hope so... Mar was always fragile."
"I'm sure you're not giving her enough credit, she is in the Survey Corps."
Mark sighs at this. I lean up from the wall and walk over to him.
"Mark, she is strong, she was the youngest one on that squad if she was your twin, and yet she was the one who survived. That specific squad had veterans in it, from before the fall of wall. Yet she survived, Mar seems pretty fucking strong to me." I say, staring up at him, tears shine in his eyes. "If she's anything like you, she's strong." I finally say. Mark suddenly embraces me, pulling me to him, my eyes grow wide.
"Thank you, Jaq. You try to be tough, and mean all the time, but you're not." He cries. I'm awkward in his arms. I feel Leo's eye staring a hole into us. After a moment Mark puts me down. He wipes his eyes, and thanks us, leaving. I turn around, towards Leo.
"Jaq! What the hell happened!?" He asks me.
"What are you talking about? I say defensively, "he only hugged me, because tried to be nice!"
"No, Jaq, I understand that, but I was talking about the scar that runs from your naval, to your hip bone on the opposite side!" I glance down, when Mark lifted me up, my shirt lifted up too.
"It was a training accident." I say, tugging down.
"Don't lie to me, Jaq!" He says, "you've never been good at that" he rushes up to me, and holds my face in his hands. "Jaq, what happened? It's obviously old. It happened before we didn't it?"
"... yes." I say slowly. He clenches his jaw.
"What happened?" He asks, starring into my eyes, his blue ones filled with worry.
"Why does it matter? Its in the past." I say softly.
"Because, even if it's in the past, it's still something that happened to you." He tells me. I sigh.
"My father."
"Your father did this?"
"Yes, he stabbed my mom, killing her, then he stabbed me, thinking I was dead he killed himself. He knew Lizzie would die without us. But Dr. Jäger found me, and he stitched me up. Asked if Lizzie and I had family we could live with, I lied and said yes."
"Why did your father do that?"
"He was insane, what other reason is needed?" I ask, covering one of his hands on my face, with my own. He stares at me sadly.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you to talk about that."
"No, it's alright. You don't have any secrets you keep from me, I won't keep any from you." I say softly. He kisses me for a brief moment.
"You should go, we don't want to spend to much time together, if you want to keep this a secret" he tells me.
"You're right." I reply, and I leave him standing where he is. I feel his eyes on me, and heat rushes to my face, as all my emotions collide.
"Jaq! Hey, you have time right now?" I look back and know who it is instantly. One of the only two people I have ever met, she has a rich Carmel skin colour, and frizzy black hair she keeps closely shaven. But there is no denying her beauty, but people forget about that once she begins to talk. Jess.
"I probably shouldn't Jess, I'm going to train with some of the new recruits." I say, it's not exact lie, I did plan on going to train. I just planned on doing it alone.
"That's perfect, because Nana, Bree and I we're going to spar, would you like join?" She asks. I pause for a second to consider this.
"Sure, I don't see why not. Nana, she's the only one to not graduate in the top 10 though, yes?"
"Yes, but I hear the kids who graduated in the top 10 are extremely talented. You should see their number 1. She's worth 100 soldiers." Jess gushes.
"So am I." I reply, "it happens, there are at least a couple of us like that in Military." We see Nana and Bree rushing towards us.
"Three on one is fair, right?" I ask as graduate number 6 in my class, Bree throws a punch, her long silky black hair flowing behind her. I dodge and grab her hair, yanking it so she looses her balance.
"I feel so." Bree gasps out in her odd accent none of us have heard before. Nana dives towards me, driving her fist into my stomach, I double over for a second. But in an instant I'm back up, and as she goes to punch me, I duck, then slam my head into hers, from below. She falls back and lands on her ass.
"Mikasa! Look at that, three on one and she's winning!" A voice calls, I look back for a split second, and Jess punches me in the face. "Holy Crap, that's awesome!" The boy says, as I reel, Bree walks up to me and grabs my hair, yanking my head back. I grimace, and I kick my foot up, as Nana stands to land a blow. It hits her square in the jaw, knocking her out. I let my body fall limp, and the weight shocks Bree, making her let go. On the ground, I dodge a kick from Jess, and catch the one from Bree. I hold her leg and stand up, knocking her off balance.
"Shit." She gasps, and she falls.
I punch Jess in the face, and as she waves her arm to keep balance, I grab her arm and pull her towards my body, I use the momentum as I drop to the ground again, to toss her over my shoulders. She lands on her back and gasps as the air is knocked out of her lungs. I stand up, they're all down for the count, Nana is out cold and the other two are panting on the ground. I look up as boy shouts in excitement.
"That was so fast! Holy shit Mikasa, did you see all that!?" He smiles.
"Would you like to try?" I ask, it's obvious he does. The boy's smile grows larger.
"Hell yeah! Come on Mikasa!" He heading towards me. Mikasa stops him.
"Come on Eren, do you want to be late again?" She asks.
"Mikasa! I want to fight her!" He complains as he is dragged away. She doesn't stop. "Wait, tell me which rank you graduated in!?" He asks.
"Number 1 of Graduating class 102." I say, then I help up Jess, who's panting still. She grabs Bree up from the spot she was lying in, and I head over to Nana, and I sling her over my shoulders. Her feet drag across the ground as we head to the area we were given to rest in. I put her in her bed, and she's coming to, a little. She groans.
"I hit you too hard." I say, handing her a glass of water. She sips it, and Bree sits next to her, holding her hand.
"My head hurts." She complains.
"I'm sorry." I apologize. Jess stares at me in shock.
"You just apologized." She gasps. "Holy shit." I grin sarcastically, and cross my arms.
"What, have you never heard an apology before?" I scoff.
"I, it's just that you've never-" she stutters.
"I know." I say simply and I head over to one of the beds. "Do you think you'll be good for tomorrow, Nana?"
"I think so."
"...Good." I clench my jaw then role over on the bed and close my eyes. I don't even bother to change. The girls whisper softly with one another, after a while they think I've fallen asleep.
"She has never been so kind." Jess says.
"Has she changed?" Nana asks. There is silence for a second.
"No. She does not want people to notice. But she has always been this way." Bree says, putting more of a rounded sound on her 'O's' than needed. "I have always noticed how good of a person she is. She does things for people without them noticing all the time."
I clench the blankets in my hand. I guess my mask wasn't strong enough. I supress a sigh.
"Hey, let's just go to sleep, we have a mission, and Jaq just handed our asses to us." Nana says, they all stop talking, and head to their beds.