A.N: No Armin -stuff this week since I got inspired by the new chapter!

WARNING: Slight spoilers for chapter 127.

Good Girl

"She'd help you like she helped me"

"She saved me from this stupid, worthless war"

"Sasha was such a good girl"

The words haunting her mind at night, Gabi couldn't sleep. Not long before, the face of the sniper on the roof had haunted her in her nightmares, holding on to a rifle as she mercilessly killed the gate guards. But the last few nights, her mind had been haunted by a surprised face, instantly coated in pain, the face of the very same woman as she bled to death in the airship.

The woman everyone seemed to respect and admire.

The woman she had killed.

She'd felt proud, so proud of her kill at first, even long after she'd fired the shot, but her believes had started to shatter in the restaurant as she had learned just who she'd killed.

Sasha Blouse, the woman who'd saved a child that gave her and Falco a hand. The only child of the couple who'd helped them so much. A woman who had something so good about her that even an Eldian hating Marleyan soldier had fallen in love with her.

But thanks to Gabi, that person was no more.

She knew that they were at war, and that she had just killed an enemy soldier. Sasha had killed other soldiers too, and had Gabi been an adult, the woman would've probably used her chance that day in Liberio and shot her. It hadn't been personal; both of them had just been doing their jobs.

…

That was a lie, Gabi knew. It was indeed the case for Sasha as far as she knew, but after the deaths of her friends and the destruction of her home, it had become personal for Gabi. She'd gone forward to take Eren Yeager's life, but when she got a chance to shoot enemy soldiers, she specifically chose Sasha, the one who had directly killed people dear to her.

"I wonder… had I not killed her, what would be different?" she glanced to the direction Falco was sleeping in "If she hadn't died, surely Mr. Nikolo wouldn't have attacked us. Falco wouldn't have gotten the wine in his bloodstream, so…"

Gabi gritted her teeth, knowing full well that what happened to Falco was her fault.

"Gabi? Are you okay?" she looked over her shoulder, seeing Reiner's beaten, still in the middle of healing, face "You should be asleep; we'll have a long day tomorrow."

"…I know" she said. Silently, Reiner moved to sit down next to her.

"Reiner, did you know Sasha Blouse?"

He stiffened, she noticed. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to ask.

"…Yeah, I did" he finally admitted after some silence.

"What kind of person was she?" Gabi couldn't help but ask despite knowing that Reiner probably didn't want to talk about anything that reminded him of his time here. She just… as bad as it all made her feel, she had to hear more.

Reiner was silent for a while, but eventually said: "I told the whole family about my time on this island at the dinner table, didn't I?"

Gabi blinked.

"…Yes?"

"Do you remember what I said first?"

Gabi had to think of it for a moment, but eventually she remembered the weird story.

"Someone ate a potato in the enlisting ceremony… and got yelled at?"

"Exactly" Reiner said with a snort "From then on, she was known as the Potato girl."

Gabi stared at Reiner blankly, not understanding what he was getting at, but he didn't explain any further. Why would-

"Ah!" she suddenly realized "That was Sasha Blouse!?"

"Yeah" Reiner confirmed "She was an airhead, always getting in trouble with Connie. She had great instincts though and was a capable soldier."

"Were you… friends?" Gabi was afraid of the answer, not sure if yes or no would be worse.

"I always pretended to be" Reiner said. He seemed conflicted, but finally said: "Yet with time, it became genuine. With Sasha and many more."

"So that's what he's been holding back" Gabi realized, remembering how off Reiner had seemed at the dinner that day. He must've been weighted down by the guilt he was carrying, just like she was now.

"But he's trying hard to keep more people from getting hurt" Gabi reminded herself "And I must do so too."

As Gabi finally went to bed again, her determination was back. She might have done bad things that couldn't be undone, but she had the chance to do something good, something that would keep even more people from suffering.

And she'd do all she could.