Chapter 26

"Really? You ran in to a civilized Marleyan?" Jean asks Sasha in a low voice as they take a break from their duties.

"Well, not exactly civilized; he was an ass… just not in the usual way those guys tend to be" Sasha said. Jean raised an eyebrow "In what way, then?"

"Kinda like you in our training days, I guess" Sasha says, laughing at Jean's unimpressed face "Oh c'mon, you know you were an ass!"

Jean sighs.

"Yeah, I know" he says "But we were kids, and I take it that guy's not. If you have to work with him, be careful."

"I'm a soldier Jean; I'm always careful" well, while on duty, at least.

"So is he" Jean pointed out "Really Sasha, you don't know that guy nor what he's capable of. It'd be good to try to get in to good terms with the Marleyans, but above all else, be careful."

"…Okay" the woman says hesitantly, wondering if there's something she doesn't know at play here. Not one to beat around the bush with Jean, she asks: "Is there something you're not telling me?"

A moment of silence follows, which Sasha considers to be yes.

"Jean?"

"It's not that surprising, really" he says "It's just that while you were away, there were a few fights between them and some of ours. Apparently, the last shipment of Marleyans included some troublemakers."

He sighs.

"All's fine for now and it's not like anyone got seriously hurt, but if more trouble like that occurs, it'll create tension. So just… be careful."

"I will" she says "Really Jean, it's not like I'm naïve."

"I know" he says with a sigh "None of us are at this point."

While that was a good thing, it was also rather sad.

XXXXX

"Is it just me or do they all look somehow livelier than usual?" Thomas asks Nikolo in a low whisper as they patrol the ghetto together. The other soldier nods, having noticed the same.

"I don't think there's a festival coming up or anything" Thomas says "What do you think is going on?"

Nikolo had no idea, but maybe he could ask Helmut and Herbert when he next saw them. Or he could just ask some passerby, but that would have a bigger risk of getting lied to, if he got an answer in the first place.

"Let's slow down our pace a little; maybe we can overhear something" he decided. It's not like they had anything better to do; things were peaceful right now, they mostly were, and gathering information was part of their job.

They heard mentions of Paradis and Eldia, someone even brought up queen Historia, and all of this honestly brought Nikolo on edge. The Eldians in the continent normally avoided talking about those on the island, some out of hate, most of out of fear of getting in trouble. He's only heard them brought up in the ghettoes a few times, and on those times, there was definitely spite in the tones of the speakers. However, now there were many people talking, and almost everyone lacked spite. What had he missed?

"This is definitely something we should report" Thomas says "Should we ask someone directly what is going on? Would make the report clearer."

"No" Nikolo says immediately "They could lie, and even if they didn't, word would probably get around fast that soldiers are asking around about the latest gossip."

"Point taken" Thomas says. Nikolo doesn't look at him, too busy eyeing a pair of young women who he was pretty sure had just mentioned Eren Yeager "What is our course of action, then?"

Nikolo didn't need to think it for too long.

"Keep your eyes and ears open for the rest of the shift. Take notes if it feels necessary, but do it discreetly. We'll sum things up after we leave and hand out an urgent report tomorrow" he said.

"Roger"

Nikolo held back a sigh, hoping with all his mind that they were overreacting. He really didn't want there to be a conflict; he didn't want to hurt these people. However, with Eren Yeager's name flying around in the ghetto, the chances that it was nothing were minimal.

"That fucker's haunting us from his grave"

XXXXX

Sasha stood still, pretending to watch the people, both theirs and Marleyans, who were working on… something. She didn't really know what it was; she still didn't really get all this technology stuff. Not that she cared; while she was keeping an eye on them like was her job, her interest was in eavesdropping the two Marleyan soldiers not too far away from her, also at the same task. They'd been very serious at first, standing in attention and at high alert, but after two hours of nothing out of the ordinary happening, they'd started to visibly relax. Four hours in and now they were openly relaxed, almost slacking. Even Sasha herself was putting up a more professional air right now. Not that she'd bring it up to them; she didn't want to start a fight and, since they were now more relaxed, they'd started to talk to one another. She was eager to hear what the newcomers had to say. So far, they'd just talked about people Sasha didn't know though, probably other soldiers who'd come on the ship, so it had been too hard to get a hold of their words.

"But this sure is easy" one of them said "I was expecting there to be some trouble by now."

"Likewise," said the other one, who Sasha was pretty sure was the jerk called Jonas "But I'll take boredom over annoying duties anytime."

"Really?" the other man asks "I remember the times you and I patrolled the ghettoes together; you were so hard working and always made sure to put in to every bit of trouble we found."

"Sounds like he's a good guy after all"

"Ha!" Jonas said "You know it was just to relieve me of the boredom; roughing up a few Eldians while on duty is always fun and wouldn't get me in trouble."

"…Never mind" Sasha thought with a sweat drop. She should probably stay quiet, but- "You know I can hear you, right?"

The other one had the decency to look a little uncomfortable, but Jonas answered her without missing a beat: "Yeah, I was pretty sure you could."

He was clearly picking a fight, Sasha knew. And she also knew that she shouldn't take the bait, but she couldn't help but wonder how far she could take things without actually causing disturbance.

"From what the other guy said, he seems to be the kind of person who doesn't mind causing trouble as long as he doesn't get in it" she thought "Which probably means that he'll back off if things start looking too bad…"

"Don't even think about it" Sasha knew it was coming as soon as she heard his voice, but couldn't react fast enough to stop Levi's whack from hitting her head "I told you to stay out of trouble, didn't I?"

"Eer… yes?" Sasha said, smiling sheepishly. Levi just sighed, making Sasha think that he was going to let her off the hook.

"Huh, guess he's getting old" but even if he was, Sasha knew there'd be hell to pay if she said it out loud.

"I apologize for any trouble my subordinate has caused" a pause "And any trouble she'll probably cause in the future."

Sasha flushed, having to bite her tongue to not interrupt Levi. She noticed the pair of Marleyans eyeing him before exchanging glances, undoubtedly having a silent conversation.

"There hasn't been any trouble" was what they seemed to settle on "Isn't that right… Sasha, was it?"

"Yep, no trouble at all!" she said quickly, taking note that the Marleyan- urgh no, Jonas, she had to remember his name too, had bothered to actually memorize and use her name "There's nothing to worry about!"

Levi gave her a flat stare, and she sweat dropped. She was sure he wouldn't say anything more about it though in order to not make it seem like their chain of command was weak. And she was right.

"Inform me if trouble does occur" he ordered, specifying in a much lower voice: "From either side. Keep the MPs in check."

"Yes, sir" she saluted, relaxing her position only when Levi was a good distance away.

"You guys have a weird salute" Jonas said. His partner gave him a warning look, Sasha saw, but the guy continued anyway "Why is it like that?"

"It represents sacrificing our hearts for- "she paused. Saying "for humanity" might lead to unnecessary conflict, so she settled on "For our people."

"That makes sense" the other soldier said, and Sasha didn't miss the light kick he quickly gave to his partner's leg when he gave him a weird look. Clearly, he was trying to keep the other man from causing trouble. It was appreciated.

"I don't think I caught your name yet?" she asks, feeling like the guy might actually be willing to answer, unlike some of the Marleyans.

"…Eric" he says after a moment of hesitation.

"Well it's nice to meet you Eric, I hope we'll get along since we'll probably be seeing each other a lot for the next three months!"

"…Uh, likewise" he didn't sound exactly sincere, but he was at least trying to be polite. Sasha supposed that it was a good start.

XXXXX

"To sum up what I gathered, the relations between Marley and Eldia seem to be getting significantly better" Nikolo said as he and Thomas finally sat down after their shift "And you?"

"Same" his partner said "Apparently, there's soon be a base of Eldia's somewhere in Marley, or at least that's the rumor."

"If it's true, then probably near Liberio" Nikolo said, taking a deep breath. This was a lot to take in; an arrangement like that would be risky, but that wasn't on the top of his mind at the very moment. Instead, he was already wondering how this could help him. Even if he didn't get to Paradis any time soon, maybe he'd manage to get himself a transfer that would allow him to work with whoever would come to the continent. He'd dealt with the "island devils" before, so he should have an advantage… unless his superiors decided that it was too risky to let a former war prisoner to work with his former capturers, of course. That was by no means impossible. But even if that happened, maybe he could be transferred to patrol Liberio? That way he'd certainly have a chance to run in to someone from Paradis. And if he managed to meet with someone he knew, excluding the MPs that really hated him of course, he was sure he could convince them to take a message to Sasha, a more personal one this time "I wonder if Jonas has already handed the letter to someone…"

"Nikolo? Everything alright?" Thomas asks, though what really pulls Nikolo out of his thoughts is the man's hand on his shoulder "You spaced out."

"Yeah, I'm good" he said, but Thomas didn't look convinced.

"Something on your mind?" he asked "You can tell me; I promise I'll keep it just between the two of us."

"What makes you think that whatever I have in mind is something that shouldn't be shared?" Nikolo asks quickly, narrowing his eyes, only realizing afterwards that the best move would've been just to deny anything being wrong.

"Experience at first, but now your defensive attitude as well" Thomas said, crossing his arms. They stared at each other, eyes locked, but eventually Nikolo was the first to look away "Does it bother you? The idea of Eldians from Paradis stepping a foot in Marley?"

"…Well, yeah" he muttered, he knew he had to be really careful with his words to not worry Thomas even more than he already did after what had happened with Helmut and Herbert, but he also didn't want the guy to get an unnecessarily bad picture of the people of Paradis because of him. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he tried to explain: "I'm not worried about the cooperation with Eldia in itself; their goal is keeping the peace, I'm sure. But if certain kinds of individuals come to the mainland…"

When Nikolo didn't continue, Thomas said: "Specify that "certain kind of individual." Are you saying that there could be some that would cause trouble on purpose?"

"Definitely, though they aren't the people I'm worried about. If Eldia does manage to send its own men here, they certainly won't include people like that. I'm worried about the ones with good intentions but bad tempers" he says. He hesitates, unsure if he should continue in the way he originally intended to, for it was something Thomas probably didn't want to hear. And he certainly didn't want anyone else to hear, so he glances at the door to make sure it was really closed. No one was listening in, right?

"Nikolo" Thomas says when he stays quiet for too long "Like I said, this stays between you and me."

He still hesitates; continuing is a risk. But since he already started talking, shutting up now would also be one, perhaps even worse. Thomas could assume he had something way worse in mind than he did.

"Ah, fuck it" he thinks, deciding to say what he was about to "Let's be honest; we have short tempered soldiers too, and even one slightly rude comment from the Eldians could get some of them to snap and cause serious trouble. We also have men who are the type to look for trouble. None of them would want to start a war, I'm sure, but they might want to humiliate the other side, and things could escalate. I'm actually more worried about our own soldiers than theirs; the higher ups in Paradis know firsthand how explosive the situation is and will act accordingly, drilling it in to the heads of their subordinates, but what about ours? We have plenty of soldiers who understand the horrors of war, both among high ranking officers and regular soldiers, yes, but we have way more people than they do and thus among them is bound to be way more people who don't understand how serious the situation is and won't take it seriously! So, the chances that some of our own men being the ones that cause everything to fall apart are pretty fucking high!"

By the time he finished, Nikolo was breathing heavily. It was only as he said all this out loud that he understood that now was not the time to be thinking of Sasha at all; there was an actual problem at hand that could destroy the whole peace they'd fought so hard for, that she'd fought so hard for.

"Nikolo, calm down" Thomas said, holding his hands out in the air in a manner that was meant to be nonthreatening "We don't even know yet if the rumors are true; that's the first thing we have to figure out. Let's just take one thing at a time, alright?"

Nikolo blinked, his partner's words slowly sinking in. That's right, they didn't know anything for sure yet. Maybe the rumors didn't even have any base on reality. Maybe it was all fake.

"…If an Eldian base was really being set up, surely, we soldier would hear of it before the Eldians in the ghettos, especially this far out" he voiced his thoughts "…Right?"

"That crossed my mind too, but we shouldn't underestimate the power of gossip" Thomas said, scratching his head "For now, let's just make a report on all we heard. If it turns out to be true, we should point out your concerns to our superiors."

Nikolo looked at him in surprise.

"Is that really a good idea?" he asks. For a small moment, the man wonders if his partner is eager to throw him to the wolves.

"As long as we do it right, meaning that I should do the talking" Thomas says with a wry smile "If you were the one to do it and ended up snapping like that again, there would be trouble."

Nikolo couldn't deny that.

"…Thanks, Thomas. Really" he says, but the man just waves it off "I'm just doing my job."

XXXXX

"There she goes" Sasha says as Kiyomi's ships sails away to the horizon "Did she say when she'll come here again?"

"No, but I doubt it'll be all that long" Mikasa replies. Sasha chuckles "And then she starts pestering you about going with her again."

"She won't"

"She won't?" Sasha repeats "How come?"

"I've made it clear I'm not going anywhere until Armin's time is up" she said "Kiyomi respects that."

Something about the way Mikasa said it made Sasha uncomfortable.

"Until his time is up, huh" she frowns "What about after Armin's gone?"

Silence. Sasha does not like that.

"Mikasa?"

"I'll go to Hizuru after his death"

That's what she feared.

"…Permanently?" Sasha can't help but ask, dreading the answer.

"I don't know yet" the black-haired woman replies "But I'll definitely be gone for a while. I think it'll help me sort things out."

Sasha bit her lip. She didn't like this; she didn't like this at all. She didn't want Mikasa to leave; too many of her friends were dead and she couldn't lose one more, she couldn't lose Mikasa. But if she left the island, that could happen. She was sure Kiyomi had Mikasa's back, but would that be enough? How were Eldians treated in Hizuru? Would her friend be treated properly? Even if she was, would she have to see others of their kind suffering? If she would, would she get in trouble trying to defend them? Would trying to defend them anger Kiyomi? There were so many risks, so many rational reasons for Mikasa to not go. And yet, Sasha knew she couldn't point out any of them, for Mikasa wasn't stupid. The woman must've already thought of all of it on her own and still decided to go.

"Be careful when you go" she said instead. Mikasa nodded "And swipe some exotic food for me when you come back!"

Her friend laughed.

"Will do"

XXXXX

"The rumors you've heard are indeed true, though nothing has been set in stone yet" their superior admits as Nikolo and Thomas report their findings "But to think it's the top subject of the talk in the local ghetto… just how did the news get there so fast? That might be something we need to look in to…"

He muttered the last part more to himself, Nikolo was sure, but he wasn't too worried. It could very well be that there had simply been one or two Eldians from Liberio who'd heard and came here, ending up spreading the word. Or maybe someone had overheard a conversation between some high-ranking officers and spread the rumor from there.

"If I may ask, sir" Thomas started "How come this is the first we hear of this? Wouldn't it be better for us soldiers to know these things?"

"Like I said, it's not set in stone yet" the man says "There are bound to be some who will oppose this rather loudly, so we want to avoid unneeded hassle in case this doesn't work out. Only higher officials and those who would be working directly with the island devils are supposed to know at this point."

"Island devils, he says… hopefully he realizes not to talk like that in front of them" Nikolo thinks, but holds his tongue. They had agreed for Thomas to do the talking for a reason.

"However, now that word's already going around, we'll have to rethink this. It'll be better to inform the soldiers before more and more start hearing it from rumors" he continues "It'll take a few days to make this official, so I expect both of you to keep this under wraps until then. Understood?"

They salute.

"Yes, sir"

"Good. You're both dismissed"

Exchanging glances, both soldiers keep their positions.

"Sir, if we may say something" Thomas suggests. The man raises an eyebrow, but doesn't object "Go ahead."

"We are worried of how some of our soldiers might react to the presence of Paradis' Eldians" the man starts "Our men are used to being considered as absolute authorities by the Eldians they encounter, but I highly doubt the people of Paradis would agree to that. They would likely want to be treated as equals, which might be hard for some of ours to accept. Unless they're mentally prepared for this beforehand, I highly doubt that conflict is unavoidable."

"Conflict is unavoidable no matter what we do" their superior said "It's not a problem to have some discipline over low-ranked soldiers for causing a little racket. However, I do agree that we have to make sure things don't escalate too much."

He looked at the two of them.

"If you have any suggestions on the best ways to avoid that, do speak up."

"We think the biggest threat would be the soldiers who have no real experience of the frontlines" Thomas tells "They haven't seen the full horrors of war and thus don't truly know what's at stage. Avoiding letting them near the Eldians would be for the best."

"I understand your reasoning, but if the peace doesn't fall apart, less experienced soldiers have to learn to deal with them eventually" their superior says "Furthermore, many of our more experienced soldiers have their own traumas, some caused specifically by Eldians. Letting them deal with this might not end well, either."

That was true, Nikolo knew. There weren't many, but he knew that some of their soldiers had been unfortunate enough to witness the titan attacks they sometimes unleashed on their enemies from up close. They hated and feared Eldians more than anyone, which he supposed was understandable. He also knew that some of those who'd been kept prisoner along with him had been heavily traumatized by Eren and Armin's titan forms. Most, himself included, got more or less over it, but not all of them were as strong minded. Or lucky.

"Wouldn't you agree?" with a jolt Nikolo realized that the question was aimed at him. Thomas was supposed to do the talking, but since he was asked a direct question…

"Some of us are indeed traumatized, yes, but that does not apply to everyone" he said "In fact, I think that some of us would be well suited to deal with the people of Paradis directly as we already have an idea of what to expect."

Thomas was shooting him a worried look, he noted, and briefly Nikolo wondered what he'd said wrong. He'd spoken shortly though, so maybe the man was just worried out of habit.

"You sound rather sure of it" his superior said "I take it you would consider yourself to be capable of being positioned to deal with them?"

"Yes, sir" Nikolo answered immediately, thinking that this could be his chance.

"Very confident, I see" he said "And if I recall correctly, you've asked for a chance to be positioned in Paradis several times, no?"

"Yes, sir"

"But would you really be prepared for that, after all you've been through?" he asks. Before Nikolo can assure him, the man turns to Thomas "What do you, as his partner in the field, think? Would he be capable?"

As Nikolo glanced at Thomas from the corner of his eye, trying to be subtle, he realized he had no idea what the man would say. He always assured his partner that he was fine, but it often seemed like he didn't quite believe it, and with his earlier outburst, he wouldn't be surprised if Thomas thought that he couldn't handle it.

"I'm afraid it's too early for me to say, sir" Thomas says "We haven't been teamed up all that long, and there's a difference between patrolling the streets and handling bigger issues, not to mention between dealing with local Eldians and those of Paradis. The only way to know for sure if he could handle it or not would be to try and see."

Good answer. Realistic. Wouldn't get him in trouble, but didn't praise him too much, either.

"I see" their superior said, nodding to himself "I'll make sure to take everything you said in to consideration. Anything else?"

"No, sir" the two chorused.

"You're dismissed, then."

They left, and while Nikolo worried about the potential problems that this all could cause, he couldn't help but to be excited. If he played his cards right, this could help with his career, helping him to prove himself. And if he played his cards right, he might get to see Sasha.

It was time to play.