Here's something I've been working on in my free time, have fun.

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"Mom!" the boy screamed as he desperately stretched his hand out to reach her but to no avail as he was carried further and further away from her trapped form underneath their former house; he saw as she briefly reached out towards him unable to see her lips mutter the words, 'Goodbye Eren, I love you'.

The Pounding of steps broke him from his trance on his mother's form and he looked to the left of her where a gigantic man eating titan that dwarfed the buildings around it stomped over till it was directly over the rubble that buried Eren's mother, Carla Yeager.

She moved her hands towards her mouth to cover her terrified cries as tiers streamed down her face, she took one look last look at her son being carried over the shoulder by Hannes who also had the young Mikasa in his other arm, before closing her eyes trying to come to terms with what was about to happen to her.

Eren watched in horror as the Titan crouched down began to dig through the rubble throwing the piece Eren had such difficulty moving like they were nothing, almost as if the creature were mocking his vain attempts to save his mother mere moments ago.

Eren struggled more and more against Hannes grip to try and break free, he didn't know what he would do but there must be something, he couldn't just run away while his mother was helpless, but his struggle was in vain as Hannes iron grip around him stayed firm, though even if he had gotten out, it was too late.

He looked over again as more tears welled in his eyes as the Titan found his mother lifting her up with one hand, her broken legs dangling while she desperately punched at the monsters hand in the hope of freeing herself, but it was futile, she looked in terror at the cold eyes of the monster who looked straight back at her through a few locks of its black hair, as if it were inspecting her.

But she knew what would happen, it's what all titans did and slowly it opened it's gigantic jagged jawed mouth with bits of saliva clinging to separate teeth and it's tongue extended out slightly as the hand that held her moved her closer and closer to the awaiting jaws of death.

Eren watched as she drew nearer and nearer "MOM!" he screamed again begging for some miracle to happen but there was nothing, he had to watch as his still struggling mother tried to desperately break free of the monsters grip, but it wasn't letting go but soon a shadow overcast her as her top half entered the things mouth.

Eren saw his mother enter the mouth seeing her turn her head her eyes looking directly at his though she likely didn't know that only being able to see their retreating figures getting away safely, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" one last scream Eran cried his arm outstretched.

CRUNCH

The mouth snapped shut, biting his mother in half sending blood splattering everywhere, across it's face, down it's body and into the sky as Eren watched helplessly unable to process what he'd just seen, his own mother, the person who birthed him and cared for him everyday after, had just been devoured by a Titan.

As they moved further and further away, the Titan put it's hand down still holding the remains of Carla; it turned it's head and looked down the road and it's eyes met Eren's wide ones its mouth still dripping with his mother's blood.

Eren took it the sight, the image burning itself into his mind, it's giant height, it's unnaturally toned chest with blood dripping down it, its mouth with those jagged jaws with more blood splattered around it, it's sharp pointed ears and long black hair waiving in the gore soaked air.

The Titan didn't break eye contact as it swallowed making Eren whimper, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight of the monster seemingly taunting him, trying to send him a message of some form, one that he couldn't understand and likely never would.

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"Eren! Eren!" a voice exclaimed.

Eren snapped his eyes snapped open and he sat up so fast, he barely avoided smacking his head against the blond boy who'd woken him up, "Eren! Thank god, you were turning in your sleep again, you almost fell off your bed this time" the boy said worriedly.

Eren looked round at the blond boy stood next to his bed, "I'm fine Armin, just a bad dream again" he said leaning forward to put his head into his hands wiping as he felt his sweat sticking to the bed sheets.

"Was it of… that again?" Armin asked a cautious expression on his face as this wasn't the first time Eren had been plagued by a nightmare and it likely wouldn't be the last time, but every time Eren told him about it, the nightmare was the same or remarkably similar to ones before.

"…Yes" he muttered through his hands, parting his fingers so his eyes could look at his best friend for years, "It's been a year, but I always wake up feeling as if it were only yesterday, every moment is fresh, I can remember every detail clearly as if I'm experiencing it in the moment" he said slightly choking on his words.

Armin looked downcast, "Something as traumatic as that is bound to stick with you, it's not something your mind can repress" he said unsure of what to say but the truth.

They sat in silence for a while before Armin offered his hand out, "Come on, we need to get down to the meal hall, our shift will begin soon so we should eat while we can" he said with a smile, clearly trying to take Eren's mind of his nightmare.

Eren smiled back and accepted his hand, he was thankful Armin was his best friend, he was someone he could always rely on to support him at his worst moments and be there just to simply talk should it be needed.

The boys exited their room into the corridor, after the fall off Wall Maria at the hands of the dubbed Colossal and Armoured Titans, a year ago that ended 1,000 years of peace, all the survivors were considered refuges and shoved into whatever jobs were available, the most common one was tending the fields to make up for the extra mouths that needed to be fed not that there were as many as first arrived anymore.

About a month or two after the survivors arrived behind Wall Rose, many of the adults were rounded up and given sloppy military training and sent off to re-take Wall Rose from the Titans, Armin's only family member his grandfather was in that 250,000 group sent out and of the hundred or so who returned, he was not among them.

Eren wasn't sure if it were better that Armin never saw his grandfather die or not, the people who returned were not the same most of their minds were broken from fighting the Titans, many took their own lives shortly after returning and those that didn't would never mentally recover, after all they were all still civilians their training was just the basic, they weren't given the physical or mental training any of the other soldiers would receive.

The two boys entered the rickety old dining hall filled with people, mostly the young and elderly, those who couldn't go on the suicide mission a year ago; the room wasn't anything special, stone floor, old wooden beams holding the roof up with a few doors around and splinter filled tables all around. They were fairly sure it used to be an old barn that was repurposed to worker housing but the MP's who gave them their work never bothered to answer the question when asked.

Eren and Armin walked up to the food counter where a tell nasty looking MP shoved a small loaf of bread and a cup of water into their arms before sending them off; they walked around searching for a specific person, eventually they spotted her away from everyone else at an empty table in the far corner.

"Mikasa" Armin smiled sitting down next to the girl, who looked at them. She'd grown her hair out considerably from a year ago that she was almost unrecognisable but not to Eren or Armin.

"Eren, Armin" she said pulling the red scarf she always wore down so they could see her lips in a small smile, "You're late today, I was getting worried something had happened to you" she said almost in a scolding tone towards them.

Mikasa had always looked after the two of them even though Eren was a few months older, she was weirdly good at fighting, as if it were a natural instinct for her, she'd always told them that she didn't know how it happened, her body would just react and move in accordance with the fight which would only really occur when Eren got himself caught up in one.

"Sorry, I was having the nightmare again" Eren said, ripping a small piece of his bread off and eating it, he could feel Mikasa's caring gaze fall upon him like it always did, it was something he was becoming to loathe as unlike Armin's kind way, Mikasa would always seemed to baby him, treat him as if he was a delicate flower, like he couldn't walk on his own.

"Eren..." she began but was cut off by the sound of one of the doors slamming open, in the doorway stood the silhouette of three people all MP's, two behind and one, a tall rugged looking man called Otto standing front and centre holding a clipboard.

"Alright you lot, it's time to earn that breakfast you just ate!" Otto shouted tapping his quill tip on the board, "It'll be more field duty today, harvest is coming up, so you'll need to make sure we get as many crops as possible!" he exclaimed again.

"First off, your rations here are getting pretty low-"

"What rations, you hardly feed us anything!" a voice exclaimed close to the front, "Some dry bread and cup of water hardly counts as a meal".

"That's why it's called rations shit for brains but thank you for volunteering yourself for latrine duty" Otto smirked writing down on his clipboard the person's name, "Now get out immediately, the things starting to stink up the whole place" he gestured over his shoulder to the refugees bathroom which was really just a shack with a few terribly built dividers and hole in the ground on the inside.

As the man who spoke up was shoved outside with a bucket Otto cleared his throat, "Now as I was saying, first off your RATIONS are getting pretty low so we'll need to put in a re-supply order if you want to eat; normally one of us would have to go to Trost District to place the order but frankly we have better things to do".

The MP smirked looking down at his clipboard, "Eren Jeager, Mikasa Akerman, Armin Arlelt and Mina Carolina come up to the front and hurry" he snapped and begrudgingly but quickly all four arrived at the front.

Eren looked up at the MP to see the red tinge going across his face, it was clear to him that the 'Better things to do' involved more alcohol than proper work; annoyed he looked across at the others, the skinny blond Armin, the scarf wrapped black haired Mikasa and the final girl who had been called.

He'd seen her around before but had never learned her name, she was the shortest among them tied with Armin, her black hair was fashioned with two pigtail that rested over her shoulders. Eren knew she wasn't from Shiganshina District as he'd never seen her around there before and she also didn't look as worn as those who survived Shiganshina, so she likely came from one of the other three districts that had to evacuate.

He was broken from his thinking as some papers were shoved into his hands, "Hand these to the supplier in Trost, the office should be nearby to the Military Armoury at the centre" Otto ordered looking down at Eren with a smug smile, "The four of you should be able to find it, now get going as you're walking there" he gestured with his thumb to the door.

"How come we're walking, there's a cart outside?" Armin asked but he knew it was a stupid question as he could guess the answer.

Otto glared down at the small Armin, "Because we have better things to do than drive a cart for you, now go!" he hissed; with glares they all left the barn out into the sunlight.

All four immediately started on the dirt path that lead towards Trost District in silence, "Can't believe the nerve of that guy! We're having to do his job for him because he wants to laze about and drink all day!" Eren snapped gritting his teeth.

"Well, they're all MP's, they have authority over everyone outside Wall Sina and they know that no one can stop them or could even care to stop them" Armin spoke up looking downcast.

"Eren, don't get too worked up by it" Mikasa said looking round at the boy who still looked as angry as ever, "You won't get anywhere by letting them get to you" she added which seemed to calm him down slightly.

"One week, one week and we can get away from all this" Eren muttered storming in front of the group, "I can finally sign up for military training" he said his fists still clenched, "Then I can show those guys-" he was cut off before he could finish by the fourth person of their group.

"You're joining the next batch of trainees too?" Mina said getting all their attention with her bubbly happy voice, "I'm signing up too, be nice to know that there will do some people that I've at least seen before there" she beamed at them.

They all looked at her with a slightly confused look, "Oh I should probably introduce myself properly" she stuck her hand out at Eren first, "I'm Mina Carolina, who are you?" she politely asked even though she already knew their names.

Eren slowly took her hand "Eren… Eren Jeager" he answered shaking her hand still slightly hesitant to do so.

She then turned to Armin with her hand still extended, he took her hand as well with a smile on his face, "Armin Arlelt" he said shaking her hand.

Finally, she turned to Mikasa with her hand out, "Mikasa…" was all she said pulling her scarf up slightly backing away from Mina's hand; Mina cocked an eyebrow, she was slightly annoyed by Mikasa's reaction, Mina had been brought up on manners and expected that if you used manners with someone, they would return it in kind.

"Don't be upset at Mikasa" Armin quickly piped up reading the situation and stepping between the two girls, "She has Haphephobia, so she has a fear of physical contact with other people, she really doesn't mean to be rude" he said quickly diffusing the situation.

Mina looked over Armin's shoulder at Mikasa who had crossed her arms to hide her hands away, "Oh I see…" Mina said looking a bit downcast, but she suddenly bounced back, "Hey Mikasa, how about an air high five" she said holding her open palm in the air.

"Air High five…?" Mikasa asked completely lost by the girl.

"Yeah, it's simple just hold your hand out like mine" she said beckoning to her hand to which Mikasa just raised her eyebrow at, "We won't be touching hands, I promise" she smiled sweetly; Mikasa relented and slowly raised her right hand flat like Mina's who then pushed she hand towards Mikasa who went wide eyed for a moment worried than Mina was about to touch her but to her surprise the girl stopped her hand a few centimetres away from Mikasa's then she lowered it, "Air high five!" she smiled.

Mikasa lowered her hand and looked at it before looking at Mina who was beaming so she returned a tiny smile of her own, "It should take us about an hour to get to Trost" Armin said, "Though I'm not sure about the place we'll be looking for" he added.

"Ah we'll find it" Eren spoke for the first time in a little while and seemed in a better mood than before, "Even if it takes a while, it sure beats being out on the farm all day" he added with a small smile his mind being taken off of the MP's by Mina.

"Yep" Mina beamed again going to the front with Eren, "We can actually have a good day for once instead of slogging it on the farm" she said never breaking her smile once as they headed for Trost district.

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When they arrived, it was as busy as ever with people coming in and out of the district carrying all sorts of supplies; to make things easier they decided to split up into two teams to find the supply office, one team was Armin and Mikasa, the other obviously was Eren and Mina.

Eren and Mina made their way though the crowds searching around the Trost Armoury for any sign of the building they were sent to look for, "Spotted anything yet?" Eren asked as Mina came back from looking around a corner.

"Nothing, just an empty alley" she muttered with a sigh not enjoying this as much as she thought she would, "Okay I'll admit it first, this is boooooring" she muttered throwing her head back to the sky.

"I wish those bastards would have given us some better directions" Eren muttered, "Maybe Armin and Mikasa have found something" he added joining Mina in looking to the sky.

Mina looked round at him, "So how do you three know each other?" she asked getting Eren's attention, "You guys seem a lot closer than recent friends so what's the story behind you all, if that's not too intrusive of a question?" she added with a smile.

"Well, I've known Armin the longest, I met him years ago so he's basically my best friend; Mikasa I've only known a few years, she my… adopted sister…" he said carefully not wanting to reveal too much to Mina, they'd only known her an hour so maybe he shouldn't tell her about how he met Mikasa, "How about you, have anyone?".

"Not really, I'm not as lucky as you guys, I had a few friends back in my village but when we came here as refugees, I got separated from them, not seen any of them in a year" she frowned, "That's why I want to join the Military, I need to escape from that damn camp".

Eren agreed with her reasoning, the reason he wanted to join was to fight for humanities future within the Survey Corps, not be stuck in some field the rest of his days, "Where would you like to go in the Military then?" he asked wondering if she shared his sentiment of wanting to leave the walls.

"Well like most, I'd love to be able to join the MP's, but I just feel that I wouldn't like it there, plus as we've seen they all seem like complete awful people, I couldn't deal with that" she thought aloud tapping her chin, "Probably the Garrison I guess, it's the best place I think I'd fit".

"Not the Survey Corps?" Eren asked.

Mina took a moment, "Well it's not that I don't consider myself joining them, it's that I don't think I'd be helpful, the people who are in the Survey Corps have my upmost respect, for being able to go outside the walls and fight the Titan's willingly, but I don't know if I'd have that confidence or bravery in me" she said rubbing her arm, "Are you thinking of the Survey Corps then?"

"Yeah… but I'm not thinking about it, I'm determined to join them and only them" he said spotting Mina's lost look out of the corner of his eye, "I hate being inside these walls, I just want to escape them, so I guess in a way I feel that I need to be part of the Survey corps".

Mina nodded in understanding, they stayed in silence for a little while as they walked, continuing to look around for any signs of the office, "So… You don't have to answer but, what district are you from Eren?" Mina asked.

Eren paused, his mind immediately snapping back to his nightmare that morning, his mother being devoured, the blood dripping down the Titan's body, watching him as he ran away, "Eren?" Mina's voice broke through to Eren.

He shook his head and looked over to Mina, "S-sorry Mina… I was from Shiganshina District before…" he muttered barley loud enough for her to hear, for some reason Mina had a feeling that Eren was from there, but she had to be sure.

"Oh, I see…" she muttered, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories" she added feeling ashamed for asking.

"No, it's fine, I can't spent forever lamenting about it, it's good to talk" Eren said giving a tiny smile to Mina who gave one back, "Y'know, that's another reason I want to join the Survey Corps, to take my home back".

Mina gave a bright smile that encourage Eren, suddenly the ringing of a bell echoed around the district, "SURVEY CORPS ARE LEAVING, MAKE WAY FOR THE SURVEY CORPS!" a loud voice echoed around.

Mina's eyes lit up, "Hey, let's go watch the Survey Corps leave" she said grabbing Eren's arm and leading him through the streets, Eren didn't mind being led to watch them leave, it had been so long since he watched them depart on an expedition, last time was back as a kid and part of him felt excited to watch them again.

They arrived at a good spot where they could see through the crowd, the Corps were just coming through as they got there, they were being lead by a tall blonde man with very prominent eyebrows and the 'Wings of Freedom' on the back of his green cape but instead of the usual white wing his was gold coloured.

"Look there he is, coming up in the middle, it's Captain Levi" Mina gawked point towards a very short, black haired man riding atop his horse, he had an uninterested expression on his face as he looked straight ahead not noticing the crowd around them or the talking of his team around him, "He's one of the best soldiers in the Survey Corps, his titan kill count is ridiculous" she said in awe.

"Yeah, I heard stories about him, how he can take on multiple Titan's on his own with no problems" Eren added looking amazing himself, like he was a kid again, this made him smile.

He then spotted the reason Levi was only one of the best soldier and not the best, "Captain Sky…" Eren muttered getting Mina's attention, he was a taller man with fair skin and jet black hair that he made in a way that covered most of the left side of his face hiding his eye and cheek from view while he wore the usual Survey Corps outfit with cape which had the wings on the back but with the white wing blocks that made the wing being highlighted gold like Levi too had; he also wore the usual equipment while his visible dark coloured eye held a bored or maybe focused expression.

Either side of him rode his squad of two, a lady who had short blonde hair with a few bangs at the front and a man with his hair styled in a pompadour who Sky was taller than, "The other best of the Survey Corps, his Titan kill count is just as high if not higher than Levi's, probably thanks to him serving longer" Mina said in awe just like she was with Levi.

"Seeing it like this makes me feel like a kid again" Eren commented making Mina turn to him with a smile, "Now I can't wait to finally start my training, I'm anxious to be able to serve along side those two" he said with a look of determination on his face.

Shockingly, Sky turned his head and looked directly into Eren's eyes, the boy was taken aback for a moment, he briefly looked behind him, but no one was there, he was looking at him and him alone, but it wasn't just a glace, he kept focused on Eren as he rode passed, not muttering a word, or even giving any kind of signal, just watching him with his one eye.

"Eren!?" Mina exclaimed shaking him from his thoughts Eren shook his head and turned to face Mina who was looking concerned, Eren looked back to the road where the Scouts had just passed, the crowd now dispersing, "You okay? You look a little shocked?".

Eren looked back to Mina, "Y-Yeah I'm fine, sorry I zoned out for a bit there" he replied shaking his head again, "Was there something you were saying?" he asked with a small smile.

Mina looked confused for a moment before returning to her usual bright smile, "Did you want to go find Mikasa and Armin? I'm pretty sure the office we're looking for isn't around our area here" she asked pointing a thumb over her shoulder.

Eren nodded with a smile, "Yeah sure let's go" as they walked off, he couldn't shake the memory of Sky watching him, but was it just a hallucination or did it actually happen, and if it did, why was he watching him specifically, was their something he wasn't aware of.

He couldn't answer any of these questions on his mind, but there's one thing he knew, in one week time when he officially signs up for military training, his life will get so much more interesting.

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What did you think, this is probably something I'll work on my free time or whenever I need a break from my other stories.

The basis for this is that I wasn't I giant fan of A.O.T's original story so I'm just going to be messing around with it, unlike my other story this isn't going to be a 'What If' but more 'This is how I think it should've gone' if that makes sense.

So, if some plot lines seem similar or identical it's because I'm not planning to completely change what happens but more the events leading up to it and what changes from then and how characters evolve from that, (Until we get to S4 at least, that'll be fun).

So yeah.

Oh and those who are fans from my Naruto story, I've not given up on that one yet there's just been some issues with it lately I'll explain when I release the next chapter.