The next chapter is here, I'm actually having more fun with this than I thought I would.

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"Balance is the most important part of being a Soldier, without it you can't utilise ODM gear which makes you even more useless than cannon fodder!" Sadies barked out in front of the gathered 1004th Training Corps, behind him were multiple wooden pyramids with two wires dangling from them, "One by One you will step up and be attached to the training equipment, those who show a promise of balance will be allowed to continue training those who don't will be granted one last attempt tomorrow but if they are still incapable you will be thrown out of the Training Corps!".

The cadets were divided into groups and were hooked into the equipment one by one as two older instructors walked past to observe the training, "This will cut down the crop most likely" one commented to the other.

"Definitely, we always seem to lose a number at this part but looking at this group it might be a bit different" he looked at the ones dangling, most had stuck odd position to keep their balance while others were straining hard to keep it, "Quite a few are passing".

The looked to where a now shorter haired Mikasa was strapped in, she was trying to hold her balance, but it could be seen that she was struggling with it a notable degree and had to over stretch her legs out a bit to keep position, "Many of these cadets have promise".

A crashing sound drew their attention, they looked over to where Eren was dangling upside down having hit his head onto the ground, "Then again, not all of them have that promise…" one mused as they walked off.

Annie was let down having held her balance, as she walked away, she couldn't help but glance over to Eren's training post and noticing the state he was in, dangling upside down with everyone looking at him, she couldn't help but feel slightly amused at the sight but didn't let it show, instead walking off to the passed group not looking back.

Eren looked around in shock, he wasn't sure what was going on, but he just couldn't maintain his balance, he hoisted himself up again but almost immediately went over again and hearing a few snickers for the gathered audience.

The Commandant came over and ordered Eren to be let down, "Yeager, you fail, you can try again tomorrow, now move out the way!" he ordered, slowly Eren stood and walked away while the others continued to laugh.

Mikasa had been let down and ran over to Eren having seen his failure and immediately tried to comfort him while Annie watched finding this surprisingly interesting to observe, "Poor Eren…" Mina said from beside her making Annie glance to her having not noticed the girl stand next to her, "He really wants to become a Scout".

"Why would he want to do that, just a bunch of suicidal idiots" Annie commented but not looking away from the scene ahead of her, she still hadn't figured out just what it was that made her sometimes unable to look away from the boy, but she'd been able to rule out some reasons, it definitely wasn't interest.

Mina looked up at her, "It's because he wants to escape the walls, he feels like we're in a prison and the Scouts are the only way to do that" she answered in a sadder tone as they watched Armin go to talk to Eren too, "I actually admire him for that, he doesn't just want an easy life, he wants freedom".

Annie raised an eyebrow at Mina, this was the first time she wasn't annoying her and was talking in a more mature fashion "Well, he's a bigger idiot than I thought then…" she muttered watching him look a bit more encouraged to try again after talking with his friends.

"Why do you say that?" Mina asked looking up to her with a quizzical expression.

Annie sighed stuffing her hands into her parka, "Cause what is freedom, is being outside the walls really freedom, is it really any different from being inside, in both places you'll be the exact same person, still bound to the same rules made by the same people who will still be above you, you will not have a choice in that, nothing will change weather you're here or outside, that is life, freedom is just a lie" she turned away from her going to walk away.

"Annie…" Mina muttered making her stop and glace out of the corner of her eye at her, "Is there something that happened to you?" she asked stepping up to her and placing a tentative but caring hand on her shoulder.

She was immediately shrugged off and Annie stepped a few steps from her, "You're so annoying Mina, why do you have to be involved in everything" she hissed but happened to glance back at the girl and saw only a caring and concerned expression.

Annie also happened to glance at Eren seemingly revitalised to attempt his testing again and looked to be getting ready to do some sort of training for it, "Go bother the dumbass over there, maybe if all three of you help him, he might stay upright for a time" she muttered before walking off to hide away from everyone.

"You should help too" Mina quickly piped up getting her attention, "You seem really good at it, I'm sure he'd appreciate it…" she trailed off as Annie glanced back with her bangs parting to show her glaring at her making the smaller girl retreat slightly before Annie took back off.

Mina watched her go and felt bad for the blonde, it didn't take a genius to know something was wrong, but Mina knew that it wouldn't be easy to find out what, letting out a sigh she turned to head towards Eren's group with her bright smile on her face, ready to help in any way she could.

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The training for Eren really didn't go well at all, as the sun set the group of four were with the training equipment with Eren strapped in and the others standing around giving him pointers although it didn't seem to help whatsoever as he fell face first into the ground again.

"I just don't get it!" he grunted as he was lowered to the ground by Armin, "I'm doing everything as you guys say but I just can't keep my balance!" he punched the ground getting frustrated with the constant falling over.

His friends looked at each other with concerned expressions none of them really knowing what was going on, he was right and was copying exactly what they had done but he wasn't having much success, it simply made no sense to them.

"It's your weight that's the problem" a tougher voice said approaching them, they all turned to see the buff blond and colossally tall guy walking up to them, the former crossing his arms as he looked down at them, "Your weight compared to the other three here is different, that's your problem" he continued.

"Hey!" Mina pipped up with a pout, "What do you mean our weight?!" she exclaimed crossing her arms yet keeping her pout.

The taller guy waved his hands in front of his face, "No, no Reiner didn't mean it in a rude way at all" he nervously said not wanting to have an argument, "It's more in a biological way really" he said with a nervous smile.

"Bertholdt, here is right naturally guys will be heavier that girls, we have more muscle mass and bone density thus making our weights different, not insulting just biology" Reiner shrugged as he stepped up to them all, "As such it's a reason why the girls balance much better, or well they have an easier time of it than us boys" he chuckled knowing that the training they were going through wasn't exactly easy regardless of who you are.

"What about me?" Armin said looking up to Reiner.

"Oh, no offence but you're much smaller than Eren here, so methods you use won't be much help to him" he answered painfully truthfully making Armin feel awkward, but he did understand.

"What do you suggest then?" Eren asked cocking his eyebrow at the two guys.

Reiner walked up and hoisted the small boy up, "Let's get you hooked up, and we'll show you some of our methods, it's all about distributing your weight evenly" he said as Bertholdt grabbed the suspenders, "You guys mind lending a hand with his training still?" he said looking to the other three.

"Of course, he's our friend after all" Mikasa answered with a small glare but was responded to with a simple chuckle for Reiner which annoyed her.

"Don't worry I'm not challenging you or anything" he said with a kind expression but still kept his smirk.

"Why are you helping me with this?" Eren asked looking to Reiner as he buckled him in, "We've hardly ever even talked much less worked together on anything, so why help me now?".

Reiner looked to him, "If you must know, you peaked our interest the other night, when you told everyone about the Titans, I want to see how far you'll go" he smirked as he stepped over to the rope to pull Eren up, "We're just like you, we want to go back to our home too".

"We lost it too, but we'll see it again one day" Bertholdt said with her own smile, "I guess what we're trying to say is we've got a lot in common, so we should help each other right, I'm sure you'll pay us back one day".

"But for now…" Reiner said pulling the rope, "Let's get this training done".

When morning came, the cadets were all formed up in front of the balancing equipment with Eren standing between the pillars of the equipment and Sadies stood in front of him.

"Cadet Yeager are you prepared for you final chance!" he bellowed and received a confirming nod from the boy, they'd trained all night long as was evident by the bags under his eyes as well as all his helpers eyes.

Eren was hooked in as Thomas was selected to control the rope that would hoist him up, "Good luck Eren" he smiled as he finished hooking him in then went to stand by the rope.

Eren nodded to him keeping a focused expression although he was thankful for his encouragement, he clenched his fingers together as he felt Thomas take up the slack.

Armin was unable to tear his eyes away from Eren, "Hey Armin?" Milieus whispered from beside the blonde who glanced to him, "How did his practise go last night, we never saw you guys come back?" he enquired having his own worries.

The blond let out a quiet sigh, "We practised with him all night, but…" he looked back to Eren with his determined look, "He still hasn't been able to hold it for more than a few seconds before tumbling over".

"So, what, he still can't do it…" Marco said from the other side of Armin having overheard the conversation, "But if he can't then…".

"He'll be fine" Reiner comforted from behind them glancing down at them, "When you're as determined as Eren is, there's nothing you can't do".

Armin looked back ahead not feeling at all reassured but his words, "Is determination really enough…" he muttered as Eren began to rise up.

Eren felt his feet leaving the ground, he gently adjusted his foot as his toes left and he was dangling in the air, he stretched his arms out and extended his legs as far as they would go to create a balanced pose while trying to keep his mind clear.

"Whoa he's holding it" Conny said in amazement.

"Yeah, didn't think he could" Jean added.

"Alright Eren!" Mina cheered quietly to herself with her bright smile on her face, "He's doing it, I knew he could" she continued but Mikasa who was standing next to her didn't seem so convinced and she was right.

Eren peaked his eyes open to see he was holding his position, and everyone seemed amazed including the Commandant though he hid it better, but that all changed quickly when he felt his weight begin to shift and his body rolled forwards, he tried desperately to find his balance, but he couldn't stop himself landing face first in the dirt again.

All the amazed looks faded, the ones who knew Eren or liked him to some degree looked downcast while those that didn't were trying their hardest to not break out into laughter.

"N-No I…" Eren tried to say as he attempted to hoist himself back up only to fall back down again.

Sadies indicated for a sad looking Thomas to lower Eren, "Cadet Yeager…" he coldly said standing over him.

Eren looked up to him in despair, "Sir, I can do it I swear, I just need one more chance" he tried to bargain but it wouldn't work.

"Cadet Yeager, you f-"

"Sir!" a female voice suddenly called out cutting off Sadies, he turned his attention to where the voice came from to see a single girl at the front with her hand in the air while wearing this uncaring look upon her face.

"What is it Cadet Leonhart?" he muttered turning to face her, hating when he was interrupted, and he made sure in his tone of voice that she was aware of this, but her expression didn't change.

"I request Yeager be allowed to take the test again, but this time using my belt instead of his own" she said as plainly as she could without looking to the commandant her eyes fixated on something else.

This did start a murmur around the other cadets, "What's she doing?" Bertolt muttered glancing towards Reiner who shrugged in response not having the faintest idea.

"Mina you know that girl pretty well don't you, do you have any idea what she's planning?" Mikasa asked feeling a bit worried for Eren.

"I never have any idea what's going through Annie's head" Mina said before looking up to Mikasa, "A lot like you actually" she said with a sly smirk making Mikasa blush slightly and look away.

Sadies looked between her and Eren with an eyebrow raised, "And why should I permit this Cadet?" he coldly said.

"I believe his equipment may be faulty, if he still fails with a different belt then the evidence will be conclusive" she answered stoically, clearly confident in what she was saying.

Seeing that she was confident Sadies decided to indicate with his hand to go ahead, Annie walked up to Eren and took off her belt offering it to him which he gratefully accepted before quickly swapping it with his own after some small adjustment.

Annie stepped back now holding onto Eren's belt and Thomas raised Eren again, and what happened next shocked everyone.

Eren had his eyes closed trying to focus while keeping his position like before, but something felt different this time around, for some reason he felt like his position was making it worse, he relaxed his legs letting them dangle then slowly did the same with his arms, he was now dangling limply, he felt weird and couldn't help but open his eyes.

He was perfectly hanging there, not even having to strain even a little to keep his balance, he was holding a perfect balance "A natural balance…" Sadies muttered to himself as he watched Eren's surprised expression.

"Sir" Annie muttered stepping up to him and holding up Eren's belt showing him one of the spots the belt would clip in before she gently pressed down on it showing a pin popping out, "His clip is broken, even the smallest amount of pressure made it give out, no one could keep their balance with this".

Sadies took the belt from her and inspecting it himself, "Yet he still did…" he whispered to himself before looking back up at the boy who was being cheered on by the other cadets, "Hmm, impressive Yeager, it seems you have a natural balance, when your equipment is in working order anyway" he said showing him the busted belt, "In any case, you pass Cadet Yeager".

Eren smiled as he threw his arms in the air in a cheer as many cheered with him while he was let back down before Thomas ran up to give him a friendly hug in support, "However…" Sadies tone turned colder making everyone shape up to look at him, "You should have routinely checked your equipment to avoid this situation, should this of been a real combat situation you'd already be in some Titan's stomach!" he scolded looking down on the boy.

"You're comrades should have also noticed your faulty equipment immediately" he continued turning to face the rest of the class, "In battle you all need to look out for each other and that includes checking each other's equipment, there is no greater downfall than human error!" he scolded making everyone brace up.

"100 laps around the camp immediately!" he exclaimed making them all turn and run off to begin their punishment, "Not you Cadet Leonhart, you noticed the problem" he said making Annie stop to turn to him, "Take this belt to the quartermaster for repair, then train on what you want until they are finished" he ordered.

"Yes Sir" Annie nodded taking the belt and walking off annoyed that she didn't have her own belt back.

Sadies watched her go before looking back to the running group "A natural balance…" he muttered as he watched the cadet group run but paid particular attention to Eren, "Only one other had done such a thing… isn't that right Sky?" he said with a small smirk.

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Much later that evening, Annie was settling into her bed having just changed into sleeping attire when a familiar irritating voice piped up, "You forgot this" Mina cheered popping her head up.

Annie glanced over to see Mina in similar attire but also holding on to a familiar belt, the belt Annie had given Eren, "Eren asked me to get it back to you, and to tell you thanks for helping him out, he owes you one" she said with her bright smile and offering the belt back to her.

Annie quickly took it and put it with the rest of her equipment, "Tell him he doesn't owe me anything, just forget about it" she said before laying down with her back facing Mina not wanting to continue any sort of discussion.

"He was just being nice, you really bailed him out you know" she muttered getting into her own side of the bed, "So why did you help him in the end?" she asked using her hand to prop her head up as she looked over Annie.

Annie looked back at her and sighed, "Just because" was all she said going back to looking at the wall.

"Oh, come on, there's got to be a better reason than that" Mina said slapping the futon, "You didn't care about him at all yesterday and now you're willing to step up to the Commandant to vouch for him" she gained a sly smirk, "Maybe you really like having him around?".

"I do not!" Annie hissed snapping around to face her, but Mina didn't retreat back keeping her sly smile, "I-" she tried to begin not liking this strange confidence from Mina, "Why are you curious about this?" she snapped trying to turn it on Mina.

"Cause, you seem like you don't like anyone, but you stepped up for him" she gave her favourite smile, "I want to get to know you Annie, is that so bad?" she continued to smile leaning up slightly from her position, "Maybe we could be friends too".

Annie was taken aback for a moment at the girls reasoning, "Friends…" she thought leaning back a bit before returning to her glare, "There's nothing you need to know about me, so just back off alright!" she snapped turning around leaving her back facing Mina, "There's nothing about me you'd find remotely interesting".

"Oh…" Mina muttered looking at the back of her long blond hair feeling a bit downcast, but her smile did return, "I actually think you're pretty interesting Annie" she smiled before settling in herself to fall asleep.

Annie was inspecting the wall thinking about what Mina said with her eyes looking slightly downcast, she lifted her hand and inspected it, running a thumb over her palm, "Pretty interesting… me…" she whispered before clenching her fist and burying it under the pillow.

Looking back to the wall, her mind thought back to what Mina originally asked, about why Annie had helped Eren and there was quite simply one reason she bothered to step up for him.

She was curious to how far he would go.

When they were training Eren with his balancing ability, Annie was watching them from the shadows and stayed there almost the whole night, watching him try but always faceplanting the floor over and over again which did amuse her for a while as he got increasingly more bruised and dirtier but what peaked her interest was him constantly getting back up.

Now normally Annie would have shrugged it off as childish resolve, believing that never giving up would prove something in the end only for reality to hit them, but Eren was different, every time he failed, he actually seemed to improve, gradually holding his position for longer and longer.

On top of that he never even seemed to get worn down no matter how brutal his fall was, it was safe to say, this was actually enough to peak her interest and while she didn't step up to help him train, she was willing to occasionally point out if something was wrong to keep him around such as mentioning his faulty equipment.

However, saying that she 'liked' having him around was quite the stretch, it was definitely just to entertain her curiosity but deep down, that weird feeling she had was still bugging her, Annie had tried to ignore it, but it was persistent, she'd tried to understand just what this feeling was, but no clear answer came to mind, and part of her felt that maybe this feeling was another reason why she wanted Eren to stay around, it was bothering her so much that she needed an answer.

Rubbing her eyes Annie settled in for sleep her head hurting from being near Mina and the constant wracking of her own brain, she just hoped tomorrow would be calmer.

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Eren landed hard on his back, wincing in pain slightly as he rubbed the back of his head before grabbing the hand that was extended to him, "You alright, landed pretty hard that time?" Reiner asked with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I hit my head enough times when I was getting my balance" he chuckled back as he dusted himself off, "You're surprisingly good at this bad guy stuff" he continued to chuckle.

Today they were practising hand to hand combat and these two were partnered together, the basic idea of the lesson was for one to attack with a wooden knife and the other to disarm them, though it wasn't going all that well for Eren.

Reiner smirked before offering Eren the small wooden knife, "Here, you want to be the bad guy?" he said.

Eren looked to the knife then back to Reiner before standing up straight, "Nah, you can stay it" he said shaking his head, they had already practiced the other way around and Reiner was quite the master at disarming Eren, so it only made sense for him to the stay the bad guy this time around.

Reiner pulled the knife back with a shrug before putting some distance between himself and Eren and once he finished dusting himself off, they re-took their fighting stances, "So, what do you think the point of this even is, I mean, this all seems pretty worthless doesn't it?" Eren asked looking around at the others practising just as they were, "When will we be attacked by a Titan with a wooden dagger?".

Reiner smirked, "Hey you never know right" he chuckled out as the circled each other, "But seriously you do have a point, it does seem quite pedestrian for our training" he continued twirling the knife in his fingers, "I have my theories, what are yours?".

Eren smirked back to him, "Not much in the way of theories but I can guess there's probably more to this than simple hand to hand combat" he said stepping towards Reiner, "Does that fit with one of your theories".

"Indeed, it does, my main one in fact, great minds think alike don't they" he said keeping his smirk, "My running theory has to do with the three regiments" this had Eren's full attention as they got closer, "You've got the most popular the Garrison right who stand on the walls all day and are rarely on the streets, then you have the Scouts, always outside the wall right?"

Eren nodded in understanding, "Then who have you got left, the MP's and what's their main duty?"

"Policing the interior" Eren answered coming to understand what Reiner was referring too.

"Exactly, I think we're being trained primarily for MP roles, so the top ten will be the best possible MP's, the higher ups primarily the rich don't care about what goes on with the outskirts and are only looking after their own hides, so they'll take the best possible MP's and leave the other regiments to take the rest who won't be trained for the job" Reiner smirked as he lunged for Eren.

"That's quite the theory you've got there Reiner" Eren commented going for the counter, but Reiner went around him and took his legs out landing Eren on his back again, but he quickly got back up as Reiner walked up to him looking off at something.

"What do you think of her?" he pointed over Eren's shoulder, the smaller boy looked around and saw Annie slinking through the crowd of other cadets going seemingly unnoticed, "She's been slacking off from training with everyone else, I reckon she's been getting up to something, she always disappears and reappears looking scuffed up, but not from training with any of us" he commented as she passed them.

Eren looked at Annie with curiosity, it was true she seemed to just vanish, but he never thought much of it but with all this talk with Reiner, it was beginning to peak his interest, "I'm gonna rush her!" Reiner said with a massive grin taking off before Eren could protest.

Reiner pulled his blade back and lunged right for Annie who cast an uncaring glance towards him and before he knew it, he was looking up to the sky through his legs and the knife clattered to the floor next to him, "W-what…" he muttered unsure of what just happened.

Eren looked dumbfounded as he stepped up to the crumpled-up Reiner, "What a dumbass…" he heard Annie mutter as she turned to walk away, not even noticing Eren standing nearby.

"Hey, wait Annie" Eren quickly called out making her stop and let out an audible sigh but not bothering to turn and face him.

"What do you want?" she huffed in annoyance.

"I just wanted to say thanks for the other day, I only felt it was right to say it in person" he said picking at his now fixed belt, "You really helped me out when I needed it, so if you ever-".

Annie suddenly snapped around to face him, "I don't want anything back okay, just drop it!" she snapped annoyed she had to replay this conversation out again, "Already had to deal with this from your annoying little messenger now you want to tell me yourself" she muttered under her breath frustrated she was become the centre of everyone's attention.

Eren was taken aback for a moment, "Sorry I was just trying to be nice; I would have lost my dream if it wasn't for you" he muttered rubbing the back of his head.

"Your dream? Oh yeah you want 'Freedom' don't you" she said using her hands to create quotation marks and got a nod in response, "Okay then you want to pay me back don't you, then answer me this and we'll be even" she stepped up to him until they were barely inches from each other.

"What is Freedom?" she asked looking into his eyes.

Eren was confused for a moment at her question, wasn't Freedom obvious, didn't everyone understand what it meant, "What is Freedom?" he repeated but Annie didn't acknowledge his question, her cold stare being her only answer.

"To me, Freedom is escaping these walls and taking my home back" he answered truthfully not backing down from Annie and neither did she.

Soon though Annie closed her eyes and sighed gently draping and arm across his chest and holding onto his shoulder before leaning up towards him getting close to his face, Eren felt his cheeks heating up as her face got closer and closer, he wasn't sure what he had to do or if he should stop her.

She stopped inches from his face, her cold stare back into her eyes, "Just what I thought you'd say…" she whispered confusing Eren again before he felt one of her legs wrapping around on of his, before he could react, she'd taken his leg out and forced him to the ground leaving him in the same position as Reiner.

He looked up at her back to her usual uncaring look, "…A stupid answer" she muttered crouching down to look at him more closely, "You just don't understand anything about this world do you, you cling to this dream of Freedom, but you don't even understand what it really means" she sighed standing back up to walk off.

"Don't bother speaking to me again until you can give me a proper answer, or you'll end up like this again" she warned before walking from the scene as Mikasa ran up to Eren.

"Eren!" she exclaimed crouching next to him as he sat back up, "Are you okay!" she continued visually checking him over before glaring at the leaving Annie.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine Mikasa…" he muttered as he watched Annie walk away her words echoing in his head.

They continued to echo throughout the day, each training session from then on, he, rated terrible in, continuously slipping up, his mind being too focused upon Annie's words to him, and people noticed.

Namely Mikasa, who'd watched him since the hand-to-hand combat exercises having noticed his odd behaviour, she hadn't heard what Annie had said to him but could easily figure out that was what caused him to act off.

She didn't risk taking her eyes off him being worried about what might happen to him but once training ended for the day, she didn't have a choice but to leave him alone for a moment being forced to return to the rooms to change.

She'd changed pretty hastily in order to get Eren back in her sights but upon arriving at the dinner hall, he was nowhere to be found, she took her seat and watched the door as people continuously filtered in until all, but one had arrived.

"Where is he?" Mikasa questioned looking across the table to Armin a clear worried expression strewn across her face.

Armin looked up to her, "I'm not sure, he came back to the cabin with us but after changing Eren just kind of vanished" he answered honestly, "I'm sure he's fine Mikasa, he probably just wanted some time alone".

Mikasa shifted in her seat, she'd always looked out for Eren since they were kids and the thought of him going through something without her there made her uncomfortable, "Are you sure, he's been acting strange all day, somethings wrong".

"He's probably fine you know" Sasha said from one side of Mikasa getting her to look at her, "Everyone has off days, it's nothing weird" she continued talking with her mouth partly full looking to Mikasa who gave her a glare.

She immediately swallowed her food and gave a nervous chuckle mumbling an apology; Mikasa sighed and looked away, she wasn't sure why by Sasha had been oddly clingy to her since the day they met, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

She shook her head to try and not think about Sasha and get back on the topic of Eren, "He's had plenty of time to be alone by now, something might be wrong with him" she said in a motherly tone clearly getting worked up making the other two females very confused, but Armin only sighed.

"Eren can take of himself you know, he's not some little kid" Mina said with a confused expression, she'd never seen Mikasa get so worked up like this, so she wasn't exactly sure how to handle her, "He knows how to take care of himself"

Mikasa however, seemingly blanked the pigtailed girl and had her eyes set on a single figure across the room who was sitting all on her own, her look turned to a glare upon Annie knowing that whatever she said to him must off put him off.

"I'm going to find him!" she said taking off before anyone could say anything to stop her.

As she left Sasha and Mina looked to each other confused before looking to Armin, "What was that about?" Mina asked glancing to the door then to the boy.

Armin sighed again as he looked to the door Mikasa had just run out of, "She's always been like this, she always has to make sure Eren is okay" he sighed looking back to his plate suddenly not having an appetite.

"Why, she just seems kinda clingy…" Mina continued looking to Armin, "I-I don't mean to be insulting, please don't tell her-".

"No, you're right, Mikasa is extremely attached to Eren but it's not without reason" he took a breath looking at the two of them, "I probably shouldn't say but I suppose the two of you are getting close to her" he looked at Sasha, "In one way or another".

The two leaned closer to him eager to hear what he had to say, "I can't go into exact details as it's really not my place to say" he sighed again, "When Mikasa was young, she lost her family, Eren's family adopted her but what Maria fell she lost them again, Eren is all she has left" he looked down to his own reflection in his water, "It may seem that she's clingy or treats him like a child, but I believe it's just because she scared to lose someone else, basically she just can't help herself".

Mina and Sasha leaned back slightly surprised that was the reason, "So she's scared to let him go?" Sasha said looking to the door that she'd darted out from.

"In essence, yes" he sighed going to stand up, "I should go help her" he said turning to walk out of the room but too his surprise the two girls got up and followed him, as they stepped outside, he noticed that Sasha was pocketing something, but he didn't really think to question her about it knowing her reputation.

"We thought we'd help to, it's not healthy for Mikasa to be panicking this much or well worrying this much, whichever way to put it" Mina smiled with her usual bright smile as she walked past Armin and Sasha nodded in agreement.

Armin smiled at their kindness before they set off into the night together to look for their missing friends, unbeknownst to them another figure was also looking.

The person they were primarily looking for however wasn't exactly trying to hide.

Eren, after he'd dressed down into more relaxed attired had decided to take some time for himself, the words Annie had said to him had gotten into his head.

He'd walked around the camp being guided by the torch lights and eventually found himself entering a small group of trees and found a spot where a small break in the leaves showed the moon and stars lighting up a small area.

He'd taken to sitting down in this spot and just looking up to them and letting his mind dwell, "Is she right, do I not understand Freedom, have I been wrong this entire time" he muttered to only himself not taking his eye off the stars, "But what else could it mean, am I just being stupid".

He leaned further into the tree, "Why do her words get to me so much, what's wrong with me" he muttered, all Annie had said to him really were just a few words and they didn't even provide a reason to why he was wrong about Freedom, but when he looked into her eyes, some part of him just believed her, that he was wrong.

"There you are!" a cheery voice suddenly exclaimed beside Eren making him fall to the side in shock, he looked to the side of the tree where he'd been resting to see a familiar pigtailed girl peering out from behind it with her usual bright smile.

"Mina? You startled me" Eren muttered rubbing the back of his head as he stood back up.

"Sorry about that" she giggled stepping out from behind the tree, "We've been looking everywhere for you, had to split up and go off on our own to cover the area" she put her hands to her hips putting on a scolding look, "Now what's up with you?".

Eren sighed looking back to the stars, "Mina, can I ask you something first?" he said facing from the stars to look at her.

She took her hands from her hips and looked at him with a small head tilt, "Yeah sure" she responded not sure what he was planning.

"What is Freedom?" he asked in an almost similar tone to how Annie had asked him hours ago.

Mina was taken aback before scratching her chin, "Freedom? Being free I guess that's what I've always thought it meant" she muttered looking back to Eren, "Does this have something to do with why you're acting weird?".

He sighed as he looked back to the stars, "Yeah, Annie asked me that same question today and when I told her my idea of Freedom, she just said I was wrong and floored me" he leaned back against the tree but remained standing, "She said I didn't understand anything about this world and that I didn't understand Freedom at all".

"Oh, I see" Mina muttered looking at Eren to see his expression of loss and confusion, this was obviously playing heavy on his mind, she felt bad for him but simply wasn't sure what she could do but as she thought about the question again a realisation struck her.

"Freedom is a lie…" she muttered just loud enough for Eren to hear; he suddenly shot his face in her direction looking even more confused.

"What did you say?" he muttered.

"Freedom is a lie" Mina said again a bit louder and more confident, "N-Not that that's my view at all, that's just what Annie told me the other day is all so I thought that might help you out with your dilemma is all" she hastily added waving her hands in front of her.

"It's a lie?" he said to himself looking to the ground, "How does that work?".

"Cause Freedom isn't actually a thing" a cold voice said now the other side of Eren making him jump towards Mina only to see the blonde who'd caused this confusion stepping out from behind the tree he'd been resting against, "It's a lie, as you can never attain it" she continued glancing at the two of them with one eye.

"H-How long have you been there?" Mina squeaked peaking out from behind Eren having been quite startled by Annie's sudden appearance.

"A little while" she muttered turning to face them, "You know I thought it would be more entertaining to watch Eren guess over and over again what Freedom means but then you handed him the answer" her usual emotionless tone present throughout as she eyed up Mina who was straightening herself up.

"Annie, I don't understand, how is Freedom a lie?" he asked stepping up to her but as subtlety as he could keeping an eye on her legs should she suddenly strike him.

"Because it's impossible to truly attain, no matter what you do, or who you are, if you are not born free you never will be, you will always be subject to someone else will" Annie stepped up to him, "That is what life really is for people like us, we live and die for the will of others, for those who are more powerful than us, you can never escape them cause they control everything".

Eren and Mina looked to each other than back to Annie, "You sound like you're coming from personal experience?" he muttered looking to her for confirmation.

Annie sighed and looked away, "Maybe I am, does it really matter" she muttered turning to walk away, "Now that you understand reality, maybe you'll grow up a bit Yeager" she put her hands into her parka and stepped away.

"What if you're wrong?!" Eren snapped stepping up to her again, Annie stopped and glanced back to him with a quizzical expression, "How can you know for 100% you're right, how can you prove what you say is right?".

She turned back to him and walked back until she was directly in front of him, "Because it's what I know" she muttered getting slightly irritated.

"That's no answer" he said back not backing down from her, "Who told you everything you know?"

Annie let out a frustrated sigh before looking back up to him, "All my experience, my knowledge and skills come from one person, the only important person in my life, my mother" she pushed some hair from her eyes, "She has gone through more than you will ever in your life, her experiences shaped her to be what she is and thus shaped my real view on this world, she doesn't have idealistic view nor unrealistic expectation cause she learned they are just a fantasy, which she passed onto me".

She stepped as close as she could to Eren in an attempt to stare him down but to her surprise he stared right back not wanting to back down, "And what if she is wrong, and everything you've learned is wrong?" he asked as calmly as he could.

"And I suppose you're right?" she muttered back.

Eren took a moment to think about this, all the points she made were accurate about his idea of Freedom being wrong however hers just seemed more defeatist instead of truthful, "No, maybe neither of us are" he suggested taking her back.

"What if neither of us actually know what Freedom is, what if it's something else we haven't thought of yet?" he suggested making Annie actually step back making him feel as if he'd finally got one up on her, "I refuse to believe the Freedom is just some lie but maybe it's not as obvious as I thought it was or as clear cut as it seemed to be".

"What stupid thought is that meant to be" Annie sighed shaking her head, "I'm not sure who's more annoying, you or her" she indicated to Mina who'd been keeping quiet not sure if she should interrupt the two of them, "Aren't you going to say anything, you usually do".

"Honestly, I'm not quite sure what you guys are on about anymore" she shrugged her shoulders as she held a completely lost expression making both cadets look at her with deadpanned looks, "But from what I got, why don't the two of you make some sort of deal!" she cheered with her usual happy tone as she walked up to them.

"How about this, if you doubt Eren so much give him a small chance to prove himself to you, he gets until the second month of our graduation to give you a proper answer to what Freedom is and if he doesn't both me and him will never bother you again?" she suggested in a sweet voice, "By that time Eren will have some real-world experience and can tell you what he really thinks Annie".

They looked to each other then back to her with raised eyebrows, "Fine then, it's a deal" Annie muttered extending a hand to Eren.

"Two months after we graduate, I'll have your answer" he nodded taking her hand and shaking it.

Before he realised what was happening, she'd yanked him towards her and taken his legs out from underneath him again putting him in the old position from training, "Ow, again really?".

"Annie!" Mina exclaimed before crouching down to help Eren up from his awkward position, "What was that for?!" but instead of a response Annie turned and was walking away.

"Hey Annie, that actually reminded me…" Eren asked but she didn't stop for him though she did slightly slow down to hear what he would say, "If I asked nicely, would you teach me those moves?" she stopped dead in her tracks and turned to him.

"What?" she asked dumbfounded looking at him sat on the grass.

"Maybe not all your moves just a few if you don't mind" he said rubbing the back of his head letting out an awkward chuckle.

"Why do you want to know?" she enquired.

"Well, your moves are leagues ahead of everyone else, you're able to take down much large guys like Reiner without much trouble while I on the other hand just get knocked down all the time" he said standing up, "I was going to ask much sooner, but I never had the chance".

She was at a loss, the person she was just arguing with about Freedom now wanted to take lessons from her, "Why do you think I would say yes, I'm not your friend you know" she said, her disbelief still catching up with her.

"Honestly, I don't expect you too" he answered truthfully, "But I don't see any harm in asking, but if you did say yes, you'd get to beat me up all you want" he smiled looking over to her.

Annie rubbed her temple preparing to tell him to leave her alone again but before she did, a thought dawned on her, training him might be an opportunity to learn more about him, she'd be able to observe him and see just how quickly he was catching onto stuff and maybe she'd be able to figure out what that stupid feeling in her chest was she got around him.

And being able to beat him up while doing it was an added bonus, "Fine, if you want to learn so bad, I'll show you a few moves, tomorrow evening come find me in the forest behind the combat field" she said requiring her uncaring look and tone before walking away, "Don't be late".

Eren watched her leave with a smile, "Ooo, Eren and Annie, alone in the forest, with no one looking for them, whatever might you be up to" Mina teased jabbing him in the ribs.

"N-No it's not like that" he stammered out at her suggestion, "I genuinely want to learn some of her moves, and maybe get to know her a bit".

"You sure it's not 'like that'?" she asked with a deadpanned look.

"No Mina, ever since we got here, she's been observing me, I think there's something about me she finds interesting, or maybe just annoying" he muttered with a chuckle, "Either way, I'm curious about her, I just have this feeling like, I should know her" he smiled looking back to Mina who'd backed away a bit.

"That's kinda creepy, from both of you y'know" she muttered nervously.

"I really don't mean it like that!" Eren exclaimed before taking a breath, "Thank you Mina, for helping me" he smiled and got one returned.

"It's no problem, I like being helpful" she smiled waving her hand in front of her face before making an 'oh' face, "But we should really find Mikasa, she's been worried sick looking for you" she chuckled before walking off followed closely by Eren.

As the walked into the open, Eren was swiftly brought face to face with the worried Ackerman who immediately began interrogating him on his whereabouts.

Annie watched them from the darkness "Hm, friends…" she muttered watching them interact as memories from her talk with Mina from a few nights ago, "That's what they all are?".

She watched as Eren and Mikasa looked down to their stomachs clearly having made a sound and looked away awkwardly when Sasha procured and potato and some bread from her pockets to present to them which they gratefully accepted.

Her eyes dulled looking at this before she turned away her own stomach growling.

She shook her head before walking off away from the group.

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Slightly longer than usual but there was just a bit more I wanted to get in for this one.

If anyone thinks they can guess where this story is going, please do, I'm interested to see what you all think.