Your POV:
Peter seemed to be very amused by Ellen's constant lecturing of me. I just sat there and took it, no point in arguing with this woman. I know she was just worried about me, the least I can do is just hear her out and nod occasionally.
But it was great seeing Jack and Ellie again, they were super excited to see me. But they were also careful not to touch any major injuries. I listen to how they have been doing, well Ellie mostly talked, Jack would interject here and there, but that was normal for them.
I was having so much fun with them I didn't even notice it was getting close to dinner time. Peter seemed especially annoyed today, I wonder what is going on with him. But he decided to come down and have dinner with the kids and I in the Mess Hall regardless.
We get to the Mess Hall early enough to find an empty table in the corner of the room, perfect. Jack and Ellie sit on each side of me, and Peter sits across from me. He brought some papers with him to sign while he picks off his tray. Ellen stayed up in Peter's office, I'm not sure what she is doing but she said she would be down soon.
Ellie is busy telling me about a couple new toys she obtained since the last time I saw her, and Jack is listening, but is more focused on his food.
"Aw! Who are these guys?" I hear Hange's familiar squeal as she sat down next to Ellie. "Peter's kids," I answer her, "They stopped by to visit me along with their mother, Ellen."
The kids introduced themselves to Hange and started asking her tons of questions about titans. Better her than me, she is the titan expert after all.
"Shouldn't you be back in the hospital wing?" I look up to see Levi glaring at me as he sat on the other side of the table.
"Come on, sir," I whine, "I'm fine! I can move around on my crutches well enough and my ribs don't hurt as much. I'm not having hallucinations and I'm not dehydrated or starving. So just let me be, please!"
"She's fine for now, Levi," Erwin chuckles as he sits beside him, "She's well enough to be out on her own, plus she is with Dr. Thompson."
"Fine," Levi mutters, "But starting tomorrow you're staying in the hospital wing. I won't risk you hurting your clumsy ass even more until you're fully healed."
I was about to argue with him, but then I realized he was right... I want to make sure I am fit to go on the operation we are planning in Stohess, so I better be careful. Plus, I am trying to be more obedient and following instructions instead of deviating to the point of no return.
Having more people at the table made Ellie overjoyed. She loves to chat and ask questions, so this is right up her ally. Jack however gets even more shy in front of new people, so he says very little.
I laugh when Ellie starts directing her questions towards Levi. He scowls constantly and doesn't really answer any of her questions, which seems to amuse Ellie even more. Levi must not be very good with kids.
"Peter Thompson!" Everyone from my table turned to look up and see Ellen standing behind Peter with something in her hand.
"That's Ellen," I say to Hange, Erwin and Levi, I doubt any of them have met her yet. Levi saw Ellen briefly when he sold me out to her and Peter when I was trying to avoid them after Laurie's attack, "Peter's ex-wife and mother to their children."
Peter turns around to look at her but scowls when he sees the letter she is holding in front of him, "What are you doing with that? We're not married anymore! Go through Paul's things, I didn't divorce you to spend more time with you bothering me."
"When were you going to tell me you were invited to go to a party for Harvey fucking Banning?!" Ellen shouted at Peter. Jack and Ellie both cover their ears when they hear Ellen swear.
My ears perk up when I hear the name 'Harvey Banning'. Now that I look at the letter she is waving around, I do recognize it. I got a similar letter this morning when I was eating my breakfast.
I've never met him personally, but I do know who he is. I've heard Laurie mention him a few times before. All I know for sure is he used to come to some of my shows and he wants me to sing a song or 2 at this party for him. I was going to just reject the invitation, but he's a member of the king's council. If I can sneak away from the party, I may be able to find out some interesting information. So, I already decided that I would go.
"Why did you get invited, Peter?" I ask him curiously.
"We trained together when we were studying medicine, even worked on some studies together. He probably wants to rub his success in my face." Peter shrugged and gave me a bored expression.
"He's not only a talented and famous physician," Ellen sighed dramatically, "But he's also handsome and so very charming. Peter is just jealous that he will never be as successful as Harvey."
"I met him before actually, when he and Peter were working together," Ellen continues as she sits down beside Peter, "I would have gone out with him had I not been married to Peter at the time." She nudges Peter who is trying very hard to ignore her.
"Anyway, since you obviously don't want to go, how about you give your invitation to me." Ellen suggested to Peter.
"Why?" Peter smirks, "You give yourself too much credit, he won't even remember who you are."
I let out a gasp, "Oh no! Shots fired! Shots fired!" I grab Ellie and Jack and hide myself under the table with them, ignoring the pain in my sides, "Get down get down! Mom and Dad are about to go at it!"
Usually, the two of them get along really well, especially when it comes to them co-parenting. But sometimes Peter will let slip a little jab here and there if Ellen is annoying him, and sometimes she will go off on him.
"That's fine Peter, I'll go and see him anyway. I'll let him know you are still bitter over the past and couldn't bring yourself to be the better person and just congratulate him." I hear Ellen say in a calm voice, which shocked me, I thought she was going to smack him for sure.
"It was my research too," Peter mumbled to her, "It's despicable what he did, and I can't believe you're still in awe of him."
"Well, I'm sure (y/n) would like to come with me, won't you love?" Ellen called to me. Jack, Ellie and I peek our heads up from under the table and crawled back into our seats.
"I already got an invitation." I giggle at the surprised look on Ellen's face. "How did you get one?"
"He came to a couple of my shows and liked my voice, so I'm invited to perform there." I shrug like it's no big deal.
"You're not going, are you?" Peter glares at me.
"Of course I'm going," I replied, "I'm not passing up an opportunity to do some digging."
"That's great!" Hange shouted suddenly, "Erwin is going too!"
I raise my eyebrows at Erwin, "Is that so? I didn't think you would agree to something like that." I giggle.
"It's not a for sure thing," Erwin replies, "I don't know if I'm going to go, as you said, it's not really something I would normally agree to do."
"You should go," I encourage him, "It'll be interesting."
I give Levi a smirk as I notice him glaring at Erwin and I.
"You shouldn't go, (y/n)." Peter says to me quietly, "I know what you're thinking."
I stiffen at his words. I know he's worried about the possibility of me being at a party so close to the capital, and with a lot of people who I have met under various circumstances. But Harvey is a doctor and he's close with the king. There has to be something I can find at his residence, maybe something about the titans. I don't know why, but I have a feeling I'll learn or remember something of value if I go.
"What do you mean?" I ask him innocently, "I'm just fulfilling an obligation."
Peter probably knows exactly what I'm planning on doing. I'll be doing it on my own though, I refuse to ask for anyone else's help, not after using people when I worked for Laurie. I'm not that person anymore.
"Yes!" Ellen clapped her hands, "I'm so excited for this now! Since Peter won't be using his invitation, I'll use it for him."
"Are you going to take Paul then?" I ask her, amused by how excited it made her to see this man again.
"Probably, what about you (y/n)? Who are you going to bring, you have a plus one too don't you?" Ellen queried.
"No," I shake my head, "The entertainment doesn't get a plus one."
"I'll go with you, (y/n)!" Jack speaks up for the first time in awhile, "Someone has to protect you from all the men!"
"Oh Jack, I wouldn't make you come to this," I laugh and put my hand on his shoulder, "It's just going to be adults dressing up and pretending they get along with each other. Trust me, I'm doing you a favour by not taking you."
I was starting to feel really tired at this point, so I finish the rest of my dinner quickly while everyone around me continued to chat amongst themselves.
"Alright," I yawn after I finish, "I'm heading off to bed, see you guys later." I kiss both Jack and Ellie before I stand from my seat and grab my crutches.
"I'll walk you there." Peter says as he stands up too. "But mooooooommm," I groan, "I'm not that helpless!"
"I'm just making sure you actually go back to your hospital room and not your dorm room." He smirks at my whining.
I roll my eyes at him and wave goodbye at everyone else at the table. Peter made sure he slowed his pace to walk next to me.
"Do you think it's a trap?" He asks me quietly as we continue walking down the deserted corridor.
"For what? They know I'm here, what would be the point in luring me to a party to get me?"
"You're surrounded by soldiers here, (y/n)," Peter reminds me, "People everywhere who can and are willing to protect you. If you go to this party, you're not going to have a lot of people there that are willing to stick their necks out for you."
"I don't need them to," I argue, "I can handle myself, Peter. More importantly, do you think it's worth me going? Do you think Dr. Banning will have information I could find interesting?"
"I'm sure he has many interesting secrets; he has worked in the capital for so long now. I don't know how tight security will be though. So, you better figure out a good plan."
"I know," I sigh, "I'll think of something, I always do."
"Erwin may be there," He reminded me, "Maybe you can coordinate something with him."
"I'm not using people like that anymore." I respond seriously.
"You wouldn't even have to ask him," He pushes, "You know he will be more than willing to help you and you'll have a lower chance of getting caught."
"Of course I know he would help without a moments pause," I retort, "But I won't put him in a position that will jeopardize his safety."
Peter stops in his tracks, causing me to stop too, "What's wrong?"
He starts chuckling, "Oh nothing, it's so nice of you to care for Erwin so much."
"Shut up," I glare at him as my cheeks go red, "Let's go."
"Now that I think of it, I notice you're pretty close with Levi too." He says as he raises his eyebrows at me.
"I knew it was a bad idea to let you escort me back to my room."
Time skip, 3 days later:
Your POV:
Ugh I'm so bored. I'm not allowed to train or do anything really. I have people coming in to visit me when they can, but more than anything I want to be able to leave with them. But nope, I have to stay here and wait to heal.
It was about noon, and I was just waiting for my lunch. They really are being protective; I can at least hop down to the Mess Hall and eat there.
Screw this, I'm tired of this boring room. I was getting ready to get up when I heard a knock at the door, "Yeah?"
The door opens and in walks my brother, "Ben!" I laugh with delight, holding out my arms to him. He crosses the room in a few quick strides and pulls me into a hug, "Ah!" I yelp as he squeezed me a little too hard.
"I'm sorry," Ben whispers, "Did that hurt?"
"Yes, but -"
"Good!" He shouts as he squeezes me again.
"Ow! Ben!"
"What the hell, (y/n)?! I believed you when you reassured us that you would be okay in the scouts. I knew something like this would happen!" I've never seen him so angry before.
"Ben, let her go, she's alive and that's what matters." I hear another voice, a female one this time.
I look over to the door and see a pretty girl with blue eyes and short brown hair, "Celeste!" I cry out when I see her.
She hurried over to Ben and I, who reluctantly let go of me so she could embrace me. It felt so good to see her again, from what I could tell she looked well. I didn't see any new scars or bruises which relieved me.
"How did you manage to get Laurie to give you time off to come here?" I ask her.
She gives me a nervous look, "He doesn't know I'm here, I came on my own accord." I give her a weird look. This is odd, she was terrified to ask for a sick day when we worked together. But now she is able to just leave and come and see me... Very strange.
"Well, I'm glad to see you again," I say, trying to push my thoughts to the back of my mind, "How have you been?"
"No no no, you first (y/n)," Ben interjects, "Tell me everything."
I obey and outline everything that happened on the expedition. They both listened to me closely and didn't say anything until I was done.
I ask Ben how mom was and he got quiet. Her moods have been getting worse apparently, and the mood swings have gotten more dramatic.
Celeste said very little about life working for Laurie. But she really didn't have to say anything, I know all too well what it is like living and working with him. But at least she seems to be doing rather well considering the circumstances, which I am grateful for.
"So, what are you 2 doing here together?" I finally ask the question that has been on the back on my mind since they got here.
"I ran into her while I was looking for Conrad." Ben answered me in a dangerous tone.
"Uh oh, what did the sun god do?" I roll my eyes when I hear his name.
"Slept with too many women that weren't Katrina."
"Well obviously, anyone with any kind of sense who knew him saw that coming a mile away."
"I thought for sure you were going to break out into uncontrollable laughter." Ben chuckles.
"Why? Everyone knew it was coming. Plus, I already laughed about it a while ago."
"Ah, I see. Anyway, Celeste asked if she could come with me when I mentioned I was coming to see you." Ben finally answers.
"Okay," I give them both a suspicious look, Ben has gone after quite a few of my co-workers, so I don't know whether to believe if they are just friends or not. I mean, if they were seeing each other it wouldn't be the worst thing. Celeste deserves some happiness, "Well I'm glad you could both come, I wanted to request something from both of you."
They both raise their eyebrows at me and wait for me to continue, "Celeste, you still work a lot at the lounge in Stohess, correct?"
She nods and grimaces in response. "Ben, do you still find your way into Stohess often?"
"Periodically," He nods, "I meet with some clients for my father there."
"Okay, I need you to avoid going to Stohess in exactly 3 weeks." I say matter-of-factly.
"Why?" Ben asks, narrowing his gaze and crossing his arms at me.
"That's classified."
"Oh, in that case, of course!" Ben smiles widely at me.
"Really? Thank you!"
"No! (Y/n), I'm a grown ass man who has business in Stohess weekly. You want me to skip out on important clients, and you won't tell me the reason why? Forget it (y/n), no deal." Ben scolded me.
"I'm sorry Ben, I can't go into details," I give him a pleading look, "Just trust me, okay? Just don't go there for one day, I'm sure you won't get into trouble with your clients for missing one day."
Ben sees the desperation and seriousness in my eyes and sighs heavily as he runs his fingers through his long dark brown hair.
"Celeste," I address her next, "I don't care if you have to take a sick day or try your hardest to get a patron to request you to their home that day. But please, make it happen, just trust me, I beg you."
Celeste bites her lip and stares at me like she is about to cry, what is going on with her?
"Okay," She finally says, giving me a small reassuring smile, "I won't go to Stohess on this day in a few week's time."
I return her smile and look back at Ben, waiting for him to reconsider, "Fine fine," He throws his hands up in defeat, "I'll trust you on this."
"Make sure the rest of the family doesn't go either," I instruct him, "I doubt any of them will have business in Stohess, but just in case they do, stop them."
Ben nods at me and changes the subject, "So, when are you going to come and visit mom?"
"When I don't look like this anymore," I answer him, pointing to my broken leg, broken toe and the multiple bruises on my body, "I don't want to freak her out. I will see her as soon as I can."
I hear some soft crying and I turn to look at Celeste. Tears were falling down her face that she tries to conceal. "What is with you, Celeste?" I ask her gently as I reach for a tissue box next to my bed and try to hand it to her.
Before she can grab it from me my hand shakes and the muscles in my hand and fingers contract involuntarily, causing me to drop the box on the floor at Celeste's feet.
Her and Ben both give me the same concerned look. "(Y/n) -"
"Sorry about that!" I laugh loudly, "Clumsy me, I haven't had lunch yet, so my hands are a bit shaky."
Ben tried to talk to me about my random shaking, but I refused to comply. I reassured him that I was fine and changed the topic of conversation. It seemed to work, we chatted about other random topics until a nurse came in with my lunch.
I hugged and kissed Celeste and Ben goodbye and they reassured me they would not go to Stohess on the day I specified. I felt a bit more relaxed as I watched them walk away, now I just have to warn Peter.
Author's POV:
When Benjamin and Celeste made their way back to the capital, Benjamin decided to walk Celeste to the entrance of Lawrence's residence.
"Thank you for letting me come with you." Celeste says as she offers him a sweet smile.
"My pleasure," Benjamin returns her warm smile, "I'll look forward to seeing you again."
Celeste leans up and places a warm gentle kiss on his lips. Benjamin was surprised by her boldness, but melted into her soft kiss and returned it.
"I'll see you again soon, I hope." She smiles at him as she turns to walk in the door. Benjamin can only wave silently at her as he thinks about their kiss, and how he wanted to do it again and again. He had never felt like this around any woman before. Celeste made him feel nervous in a good way, it was a new feeling for him that he was enjoying.
After Benjamin left, Celeste breathed heavily and leaned on the other side of the door. "What are you so worked up over?"
Celeste is startled by a female voice coming from her left, it was a tall girl with long golden hair and blue eyes, "Nothing, Antheia," Celeste muttered, "I was just going to go and see Laurie."
"What would he possibly want with you?" Antheia fumed. She was stuck working at the brothel again and was annoyed with everyone.
"I don't have time for this." Celeste rolled her eyes at Antheia and made her way towards Lawrence's office.
When she gets there, she raises her hand to knock, but pauses. She could feel tears start to build up in her eyes again. She apologized to you over and over in her mind, and also to Benjamin.
She was about to walk away from the office all together, but the image of her son flashed through her mind. Her mother's instincts kicking in, she knocked on the door and was let in.
"Ah, Clio," Lawrence greeter her, "Tell me my pet, how was your visit?"
Celeste didn't want to stay in there longer than necessary, so she gets right to the point, "(y/n) told me to avoid Stohess district in exactly 3 week's time. She didn't say why, but it is safe to assume the scouts have something planned that she is in on. I don't know if she will be in Stohess when whatever it is goes down. She may be there, or she may stay at their Headquarters."
Lawrence sits back in his seat and lets her words sink in, "I see, I'll have to arrange for a couple of small groups. Whether (y/n) does go to Stohess or not, I'll have a plan. Thank you, Clio. Since you have been such a good obedient pet, to show you my appreciation, I'll allow you to see your son for a few minutes."
Celeste couldn't believe it, she was over joyed to hear she could see him, "Thank you, sir!" She cried.
Lawrence asked one of his men to escort Celeste to her son. After she left, he turned to another one of his men, "Get me Kenny Ackerman."
Time skip, 1 day before Stohess mission:
Your POV:
So BORED! The past few weeks have been torture! I'm still not allowed to do much of anything, which is ridiculous since the Stohess mission is tomorrow.
I'm currently waiting for Peter to get here to take off my cast. I'm just laying across my bed, head hanging upside down off the bed.
People come and visit often, but I've been pretty moody as of late. I have so much energy and can't do anything with it. So, I've been pretty frustrating to deal with. Apart from Ben, Beth is the only other person from my family that has visited me. My mom can't come, it would just mess with her mind. And I don't want Katrina here for obvious reasons.
I've found myself thinking of my father from time to time. I wonder if he's even still alive... Who knows? .... Who cares?
Erwin and Levi haven't been by in awhile, they used to come everyday and visit me. But they are busy and have a lot to do before tomorrow. Plus, I do have a bit of a short temper these days, and I don't blame them for wanting to give me some space.
I was able to convince Peter not to go to his Stohess office on the date set for the mission. Despite his reservations, he agreed to take my advice.
Finally, I hear the door open and Peter walks in, "Hey (y/n), how are you feeling today?" He asks me cheerfully as he brings his tools to remove my cast over to me.
"Brilliant, I'm nothing but a slowly decaying organism that was born and raised in a society run by money and greed, and the only escape is the sweet release of death; the tax all most pay for a life lived, good or bad."
"Awwwwww, does someone need a hug?" Peter coos at me playfully.
"I need this cast off, I'm becoming more sardonic than before." I growl at him.
"You say that like you weren't before." He laughs and gets to work on my leg.
"You know, you've been pretty angsty for the last couple weeks." Peter notes.
"What do you expect?" I sigh at him, "I've been stuck here, not allowed to do anything other than read."
"Don't be silly, you've loved spending time with me! You don't have to hide it!" Peter jokes.
"... I'll hit you."
"Alright alright, calm down, I'll stop."
We fell into a blissful silence as he worked away, but of course it didn't last long.
"You know, I know something that will help with your pent up frustration." Peter says.
I was almost afraid to know, "What?" I ask nervously.
"Sex." He smirks at me.
"... Peter, I told you, if you are going to propose a threesome you have to invited Ellen too and make it a foursome. I need something to do while you and Grace are all over each other."
"That sounds like something out of my worst nightmare. I didn't mean me, (y/n). It really works you know, see how happy I am today? It's because I just had sex this morning."
"I'm fine thanks, and congrats on the sex.. I guess."
"It's like you have this weird association when it comes to sex -," He pauses when I cover my ears with my hands.
"You're worse than a child," He laughs and pulls my hands away from my ears, "You've never had a talk like this before, have you? Your mother clearly didn't, and I doubt your father would have. Then you were thrust into this life where sex is this bad thing that men forced on the women working around you."
I just shrug in response. I guess I never thought of it like that. I don't know if I necessarily have a bad view on sex. I almost did with Mac, but I never allowed it to go too far. Mac was always so patient with me.
"Of course I'm not saying you have to experience it," Peter continues, "I just want you to know when you're with the right person, it's an amazing experience. Just don't close yourself off, okay? You're allowed to give yourself to someone you trust, Lawrence isn't here to punish you."
My face was going red at this point, "Please stop, it's embarrassing."
He was just about done with my leg, it felt good to finally feel a breeze on it. Now I can finally itch it, it's been driving me crazy.
Peter chuckles at my reddening face, "Come on, (y/n)! Just let your tits out and take out that angst and bounce on some dicks!"
"Peter!" I protest, covering my face.
I hear someone clear their throat from behind Peter. And of course, it had to be Erwin.
"Hello Erwin," Peter greets him cheerfully, "What can I help you with?"
"One of our soldiers got hurt during a sparring match, and I need you to take a look at him." Erwin explains to Peter.
"Sure, I just finished up with (y/n). I'll go right away." With that, Peter gives me a smirk and leaves the room.
There was silence after Peter left, I can still feel my face heating up. I'm not able to look at Erwin in the eye.
"How much did you hear?" I ask him quietly.
"'Tits out', and 'bounce on some dicks'" He answered, I can practically hear the smirk on his face.
"Terrific." I face palm.
"You know," Erwin started, "If you need help with your frustrations, there are plenty of people who would be willing to kill to help you out with that."
I give him a small smile, "Yeah, I'm sure plenty of women throw themselves at you offering the same thing."
"That may be true, but it has never worked. I have never wanted any of them."
"... Erwin."
"(Y/n)."
"Are you offering yourself to me?" I ask him.
His smirk deepens and he steps closer to me, "I've never seen your face this red before," He lifts my chin up to meet my gaze, "It's adorable."
I narrow my eyes at him and grab my pillow to throw it at him playfully. Erwin gives me a genuine smile, "I have to go, I'll see you later."
I return his smile, I was afraid my heart was going to pound out of my chest. I stand up and walk the stiffness out of my left leg and foot. It felt weird to be up on it, I better get in some last minute training before tomorrow.
But not before I have a proper shower, it's been difficult trying to bathe with my cast. I make my way to the showers and breathe a sigh of relief that I am the only one in there.
I already feel less frustrated now that I can walk around normally. The thought of being able to finally do some training cheered me up.
After showering I start making my way over to the training grounds. As I'm walking along outside, I can hear voices coming out of an open window. I peek in to see Hange, Levi, Mike and a couple other soldiers.
I move from the open window and quietly make my way around to the window that Hange has her back to. Levi is sitting on one end of the table, facing the window I am at, and Mike and the other 2 soldiers were sitting to the right of Levi.
Maybe I'll have a little fun, I haven't annoyed Levi in awhile. I get his attention by waving in front of the window, since he is the only one facing the window I'm at and he notices me.
I smile and wave at him as he glares suspiciously at me. I love trying to crack his stoic expressionless exterior. I'll try and make him smile or laugh, that never fails to annoy him.
I started dancing back and forth in front of the window, making weird expressions and movements to get a reaction out of him. He is trying his hardest to ignore me, but I refuse to be ignored.
I see Hange notice Levi trying to maintain his composure, and I duck down from the window so she couldn't see me. Since I'm farther away from the open window, I can't really hear what they are saying. It must be an important meeting... I shouldn't bother him for much longer.
I pop up and down from the window, getting Levi's attention again. I enjoy the fact that he finds my childish side amusing. I give him a few more weird expressions and dance moves before deciding he has probably had enough.
Before I leave, I stop dancing around and get him to look at me once more. He stares at me, lips pursed in a tight line, restraining a smile. I smile sweetly at him and playfully blow him a kiss through the window.
He narrows his eyes at me as he raises his left hand, as if to catch my kiss. Then he smirks at me and threw my kiss out the open window to the right of him. I clutch at my chest dramatically, as if I were shot through the heart and fell to the ground.
After successfully annoying and distracting Levi, I happily make the rest of the journey to the training grounds.
When I arrive, there is only a few people there, Eren being one of them. He is really going hard on that training dummy; I hope he's okay.
I head over to him to check up on him, "Geez Eren, you're really going at it, does the dummy owe you money or something?"
Eren pauses when he hears my voice and turns to give me a small smile, "(y/n), it's good to see you out and about without your cast on. Though for some reason you look even short to me now."
"I'm not short," I correct him, "I'm vertically challenged."
"I'm going hard on the dummy because I'm trying to condition my legs more like you told me to, remember?"
Oh yeah, that feels like it was so long ago. But it seems like something is weighing on his mind, maybe it will help for him to talk about it.
"Come on, Eren. I can tell when something is bothering you. Tell me." I say gently.
"I'm worried about tomorrow." He admits to me, staring down at his feet.
I guess he would be feeling a little apprehensive about tomorrow, after all he has found out that a good friend is actually the female titan.
"Is it wrong that I still can't bring myself to hate her?" Eren asks me, looking at me again, "I know she's done a lot of damage, but I still see her as Annie, not the female titan. I mean, she's the bad guy here, I should hate her."
"Eren," I say, "It's more complicated than that. I don't think anyone is simply good or bad exclusively, things are a lot more complicated than that for such generalizations. We all have the ability to be good and bad. My view on the female titan is different than your's. I only know her as the girl who killed a lot of good people. But you knew her before that, you know her as Annie, as your friend and mentor. Your heart and mind are in conflict with each other."
I pull Eren to a bench nearby so we can sit. "Your head knows what she has done is wrong and something has be done to stop her. But your heart knows her as your friend, and you can't conceive that she could do something like this."
Eren looks down at his hands as he listens to me, "I understand your feelings, Eren. When we capture her, we will hear her out. No one just does things like what she has done for no reason. It's important we understand her perspective, but you also have to be prepared to do what has to be done, Eren."
"Now, come on," I pat him on the shoulder and stand up again, "Come on, we can help train each other, I'm a little rusty."
He smiles at me as he stands up next to me, "Okay, but I won't go easy on you."
Eren and I spared again and again. Even though I haven't been training for awhile, my senses and skills are still the same. That's good at least.
After training and dinner, I made my way happily to my dorm room. I was happy to be back in my room with Sasha, I even missed her snoring. I was exhausted from the preparation for tomorrow, so I was able to drift off to sleep right away.
Even though I am good at hiding it, I am nervous about tomorrow. There is no way to know if it will go smoothly or not. But if it's anything like the last expedition, we are in for some surprises.