Harry groaned softly in his unconscious state, then sat up, wincing slightly in pain. Where was he...? The room he was currently in was white with multiple beds and smelled of disinfectant. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps. He turned towards the door to see a short, blonde haired young man with a cup of coffee in his hand. The man stopped in his tracks as he looked at Harry in surprise.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be awake yet." Armin told him. "Mikasa will definitely be happy to hear this." The man's words were lost to Harry as Harry started to back away and ended up falling off the bed and hitting the floor hard. Armin's eyes widened when Harry hit the floor. "Whoa, take it easy, little guy!" He exclaimed as he moved forward to help. Ignoring his pain, Harry backed away from Armin as much as he could and hit the wall. Seeing that he had no where else to run, Harry curled up into a ball and started to whimper, waiting for the beating to begin. Armin took a step forward to approach, before hesitating. He had a feeling making physical contact would only make things worse... While Armin was thinking about this, Harry was thinking about that woman that he met earlier. Had she left him? He wouldn't blame her if she did. He understood if she hated him. He hated himself too... That didn't stop a tear from falling from his eye.

"Minutes before"

Mikasa was irritated that she couldn't do more to help the child she found get back to his family. The only way she could get him back is if he told her where they were... She made it to a intersection that would lead her to the front door to the medical bay. She was about to turn left towards the entrance so she could go outside and walk but stopped herself. "Maybe I can check up on him before I go out." Mikasa said under her breath as she went straight towards the medical bay. As she got closer, however, she began to hear the sounds of a child's whimpering. This put her on high alert as she sped up to get to the medical bay faster, and to the child faster. When she entered, the first thing she saw was the little boy whimpering in the corner, curled up in a ball, and Armin looking completely at a loss for what to do. Armin noticed that she was in the doorway and ran over to her.

"Mikasa! Thank God..." He said. "I have no idea what to do to calm him down!"

Mikasa gave him a serious look. "What happened?" Mikasa asked him. Armin explained what happened when he walked in and how him touching the child would most likely make things far more worse. Mikasa raised a brow, then wordlessly moved towards Harry. When she was a foot from him, she knelt down and smiled at him. "Hello there" Mikasa said softly. "What's wrong little guy?" Harry tensed, then looked up to see the pretty black-haired woman from earlier.

Harry couldn't believe that she returned. 'I-I thought she left me!' Harry thought as he looked at her smiling face. "I-It's you..." The child breathed.

Mikasa nodded, smile still in place. "Yes, It's me." Mikasa told him.

The little boy sat up and looked at her. "I...I thought you left me...For being too freaky..."

Mikasa raised her eyebrow. "Why would I think you were freaky? You look normal to me."

Harry stared at her. "R-Really? You don't hate me?"

She shook her head. "Why would I? You're a wonderful child." Mikasa explained. Harry decided to remain silent at that, not wanting to bring up anything that could result in his uncle punishing him. Mikasa reached out and picked up Harry, surprising him. "How about we get you off the floor." Mikasa stated as she placed him on the bed he was sleeping on earlier. Harry blinked as the young woman placed the blankets up to his chin and sat in a chair next to his bed. He looked at her with his wide, curious green eyes. Mikasa smirked slightly. "Do you have a name?"

Harry blinked then started to fumble on his words. "I-I'm H-H-Harry." Harry told her.

"Hello, Harry. I'm Mikasa."

"Hi Miss M-Mikasa." Harry greeted. Mikasa frowned at the stutter. He seemed so nervous...

Mikasa then smiled to hide her frown. "So how are you feeling?" Mikasa questioned.

"B-Better..." Harry replied softly. "M-My arm kinda hurts..."

Mikasa looked at the arm. "I'll have Armin look at it in a little bit." Mikasa told him. Harry looked nervous, then nodded, not wanting to anger her. She saw that he looked nervous and grasped his hand with hers then started to rub the back of his hand with her thumb. "Don't worry. You can trust him." She said encouragingly. Harry felt his nervousness about Armin decrease from her reassurance and touch.

Armin was watching this happen from the sidelines. He couldn't help but smile at how easy Mikasa was able to get Harry to calm down and talk to him. He stepped up. "Um, hello." Armin said to get their attention. They both stopped their conversation to look at him. "I couldn't help but hear that Harry's arm still hurts...would you like me to take a look at it now?" Armin asked. Mikasa looked at him, then turned to Harry with a questioning look, asking for his opinion. Harry looked nervous but nodded his head.

Mikasa smiled. "Want me to stay with you while he does it?" It took him a second to start nodding his head fast, wanting nothing else but for her to be with him. Mikasa let out a soft laugh, which surprised Armin greatly. "Alright, I'll be with you the whole time, you don't have to worry." Mikasa reassured him, making Harry smile.

"That's the first I've heard you laugh in...like, ever..." Armin said to Mikasa.

Mikasa looked at Armin in shock. "Yeah...I guess it's been a long time..."

"You've been so cold and distant for the past few years..." Armin mused as he looked over Harry's arm.

"Yeah..." Mikasa said as she remembered what exactly caused her to become cold. Three years ago, three of their former comrades: Reiner Braun, Bertolt Hoover, and Annie Leonhardt betrayed them for the Terrorist group, Titan. The news that three of their fellow soldiers whom been with them since their cadet days had betrayed them affected her greatly. She started pushing herself since then to be able to bring them to justice.

"All right, just a minor sprain...Nothing major, it should heal in a few days. It's a miracle how quickly he's recovering from all of this..." Armin said.

Mikasa shook her head to shake off the memories. "Thank you Armin, that's great to hear." Mikasa told him.

"Now that begs the question of what to do with him after he's recovered..."

"Well...I was going to take him back to his family, they must be worried about him." Mikasa told Armin, missing the shocked look on Harry's face.

"NO! PLEASE DON'T TAKE ME BACK TO THEM! PLEASE DON'T, I'LL DO ANYTHING-" Harry covered his mouth, eyes wide as he realized he had had an outburst. Mikasa's and Armin's head immediately snapped to him in surprise, not thinking a child that shy would yell out like that. "I'm sorry..." Harry whimpered. "I'm sorry..." He hugged his knees and curled up in the fetal position, mumbling his apologies nonstop. Mikasa felt a pang in her chest as she watched Harry act like this. Without warning, she hugged Harry and rubbed the back of his head. Harry clutched tightly to her uniform, still mumbling his apologies. She started to make soothing noises and tell him that everything was going to be okay. Gradually, he began to calm down, only saying "I'm sorry" once every ten seconds. His face was now buried in Mikasa's chest, and his tiny shoulders were shaking as he clutched at the brown jacket of her uniform.

All she could do was continue what she was doing to calm him down. 'What caused him to react that way?' Mikasa thought to herself as Harry finally calmed down.

"Harry...Why are you so afraid?" Mikasa asked.

"I...I'm sorry...I can't tell you... I'm sorry...Sorry, sorry, sorry..."

Seeing that he was about to start his apology mantra, Mikasa placed her finger on his mouth to stop him. "Shh, it's alright, you don't need to tell us now if you don't want to." Mikasa told him.

Harry took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. "Thank you, Miss Mikasa..."

"No need for Miss. Mikasa's just fine." Mikasa replied warmly.

"I'm sor-"

She quickly placed her finger on his lips again. "You don't need to apologize, it's alright." Mikasa stated as his stomach rumbled.

She blinked, then smiled warmly. "Let's get you something to eat, okay?"

"Okay, mis-Mikasa! Mikasa..." She smiled as she picked him up and left the room, followed by Armin who was frowning.

'I have to find out why he reacted that way...There has to be a reason...'