Wowee hello people surprise I am not entirely dead! It's summer again so this is the two month period I tell myself "Hey Madison! It's time to revive your fanfics!" and yeah that sounds great and then I forget and blah blah enjoy the chapter.

Sorry about the uh… two year delay. I don't own SNK!

Chapter 8

After I convinced Eren of my stable mental health, which took longer than I thought humanly possible, I found myself wandering the camp once more. My thoughts were running haywire, completely disorganized and random, so after a while I sought the counsel of a true wise man among idiots, an angel among demons. Well, maybe Marco wasn't that great, but he was the purest, most caring freckled boy I had ever met, and I regarded him as one of my closest friends. Night had fallen, and most of the trainees were gathered in the mess hall for dinner, so I trekked there in search of Marco, and of course food. I walked through the doors and slipped into the line and picking up whatever concoction was waiting for me there before spotting Eren, who was waving at me from our usual seat. I shot him a smile and nodded, putting my finger up to signal I would be there in a minute. As I was turning from Eren, I bumped into another body, and I anxiously scrambled to save my food.

"Gahh, I'm sorry!" I squeaked after I secured my food, and when I glanced up I met none other than Marco Bodt himself. "Marco!" I exclaimed gleefully. "I was looking for you!" I looked back over at Eren to show him I just had to speak with Marco for a moment, but it looked as if he had just undergone a drastic mood swing. He was glowering at an innocent corner of the room, his eyes filled with muted anger. I shrugged, figuring he fought with Jean or something and resolved to ask him later.

"Did you need me for something, Lottie?" Marco inquired as we sat down. I hummed, shoving some food in my mouth before replying.

"I don't really know," I admitted. "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute, I guess." I laughed at my lame response before slightly sobering. "I just.. you always make me feel like everything's all figured out, ya know?"

He cocked his head and glanced at me while delicately spooning in his mush. "Are you having second thoughts about something? The Scouting Legion?"

"No!" I exclaimed hurriedly. "No," I repeated, softer this time. "I was just thinking about how everything is happening so fast.." I trailed off, knowing he would understand what I was saying. He always did.

"Charlotte, you know I can't tell you anything about the future," he said softly. "But I can tell you that I have known you for three years, and you're one of my best friends. No matter what happens, everything will turn out the way it's supposed to." I smiled up at him and pulled him into a quick hug.

"You always know just what to say," I said quietly. "And in such few words," I added teasingly as I stood from the table. "Thanks for everything, Marco!" I called as I skipped back to my usual table. I heard him chuckle as I sat down in my normal seat next to Armin, and was surprised to find the air very.. tense. "Uh, hi guys!" I trilled tentatively. Armin and Mikasa looked as if they were walking on eggshells, and Eren was radiating negative energy. I nudged Armin not so subtly and he jumped a little. "What's going on with Mr. Negative Vibes?" I whispered, but Eren shot me a glare. I quirked a brow in confusion. What did I do? I just sat down!

"Um... We don't really know?" Armin said, though it sounded like a question.

Mikasa's voice came out of nowhere as she abruptly said, "Armin, let's go get some more food. I'm sure Charlotte could eat extra." I beamed at her, and Armin swiftly rose from the table. As they left, I shifted my gaze to Eren, who was still glaring into his mush.

"So are we gonna talk about what's bothering you?" I demanded assertively before glancing at his food. "And maybe if you're just going to glare at it, give me your food?" I added quickly.

Eren's eyes locked onto mine for what felt like the fiftieth time today. "Why don't you just go eat Marco's food?" he sneered as he shoved the mush in his mouth. I leaned back, eyebrows darting into my hair.

"What?" I spluttered, staring in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about, Eren?"

He crossed his arms, now refusing to meet my eyes. "I figured while you accidentally bumping in to him and sitting unbearably close to him and clinging onto him extremely tight, you would have taken his food, too. Probably used the same spoon," he grumbled.

I stared incredulously at him as he glowered. A mixture of emotions swirled inside me as I simply stared at him. I finally settled on one emotion- confusion. "Why the hell would I purposefully bump into someone and risk the life of my food?! And why do you care if I talk with Marco? We've been friends for years!"

At that, his eyes finally darted to mine. "Friends? Just friends?"

I rolled my eyes, baffled. "Yes, you moron, just friends. Of course!" He visibly relaxed and I rose an eyebrow. "Why? Were you worried about me?" I cooed as I batted my eyelashes at him.

"W-what!? No! I-" Mikasa and Armin's return cut him off, and he completely stopped talking, although he was obviously in a much better mood. Armin shot me a questioning look as he sat next to Eren and I shrugged, genuinely as confused as he was. Mikasa silently took a seat next to me as she examined Eren's new mood.

After a few moments, a new conversation erupted from somewhere in the room, and Armin interjected. "It can't be helped. Before the fall of Wall Maria, only the Scouts needed 3DMG, and they're a small regiment." He went on with all this scientific talk, and while I considered myself smart, even I couldn't keep up with Armin sometimes.

"Relying on inertia will give you gas," an obnoxious voice everyone had come to know as Jean's boasted from next to Marco. "Yeah, maybe not everyone can pull it off, but there's no harm in knowing about it, especially if you wanna join the MPs." Marco's face lit up as he exclaimed how much he'd love to get in, and I questioned, not for the first time, when and how those two became friends. Jean and I were friends, I suppose, but not on a very intimate level.

"There's no greater honor than working for the King," Marco said dreamily. A hand whipped him on the back of his head, and I noted in outrage it was Jean's.

"Hold it, Marco!" Jean leaned close to his face, and I had the urge to punch him. "Quit talking like a goody two shoes and say what you really think! You want to be in the Military Police in the Interior because it means a safe, comfy life!"

I involuntarily slammed my hand on the wooden table, drawing attention to myself. "You know, Jean, not everyone has selfish intentions in everything they do. Some people are just genuinely good people," I growled. I opened my mouth to continue slamming him, but Eren beat me to it.

"It's comfy in the Interior?" Jean glanced at him in confusion. "Until five years ago, this used to be the Interior, too." I swiveled to look at Eren as the information dawned on me as well.

"What's your point, Eren?" Jean asked as he rose. Eren downed his drink and placed it calmly back on the table.

"Jean, you don't need to go to the Interior. I'd say your head is nice and spacious enough as it is."

"OOHHH!" I yelled, pointing directly in Jean's face. "He got you there, horse face! Aha!" My loud laughter joined in with everyone's snickers, and Jean's eye twitched comically.

"Honing your Titan killing skills to get away from the Titans.." Eren continued seriously as if he hadn't just made a sick burn. "Doesn't that seem like a weird system to you?"

Jean glared icily at him. "You only say that now? I want that stupid system to stay in place, for my sake."

Eren jerked from his seat, eyes flaring. "You piece of scum!"

"Shut up!" Jean yelled as he rose from his seat, as well. "This is the real world!"

Armin stood across from me in a panic. "Eren! Stop it!"

Mikasa gracefully rose and came between them, placing her hands on theirs. "Stop it," she scolded calmly as she lowered Eren's hands. Eren looked away, ashamed, and Jean suddenly flipped his unstable lid.

"Screw you!"

"Huh!?"

Jean lifted Eren by his shirt and shoved him against the wall, and I got up from my seat to intervene. "Eren, are you okay?!" Jean glanced at me from the corner of his eye and it twitched again, his fist clenching Eren's shirt even tighter.

"Let go! You're gonna rip it!" Eren yelped as he struggled.

"I don't give a damn about your clothes! I'm jealous!"

"Huh?! What are you even talking about?!" Eren yelled obliviously. Just I prepared myself to drop kick Jean, Eren grabbed his hand and yanked it off of him, flipping Jean to the ground with a kick of the shin. Just as Annie did earlier, I mused as I stepped back. Jean fell to the floor with a thud and a choking sound. Eren looked down at him irately as Jean sat on his butt on the ground, rubbing his spacious skull.

"What the hell was that?!" Jean cried.

"A combat technique I learned the hard way, while you were screwing around." All eyes were locked on Eren as he stared down at Jean with distaste. "A carefree, comfortable life is your idea of the real world? And you honestly call yourself a soldier?!" Jean sat still as Eren's harsh yet true words sneaked into his large head. My comrades were motionless as their stalemate continued, waiting for the unknown outcome.

The creak of the door snapped everyone to attention. Shadis' yellow eyes pierced into the room angrily. "I heard a loud sound just now.." he began threateningly. "Would anyone care to explain?" His biting question was met with silence as everyone struggled to remain calm.

Mikasa's hand rose, and I looked at her in confusion. "Sasha passed gas, and Charlotte began laughing."

"Huh?!" Sasha and I chorused as we whipped to stare at Mikasa.

"You two again?!" Shadis said exasperatedly. The room snickered, probaby at Sasha's expense as she glanced in humiliation around the room. "Learn some decency, will you, Blaus!? And Blanc, get that dying cackle under control!" He shut the door, but he could still probably hear the unending chuckles behind it. Sasha turned to Mikasa in horror and began shaking her, earning nothing but a blank stare from Mikasa.

"Mikasa, why did you have to throw me in there!? Sasha would have been enough!" I asked through my laughter.

"Hey!" Sasha cried, temporarily halting her attack on Mikasa.

"Everyone knows you have an unusually loud laugh," Mikasa stated. "It makes sense."

I groaned, though I wiped a stray tear from my eye. "Shadis already hates me enough. Oh well," I sighed.

"But I-" Sasha was cut off by a piece of bread shoved into her mouth by Mikasa. I worried that shoving bread in people's mouths was becoming a regular thing for her, and decided to never bother her while there was food around.

*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*o*

Somehow, 218 cadets managed to claw their way to graduation. I couldn't believe I was one of those 218, if only because the time flew by. All that training, all the literal blood, sweat, and tears would finally come to fruition. Finally.

"Give your hearts!"

"Yes, sir!"

"You have three options after you graduate from the Cadets today!" A superior officer shouted at us. "The Garrison Regiment, which reinforces the walls and protects each city! The Scouting Legion, which risks life and limb journeying outside the Walls into Titan territory!" My feet began slightly bouncing on their own will. The Scouts.. after all these years, my dream will finally be a reality! "And the Military Police Regiment, which serves under the king by policing the people and preserving order!" We shuffled almost as one body, jittery with anticipation. "Of course, only those who ranked in the top ten are allowed to join the Military Police."

The top ten was an amazing yet somewhat predictable bunch. Mikasa, of course, ranked 1st, because she is superior to all. Reiner ranked second, Bertolt third, Annie fourth. To all our delight, Eren ranked fifth, though I couldn't say I was surprised. He had greatly improved if only by sheer force of will. Jean ranked sixth, much to my chagrin, but only because I wanted to see him flounder when the Military Police was no longer an option for him. Marco was seventh, not at all too my surprise; I knew Marco was talented, talented enough to survive, and definitely enough to rank. To everyone's surprise, Connie ranked eighth, and Sasha ninth, leaving Christa Lenz, a very nice girl who I had become friends with, as tenth.

I stood proudly beside Armin, who hadn't ranked top ten solely because he wasn't very athletic. I was glad I had maintained my goal of not reaching top ten. Human opponents now had no gauge over my skills, leaving me a complete mystery. I was fully aware that humans weren't our prime target, but I wasn't stupid enough to believe all humans lived in peace in light of the Titans. Eren kept casting me dark looks, knowing I threw all the graded tests to rank below, but small, satisfactory smiles kept sneaking through. I smiled at him, increasingly proud of my friends.

We had finally made it.

The ceremony concluded, and soon everyone was back into the mess hall for the last time. Cheers and clanking glasses filled the air, and the overwhelming feeling of victory was gliding through the room like a spirit, touching every cadet as it passed.

I stood in a small corner of the room with Eren, Mikasa, and Armin. Marco sidled up to me and surprised me with a large hug. "Marco!" I cheered as I hugged him back, deciding to ignore Eren's small scoff behind me. "Congratulations, Marco! Now you can serve under the king!"

He beamed down at me and his eyes shined with mirth. "Oh, Charlotte, can't you just come with me? It won't be the same without you there," he said sweetly with a pout.

I chuckled. "Marco, you know I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"You could have," he said, in the darkest way Marco possibly could (so not that darkly). "We all saw you during training, and so did our superiors. You easily could have ranked second."

Shrugging, I threw back my drink with a smile. "Maybe. Maybe not. It doesn't matter though, Marco, don't you see? The top ten served no purpose for me." I noticed I unintentionally rhymed and snickered.

Thomas Wagner stepped up beside our group, and I turned my attention from Marco, who was preparing a rebuttle, to the group. "Are you seriously not gonna join the Military Police, Eren?!" Thomas cried. "You're made top ten!"

"My mind was set from the very start," Eren said easily, drink in hand. "I didn't train all this time to live in the interior. I did it to fight the Titans." Thomas' face scrunched with a look akin to fear.

"We can't beat them!" he cried fiercely. The room instantly quieted and everyone turned to look at him. Why is it that every time Eren's around, rooms go silent and people turn to look at him? I glared at Thomas for having such a horrible outlook on our situation, and he quickly noticed everyone's eyes on him. "You know how many tens of thousands of people have been eaten so far... The answer was so clear after we lost 20% of our population!" His voice fell, and it sounded like he was holding back tears. "Humanity cannot beat the Titans."

The joyful mood prior to Thomas' exclamation was instantly whisked out of the room and replaced with a heavy, somber air. "Wow, way to go, Thomas!" I cheered sarcastically. "Great job for the past three freaking years working your asses off just to die a horrible and traumatic death! Cheers to you, Thomas!" I huffed angrily and hardly felt Marco's comforting hand on my shoulder. I knew he was signaling me to calm down, but what kind of dick move was that on Thomas' part?

"So what?" We all started at the sound of Eren's hard voice. "You're gonna give up because you think we can't win?!

Thomas blanched. "Well-"

"Yes, humanity has lost so far," Eren continued heatedly. "That's because we were clueless about the Titans! Material warfare is useless against them. We may have lost, but the information we gained from those losses in battle will lead to further hope! Do you want us to just throw away all the advances we've made, that cost us tens of thousands of lives, just so we can be Titan fodder!?" Eren's eyes were burning, capturing this audience. "The hell with that! I'm going to drive out every last Titan and leave these cramped Walls! That's my dream! Humanity hasn't truly been defeated yet!" Eren was so caught up in his speech he barely noticed the crowd of people he'd attracted.

Touched by his words, I added softly, "Humanity will only be truly defeated when we give up." Eren glanced at me and back at the crowd before taking my arm and darting out of the room. I let out a small squeak as he pulled me and heard Mikasa and Armin's small grunts of surprise as they came after us.

"Wait, Eren! Lottie!" Armin cried. Eren finally stopped running when we reached the steps outside, and he hunkered down on them. I gently followed him down, sitting quietly beside him.

"Eren..." I put my arms around him in what I hoped was a comforting way. He leaned into me slightly, raising a hand to wipe a tear from his red eyes. "That was a great speech," I said lightly. "If the whole soldier thing didn't work out, you would have made a marvelous motivational speaker." He chuckled lowly, the sound reverberating through his chest. Footsteps broke our companiable atmosphere as Mikasa and Armin joined us. I yanked my arms from around Eren, though I didn't really know why.

Mikasa adjusted her scarf as she and Armin came to sit with us. Armin eventually spoke. "Eren, that stuff about your dream just now.."

"Yeah, I borrowed those ideas of yours about going outside," Eren admitted plainly.

Armin looked forward at nothing before that look of resolve lit up his face. "I'm going to join the Scout Regiment!" he declared.

Eren started. "Are you serious, Armin?!" he asked worriedly. "You were the top of the class in our studies! You should put that to use!"

I glanced at Armin beside me and quickly laced our hands together. He glanced at me, then at our hands and said resolutely, "I refuse to be a burden. Even if it costs me my life."

"You were never a burden, Armin," I murmured into his ear. His mouth opened, presumably to retort, but Mikasa interjected.

"I'll join the Scouts, too."

Eren whipped around angrily to face her, tone sharpening. "Hey! You graduated top of the class! You should join the Military Police!"

I sniggered almost silently beside him. "Eren, you ranked high, as well. You could join the MPs."

Mikasa nodded solemnly. "If you join the Military Police, then I will, too. If you join the Garrison, then I will, too." She glanced down at him with a knowing look in her eye. "Because if I'm not around, you'll die an early death."

Eren frowned, turning away from her with a sour look. "I never asked for your help," he muttered tritely.

"I don't want to lose any more of my family," Mikasa said quietly. We turned to see her, staring sadly at her trademark scarf.

"Mikasa," I voiced quietly, empathetically feeling her grief yet not knowing what to say. Eren leaned back, his hand resting on my free one before quickly jerking it away. I blushed and joined him in looking to the sky, awed at the sight of a shooting star flying by in the darkness. "Wow! Did you guys-" I exclaimed excitedly before noticing the reflective feeling radiating from our group.

Armin sent me a small smile, and suddenly I felt a warmth on my free hand. I glanced in shock to see Eren's hand, warmly covering mine. He sent me shy grin, and I beamed, looking back to the omnipresent sky.