Disclaimer: I came up with the song, but nothing else belongs to me.

A Time Without Titans

We're fools whether we dance or not, so we might as well dance. ~Japanese Proverb

When the 104th Trainees Squad returned to their barracks for the evening, there was only the soft murmuring of conversation going around. The day's compilation of training activities had been particularly grueling and not many had the energy to keep up a hearty chat with their neighbor. Most of them had already retired for the evening, leaving only a handful of people in the silent room.

Sasha Blouse was one of these people and as expected, a trying day of hellish training exercises wasn't going to stop her from getting to food. If anything, it made her attack on her supper more ravenous.

After cleaning up as many bowls of stew allowed to her, plus a few extra hunks of bread she'd begged from her fellow comrades, she'd folded her arms in front of her and rested her head down for a quick moment of peace. It didn't even dawn on her that she was humming a folk song from her village to aid in her tranquility before Connie Springer spoke up across from her.

"Isn't that the one song?" the young soldier inquired, tapping a forefinger against his chin as he considered the tune. "'A Time Without Titans', right?"

Sasha grinned tiredly at her comrade and nodded once. "That's the one. It was pretty common around my village. My mom used to sing it to me when I was little."

"Mine, too," Connie agreed. "My village would sing it, I mean. My mom would sing to my siblings, but I still remember how it went."

To demonstrate, the young man picked up the tune where Sasha left off, tapping his finger against the table to match the lively pace of it. After a few seconds, he was joined by Sasha and together they went through the first few verses of the song, smiling as they hummed.

"Are there any words to that song, or is it just humming the same thing over and over again?" came the impatient voice of Jean Kirstein from two tables over. "You two are making me tired."

"I don't remember the first verse," Connie admitted with a shrug, looking back at Sasha. "Do you?"

"Something about the sky or the air?" Sasha guessed with a lost countenance. "It's been awhile."

"'The land is small, but the sky is vast,'" came a grunt from the other side of the room, earning an excited, "That's it!" from Connie.

Jean turned in surprise to where Reiner Braun was seated a few tables back, drinking out of a large mug with an uninterested expression. Lowering his drink, he said, "It was common in my village, too."

"The land is small, but the sky is vast," Sasha began, throwing a tune behind the quiet words. "There is quiet in the air that we hope shall last."

"This silence is rare, but not yet past," Connie continued, singing a little louder and gaining the attention of a few other trainees who weren't aware of the show that had begun.

"So treasure it now, for it goes by fast," both cadets finished together, both clapping in sync and laughing.

"Is that all there is to it?" Jean inquired dubiously, looking rather unimpressed.

"Of course not," Connie declared, rising from his seat and offering a hand towards Sasha. "My lady," he said with a wide grin, bowing slightly.

With a smirk, Sasha accepted her comrade's outstretched hand and was pulled to her feet and spun around once, all the while joining Connie as they repeated the first part of the song.

"The land is small,
but the sky is vast.
There is quiet in the air,
that we hope shall last.

This silence is rare,
but not yet past.
So treasure it now,
for it goes by fast."

Carefully, Connie spun Sasha around by both arms, letting out a quiet, "Oops!" when he almost swung her into one of the long benches.

"You guys should sit down before Shadis comes in and yells at all of us," Armin Arlert piped up from the table in the corner where he was seated next to Eren and Mikasa.

Connie released Sasha but Armin's words didn't appear to be the reason why. Crossing his arms, the young soldier began inspecting the empty table in front of him with a look of consideration. After a few seconds, he pivoted and stared at Jean's table, releasing a quiet, "Hmm…"

"What are you plotting?" Jean demanded suspiciously.

Raising a hand in triumph from an idea, Connie threw himself against the table beside him, saying, "Sasha, give me a hand." Together, the two slid the table up against the far wall, hoisting the benches on top. They did the same with the next one, and then with the table of the dumbfounded Jean who retreated just to avoid being dragged along. Soon, the two cadets had shifted most of the tables and benches from the center of the room to the sides, cramming them against others to create more space. It wasn't much room, especially with the support beams in the way, but Connie appeared to deem it worthy enough.

Clapping dust from her hands, Sasha smiled back at her partner. "What was next?"

Gently gripping the girl's hands once more, Conning extended Sasha at at arm's length, letting her twirl freely without getting jabbed by an intruding table. Together, between stomping their feet and quick slaps of their hands together, they started the beat up again.

"No Titans to cause us to scream, to pray.
No monsters to scare this peace away.
If only forever, the tranquility could stay.
But for now we shall sing as though it may."

Sasha let out a whoop and spun in the air, striking her heels together and landing gracefully, dipping low to the floor with Connie's arms for support. Jumping up again, the trainee threw her arms towards the ceiling, whirled tightly and hit her boots against the ground.

Jean watched the two with wide eyes before shaking his head dubiously and sitting down at one of the discarded tables. "You guys are going to die as soon as Shadis comes in. I'd rather be eaten by a Titan."

"Oh, who cares!" came the surprisingly jovial voice of Ymir as a firm hand came out of nowhere to seize the younger man's shoulder. With an almost threatening grin, Ymir leaned into Jean's line of vision, murmuring darkly, "Remove that stick from your ass and have a little fun."

"Funny you should say that," Jean muttered, quickly edging away from the other trainee. "Why aren't you sitting in one of the corners watching everything with a disapproving look?"

"Because my little Krista here wants to dance, too, don't you, Kri-sta?"

Beside the older cadet stood a rather nervous looking Krista who hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, but had been focused on Sasha and Connie's dance as it sped up. Looking back in alarm, the blonde exclaimed, "I don't know. It could be fun, but if our instructor comes in, then we'll—"

"I'll make sure he doesn't get too high and mighty while giving us our punishments," Ymir assured her with an evil smile. "C'mon, Krista."

Before the bright eyed cadet could protest, Ymir had grabbed both her hands and pulled her onto the clear floor alongside Sasha and Connie. She lifted the blonde's arms above her head, twisting the girl from side the side and grinning down at her look of apprehension. "Hey, Potato-Girl. How does the rest of the song go?"

Ponytail lashing back and forth like a whip, Sasha sent a quick look to Ymir and Krista and clapped her hands against Connie's.

"The sun will keep rising.
The stars will stay glowing.
The wind will stay fresh,
and the river still flowing."

"They're going to die as soon as Shadis hears the commotion," Eren muttered from where he still sat beside both his friends as he watched the dancing before them. "And it's not like we can blame it on one of Sasha's farts again."

"Yeah, but you have to admit," Armin replied, smiling nervously as he cast a quick look at the door their instructor was sure to come bursting through. "They look like they're having fun."

Mikasa, who had been silent most of the evening, regarded the two boys with a look of consideration before focusing solely on Eren. "Eren, maybe you need to have fun, too."

"Huh?" The dark haired boy turned to look at the girl, eyes narrowing incredulously. "Come on, Mikasa. I don't have time for something like that."

"You've been training really hard. I think you could use a break," Mikasa repeated stubbornly, breaking eye contact and fixing the far wall with a stern gaze. "We could…"

"What are you talking about?" Eren demanded crossly, returning his attention to the four dancers in the center of the room. "When Shadis comes in, we'll all get in trouble. I thought that'd be the first thing on your mind."

"Not really," Mikasa mumbled solemnly, bowing her head. "I thought we could—"

"Um—"

All three trainees looked up, nearly blinking in perfect unison at the figure who had approached their table. A nervous Jean stood before them, fidgeting uncomfortably and keeping his eyes trained on everything but Mikasa.

"I was just wondering… if… uh," the young man stammered, face growing exceedingly red. "Did you want to… maybe dance… um, with… me?"

Mikasa blinked, countenance stripped of all emotion as she stared at the cadet. From beside her, Eren raised a questioning eyebrow, glanced back at Armin, but stayed quiet. After a moment, Mikasa stood in her seat and appeared ready to leave the conversation but instead cast a look back at Eren, frowned and answered, "Fine."

Jean looked startled but quickly regained as much composure as he could and raised a shaking and presumable sweaty hand to take Mikasa's.

Both Eren and Armin watched with bewildered faces as Mikasa and Jean joined the pair of dancers already lost in the song. Shaking his head, Armin opened his mouth to comment but closed it again, every thought lost.

"I didn't really expect her to do that," Eren said, tilting his head to the side and watching the two spin about with Connie, Sasha, Krista, and Ymir. "I guess she really wanted a break from everything."

"Eren, Mikasa wanted to dance with…" Again, Armin went silent, shaking his head and muttering in defeat, "Never mind," when Eren sent him a puzzled look.

"In this time without Titans,
chaos, or fear.
In a moment together
with peace, right here.

In this moment together
with freedom, right here."

The song finished up only to be started over by Connie and Sasha who stomped their feet and knocked their heels together. When they began the second line, Ymir joined in, quickly familiarizing herself with the tune and words and urging a timid Krista to do the same. Beside them, Jean and Mikasa were attempting to keep up with the quick tempo and couldn't find the room to try singing along.

Marco Bott had seated himself down at Reiner's table and was clapping to the beat, smiling brightly at the six trainees spiraling around. The table behind them had Bertolt, quietly humming alongside the singing while tapping his fingers against the table. Across from him, Annie struck her fingers against her tin mug, watching everything around her with an unreadable expression.

"Come on, guys. Don't be the awkward people who just lounge around doing nothing," Connie called to the remaining cadets.

Marco blinked and scratched the back of his head, about to answer that he was fine where he was when Bertolt stood. Watching the young man move around the table, Marco's eyes widened in astonishment when the dark-haired trainee raised a hand towards Annie with a calm smile.

The intimidating blonde released the mug in her fingers and gave Bertolt's hand a long, emotionless stare. With a noticeable sigh, she used it to get to her feet and stepped into the group of grinning and whirling cadets, Bertolt trailing after her.

"You guys are getting the idea," Ymir noted with a smirk, boosting Krista into the air and twirling swiftly, urging a startled laugh out of the girl.

"There aren't any more girls," Krista observed when her feet touched the ground again.

"Ah, that's fine." Ymir shot a look to the corner of the room where Armin and Eren had both gotten to their feet. "Armin looks like a girl, anyway."

"Ymir, you shouldn't—" Krista's words were cut off as she was dipped low to the ground and pulled back up to be promptly smothered in a tight hug from her dance partner.

Dodging the two, Jean raised Mikasa's hand above his head, spinning her carefully and still avoiding eye contact. When he finally mustered up the courage to be polite and actually look at his partner, a jab of pain and rejection shuddered through his whole body when he saw Mikasa wasn't even looking at him. Instead, she was glaring daggers into the back of Armin who had reluctantly shuffled onto the dance floor thanks to Connie's urging, dragging Eren behind him.

Jean released a sigh through his nose and stared at his feet, careful not to crush Mikasa's and wondering if he could get close enough to Eren to break the trainee's toe with an accidental step-two-three, step-two-three, step-crack!-three.

An unenthusiastic Eren was swaying back and forth halfheartedly, hand in hand with a just as subdued Armin. He glanced over to where the other cadets were dancing, exhaled tiredly, and turned back to his friend.

"Mikasa said we should take a break," Armin reminded him, shrugging in resignation. "It's not so bad."

"At least we're not dancing with Annie or Ymir," Eren admitted thankfully. "I think we'd get knocked off our feet."

As they spoke, Bertolt and Annie went rotating by them, stepping in and out and weaving around the other pairs. Bertolt looked almost alarmed by the pace they were moving, but Annie remained calm, easily leading her partner around Sasha and Connie who were clapping their palms together and still singing, repeating the song for a third time.

In the middle of the floor, Ymir had released Krista and they were both spinning side by side, stopping every once in awhile to regain their balance, lock elbows together and lurch to either side, arms extended and smiling brightly.

Only Reiner and Marco remained seated, watching the lively show going on before them. Reiner was tapping his fingers against the table while Marco clapped wholeheartedly, adding to Sasha and Connie's singing once he started memorizing the words. He was just getting a hang of the third verse of the song when Reiner leaned over the table to murmur something to him, causing him to glance around the room. With a smile, the trainee stood and began stepping around the tables and over benches, careful not to get in the way of the dancers.

Ymir was the first to notice Marco and narrowed her eyes suspiciously as her comrade leaned over one of the lanterns on the table and blew out the flame within, creating darkness in one corner of the room. Distractedly spinning Krista, she turned to watch Marco as he extinguished the candle a few tables over.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Jean called over to the young man when he noticed the entire room had turned a few shades darker.

Marco stepped over a bench and blew out another candle, answering sheepishly, "Um… setting the mood?"

"Setting the mood?" Armin echoed dubiously, quickly ducking when an enthusiastic Sasha and Connie spun by, arms waving. "This isn't exactly slow dancing."

Almost everyone clapping and twirling in the center of the room had grown a little wary of Marco's movements but the dance continued on, all the way up to the point where the only lantern left was on Reiner's table. They could scarcely see the faces of their dance partners and someone's foot was crushed, but no one was really sure whose.

Looking around in confusion, Connie was about to call out to the two still seated when Reiner's lantern went out, covering them all in an obsidian blanket of darkness and uncertainty.

"Reiner, we can't see anything!" Eren's indignant voice snapped.

"Switch partners," was the only reply that came forth from the dim void.

"Is he serious?"

"We can't see where we're going. Light the lantern again!"

"Ah, that was my ankle!"

Marco remained still and silent in the corner of the room by Reiner, listening to the commotion in the blackness before calling out meekly, "Did you all move around and find someone?"

"Sure, I may have the same person, but give us some damn light already!" Jean demanded irritably.

A bright flare sputtered to life as Reiner pulled his hand from the lantern, looking over the other trainees with a blank stare.

Sasha and Bertolt stood hand in hand, shuffling awkwardly back and forth while trying to revive the song. Ymir and Mikasa gazed at one another with narrow eyes before turning and surveying the other cadets, more than likely searching for Krista and Eren. Krista was smiling brightly at a dubious Jean and Connie was grimacing at a displeased Eren. Annie and Armin were the last two, moving back and forth as the song was brought back and they all returned to their dance, albeit a little more discomforting the second time around.

It wasn't long before the light went out once more, earning a few peeved shouts from the cadets who weren't up for rotating a second time and a few relieved cries from those who wanted nothing more than to escape their partner. However, when the candle flickered with a new flame, things appeared more worse for some individuals.

"You've got to be shitting me!" an infuriated Jean screamed at his partner. Eren grit his teeth, keeping all outbursts to himself and praying Reiner would kill the light again.

Krista and Connie spun around the outskirts of the dance floor, surveying the other pairs with slight smiles. Ymir sighed in exasperation over the head of Armin who forced a nervous grin. Beside them, a timid Bertolt was trying to keep a trembling Mikasa from forcing herself between the anger of Jean and Eren. Next to them, Annie and Sasha leaned to either side without a word to each other or anyone else.

They stayed like that for awhile, running through the song another time and swinging their partners about. Some forgot about the tension between them, except for Eren and Jean who were quickly broken up by a fuming Mikasa.

"You know, this is actually really fun," Krista spoke up while spinning with Connie's hand around her own. "I didn't really consider the thought of having fun like this while working to become a soldier, or even when I finished training. This was a great idea, Connie. You too, Sasha. Thank you both."

"Yes, thanks for this," Armin added, smiling to his two comrades. There were a few other murmurs of agreement, but no one else said very much. It was true they'd all enjoyed themselves, even the ones who seemed emotionless the whole time. The night had given them a quick release away from war and the life of a soldier and for a moment, a few were back in their own village, singing and dancing with their friends and family around them. Like the song said, they were truly in a time without Titans.

All thoughts on the struggles around them were almost completely forgotten until the door creaked suddenly and Keith Shadis's darkened face appeared in the thin crack that had opened. Every single trainee came to a halt, their hearts following in pursuit and releasing a startled curse, Reiner blew out the candle once more.

-/-\-|-/-\-

A/N: How does that help, Reiner?

First Attack on Titan fic I've ever posted. I decided to write something happy for my first story with these guys and a friend of mine agreed. AutumnMobile12 gets credit for giving Reiner and Marco something to do. It was her idea for them to switch out partners whenever the light went out. She also found the Japanese proverb.

Hope you enjoyed it! :)