"This world is beautiful and cruel" a young girl thought.

She stood under the shade of a tree in the middle of an open field, but she was not alone.

She looked at the face of a young boy who looked to be about her age. His hair was dark brown and his body was small, he was fast asleep under the tree were the girl set.

They were like newlyweds, but people who knew the young couple knew they were like brother and sister more than anything else.

He was the most important person to her, more than anyone else in the world and everyone could see it.

A little smile greeted her face as she got close to his sleeping form.

She had black hair that reached down to her beck and shoulders, wearing a long white dress with pink blouse and finally a big red scarf that was threatening to obscure her face.

"Eren... Eran...we need to go" her voice was gentle, "its almost dark, we should return home" she couldn't stand the feeling that she was taking him from a better world. But she knew he was going to end up in trouble with his mother.

He began to move his head from side to side and opened his eyes slowly. Even though his vision was blurry and hazy he still knew where he was and who was by his side.

He looked at the small form of Mikasa who sat next to him and looked at him with her emotionless face, he was already used to the long rest after the short work he did. He was always the one who was dreaming of the outside world beyond their walls that they called home.

But even though she was doing most of the work and never slacks off, she never complained or put him in trouble with his mother.

"Mikasa what is?, do we already have to go?" asked the young boy as he rose from the grass that he slept on and sat down in front of her.

"It's late, we need to go home" she said while pulling out a handkerchief out of her pocket and came close to Eren's face.

She tried to wipe his eyes but he quickly moved away from her, "are you ok Eran?. A bad dream?" she asked anxiously, even though her face was straight and without any change.

Eren wiped his eyes while he stared at his side. "It's noting Mikasa! let's get back before mom get worry!" he said while rising to his feet when he finally done fixing his face.

Mikasa did not answer him, she just got up and went after him with the quiet thoughts in her head as the two began to make their way back to their home.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Two years later...

Eren awoke again from a bad dream.

It was always the same dream, it was vague and hard to understand what is happening and where everything connects. As always he woke up with tears in his eyes and cold sweat all over his body. It was the second week after he Mikasa and their childhood friend Armin all joined the military.

He stayed at the one of the boy's rooms with Armin who was awake and stood next to him with a couple of other people who looked at him with worry "Eren?, are you ok?" asked Armin.

"Y-Yes, I'm f-fine" He said as he got up from bed and was trying to identify his surroundings.

He was in one of the rooms that were intended for the boys, the room was small with four bunk beds. The beds were made of wood and looked vary old.

It was the middle of the night, he began to see the darkness and light of the moon through the window that was next his bed. He could identify some of his roommates, some of them with concern for him standing next to Armin and others were still in bed tired with itchy eyes trying to figure out what was going on so late.

Eren gave a little smile to his roommates to calm them and to prove his point that he was ok. They all returned to their beds and left Eren with his thoughts.

He kept moving from side to side trying desperately to sleep and forget the dream but to no avail. 'I need to breathe some air and clear my head' he was thinking.

He lifted his head and peered into his room, luckily they were all so tired from training. They just fall back to the bed and the dream world.

'Good it's quiet' he thought to himself as he left the room after wearing his training boots.

He closed the door slowly and walked out of the wooden residence in silence.

"Looks quite different than in the day" he said quietly to no one as he moved through the training ground, he never noticed but their training camp was massive!.

He continued to advance slowly towards a small hill In the middle of the tracks which was used by instructors to observe the exercises. The place was deserted and he didn't have to worry about anyone at this hour and just lay down on the short grass.

The night air was so pleasant and relaxing as he felt all his troubles just float with the wind. The only thing he had to worry about was one of his instructors decided to wander around the area and find him.

He closed his eyes as he felt his head hit the cool grass, it reminded him of the days...back then.

He wiped his head from thinking and just concentrates on the night's air and the sky above.

"What are you doing here?" .

Eren settled quickly when he heard the voice, he was expecting to see one of the instructors and the punishment for not being in bed at this late hour. But he was surprised to see the tall blond form of one other trainees.

In front of him was Annie Leonhart, the blond trainee looked at him with wonder, her blond short hair was tied at the back with her right fringe mainly draping over the right side of her small face. She was dressed in a long black dress with a white blouse with long sleeves and her training boots.

He never saw her without her daily practice uniform and certainly not in her pajamas. After a few seconds he realized he still didn't answer her and was just staring at her.

"I-I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd get some fresh air" he said and looked to the side. "You won't tell on me, right?" asked the boy with little fear that was apparent in his voice.

Even if he was not afraid from punishment may give him if he was caught, Eren still did not want to stand in front of the Chief instructor and tell him what he was doing out after bedtime. The man's gaze was intensely scary!.

The blonde girl look at him with a stone look reminding him of Mikasa, she reminded him of Mikasa in many ways. She had a presence that no one could ignore just like Mikasa, she was quiet and kept her thoughts to herself. No one knew what she was thinking.

He didn't know what she was thinking or even what to think for himself and just waited for her answer.

…...

She was silent and did not say a word as she continued to look at him.

After a few seconds of silence from the two she progressed towards him and sat next to him, "if you don't say a word, than neither will I" she said in her monotone voice.

"Ah! thank you Annie!" he said with a smile on his face.

"...it's nothing" she said.

Eren smiled to himself and went back to look at the stars above.

"Hey..." .

He turned his head to her "what is it Annie?" he asked.

"Why are you here?" she asked as her eyes focused on his.

"W-well I told you that I couldn't..." he tried to say but she interrupted him.

"I mean why you joined the military, what's your reason?" she asked and looked at him seriously waiting for a response from him.

Eren paused, he didn't expect that she would ask him a question and especially not something like this.

His dream came back and reminded him of that day, as his anger.

"My reason is to destroy them all!" he said with a sparkle in his eyes as anger was evident on his face, that told her that he was more than serious. "Ah!...I-I just" he tried to say but failed.

He hope he did not scared her with his outburst, no matter how strong she was at the end of the day she was still a girl.

"Its okay" she said and watched the surprise on his face when he heard her answer, "you're not the only one that wants to forget..." she said and looked to the sky.

"You don't have to worry...I won't judge you" she said.

"And you?, w-what are you doing here at this hour?" he asked still surprised from her response.

She looked into the grass that was underneath her legs "I needed to breathe some air and get my mind straight...noting more than that".

She got up from her place on the lawn and stood facing away from him.

"The air here is very nice, it really helped me to organize my thoughts" she said, "I need to come back here again sometime". She Said weakly, but enough for him to hear.

"Me too.." Eren said with his eyes closed.

"I see ….So I guess I will see you again" she said.

She began to walk a few feet and he could swear he heard "good night Eren" comes from her in a really weak and small voice.

"G-good night!" he said and caused her to freeze for a second before she went back to her quarters, or more accurately to her bed.

He looked at her walk away from him and disappears into the girl's dorms.

He still seat on the grass for several minutes until finally stood up and cleaned out his pants and sleeves, "its time that I go to sleep as well!, we have more training tomorrow and I doubt I could stand if I don't sleep at least a few good hours". He began to walk toward his room in the boy's complex.

He was particularly careful not to draw attention to himself, and especially not to wake anyone.

He went to his room with the creaking entrant's door and carefully approached his bed after a few slow steps, he finally went up to bed and covered himself with a blanket that was at his feet.

Glad to see that he didn't wake up his roommates he closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly, with a clear head and no bad dreams this time.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Training was difficult as he expected and he was lucky he managed to sleep at least a few hours otherwise he would have collapsed.

The trainees began their day at 6 a.m., they began with five laps around the training ground, Eren was tired but he managed to hold out.

After everyone has woken up from the long running session they moved on to study in front of a board and behind a desk, which was a change from the serious physical training they were accustomed to. It was time for everyone to sit back and let their feet to rest, relax and prepare them to another long day of training.

Eren sat in one of the last tables with Mikasa and Armin sitting on both his sides. He was tired and anyone could see that if they looked more than a second. Fortunately he was listening to his friend Armin and Mikasa that dragged him to the table at the end of the class.

He has heard the theory of the 'Three Dimensional Maneuver Gear' so many times that he could tell it in his sleep, and just like their lecturers wanted.

Although his eye's threatened to close he still noticed Mikasa, "are you okay Eren?" she asked him.

Mikasa has grown over the last few years, and was now even taller than him, she was also one with the most potential in years. Mikasa now had straight black short hair, her short hair was better than her long one in Eren's opinion. She was wearing her training uniform but without her brown jacket.

Armin on the other hand was the same Armin he knew all those years ago, he was still sorter from Eren but much smarter than him and always tries to help him or Mikasa as much as he could.

"Trainee Kirstein what are you doing?!" the voice of the teacher shouting roared across the classroom.

Eren noticed that Jean looked at him in anger just seconds before the teacher caught him, he didn't know what's wrong with Jean. From the first day he met him he knew he wasn't someone he liked.

Eren smiled to himself when he saw the Jean looked around one last time before he angrily returned to listen to a lesson in fear of what would whapped if he was caught again.

'Serve you right' he thought to himself.

He felt someone alse looking at him and turned his head slightly so as not to attract too much attention to himself.

He saw the same set of eyes looking at him with the same interest he saw last night.

Annie looked at him with her stone gaze and turned her eyes when she saw he had notice her.

She sat next to bertholdt and Reiner as always.

Eren continued to look at blue eyed blonde until he felt a slight touch on his shoulder, he saw Mikasa looking at him.

"What happened Eren?, what are you looking at?" she asked him.

"N-no nothing!" he said, trying to hide his face from her.

Mikasa looked at Annie with her normal look, not taking any interest in the blue eyed girl.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

After a few more hours of lectures and questions they returned to their regular physical training, they began with an obstacle course designed to challenge them and to help them build physical toughness and endurance. The massive runway took them several hours to complete and it only ended when lunch time arrived.

They ate a mixture of vegetables and soup with a small loaf of bread, no one thought the meal was special, but nobody complained either.

People talked to each other and just enjoyed the meal.

Eren, Armin and Mikasa sat next to each other at a table for six people who were clear. "Can we join you?" asked someone who got near their table.

The three look at the shape of Bertolt and Annie who stood across the table with plates in their hands.

"Hey Bertolt! of course you can right Eren?" Armin ask his friends with a smile.

Eren didn't have a problem with the two, Bertolt was one of his roommates and he was one of the people who he got along with without any problem.

And Annie, wall he didn't hate her that was for sure.

"Sure! It's not a problem!" he said and gestured for them to sit.

The five continue to eat with Armin and Bertolt having a conversation about the past training so far and the people that retired.

A smile came to the face of Eren, those were the times that he really appreciated.

And here it was again, the feeling that someone is watching him and he knew just who it was.

Annie again looked at him in wonder as he ate, but he wasn't the only one who noticed it this time.

Mikasa narrowed her eyes and looked at the blonde without saying a word as Annie returned the same look to Mikasa.

Armin and Bertolt stopped their conversation as they felt the tension rise.

"Hey guys, is there room for one more?" asked Jean who appeared with a tray.

"of course" said Bertolt trying to relieve the tension.

"S-so Annie where is Rainer?, it's rare not to see you three together" Armin asked hoping to lower the tension.

Annie turned her head and looked around the dining room, "he's over there" said the blue eyed girl while pointing to one of the tables.

The group looked toward the table where he sat.

Reiner also set at a table of six people, but he was not alone.

He sat with Krista, Ymir, Connie and Sasha. Krista sat in the center with Sasha and Ymir at both side and Connie with Reiner in front of them.

"W-well, to tell you the truth I don't know what he's doing". Bertolt said while scratching his head.

"Mmm...I think he's trying to talk more to Krista " Jean said.

"You think so too..." Armin said.

Eren stared at the blonde on the outer side with interest in what is going on.

"So what about you Bertolt?" asked Eren as all eyes focused on the tall boy's direction.

"Ah, what about me?" asked the boy.

"You interested in someone like Reiner does?" said Eren while playing with his food.

All the eyes went from Eren to Bertolt as he began to blush easily, "I-I got s-someone.." the boy began to say while stuttering uncontrollably.

Armin decides to save the teenager or he might faint out of embarrassment.

"Eren!, don't ask something like that without any warning!" said Armin.

"Oh sorry, got a little carried away Bertolt!" said Eren with a little smile.

"I-it's ok" he said with a little red on his face as he tried to look away and hide his eyes.

They continued to eat while the boys were having a conversation with Jean staring at Eren with a dirty look and did not tried to hide it.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

After finishing their meal their practice continued into the rest of the day's training.

Eren continued with the training without any difficulty, he expected one thing with anticipation. He waited to the late hours of the night to return, so he could breathe the same air and bath under a stars filled sky and possibly meet a certain blonde.

'I expect to meet Annie?' he thought to himself. He remembered that she told him herself that she will see him again at that place.

'Don't even think about it now!, concentrate on the track' Eren shook his thoughts and kept them for the right time and began to increase his running speed until he was the first of the trainees.

…

After having finished a few more rounds as Eren and Jean competed for the first place they came to one of the most beloved and easy practice of all, hand to hand combat.

It was the easiest workout that everyone could relax and just enjoy, as long as they didn't goof around too much.

Eren practiced this time with Reiner who was the one with the knife they used for the drill, and was quite relaxed.

"Hey Eren, why are you so serious?" said the blonde.

But before he could answer something caught the attention of Reiner and his. That something was Annie Leonhart who looked toward them.

"Ah it's Annie, I guess the instructor didn't see her slaking again" said Eren.

"Look Eren, Annie isn't practicing and just slacking!. doesn't it upset you?" he asked. "Let's teach her how a real soldier is suppose to act!" he said and started to walk to her direction.

"Eh?" said Eren as he watched Reiner blocking the way of blue eyed girl and made her look at him.

"slacking again Annie?, it doesn't surprise me, because after all..." he said quietly with a smile on his face at the end.

Eren couldn't hear what Reiner told her but he knew she didn't appreciate it.

"What did you say..Reiner?" Annie's face changed from her usual to that of rage and anger.

Eren took a step back when he saw her scary face.

'She's not mad, she's furious!' Eren thought to himself, 'she looks completely different than last night!'.

He felt Reiner's hands on his shoulders, "ok Eren now go and teach her a lesson!".

"Ah?, m-me?" Eren said as he tries to resist and escape from the male blonde.

Annie looked at Eren for a second, "this is stupid. I don't need to prove anything to you..." she said and tried to go before she heard Reiner.

"Prove to me that you're a soldier!" said the blond with a bit of anger in his voice.

Annie's eyes moved to the male blond, "how about you fight me instead?" she asked in a treating voice.

"You can't do it..." he said and watched her immediately taking the knife from his hands.

Annie walked a few steps away from the pair then turned and stood in front of Eren, "catch..." she said and threw him the knife.

Eren did not understand what was going on between the two blonds, 'something happened between the two of them?' the boy shook his head from his thoughts and looked at Annie's face.

He grabbed the knife in both hands and readies himself for an attack, "Annie get ready, here I come!" he said and charged at her.

He was a few inches from her before he saw her slip away at the last second as she grabbed his hands and she used his momentum to make him flip and disarm him from his knife in less than a second.

As she held the knife in her hands, Annie look at the shocked Renier and threw the knife at her blonde teammate. "It's your tern now…" she said in an emotionless voice.

Eren rose from the ground a little dirty but totally fine and looked at the two blondes facing each other.

Reiner held the knife in his hand and looked at Annie with a little sweat on his face, "come..." she said with a look that promised pain and shame.

Eren saw Rainer ran towards Annie, and then it happened in a second. Annie moved quickly to the side of the blonde grabbed his arms and kicked him in the leg with noise so loud that Eren thought she broke his leg. He saw a flying Reiner for second in the air and finally hit the ground while his ass facing the air.

Annie moved from Reiner and went to Eren that looked at her in astonishment," Eren you ok?...I didn't mean to-", she was trying to say until Eren stooped her.

"That was amazing Annie! where did you learn to fight like that? "asked the boy.

"M-my dad taught me..." she said with a smile, glad to see him interested "would you like to learn?" she asked him with hope in her voice.

The boy smiled at her with a sparkle in his eyes that was gone when he saw someone behind Annie.

"M-Mikasa…" said Eren as he looked at the girl that was coming closer toward them with a strange look on her face he did not know.

"How about you teach me as well, Annie?" said Mikasa with anger in her eyes as she got closer.