"Well done flowers!" Eren grinned as Mikasa and Armin joined him, leaning up against one of the stone walls of the drinking hall, with mugs of watery ale in their hands and huge grins on their faces (well on Armin's face really but Eren could tell Mikasa was grinning on the inside).

"Thanks," said Mikasa as Armin sighed amusedly at Eren's nickname for them.

"You should have been up there too you know," Armin stated as several of the other graduates joined them; some coming to sit on the nearby benches.

"Yeah, I can't believe the suicidal idiot didn't get in the top ten after slacking off for two and a half years," snarked Jean as he slouched on the bench with a tray of stew. Marco sent him a warning look as he took a place next to him.

"They should have put you in when you started trying properly though, you're really good," Marco added with a sigh, ignoring Jean's mild glare.

"It's fine, I don't mind," smiled Eren, ignoring the horsefaced irritant as he focused on Marco.

"Can't believe you thought the Royal guard was compulsory for so long. You're such a moron," laughed Ymir.

"Ymir! Be nice!" Christa chided with such a puppyish expression that it sent Ymir into a fit of giggles and sweet adulations.

Eren stared at them both as they then smiled and started whispering to each other, scratching at his nose irritably, before turning back to Armin and Mikasa.

They both seemed to be glaring at something Jean was saying.

"-t that good really. Just threw in a few flips and acts a bit strong and everyone thinks he's the bees knees. The instructors definitely didn't think so,"

"He can do much more than a few flips!" Sasha snapped, yanking Jean's food tray away from him. "You never saw him training at night,"

"...Eren, what's this?" Mikasa asked in a quiet voice, her head slowly turning to fix Eren and Sasha a long look.

"Oops," murmured Sasha, throwing Eren a guilty smile.

Eren glared at her resignedly before sighing and coming clean.

"Sasha was teaching me how to use bow and arrow and I helped her with few moves and hunting,"

"How longs this been going on?"

Eren and Sasha looked at each other as Mikasa's voice sucked in the very warmth from the air.

"Not long," they spoke in unison.

"Hmm..."

"So you both know how to use a bow and arrow now?" Armin asked interestedly.

"Sasha's still better than me," smiled Eren, gratefully latching onto the small change of topic.

"Only 'cause I've been using it since I was five. You've got good at it like crazy fast, especially as you've only been practicing on and off for two-" Sasha cut herself off, looking at Mikasa with wide eyes "-months! Two months!"

"...Hmm..."

Eren decided at this point to try and shut Sasha up, passing her his food so she'd be distracted by inhaling the brown slop instead of talking.

"So what are you going to do now Eren?" asked Thomas curiously.

"He's going to the scouts, 'Suicidal idiot' remember?" Snarked Jean.

Eren scowled at the horseman but nodded to Thomas anyway; as did Armin and Mikasa much to everyone's surprise.

"You two are really going to turn your backs on the MP for the scouts?" Asked Thomas, turning to look at Mikasa and Armin incredulously.

"Why in the world would you do that? You two are in the top ten," a man Eren vaguely remembered being called Nac, asked from the crowd that had started to gather.

"The Scouts are what Eren wants to join," said Mikasa, as if it explained everything, which it did to everyone familiar with how close she was with Armin and Eren.

"You two don't have to come," Eren muttered faintly but they ignored him.

"Are you guys insane?!" Shouted Thomas suddenly, before falling quiet as he realised how loud he had just been. Icy silence seeped out through the hall and with it the good cheer slowly faded from the faces of the graduates. Hesitantly Thomas continued in a lower but still carrying voice.

"...You know how many people have died because of those things? About a fifth of the population...you- you'd just be throwing your lives away. You can't beat them. We can't beat them..."

Eren looked around, eyes turning from person to person as their heads bowed under those words, before turning to Thomas and opening his mouth.

"...You think so? If you think that way you believe it, lay yourself down like meat and not a human," Eren slowly spoke, voice echoing in the sudden silence as heated words tumbled out of trembling lips. "No, you are wrong. Somethings are different now. We have m- have more knowledge and we learned by mistakes. Others- all those others payed the price of this learning with their life. And you are just to let it be worthless? I won't... I won't. I'm going out there to make things better for all, give back what was taken! We have the hope to beat them but only if we let ourselves have it. As long as there issomeone who keeps this thought, it can be done!"

Eren stared at all the humans who simply gazed back with slack jaws and wide eyes. Connie and Thomas stared openly with a faint flush on their cheeks.

Can't they understand? How can I show I'm here to help them? Eren though despairingly to himself.

Clicking his jaw in agitation he turned and quickly left, almost running as he waved off his friends as  Mikasa followed him.

As  Armin sat on his seat eating food.

Several cadets stared after Eren as he left with conflicted expressions.

"...You three are really close aren't you?" Krista murmured, trying to break the sudden silence "Are you guys related?"

"...No we're not," Armin stated blankly.

"Uh, how'd you all meet then?" Sasha butted in with an overly cheery voice, obviously trying to help break the tension from the previous topic as well.

Armin looked at the way his both friends uncertainly, not quite certain of how to answer this.

"...I met Mikasa when she came to live with Dr J- uh the local doctor," Armin started.

"I was waiting for some medicine for my g- grandmother... when I spotted Mikasa, hiding behind a curtain. Turns out I was the first to find her hiding spot. It was her long hair that gave her away," Armin paused to smile faintly, down at his hands. "She often liked to watch the patients come and go, seeing if they could see her or not. The next time I came over, after picking up the medicine, I asked if I could join her in her spying games,"

"Was Eren a patient or something then?" Connie, after he recovered from his coughing fit, asked.

Armin was shaking his head before he could think better of it.

"How'd you find him then?" Sasha asked him between the mouthfuls of rice and stew she had started to inhale again.

Armin shared a look but didn't say anything for a long time.

"...He found us. On the day wall Maria fell," Armin eventually answered.

Drinks and forks were lowered and several pairs of eyes snapped to the door where Eren had left.

"What happened?" Krista whispered.

"...When the wall was broken large parts of it were thrown into the city. One of these bits fell on the house I was living in... The roof fell in on me and I was trapped. It was- me and a garrison soldier we knew later found her and tried to help her  out but by then one of the Titans found us," Armin  spoke,his voice turning from hesitant to cool and factual as she told her story.

Everyone had stopped eating and drinking, even Sasha, all simply staring at Armin who had a soft look in his eye.

"Then Eren came,"

"He ran up and lifted up the roof from Mikasa so I could pull her out. Both me and Hanse tried to do this but couldn't. Eren made it look like the roof was made of feathers," Armin added with a smile.

"What about the Titan?" Krista breathed.

Armin  hesitated again before continuing.

"He- he shouted at it. Got its attention then lead it away so we could run," Armin lied.

"We found Eren later on, knocked out and covered in cuts and broken glass. Took him with us and we haven't been apart since," Armin added.

There was a long silence.

"He outran a Titan on foot? How?" Thomas asked.

"... He said he made it away by running in sharp movements. Titans are large so they need more room to turn. You can't keep still, always run unless you can hide your smell from them," Armin advised him.

Silence reined again and everyone looked back out at the door Eren had left through.

"What about before the wall fell?" Marco asked.

"...he won't talk about that," muttered Armin before pushing away from the wall and heading after Eren.

Armin nodded faintly at everyone and hurried after his friends , leaving the hall full of stunned faces and wide eyes.

Erens' head was on Mikasas' lap crying outside of the headquarters, looking out at the city of Trost winding down from his perch.

Houses were lit up with the golden glow of candles and oil lamps. The faint smell of roasted meat weaved up the small hill of the more expensive buildings.

It had been three years since he left this place, full of hope that he had finally found a way to escape the walls. Thinking that once he became a scout he could slip away and continue to drive out the Titan menace by himself, just like that.

Hopeless... He thought to himself, they think this is hopeless. They won't- they can't fight like this...

Could he just leave them as they were? He was planning on just going out there himself at the start, even leaving Mikasa and Armin when he got the chance... but...

Now the time came to it he found he didn't want to. He needed to go but he didn't want to leave any of them. His perfect flowers, the gluttonous but sweet Sasha, the kind and strong Reiner, the naive nervous Thomas, the silly but genuine Connie, the Horseface- well maybe not him- but- but-

But he liked these humans and he wanted to stay with them, however they still lacked hope.

And that was a big problem.

"Eren?" came a soft voice interrupting his painful muddle of thoughts.

Eren quickly ran his hands over his damp face and turned to face his friends, his flowers.

"Hey," he greeted them with a faded smile. "Why are you here? You should be enjoying the celebrations,"

"Can't enjoy it without you," smiled Armin, taking a seat next to Eren on the steps. "Also after Thomas there wasn't so much 'celebrating' as moping."

Eren looked blankly down at his hands.

"That- uh -was quite the speech," Armin spoke up again, giving Eren a knowing sideways glance.

"...Did not make any changes. They are still going to use their skills to build walls and hide behind them."

"You don't know that," Mikasa told him "anyway remember it's not just you going out there to take everything back from them,"

"... I still do not want you out there," Eren muttered before turning to look at them both with wide eyes.

"We could say the same to you Eren," Armin told him in a severe tone. "Don't you want people to put their training to use?"

"But you will get hurt..." Eren whispered slowly.

"Eren, we got in the top ten. We will be fine," said Mikasa with a frown "besides where you go I go. You saved our lives, I'm going to return the favour,"

Armin nodded resolutely with the same words burning brightly in his eyes. Eren sighed and ran his hands though his hair.

"If... If you come you will not got hurt. I could not let you got hurt," Eren told them, knowing exactly what his humans would say if he continue to try and convince them.

"Neither can you. We couldn't bare for you to get hurt..." Armin returned before shaking his head quickly "We're going. That's the end of it. Now come on, let's go see if Connie has left any ale for us. I'm sure you'll like it Eren,"

"You don't understand ,do you?"asked Eren. 

"What should we understand? "asked Mikasa interested. 

"That your the only humans that loved and I don't want to get hurt because I love you so much especially you Mikasa."Said Eren.

"But what about your parents ?"asked Armnin as Eren became even more sad at the thought of it and didn't answer.

"Please tell us Eren we need to know."said Mikasa.

"They abandoned me ."stated Eren as even more tears started to fall down.Armins and Mikasas eyes widen in disbelief. 

"They abandoned me titan territory outside of Wall Maria where I lived among the titan for 4 years and during my stay  with you I had nightmares where you will abandon me or even get killed making not to sleep for 3 days without of you noticing  me of course ,I didn't telike you because I don't want my problems or even me  to be a burden to you so that's why I want you to go to the MP."said Eren as he was crying even more.Both of his friends completely frozen from the news their dear friend  gave them as Mikasa was even more shocked than Armin that the person she loves had had harsh life.As Mikasa was the first one to react by hugging him tightly as he hugged back.

"Don't you  ever think that your a burden to us we love you  so much especially me and I don't want you to get hurt thats why I am joining the Scouts to prevent that."said Mikasa as she hugged him even more tightly as Eren calmed down and slept in her touch as he felt safe and a strange feeling in his stomach with smile on his face.As Mikasa kissed his forehead  without realising Armin was  there all along and blushed when she realised but then shrugged it off.

"He looks cute when he sleeps ."commented Mikasa as Armin nodded in agreement ."Okay I will get Eren in my dorm and sleep together while you go back ,okay?"Said Mikasa as he nodded and they  went  difervent ways while Eren was thinking in his sleep that he could stay with them a bit longer couldn't he? He could continue his little make believe game of being a human, right?