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Some time has passed and Pariza felt herself improving a great deal. It had already been a year since the beginning of her Military career and she could say she has gotten close to a lot of people in the same class as her.

She has actually gotten a lot closer to Annie after a while. Or really, she just kept following her around just to get a conversation out of her and Annie slowly began tolerating her existence.

She doesn't ignore her, anymore. And she actually talks to her. Albeit when no one is around, she'll actually have a conversation with her. But around other cadets, she would just let her talk and talk while Annie just listened on. Pretending to not care about whatever thing she was blabbing on about.

Her new found friendship with Annie did not go unnoticed by the other cadets, who were shocked to see someone as anti-social as Annie actually allow someone to talk her ear off. And while some were just shocked by the unlikely friendship, some were a bit jealous of this.

But none more than Mikasa, who often found herself unknowingly glaring at the two whenever she would see them talking. It had gotten so bad that Armin started noticing the tension whenever Pariza would find them and sit with them in the mess hall.

Which was the case now. Pariza walked into the Mess Hall bright and early. She was always a morning person so waking up super early was nothing to her.

Mikasa had been in a bit of a sour mood that morning but Pariza was blind to her stormcloud as she smiled at her, sitting next to her. There were a few cadets already in the Mess Hall and Armin and Eren hadn't made it there, yet. So it was just her and Mikasa.

"Good morning, Mikasa." Pariza smiled, circling her arms around one of her arms.

"Morning," Mikasa mumbled, glaring down at her untouched food. If there was one thing that she hated, it was feeling envious of someone and not knowing why she felt that way.

Pariza was free to make as many friends as she wanted and she was completely fine with that. She didn't control her. She became good friends with Marco, Reiner and Bertholdt.

Mikasa didn't feel jealous over that. But when she saw how Pariza smiled at Annie or how she would greet her so kindly, it dampered Mikasa's mood a little.

What was so special about Annie, anyways? Why was she so enamored over the anti-social blonde girl? Why did Mikasa seethe whenever she saw the two together?

"Hm? Are you okay?" Pariza blinked, suddenly noticing her bad mood. "You seem to be in a bad mood."

"I'm fine." Mikasa said, looking at her with softer eyes. ".....You're really close to Leonhart."

Pariza, once again, blinked. It was strange to hear her speak about Annie. They never really interacted with each other or even acknowlege each other's existence.

"Yeah, she's really nice...Once you get over the constant sarcasm and cold stares." Pariza replied, smiling a little. "She's a good friend."

"Hmmm.." Mikasa hummed, feeling that jealousy sink in even more. But she didn't want to let her think she was mad at her because she wasn't at all. Mikasa just chalked it up as juvenile jealousy.

So it will go away soon, right?

"Don't worry, Mikasa." Pariza said reassuringly. "You're still the light of my life."

Mikasa felt her cheeks flush with red after she said that. She couldn't help but feel a sudden shock go through her body as she hid her face under her long bangs.

"S-Stop doing that..." She grumbled shyly, looking away.

Pariza giggled at her. Whenever she would feel shy, Mikasa often grumbled and looked away just to sheepishly hide her blushing face.

She was so fun to tease, honestly.

"Al Ghul!" Shadis yelled as he walked down the line of cadets. The sun was not any less hot than the other day so the day had been very hot. Pariza was sure she would burn if she stood under the heat any longer.

They were going to do more fighting training, but this time, they had to fight with wooden knives.

"You're with Leonhart, today!"

She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little scared of Annie. Like Mikasa, she was very skilled in combat. But the only difference is that Mikasa was somone she knew for a while, She had only known Annie for a year.

And even though Annie was considered her friend, she was unfamiliar with training with her one on one. But be that as it may, she was partially excited to work with her friend today.

"You ready to do this, Golden?" Annie asked. Even though it was hot, she still kept her hoodie on under her uniform jacket.

Pariza tied her hair in a ponytail before getting ready to spar with her. "I'm ready, Pretty girl."

Biting back a blush, Annie's face remained in a scowl as the two of them began fighting. Pariza was very flexible, she'll give her that. And she was quick on her feet. Her small height was a big advantage for her.

But she still lacked a little in confidence in her skills. Which kind of annoyed Annie. She had good fighting skills. Why was she holding back?

"Word of advise, don't tuck your thumb into your fist when going for a punch." Annie huffed out. "You can break your thumbs like that. Also, you're good at fighting. Which shocked me because not everyone could get a hit on me. Even if it was weak."

Pariza deadpanned. Her compliments, if you could call it that, were very cold and....backhanded? She couldn't describe it. Annie just didn't know how to compliment anyone, she guesses.

"Thanks, Annie....really." Pariza said sarcastically, wiping her sweat from her forehead.

"Being a little good isn't going to keep you alive." Annie ignored her initial comment and got back into fighting stance. "With the way you're fighting now, you'll be titan food."

"Are you just built on backhanded compliments and insults, pretty?" Pariza asked, a little irritated but she got back into her fighting stance.

Annie gave her a very small grin and twitched her eyebrows upward a little. "How about this. If you can land another hit on me, I'll read one of those books you blab on about all the time."

Pariza's eyes sparkled as she smiled at her. No way was she going to not take up this offer. And if she didn't win, at least she could say she's a better fighter now.

"You got yourself a deal!"

"It's pretty interesting to see you so invested in a cadet." a strong but deep voice interrupted Erwin's thoughts, bringing him back to reality.

Erwin Smith had been watching Pariza for a year and parts of him still couldn't believe that this was the same little girl his old superior and friend would always talk about. He has even met Pariza before but she was an infant. So she wouldn't remember her at all and Cyrus used to be so secretive about his family. Only a few really knew a lot about his wife and daughter.

Erwin turned to see Levi Ackerman, Corporal and Section Commander of the Survey Corp, standing right next to him, leaning on the wooden post with his arms crossed.

"Well, she's Cyrus' daughter." Erwin commented, looking back at the training cadets. "You remember Lieutenant Cyrus Al Ghul?"

"That, I do." Levi replied, looking out on the field. "Good man, good Lieutenant.....His death was tragic but heroic...Just like how he lived...Heroically."

Erwin hummed as he stared at Pariza, who was celebrating the fact that she actually punched a blonde female cadet in the face. The same cadet looked at her as if she was weird but had a very very small smile on her thin lips, at the same time.

He wondered if she was anything like her father. Cyrus, when he was a cadet, was known to be a bit of a troublemaker but he was lively, welcoming and very smart. Honestly, the only reason Shadis didn't kill him earlier on was because Cyrus could talk his way out of the trouble he caused himself.

It was rather amazing to his friends and other cadets but people were so drawn to him. Like a moth to a raging fire, people were so drawn to him, it was very mesmerizing to watch.

In the end, he was the one who got burned. Along with everyone else around him.

Which was why his death effected everyone who knew him severely. Erwin only found out that Naisha, his beautiful wife, was a casualty in the fall of Wall Maria a day after the event. And that also broke his heart.

He remembered Naisha being such a sweet woman. She was incredibly beautiful, caring and wise. But most of all, she loved her daughter ferociously.

That little girl was their whole world. Their sun and moon. Their lifeline. They loved Pariza so much, anyone could feel that love whenever she was brought up in conversations.

And now Pariza was a cadet. Looking at her, she looked like an exact replica of Naisha with a little of Cyrus' features. But the rest of her physical attributes were her mother's fault.

"She looks like Naisha, don't you think?" Levi asked, tilting his head to the side. "I remember many cadets and soldiers had a childish crush on her and honestly, I could see why."

"Yeah, well at least we don't graduate cadets based on their looks." Erwin sighed, before turning to take his leave. "She's incredibly smart and a good strategist but she needs to work more on her fighting."

Levi looked to see Erwin was already walking away. Remaining where he was, Levi looked back to the cadets, staring at them a couple of seconds longer. There was something about Pariza that just didn't sit well with him.

Not a bad feeling at all but.....Cyrus was a very secretive man. He barely talked about his background or anything.

Not that he was obligated to give people his life story. But what made Levi feel this way was the fact that he would always shut down whenever anyone asked about his parents. Like he had something major to hide.

It wasn't until a few years in his career that nearly everyone found out he was married with a child.

So he felt like there was way more to the Al Ghul Family than what was shown to everyone.

Remember, Golden is a key word in this story. It's the
reason why The Al Ghuls are seen as a huge mystery.

Can you guess why?