Venus and Rose

Chapter Twelve: Advice

**It is canon that Hange's pronouns are They/Them, and we respect pronouns in this house, thank you.

Much love,

- Ala

"Y/N Braus!"

The shout caused your focus to falter which sent you tumbling into the ground as your next cable shot missed the tree you had been aiming for. Rolling to a stop, you groaned and rubbed dust from your eyes while hoofbeats approached.

"What did you do wrong this time?" Hange asked sternly from atop their horse.

"Was that before or after you shouted at me?" You asked bemusedly and got to your feet. Your shoulder ached from the fall and you massaged it as you looked up at your section commander.

Hange's smirk disappeared when you looked up at them, trying to put on a stern expression instead. "No, you weren't balancing in the harness properly. You have a tendency to lean to the left and this will cause a slight turn when you do long distance shots. Center your balance!" Hange kicked the horse into a gallop and disappeared into the underbrush.

Waiting a moment for Hange to get further away, you rubbed your shoulder again before shooting upwards into the trees. Looping and weaving between trees, you occasionally spotted Hange below who was watching your movements carefully. You had been training with Hange for the last hour non-stop and you were starting to feel worn-out. But this was the reason you had asked Hange for extra help. Ever since you had to spend the first week with the Scouts unable to properly use your hands, you felt like everyone else's abilities far outmatched your own by the time you rejoined them. So, even though it was your day off, you wanted to get this training done.

Thankfully, Hange agreed to help you. You had first met Hange in the library where you spent most of your spare time alone during that first week. The Scout library was surprisingly well kept and included many books detailing the Scouts: their accomplishments, expedition formations and tactics, and encounters with the titans. Most of the volumes in the library were actually created by members of the Scouts themselves.

Hange had found you in the library with large stacks of volumes scattered across your table and was ecstatic to find that you were so interested in titans. Quickly, the pair of you became friends, even though Hange was your superior. Once you accepted Hange's seemingly crazed ramblings about titans, the information Hange had gained over the years was extremely fascinating. You would spend a great deal of time together in the library; you studying and Hange writing.

"Braus!" Hange called from below and you zoomed downwards.

Hange narrowed their eyes quizzically. "Why are you so distracted?" It was weird how Hange was able to read you so easily already; something only Sasha was able to do.

But of course you were distracted. You could barely hear Hange's instructions over the past hour since you kept getting flashbacks to that kiss. Reiner had kissed you in the stables only an hour before you had to meet up with Hange, and you still felt his lips on yours. And oh god, the way he had kissed you. What the actual living fuck?!

"Braus!" Without you even noticing, Hange had gotten close enough to snap their fingers directly in front of your eyes. Hange swung out of the saddle to get to your eye level. "What's wrong, did something happen?"

"No, nothing's wrong...well not exactly wrong. I just don't..." you trailed off into thought again before realizing just how concerned Hange was when you looked back towards them. Hange's brows were knit together with worry and they put a comforting hand on your shoulder.

"Please tell me what happened," Hange said and guided you towards a fallen tree to sit beside each other. Hange looked at you expectantly with their glasses perching on the tip of their nose and you sighed at their persistent stare.

"Fine, I'll tell you. At Trost, someone told me they liked me, but literally just before you and I met up today, someone else also admitted they had feelings for me."

Hange whistled lowly, and you glared at them before Hange burst out laughing. "That's what you were so weird about?! I thought maybe your hands were bothering you, or normal stuff, like trauma. Not the fact that people love you."

Sputtering indignantly, you glared as Hange held their ribs as they laughed. "It's not funny and I never said 'love.' It's just, I never-"

"-You never thought someone could have romantic feelings for you, especially two people at the same time?" Hange concluded knowingly and finally stopped chuckling to rub their chin thoughtfully. You nodded while Hange looked at you in silence. "Oh? You wanted advice?" Hange asked surprisingly.

"Yes, obviously!" You cried out, partly amused by Hange's own surprise at the fact. "I'm not stupid, I know being a Scout is a much shorter route towards death, so what's the point of being in any relationship?"

Cocking their head to the side, Hange thought for a moment. "That's true in a sense, but think of it this way instead...You love your sister and you love your friends, right?" You nodded emphatically. "Well, those moments you spend with them make you much happier than you would be if you distanced yourself from them, correct?" You nodded again. "So, instead of asking, 'what's the point of having a romantic relationship?' Ask yourself, will it make you happy with the time you will have left."

Again, you were disconcerted with how much Hange could understand you like Sasha could; with Sasha having said nearly the same thing last night. "Fine. Say I can accept that, but then how can I choose between them? They are both so important to me and are both close friends. I already love them as friends, how can I choose which one to let in further?" You asked desperately.

Expecting another wise answer, you were instead surprised when Hange just shrugged and stood up. "I dunno," Hange answered unhelpfully.

"What?!" You squealed.

"Uh yeah, of course I can't answer that for you. I don't even know who you're talking about." Hange climbed back onto their horse. Hange looked upon you calmly. "Listen, y/n. I don't even know if I have ever been in love, but I do know that love is always needing to have that person with you, and when they're gone there will be an emptiness. Which of these two people do you absolutely need?" Hange turned the horse around, and gestured for you to return to the trees.

Although it hadn't been the conclusive answer you were hoping for, it had let you come to a conclusion and now you could focus on your task at hand. Thus, the rest of your training session went a lot smoother, but you knew your easiness would not last long especially when you had to finally confront Jean and Reiner.