Honey and Sky | Jean Kirstein x OC

10 | Friends

The days that followed passed without any news. Commander Erwin had not yet awakened and Captain Levi had not yet shown himself in public. Section Commander Hange stepped in to pick up the reins while the next step was decided, but there was little she could do in the poor state the Corps had been left in after the last battle, so her efforts were concentrated simply on keeping them afloat for the time being. The days continued to be based on training and cleaning, supervised by an improvised group of veterans.

Lena continued her struggle against her own mind, and she was losing. Refusing to accept the emotions Jean had awakened in her was like wanting to deny that the sun rose every morning, but she was looking for excuses that were as good as wanting to cover the sun with a thumb. Was it the right thing to fight against it? To pretend that nothing had happened? Was it better to face it and try to do something about it? Or to try to forget about it? The momentary stillness in which the Corps found itself did not make things any easier, for it left her with time to think. To overthink, to spin things around and recreate situations in her mind while trying not to be obvious every time the boy was present, which after leaving the infirmary, was constantly.

There were few of their class left, too few. Naturally, the eight of them gravitated to each other like magnets, eventually forming an inseparable little group that, had circumstances been different, would probably not fit together. They trained together, ate at the same table, and continued to share barracks even though there were three fewer of them.

Connie had been acting strange for days, too quiet and crestfallen to be him. Several days after Eren's rescue, when they were all gathered in the quiet HQ common room, Connie revealed what he'd been keeping in secret for days. He told them how upon arriving at his village, Ragako, a few days earlier, the place was deserted and with no sign of any fighting. Except for the presence of a titan, who just happened to be lying on top of his house and couldn't move. According to Connie, this titan spoke. "Welcome home," was what he heard.

"I think... that titan was my mother."

Lena and the others looked at him as if seeing a ghost. It was already extremely hard to believe it would talk, but to think it was his mother?

"I mentioned it the night we were at the castle," Connie continued glumly, "and Reiner and Ymir distracted me, made fun of me and changed the subject. It's obvious. Even I can tell. They knew."

Everyone was silent. No one knew what to say to such a shocking statement.

"Connie, what you're saying...," said Armin after a few seconds, "the implications it carries..."

"I know."

"Did you tell—?," Eren began.

"Yes," interrupted Connie, "Hange already knows. I went back with Moblit a few days ago, and he and Hange are processing the information, but no one else knows. They'll share it when the Commander wakes up."

"But..., is there any way to verify it?," Lena asked, trying to hide the skepticism in her voice.

"It's my mum, okay?," he answered curtly. "I know her. If you suddenly saw your mum's head fifty times bigger, even if it was a little misshapen, you would recognize her, wouldn't you?"

Lena couldn't help but recoil slightly backward on the couch at her friend's cold reply. The truth was, she didn't know. She didn't keep any portraits of her parents, and sometimes she wondered if the faces she remembered were the real ones or just a product of the passing years.

"Sorry, Connie...," she said quickly.

Connie took a deep breath and ran a hand through his short hair. "No, I'm sorry... I'm just on edge. After all the horror we've seen and lived through, I would never have imagined that there could be something even worse..."