The Captain's Daughter

Chapter 24 ~ Return

I ended up falling asleep on the ride back to HQ. There were only a few titans along the way but they were safely taken down. We were now in the stables storing the horses.

"SOPHIE!!!" I heard an all too familiar voice yell loudly. I turned around, already knowing who it was. Hanji. "I missed you!!!" She practically jumped onto me with a death-gripped hug. I smiled through the pain and hugged her back.

"Yeah, I missed you, too." I managed out.

"Okay, Four-eyes." My dad spoke up. "You're going to suffocate her."

"Sorry." She giggled. "Come in to HQ! Everybody's been so worried."

We walked into the building and to the mess hall. It was lunch time so that's where everybody was. From the outside of the mess hall doors things sounded pretty quiet which was kind of odd.

"Are they okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, they were all just really upset when they heard what happened." Eren said.

"You guys... care about me that much?" I asked. That means so much to me...

"Of course we do." Hanji said. "What's there not to love?"

"Hey, don't cry." Eren said and wiped a single tear from my cheek. I didn't even realize it had fallen. I nodded.

"Okay." I smiled and opened the doors. Everybody's heads immediately snapped towards us.

"Sophie!!" Christa yelled and the entire 104th group came up and group-hugged me.

"Where were you?!" Connie asked.

"Are you okay?!" Somebody else asked.

"What happened?!" Another asked.

"Cadets!" My dad commanded. They all let go of me and looked at him. "Don't bombard her with questions."

"Yes, sir." They all said.

"Come on, let's go eat!" Sasha, of course, said. "I'm starving!" I giggled.

I've missed this.

Time skip

After lunch Commander Erwin called me, my dad, and Eren to his office to discuss some things. "So, I guess you know all that actually happened now, Sophie?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yes, sir. I was informed." I replied.

"So you know what really happened with your 3DMG during the expedition?" He asked.

"Yes, sir." I replied, still a bit sad at the situation. I knew Mikasa didn't like me for certain reasons, but I didn't know she'd try to potentially physically hurt me. Or even kill me.

"The court trial for this case should take place in the next week." Erwin said.

"What will happen to her?" I asked, a little nervous.

"It's hard to say." Erwin replied. "It was an attempted harming or murder, so she could be put in jail for a while. I don't think she'd be executed." Thank goodness. At least not that. "However." He continued. "We definitely need her in the Survey Corps. If she were to come back, she'd be under thorough watch and kept in the dungeon in her free-time until she could genuinely prove herself."

I nodded again. "I understand."

"Are you okay with that, Sophie?" My dad asked.

"Yes." I answered. "I don't believe she's a bad person, just a little jealous."

"Thank you for not thinking so down on her." Erwin said. "We do not blame you."

"Thank you." I said. He nodded.

"That is all. You're dismissed."

I saluted and walked out with Eren. "How do you feel about all of this, Eren?" I asked him.

"She's still my sister, so I don't hate her." He said. "But she tried to kill you. It's going to take a while for me to trust her again. At least around you."

"Eren." I stopped and faced him, holding his hands in my own. "Please don't worry about me. I feel the same way you do but I'm sure I can handle whatever she throws at me."

"But what if she pulls something in secret like she just did?" He asked, looking down at the ground.

"We'll deal with that when it comes." I said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Now come on, we should go train a little." He nodded and we walked off together, hand-in-hand.