The Captain's Daughter

Chapter 27 ~ The female titan

The next day Erwin called me, my dad, Eren, Armin, and Jean together in a meeting. "What is this about, Erwin?" My dad asked.

"We may have some more insight on the female titan." Erwin said.

"Y-you do?!" I asked.

"Yes." Erwin nodded. "We may know her human identity." They already know...?! Well, it has been about a week and a half since the expedition.

"So... who do you think it is?" Eren asked.

"We believe she was a part of the 104th cadet group."

"The 104th?!" Eren questioned.

"Yes. It was Armin who came to that conclusion." Erwin said. Eren looked over to Armin with a greatly surprised expression on his face, begging for an explanation. "The name of the girl we believe it to be... is Annie Leonhart."

"But why?" Eren questioned in doubt. "Why do you think that, Armin?"

"She knew what you looked like on the expedition." Armin said. "We believe she was also the one who killed Hanji's two test subjects. Only somebody skilled could have done that. We believe she brought Marco's gear to the inspection to avoid getting caught."

"What does Marco have to do with this?" Jean asked a bit defensively. I never actually met Marco but I've heard about him. I've heard a lot about the other 104th cadets that didn't join the Scouts. I even heard about Annie. I heard that she was very stoic and quiet, but also extremely skilled, ranking 4th in the top 10.

"Do you have anymore evidence?" My dad asked.

"Her face resembles that of the female titan's." Armin said.

"That's impossible!" Eren said. "You're crazy to think Annie's a titan!"

"Eren isn't it ringing any bells?" Armin asked. "Didn't anything remind you of Annie's distinct combat style?"

Eren thought about it, still in denial. "Eren, please just accept it." I told him. He didn't respond. He just sat there, looking down at his hands in his lap.

"In a few days we are going to launch a mission to capture Ms. Leonhart." Erwin said. "Armin is going to trick her into coming with him inside Wall Sina and when she agrees a group of hidden Scouts will attack and capture her. Eren you will be with Armin. Sophie, Jean, I want you two to be with the hidden Scouts. Levi and I will be with the carriages since Nile Dok will most likely try to start a riot because of our actions. Does everybody understand their place?"

There were collective 'yes, sir's before everybody walked out. Eren went out first and fast, too. He seemed to be pretty upset so I decided to go after him.

I quietly followed him to see where he was going and he went to the big tree where we had our first date. He was leaning over, facing the tree with one hand supporting him. I slowly walked up to him. "Hey." I said softly.

"Hi." He weakly replied. I came up and hugged him from behind.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I just..." He started.

"Yeah?" I gently urged him forward.

"I just don't want to believe what they said back there." He said. "I don't want to believe that someone I spent three years training with could be someone so... so evil."

I understand that. This must really be hard on him.

"Listen, Eren." I started. "I never actually met Annie, so I can't personally say anything, but Armin and Commander Erwin are smart. They wouldn't have said those things and came up with the mission if they had not given it a lot of research and thought. Sometimes you have to look past your own emotions and look at the facts. The evidence, Eren. It's her."

It was a few seconds before he answered. "I... I know." He said. "I just wish it wasn't true."

"I know." I said and went to stand beside him, rubbing his back. "That's how I felt and still feel about Mikasa. But some things just have to be dealt with."

"I know, you're right." He turned around to face me and weakly smiled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I smiled back and we shared a kiss.

"How about before this mission we go out into town and walk around." Eren suggested. "We can even get dinner up there. My treat."

"Well I guess I'll take you up on that offer." I giggled. "Let's go." And so we got on our horses and rode into town, just enjoying each other's company and not worrying about what was going to take place in a few days.