Chapter 6 New Faces and Old

Gohan was no stranger to sticking out in public. Although he'd led a very secluded life back home, in the week he had spent living in Shiganshina he had come to terms quickly with the idea that his tail would always make him seem odd. Or, as some of the school children had called him, a freak. However, sitting in the middle of the garrison barracks in fur rags, made him feel a bit more exposed than he was used to.

Despite having gone to public school for the first time in his life, albeit briefly, Gohan had still never been very social. As he had spent a good amount of his life either locked away at home studying, training to beat Saiyans or Androids, or living alone in a forest for two years, he had always been quite nervous when meeting new people.

He was wringing his hands in apprehension, eyes glued to the floor. He could feel the stares of the passing soldiers as they eyed the teen in bewilderment. While his attire might have been useful for his survival in the wilderness, as the nights got very cold at times and using his Ki for warmth had been getting quite draining, he currently hated it.

A hand grabbed his, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Are you okay?"

It was Ilse, she was sat right next to him.

"Yeah, just a little nervous I guess." She raised an eyebrow at him, clearly wanting more of an explanation. "It's a bit awkward, sitting around in furs."

Her eyes widened in realisation and she gave him a sympathetic nod. A nearby soldier walked over to them, her eyes locking on Gohan.

"Come with me, kid."

He looked back to Ilse for assurance, receiving an affirmative nod but no vocal response. The soldier was a young woman, in her early twenties at most, with brown kempt hair that reached down to her neck. As it was so long, she kept it tucked behind her ears to avoid it getting in the way of her light brown eyes. She was wearing the typical uniform of the rest of the garrison soldiers, the rose crest displayed proudly on her back.

Standing up, he then followed her as she led him to a door down the hall. She then opened it to reveal it to be some sort of storage closet, with all of the walls acting as cupboards. She stepped in and opened up one of said cupboards, looking around for a moment before removing some of the clothes from within and promptly tossing them to Gohan.

"Will those fit?"

He looked at her briefly before properly inspecting the clothes that she had given him. They were exactly like the uniform that the soldiers were wearing, minus the jacket. He scrutinised the clothes provided to him, checking their size against him.

"It's a bit big. Do you have anything smaller?"

"Sorry kid, smallest we have. We don't keep any cadet uniforms around here."

"Okay. Well, they aren't too big anyway, I can make them fit. Thank you."

"No worries kid." She turned to leave the room. "You can get changed in here, I'll be outside if you need me. Don't take too long though, Commander Erwin should be here any time now."

She walked out, shutting the door and leaving Gohan alone. Checking to see nobody was in the storage room he swiftly undressed from his furs. Leaving his rescued green cloak to the side, along with his white headband.

He was pleasantly surprised to see that the clothes fit him better than he had expected. Only needing to tuck in the shirt a fair bit and roll up the ends of his pants to have them fit more comfortably. He also used a small Ki ball to burn a hole in the pants for his tail to fit through. Wrapping that around his waist, it worked perfectly to keep his baggy clothes in place.

As he began to collect his old clothes, he paused when he picked up his headband. He'd made it only a relatively short while back, ripping apart a plain white shirt that he'd found in the nearby village. Ever since making it, he'd worn it at every opportunity, save for bathing and for a specific part of his training.

It reminded him of home. Gave him hope that he could one day see his family again. It had been after all, part of the outfit that Piccolo had made for him. One of the first training outfits he'd ever had. The one that he'd worn during his first battle. The first time he'd seen anyone die.

"I miss you guys."

A knock on the door.

"Hey kid, the Commander's here. Hurry up."

"Coming."

He gave the headband an affectionate stroke before wrapping it around his head once more.

As he stepped out, the soldier looked him over as she took his old clothes. Not saying anything about his new look, but giving a short nod of approval.

"C'mon kid, you've got a meeting to get to."

"Thank you for the new clothes."

"No worries, kid."

They walked in silence, quickly passing where he and Ilse had been seated. Interestingly, Ilse wasn't there. No doubt she must have gone on ahead.

Finally, they reached another inconspicuous looking door. The woman with him opened it to show Ilse sat down on a table by herself. She looked up expectantly, noting Gohan's new wardrobe.

"Nice clothes, Gohan. Certainly better than what you were wearing before."

He chuckled and stepped inside, taking a seat next to her.

"Thanks."

They sat in silence as they waited for the Commander, who was taking a surprisingly long time since he was supposedly already there. Gohan opened his mouth to ask Ilse about that when the door abruptly opened. In stepped a man who stood proudly at 6'2'', with neat blond hair which was parted on his left side. He wore a calm and collected expression on his face. His icy blue eyes immediately took in their presence, looking them up and down to take note of any important features. He held a commanding presence, which was immediately proven true when Ilse stood to attention and saluted.

"Commander Erwin, sir!"

Gohan remained seated for a moment before hesitantly standing as well, giving his best impersonation of Ilse's salute.

"Uh. Commander Erwin, sir."

The man's eyes fell on Gohan as he reviewed the boys salute. Gohan began to sweat under the man's gaze, looking over at Ilse's salute to make sure that he had got it right. It looked right. Perhaps if he tensed more? He did so, but the Commander's expression didn't change. After a while though, he did address them.

"Squad Leader Langnar. It's good to see you are safe. I presume this is the boy that rescued you?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm Gohan Son." Ilse gave him a sharp look for his rude interruption. "Uh, sir."

"A pleasure to meet you, Gohan Son. Please, sit."

The two quietly sat down, with Erwin taking the seat opposite them.

"As you can imagine, while I am very pleased to see that you have survived, Ilse, I am very confused as to how you managed to survive a night beyond the walls."

Ilse pulled the notebook from the inside of her cloak and laid it on the table.

"I recorded everything that happened since my squad was...killed. That should aid you in any questions you have, sir."

Erwin picked up the book and flicked through it. His face remained expressionless as he browsed through it, only spending a few seconds on each page as he sampled the events that had transpired. After glancing through several pages, he stopped on the most recent one, staying silent as he read it in detail.

When he'd finished, he deposited it inside of his jacket and looked Gohan in the eyes.

"So, Gohan. You claim to have lived in Titan territory for two years?"

"Uh, yes sir. It wasn't fun, but I did something similar when I was a child anyway so…heh heh…"

One of Erwin's bushy eyebrows raised inquisitively, causing Gohan to immediately backtrack.

"Uh, the living outdoors, I mean. Not the Titan part…"

Once again, Gohan's terrible poker face reared its head. Leaving Gohan's cheeks turning bright red, and his hand scratching nervously at the back of his head.

"And you never saw any soldiers in that time?"

"Uh, no, sir. None…alive, anyway."

"Uh-huh. Not even a year ago?"

Gohan struggled briefly to recall what the Commander might be referring to before it clicked.

"The reclamation attempt."

At Erwin's questioning look, Gohan explained.

"That was when all of those soldiers were sent out, right? A year ago? That's what Ilse told me, anyway."

The man's eyes briefly flicked towards the woman next to him, before returning to Gohan.

"That's right. According to Ilse's notebook, you were never discovered by any soldiers during that time."

"Uh yeah. I was probably at wall Maria at the time with Nimbus. My horse."

"And what of the expeditions afterwards?"

"Uh…well…"

"I believe I can explain that, sir."

It was Ilse again, surprisingly having interrupted her commanding officer.

"Oh?"

"Yes, sir. All of our expeditions have been focused on going directly south, towards the Shiganshina district. However, the forest where Gohan was located was towards the east. I only found Gohan by sheer accident, being the squad leader of the eastern flank and heading directly east afterwards. It's highly unlikely that the expeditions would have simply stumbled across him."

Erwin seemed content with the answer, looking away from Gohan for what felt like the first time in an eternity.

"Moving on, you also stated in your notebook that…"

The meeting went on for what felt like several hours, though in actuality was closer to just the one. It mainly involved Erwin asking both Gohan and Ilse questions about their survival, for those two years or the escape from the expedition respectively. Although Erwin had asked Ilse her own share of questions, Gohan had begun to feel slightly paranoid about the sheer weight of questioning that he'd received. Many of his questions hadn't even been about anything new, with the majority of them having been centered on the same event. The reclamation attempt. It hadn't been helped by the heavy gaze that Gohan received whenever Erwin was speaking to him directly. To Gohan, it felt less like he was being questioned, but was in fact undergoing something more akin to an interrogation.

It had seemingly been drawing to a close when a knock was heard on the door.

"Enter."

At Erwin's signal, the door opened to reveal a tall, well-built man with blonde hair, and his bangs parted down the middle. He also sported a dark moustache and beard, which helped to accentuate the serious, yet calm, expression he wore on his face.

"You called?"

"Yes, I did. Please escort Ilse to her visitors and inform Anka that she will be escorting Gohan here for the next few hours."

The man nodded, but said nothing as the two visitors exited. Curiously, Gohan noted, the Commander didn't follow. Instead he simply took out Ilse's notebook again, making himself comfortable for giving it an in-depth reading.

He disappeared from view as the door shut, Gohan swiftly directing his attention instead towards Ilse and the blonde haired man who were already making their way down the hall. He quickly sped up to catch them as they began polite conversation with each other.

"It's good to see you, Ilse. Surviving a night in Titan territory is a remarkable feat."

"Thank you. I owe it all to Gohan, really."

"Oh?"

The man turned to the boy who was trailing behind them.

"So you saved Ilse, huh?"

"Uh, yep!"

Once more, the man gave a nod instead of speaking. He slowed down, drawing in line with Gohan and bent down to his height. Out of all the events that Gohan had been expecting to occur, it hadn't been for the man to start sniffing him.

"Mike, you're gonna scare him."

At Ilse's words 'Mike' stopped sniffing him and sped up to her side again.

"Sorry, Ilse, just memorizing his scent."

"So uh…does he do that often?"

"It's his thing, Gohan. He does it to everyone, even Commander Erwin." She shot an affectionate a smile towards Mike. "He didn't like that very much."

Mike gave a chuckle at their shared memory, flashing Ilse a smile of his own. For Gohan, the whole moment felt quite awkward. Like he was intruding on their private moment.

Fortunately, they arrived at the entrance to the barracks moments later.

"Ilse?"

It was a new voice. A female's, and an older one, too. The group noticed two people stood waiting in the doorway, a man and a woman. The man and woman were both wearing similar brown clothing, contrasting sharply with their grey hair.

"Mom? Dad?"

Ilse was frozen to the spot, breathless as she ignored the world around her. Focused instead, on the two people who meant the world to her.

"Ilse!"

A breath later, Ilse sprinted into the arms of her parents, who accepted her with exuberance.

"Mom! Dad!"

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, quickly dampening her mother's jacket as she gripped her daughter tightly.

"I thought I'd never see you two again."

"Ilse, my baby. We were so scared when the expedition came in."

"I'm so sorry I scared you, mom. I love you guys. I love you so much."

As both Ilse and her mother wept in each other's arms, Ilse's face embedded in her mother's jacket, whilst her father remained silent. Tears were brimming his eyes, but no sound escaped him as he simply held his daughter in his arms, his heart having swelled with relief at the sight of her face.

They had been waiting by the Trost gate like always for the expedition to return. When it did, and their daughter had been nowhere to be seen, it had been the most gut-wrenching experience that they had ever felt as parents.

The feeling that their baby had been killed…it wasn't something that the two grieving parents would wish on even the most horrific of people. Her mother had broken down first, almost immediately after hearing the news that her daughter was nowhere to be found. Her father had likewise been deeply affected, but he had refused himself any chance to break down. He had to be strong. He had to comfort his wife while she grieved.

When they received word from the scouts' messenger that they were required to come straight to the garrison headquarters, they hadn't known what to expect. The cynical part of Mr. Langnar had suspected the scouts' of toying with his heart, giving him false hope of seeing his child safe. It didn't matter to him though, the slightest chance that there could be some good news, or just any news, about his daughter, was enough to convince him.

Standing outside, waiting for what could be the scouts handing over her belongings had been agonizing. But as he held her close in his arms, felt the warmth of her body, and stroked her hair to calm her, he knew without a doubt that he would do it all over again.

"We're just happy that you're safe, dear."

Ilse calmed down her last few sniffles, looking up from her mother's jacket to show her puffy red eyes. Her eyes widened briefly as she remembered that they were not alone. Looking behind her, she saw Gohan and Mike standing awkwardly as she and her parents consoled each other. Clearing her throat, she stepped away to introduce the two bystanders.

"Mom, Dad. This is Mike Zacharius, a fellow squad leader."

Mike gave the two middle aged parents a nod, quickly reciprocated by the father.

"And this is Gohan…he's the one who saved me."

Her mother stifled a gasp, engrossed by the boy's presence. This was the one who had saved her baby? She promptly advanced on him and embraced him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Thank you, young man. Thank you so much."

Gohan blushed bright red, though that may have been from lack of oxygen.

"Uh, it was no problem ma'am."

The mother immediately pulled away and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Young man, what you did was a miracle."

He gave an awkward chuckle, averting his eyes in nervousness.

"I just did what anyone else would do, ma'am."

Instead of answering, she openly stroked his hair, which had grown easily as long as during his training in the time chamber.

"Humble and a savior. Your parents must be so proud."

"Gohan!"

It was Mike, drawing his attention away from Ilse's family and instead towards where he and a woman stood. Apparently, while Gohan had been watching the touching reunion, he had been organizing…something. He recognized the woman immediately as the nice lady who had given him his clothes.

"This is Anka Rheinberger. You won't be needed back for five hours, so she's been instructed to escort you around town in the meantime."

Wait, what?

"Ummm. What else do you need me for?"

It was Anka who answered this time.

"Due to your…unique circumstances, the garrison will be organizing a place for you to stay. We still have your file Mr. Son, and we're aware of the situation regarding your parents."

Ah. That. He'd almost forgotten about the lie that he had told years back when he'd first arrived. Now he was going to have to stay in some orphanage like Pigero and the others had been. He remembered the stories that Pigero had told him though, and an orphanage didn't sound fun. He wished that he could stay with the Jaegers again. That had been fun. Teaching Eren martial arts. Reading books with Armin. Or drawing with Mikasa. Too bad he'd lost them after Shiganshina.

"Oh, okay then."

He couldn't prevent the frown that wormed its way onto his face.

"Hey, don't worry, Gohan, we'll still be friends."

"Thanks, Ilse."

"Don't worry about it. Here, let me write you my address, and you can send me letters whenever you get lonely."

The frown found itself quickly being replaced a wide smile as she took out her pencil.

"Ah! I forgot, Commander Erwin has my notebook!"

"Here."

Surprisingly, it had come from the almost always silent Mike, who was handing Ilse a piece of paper that he had ripped out of his own notebook. Their hands touched briefly as she accepted the paper, a small blush emerged onto her cheeks which she quickly hid.

After a quick scribbling, Ilse handed the paper over to Gohan, who carefully placed it inside one of his pockets. When he'd finished, she gave him a quick, but affectionate, embrace.

"Thank you again, Gohan. I can never repay you enough for what you did. You should come over for dinner sometime."

"Don't go too far, Ilse, you'll be needed back in two hours."

"What for, Mike?"

"Additional debriefing. Orders of Commander Erwin."

There was something off about Mike's wording. Though given how rarely the man seemed to speak, that could have been normal. But given how Ilse had immediately straightened and saluted, Gohan doubted it was something so simple.

As Ilse and her family turned to walk away, he heard their voices pick up again.

"So, that Mike boy was cute, dear."

"Mom."

"Come on, sweetie, he's far too old for Ilse. He must be in his thirties at least!"

"Yes, but did you see how they looked at each other? I swear, dear, there were hearts in their eyes. I remember when you used to look at me like that."

"Mom!"

"Who says I don't, dear?"

"Dad! I'm 23! I don't want to hear this!"

As the sounds of laughter faded away, Gohan turned to look up at Anka, who was waiting patiently for him to leave as well.

"So…what's fun to do here?"

After almost four hours of walking around Trost, Gohan was bored. The district was approximately the same size as Shiganshina, which hadn't been very large itself. Although it had a lot of places to see, very few were unique, with much of the district's layout being taken up by shops and houses. Now however, they were on their way to Gohan's most eagerly anticipated location. The food markets.

"So I can have anything, right?"

"Within reason, kid. I don't have much on me, and I don't think the Garrison will be very happy at having to pay a large dinner bill."

Whilst Gohan gave one of his typical nervous chuckles, on the inside he was a bit more torn.

I don't want to make her pay for my food, it's her money! With my appetite, I could bankrupt her. But I'm so hungry…maybe if I just had a bit? No. I just have to wait until later. But then again…maybe just a look at the market?

In the meantime…

"So, Anka. Have you lived in Trost for long?"

"Not really. I was born in the Orvud District and sent down here as part of my enlistment."

"Oh." He'd been trying to get Anka to talk to him for the entire trip. Unfortunately, she was as stoic as Piccolo, not being rude, but not opening up either. "Do you like it here?"

"It's okay. I need to get used to it though, in a few days I'll be joining the protection detail of Commander Pixis."

"Who?"

"Commander Dot Pixis, he's the leader of the entire southern garrison."

"Oh. That's…cool."

"We're here, kid."

Indeed they were, and it was just as magnificent as Gohan had hoped. The sizzling of meat as it was cooked over fires, the hollers of merchants as they advertised their wares. Everything was spectacular…except for the three long lines of people only a few meters away.

"Who are they?"

"They're refugees. After wall Maria fell, they flooded in from every district and every town. Heading straight to the nearest districts of wall Rose."

"That's so sad. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Anka gave him a blank look.

"There's no helping this, Gohan. I'm sorry, truly I am."

He lowered his head in disappointment. Even without his Ki senses he could feel the anguish in the air. These people were without hope, their homes destroyed, and even after two years they couldn't put their lives back together after such a loss. Instead they were forced to wait in lines each day and beg for food. Beg for the mercy of the government to provide them with the means to survive.

"This is terrible."

For once, Anka found herself wanting to cheer up the boy.

"Do you want to get something to eat? You kept saying you were hungry."

Giving a long look around the market place, Gohan found that even as a half Saiyan, he'd lost his appetite. He could eat a lot, more than several fully grown adults put together, but even if he couldn't, to take even a bite away from these people just felt…immoral.

"I wish I had something to give them."

Anka frowned. She'd seen the refugee lines before, even back in Orvud shortly before she'd been ordered down to Trost. The lines in her home town had been tiny by comparison to those in the southern regions, where so many more people had been reduced to bankruptcy as they were the first to face the Titan onslaught.

Humanity's counterattack itself had been the result of so many refugees. The central government hadn't said that obviously. They'd made some excuse about "not bowing down to the Titan horde" and "drawing a line in the sand". But Anka was no fool. She knew the real reason why so many were sent to their deaths. The fact that Trost was one of the few places with refugee lines still present was evidence enough.

She looked down at Gohan, who was still transfixed on the lines of homeless. She'd never tell him the real reason for the attack, she hadn't known him for long, but already she could tell how he would react to that dark news. So she tried to change the subject again.

"You know it's almost time for us to go back. We could go back early if you like?"

The boy said nothing, merely turning around to walk away. Anka followed him, unaware of the set of eyes that were mesmerized by his presence.

"Gohan?"

The voice stopped him in his tracks. That voice…it sounded very familiar. Twisting, Gohan looked around for the origin of the voice, only to find it came from a girl. One which looked very familiar.

"Mikasa?"

She had grown only marginally since he'd last seen her two years ago, still bearing the red scarf that she was never without, and her long black hair still reached down to her shoulders.

She reached her hand behind her and tugged on the sleeve of a boy, who turned and gaped at Gohan like her.

"Eren?"

His face had become less rounded in those two years, and he'd grown similarly to his adopted sister.

"You're alive?"

"Yep. How are you? It's been a while hey?"

She stared at him dumbfounded. The seconds stretched by as she continued to gaze at him, silent in contemplation.

"Guys? Are you alri-"

They sprinted towards him and embraced him in hug, squeezing him as tightly as their bodies would allow. Mikasa's face disappeared as she buried it in his shirt, her voice still silent as Gohan slowly wrapped his arms around them in return.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

He heard Eren release a small growl from his shirt before he pulled away and looked him in the eyes.

"I thought you were dead! I saw you get grabbed by that Titan while I…while I ran."

He hung his head in remorse, unable to continue looking into Gohan's eyes.

"I ran and left you to die."

Gohan did a double take. Eren was sad because of that?

"Eren." The boy raised his head to look at him. "Why are you sad? I told you to run."

"But I shouldn't have! I should've stayed to help you! I could have helped you kill that Titan."

"Eren, I didn't want you to stay. I wanted you to escape, whether I killed that Titan or not didn't matter to me."

Small tears brimmed Eren's eyes, but his voice had failed him. Damn it, Gohan. Why did he have to be so selfless? Realizing he was making him awkward by staring at him, Eren cleared his throat to speak again.

"Thank you, Gohan. I can never repay you enough."

He blushed furiously and averted his eyes, something he seemed to have been doing a lot of that day. "It was nothing Eren."

"Nothing?" How could he think that was…? Eren smiled to himself. "I need to show you something."

Eren took off, grabbing a hold of Gohan's arm and dragging him along.

"Whoa, Eren!"

"Eren, where are we going?"

Gohan was still just as confused as when they had left the markets. Eren had let go of his arm a while back, yet he continued to run and ignore his questions. He'd tried asking Mikasa, but she had remained as silent as Eren. Glancing back, Gohan saw that Anka was still, reluctantly, keeping up with them. Herself having been shouting at the children to stop. Finally, Eren slowed down.

"We're here."

Without pausing, he ran towards one of the nearby houses and ripped the door open.

"Mom! We have a visitor!"

He disappeared inside in a rush, his footsteps echoing throughout the house. As Mikasa made to follow, she paused to tilt her head at Gohan, signaling him to enter. After she had departed, Gohan turned back to Anka who was waiting awkwardly.

"You've still got a little bit of time before we have to go back, I'll wait out here. It seems kind of private."

He nodded in appreciation before turning back to the doorway. He slowly walked in, admiring the décor as he did. It was similarly designed to their first house in Shiganshina, with a spartan, yet homely, feel. With a set of flowers acting as decoration, and a series of boxes displaying family treasures. It was noticeably smaller however, with their table pushed too close to the wall, and chairs stacked away in the corner.

There was one room nearby which was waiting with its door wide open. There were voices coming from the other side, hushed as they seemed to whisper to each other. As he crossed the boundary of the door frame, he soaked in the room.

Mikasa and Eren were stood on the opposite end of the room, behind a desk where a middle aged woman sat facing away from him. Unlike Eren and Mikasa, Mrs. Jaeger had changed a noticeable amount in the two years since Shiganshina. Her long, brown hair which had previously stretched down to her middle back, was now grey and sat uncomfortably around her shoulders. Eren was whispering to her, seemingly keeping quiet so as to surprise her about Gohan's presence.

Noticing Gohan enter, Eren's eyes darted towards him and he paused. Carla gently turned around to see the visitor her son had spoken of. As she locked eyes with Gohan, he spotted the wrinkles that had emerged onto her face. While he hadn't known her long, he was certain that she had never shown any visible signs of aging before. Looking at her now, it seemed that she had aged 10 years, rather than two.

"Gohan?"

The question that escaped her lips was barely audible, but he still heard her.

"Hi, Mrs Jaeger. Ummm, how are you?"

For several moments the mother only gaped at him, her mind failing her as she searched for the right words. Here he was. Her savior. Alive. Gohan watched as she began to hastily look around her immediate surroundings. Her arms shot out wildly, hitting unknown objects surrounding her chair as she scrambled to break free.

After a moment of fidgeting, Gohan heard an audible -click- as Carla set her hands on either side of her chair. Except it wasn't just a chair, as Carla moved away from behind her desk, Gohan realized that it was in fact a wheelchair. Making her away through the cramped room, she pushed herself over to Gohan's feet.

"Mrs…Mrs. Jaeger…"

His knees were feeling heavy as her eyes wandered over him. She was in a wheelchair. She was in a wheelchair! How!?

"Gohan."

Her voice was far more discernable now, having become more confidant in her speaking. Slowly, Gohan bent down to Carla's eye level, absorbed by the conflicting emotions that he could see in them.

"Um, Mrs. Jaeger I-"

He was cut off as she embraced him tightly, leaving him crouching awkwardly in front of her.

"You saved my life."

His response was incoherent as it was muffled by her tight grasp. Loosening her grip, he stepped back and looked her in the eyes once more.

"It was no problem, Mrs. Jaeger."

"No problem? Son, you saved my life. I don't know how but you did it! No normal person could lift that roof!"

For the briefest of moments, Gohan cursed his Saiyan biology. No matter what, he would never fit in, always be seen as a freak.

"Gohan, you performed a miracle. Whatever it is or was…thank you."

She was thanking him? He couldn't help it when his eyes locked down on her wheelchair. She couldn't walk! She had been robbed of that right.

"Mrs. Jaeger, you shouldn't be thanking me. You can't… I should have done more. I should have saved you from this."

She was taken aback by his response. He truly thought this? How could this boy be so…selfless?

"Gohan." He didn't look at her, his eyes still frozen on her wheelchair. She repeated his name with more force, compelling him to look at her.

"Gohan, you have done more than anyone could have ever asked of you. More than what was even possible. You have saved my life and given me so much by doing so. I've had two more years with my children. Two more years to raise my son and Mikasa. Whatever I've had to sacrifice, my home, my legs. It's all been worth it."

Looking into her eyes, Gohan's spirits had begun to lift. He gave her a weak smile before embracing her again.

"Gohan, what happened to you? How did you escape?"

He gave them a small chuckle before repeating his story again. It was probably getting close to the eighth time that he'd explained what had happened since Shiganshina. Between revealing his story to Ilse the first time they'd met, and reciting it incessantly to Commander Erwin, Gohan was extremely confident that he could retell the story in his sleep.

They'd remained quiet throughout the entire time, refusing to interrupt him with their questions. When he'd finished, they had bombarded him for details. Since he'd never told them about Ki, they were naturally interested in how he'd escaped the literal clutches of a Titan. He'd remained vague when telling them, only stating that he'd used an "old martial arts technique", and that he had gotten extremely lucky, which was true.

The rest of his story hadn't needed as much explanation, with nothing major having happened during his time spent living in the forest. Or at least nothing he was willing to reveal. When he'd finished, he'd asked them about what had happened since last seeing them.

Apparently, the house they were in was 'provided' by the central government to ease the burden caused by the flood of refugees filling up the homeless camps they possessed. They'd only been allowed to live inside after the failed reclamation attempt had been made. As it turned out, many of those sent to fight had been refugees from wall Maria. Had Carla not been tragically crippled, she likely would have been sent as well. Armin's grandfather had unfortunately been among those who were sent out, only to never return.

They'd scraped by, living on their allowance provided by the government, increased as Mikasa, Eren, and Armin all lived in the same house, and through part time jobs each of them had. Mikasa and Eren helped to deliver letters and newspapers around town, whereas Armin had work in a small library where he was currently completing a shift.

Carla hadn't been as fortunate in options as the children. Despite being old enough to work in better paid jobs, her…condition didn't allow her to, and she'd been taken to teaching basic first aid when given the opportunity. Having been the wife of, arguably, one of the best doctors in all of the cities had taught her a few things that had come in handy over the last two years.

"Gohan! It's time to go."

It was Anka, her voice resounding loudly throughout the house. Darn it! He'd just gotten to see his long lost friends again. Mikasa, Eren, and Mrs. Jaeger all looked to him bewildered.

"Um, the garrison are going to sort out an orphanage or something for me."

"Gohan, you know that you'll always have a place here, right?"

He couldn't do that. As kind as Mrs. Jaeger was being, and as much as he yearned to live life like the old days when he'd first arrived, he could see how much financial strain she was under. His mother had always tried to hide it from him, especially when he was a child, but he'd known for a long time that his father's winnings from the 23rd WMAT had been dwindling. His mother was too proud to accept money from Bulma or his grandfather, but by living off the land they had lowered their cost of living considerably. But here? Where Mrs. Jaeger and the others were refugees, all having to work together to survive? He would drive them bankrupt with his appetite.

"It's okay Mrs. Jaeger. Who knows? They might even find my mom when I'm there. I'll be fine."

It was an obvious lie, one that all three had seen through with little effort. However, before either could question him, Anka was shouting for him again, and he was out the door in a flash. Shouting back that he'd promise to write when he was sorted as he followed her away.

Eren and Mikasa watched him go, disappointed that he couldn't stay longer. One specific part was on Mikasa's mind however.

"You didn't tell him."

"He never wanted me to join. I didn't want to ruin the moment."

"Mom accepted it."

"That's because we need the money. He wouldn't understand."

Eren trudged off inside the house, leaving her alone in the doorway. Whether he'd understand or not, Gohan should have known that they wouldn't receive much of his mail in boot camp.

It surprisingly didn't taken them long to reach the garrison headquarters. All of the wandering around town had finished with them only a short distance away, giving them an almost peaceful stroll back. Gohan's mind had been anything other than peaceful though.

'He couldn't stand it. The sight of those refugees. Waiting in line as they starved. His friends among them! All because of the Titans that had broken through the wall. Mrs. Jaeger was permanently scarred because of what happened. It just felt so…wrong to do nothing. To stand by while Titans continued to roam inside of wall Maria. Time ticking away as nobody knew when the two Titans from Shiganshina would show up again.'

Anka certainly wasn't blind to Gohan's internal troubles. She'd hoped that seeing his friends at the markets would have cheered him up somewhat, but he hadn't. He wasn't any more depressed, just…conflicted. Like he was searching for a purpose. Then again, it could have been anything for the 13 year old. Regardless, they were back now. It was up to the orphanages to help him now. She had to report back to Commander Erwin. And just as luck would have it, there he was.

"Commander Erwin, sir."

At her request, he turned around to address the two.

"Good work, I trust he behaved?"

'He' was staring at the ground, lost in thought.

"Gohan?"

Snapping him out of his musing, Gohan looked up to see Erwin's commanding presence before him.

"Sir?"

"Are you ok?"

Was he? His thoughts were still racing throughout his head. He had to do something, he had to find a way to protect these people, just like his father would have. But what? His mind emptied itself as he focused on something. It was the badge that Erwin wore. The badge of the Survey Corps. What was it that Eren had called it? The "wings of freedom". Freedom. He would set these people free of this nightmare.

"Commander Erwin, sir."

"Yes?"

"I wish to join the Survey Corps."