"What about that one?"

"Nah, too tall."

"That one?"

"Too skinny."

"That one?"

"Too ugly."

"Will you make your mind already?" You asked, growing inpatient as your friend held her hands up in defense.

"If we're gonna have a signature tree, I want it to be perfect," she explained, before looking around once more on the search for the perfect tree. You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms, looking off into the distance in boredom before you heard a gasp and looked over at your friend, only to see that she was gone.

"Kadence, wait!" You yelled and ran after her. Once you caught up to her, she was standing in front of what you assumed to be "the perfect tree", as she stared at the tree.

"This is the one," she said, before sitting down under the tree. You sighed, happy she finally found a tree, before sitting down beside her.

"A lot of fuss over a tree," you muttered.

It was peaceful. The leaves were covering the sun, letting you and Kadence cool down from the heat. The only sounds were talking in the distance and the leaves brushing up against each other whenever there was a slight breeze. That was all interrupted once you heard petite footsteps. You looked to your side, seeing Krista walking towards the two of you. A smile formed on her face once she saw you looking towards her.

"What are you two doing?" Krista asked, her voice as high-pitched as always as she sat down on your other side.

"We just found our new signature tree!" Kadence explained happily, leaning forward to see Krista.

"I had one, too," Krista replied, and you couldn't help but be a little shocked that she knew what a signature tree even was and didn't think you two were crazy, but you decided to shrug it off.

"It's peaceful over here," Krista said, looking at the socializing trainees in the distance. You nodded in agreement, even though you weren't sure if Krista had even seen it.

"Well, since you're all on a break, why not meet the others?" Krista suggested, causing both you and your friend to look over at her. "I'm sure they'd be happy to meet the two of you."

"I don't mean to be rude or anything," you started, causing Krista to look over at you. "But, why exactly do you want us to meet them so badly?"

"I like you two," Krista replied, her smile only growing. "And I'm pretty sure the others will, too." She stood up and offered a hand to both you and your friend. You both gladly excepted the offer, and got up as well.

"Come on," Krista started, her kind smile never leaving her face. "They should be gathered in the mess hall. Most of them, at least." Kadence nodded eagerly in response, happy to be able to meet her heroes. You smiled at her childish behavior, before following Krista to the mess hall, Kadence by your side at all times.

"Huh," Krista muttered out loud once the three of you had reached the mess hall. Her eyes scanned the hall, before seeing a certain trio in the back. She looked back at you and Kadence with a smile.

"Come on," she said, before making her way to the table with you and Kadence following behind. Once you came closer, you saw a certain teal-eyed boy sitting with a girl with black hair and a red scarf, and a (cute) boy with blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Eren looked up and smiled when he saw you.

"Hey, (Y/N)," Eren greeted, causing a confused look to cross Krista's face.

"You two know each other?" She asked, looking over at Eren for an answer. The girl and blonde-haired boy had turned their attention to you and Eren by now.

Eren nodded. "We met in 3DMG training." Krista nodded in response, before remembering there's a certain black-haired girl and blonde-haired boy who she can imagine are very confused.

"This is Mikasa and Armin," Krista explained, pointing at the girl before pointing at the boy.

"Mikasa and Armin, this is (Y/N) and Kadence," Krista continued, pointing at you before pointing at Kadence, who waved happily. You would've saluted, but decided not to since both Krista and Eren had said that there was no need for that.

"Attention!" You heard Shadis yell from outside, and you instantly figured that the break was over. Judging by the look on Kadence's face, you figured she thought the same thing, too.

"I guess we should get back to training, then," Kadence said, sadness in her voice before she grabbed your arm and pulled you out of the mess hall.

Unbeknownst to you, a certain teal-eyed and sky blue-eyed boy was hoping you could stay a little longer.

Shadis had told everyone to grab a wooden dagger and pair up with someone for combat. The first person to retrieve the other person's dagger would win. You had paired up with Kadence, just like you had yesterday for hand-to-hand combat. Kadence had actually beaten you yesterday, believe it or not.

"Ready to get beaten again, (Y/N)?" Kadence asked with a smirk, twirling her dagger in her hand.

You smirked back at her, knowing you would not go easy on her. "You're on."

--

"Krista, why exactly did you want us to meet (Y/N) and Kadence so badly?" Armin asked, looking over at Krista who sat beside him. She shrugged in response.

"I just thought they seemed nice, and I figured you guys would think so, too," she replied.

"Come on, Krista," Eren started. "That can't possibly be the only reason."

"You've never introduced anyone else to us before," Armin pointed out. "So why them?"

"I don't really know why," Krista sighed. "They looked friendly, and actually quite lonely." Krista looked down at the table sadly.

"I don't know," Krista repeated. "There was just something about them... And I figured they'd make good friends." Sasha nodded in agreement, who was currently chewing on a slice of bread. She and Ymir had joined in on the conversation shortly after you and your friend left.

"They are nice," Sasha said through chews. And cute, Eren thought, causing a slight tint of pink to appear on his face thinking of a certain (E/C) eyed girl, and judging by the same color on Armin's cheeks, he was thinking the same thing.

"Who's nice?" Connie asked, before sitting down beside Sasha, Jean sitting down on his other side.

"(Y/N) and Kadence," Eren replied.

"And who are they?" Jean asked, looking around the table at his fellow 104th graduates.

"Two trainees," Sasha said through chews, taking another bite of her bread. "We met them this morning."

"I'm guessing Jean and I are the only ones who haven't met them?" Connie asked, earning a nod from Krista, before the 105th trainees came to the mess hall for dinner, including you and your friend.

"I told you I'd win," you teased your friend, looking over at her and smirking. She only rolled her eyes in response, before both of you left to grab your trays of food. Before you and Kadence had time to find a table to sit, Sasha had grabbed your arm and pulled both of you along to the table with the rest of the 104th.

The 104th graduates went to get trays for themselves (except for Sasha, who had already grabbed her's), as you and Kadence sat down with Sasha across. The three of you ate in silence, the only sound of chewing and other trainees' conversations until the 104th had gotten their trays and sat down.

The others around you small talked, but you didn't join in much. You used to be social, but given your past, it's not weird. But you'd rather not think about that now.

It was getting late and training was finished for the day, so you figured you could just go to your dorm. You bumped Kadence with your elbow gently, causing her to look back at you with her usual smile.

"I think I'll just go to bed now," you said quietly to Kadence, the others still talking with each other. Kadence nodded.

"I'll come with you," she insisted, standing up with her tray, causing everyone around the table to look up at her.

"(Y/N) and I'll be heading to bed now," she informed, a smile forming on her face. "Good night!" There was a chorus of good nights as Kadence walked away to put away her tray, you following quickly after. Unbeknownst to you, a few pairs of eyes had followed you, wishing you could stay a little longer.

"So, what do you think of the 104th?" Kadence asked once you both had came out of the mess hall and were on your way to the girls' dorm.

"They're great," you answered truthfully, your eyes fixated on the floor in front of you.

"Think any of them are cute?" Kadence asked with a smirk, elbowing you playfully as your cheeks turned a light pink. You, in fact, thought most of the boys were quite cute.

You managed to let out a scoff. "No..." Kadence only giggled at your flustered face before turning her attention forward. You both reached the dorm, seeing there was only around two or three girls that had came back. You decided to change clothes, and get straight into bed. You were quite tired, having waken up a few times last night because of nightmares, plus, you had been training all day.

You sighed and closed your eyes, bracing yourself for the next nightmare.