"Pst."

Your unexplainable dream comes to an abrupt end and you can feel your body start to slowly wake up again.

"Happy birthday, y/n." You sense a gentle kiss plant itself onto your forehead and you weakly lift one eye open.

Mikasa sits there on your bed, smiling and holding a small box in her hands. You sit up straight, curiosity growing inside you. "What's that?"

She extends her arm to bring the box forward but right when you reach for it, she pulls it away. "Before I give it to you, there's some stuff I want to say."

You rub at your eyes and do a quick stretch. The curtains in your room were already pulled apart and dim sunlight was shining through. From what you could see so far, it looked like it was a gorgeous day outside. "Okay."

Her fingers fiddle nervously with the ribbon around the small box. You could tell she had words prepared prior to this but now that it was time to say them, nothing would come out.

You grin and scoot closer to her. "Why are you getting shy all the sudden?"

Mikasa's head shoots up. "I'm not! I'm just trying to make sure I say what I have to say without leaving anything out."

You decide to tease her just a bit more. "I can close my eyes or turn around if it's easier for you."

She glares at you and you raise your hands up in defense. She then sits up straight and clears her throat. "Okay. Here goes nothing."

She opens up the lid of the small box after she removes the sparkly ribbon and a gorgeous bracelet with brilliant gemstones in shades of purple and gold becomes exposed.

Your eyes widen and your swollen, morning lips part open. "Whoa."

With her fingers, she lifts up the bracelet and extends her other hand out indicating for you to give her yours. Once you do, she begins to wrap the bracelet around your wrist.

"The purple gems are amethyst and the golden ones are topaz. Amethyst is my birth stone and topaz is yours." She explains.

When the bracelet is attached safely, you bring your sparkling wrist up to your eyeline. "I never realized your birthstone is my favorite color."

She smiles. "Coincidentally."

You return the smile but it quickly fades when you look at the insane quality of the bracelet up close. "Wait. How much did this cost? This looks like I can buy my own castle with it."

She twirls a strand of dark hair around her finger. "I've been saving up for it for a while, don't worry about it."

You feel yourself pout and a tingling sensation arises in your chest. Mikasa starts to laugh. "Don't get emotional yet, I haven't even started my speech."

Oh god.

For some reason, you felt anxious. The tension and suspense kept getting built up the more she struggled to say the words she had planned for a while now.

"Okay." She lets out a shaky breath. "I know that eventually you're gonna leave and you and I aren't going to see eachother anymore and-"

"Stop." You interrupt her but she continues regardless.

Her head falls forward, her eyes refusing to look at yours. "I wish I could go with you but I can't. So, I got this bracelet so it'll be like I'm always with you even when I'm not."

You felt lightheaded. Your mouth watered like your body was signaling you were on the verge of vomiting. You hated talking about this.

"I just don't want you to feel alone." She admits. "I've been by your side for years now and you're going to leave to some other land and you're going to be surrounded by strange people you know nothing about and who know nothing about you and I just get worried that-"

You tackle her with a hug once you notice a tremble in her already shaky voice. She gasps when you make impact with her.

"I'll be okay." You reassure her. Truly, you weren't even sure if you would be but she didn't need to know that.

She finally returns your hug and her arms squeeze you tightly like she's afraid to let go. "I'm so sorry, y/n. I know this isn't what you want."

Your heart aches. It aches so painfully that it feels like it could give out on you and you could die right here. "It's okay." You lie.

You pull away from her and force a smile on your face. "I'll be okay. I'll never forget you no matter how far apart we are. I promise."

It seems like those last two words seemed to give her some peace of mind as she sighs with relief. She wipes tears that escaped from her eyes and sniffles. "Sorry, I don't mean to get all sappy and everything."

You use your thumb to wipe a stray tear she missed. "I haven't even brushed my teeth yet and you're already making me contemplate life."

She laughs loudly. A genuine laugh that was like music to your ears. "Okay, okay. Get up now, we have to get you dressed."

You hop off your bed, using the back off your hand to move the canopy curtains that hang above your bed out of your face so you can see.

After you brush your teeth and do everything else you need to do, Mikasa walks over to your window seat and grabs the long rectangular box that rested there.

She sets it on your bed after she ties the curtains of your bed out of the way. You open up the box and admire the flamboyant dress that was impossible not to stare at.

"Hitch is coming to help me put the dress on. I know you hate tying my corsets." You mention to Mikasa who was seated at the edge of your bed and staring at the dress.

Her eyes then flick up to meet yours. "Speaking of Hitch. I've been thinking about something. I think Hitch really is the spy."

You laugh as you take the whole dress out of the box and hold it against your chest. "You're still with that?"

"Yes!" She stands up from the bed. "I'm being serious."

Walking up to the long mirror in the corner of your room, you keep the dress against your body and try to picture it actually on you. "There's no way. It can't be her."

Mikasa crosses her arms and you can see her provoked expression through the mirror. "Why not?"

You turn back to look at her. "Because she wouldn't."

She responds dryly. "That's not a good enough defense."

You set the dress back down at on the bed, careful not to mess it up in any way possible. It was absolutely stunning. Hitch really out did herself. The fact she did this in just 24 hours showed perfectly how talented she is. "I personally think it's Jean."

"Jean? Why?" Mikasa asks. She walks up to your windows and opens them up for air to come in. She seemed to start feeling hot and you knew it was because she was making herself mad.

You watch as an orange leaf slips through the open window and lands swiftly on the floor by your feet. "I don't know. I just think it's weird that around the time he came to work here, we start getting threats."

"He wasn't the only one who started that year. Hitch did too." She snaps. You look at her confused. Why was she getting so upset?

You lean back against your nightstand and eye her carefully. "What do you have against Hitch?"

She looks out the window and shrugs lazily. "It's just a vibe I get."

You walk over to the window and take a seat beside her. "I think you're just jealous."

Mikasa scoffs. "Jealous? Of Hitch?"

You scoot closer to her. Your thighs touch and you're just a few inches away from her face. "I see how you look at her whenever she's around me."

A pretty shade of pink spreads over the tops of Mikasa's cheeks and running across her nose. You smirk. "That's why your mood changed right now when I mentioned she was going to put my dress on."

Her eyes dart back at forth between yours. "No. I just don't trust her." She says softly as she gets lost for a sweet moment.

You suddenly pull away and stand up. "If you say so." She blinks her eyes rapidly as she comes back to reality.

Right on time, Hitch busts into the room without even knocking. "PARTYYYY TIMEEE." She sings.

Mikasa's smile drops and her face returns back to usual unimpressed expression. "You could knock, you know?"

You laugh to yourself. She was terrible at hiding her discontent. When she was bothered by something, it was extremely noticeable.

Hitch brushes her comment off like nothing and smiles. "She doesn't mind. Right Princess?" She then hugs you tightly. "Happy birthday gorgeous."

When she hugs you, she grins at Mikasa who sits by the window still. Her face was as emotionless as ever.

After she pulls away, she claps her hands together. "Okay, let's do this. Start taking off your clothes."

You quickly undress and stand up on the pedestal in front of the large mirror in your room. Hitch then begins to slip the dress onto you.

Once it's on, you refuse to look in the mirror until it's on you fully. She still needed to adjust the corset so you decide to wait for the final product.

"You smell amazing." Hitch compliments you as she pulls the strings of your corset firmly. You could already feel it tightening around your body.

"Thanks. I've been using the new body cream you got for me." You say as you try to breathe in and out.

"That's the one I gave you? I have a good nose then." Hitch looks up at you and smiles.

"Hey Hitch." Mikasa calls. "You live here in Eldia, right?"

The blonde keeps her focus on the strings between her fingers. "Yeah. Why?"

Mikasa crosses one leg over the other. "How long?"

Hitch laughs. "My entire life? I was born here." You look at Hitch's reflection in the mirror, careful to avoid your own, and see Mikasa sitting to her left, watching her carefully.

"Can you prove that?" She asks.

Hitch stops pulling for a moment and turns to Mikasa. You keep your eyes on their reflections as you lean forward, both hands on the wall in front of you. "Why suddenly so interested in my life, Mikasa?"

Your eyes dart to Mikasa when you realize Hitch called her by her name and not Lady Mikasa like all other staff are supposed to. You were worried she was going to snap but instead, she looked unimpressed, unfazed, and unbothered as ever. "Just trying to get to know you better."

Hitch pulls rough on two of the strings and you gasp as the air gets taken away from you. "Buy me dinner and I'll tell you all about me." She smiles.

Mikasa scoffs and laughs. "Even the part where you're a traitor?"

"Mikasa!" You snap. Hitch pulls hard on the final strings. "What did you just say?"

You gasp for air again as the corset tightens around your torso. You could've swore you heard one of your ribs crack.

Mikasa stands up and crosses her arms. She turns to look at you. "I don't recall me stuttering. Do you, Princess?"

You suck in a deep breath. "I'm not going to lie, I'm not sure anything that just happened is real. I think I'm hallucinating due to lack of oxygen."

Hitch mimics Mikasa's posture. "I don't know what happened that you're suspicious of someone being a traitor but I'm assuming it has to do with the princess. But in that case, you should be the number one suspect."

"Okay! Okay! Enough." You cough. "Man, this hurts. Why is it so tight? I feel like I'm going to pass out."

The two girls finally break away from mean mugging each other to look at you. All three of you stare into the mirror in complete amazement.

"Whoa.." You say as you scan yourself. You start to laugh and jump up and down. "Holy shit, I look amazing!"

Hitch squeals. "Yeah you do!" She grabs your hands and raises them up so she can get a good look at the dress. "Okay, I'm a literal genius." She looks up at you. "It helps my model is gorgeous though." She winks.

Mikasa's face finally softens and she shakes her head with a smile. "I can't believe you've never wore red before. It's like it's made for you."

You giggle at the compliments. You look at yourself in the mirror and take in your new dress. It hugged your body perfectly and showed the perfect amount of skin without being too scandalous.

The color radiated against your skin. The cool red tone complimenting your features. You then realize, you have just fallen in love with yourself for the first time.

After Hitch adds any final touches like jewelry and makeup, you grab the sides of your dress to pick it up as you jump off the pedestal, slip on your shoes and rush over the door. "Can we go already?"

You open up the door and see Jean standing up against the wall across your room, waiting patiently.

He looks up at you and instantly drops the cup of coffee he was holding in his hands, the brown hot liquid spilling everywhere.

Jean stands there in disbelief. He didn't know what he expected you to look like in that red dress but it wasn't as nearly as incredible as this.

His eyes trail all over you, admiring the vibrant dress tied tightly to your body. They look over your exposed shoulders and chest. The way it shaped your hips. The way it flowed beautifully by your feet.

The way he was staring at you made you want to crawl into a hole. It felt like your skin was on fire.

You smile gently. "How do I look?"

He stares in awe. "You...uh.."

You stand there like an idiot as you wait for him to give you a response back but it was like he couldn't speak. You weren't sure if that was a good thing or not.

Mikasa snaps at him. "Hello?! She asked you something!"

You could feel yourself grow less confident, the excitement from earlier slowly disappearing as insecurity takes it's place. "Does it look bad or something?"

"No!" He panics. "You just, um," He shakes his head subconsciously. "Man."

You scoff. "Nevermind. Don't have a stroke." You hiss as you brush past him. He stumbles aside as you do.

Mikasa shakes her head and does the same. "Smooth."

Mikasa joins you as you walk down the hallway and try to regain your confidence. You weren't going to let Jean ruin how pretty you felt. You didn't even know why you cared for his opinion in the first place.

"Wait!" You hear Jean call after you. You turn your head to look back at him and he's about to chase after you but Hitch stops him.

"Did you like the princess's dress? I made it just in 24 hours." She beams. She had her arm linked with his as they walked along side eachother.

When did she become so friendly with him? Hitch was naturally a social butterfly and normally would always talk to Jean but it was different this time. She was getting closer than usual.

Was it because of the horse joke he made? Was she trying to find out if it was true? You couldn't blame her for being curious. She was single and so was he. They were even kinda a cute couple. But was does it still feel...odd?

She smiles brightly and laughs along side him and you try to read his expression to see if he's flirting back just as much.

[art creds: YurikoSchneide on twitter!!]

"Hello? Did you hear anything I said?" Mikasa says besides you. You turn to her. "Hm? Oh, no sorry."

She turns back to see what you were so distracted by and sees Hitch holding on to Jean and laughing. She stares for a while before turning back to you and whispering, "You see it now too, huh?"

"What?" You ask. You hear Hitch laughing louder than usual behind you and you keep your head forward and pretend you didn't even hear the flirtatious words that come out of her mouth and slips into your ears.

Mikasa leans in closer. "That she's suspicious."

You smile as you try not to laugh, your eyebrows together as you try to be serious. "She's just talking to Jean."

Mikasa squeezes your arm. "Exactly!" She whispers aggressively. "She's been talking to him more than usual lately, getting all close and stuff."

"So?" You ask her. She gives you an irritated look in return. "Sooo, what a coincidence she started trying to get close to him ever since he became your bodyguard. Don't you think that's strange?"

It did make sense. You saw where she was coming from. But you refused to admit it. Plus, Hitch couldn't possibly be the snitch because she doesn't even know about your powers to begin with.

Right?

"You're overthinking it." You state to Mikasa but mainly toward yourself. "Just relax, alright? It's my birthday and I don't want to spend it playing find the snitch."

Mikasa takes in a deep breath and then exhales. "Fine. But just keep your eye out."

Dropping the conversation, you and Mikasa head to the ballroom where the king and queen reside in their thrones. Guards come in and out, holding large gifts and even some small ones. "Ohhhh shit, are those all for me?" You ask hysterically.

Eren drops a heavy box down and wipes sweat from his forehead. "I think someone bought you a fucking elephant."

You laugh and feel Mikasa tense up beside you. Eren does exactly the same when he sees her. You feel Mikasa's nails dig into your arm begging you to save her.

You pretend to be oblivious to the stinging sensation in your forearm and do nothing. One of them had to have the balls to say something.

"Good morning Mikasa." Eren smiles as he tries to clean up his messy bun by tucking wild strands of hair behind his ears. He then looks at you and his eyes snap open. "I mean, Lady Mikasa."

You try your hardest not to laugh. Mikasa clears her throat warning to not even dare. "Good morning Eren. Do you need help bringing gifts in?"

He suddenly stands straight up, straightening his back and— was he puffing out his chest a little? Oh god. "Nah, I got it. They're not heavy at all." He plays it cool.

You point your thumb at the box he slammed to the ground just a few seconds ago. "Not even the elephant one?"

Mikasa giggles a little and Eren glares at you. "I was just about to compliment you but I take it back already."

You chuckle and lean closer to him. "Save the compliments for her." You whisper as your tilt your head in Mikasa's direction.

You enter into the ballroom, passing Eren and the large box he left on the ground. He turns to call after you. "Oh. Happy birthday by the way, Princess!"

You wave behind your head as you venture further into the ballroom all the way to the back. Against the wall, as usual, sat two massive thrones. The only thing difference about the appearance today was there was about 30 brightly wrapped boxes in front of them.

"Are these all mine?" You ask pointing at the boxes. "That's insane. Who are all these from?"

Your mother stands from her throne and makes her way down the steps toward you. "Some are from other kingdoms. Some are from the people of Eldia." She kisses your cheek and embraces you in a hug. "And then some are from us. Happy birthday, my beautiful girl."

"Thank you." You hug her back. Your father sighs as he steps down the steps now too. "19 years old. already. When did you get so old?"

You roll your eyes and let him wrap his large arms around you. He kisses the top of your head. "Stop growing so much, will you?"

"Right? She's like a giant." Kai appears. "How tall are you again? Like, 7'5?"

You fake a laugh. "Funny. I'm 5'8. What are you? 2'3?"

His proud smile drops. "5'10 actually."

You try not to let the comment get to you too much. You already knew you were taller than most girls princesses your age. It was inevitable due to the fact that everyone in your family was lengthy. It was in the genetics.

Even your mother was tall and she stood proudly at 5'8, just like you. Elijah and Kai were just two inches taller than the both of you standing at 5'10. The tallest of the children was Ambrose who was 6 foot flat ever since he was 15. Your father beat everyone standing at 6'2.

The only other person you knew who was the same height as your father was Jean but even then, the king looked taller due to the large crown that sat firmly on the top of his head.

Ambrose throws an arm over your shoulder and practically leans all his weight on to you. "How the hell did she get more gifts than me?"

Queen Solana raises her chin proudly. "A lot of these are from princes who are interested in courting your sister."

"Seriously?" You and your two brothers say simultaneously. Kai kicks one of the gifts. "This one looks like the guy wrapped himself up."

The queen looks at all the boxes before her and the ones that are still coming in. "Well, we're going to inspect every single one of them first before she can open them so we'll find out if he did."

You turn to her. "Wait, I don't even get to open my own presents? I did last year."

"That was last year." Solana clarifies. "Things are different now. You can open the ones from your brothers and us."

You open your mouth to argue when you overhear a conversation your brothers are having off to the side. "They look sorta good together." Kai says staring at the front of the massive room.

You spin around. "Who? Mikasa and Eren?" You ask as you join their huddle.

"What? No. Jean and Hitch." He points at the two who were still talking to eachother. Jean was holding the door open for people to bring in even more presents while Hitch held the other door open. They were smiling as they talked about something you couldn't hear from this far.

Ambrose scoffs. "She can do better."

Kai laughs. "More like he can do better."

Ambrose frowns. "You don't think she's hot?"

"I'm not really into blondes." Kai shrugs.

Ambrose flashes the most dull, unimpressed facial expression you had ever seen on him. He clicks his tongue and shakes his head. "Well, I'm not picky. Blonde, brunettes, gingers."

"Yeah." You pat his chest. "We get it. You're a whore."

You watch as guards throughly inspect the gifts before handing them over to you. You read the small cards on each one. "I don't even know who the majority of these people are."

One by one, you get handed things like expensive dresses and coats, rare gems and diamonds, baskets of fruit and sweets, luxurious jewelry and a ton of other things.

Ambrose holds up a massive necklace that looks like it would send you straight to the ground if you put it on due to it's colossal gemstones. "Man, these guys really want to leave a good impression, huh?"

He picks up the card that came with the necklace and flips it around to read it. "Prince Caspicus?"

Kai takes a seat beside you on the ground. "The hell kind of name is that?"

Elijah appears from out of nowhere and sits on the other side of you. "Isn't that the one that literally got on his hands and knees and begged y/n to marry him?"

Ambrose's laugh echos around the ballroom. "Oh yeah! That little shit." He joins the three of you on the floor. "Now that was funny."

All four of you sat around in a circle and pass around the gifts that were given to you from strangers. You were flattered and appreciative of everything but it was painfully obvious that they knew absolutely nothing about you because the presents were all things you never would use or wear.

Suddenly, Kai screams so loud that it sounds like his lungs were going to burst. He throws a pair of pink silk underwear at Ambrose.

Ambrose holds up the panties and gags before he throws it at his older brother. Elijah quickly moves to the side and pinches it before tossing it your way.

You laugh uncontrollably. "There's no way someone got me underwear." You hold up the underwear in front of your brothers and they try their absolute hardest to avoid the pink silk.

You look off to the side and see boxes still unwrapped a couple feet away. If this was how it was already going, you didn't even want to know what was in the rest of the boxes.

You sigh and push away all the mess in the surrounding area. "I think I've had enough unwrapping presents for today."

Elijah stands up and holds out his hand for you to take. "You still have mine."

Kai and Ambrose pick their heads up. "Mine too." They both say at the same time. Elijah grabs your hand and picks you up. "Me first."

You smile at the two boys seated on the floor still as Elijah leads you outside. You pass the doors where Jean, Hitch, Mikasa and Eren stand. Jean stands straighter when he sees you coming as he prepares to follow but Elijah stops him. "We'll be back."

You don't get to catch Jean's face as Elijah drags you out the ballroom. "Where are we going?" You ask. You look down at your connected hands and notice his palms, fingers and knuckles are covered in tiny scratches and the texture of his skin was rougher than usual.

"You'll see." He replies. While his hand is still by yours, you heal the small cuts while he's distracted. They're so small that he probably can't even feel them closing up slowly.

He leads you on to the grounds and under the shade, there's a large easel standing by a wall. He releases your hand but before he does, you notice his skin is a lot softer now.

He walks over to easel and holds out his arms like he's showcasing it. "Ta-da. Happy birthday."

You run over the easel and run your hands along the smooth wood. "Did you make this?" Now you know where all the cuts on his hands were from.

He smiles. "Yeah, it took me months but I figured it would be more meaningful than just buying you one." He holds out his hands for you to look at. "I got splinters and cuts everywhere."

He pauses for a second as he looks down at his perfect palms. "Or I did." He looks at you and narrows his eyes. "Sneaky."

"This is amazing. Thank you." You hug him. "Now I just need paint. I threw hints at Kai so hopefully he got them." You wink.

"Actually," Kai joins you two. "I got you this instead." He holds out a sealed bag and you rip it from his hands. On the bag, the label read Willowna. "You found it?!"

A while back, you read in a book there was herb called Willowna that was spectacular for putting people to sleep. It had the same relaxing properties as lavender as well as the effects of melatonin. Except way stronger. The name derives from the fact that the plant is only able to grow under willow trees specifically.

"Took me fucking forever but yeah." Kai smiles, he looks over to the easel and turns to Elijah. "Great, you built her something with your bare hands and I just got her drugs."

You and Elijah both laugh. You embrace Kai in a hug. "Thank you. You're a lifesaver."

Elijah takes the bag and reads the back of it. "There's a warning on it. It says to use small doses because it's extremely strong." He looks up at you. "You better not put yourself in a coma or something."

"Relax." You snatch the bag away. "It's just to help with my insomnia. It's been worse lately. I'm not going to take a lot and only when I need it."

Ambrose jogs over to where the three of you stand. "Alright, you guys done with your pathetic little gifts?"

The two boys stare at him and you grin. "You got something better?"

Ambrose winks. "Of course." He gestures you to follow him. "You guys too. Let me show you how it's done."

All of you follow behind the confident prince as he leads the way over to the direction of the green house.

The closer you get, you instantly recognize the present. The normal, basic glass doors that usually led to the green house were noticeably different.

The doors were stripped from the hinges and replaced with newer ones. These new doors had some kind of metal-like material bent in ways to form a stunning butterfly plastered right in the center.

Your mouth hangs open. "No way!" You run over to the doors and run your fingers over the stained glass wings of the butterfly.

"How and when did you even get time to do this?" You ask him. He gives you a puzzled look. "Oh, there's no way I made this. I paid someone but the thought still counts, right?"

You open the doors just to test it and realize these doors don't squeak annoyingly like the old ones did. Another thing you noticed about the greenhouse that looked different besides the new doors was the fact that there were live butterflies floating dreamily around the greenhouse, exploring through the rows and rows of colorful flowers you've planted.

Your eyes stay fixed on the scene before you. "Did I forget to mention I also got you butterflies? Must've slipped my mind." Ambrose says nonchalantly, his hands tucked into his pockets.

"This is amazing! How did you get them in here?" You ask. You weren't even sure why you bothered asking considering his next response is extremely predictable. "I didn't do it but that doesn't matter. It was my idea so." He says taking his hands out now.

His hand lands heavy on the top of your head. "Happy birthday. Don't say I never did anything for ya."

You move your head away. "Don't touch my hair."

Elijah stands at the doorway scanning the glass house and all the colorful winged insects swimming in the air. "At the end of the day, I built her something with my bare hands so I win regardless of the number of butterflies you kidnapped."

Kai, who had two butterflies perched on top of him, turns to his two older brothers. "It's not a competition, you know?"

Ambrose brushes past you and walks over to the door where the boys stand. "You're lucky it isn't one."

For three guys who ignored you half your life, they were sure concerned with who got you the best gift.

They start to make their way back to the castle and you follow behind them. You can hear them still arguing on who got the best present and why. They're so into it that they don't even realize you behind them.

Suddenly, Marco taps you on the shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." You smile and follow him as he turns the corner into the empty hall. From behind his back, he pulls out a bouquet of beautiful, pastel tulips. "Happy birthday, Princess."

You stand there unable to move. After all your years of living in this castle, no one other than your family had gotten you flowers besides Mikasa one year. "Wow, they're absolutely gorgeous. Thank you." You take the flowers from him kindly.

"It's nothing." He shrugs off. "My parents own a flower shop. Tulips are your favorite, right?"

You bring the flowers to your nose and lightly smell them. They were fresh and had small drops of water on them that kissed the tip of your nose. "Yeah, how did you know?"

He dries his clammy hands on his pants. "I remember you saying it a couple months ago."

"Mm." You take a whiff of them one last time. "Well, thank you, Marco. They're beautiful. I'm going to go put them in a vase."

"Uh, Princess." He stops you. In order to do so, he grabs your forearm and you stare down at his hand. He immediately pulls it away. "Sorry."

You laugh it off. "You're okay, it just caught me off guard. What's up?"

He steps back a little. "Uh.." He looks around for a second. He starts to rub at the nape of his neck. "Well, I just wanted to say that you're an incredible person."

Your cheeks sting as your lips curl into a smile. "I am?"

He blushes and looks away. "I feel better when I'm around you. You radiate this warm, comforting energy. You're always so happy and energetic. It's contagious."

Although the words of admiration sat kindly within you, you knew it wasn't even your doing. This was something that happened with everyone.

People were drawn to you because you make them feel good. Sometimes, without realizing, you heal the people around you without a single touch.

This was another reason why your parents were so cautious with who they let around you because it was quite an addicting feeling.

You have to be careful with who actually wants to be around you for you and not for how you make them feel. This was something that took forever to get through your head.

You loved that people saw you that way. Saw you as someone who radiated comfort and healing energy but was that the only reason they wanted to be around you? Because you took their pain away?

You couldn't help it though. You loved that you made others feel good. You made the people you cared for happy by just being around them. Even if it meant not knowing if they really cared for you or were just using you.

There were consequences for everything. It seemed obvious that you were given such a gift and that there was bound to be some kind of balance system. The pros and cons.

You didn't even know the full extent of it. Was there only certain types of wounds you could heal? Did you have a limit? Do you lose health while giving it to others? Hell, you didn't even know where you got the gift from to begin with. The origin story was taboo in this castle.

"I'm flattered." You say modestly. "I'm glad you feel good around me. Means I'm doing my job as the Princess right."

You hear a scuff down the hall behind Marco and you look to see what it is. It's Jean and Hitch leaving the ballroom together and talking right outside.

"I have to go help take my presents to my room. I feel bad letting them do all the work. I'll see you later, okay? Thanks for the flowers." You smile. Without waiting for his response, you rush past him and head toward that direction.

"You look amazing today." Marco says loud enough for you to hear him. You stop in your tracks. You turn to him and he smiles shyly. "Red looks great on you."

You smile back at him but it didn't really feel like a smile at all. You appreciated his kind words, truly, but deep down you were disappointed that it wasn't from the person you wanted to hear it from the most. "Thanks Marco."

You return back to where you were originally headed before what just happened but instead of running like you were previously, you just walk back.

When you're a couple feet away, Hitch waves goodbye to Jean and walks in the other direction. He watches her walk away until he sees you standing beside him and he jumps. "How long have you been standing there for?"

"Do you like Hitch?" You ask watching the blonde turn the corner. Jean looks at you. "Huh?"

You look at him too. "You heard me." He shakes his head and grabs some of the boxes and piles them up in his arms. "It's not like that."

You grab the remaining two and walk beside him as he heads in the direction of your room. "Really? Sure looks like it."

He lifts a shoulder up awkwardly, like a half assed shrug. "I mean, she wants me to take her out and stuff but it's Hitch. I've known her since forever. We're just friends."

"You should do it." You say shifting the boxes's weight in your arms to ease the pressure. "Take her out."

Jean gives you a strange look. "Why?"

You mock his expression. "Why not?"

He tosses the boxes up a little so he can adjust his grip. "Why do you want me to take her out?"

You turn away from him and look straight ahead down the empty hall. There was sunlight shining through all the windows, illuminating the way. "Because she's my friend. I want her to be happy."

"Even if it's with me?" Jean asks.

You frown. "Why would I care if it's with you?" You then laugh a little. "I know it might feel like I own you sometimes but I don't. You're free to do whatever you want with whoever you like. It isn't any of my business."

"Whoa." He stops you by putting his arm out in front of you. "I never said I liked Hitch."

You tilt your head and study him. "Well, she thinks you're hot."

Although your eyes are watching him carefully, he still doesn't falter. His face barely changes at all. Either he was really good at hiding it or he genuinely didn't care. "She said that?"

You finally break away. "Yup." The two of your turn the corner into another hallway. Jean stays quiet for about five seconds until he speaks again. "And what did you say?"

"I didn't say anything." Genuinely, you couldn't remember what you had said at the time. Was it something along the lines of "He's alright" or something like that?

His eyes narrow, not fully convinced. "You had to have said something."

"God." You groan as you tilt your head back. "Look, all that happened was I told her about that gross joke you made. She laughed and said you were hot."

He crinkles his forehead. "Joke?" His eyes then shoot open and he howls with laughter. "No way. The horse one?!"

You stare at him blank faced while you wait for him to stop laughing. He lets out a deep sigh when he finally stops. "Well, that definitely explains why she got so close to me all the sudden."

You turn away from him. "Or she's the traitor like Mikasa thinks."

Jean stops walking. "What? She thinks that?" You stop too and nod. He looks up at the ceiling like he's putting two and two together. "I always figured Mikasa didn't like Hitch too much."

"Mikasa wasn't a fan of her even before the whole traitor thing even existed. She always found her annoying. It's only gotten worse now." You exhale.

Jean sets the boxes down while he thinks for a moment. "Well, what do you think? You think it's her?"

You set your two smaller boxes on top of the ones he just set down. "No. I don't believe it's anyone." You lean up against the wall and turn toward the window, admiring the view outside. "But I know it's supposedly someone close to me. Yet, I refuse to believe it is."

The empty hallway was eerily quiet, the only two people in it thinking for a moment. "Everyone is right. I trust too easily and only see the good. The traitor is probably right in front of my eyes and I'm too biased to see it."

You realize you're starting to get sappy in front of Jean and quickly snap out of it. Not to mention it's your birthday and shouldn't be thinking about any of this right now. "Oh well, the truth will come out eventually, right? No point in stressing about it right now."

Jean nods. "What's done in the dark will always come to light."

You point your index finger at him and wink. "Exactly. Until then we—"

"What are you doing?" Mikasa asks, hands on her hips. You turn to her and see she's asking Jean and not you. "Did you seriously need a break from carrying a couple boxes?"

She picks up the boxes from the ground like nothing. Jean stands there baffled. "I put them down cause we were talking about something important."

Mikasa scowls at him. "You can't walk and talk at the same time?"

Sasha runs down the hall, screaming as she does. "HAPPYYYYYY BIRTHDAYYYYY!" She tackles you against the wall and embraces you in a tight hug.

"Ow, you're crushing me." You groan. Sasha's intense grip and the rib cracking corset were too much together.

She lets go of you. "Oops, sorry!" She takes a bag off her shoulder and hands it to you. "Happy Birthday!"

It was brand new quiver with arrows that looked like they were in the most exquisite condition. She then hands you a large case that held the latest and greatest new bow on the market.

You gasp when you take it out of its proper case. "Is this the new one you were telling me about? The one all the pros are using?"

She grins. "I got the last one in stock. I had to tackle some kid for it but he'll be alright I'm sure. He was too young for arrows anyway." She brushes off.

You hold it to your chest and your eyes shine as you look at Sasha. "Can I test it out?"

She laughs. "Of course, it's all yours. Shoot things to your hearts desire."

Mikasa looks at Sasha. "Let's not encourage that." She then returns back to you. "I'm going to leave this stuff in your room and then go check on your cake after, okay? Shoot targets only, please."

"Oh! I'll go with you!" Sasha chimes when she hears cake. You didn't know if she was excited about the cake or the marker of said cake. You narrow your eyes and smile deviously. "Someone is eager today."

Her eyes quickly dart to Jean when she remembers that him and Niccolo are friends and tries to play it off as casually as possible. "Someone's gotta taste test the cake, right?"

Mikasa chuckles. "Alright, come on, Braus. Carry some of this stuff too if you're coming along."

Sasha complies and helps take some of the weight off Mikasa's arms even though she was capable of carrying it all herself. Her big doe eyes meet the bouquet in your arms. "Want me to take those too and put them in a vase?"

"Hm? Oh." You look down at your arms and see the bouquet of tulips that you completely forgot you were holding. "Sure, thanks."

Sasha takes the flowers from you and Mikasa begins to lead the way. "Be careful, y/n. Not kidding." Mikasa warns.

You dismiss her. "Jean will watch over me, right?" You elbow him. He was staring at the flowers so hard that he misses the question. "What?"

Mikasa's lips form a straight line. "How reassuring."

Sasha twists her neck around and winks. "Have fun."

The two girls turn the corner and continue the way to your bedroom while you and Jean walk in the other direction to go outside.

"So," Jean whistles as he tucks his free hands in his pockets. "Those flowers. Who got you them?"

You trace your finger over the feathers of your new arrows. "Someone." Jean pulls an arrow out of the quiver and examines it in his hand, end to end. "Someone I know?" He asks.

You snatch the arrow from his hand and put it back in its original place. "And what if it is?"

You reach the exit door that leads to the grounds outside and push through it, the fresh air hitting you instantaneously. Jean remains beside you, keeping up with your eager pace. "Does someone have have a crush on you or something?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" You glare at him. He smiles. "Not at all. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often."

You pause for a moment, his response catching you off guard. You expected some kind of insult or perverted joke but instead he was actually being nice. "Why are you asking so many questions and being nice suddenly? Maybe I was right, you are the spy."

He laughs. "Stop dodging the questions. Do you like this person back?"

You set the bag and case down on the bench when you reach the archery practice field. "Oh, we're so in love. We're actually getting married tonight. You didn't get the invitation?"

He scoffs at your sarcasm. "Marriage already when you haven't even had your first kiss. That's pretty terrible."

Now it was your turn to laugh. "I've had my first kiss already actually."

"WHAT?!" Jean shouts. You look at him crazy for screaming and he tones it down. "I mean, what? Who?"

You smirk at him. "Why so curious today?" You begin taking out the bows from the quiver and set them down one by one on the bench.

"I'm not." He defends. "I'm just—"

"Nosy?" You answer for him while still paying attention to the arrows in front of you.

"Confused." He corrects you.

You grab the bow out of the case and practice holding it. "What's so confusing about it? I got kissed."

"But by who?" Jean asks. He was watching as you moved your arms and shoulders to find the perfect grip. "You don't go anywhere."

You snort. "Who says I have to go anywhere?" When you finally find a good position, you grab an arrow and position it accordingly. You aim right at one of the targets near by.

You try to keep your eyes ahead on the target but your mind gets distracted by Jean's anxious foot tapping. "It's not one of my friends, is it?" He asks.

Now it made sense. He saw Marco give you the flowers. That's why he was asking so many questions about whether you like the person or not.

You release the arrow and it speeds through the air and stabs the center of the target. You snap your eyes toward him. "Relax Kirstein, no need to get all sweaty and nervous."

His jaw clenched. "Shut up." It was obvious he was furious he wasn't getting the information he wanted. It was kinda adorable. "So was it a prince or something?"

You gag and grab another arrow to aim at the next target. "No."

He strokes at his chin, his fingers running over the hair he had there while he processes the little information he has. "So if it wasn't my friends and it wasn't a prince. Then it has to be—"

You turn to him when you realize he stopped mid sentence and see his eyes open wide like he just discovered something crazy.

You frown. "What?"

He snickers into his palm and tries to hide it by clearing his throat. "Nothing, nothing."

You lower your bow, the arrow still attached. "Say it!"

He leans up against the bark of the tree that you two both stand under for shade. "Or what? You gonna shoot me?"

"Don't tempt me." You ridicule. You shake off the conversation and loosen your shoulders. "Stop talking to me and let me concentrate."

You aim for the next target and take in a deep breath, your eyes are locked with the center of the target and the world around you goes silent until Jean speaks and ruins your concentration. "When does your thing start again?"

You groan and set your bow down. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

He points in the direction of the main gates. There were workers who had begun preparations and the band was also starting to form. "I'm just asking cause it seems like it's going to start soon."

"Don't you know you're not supposed to be early to your own party?" You ask, pointing at the target again with your pulled back arrow and one eye on the dot. You release the arrow and it zooms through the air and hits the center. "Yes!"

Jean pokes his bottom lip out and nods impressed. "You're getting better and better each time."

You smile and grab another arrow to attack the third target. Meanwhile, Jean keeps his eyes on the growing crowd of people getting ready for the parade. "Are you nervous?"

You look back at what he's looking at. "More like excited."

His neck cranes forward again. "Don't get too excited and do something dumb."

Your ambitious smile drops and you give him a nasty look. "Seriously? Way to kill the moment."

"I'm just reminding you to be careful. Don't do anything dumb or reckless." He hints.

You disregard him and pull the arrow back with the bow pointed to the ground. "You and my father are the most paranoid people I've ever met. It'll be fine."

Jean tenses up. "It's not about paranoia. People really are just that messed up."

"I'm fully capable of being able to tell when someone is suspicious, you know? I'm not an idiot." You scoff.

"I know you're not an idiot but you tend to just-"

You snap your head up and point the aimed arrow right at his face. The sharp head of the arrow just a few inches from his nose. "I'm suspicious of you and could shoot you right here."

He blinks for second, but he barely even flinches. His demeanor stays collected. "You wouldn't."

You raise an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He smirks confidently. "Oh."

You quickly move your aim just a few inches left and shoot right past the side of his head, hitting the tree behind him. You grazed his hair but just a couple centimeters lower and you would've for sure nicked his ear. He does flinch this time.

He tries his best to hide it but he lets out a deep breath of relief. You smirk and lower your bow down. "I don't wanna spend my birthday explaining why I shot you in the head with an arrow in broad daylight."

You put the gorgeous new bow and arrows back in the bag and set it down in the small shed nearby where Sasha normally stored stuff. "But annoy me tomorrow and we'll try again."

Jean laughs. "You're really something, you know? And not in a good way."

You frown and walk up to him. "Not in a good way? The way you've been staring at me all morning says otherwise."

His eyes grow in size and you didn't know if it was because it was extra sunny today but you could've swore his face appeared redder just now.

"What are you talking about? I stare at you the same way I always do." He quickly fires.

You grin and step even closer. "You always stare at me?"

Okay, now you swore he was blushing. Was he getting nervous? You hadn't seen him get like this since you were kids. But back then all you needed to do was look at him and he'd get bright red just like he is right now.

"I meant—you know what I meant. The same way I always happen to look at you. It's my job." He tries to cover up.

You step just a small bit closer. "So it's not because of my dress?"

He steps back and almost trips. "No, why would- I mean, you look great but I'm not looking at you any different than I always do."

Your naturally warm, soft features turn chilling. "So, I look like I do everyday? Nothing special?"

His hands come up in the air. "Can we pause for a second? I feel like I'm handling this horribly."

You frown. "Pause? Just answer the question!"

"I can't!" Jean yells, it was more a loud whisper because he tries to keep his voice down. It would look pretty bad if he was yelling at the princess on her birthday.

"Why not?!" You match his hushed tone. "Why can't you just say I look good?"

"Because-" He clearly is struggling to come out with an excuse.

"Because what?!" You yell, an actual yell this time no longer caring who heard.

He groans. "Because I can't say it the way I want to. Alright?"

You feel your heart flutter for just a moment. You look up at him through your eyelashes. "Who would've ever thought Jean Kirstein would be left speechless." He didn't even have to go any further for you to already know what he meant.

"Hey." Elijah approaches the two of you while adjusting the cuffs of his suit. "Let's go already. Dad's already stressing out and I already see that vein that pops out of his forehead."

You gasp and grab at whatever ends of your dress you can reach and run back up the hill and back into the castle. Elijah and Jean walk back normally.

You rush over to castle's front gates and sees everyone is set and ready. Your father stands in front of Kai and Ambrose and Elijah was right, that vein was popping out again.

"There you are. All year you talk about this and you're late to it." Your father states once he sees you.

You copy his annoyed expression, you knew how to mimic it perfectly because you inherited his a good amount of his features. "I was accepting gifts. Aren't you always telling me I need to be more patient, present and polite?"

"Oh, don't worry, I saw you shooting arrows with your fancy new bow." He judges you. He points at the direction of where your brothers stand. "Don't make me regret this please."

You skip over to stand by your brothers. Elijah also joins and Jean stands over to the side with the rest of the guards and members of the parade.

"Now. I think you four are old enough to know the rules by now. Right? Be careful and watch your surroundings. Be friendly but have boundaries." The king begins to lecture.

You peer past his large figure and try your best to look past the massive iron bars that blocked your view of the village.

You could already see people opening their windows or standing outside their houses waiting patiently. Your heart was beating furiously.

Your foot was tapping rapidly as you grew impatient during his speech. You weren't listening to a single word he was saying.

Ambrose elbows you. You snap back to reality and see your father staring right at you, his normal features much colder. "You especially need to be listening.

You shake away your nerves. "Don't touch anyone, don't let anyone get too close and don't accept anything. I know."

"I'm being serious, y/n." He points a finger at you. "No games."

"I'm not going to do anything!" You defend. You sneakily cross your fingers behind your back and smile smugly.

He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. "Alright, everyone in position."

You rush over to your position behind your brothers since for some stupid reason, it was in order of oldest to youngest like it wasn't your birthday.

You instinctively look over to your side and it slips your mind completely that Mikasa isn't walking beside you like last year.

Looking around, you catch her off to the side. She smiles and waves. "Have fun."

You smile back at her and then jump suddenly when Jean whispers by your ear as he passes you to get his new spot next to you. "I saw that."

You turn to him and raise your eyebrows. "Saw what?"

He chuckles and looks straight ahead, standing tall and oddly confident. "You crossed your fingers behind your back."

Your brows drop. "Man, you really do stare at me a lot."

His cocky attitude wavers completely and he begins to get awkward like he was earlier. "Shut up."

You smirk and turn straight ahead. You can see the guards getting ready to pull the gates open and you feel your body twitch with adrenaline.

There's a loud creaking noise that comes from the gates being pulled apart. The band comes in position and begins to play as they do.

The band begins to step forward, taking the first steps out the gate and the civilians already begin to cheer. You could hear your heart thump loudly in your ears like drums.

The first set of guards pass through now and then the second set, followed by the King and Queen then another set of guards.

Then, Elijah followed by Ambrose. Finally, Kai moves and you're next to follow.

You look down at your feet as you cross the line and step out into the actual city. You have only done this one other time in your entire life and it was last year on your birthday doing this exact same thing.

You look up and admire the perfectly clear, bright blue sky.

It was truly a nice day outside. It was late November so it was a bit chilly but the sun was still out so it was a perfect balance. There wasn't a cloud in sight. It was like it was mother nature's gift to you.

You close your eyes, your head still tilted up to the sky and take in the atmosphere around you. You completely forget people, especially Jean, surround you. It was like you were the only person in the world for that spilt second.

"You know the air is the same out here than in there, right?" Jean asks.

Man, he sure knows how to get under your skin. You weren't sure why. He was being more annoying than usual like he was trying to find reasons to bother you.

Your eyes open and you turn your head to glare at him. "I know that."

You completely toss Jean's comment to the side and don't let it get to you too much. You loved this feeling. The feeling of complete bliss and happiness. Even if it was just for such a short time.

[ play Kingdom Dance from the Tangled soundtrack here ]

You watch as little girls' faces light up when they see you and as their mouths drop in awe as they see the beautiful red material attached to you.

You wave hello to them and their eyes sparkle. Even the boys bashfully wave at you. One even holds out a flower to you.

He was about 6 years old and was the cutest thing you've ever seen. He looked absolutely adorable as he held out a pink flower he plucked from a plant for you. You couldn't say no to that face.

You quickly take the flower from him as sneakily as you can, praying Jean or no one else saw and you tuck it behind your ear. You put your finger to your lips and the little boy does it back and giggles.

You look over to your right to double check Jean didn't see but he's too busy watching everyone else that he actually doesn't notice.

Proudly, you look back to your left and smile at everyone you pass by.

A older looking home that was still decorated quite beautifully catches your eye and from an opened window, you see a young girl holding a princess doll in her hand.

Beside her was an older woman, she was beautiful for her age, just looked exhausted and over worked and you understood why. The younger girl was blind. You could tell by the glasses she wore and the cane in her hand.

The woman, who you're assuming might be the mother considering how much the girl looks just like her, looks as if she's giving a description of what's going on outside the window.

The girl could hear the band play but she couldn't see it. She could hear people call after you but she couldn't see you.

You feel your heart ache and you get a weird sensation in your wrists and palms. It like tickled in an odd way.

What if...

It's like a light bulb dings over your head. You look over to your side and see Jean still watching the surroundings.

Casually, you start to pick up your pace, trying to get some distance from him. Jean notices and keeps up.

There was a part of the song where everyone claps along to the music so it was a pretty big distraction for Jean and for everyone else. You take this as an opportunity.

You quickly skip backwards and disappear into the crowd. "Hey!" You hear him shout.

You throw your hands up in the air and clap to the song like everyone else to blend in. You try your best to run without drawing too much attention to yourself.

Quickly, you make it over to the old house from before and knock at the door rapidly. The woman opens the door and her mouth drops open when she sees who you are.

You smile. "May I come in?"

Without waiting for her answer, you run over to the blind girl from earlier and squat in front of her and your hand comes up to her face. You turn to her mother before you make any contact. "I'm going to give your daughter her eyesight back."

Her face drops and so does the bag of fruit she was holding in her hands. "What?"

You look at the girl in front of you and take off the dark shades from her eyes. Then, you place your hand slowly on her cheek.

As patient and calm as you were on the outside, you needed to be quick and get back to your spot before your parents find out. You whisper under your breath. "Come on. Please work. Please work."

Suddenly, the girl's dull eyes glowed. A shine casting its spell over her now healed irises. "Mom?" Her voice cracks.

You jump and squeal. "I did it! I actually did it!" Nothing could beat this feeling right here.

Suddenly, the door swings open and Jean stands there, out of breath and out of patience.

"Oh shit." You say. You snap your head over to the older woman. "Thank you for letting me into your home!"

Jean runs in the house to grab you but you quickly make a break for it and run out the door. "Wait!" The woman yells. "How can I repay you?"

"Repay her by not telling anyone, please." Jean begs before he runs after you. He catches up to you in seconds. You stop and turn to disappear from his vision but he reads every move.

You can't help but be a laughing mess as you try to dodge him and make your way up the parade back to your original position.

You're almost there and you see your father's head look like it's about to turn around to check on you. You look at Jean and he looks back at you. "Shit." Both of you say simultaneously.

You both run as fast as you ever have, well, as fast as you could in a dress and heels and with so many people in your way.

You step into place and forcefully shove your crown back onto your head, the ends scratching your scalp slightly but you ignore the pain.

He turns around and finally finds where you would be standing and looks relieved when he sees you exactly where you're supposed to be with Jean beside you.

You were thrilled that you made it back in time before your dad realized you were gone but you could feel your skin burn as Jean stared at you with an intensity. You didn't even need to look at him to know he was pissed. You could feel it.

But you didn't care. What was he going to do? Get after you? A lecture, maybe? Or would he snitch to your parents? You genuinely weren't sure which.

You avoid eye contact with Jean even though you feel him fuming beside you. He surprisingly doesn't say a single word either.

You hear shouts of "Happy Birthday, Princess!" and whispers of, "So that's the princess."

You wave at all of them and try to take in all their faces. You rarely ever saw the people who lived just outside the castle walls and it made you sad considering they were always so close by.

You pay attention to their faces, their clothes, their expressions, their homes. You wanted them to be happy and living well. You hoped they were.

Suddenly, the girl from earlier pops into your head. You picture her tear stroked face. Her eyes glistening and admiring the princess in front of her. You can't help but smile when you realize you're one of the first things she saw in this world.

You look down at your hands in astonishment. You still couldn't wrap your head around that you were capable of doing such a thing.

You knew you were bound to get in trouble and face some sort of punishment but the girl's face when she realized she could see for first time as well as her mother's face, was absolutely priceless. Seeing them hug each other and cry with joy was worth any consequence you had to endure.

The parade unfortunately comes to an end after the, or what felt like, short while of crusading down the streets.

You didn't want it to end but you already knew it was eventually going to. You couldn't blame no one but yourself for getting your hopes up.

But, even though you were disappointed because it happened all too fast, it was memorable. I mean, you quite literally gave someone the gift of sight. Hello?

It was worth it and if given the chance, you'd do it all over again. You changed a life.

Once the castle gates are in front of you, you turn around and admire the view once more. You wave goodbye to some of the civilians who still remained outside their homes to the very end of the parade.

It was bittersweet. A moment you felt absolutely full but at the same time, so empty. The feeling of coming back home after finally being able to go outside was just heart wrenching. Nothing compared to having to go back the first time last year though.

The gates close behind you and the band disperses and the other members and guards walk off to the side leaving the royal family be.

"Soo," The queen sings as she walks over to you. "How was it? Did you like it?"

You smile. "I loved it. Thank you." She hugs you one last time and when she pulls away, she admires you for a moment. "That dress looks stunning on you."

She had no idea what just occurred a few moments ago and it was completely obvious. She wouldn't have been this sweet if she had even the slightest clue.

"Although, your father might not be the biggest fan of it." She uses her hands to block the side of her mouth.

You feel your stomach turn. "He doesn't like it?"

The queen laughs. "No, he likes it. He just isn't used to see you look so...grown. I had to remind him you're 19 years old now."

She then pauses and her hand comes up to meet your cheek. "Wow. 19 years old."

You scrunch up your nose and move away. "Stop it."

"Okay, okay." She smiles. "I'm sorry. You're just my baby and it's never gets easier seeing you grow up."

You shift awkwardly and look around to make sure no one is listening. "You're embarrassing me." You groan quietly.

She rolls her eyes. "Fine. Oh, I need you to write thank you letters to each person who sent you a gift."

Your eyes shoot open. "What?! Every single person? Did you see how many gifts there were?"

The queen smiles at workers who pass by and then returns her attention back to you. "Well, you're a very beautiful girl, of course you'd have a lot of suitors. Let's not act like we don't all know that. Especially in that flamboyant dress of yours."

She begins walking away and you rush after her. "Flamboyant? Is that a good thing?" You ask, twisting your fingers.

"Depends on what kind of attention you're trying to attract." She smirks as she looks at you beside her from the corner of her eye.

You feel the hairs on your body stand up straight. "Attention?"

She stops walking. "Is there someone's attention you were trying to catch?"

You freeze for a second but quickly bounce back. "No. I just wanted a change. I wanted to feel pretty."

"And? Do you feel pretty?" She asks.

This time, you don't bounce back as fast. You did feel pretty. You really did. But for some reason, you felt like you were missing something.

You weren't sure if maybe it's because of the sharp pain hugging your rib cage or if it was because of something else.

"You know.." She leans in closer to you and plucks the flower from behind your ear that was surprisingly still there even after all the running you did. "Sometimes girls change their appearance because they want a certain someone to notice."

You scoff. "Who could I possibly want that much attention from?"

She smiles at you, her eyes peering into yours and watching your defensive reactions carefully. "Just thinking out loud." She hands you the flower and you take it from her fingers.

You look down at the flower and realize it took some damage from the hectic situation earlier. It was missing a couple petals now.

She then pushes you from the back. "Now go work on those letters."

You stumble forward almost dropping the flower. "Ow! Alright, alright! I'm going." You whine as you rub at your back. Your body was extra sensitive since it was already sore.

Heading toward the castle, you keep your eyes down on the flower. After your mother pushed you, two other weak petals fell leaving the flower with one single petal. "How lonely."

You set the flower in your palm and place your other hand on top of it as you continue to walk inside. You take a deep breath and close your eyes.

When you open your eyes, you uncover the flower and it had one more petal added on to it. You smile to yourself. You expected more petals to appear but one was good enough. Now the other one wasn't all alone.

"Hey!" You hear a voice shout after you. You pick up the pace when you know exactly who it is. They do the same.

Jean quickly runs in front of you and stops you in your tracks. You try to dodge to the right but he steps in front of you again. The same thing happens when you try to dodge left.

"Hey!" He shouts louder. You finally stop moving around and stand in front of him, arms crossed.

He looks furious, even more now that he sees you standing there casually as if you did nothing wrong.

"What is wrong with you?!" He fumes. "Do you have any idea what you just did?"

You snap back. "Yeah, I gave someone their sight back."

He grabs your arm, gently but with enough strength to successfully pull you to the side where there's more privacy. "Are you insane? Genuine question."

You don't even hesitate. "I don't think I've ever been more sane in my entire life."

He groans with frustration. "What if they tell everyone?! You practically just outted yourself to the entire world! The one thing your parents try so hard to keep secret, you just exposed to everyone."

You give him an annoyed look. "Let's not be dramatic."

"Dramatic?!" He gets louder. He grabs you by your bare shoulders and you can feel the heat radiate off his body through his palms. "You're so damn selfish. You have no idea how hard you just made it for everyone. For me! I was supposed to make sure this was the last thing that happened!"

Now it was your turn to send heat waves through your skin and you smack his hands away from your shoulders. "I'm selfish? I risked getting in trouble so I could save a life! That's the most selfless thing someone could do."

"What's going on?" Mikasa appears. You didn't know how long she was standing there for but by the way she's looking at Jean, you could tell she caught his hands on your shoulders just in time.

Jean turns to her. "Go ahead and ask her what she did."

Mikasa frowns and turns to you. "What happened? Are you okay?"

You avoid eye contact with her. "I'm fine. He's just blowing it out of proportion."

Now he really was triggered. He doesn't hold back. He tells Mikasa everything. In excruciating detail.

Her eyes jolt open and she steps in between you and Jean. "Are you serious right now? Why on earth would you do something so stupid?!"

"Stupid?" You finally pick your head up and meet her eyes. "Why is no one talking about the fact that I quite literally cured blindless?!" You throw your arms out and plead.

Mikasa looks around frantically and shushes you. "Y/n, stop talking right now. Let's go to your room and we can figure this out."

You take two steps backwards. "No."

She turns to you. "Y/n." Her voice was demanding and stern like she was warning a child to behave.

You try to make a quick run for it but Mikasa grabs your arm before you can even attempt to. "You're not running away from this. This was incredibly stupid and dangerous. What do you plan to do now, huh? That woman is going to tell the world and people are going to flood the gates with requests."

You yank your arm from her grip. "As if people are going to believe her. What is she going to say? That the princess who never leaves the castle randomly came to her house of all places, touched her blind daughter's cheek and magically gave her her sight back?"

Mikasa presses her lips together, thinking for a moment. Jean, who was much more outspoken doesn't hesitate to continue to argue. "How the hell else would she explain her daughter being able to see now?!"

You felt yourself grow more and more frustrated. You were so proud of yourself for doing what you did and yet no one else was. "Who cares if they believe the story! Who cares if people flood the gates! I'll heal everyone who needs it!"

Jean begins to laugh but not because he found anything funny. "You really are selfish. You just made everyone else's lives harder. Your parents are going to be worried out of their minds. The guards are going to have to work twice as hard. I might even lose my job because you were supposed to be under my watch."

"STOP CALLING ME SELFISH!" You scream. The two of them just stare at you as your voice echos around the castle.

People who were finally making their way back inside the castle, turn in the direction where the three of you stand, curious as to where the shouting was coming from.

You look down at the ground. "Just forget it." You push right past the two of them, bumping into their shoulders harshly.

Jean spins around to go after you but Mikasa stops him. "Just let her go." She sighs.

"No. She needs to understand what she did wasn't okay. Not just about what she did but what else could've happened! Someone could kidnapped her or hurt her right there and then." Jean continues.

Mikasa rubs at her forehead. "She knows what she did wrong. She knows what was at risk but she did it anyway."

"But why?" Jean asks, his shoulders fall as he feels his body give up from fighting. "If she knew what was at stake, why did she do it?"

"Because she wanted to help the girl. She couldn't fight the urge to. That's how she is." Mikasa says quietly. "She was born with a gift to help people. It's like she has to fight every cell in her body not to. Even though it's what she was put on this earth to do. She can't help it."

Jean shakes his head. "You mean to tell me it's impossible for her to not help someone?"

A pair of workers pass by Jean and Mikasa and she smiles casually at them to seem as nonchalant and normal as possible. When they're out of hearing range, she answers his question. "It's not impossible. She's fought the urge for years now. But she's getting older and it's like the older she gets, the more her body is drawn to it like magnets."

Jean just stares at Mikasa. He felt drained. "I told the woman not to tell anyone but the possibility of her actually not doing it?"

Mikasa looks down at her feet and shakes her head. "If my daughter could see after being blind her whole life, I'd want to share it with the world. I'd want to tell everyone who needed the same kind of help."

Her eyes flicker up to meet Jean's. "Wouldn't you?"

His mouth closes and he takes a step back. It was like the world froze for a second when he realized she was right. He'd do the exact same thing.

Jean looks down to the ground when he notices you dropped a flower. He picks it up and frowns when he sees only two petals on it. One was wilted and the other looked perfect.

"Let me go talk to her. We can figure out how we go from here after. Just...don't tell anyone yet." Mikasa fidgets as she tries to recollect herself. "I'll be right back."

Mikasa knew exactly where you ran off to. She knew you better than anyone else. The only person who gave her a run for her money was Kai.

Both she and Kai were the only two people who knew about this spot. You had a lot of places you liked to disappear to but none were as sacred to you as this spot here.

She enters your old nursery room. It no longer had your old crib and toys in there since you moved out of this room years ago and was now just an empty with room with faded purple walls.

The paint was chipping off and there was a layer of pink underneath. The nursery was originally pink when you were born but the second you learned your colors, you begged for them to be purple instead.

She closes the door gently and walks right through the empty, abandoned room and walks over to the balcony window.

She places her hands on the railing and turns her body around to look on the roof and smiles to herself.

Carefully, she steps onto the rail, grabbing the edges of the roof for support. She then pulls all her body strength up while using what she can to help her pull herself up to the roof.

It was one of the highest points of the castle and the drop was a looong way down so you had to be cautious cause one wrong step and you're falling to your death. Mikasa never understood why this was your comfort spot when it was so life threatening.

When she successfully climbs her way up there, she sees you with your knees to your chest and your arms wrapped around your legs. You're facing the other direction, your back facing her.

"I knew you'd be up here." Mikasa says. You say nothing and keep your eyes up ahead.

Watching her step, Mikasa makes her way over to you and sits beside you. She says nothing and just takes in the view.

"If you're here to yell at me some more, don't bother. I'm just gonna tune you out." You admit.

She still remains silent. You turn to look at her and she keeps her eyes ahead.

The best thing about Mikasa was she knew when to not say anything at all. She knew when you needed peace and quiet rather than another lecture.

For the next couple minutes, the two of you sit in silence. The sky transitioned from pretty pastel colors into darker shades and the wind cooling the intense air around you.

"Mika." You say finally. "Can I ask you something?"

She nods. "Of course."

You look at her for a moment, looking into her eyes so she can tell you're actually being serious for once. She blinks back at you, curiosity growing inside her.

You ask, "If you can go anywhere in the world, where would you go?"

She stares at you for a second and then turns away. "I don't know honestly."

You point your finger in the direction past the castles tall walls. Mikasa remembers why you love this spot so much when she sees you can see everything from up here. The world seemed to stretch forever.

"Where?" You ask again. "Anywhere past these walls. Anywhere in the world. Where would you go?"

Mikasa takes in the view before her. You could see past the nearby villages and see the forest that stretched for miles and miles before it reached the closest kingdom which wasn't even close at all.

"I wouldn't even know where to start if I was given the opportunity." She admits. "I never really put too much thought into it."

You turn your body to her. "You're not at all curious what's out there? I mean, the world is endless. Your choices are endless!"

She laughs uncomfortably. "I mean, I know what's out there. I haven't been living in this castle for too long. I've seen enough to know it's not as great as you think it is."

You shake your head. "You've only seen this place. You've lived in Eldia your entire life." You grab her hands and she teases up for a second. "Mikasa, there's places ten times more incredible than this. Eldia is beautiful but there's some places that words can't even describe their beauty."

She chuckles softly. "Yeah? How do you know?"

Your eyes twinkle as you grow excited from the conversation. "Armin tells me. He's traveled everywhere. He has seen things I can't even imagine in my mind. Oceans that are impossibly deep and vast and trees so tall that they look like they kiss the clouds in the sky."

Mikasa just smiles. You read right through it. She was sad. "What? What is it?" You ask.

She turns away and sighs. "The one and only time I left Eldia, my parents were killed. So, you can imagine why I'm not so fond on going out into the world anymore."

You feel your heart sink. Your exuding wanderlust and wild imagination comes to aching stop. "Oh."

"I'm not trying to be pessimistic or ruin your expectations but maybe, you're giving the world way too much credit than it actually deserves." Mikasa says.

You turn to her, face angry. "How do you know? You've been out once and it ended badly. I get it. I'm so sorry for that. But you can't let those assholes ruin it for you. Your parents wouldn't want you to live in fear! They'd want you to live your life the way they couldn't. They'd want you to see the world!"

Mikasa's eyes grow glossy and you worry you might've said too much. She closes them and looks down, her dark hair covering her face. "I just can't do it."

You sit up on your knees and turn your body to face her. "But you can. You just have to not let the fear win."

"The only reason Eldia is as peaceful as it is is because your parents do an amazing job as the king and queen. Most places aren't like this at all. Some places have high crime rates or extreme famine. Some even have both." Mikasa picks her head up slowly. "Not everything is rainbows and sunshine."

"I know that." You grow irritated. "I know!"

Mikasa grows equally as bothered. "NO YOU DON'T! Armin tells you the good things about what's out there but you need to hear the bad things too. If you only knew what kind of people are out there, you wouldn't want to go either!"

"So I'm just supposed to be scared my whole life?! Let the bad people win? I refuse to live that way. I refuse to be like-" You begin.

"Like me?" Mikasa asks. She stares right at you.

You groan and cover your face. "No, that's not what I meant. I just mean.."

"Stop trying to pressure other people to do things they don't want to. Not everyone wants to make poor decisions." Jean snaps as he climbs on to the roof.

Mikasa turns to him, completely shocked by how he found this place. "Did you follow me here?!"

You come off your knees and return seated to how you were originally. With your knees to your chest again, you set your head down to rest on your knees. "Go away."

"Get off the roof." Jean commands. "We're going to go tell your parents what happened so they can be prepared for whatever happens now."

"No." You say flatly.

His jaw flexes. "God, you're such a child. When are you ever going to grow up?"

"Jean." Mikasa warns.

"No, she needs to hear this." He tells Mikasa. "Someone needs to say it. It's like everyone walks on eggshells around her. All because they're scared she's going to do something stupid."

Your head snaps toward him. You give him a look sharp enough to cut someone. "Say stupid again."

"Y/n." Mikasa whines into her hands as she loses energy to keep the peace between the two of you.

"SAY STUPID AGAIN!" You shout as you stand up on the roof. The two of them flinch and their hands come up to catch you like they're afraid you're going to fall.

You move out of their reach. "I'm so sick of this. I'm so sick of all of it! I'm sick of people treating me like I'm a dumb little kid!"

"THEN STOP ACTING LIKE ONE!" Jean shouts back.

You walk up to him and push him. He stumbles a little but he grabs the roof for support. "Do you have any idea what my life is like? To be locked in a cage like an animal for my entire life?!"

It seems like the whole world goes silent. Jean stares at you with wide but still furious eyes and Mikasa with tear filled ones.

"Everyone always complains that I'm childish and never act my age but I didn't get to have a childhood! I didn't grow up normally like everyone else! While all of you enjoyed your freedom and played outside with your friends until the sun went down, I stared out of a window and wished that was me." You rant.

"It was YEARS before I could even step into my own backyard. Even then, I had to sneak out to do it. I didn't get to enjoy my childhood. I'm trying to make up for the years that were stolen away from that sad girl staring at the window. I do 'stupid' things because I'm still growing up. I'm still making mistakes. Just like both of you did back then. Just like you still do now." You explain.

It felt like there was someone choking you. Your throat felt like it was being crushed. "You have freedom, Jean. I don't. You work and make money and with that money, you go outside those walls and live your life." You say pointing in that direction.

Your body melts with sadness and envy. "You can do whatever you want. You can go party. Get drunk with your friends. Meet a pretty girl. Maybe fall in love and get married."

You spread your arms out. "Or not! That's your choice! That's your decision!" You poke a finger hard into his chest. "THAT'S the difference between you and I. You have a choice. I don't."

Your hand comes back down to your side and your eyes look away from his. "You can choose what you want to do with your life. Mine has been decided for me the second I was born. I have no say."

"You think because we grew up together, you know me but you don't know me at all. You never even bothered to. You never spoke up for me. You just watched them leave me out or push me around and said nothing about it. You would only help me whenever they weren't looking." You vent.

"What was I supposed to do?!" Jean shouts. "They were my friends and you were just their little sister!"

"I could've been your friend too!" You shout back.

His face softens and his shoulders sag. Disappointment in himself written all over his face.

You wipe roughly at your eyes, annoyed at yourself for getting so worked up and emotional. Especially in front of him. "Everyone always treated me like I was some freak. Even my own brothers. You were the only one nice to me except when they were around. It was like you were too scared of what they'd think of you."

"You chose them over me." You say softly. "And I get it. They were your friends and I was just some annoying little kid bothering you guys but all I ever wanted was to not be alone anymore."

You could hear Mikasa crying as she remained seated. Her face in her palms and her sobs muffled. Her heart hurt for you. You never said your feelings out loud like this. You could never find the words to so you would just pretend like they didn't exist.

For you to actually say all this, it meant you were really hurting. It meant you had finally exploded and gave up on pretending it doesn't bother you.

"You call me selfish without knowing a single thing about me but in reality, I would've done anything for you back then. Even if you would pick them over me." You say so quietly that they both almost miss it.

You could feel your eyes start to sting. "Everytime you would fall or get hurt, I wanted to help you. Even if it was the smallest scratch. I wanted to take the pain away. All because you were nice to me just a few times. But I couldn't because I wasn't allowed to heal anyone but my family."

Suddenly, you start to laugh. You laugh loudly as tears swim down your cheeks. "You call me selfish but really it's them who are. My parents. They're completely fine with me healing them or my brothers everytime they hurt themselves or everytime one of them got really sick but god forbid I help anyone else."

You smack a tear off your cheek. "They're the selfish ones! Hiding me away and only helping themselves when there's people out there dying who need my help way more."

"And you're selfish too!" You squeeze your eyes shut as you continue to rant, more tears falling out. "I gave someone their sight back, damn it! I cured blindness! And all you can think about is your damn self and how much trouble you're going to get in."

You open your eyes and with both hands wipe your face dry. "I can save lives everywhere and all of you know that. Yet, you choose to keep me locked away because you're too scared of what's going to happen to me. You are selfish ones. Not me. I don't care what happens to me. All I want to do is try to help as much people as I can."

You clear your throat and stand straight. "So call me stupid or childish, I don't care. I don't regret what I did today. I'd do it all over again. That girl can see how beautiful the world around her is now thanks to me."

Jean finally says something after being in complete shock by your emotional outburst. "You're not going to have the chance to do it again. Your parents are never going to let you do this for your birthday next time."

"THERE ISNT GOING TO BE A NEXT TIME!" You scream. "Don't you get that? This time next year, I'll be married to some man I barely know anything about and probably big fat pregnant with his child just so the royal blood line can carry on."

It's silent again. "There won't be anymore birthday parades for me anyway because I won't be here anymore. So it doesn't matter. None of this matters because I'm never coming back here again." You say finally.

You look him right in the eye. You can hear Mikasa sniffling in the background. "So go ahead and tell my parents what I did. They'll just lock me in a room again until my wedding. I'm already used to it."

You walk past him and head toward the edge of the roof to go back inside. You stop before you do. "By the way,"

You turn back to him. "Even after what happened years ago, I never hated you. I know you think I do but I don't. It wasn't your fault. But I am mad at you."

Jean looked stuck in place like he was having trouble processing everything that just happened.

"I'm not mad at you for getting me in trouble that day. I'm mad at everything that happened after. You left without saying goodbye. We wrote you letters for months after you left and you never wrote back." You remind him.

"We stayed waiting for your letters back like idiots and nothing. That's why I am so different to you sometimes because I still hold that resentment of you leaving us behind and never looking back. That's why Ambrose is so mean to you now because even though he won't admit it, he hates that you never spoke to him again after everything. He hates that you came back like nothing years later like you didn't completely ignore us and our letters to you. He saw you like a brother." You say.

"Elijah is too mature to hold a grudge and Kai loves you too much to stay mad at you. Me and Ambrose were the last to get over it. It's stupid, I know. But they loved you. They treated me like shit after because they blamed me for you not wanting anything to do with them anymore and yet I still couldn't bring myself to hate you." You say looking down at the ground below.

You laugh through your nose. "I kept thinking to myself. Why do I care so damn much for someone who doesn't even care about me? Why do I know his birthday by memory and his favorite color and the song that puts him to sleep when he knows absolutely nothing about me?"

Your chest felt heavy from crying but yet you never felt more free. This was something you were holding in for years. Not even Mikasa knew this stuff.

You turn away from him. "I think too highly of someone who only sees me as stupid and childish. Someone who only sees me as his friend's little sister."

You squat down and hop off the roof and back onto the balcony. Mikasa rubs at her eyes before she stands up and does the same, leaving Jean standing on the roof of the castle alone.

You quickly try to walk back to your room with your head down to avoid anyone seeing your puffy eyes. You can hear Mikasa behind you.

Once you're inside your bedroom, you lock yourself in your restroom before Mikasa has a chance to go in there with you.

You turn the faucet on and start splashing ice cold water against your face while Mikasa knocks on the door. "Y/n?"

You turn the water off and pat your face dry with the towel nearby. When you look in the mirror, you notice your eyes are still irritated, the cold water not helping with the swelling at all.

When you swing the bathroom door open and see Mikasa standing there. "Can't you just leave me alone?" You ask, brushing past her.

"No." She responds flatly as she follows you anyway. You sigh and sit by the foot of your bed, your back against it. She sits beside you.

"You know," She begins. You groan and set your forehead down on your knees. "Mikasa. Please. I think Jean yelled at me enough. I get it. I shouldn't have done it and I'm an idiot who is selfish."

You have your face buried so you can't see the expression she's making and the fact that she says nothing at all worries you so you pick up your head just a tiny bit to look at her.

She wasn't looking at you at all. She was staring up at the high ceiling like she was in deep thought. "I don't think he meant any of that in a bad way."

"Didn't you hear all the mean stuff he said?!" You yell. She lifts her hands up to stop you. Your mouth closes and your lips form a tight line.

She keeps her eyes up on the roof. "He cares about you. I never realized it until now but he does. That's why what you did upset him so much."

You stare at her appalled. Did you hear that correctly? Was she actually defending him?

You laugh roughly and turn away. "Yeah right. He was just worried about saving his own ass."

Mikasa shrugs. "If you say so." Her eyes still refused to look away from the ceiling. It was like she was trying to find the answer up there. "But I can tell. He was worried about you."

"I thought you hate Jean." You grumble, slightly annoyed she was taking his side.

"Never said that." She clarifies. "I may not have been a fan of him but doesn't mean I hate him. He's just there."

You sit up straight growing agitated. "Then why are you defending him so much?!"

She finally breaks her eyes away from the roof and turns to you. Now you know why she was trying her hardest to not look at you because she was furious. "Because I agree with him! Everything he said. He may not have had the best execution of the words but he got his point across."

You say nothing. She shakes her head and turns away again but this time she looks out through the window. "That's when I knew he cares about you. When I realized he had the guts to say what I was too hesitant to say."

You dig your nails into the rug underneath you. "You agree with what he said? That I'm selfish and stupid?"

She shuts her eyes and tilts her head back. "Like I said, he didn't word it right. Jean's hot tempered. He just was speaking out of anger. You know he doesn't think those things about you."

Your boiling blood pressure settles down a little. Her eyes open and you stare at her dark, long eyelashes as she looks straight ahead. "No one in their right mind would call you selfish. Everyone knows you're the exact opposite. You've always put others before yourself." She adds.

You release the rug from your grip and try to relax a little. You return back to your normal sitting position. "It felt like he meant it."

She doesn't say anything else and you knew it was because she couldn't speak for Jean and his feelings. She can only say what she noticed.

She sits silently beside you and you do the same. There were birds singing as they flew past your window and leaves shaking in the wind to fill the empty noise.

"Is it true?" Mikasa asks abruptly. You don't look at her and keep your eyes on a small blue bird that landed on your balcony. "Is what true?"

"You gave a girl her sight back. You cured blindness." She says, turning her body to face yours.

You fight the urge to smile. "Yeah."

The urge to smile becomes a million times harder to resist when you see Mikasa do it freely. "That's incredible. I wish I could've been there to see it."

You feel a shot of adrenaline, energy soaring through your limbs causing them to make your body sit up straight and in front of Mikasa. You grab her hands impulsively. "I wish you were there too. It was the most amazing thing ever. I mean, you should've seen that girl's face when she was able to see for the first time. And her mom, oh man. Nothing can beat that feeling."

Mikasa smiles as she listens to you gush all your excitement out. She admires your pure happiness. "You changed her life."

"I know." You feel your shoulders fall. "I know. That's why I can't regret what I did, Mikasa. I know it was reckless but it was so worth it. I'm so sorry if I worried you two but I just can't regret it. I can't. I'm prepared to face whatever happens after today."

Her smile fades and she looks down at your joined hands. Her hair casted a shadow over her face so you couldn't see her eyes anymore. "I know."

You release her hands. "Everything is going to change now, isn't it?"

She picks her head up enough to look at you. "Maybe. Maybe not. Jean said he told the woman not to tell anyone but who wouldn't want to tell the world about it? A miracle happened right before her very eyes."

You take a deep breath and throw your body back to lay flat on the ground. You stare at the large chandelier in the center of your room and watch as the diamonds twinkle in the sunlight that beamed through your window. "Is it bad I kinda want her to tell everyone?"

Mikasa looks down at you from where she's seated. She stays quiet for a moment but then lays beside you on the ground. "Yes. But I understand why you would want her to."

You bring your hands up in front of your face. "It feels like a sin to be blessed with something I can't even use." You put them back down and they rest on your stomach. "I feel like I was born to help people and yet, here I am, laying on my bedroom floor doing absolutely nothing."

"I know." Mikasa says.

She stands up and fixes her dress before she extends her hands out to you. "Come on."

You look up at her from the ground which you refuse to get up from. "Where?"

"Did you forget you have a whole birthday cake waiting for you?" She asks.

You jump up instantly and dart past her. You zoom out the door and run down the hallway completely forgetting you were crying just a while ago.

You turn sharp corners without slowing down and almost bust your ass twice but you successfully make it to the dining hall in time.

When your eyes adjust, you see your mother setting up the table. You frown. "Where's my cake?"

She sets a plate down on your usual spot. "Waiting for you to eat dinner first."

You completely forgot about dinner. In fact, you just now realized you haven't eaten all day because of how excited you were.

After you shamefully take your seat, your brothers start to come in one by one and sitting in their usual spots. Kai beside you while Elijah and Ambrose sit on the opposite facing you two.

Finally, your father joins and takes his seat at the end of the table. He lets out a loud sigh when he sits down. For some reason, he looked more stressed than usual.

"Are you okay?" You ask him. He does his best to back up his response. "Yes, I'm alright." He then clears his throat to change the subject. "How did you enjoy your day today?"

You smile a thank you as someone from the kitchen staff sets your plate down in front of you. "It was good. The parade was fun. It was really nice to see everyone and just go outside for a bit."

Ambrose immediately begins to dig in. "I'm surprised you didn't do anything stupid."

"I'm surprised I haven't jumped over this table and slapped you across the face." You fire back without hesitation.

Kai burps after he chugs his drink that they barely poured into his cup. "I'm surprised too."

Elijah laughs and begins to pick at his plate. "Wouldn't be the first time it happens."

The queen sighs as she remembers not just the one time it happened but the several other times it happened after that. If she had to break up any fights between you four, it was usually always between you and Ambrose. Kai didn't care nor have enough energy to fight Ambrose and Elijah was an expert at just ignoring Ambrose whenever he was being annoying.

"I think Jean had a big part of your sister's behavior today." The queen mentions. "He's been doing a wonderful job."

You scoff under your breath and push your food around with your fork. Ambrose drinks from his cup. "What, like it's hard? Anyone can do it."

Elijah raises an eyebrow. "You lose patience with her after five minutes."

Your grip tightens. You hated when people talked about you like you weren't sitting right in front of them.

The queen ignores them. "How do you feel about him being full time now, y/n? I told him we wouldn't decide until after your parade to judge his ability to keep you still."

Even though you were silent on the outside, on the inside you were laughing hysterically. If only they knew.

"I'm fine with it." You answer. The entire table goes silent. The only sound was the fire crackling behind your father in the fire place.

Your mother laughs. "No complaints? I'm shocked."

You shrug. "There are worse things. Some people are born blind, you know?"

Ambrose cuts up his steak. "That's oddly specific."

Kai stares at you, his dark eyes looking darker than usual. You contort your face. "What?" You ask him. He just continues to stare at you.

You slam your fist down on the table causing everyone but him to jump. "WHAT?!"

He just turns away without saying anything. Queen Solana places her hand over her heart to try to calm it down. "Y/n, please don't shout at your brother when he's right beside you. There's no reason to yell."

She takes a sip of her drink before switching the conversation back to what it was before your explosive tantrum. "If you're okay with it, Jean will be staying in the room beside you so he can be on hand in case of an emergencies."

You shove food in your mouth. "Fine."

The table goes dead silent again. Forks stop moving and there's only the sound of the fire crackling.

"Okay, now this getting weird." Elijah points out.

You set your fork down and wipe your mouth with your napkin. "I have no choice anyway, right? What's the point of arguing? I never get to make my own decisions."

All three of your brothers stare at you and then exchange looks with each other. Elijah speaks first. "Why am I scared right now?"

"Right?" Ambrose responds. "This is the most calm I've ever seen her."

"Do you want me to flip the table or something?" You snap.

He shrugs. "It'd be more on brand." You kick him hard underneath the table and he winces.

Were you really always that wild? Was it so hard to believe you were being cooperative? Hell, you couldn't believe it either. Were you just trying to be on your best behavior in case things go downhill after all? And why was Kai being so quiet and weird?

"Well, I think that settles that. Jean is officially your bodyguard and we will offer him to stay here in the castle." The queen claps her hands together. "Glad we're all on the same page."

You just now realize your dad hasn't said a single word this entire time either. You look at him and he barely has touched his food and his mind looks consumed by something.

Ambrose leans back in his chair and his hands meet behind his head. "So Jean Boy is apart of the family again, huh?"

Kai finally speaks up. Unfortunately, it's with his mouth full of food. "He always has been, you just got all hurt when he left and never spoke to us again."

"Malakai." The queen booms. "Don't speak with your mouth full. That's revolting."

Ambrose's face twists up and he sits up straight. "I don't care if he left."

Kai swallows his food before he speaks. "Didn't you cry once over it?"

"Awww, Amby." Elijah teases and pinches his cheek like a baby. Ambrose smacks his hand away. "Shut up! Y/n cried more than I did."

You finally break away from studying your father's exhausted aura and turn to your brother across the table. "What?! No I didn't!"

Elijah points his fork at Kai. "Kai actually cried the most."

"Hell no!" He argues back. All three of them begin to argue as they try to recall memories from years ago.

You drown out the noise as you turn back to look at your dad. There was definitely something that was bothering him. Or maybe it was something health wise. Either way, you felt the urge to fix it.

You stand up and everyone is too busy listening to the boys argue that they don't notice you approach your father. He himself doesn't even notice. That's how mentally not present he was.

Without saying anything, you walk behind him and wrap your arms around his large figure as best you can. Your head rests on his.

Everyone breaks away from the loud discussion and turns to the two of you. No one says a word. They pick up quickly on what you were doing.

He smiles softly and his hand comes to meet yours. "Thank you."

You pull away when you feel like his posture changes and his normally strong stature returns. He still holds on to your hand. "I'm not quite sure what's different about you today but I just wanted to say I'm very proud of you."

"I agree." Your mother smiles with relief when she sees the change in her husband's mood. "I know this isn't easy for you but I can tell you're learning to handle it maturely."

Man, they really have absolutely no idea what happened today. Part of you hopes they never do especially after them just saying they're proud of you.

Avoiding eye contact, you walk back over to your seat. You weren't sure where they got the idea that you were suddenly okay with everything but you let it slide. It was better than admitting you were just too exhausted to argue anymore. It was like you said earlier, why fight it? Whether you wanted to or not, your life was decided for you.

"You've turned out to become such a beautiful woman." The queen smiles at you across the table.

Ambrose snorts. "Are we talking about the same person?"

You glare at him. "You're the biggest hater I've ever met. You jealous I'm better than you or something?"

"Jealous?" Ambrose laughs. "Name one thing you're better at than me."

Elijah covers his mouth when he speaks. "Mm, the other day I saw her shoot a target with her eyes closed."

"Really? That's incredible." The king says astonished.

"Incredibly dangerous!" Your mother adds.

Kai drinks from his cup to help the food go down smoothly. "Relax, she didn't miss. She actually got it perfectly in the center."

Elijah nods. "I don't think I've ever seen her miss, only when she first started and even then it took her like two tries before she got the hang of it."

Kai looks at you. "Sasha said you're the best she's seen in a while actually."

Ambrose grunts with his arms crossed. "I can shoot with my eyes closed too."

Kai completely speaks over him. "I heard she shot an apple off connie's head too."

"WHAT?!" The queen shouts.

You bring your finger to your lips. "Shh, please don't shout at someone when they're right beside you. There's no reason to yell." You borrow her words from earlier.

The king laughs while coughing, his fists shooting up to his mouth. She scowls at you and then him. "Don't encourage this." She tells him.

He gestures toward you while he dabs his mouth with his napkin. "I mean, that's pretty amazing. Isn't it? She's talented."

"I agree that she is but y/n, you need to stop being so—" She turns to you.

"Reckless. Yeah. I get it." You say looking down at your plate. You drop your fork onto your plate and then push it away.

Your mom looks at your plate and then back at you. "I told Hitch to give you dancing lessons for the ball this weekend. Your brothers and some of the guards will practice with you."

Your head shoots up and you're ready to complain and demand for it not to happen but you just let it go instead. "Okay."

Kai complains for you. "Aw, what do we have to do with it?"

She keeps her eyes on the plate in front of her as she continues to eat. "Nothing but you'll do it because I say so."

He sighs already giving up on even attempting to change her mind. The other two boys know better than to even try to.

The doors come open and Niccolo comes in holding a ginormous cake that he balances carefully with one hand while he guard the flames on the candles with the other.

Sasha, Mikasa, Connie, Hitch, Eren, Marco and a bunch of others follow behind him singing the birthday song as Niccolo approaches the table with the cake.

He sets it down in front of you and you smile and whisper thank you while everyone continues to sing.

You take a moment to look at everyone's faces and just really soak in the moment. This was going to be your last birthday here and you wanted to remember every single bit of it.

Sasha and Connie sing at the top of their lungs. Mikasa sings and never takes her eyes off you, mainly because she's internally panicking as Eren stands besides her and sings as well.

You meet eyes with everyone in the room and notice there's only one person missing. Jean.

You didn't blame him for not wanting to be here. You weren't even sure if you wanted to see him right now either. But, it was a tad bit disappointing when you realized he was no where to be seen.

The song comes to an end and everyone begins to clap. You stare at the flames before you and realize everyone is waiting for you to make a wish.

Every year, you wished for the same thing. To be let out of the walls and just have some freedom. Not a quick parade but an actual trip. An adventure.

Sometimes, you even switched it up and wished for you not to get married instead. No matter which of the two you chose or how many times you wish for it each year, it never came true.

It wasn't like you had given up hope. But at the same time, hadn't you?

You close your eyes and pretend to think of a wish but in reality, your mind was empty. You then blow out the candles and everyone claps again. For the first time in your life, you wished for nothing.

You stand up and help Niccolo pass out slices of cake while he cuts into the many layers of it. It was a stunning cake. Not that you were surprised, he out did himself every year.

You walk over to where your friends stand and Connie is the first one to speak. "Remind me again why you never wear red. You look amazing."

You smile bashfully. "Oh stop." While the rest of them agree and Hitch brags about how she did it in such a short time, you look around as if searching for something.

"He's not here." Mikasa says. "He went home for the day. I bumped into him before he left."

You turn to her. You debate on acting dumb and pretending you have no idea who she's talking about but she knows you way too well. "Ah."

She elbows you slightly. "He'll be back tomorrow. He probably just needed to sleep it off."

"I know." You brush off. "I'm not worried about it."

She laughs through her nose. "Okay."

Everyone digs into their slices of cake and before you know it, the dining hall is empty again, everyone heading home for the night.

You and Mikasa stay to help pick up everything and when you finish, she heads to the main hall to grab some final gifts that people sent.

"Why are you being so quiet?" She asks.

"Huh?" You turn to her. You didn't even notice you were zoned out. "You okay?" She asks.

You nod and think of a quick lie. "They're making me take a dancing class with Hitch." You sigh. "For the ball. They're making my brothers and some of the guards practice as my partners."

It wasn't necessarily a lie. That was the truth. It just wasn't what was actually on your mind though.

Mikasa laughs into her palm. "You're joking. Oh, you have to let me watch."

You scoff. "So you can laugh at my humiliation? No thanks."

Mikasa pretends to be fake offended. "I would never."

You roll your eyes. "You think you're so funny." You then give her a sly look. "Maybe while I'm dancing with Eren I'll tell him how much you like him."

All of the color in Mikasa's face drains and she looks like she might faint. "Please don't."

You laugh. "Orrrr, I can ask him about you. What he thinks."

She pinches you. "I rather die."

"Ow!" You jump and rub at your shoulder. "Did you just pinch me?"

Mikasa grabs the three boxes and stacks them on top of each other before she squats down to pick it all up entirely together effortlessly.

You attempt to reach for the boxes to help her but she pulls it away from you and gives you a mean look.

You stare at her in amazement. You knew for a fact that stuff wasn't light at all. She walks right past you in the direction of your room. "You like him, don't you? You should tell him!" You whisper loudly after her.

She shakes her head. "It isn't that easy."

You struggle to keep up with her fast pace. You could tell she was trying to get away from the conversation quick. "Why not? Haven't you done it before?"

She looks at you, confused. "No?"

"You expect me to believe you've never confessed to anyone. So you've just never liked anyone before until now?" You ask.

She side eyes you. "I didn't say that either."

You're about to say something else when she's flashes you her infamous Don't Keep Pushing It warning face. You shut up and walk beside her quietly. "Fine, I won't say nothing to him."

She sighs with relief. "Thank you. Why do you care so much anyway?"

You frown. "You're my bestfriend. I want to you to have everything you want. Even if it's Eren Jaeger, who, by the way," You lift up a single finger. "I saw get spit on by Connie yesterday."

Mikasa giggles, she shines her elusive smile that people rarely got to see. "No way. Please tell me that's true."

"I'm not lying!" You laugh. "It's not as hot as it sounds either."

Before you knew it, you were already down the hall to your room. As you approach your room, you spot something at the foot of your door. It was clearly a gift because there was a dark purple bow on top.

You gasp and run up to the door. "The paints I wanted!" You cheer as you kneel down to grab them.

"Who are those from?" Mikasa asks as she balances all your other gifts in her arms.

You pick up the bottles of the paint and underneath lies a small note torn from a piece of paper. "Probably Kai. He's the only one I to-"

Mikasa pokes her head past the boxes in her arms to see why you suddenly got so quiet. "What?"

On the note, there was handwriting that you immediately knew didn't belong to your brother or anyone in your family for that matter.

But it only took a few seconds to realize who it actually was from.

Sorry for yelling at you. Hopefully this makes up for it a little bit. If it helps, I'll admit I'm an idiot too.
Happy birthday y/n.
- J

You can feel your cheeks practically swell up to your eyes as your smile grows in size. "It's from Jean, surprisingly."

Mikasa raises an eyebrow and kicks your bedroom door open. "Wow, guess he's not as big of an idiot as I thought he was."

You grab the paints along with the note and follow Mikasa into your room, unable to hide the giddy smile on your face. "I guess not, huh?"

-
Here's a meme video, I know you guys missed them ;)

https://youtu.be/jLuSAlT63-E