ONE. HUMANITY'S COMEBACK
Birds of a Feather.

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Luca knew what it meant to carry your home with you wherever you were.

He understood it in the way his shoulders felt like he carried the weight of the world ever since he was a little boy, in the way he was forced to learn how to hide his bruises and scars. But now everything and everyone he considered to be his was gone under the rumbles of Shiganshina and he knew he could no longer hide in the shadows to escape the cruelty of the world. He couldn't hide from the truth either; Micah and his mother were dead, permanently confined in his own last memories of them. All he had now was his uncle and Kore.

Kore quickly managed to crawl into the warm spot of his heart without even trying and Luca found himself assuming the role of her protector. His uncle hadn't been happy to see that now he was in charge of looking after two kids instead of just one, but the little redhead could apparently melt the most frozen of hearts. The man was clearly never meant to be a father to anyone, let alone his sister's son and the stray he strung along with him, but he still tried his best to make sure they were fed and safe, even if it meant being gone for most of the day and working himself to exhaustion.

The refugee settlement that they lived at was full of people, all as desperate as the next one. The resources never seemed to be enough for all of them and it could be reflected in the way the citizens of the Trost District looked at them, with a hint of annoyance in their gaze. It made it almost impossible to get a job there, but his uncle had managed to make some money as a freight worker in the Stohess District. While Luca and Kore waited for him to come back, they had to resort to petty theft to survive, a prospect that left them both less than pleased, especially when being caught and forced to take a beating. Luca bore it for the both of them and he realized it was worth it when Kore was scouted to work as a papergirl. She looked sweet and unassuming, unlike him, whose bruised face, deadpan expression and cold glare were apparently "unnerving"—or simply a harsh reminder of a reality no one wanted to face.

At night, they'd share a slice of stale bread under the thin blanket that could barely cover one of them whole and they'd talk in whispers as to not bother the lady that slept next to them with her toddler. For a while, Kore talked and Luca listened. He was amazed at how someone could talk so much about their own life while successfully managing to evade tough subjects without him even noticing. He could see it in her eyes that she had gone through more than she let on beyond her mother's death and even before Shiganshina's fall in a way only someone who had experienced harshness too could tell. He never asked about it, but there was a silent understanding between them that felt almost spiritual, sanctified. Like it was them against the world.

Eventually, he found his voice as well. "You know... I never really got to know my father either," he said one night. Cross-legged, under a blanket, breaths mixing into each other's. If he couldn't trust her, who could he trust? Who would he ever be able to trust? "Mother never talked about him, but I know he's dead. My brother, he once... found some letters. They had the Wings of Freedom stamp. I think this is why the military has been sort of a... sore subject around our house. When mother found out, she was outraged, she burnt all the letters and..." He stopped. Micah sure would have deserved a beating for snooping through her stuff, but then Luca saw him with a burn mark on the arm and swore to never bring this up again, no matter how curious he was about what the letters contained and whether it was from their father or not.

He could feel Kore's big eyes on him even through the dark. "Do you think your father was in the Survey Corps?" she asks.

Luca felt himself shrink. She's dead now. You don't have to be scared of her anymore, he thought to himself, but something kept holding him back. It still felt like a betrayal to the memory of his dead mother to think like that, to disobey her orders even after she was gone. "I don't know," he shakes his head and his tone made it obvious he no longer wanted to talk about this.

"I'll be able to ask around when I get in the Corps," she says. "And I'll tell you, if you want."

It was always a matter of when for Kore, never if. He almost felt ashamed that he ever doubted her—she seemed scrawny, malnourished and weak, yes, but the fire in her eyes when she talked about wanting something made up for it. When they were still going around and stealing, he was the one who made the plans and she executed them, being eerily fast and stealthy. She had the ability to maneuver around in silence, blending in in a way that completely evaded attention. He wasn't entirely sure how much that would help when she'd have to be faced with Titans, but she was a pretty good thief nonetheless. He wanted to believe in her, he really did.

And yet, the prospect of her signing up for the military and having to say goodbye to him now made his heart sink. If she managed to get in the military, who knew when he'd see her again, if ever? It felt like she was going towards a path he felt like he couldn't follow and it made his head spin.

"Not if I ask around first," he mumbled almost defiantly, without thinking it much.

"Huh?!" Luca's eyes widened and his palm tried finding her mouth to cover it up before she woke the sleeping people around them up, but since he couldn't see in the dark, he ended up slapping her forehead. She let out a squeal and she fell backwards, dragging the blanket and him with her. Now laying on their backs and aware of people around them groaning and grunting in annoyance, Luca's panic drove him to cover their faces up with the blanket and let out snoring sounds to pretend like they were asleep as well and not the ones waking everyone up. Unfortunately, that only led to Kore bursting out in giggles that she unsuccessfully tried to muffle with her palm.

"Oh, we're absolutely getting kicked out," Luca muttered exasperatedly, nudging her with his hip to shut up.

After a few minutes of silence when it felt like everyone had gone back to sleep or at least were attempting to, Kore spoke again. Now, her voice sounded a bit more serious. "So... are you really thinking about joining the military too?" she asked, the hint of hopefulness making Luca nervous.

"I don't know," he said quietly. "It looks like I'll have to."

"You don't have to do anything."

"Yeah, well, someone has to look out for you." He was thankful for the darkness that hid his blushing face from her. "You know what I mean. We... make a good team... and stuff."

"And stuff," she repeated. He could hear the grin in her voice and it made him regret everything. "Someone's grown attached."

He couldn't find it in his heart to deny it as much as he wanted to. After all, when his uncle asked him to come and work in Stohess District with him for a few weeks, Luca's first thought and biggest concern was leaving Kore behind. He had no doubt she was capable enough to manage just fine without him, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth when he had to say goodbye.

He didn't like showing it. "It'll be fine," he told her, patting her head almost condescendingly but in a teasing way. "I'll be back before you even know it." A lie. He couldn't be certain about what the future held. He couldn't be certain that he wouldn't end up losing her.

Kore was different, wearing her heart on her sleeve. Her big eyes were glistening with unshed tears that she stubbornly held back. "Why can't I come with you?" she repeats the same question she had been asking for days. "It's not fair. It's just not!"

"Our lives have never been fair, Kore." Sometimes she'd call him Lu. He'd always call her by her name. "Don't make me feel shitty for leaving. I can't not go."

She frowned, looking away. "Fine. Just... stay out of trouble." And come back. The unsaid things between them were always understood anyway.

"I was about to say the same thing to you."

He should've known better. When he came back, he found her bedridden with a wet rag against her forehead, paler than he'd ever seen her before. The weather was cold this past week, but that didn't mean she could stop working. Two dresses layered one atop of each other couldn't stop her from getting sick after spending the whole day outside selling newspapers. Luca hated to see her like this; feverish and half-delirious, shaking under the weight of stolen blankets. He kneeled down next to her, noticing her uneasy sleep and hoping his uncle was there. It didn't feel right for the two of them to be completely alone anymore. Luca had gone from the younger brother to the older one just like that and had no one to prepare him for it.

She was sleeping fitfully, her eyelids twitching as her eyes darted beneath them, as if tracking something in a dark, distant dream. His hand gently brushed strands of her hair away from her forehead and he grimaced at the warm temperature of it when his skin touched her face. Kore shifted and opened her glassy eyes, perhaps startled by the feeling of someone touching her. The moment she saw Luca, she looked as if she was seeing a ghost right in front of her, blinking back tears she probably didn't realize had formed in her sleep. She let out a strangled sob and shifted even further away from him, her eyes wide and horrified. Like a wild animal.

"Kore, hey," he said, finding himself frozen in the confusion of what was happening. His instinct was to raise his hands up as in surrender. That was the last thing he expected after not seeing her for days. "Hey, it's okay..."

She was staring at him in a weird, unsettling way that made him uneasy, like she was seeing something beyond him. Like she was seeing a different version of him. "It was probably a nightmare," he continued, keeping his voice gentle in an attempt to reassure her.

She shook her head. "Damnit..." she whispered and could no longer help herself from sobbing, curling up into herself. Luca scooted close to her and reluctantly wrapped his arms around her, half-expecting this move to make things worse. Only when he felt her turn around and bury herself into his chest, he knew that she'd be okay.

Because he made a vow at that moment. He'd never leave her behind again. He kept it when he signed up his name for the military right under hers and he'd keep that vow for the rest of his life.

Luca constantly reminded himself that he signed his life away, not only for Kore, but for the greater good. It had been years since Wall Maria was compromised and the Titans turned his home into rumble and his family into distant memories and everyone seemed to be itching for revenge. And yet, standing amongst the rest of the young cadets like him, all he could feel around him was fear and anxiety as the commandant of the was walking around them like an animal ready to attack.

Luca could understand why the man was acting like that, trying to see if they were strong enough to withstand his abuse, because if not, there was no way they could actually face Titans one day. However, it didn't make him want to punch Keith Shadis in the face any less.

"You there!" He yells, walking up to a boy a few rows ahead of Luca. "Who are you?"

"Armin Arlert from Shiganshina, sir!" The mention of his hometown got Luca's attention immediately. That boy, Armin, he was certain he had seen him around before. His hair, like shiny gold, made him stand out from the rest.

"Yeah? That's a stupid name." Luca wanted to roll his eyes, but kept his composure just in case the man somehow managed to notice. "Your parents gave you that?"

"My grandfather, sir!"

"Arlert, what are you doing here?"

"Trying to aid humanity's victory!"

"How wonderful," Keith Shadis deadpanned. "You will feed the Titans just fine." He then grabbed the blonde's head and turned him around so he's facing the other way. Luca's eyes met with his big blue ones for a second and he nodded, hoping it'd come across as a reassuring nod of solidarity and not a I agree you will become Titan food kind of nod.

The commandant's next victim seemed to be Kore. She had tried to make herself as presentable as possible, braiding her hair into a braid that fell on her left shoulder and keeping the appropriate stance of having her arms crossed behind her the whole way through, not even flinching when the commandant walked to her, despite Luca knowing she must have been feeling nervous.

"You!" he said. "What the hell is wrong with your hair, cadet?"

Kore straightened her back, her hands clenching into fists behind her back. "I wasn't aware there was something wrong with my hair, sir!"

"It's too bright," the man said, standing right in front of her with that familiar glare. "Too orange. Titans will love that. Do you think you can blend with the surroundings with this hair, cadet?"

"... no sir?" Luca could hear some stifled chuckles from the rest of the cadets around them, but he didn't find any of it funny at all.

"What is your name?"

"Kore Byrne from Shiganshina! I'm here to assist humanity in wiping out the Titans! Orange hair and all!"

Luca saw Shadis' eye twitch, like he was about to continue on his tantrum but thought it'd be overkill. He said nothing, just did the same thing he did earlier by grabbing her head and turning her around to face the back rows. Kore had a little frown on her face and refused to look at anyone.

The commandant kept going around, picking his victims randomly or so Luca wanted to believe. Disregarding the man's loud voice while he continued to try and break down the potential future soldiers, he looked around, taking in all of the new faces around him. He wondered how many of them would actually make it, how many of them he'd train and maybe one day even fight alongside with. For a second, he thought how many of them would actually survive. He clenched his jaw. Don't do that.

His depressing thoughts were interrupted by the sound of chewing and he glanced at the girl standing right next to him. She had casually just pulled out a potato from behind her back and started eating it, looking around in a way that seemed to imply she had no idea she was doing something insane. Luca's eyes widened in what could only be described as pure shock.

"Are you crazy?" he said, keeping his voice as quiet as possible and turning his mouth towards her as much as he could without also turning his head. He thought this girl must have been seriously stupid to not realize Shadis would make her life a living hell for that if he noticed. "Put that away, what're you doing?"

She didn't seem too bothered, which was almost admirable. "Well, I don't want it to get cold," she said and took a bite.

"You can't be serious..." Luca muttered. When his peripheral vision caught the commandant moving closer to them, he let out an annoyed sigh and turned towards her. He had half a mind to grab the potato out of her mouth and throw it across the camp. "Put that away before he–"

She took another bite and it was enough to earn the commandant's attention. Luca felt his body freeze in his movement, all eyes on him and the weird girl next to him. When she split the potato and offered Keith Shadis the smallest part, Luca knew she was screwed—what he didn't expect was to be punished as well for simply talking to her. The man took one long look at him, one he felt surprisingly uncomfortable by, and ordered them both to run until exhaustion. No dinner. The girl next to him whimpered like a kicked puppy.

For the first hour, Kore stood on the side with another girl, cheering them on and occasionally tossing them a water flask to keep them going. Sasha, the girl that had gotten him in trouble in the first place, had introduced herself with an apologetic smile. Despite himself, Luca found himself unable to hold a grudge against him, especially since she covered for him during the moments he felt his body shut down on him. Eventually, the sight of the two cadets running around the military camp until they dropped to the ground became old news and for the next few hours, they were on their own.

He didn't even know how many hours passed until both of them could no longer function. It was dark outside, that was the only sign of time actually passing besides being out of breath. Sasha dropped to the ground next to him and he quickly followed. "I can't feel my legs," Luca murmured. "Everything hurts."

"We're finished," Sasha mumbled.

He heard steps coming towards them and he groaned, thinking it was Shadis. Perhaps the bastard thought it'd be a good time for a lecture, now they had no chance at talking back at him. But before he could say anything to Sasha, the girl jumped up like a wild animal and ran towards the person. "Bread!" she exclaimed and Luca, despite struggling, sat up curiously.

"That's all I could get but I saved it for you two." It was a sweet-looking girl he recognized from their previous line-up. With her blonde hair and kind voice, she looked like an angel sent from above. "But you should drink some water first," she said, pulling up a big flask of water.

Luca opened his mouth to thank her, but before he could, Sasha was already kneeled in front of the blonde, shaking her from the shoulders. "Are you god?! Are you?!"

Another girl appeared from the darkness. Luca didn't even regard her, his eyes focused on the bread the blonde was still holding. "Hey, what are you three doing?" While the blonde girl wasn't looking, Sasha grabbed the bread from her hands and started eating it in bites so big he doubted she even chewed it before she swallowed.

"Sasha!" Luca said angrily before he could even control himself. He tried to pull the remaining bread away from her, but the girl was acting possessed. "Sasha, you fucking animal-" They ended up wrestling for it, but by the time he had her pinned down, she had finished the entire loaf by herself. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Sasha's only response was a very dignified burp.

"I'm sure you're very proud of doing that good deed now, Christa," the new girl said, her voice carrying a hint of condescension that felt unfounded. "Was the effort worth what you got out of it?" The two of them just stared at each other for a moment, until the brunette scoffed. "Well, it doesn't matter. I'm carrying her to her bed."

She walked up to Luca, who had almost forgotten he had Sasha still pinned to the ground. "Did no one ever teach you how to treat a lady, big guy?" the brunette said sarcastically and Luca felt himself blush as he moved away, letting her pick up Sasha like a sack of potatoes.

"I wasn't-"

"Oh, trust me, I know how to treat a lady is the least of your concerns," she said with a wolfish grin he suddenly felt very uncomfortable by. What was that supposed to mean, anyway?

"Are you doing a good deed too?" the blonde girl asked her as she passed her flask of water to Luca.

"I'm doing her a favor so she'll owe me. I'm sure her stupidity will be proven very useful," she said, before she walked away and towards the barracks, a half passed out Sasha still on her back.

Luca opened the flask and drank the water in what felt to only be one gulp. "God, thank you, I needed that," he said, passing it empty back to the girl next to him.

She smiled. "I'm sorry for the bread. I would've brought more if I could," she said, before extending her hand. "I'm Christa, by the way."

He shook it, his grip weak. "Luca. Nice to meet you."

"Ymir had the right idea," Christa said, standing up and helping him up as well. "You should probably head to bed. I'm sure tomorrow's going to be rough."

He nodded, letting out a deep sigh. "Yeah, right," he mumbled. "Could you do me one last favor before I go?" Christa nodded immediately. "Could you find my friend and tell her I'm going to the barracks? Her name's Kore; red hair, freckles everywhere, big green eyes. I don't want her to get worried."

"Okay, sure," the girl smiled and before they go their separate ways, she said one last, "Get some rest, Luca."

The heavy wooden door creaked open as Luca stepped into the barracks, his boots dragging faint trails of mud across the worn floorboards. The room was dimly lit, the faint glow of a few oil lamps scattered around casting long, flickering shadows on the walls. The muffled hum of conversation came to an abrupt halt as heads turned to glance at him.

"How did the first date with the potato girl go?" someone mocked.

"Getting a punishment by Shadis on your first day must be a first-time occurrence," someone else added and a few giggles sounded, but Luca was too tired to grace any of this with a response. He merely rolled his eyes, his sharp eyes sweeping over the room until they landed on the unclaimed bunk nearest the far wall. The wooden frame creaked as he collapsed onto the thin mattress, the weight of his body causing the coarse fabric to sag. He didn't even bother undressing.

Whatever ribbing or banter followed blurred into an indistinct hum as the exhaustion clung to him like a second skin. He was about to drift away before he heard steps coming toward him and for a second, instinct took over as his eyes opened and he flinched away from the stranger.

A soft voice spoke. "Sorry, did I startle you?"

Armin. His name, inexplicably, came to Luca in an instant as he stared at the boy in front of him. Blond hair framed his face, a little uneven and tousled, as though he'd been caught in the wind moments earlier. His blue eyes were striking, even in the dimly lit room, they shone like sapphires. He was standing there, with an endearing kind of awkwardness, holding something wrapped in a clean white cloth.

"I thought you might... well, you didn't get to the mess hall earlier. I brought you something to eat," he said, holding the bundle out, the smell of bread and some boiled vegetables wafting from it. "It's not much, but..."

Luca was speechless for a few moments. He cleared his throat, but his voice still came out gravelly from the fatigue. "Thanks," he said, reaching out and taking the bundle from the blonde. "You, uh, didn't have to do that."

"Everyone deserves to eat after a day like today," he smiled nervously, the corners of his mouth quirking up just a little. "My name is-"

"Armin," Luca said and then realized how it sounded. "I remember from earlier. When, uh, Shadis talked to you. Anyways, my name's Luca. You're from Shiganshina too, right?"

The boy nodded. "I think I remember seeing you around before," he said.

Luca raised his eyebrows. "Really? I don't-" He knew the boy had looked familiar from the first moment he saw him, but he didn't recognize how or why. Then, it dawned on him.

He had been wearing a blue cardigan, clutching a book to his chest in the corner of a street. Micah had been above him. His favorite move was to kick people when they were already down. Luca was never brave enough when it came to his family. He didn't interfere. The best apology he could offer was to help him stand up after Micah was gone. I like this book too. He turned around and left before he could see the blonde boy's reaction to his words.

"Oh. Yeah... I remember now." He suddenly didn't feel very hungry. Unconsciously, he pushed the bundle back towards Armin, like a silent plea to take the food and eat it himself. His kindness was unwarranted.

Armin understood, but he shook his head anyway. "None of it really matters anymore," he said gently. "It's all in the past. Now we're all here for the same reason, we should stick together."

Luca felt his heart flutter. Maybe it was the exhaustion that made him overemotional or the mention of their old home, but his dark eyes met Armin's blue ones with a sense of newfound determination. "If there's ever anything you need—anything at all—you come to me," he said. "I'll find a way to make it happen. I owe you."

Armin blinked, his cheeks flushing faintly. "That's really not necessary—"

"It is to me," Luca said. "You know why it is."

Armin looked down for a moment, clearly overwhelmed, but then he smiled, a small, genuine smile that lit up his face. "Okay," he said softly. "If I ever need anything, I'll let you know."

Satisfied, Luca turned to the food on his lap, watching as Armin lingered for just a moment before retreating and going back to his own bed. By the time he finished, most of the other cadets had gone to sleep as well. Luca wiped the bread crumbs off him and blew off the oil lamp next to him, surrendering himself to the darkness. In the matter of a few minutes, he was asleep. 

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AUTHORS NOTE!   you'll pry my aot hyperfixation from my cold, dead hands. unfortunately, this fic is one of my favourite children and despite the fact i was scared i would end up never writing for it, kore and luca are like... 80% of my thoughts constantly. i'll talk about them with anyone who'll listen. i just want to bring back the aot brainrot guys pls.

this chapter was from luca's pov (like i promised, there'll be a lot of interactions between the cadets in general bc #found family) but the next ones will probably be from kore's. i hope you guys enjoy their dynamic so far, it'll only get better. they're THE platonic soulmates of all time.

lucakore art by the lovely rieberly (and yes, i did lose my shit when i received that).

until next time <3