𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙮 | 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰 𝘹 𝘚𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢

𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 6: 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘦

𝘙𝘦𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘴. 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

"𝘚𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢! 𝘞𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴! 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰. 𝘞𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱, 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴!"

~

Niccolo awoke, sweat dripping down his back and forehead. He'd had the same nightmare for days now, and it usually resulted in sleepless nights. He thought about it, the same image of Sasha's cold body against a pool of deep red blood. And her eyes, her golden eyes, were closed. Niccolo shuddered. He dreaded seeing her like that, so lifeless and without her bright smile. But, it was just a dream. It would never happen.

Niccolo rubbed his eyes, and got out of bed, to be greeted with his usual surroundings. A dark room with a candle and small window in the corner. After a long conversation with the Eldians, they were located to a small set of rooms originally used for members of the Training Corps. Of course, the rooms were still guarded outside, but it was much better than prison cells. Niccolo chuckled, remembering the meeting.

"𝘉𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘸𝘩𝘺'𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬, 𝘖𝘯𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘰𝘱𝘰𝘯?" 𝘚𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥.

It was sweet, the way she was so curious, and eager to learn more about those who were meant to be the enemies. She definitely changed the way he viewed the Eldians, and he chose never to think of them as devils again. He missed her, a lot. Sasha and her friends had disappeared suddenly, and it had been weeks since he'd heard from her or seen her. Now he was stuck cooking food for ungrateful drunk men in the Military Police. Although they ate it all, and then claimed the food to be unsatisfactory, and the constant verbal abuse from them, the worst bit of it all was that Niccolo couldn't see the golden eyed angel he had grown to love.

'𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦...𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳?' Niccolo thought. Questions started popping up in his head, making him doubt himself. Was this really right? He could be punished. '𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰.' Niccolo thought, noticing the time. He packed his stuff to leave, and quickly rushed out of the door to head down to the kitchens and make breakfast for a large group of soldiers.

~

"𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘶..." 𝘚𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴.

𝘕𝘪𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

Sasha's eyes fluttered open, and she sat upright in her room. She had been having that nightmare for a while now, it always began the same, and usually ended the same, with her last words being 'niku' or 'meat', but it was only this night that she wished for Niccolo to be by her side. Her eyes began to blur, and tears pricked at her lashes. It was a sad scene, and like everyone, Sasha didn't want to die early, but now that she realised who she was calling out for, the scene became for meaningful and sadder.

"Sasha, Sasha, are you ok?"

Sasha looked up, and saw Mikasa looking at her worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a nightmare," Sasha said as she got out of bed and proceeded to dress herself. Training started early today, but they also got to finish early. Sasha hoped to meet up with Niccolo in the afternoon, since she hasn't seen him in over a fortnight. She really liked Niccolo, and Connie had even managed to subtly convince her that it's a small crush. She had never been 'in love' before, but this was nice, it was nice.

~

Niccolo watched as the last of the people filed out of the mess hall, and shut the door behind them. He began to collect the bowls and cups, and brought them over to where he could wash them all. There were more than usual today, so he mentally prepared himself for an evening of scrubbing cutlery. He began to wash one of the hundred bowls, and then another. Soon he had finished at least 15, and decided to get more clean water. He stepped outside into the cool air, and went to turn on the pipes which had been built to pump clean water. Suddenly, a sharp, feeling waved over him, and he felt as if he was being watched. He turned and looked around, slowly. There was nobody there, at first, but after his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw a figure slowly making their way towards him. As they got closer, they started walking quicker, and Niccolo saw who it was. It was Sasha.

"Hey, Niccolo, it's been a while."

"Oh, hey. It's been a while since I last saw you, why did you suddenly disappear?"

"Last-minute training," Sasha said, trying not to reveal too much information.

"I see, well, I have to continue washing dishes," Niccolo said, disappointed, but knowing that he shouldn't talk to her out here, where they could be seen.

"I can help," Sasha said with a smile.

And so they both ended up in the kitchen, silently scrubbing cups and bowls. Until one of them decided to break the silence. Niccolo was rather eager to talk to her, but he tried not to show it.

"So, Sasha, what has it been like in Paradis, living here your whole life?" Niccolo asked, after realising he really didn't know much about Sasha.

"Well, I was born in Dauper, I'm an only child, but when I joined the Survey Corps I saved this girl called Kaya from a titan, and then she started living with my parents, and she became my sister. My mum and dad started running stables, so they hired orphaned or homeless children as farm hands, so our house is pretty full. Um, we grew lots of crops in Dauper, and sold them to other villages. Dauper was a huntin' village, so I grew up'n was taught how'ta shoot-" Sasha abruptly stopped talking and slapped her hand over her mouth, and quickly gave a small bow and apologised quietly.

"Sorry, let the accent slip a bit there," She mumbled.

"It's not a problem, I take it that Dauper was in the South?" Niccolo wanted to get her to start talking again, since he enjoyed the rhythmic sound of her voice. Her accent was cute, he thought.

"Yeah, it's in the South. A hunting village. I was taught how to shoot arrows and guns at an early age, and had one of the best aims by the time I was 13," She said, clearly trying to conceal the way she spoke.

"Ah, so that's how you have such good aim. Tell me, why do you hide your accent? If that's how you spoke in your home, then just speak like that around your friends," Niccolo said.

"Well, back when I was in the Training Corps, people tended to tease me about it, saying I couldn't speak properly, so I always tried my best to..." Sasha trailed off, and turned her attention to the cup she was washing.

"I think it's cute," Niccolo finally said, and from the corner of his eye, he saw Sasha smirk.

"So, what about you and your family, Niccolo?" Sasha asked, turning to him.

"Well, I've not got much, but I have a brother called Pierre, and I live with him, my mum, and my dad I became a soldier when I was 16, and my parents are trying to get me to move on from the military, they want me to retire, and get married," Niccolo said, and he finished up washing the last of the bowls and placed them on the side.

"I see. Niccolo, let's go outside."

~

𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵: 1280 <3

𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨

~