The Burdens We Bare

Chapter 4: Proposal

The second (Y/N) walked through the doors, everybody's eyes shot into her direction. She was once again reminded of how simulating this day had been, and how ready she was for it to be over. Petra must have picked up on the younger girl's unease. Without looking, Petra grabbed (Y/N)'s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. (Y/N) quickly shot a grateful glance as they walked to the center of the room, where a singular chair sat. Petra motioned for the young girl to sit down.

"It's going to be ok." She smiled before leaving to join the other scouts.

You don't know that

Now that she was alone, (Y/N) could really feel everyone's eyes. There were some with caution in their eyes, but most of them had cold glares. Erwin stood up and began to speak, taking most of the crowd's attention.

"Today, in the presence of Premier Dhalis Zachary, the three regiments will be discussing the issue of (Y/N) (L/N). She was found outside of the walls and when Captain Levi and his squad tried questioning her, she ran. Upon further investigation, we found that she is the daughter of George and Lisa (Y/N)." With that news, there were gasps and murmuring in the stands. Of course everyone knew about George's crazy daughter.

    "She should be executed."

    "Get rid of her."

    "Death to her."

A majority of the court seemed to shout death threats at the young girl. She began to dread the decision that was to be made. It was clear that everyone in the room seemed to want her dead. Was she really going to receive a fair trial? All (Y/N) wanted to do was disappear from where she was sitting. The shouting continued until a bearded man, whom she presumed was Zachary, called for order. The room finally fell quiet.

       "Alright then. Now, I would like to hear all of the regiments' proposals. From there, I will choose. Commander Dawk, let's hear your idea first." The room was still until a very familiar man stepped forward. A mixture of feelings brewed in (Y/N), but the most predominant one she felt was terror.

    "Premier Zachary, Commander was unable to attend today's meeting, so I will be standing in for him."

Why did he have to be here? 

From an outside perspective, (Y/N) was sitting there completely emotionless. However, she could feel herself shutting down. She was doing everything in her power to control her breathing and keep her body from trembling in fear. I waited in anticipation for the words to leave the man's mouth.

"As we know that this girl was found living outside the walls, which is a crime punishable by death. However, we as the Military Police believe that this girl's best option would be to send her back home to her family."

NO. Please do anything but that.

    Zachary slowly nodded his head. "Are you saying that you would like your daughter returned to you Captain (L/N). A cold smile fell across George (L/N)'s face. His gaze found itself on the small girl in the middle of the room. (Y/N) could only see anger and hatred within his eyes. "Yessir. Although she caused problems, we still love her and want to see her home. She is family after all."

    "Very touching Captain (L/N). I will keep that in mind. Commander Pixis. What is your proposal?" A bald man from the garrison stood up and stepped forward.

    "We agree with the Military police. We believe this girl should be able to go back to her family. She has only just begun her teenage years. She is still young. She can take this as an opportunity to learn from her mistakes." (Y/N) could no longer hide her shaking. Panic rose in her as it became clear that unless Erwin had a show stopping proposal, she was going to be returned to her family. She tried to shut out the dark thoughts; Thoughts of what they would do to her behind closed doors. Zachary dismissed Pixis before signaling to Erwin to begin.

    "I understand why you believe that sending (Y/N) back to her family is the best choice. I believe that is another option." A small glimmer of hope sparked in (Y/N) as she heard Erwin's words. She anxiously wanted for him to continue. "Captain Levi Ackerman, Petra Rall and Oluo Bozado were all there in the forest that day. To say they were shocked is an understatement. Young (Y/N) was able to outrun the three of them, and put up a decent fight against Captain Levi." Erwin let his words settle in on the viewers. "It is very clear that (Y/N) is very gifted. It would be such a waste of raw talent if we don't utilize it. That is why after a long discussion, the scout believes (Y/N) should join the scouts." There was a brief pause before the chaos erupted.

    It was clear that Erwin's proposal was not popular. Everyone was throwing out their reason for why it was a terrible idea. Premier Zachary had a hell of a time getting order back in place. When he did, he turned to Erwin.

    "This is certainly an interesting idea. But young (Y/N) is untrained and uneducated. How do we know that she will not be a danger to others?"

    Erwin answered immediately. "We believe that the best way to prevent that from happening is to have (Y/N) train with the 104th Cadets. They are her same age so she won't have to worry about being the oldest in a new scary place. She will just have to play catch up. At the end of the training, we will test her. If she passes, she can become a Scout."
  
    "And what if she doesn't pass?" It was George who spoke. Erwin shifted so he was looking at him straight in the eyes. There was a slight moment of tension, but (Y/N) seemed to be the only one to pick up on it.

    "Then she will go back home with you."

Erwin no. I was really liking the plan until the last part.

There were murmurs around the room. It sounded as though almost everyone liked Erwin's plan the best.

Really? Twenty seconds ago these exact same people were saying that this plan was awful.

    "Ok. Well it sounds to me that almost everyone here agrees with Erwin. In that case–"

    "Excuse me. I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't agree with this plan a single bit. Quite frankly, I think this plan is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. That is saying something, considering I've heard the tails did Captain Tiny over there." Every single gaze turned back to (Y/N) in shock. She had not only just interrupted Premier Zachary, but she had also insulted Captain Levi in front of dozens of government officials. Nobody really knew what to say, Even Zachary wore a face of shock before regaining his composure.

    Levi cleared his throat before speaking. "Fair enough. I mean this is her life we are discussing. Shouldn't we listen to her and see what she wants to do?" Zachary looked at Levi before his gaze returned to the girl in the middle.

    "Captain Levi does have a point. Young (Y/N). What is your proposal?"

(Y/N) thought for a moment before standing. She looked up at Zachary and began to speak. "I like the first part of Commander Erwin's proposal. I believe that I can pass any test given to me. However, if I do fail, I do NOT want to go back to my family." (Y/N) finished the last part with a shaky voice. She was prepared for the arrows of insults to be thrown her way. Instead of tearing her down however, they only gave her more strength. She stood her ground and patiently waited for the adults to stop yelling at her so she could continue.

"In the case that I don't pass my training I have only one wish." I turned to Premier Zachary. "I wish to die." She then turned to a familiar captain. "At the hands of Captain Levi."