|Lagniappe|

-I-

The loud wail of a child echoed through the empty halls of the Survey Corps headquarters. Everyone who was on duty, or just lazing around in the building, immediately perked up. They did not know exactly what the sound had came from, but they knew it was a young boy.

Some of them began searching out what it was, starting on the ground floor and working their way up. One of these people, was Petra Ral, one of the Survey Corps most valuable members for her amazing fighting skills and common sense.

Petra had grown up in an environment with children, and to say that she was surprised to hear that noise here, was an understatement. She had nearly dropped the book she was reading to find the child.

"Did you hear that?" Hange had asked her, readjusting her glasses with her thumb and index finger. They were sitting in Erwin Smiths office, discussing some of the plans for the next mission with the Commander.

The woman nodded and picked up the book that she had dropped, "Is that a child that I hear? What would a child be doing this far from the villages?"  The commander stood up from his desk and rolled up the Mission Formation map that they had been studying.

"We should probably find said child, civilians would probably not be very pleased about obtaining that information." He motioned for the two women to leave and ushered them out of his office, "Now go, I'll work on the formation while you two find the child, alright?" The two numbly nodded as Erwin shut the door to his office.

And that's why they were now standing on the top level, checking the rooms with urgency.

"Where could it be?" Hange mumbled, digging through a small trunk filled with clothing and necessities.

"Hange, the child isn't going to be in a box like that," Petra said with an exasperated sigh, "How would they be able to fit in there?"

The brunette shrugged and continued digging, "You never know-"

"Waaah!"

This time, the wail came from the door way.

The two women spun around on their heels, only to see the child rubbing at its closed eyes while crying. It was a young boy, with messy brown hair, and a long-sleeved shirt hanging loosely on its small frame.

"Hi, little guy..." Petra said while leaning down next to the little boy. "Where'd you come from?" She could have sworn that she recognized the shirt from somewhere, but it was stuck on the tip of her tongue exactly where she had seen it.  The little boy was probably about anywhere from 3-5 years of age, from what Petra could tell.

The child opened his eyes, and her mouth nearly dropped.

"Eren?!"

xxxxx

"That's Eren?" Armin asked while observing the small boy.

Petra nodded and readjusted Eren in her arms, "We don't know how this happened, but Hange is going to try to figure it out as soon as possible." She watched with a frown as the child wail even louder than before.

"He won't stop crying!" She nearly snapped, feeling her patience running thin. She knew she should have expected this, but Eren wouldn't stop crying and they couldn't afford it if anyone found about about the 'transformation.'