Ending The Past: Attack On Titan/Shingeki No Kyojin

Chapter 3: Repeat of yesterday?

(This is what I imagine Lucy to look like. A female Eren. Again, you don't have to go by this picture.)

The very next morning Harper made sure to wake up extra early so she wouldn't be late again. She quickly showered and put on her uniform before making her way down to the dining room to eat breakfast.

Once she had her food, she sat down at one of the empty tables in the corner and began eating. She began to think about yesterday, about how Lucy had been so nice to her. It was almost like she was an angel sent from heaven. Snapping out of her thoughts, she turned just in time to see Lucy placing her tray right next to hers.

"Hey. I see you're up early," she said. Harper only nodded in response.

"That's good. We wouldn't want a repeat of yesterday," said Lucy as she began to eat. Definitely thought Harper. Harper began to recall all of yesterday, especially the part where Hanji basically told you that Commander Keith thought you were a weakling.

"You know, it's okay that you aren't as strong as the others. Strength isn't everything. You may lack physical strength but you make up for in your genius thinking," said Lucy. Harper stared at her shocked for a second. How did she know what I was thinking? She thought. But finally, smiling, Harper said, "thanks." Lucy only smiled in return.

After breakfast, both girls began to get ready to train. Okay! I'm going to give it my all and get better. Harper thought. Unfortunately fate had other plans for her. Harper was too far behind the rest trainees that she didn't know what was happening most of the time but she tried her hardest. But even when you try your hardest things don't always seem to go the way you want them to. This continued for weeks. Harper tried all she could and when she finally couldn't, Lucy came and tried to help her. Tried.

Finally, after it seemed that training when she was required to wasn't working, Harper decided to train harder and longer. After everyone else had dinner and was resting in their barracks, Harper was outside training. She first began increasing her leg strength with running and various other leg exercises then she would increase her arm strength with various arm exercises. Even after all those exercises, she felt she had to more. All these nights of training were leaving her sleep deprived. One night she was out training with the 3DMG when she heard, "Oi! Brat, what are you doing out so late at night?"

Spinning around she came face to face with Levi.

"Captain," she began, nervously, "just...training a bit."

"Cadet, it's 3 in the morning and your technique sucks. You're just wasting time," he said, as he took notice of the bags under her eyes.

"Huh? I don't think I understand, sir," she said.

"Can't you see that the cuts you're making aren't good enough to kill a Titan? At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if you became a Titan snack," he said.

I guess there's no hope for me she thought as she felt tears gathering in the corner of her eyes. Harper tried hard not to cry in front of Levi but it was almost as if her tears had a mind of their own.

Levi was very taken aback when he looked down at the girl, only to find her silently crying. He was used to cadet beings scared of him or trying to better themselves whenever he insulted them but he certainly didn't expect her or intend to make her cry. What the hell? This always works on that damn titan boy he thought. He did admit that seeing her cry did make him feel a little guilty, especially since the girl looked so small and fragile. Sighing he said, "Here, give me the sword and I'll show you how to hold it." After wiping her tears, she nodded and handed him the sword.

"Okay brat, watch closely because I'm only showing you once," he told her with a more gentle tone. After he finished demonstrating how to correctly hold the sword, he handed back to her. "Now you try it."