LIfe's Too Short

Chapter 11

Author's Note: This chapter is the beginning of pt. 2 of this story, focusing more on Petra and to an extent Daniel. Btw, for Rivetra I found that a really good song is Leave out All the Rest by Linkin Park, and for Dantra (I'm sure you can guess what this is) I thought Stay by Rihanna was pretty fitting for what I've got planned, hehe.

Oh, and what's going on with Levi right now is basically the part in the manga with Pastor Nick and all that. If you haven't read the manga yet, I suggest you do so because 1) this story contains spoilers 2) it has a really interesting plot line. It doesn't have the best art but not the worst either so yeah, but I seriously can't wait to see this in the anime.

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ReachForTheSky- The point of the coffee flashback was to show another similarity between Petra and Levi's mother, since I was thinking it would be interesting, lol. Oh, and thank you for your consistent reviews on every chapter! I really appreciate it. :)

Pt. 2- Daniel

It had been a month since Petra had left the Survey Corps. The first few days had been sad and quiet, until she resolved to go out and do something with her life. Her resolve had taken her to the library, where she met Daniel Castur, one of the funniest and sweetest friends she had ever made. He worked at the library most of the time, only getting time off on Sundays. Daniel didn't seem to mind though, in fact he appeared to enjoyed his job a lot, even though the pay was scarce. A small part of Petra was jealous of him. He got to spend all his time in a library and get paid at the same time. Lucky. Anyways, the two began to spend more and more time together each day, recommending books to each other and talking about ones they had both already read. It had felt so good, Petra thought, to finally have someone she could talk to normally. She found that spending time with Daniel soothed her flashbacks away significantly, to the point where she could actually fell them coming and snap out of it before she got caught up in it. Petra soon began spending almost all of her time during the day at the library, and brought lunch with her each day to eat. She couldn't help though, the nostalgic feeling of her days making coffee for Levi in the mornings when she poured her coffee for her father. She also couldn't help the guilt that pricked her heart when she thought of Levi in comparison to Daniel. It was unfair, really. They were opposites; Levi was distant and strong, while Daniel was kind and a bit clumsy, in a funny way. Levi didn't give her the sense of happiness she enjoyed around Daniel; Daniel didn't give her the feeling of safety that she had when she was around Levi. Every morning she woke up to a pillow of tears from the nightmares that got worse and worse.

"So, I told you a lot about me already," Petra said. "But I don't really know about you."

He looked up.

"There's not really much to know," he mumbled.

"Why's that?"

"My life's pretty plain and simple. I was born here, in Trost. My mom and dad worked in the fields. After the gate here was broken, my parents didn't make it out in time. Our house was really close to the gate. I only made it out because I was out running an errand near the gate to Wall Rose," he lamented. "I only found out they were dead when I saw my neighbor there. She told me that she saw my parents get eaten as she was running away. She barely made it, she said."

"That's awful," Petra said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, but it's nothing compared to what you've seen. You've seen people get eaten left and right, haven't you? I mean, after all, you were in the Survey Corps."

Petra nodded sadly. She had. She had seen it over and over again.

But the word "were" somewhat irked Petra.

Daniel and Petra were eating their lunches, and they were talking over sandwiches Petra had made for them.

"I'm just nervous I won't be able to make it back," she said.

Daniel quietly ate, looking down.

"You could stay," he suggested.

"Stay?" Petra asked, taken aback.

He nodded.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "If you stayed here. You won't have to see another titan again if you did. You won't have to deal with losing those around you to them."

Petra was at a loss for words.

Stay here?

She imagined herself spending the rest of her days in the safety of the walls, in the library with Daniel. She'd never have to put her life on the line. She'd never have to worry about her friends dying in front of her. She could live her life in peace for once.

"I..." she let out quietly.

"I know it's a lot to think about," he said, placing his hand over hers. It was big enough to cup hers and his skin was soft. "But it's an option. You don't have to go back out there, you know."

He removed his hand and stood up.

"Please consider it, at least."

With that being said he left, leaving her sitting there.

That night, she placed her head on her pillow, fearing what would come when she closed her eyes.

"Petra!" a familiar voice yelled in agony.

"Help me, Petra!"

"Daniel!" she called out, running towards his voice. She was in her Survey Corps uniform again, her maneuver gear strapped on. The town was stained with blood, on the ground and on the walls of houses and shops, but there were no people or corpses to be seen.

The gate was sealed, Petra thought in disbelief. This can't be.

Suddenly, a horde of about ten titans ran right in front of her, past her in the direction of...

the library.

"Daniel! I'm coming!"

Petra fired her maneuver gear at the rooftop and ran along it, following the titans.

The tallest one, a 15-meter class, reached its hand into the library and withdrew it with Daniel in its hand.

"No!"

"Petra, help me! I don't want to die!" Daniel wailed, squirming against the titan's grip.

She drew her blades and attempted to fire her maneuver gear at the titan's nape, but it was suddenly gone, the blades dull and rusted.

The girl could only watch in horror as Daniel was swallowed whole, the titan smiling in satisfaction.

In her shock, she spun around to run, but the same titan that had eaten Sara was right behind her, staring her in the eye before grabbing her and opening its mouth.

Petra woke in horror to find that her face streaked with dry tears and a wet pillow again.

Is this my fear? she thought. That I won't be able to save anyone I care about? That I never have?

The image of the titan that ate Sara sent shudders through her. She remembered Daniel's words:

"You could stay. You won't have to see another titan again if you did. You won't have to deal with losing those around you to them."

But could she really?