Friend or Foe... (AoT Reader Insert)

Chapter 28: An Unexpected Request

When I was a child, I was very hardworking. I never had the opportunity to do things likely considered normal by most other people.

I probably shouldn't complain about such trivial things as opportunities given during childhood, but I was certain that I didn't have the same opportunities as other children my age. Most would probably say that it was me who had an opportunity most children could not achieve and that I should be grateful, so I always told myself that I wouldn't enjoy the things other children did.

I wouldn't enjoy festivals with a father who always had to work.

I wouldn't enjoy lighting lanterns with a mother there to help me.

I wouldn't enjoy spending a night staring out into the sky with a sister holding my hand.

I guess that's what made it all the more painful to tell myself that everything I got to experience with those who considered me family was something I didn't enjoy.

Sunrise and sunset; two points in the day that seemed so similar yet felt so different. Both shared similar colours and sights, yet both held entirely different feelings. Sunrises often symbolized the start of something new while sunsets often implied an end.

While I've always loved watching the colours of the sky change and dance as the sun sets, I've always known that sunsets meant the end of something.

It would've been easy to justify to myself why I should've liked sunrises over sunsets, but I always found myself longing to bathe in the colours of the evening rather than watch the starting of something new.

Perhaps it was nothing more than nostalgia for the past, but I've always believed endings to be just as beautiful as beginnings; I've always believed that a sunset could be just as beautiful as a sunrise.

Today, the sky was particularly beautiful.

As the hours of daylight began to dwindle down to nothing, bright hues of orange danced across the sky in an elaborate dance. The sweet smell of baked goods wafted through the room and the laughter of children playing with one another echoed through the street. All of that and more accompanied by the slowly dimming sky was just... beautiful.

I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a moment to memorize the smells and sounds as though it was nothing more than a dream. Like if I didn't savour every moment right now, it would all collapse and slip right through my fingers.

A dream I could only wish to remember forever.

"(Y/n), would you be a dear and help me knead the dough?"

"Of course." I answered, opening my eyes and smiling at the older woman, "Oh! Mrs. Carolina, be careful that you don't burn yourself with the pan. I just took it out of the oven so you might want to wait a minute or two."

The older woman laughed for a moment and I felt my head tilt to the side. Despite having what must have been a most peculiar expression, the older woman smiled.

"Is something wrong?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Sorry dear. I don't mean to laugh, it's just that you haven't called me 'Mrs. Carolina' since you first came to the house. It just caught me off guard is all."

"Oh..." I mumbled, "just a slip of the tongue, I suppose."

"You know, if there's something on your mind I'm always ready to lend an ear."

Despite having said nothing about how someone might be feeling, Mrs. Carolina almost always knew what to do and say when someone wasn't feeling their best. Whether that be when they're sad, angry or scared, she just knew. I suppose it was because she was a mother that she knew. A motherly instinct, some might say.