Erwin:"Din, I'm sure she'll be alright, the training may be tough but it'll be nothing for her. I know the training commander there too so if you need anything, let me know."

Din:"Thanks but I'll be fine. I've just grown attached to the kid to the point that it's hard seeing her leave for the first time without me." Erwin put his hand on his friend's shoulder to put him at ease.

Erwin:"Like I've said, she'll be fine, my friend. You've certainly raised her to be a strong young lady, I doubt anybody will give her a challenge."

Din:"I suppose you're right..."

Din and Erwin were both looking outside a window watching a carriage leave with Eren, Armin, and Mikasa to Cadet Training. As a father, it was a new experience letting her leave without him being by her side. A part of him was proud for her wanting to join him but an even larger part of him wanted to stop the carriage. Sighing, he walked off with Erwin to continue preparing and training the new unit.

________

Armin:"Mikasa?"

Mikasa:"Huh?"

Armin:"Are you alright? You've been quiet for a while now."

Eren:"Yeah, usually you'd tell me to quiet down or something."

Mikasa:"I'm fine." The boys looked at her in worry but she was just simply remembering departing with her father not long ago. Mikasa grabbed onto her red scarf and resolved herself to continue forward on her journey.

Mikasa:'I have to make dad proud. I have to make them proud too.'

Armin felt something was wrong with her so he decided to reassure his good friend.

Armin:"I'm sure we'll come back as first rate cadets! Right, Eren?"

Eren:"You bet!

Mikasa:"Hehe, you're right. We'll come back better and stronger than before." Armin was happy to see her in high spirits but Eren had to ruin the happy moment.

Eren:"Eh? But you're already stronger and better than us? You could pass off for a beast!"

Mikasa:"Eren...shut up or I'll hit you."

Eren:"Eep! Armin, help me!" He scooted as close as he could to Armin. Armin just rubbed the back of his while awkwardly laughing.

Armin:'Well at least this will be fun...I hope."

________

Din ignited the Dark Saber and starred down several targets in front of him. These targets were a combination of wooden titan dummies as well as human dummies. To keep up his skills and improve, he practiced everyday with the DarkSaber to further his skill on the weapon. The practice sessions with the Armorer helped him to find his flaws and work on them. In order to master the blade, he must first master his emotions to keep the blade light. If he failed to do so, then the blade would be heavier and heavier to wield.

Hange:"Hoh! This is exciting to see, a new weapon on the battlefield!! Ahaha, Moblit, make sure you write down notes!"

Moblit:"Of course, Captain!" He pulled out a notebook as quick as he could and jotted down everything about the weapon. Levi came up on the two to spectate Din's practice session, intrigued by his fighting style.

Hange:"Interesed, Levi?"

Levi:"More or less." He said. Even for a man with a poker face, Hange could tell what he was feeling by watching Din.

Hange:"Aw, does little Levi think he's being replaced?"

Levi:"Little? Get yourself cleaned before you start making fun of me, grease monkey." He retorted. This little remark set off Hange as she started going off on him.

Hange:"Hah!? Oi, Shorty, grow a couple more inches so that I can properly hear you. I can't exactly hear from all the way up here. Hoh! Perhaps I should go and destroy that little tea collection you got going, cleanfreak!" She yelled at him. She was expecting a reaction or comeback from him but all she got was...

Levi:"Tch." This was the last straw as she turned over to Din and came up with the most ridiculous idea yet.

Hange:"Oi, Din! Come and kick this Shorties ass!"

Moblit:"What!? Captain, you can't be serious!"

Hange:"Oho! I'm more than serious, come show him what a REAL man looks like." Din deactivated the Dark Saber and walked over to the three in confusion.

Din:"What's all this yelling about?"

Moblit:"Oh nothing, Din! Erm, Captain Levi and Captain Hange were just in a little heated argument. Yes, that's it...haha.."

Levi:"Fight me." Such a blunt response confused Din even more while exciting Hange.

Hange:"Yahoo! I knew you had it in you! Go on, show us what the two most strongest men can do!"

Din:"Hold on, I didn't agr-WOAH!" He was interrupted by one of Levi's lethal kicks, nearly missing him. Seeing no other way out of this, he put the hilt away.

Din:'Here we go..'

Levi ran at Din full speed but was immediately stunned and knocked out by a stun blast from Din's blaster pistol.

His quick draw surprised the two scientists and even some Scouts that decided to watch the whole thing. Some whispered amongst themselves telling each other that Captain Levi may have died from the shot. To reassure them all he wasn't dead, Din had to explain what happened.

Din:"He's not dead, my gun has a setting where I can stun people and knock them out. As you can see, he's out cold. I didn't fight fairly so don't start assuming I'm stronger than Levi by any means. He's strong in his own right and this little fight happened because of somebody." He turned over to Hange and walked over to her.

Din:"Next time, try not to piss each other off then start pulling me into your arguments. An angered Mandalorian isn't one someone can deal with so easily." He then walked away leaving Hange, Moblit, and an unconscious Levi.

_________

Erwin:"And these are the results of today's training. The new Infantry Unit is performing better than expected."

Din:"As they should, that's why the selected are good with rifles or they were excellent hunters. The artillery men are lacking a bit in reload speed but other than that, they're fine. When's the next expedition taking place?"

Erwin:"About that, Premier Zachary would first like to see the units capability before he could consider sending us out there. The funds you helped get us only lasted long enough for the necessary materials for the equipment. We'll need more than the nobles funding to get us an expedition."

Din:"How long do you think that'll take us?"

Erwin:"Premier Zachary is coming this upcoming week. He will be most keen on seeing you as well. He's interesed to know who you are and what you bring with you."

Din:"That's fine with me, then does that wrap up today's meeting?"

Erwin:"It does."

Din:"Good, then I'll be heading back to my room."

Erwin:"Alright, actually before you go, Mrs.Jaeger wished to see you after this. They came to me before you did."

Din:"Alright, thank you Erwin." The two men shook hands and went their separate ways for the day. Din wondered what Carla wanted him for and hoped it wasn't an urgent matter.

He walked throughout the massive headquarters until he finally arrived at Carla's room. He knocked on the door, waiting for her to answer. After a bit of waiting, the door propped open showing Carla's face.

Carla:"Din?"

Din:"It's me, Erwin said you wanted to speak with me about something."

Carla:"Yes I did, please come in." She opened the door allowing him inside. Down the hallway, a figure stalked Din around the corner, watching him go inside. Said figure walked away after losing sight of him.

Din:"So, what did you need?"

Carla:"Please, sit down." She told me. Complying with her, he sat down and looked at her. He noticed something wrong about the cheerful, happy Carla. Right now she was in a mess, her hair a mess, eyes baggy, and her smile gone.

Carla:"I...I just...miss him."

Din:"Eren? He hasn't been gone for a day yet."

Carla:"I miss my son too but I'm talking about Grisha. We haven't seen him since the fall of Wall Maria and I can't help but wonder if he made it out alive. With Eren leaving me so soon, it's become lonely for me." She sat down on the opposite side of the small table and started to tear up.

Carla:"I'm so sorry, Din, sorry for having you listen to me but Frieda's busy and Randolph too. I couldn't help but think of you to talk to." Din watched her cry over the sudden remembrance of her husband. He didn't know what to do to help as he was only good at consoling Mikasa and not anyone else. He got up from the seat and went over to her side, giving her a comforting hug.

Carla:"Huh?"

Din:"I'm not sure how to make others feel better but I usually do this to calm Mikasa down. It seems to work with her and it looks like it works with you too." He let go of her and saw that she stopped crying, only looking back at her reflection in his visor.

Carla:"So it would seem, thank you."

Din:"Of course, now, if you want I can go back out into Trost and see if anyone knows where he is. While I'm at it, I could see if there are any open houses or something there for you to live."

Carla:"I can't! That's far too much for me, I'll be fine here."

Din:"Being here will only cause you to become depressed. I'm sure if you're out there among other people, you will have your mind off things. So, what do you say?"

Carla:"I...I would like that, please. Find him if you can, please."

Din:"I'll do what I can but for now, let's just enjoy each other's company for the time being. I'm sure there are some things you've been wanting to get off your chest."

Carla:"Fufu~, you know, you could pass off for being such a ladies man acting like this." She giggled at his offer.

Din:"That's good then, maybe I can find someone to fill in that mother role for my girl."

Carla:"...Yes, you can." She whispered to herself.

Din:"What?"

Carla:"Oh nothing, would you like some tea? Something to enjoy while we talk?"

Din:"Sure." He accepted her offer of a beverage as the two would stay in her room for the day talking. On the other side of the room door was Frieda, eavesdropping on their conversation. She walked away in a hurry since she stumbled upon the reveal of Carla's husband. The same man that killed her family and tried to kill her.

Frieda:'What the hell!!??'