Turns out when the commander ordered Mikasa to return on the morning of the 28th, it was for a reason.

Right after breakfast, the commander explained that there would be an expedition that night.

The cadets boarded wagons and left almost immediately after breakfast, since the expedition was taking place on a mountain top far away. They didn't arrive until sunset, and they all dismounted the wagon with little idea on what their mission was.

Mikasa felt a crunch as her foot sank into the ground, and when she looked down she realized she was standing on snow.

"The instructions are simple." the commander's voice boomed, grabbing Mikasa's attention.

"There's a base at the bottom of this mountain, get there by sunrise. And everyone must go alone. This is an individual expedition, so everyone must go different ways." the commander explained.

There was a confused silence, and then a rustle of movement after everyone realized that the commander's instructions were complete.

Mikasa followed the crowd to retrieve a lantern, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, and met Eren's worried eyes.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" he asked.

The answer was no, she didn't have a wink of sleep, but instead she responded with a shrug. Eren sighed, and then looked past Mikasa to the boy glaring at him. He furrowed his brow, and brought his gaze back to Mikasa.

"What happened with Jean this morning?"

Mikasa fidgeted with her hands as she avoided eye contact, "We broke up."

Eren stayed quiet, unsure if he should say 'i'm sorry' or 'thank god', so he decided to say nothing at all.

"Uh well. I need to get a lantern." she said, before turning to make her leave. "Mikasa?" he called out, as she turned her head to face him.

"Hm?"

"Be careful."

She smiled reassuringly, "Yeah. You too."

...

It felt like hours of walking around aimlessly, and the cold snow was beginning to seep through Mikasa's shoes.

"I've been walking in circles..." she mumbled to herself, spotting the same branch she spotted half an hour before.

The sky was dark, and the tall pine trees blocked out the starlight. Her eyelids drooped, and she was beyond exhausted.

She came up with the solution of keeping her mind busy to stay awake, but that just drained her more. The only thoughts that came to her mind were how utterly fucked she was.

She just destroyed the last stable thing in her life by ending things with Jean, and if she wasn't pondering her future enough already, she was now completely lost. Literally.

These negative thoughts worsened the exhaustion, so she decided that she would have to think about positive things. Wonderful things.

But to her disbelief, the first thought that came to her mind was Eren. Staring into his eyes, their faces inches apart. His soft touch and raspy voice, sending a whirling sensation of butterflies throughout her body. The way he looked into her eyes and- she tripped over the same stupid branch, and collapsed to the cold ground.

Her hands sunk into the snow, and the ice felt like needles seeping through her skin.

She spotted a tree up ahead, and admitted defeat. She stumbled over to the bare pine, and laid her back against it.

"I just need to rest... for a moment..." she mumbled to herself, before drifting off.