Meeting

The carriage rocked with the speedy gallops of the horses. Lara and Armin were sitting side by side, along with Mikasa. Hange and Onyankopon were sitting opposite them.

Armin and Mikasa had a look of terror in their eyes, staring at a fixed point.

Hange, Lara, and Onyankopon glanced at each other, distressed.

Gently, Lara placed her hand over Armin's, which startled him, making him blink several times. He gazed at his fiancée, who was looking at him with concern.

Armin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Hange held her belly protectively. She looked at her daughter with a heavy heart. She thought of Levi and felt a bitter taste in her mouth.

"How are you doing out there, my love?" thought Hange, as she looked out the little window of the carriage door. "Oh, how I wish you were here..." she stroked her belly and the baby moved. She felt a sharp twinge of pain in the area and tried to hide the grimace she had made.

"Everything is fine, Mikasa..." Armin broke the silence, his voice shaking, "I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding..."

He squeezed Lara's hand as if he wanted her to confirm his words. Lara just closed her eyes, pressing them, trying to contain the lump forming in her throat.

"If we talk to Eren, he'll understand!" completed Armin, back to having a wide and fixed gaze.

"I'm not so sure about that, babe..." Lara thought in reply, but remained in silence.

♦♦♦

After leaving the carriages, the five of them gathered in a large hall with Connie, Sasha, Jean, and other soldiers from the other Military Divisions, to discuss the severe situation of the moment. Even Kiyomi Azumabito was there. Lara was at Hange's side, both in front of Armin and his Squad.

"Floch Foster and another hundred soldiers and guards disappeared," said Nile Dok. "We believe they have deserted and joined Eren Jaëger. They're certainly responsible for the death of Darius Zackly. We decided to name this anti-military faction the Jaëgerists. Hange, do you know what their goal is?"

"They're hoping to bring Zeke and Eren together," she replied. "And they wanna create a military revolution to put Eren on top."

"The murderer of the General Commander is proof of that intention," added Lara. "The trigger for this action must've been the secret plan of the Armed Forces to replace Eren as Founding Titan."

"Yeah," agreed Hange, downcast, "They did everything without telling anyone from the Survey Corps..."

"We knew what could happen if the Survey Corps had found out," said Nile, his voice a little grumpy, "Most of the Jaëgerists were from that Division." He got a serious expression, frowning, "Hange, how will you take this responsibility?!"

"I'll accept any punishment," she said promptly.

Lara felt the tension increasing in that hall. Covertly, she glanced at Armin, who glanced back and they communicated with their eyes: "This is not any good!" She gritted her teeth, feeling her palms sweat.

"Commander Nile," interrupted Lara, her heart racing, "I ask you to punish me in place of Commander Hange Zoë, due to her current condition."

At the same time, everyone looked at Hange's bulging belly, who instinctively placed her hand on it, as if to protect it from those eyes. Once more, Hange felt a very sharp pang of pain, but she did her best not to show it.

"As far as I know," said Roeg, who was beside Nile, "pregnancy is not a disease."

"You're right, sir," agreed Lara, now with a firm look, "However, my mother has been having serious problems in her pregnancy, which could lead to severe complications, due to the pressure of her post. So again, I ask that if anyone has to pay for something, let it be me."

Everyone in the hall squirmed a little, uncomfortable with the situation. It was no news to practically anyone there that Hange was going through a turbulent pregnancy and they knew how delicate her health was at the moment.

Armin looked at his fianceé in affliction. Now, he was the one who wanted to take Lara's place to receive whatever punishment was. He glanced at Mikasa, Sasha, Connie, and Jean, and noticed they also seemed very concerned.

Nile looked at Lara and put a hand to his chin, thoughtfully. He sighed, closing his eyes. At that moment, Nile remembered that his wife's last pregnancy was pretty complicated, almost similar to Hange's.

"Well, Captain Lara..." he said, running his hand over his face, "What people say about you out there is no joke after all..."

Lara straightened her back, confused. However, she noticed that Nile's tone of voice showed that it had been a compliment, and shyly, she nodded her head in thanks. Without meaning to, Armin gave a little smile.

Then, Hange put her hand on Lara's shoulder, squeezing it lightly, while looking at Nile.

"I'm immensely grateful for my daughter's goodwill. But, I am the Commander and I must fulfill my role, accepting any punishment." She raised her index finger, "However, I believe that if I resign my position at this moment would be quite irresponsible on my part, since, despite my current situation..." Hange placed her hand on her belly, "I still have full conditions to work. Besides, we still don't know how many Jaëgerists are infiltrated out there, do we?"

"Indeed," replied Roeg. "There might even be a suicide bomber standing in front of me!"

"Roeg!" exclaimed Hange, irritated, "Stop being ridiculous!"

"How can you judge yourself as innocent?!" he asked. "Until we know, we cannot let the Survey Corps soldiers roam as they please!"

Lara, Armin, and their Squad held their breath, feeling tense. Before anyone could do or say anything, the door to the great hall was flung open, entering Dot Pixis - Commander of the Garrison Division - and his subordinates.

"ENOUGH!" he exclaimed, "We have a guest here!" referring to Kiyomi Azumabito. "We have more important things to do than bicker! Hange, who knows Zeke's location?"

She, Lara, and Armin felt their bodies tingle.

"Levi and the thirty soldiers with him. Also, three soldiers who deliver supplies, Captain Lara, and me, of course," Hange said with conviction.

Armin clenched his fists, swallowing hard. He noticed that both Lara and Hange were remaining steady.

"Bring those three delivery soldiers here immediately," ordered Pixis, and someone left the hall. "Nile, is the Queen safe?"

"Only a few know her location. But I'll check it out right now!" Nile asked one of his soldiers to do the task.

"Eren will first try to contact Zeke," continued Pixis, "then, Queen Historia. Protecting those two is our priority now!"

"Yes, sir!" some soldiers exclaimed.

Pixis then surprised everyone by turning to Armin.

"As someone with the power of the Colossal Titan, we're counting on you to defend us."

Armin swallowed hard, stepping forward and standing next to Lara.

"Understood. Commander Pixis, now that we've lost General Darius, the only one who can lead us is you! What do you think we should do?"

Pixis placed a hand on his chin, thoughtfully.

"Well..." he replied, opening his arms, "Looks like we lost this time. Let's surrender to Eren."

Everyone, without exception, was astonished.

Lara felt both Hange and Armin brush their hands over hers since she was standing between them. The three of them felt an urge to hold their hands together, but knew that this was not the time to show affection.

"We can do nothing if the enemy is in our midst," continued Pixis, crestfallen. "Even if we flushed them out, who knows how much blood it would cost? We don't have time to waste on such folly." He started pacing the great hall, "Our decisions made soldiers turn their back on us and led us to our defeat."

"Excuse me?!" a female soldier of the Military Police intervened. "Do you wanna bow to the people who killed the General Commander?!"

"I knew Darius for many years," replied Pixis, looking out the window, contemplative, "I'm sure he would want to live and die by the revolution." He turned back to the soldiers, "And not just him. I very much doubt that the other three who also died in the attack would want their deaths to lead to Eldia's defeat."

"Are you saying we should submit to the Jaëger brothers?!" asked Nile nervously.

"We're not submitting," replied Pixis, firmly. "We'll use the location of Zeke to negotiate with the Jaëgerists, and like before, Eldia's survival will depend on a test run of the Rumbling. However, let's turn a blind eye to the fact that this terrorist faction killed our General Commander. If this is the price to save the lives of several of our comrades…" Pixis gritted his teeth, feeling his body tremble, "So be it!"

Everyone in the hall also felt their bodies tremble. The atmosphere was very tense.

"Soldiers, pay attention!" exclaimed Pixis. "Get moving!"

"Yes, sir!" they replied, and many left the room.

Pixis talked to Kiyomi and soon after, she called Mikasa to talk too. When they were done, Mikasa joined the circle formed by Hange, Lara, Armin, Connie, Jean, Sasha, and Onyankopon. They tried to keep their voices as low as possible, although probably no one in the great hall would pay attention to their conversations, as everyone seemed lost in their own thoughts.

"I can't believe we're going to cooperate with Eren after he killed the General Commander," said Connie, indignantly.

"We still don't know if Eren had anything to do with it!" replied Mikasa, looking a little upset.

"Keep it down, Mikasa!" exclaimed Jean, irritated. "People suspect us of being Jaëgerists!"

"After all..." said Sasha, "Whose side are you on, Mikasa?"

"Armin, Lara, and I almost died in that explosion," she replied. "You really have to ask?"

"Mikasa..." Lara placed her hand on her shoulder, squeezing it, "I perfectly understand what you're going through and I can imagine how difficult it must be for you and Armin," she glanced nervously at her fiancé, "but, we need to face the facts that Eren has changed. He's no longer the same as before. Now, we gotta be very careful with our decisions."

Everyone lowered their heads. Lara held Armin's hand lightly as if to say, "I'm sorry."

"Well, it's no use in arguing," Hange broke the silence. "Commander Pixis is right. Infighting won't get us anywhere."

"So," replied Jean, annoyed, "you mean it's okay with entrusting everything to Eren and Zeke?"

"No..." Hange looked down at her belly and held it, "It's not okay... I believe that Zeke and Yelena had everything very well planned for this kind of situation."

"Exactly," agreed Lara. "We have to expect they took other precautions, too. Right now, we need to figure out Zeke's intentions before he makes fools of us."

Hange looked at Lara with a little and proud smile on her face, to which she replied.

"I wish all this was just a paranoia in our heads, right, sweetheart?" asked Hange, squeezing Lara's shoulder, who couldn't help but smile in a sad way. They both looked at Armin in a meaningful way.

"Wait..." replied Jean, "Do you guys have any clues?"

Hange, Lara, and Armin looked at each other nervously. The others noticed.

"Whoa, whoa!" exclaimed Connie.

"You guys know something?!" asked Sasha, stepping forward.

Once more, Hange, Lara, and Armin looked at each other and then, they shrugged.

"Well..." began Armin, "It's not that we know something for sure..."

"We only have our suspicions," added Lara.

"Yes," confirmed Hange, stroking her belly, contemplative. "The three of us talked about it these days that it's a little suspicious that Yelena insisted so much that Marleyan volunteer soldiers work in such places like... Restaurants."

Everyone's eyes widened. Sasha felt her body tingle.

"W-Wait a minute, Commander..." she whispered, blinking several times, "N-Niccolo works in a restaurant..."

"Calm down, Sasha," said Lara, in a low tone, "We can't prove anything yet..."

"Yeah," agreed Hange. "We cannot jump to conclusions. Sasha, can you take us to Niccolo's restaurant?"

"S-Sure," she replied, still feeling her hands tingle.

"Great," said Hange firmly. "Let's get to the bottom of it!"