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“I’ll be right back this afternoon, I promise.” The young country girl yelled out to foster family.
The family gave a goodbye wave to the girl before she headed off on her own, out of the farm and onto the path to the nearest district. She thought she heard them call out 'Don't forget to be back at noon.' or something like that; but it was unsure at that point. If it was, of course she'll be.
Where was she going? To see her new big sister of course. Sasha Braus - member of the main squad in the Survey Corps, a talented hunter, and the very same girl that saved her from a titan about four years ago. She would've died alongside her mother if it weren't for her, and was astonishingly grateful when she made up her mind to take her in with her family.
Sasha is also a well-known glutton too, so Kaya made sure that she packed enough food for her as well as everyone else attending the party. Her favorites include: Steamed potatoes, a freshly baked loaf of bread, her mother's vegetable soup and of course... fresh meat that Niccolo offered them a few days ago. Kaya was completely confident that this would be the happiest birthday Sasha would ever remember.
She took a carriage along the way to make her journey a lot more easier, and was told that the scouts were currently back at the headquarters located in Trost. Kaya politely asked the man to take her there, and he kindly did. Once she arrived in the town, she searched around to find any scout member that could guide her to the headquarters; instead she bumped into a young man with wavy blonde hair and was carrying bags of shopping and picked flowers.
The man looked down at Kaya with sudden realization. "Huh? I know you from somewhere."
Kaya came to the same conclusion. "Yeah. Aren't ya the one who's been cookin' for Sasha?"
"Y-Yes. And you're a member of her family, right? Why are you here by yourself"
"I was given permission to. It's her birthday today and I wanna surprise her with a picnic. Pa packed her favorites too." The man could see her bright smile, it really was a lot like Sasha's - that made him feel a little sour.
"Well..." He cleared his throat. "She might not be in a good mood right now... but... she certainly will be once once she sees you. Y-Yeah. How about we head there together."
"But do ya know where she is?" Kaya asked.
"Of course I do. I was just out looking for some extra ingredients anyway. Follow me."
Along the way, Kaya couldn't help but notice some people in the crowded streets giving stares off at them. Not confused stares, they're more like angry stares. The girl seemed confused herself, till she noticed they were more staring at the blonde man. Could it just be her imagination? Nah. It's too obvious that they're staring.
When Kaya and the man arrived, the headquarters seemed completely empty. There was no sound to be heard anywhere in the building, only the footsteps of the two arrivals. 'Maybe they're having a private meeting right now?' Kaya thought to herself, if so, she could wait outside or in the hallway. As long as she could still see Sasha today, it will be perfectly fine. The blonde man pointed to a door somewhere down the corridor while he continued walking further.
"Before I left, Sasha and the others were in this room." He assured the girl - making his way to the kitchen. "Sounds like they're still in there."
Kaya politely nods her head. "Thank ya, sir."
"Oh. You can call me Niccolo."
With one soft breath in and out, Kaya gently knocked on the door. Nothing happened. So the girl knocked again but a little louder, then a unhappy voice replied that time.
"Come in."
With no hesitation, Kaya opened the door swiftly, giving her best smile. The said smile faded away when she saw what was in front of her. Her sister Sasha was there - alongside her comrades that she has seen from time to time. They were all sitting around this big table, one of them who's a black haired woman wearing a red scarf was standing behind Sasha, patting her shoulder gently. Another with long, light brown hair caught glimpse of the girl standing at the entrance first, he politely called her over.
All of them then looked at her. If Kaya recalled - There was Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackerman, Jean Kirstein and Marco Bodt. She saw them a couple of years ago during the last time Sasha visited her family, they all seemed a lot happier back then, but now their faces appear all doom and gloom. Why? Shouldn't it be a happy occasion? It's Sasha's birthday today. Speaking of Sasha, she looked so down in the dumps herself.
"Uh... I apologize for coming over like this. But I wanted to surprise ya."
"Well you really did surprise us, Kaya." Armin attempted to be cheerful. "We didn't expect to see you today."
"Why would I not wanna show up for Sasha's birthday.
Sasha's head rose up a little once she heard her name.
“It’s great to see ya again, big sister. Yer Ma and Pa packed up a picnic with all your favorites today. I wanted to be the one to give it to ya.” Kaya smiled again, not noticing Sasha wasn’t smiling back.
"What's wrong?" Kaya was hesitant but curious to ask her that question.
The room went silent. Mikasa and Armin were looked at each other in despair, Jean appeared to be holding back tears while his partner Marco had his eyes shut, facing down at the table. Sasha herself was the only one with an anxious expression on her face, she took heavy breathes to hold back crying and glanced right back at the concerned blonde girl.
"I fully appreciate the gift, Kaya. It means a lot to me... but... I'm not very hungry right now."
The words that came out of Sasha's mouth left Kaya flabbergasted. She was so confused and speechless. Sasha not hungry for food is like someone saying they don't want to breath anymore. How could it be possible? Sasha could tell that it was a bit much for her to understand, so she stood up straight in her chair and placed her hands firmly on the table.
"Kaya... do you remember Connie Springer?"
The girl slowly realized it. She shifted her eyes across the room and noticed there was someone missing form her friend group from the last time she saw them. That pretty tall man with the buzz cut and lime-green eyes, the one who always seemed to goof off and didn't seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed, was nowhere to be seen. Kaya paused before turning back to her sister.
"Y-Yeah."
"Well... It was about a week ago. We were all in hiding in Marley, Connie included. Our mission was to fly to Liberio, seek out Eren and the Beast Titan and bring them back here to Paradis, without killing as many civilians there as possible. We managed to pull it off, but someone sneaked onto the ship with a rifle... the girl was directly aiming for me... but Connie... he shoved me out of... the way..." Sasha's voice started to sound choked up. "Now he's..."
"Calm down, Sasha." Mikasa comforted. "You don't have to go further than that."
The poor woman tried to contain herself from crying, even if she spilled out some tears. Jean, Marco and Armin kept themselves together while watching Mikasa gently rubbing onto Sasha’s back. As for Kaya, she didn’t know what to think. She remembered seeing how close her sister and Connie were from their visits, but she couldn’t think that they were that close.
But she can definitely understand. This brought back those painful memories of when she lost her own mother to a titan four years ago, Kaya wanted to leave all of that behind but it hasn’t been easy. Her heart broke that day and now it’s cracking for her new sister too.
She left the basket on a chair and slowly walked over towards the grieving Sasha, she holds onto her arm with sorrow and compassion. The woman looked down with water still build in her eyes.
“I’m sorry.” She softly spoke. “I understand, losing someone so close to you can be tough, I know what that’s like. If I knew I wouldn’t have come today, so I’ll just head back home now.”
She gave Sasha’s arm one last hug before letting go and made her way towards the door. Sasha reached out for her shoulder before she could make another step.
“You don’t have to leave, Kaya.” Sasha stated. “In fact, I’m happy that you made it here. Having others around me like this makes me feel like I’m not alone, surely the wound is still open, but I know it’ll eventually heal.”
The blonde girl turned facing towards her sister, to see that soft smile forming on her face.
“She’s right, Kaya. We all thank you for being here with us today, and not just for Sasha’s birthday.” Armin replies.
This brought tears of joy to Kaya’s eyes. She moves back to Sasha to give her an even bigger hug this time. One that felt grippy but gentle at the same time. After a bit, they released and wiped their tears away, it wouldn’t seem right for Connie to see them crying on Sasha’s big day. Everyone sat back down at their seats, they finally had the urge to have a taste of the lovely meal to calm themselves. Sasha took only tiny bites of what she could take.
“So… was Connie a close friend or… something more?” Kaya whispered to Sasha next to her.
“I’m not sure. All I know is… I feel that half of me is gone. S-Sorry, I’ll be more lighthearted for the rest of your visit.”
“No, it’s alright. Ya know… I can call Ma and Pa over later today to see ya. Would ya like that, Sis?” Kaya asked while pouring herself a drink.
Sasha paused, and looked over at Kaya with a melancholy smile.
“Yeah. I think I’d like that. Thank you, little sis.