Friend or Foe... (AoT Reader Insert)

Chapter 44: What They Promised

I never really understood the reasons behind fighting. Whether it was a physical altercation or harsh words passed between one another without much thought, wouldn't things be so much simpler if people could simply express their wants and needs?

I never really stopped to think that something I could do so easily was something someone else couldn't even begin to fathom.

The realization wasn't subtle. It hit me the same time a punch came in contact with my face.

A punch that sent me tumbling to the ground.

Physical altercation was what people resorted to when they didn't have harsh words to spit back. Growing up, I'd never once seen my mother raise her hand against someone and yet I was expected to fight back. I was expected to hit back against the young kid sitting in front of me.

Most people believed young girls should sit back quietly and watch without having an opinion of their own. It was what I grew up believing.

My sister found that unfair and cruel, but I didn't. I didn't see what was so wrong with watching things from the sidelines. Why would I put my neck into something I didn't understand? How would I do something that others deemed incorrect? It was simply baffling to do something that others deemed incorrect.

I think the hardest thing for people is to find common ground with those they don't connect well with. I think it's that lack of connection that leads to disagreements.

A lack of connection is why the Eldians suffered at the hands of Marley. No, not just Marley but the entire world. Every other person chose to sit back and watch as a race would suffer the prejudice and anger of many generations.

I guess, they didn't have a reason to step in except for their lack of connection.

Perhaps my sister was right. It certainly seemed unfair to just sit back and watch something happen.

But that was just the point, right? Life was unfair.

"Marie, are you ready? We're heading out soon."

"I'm coming Papa!" I called out.

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(Y/n) P.O.V.

"Are you sure you don't want to take a spare change of clothes, dear?"

I turned towards Mrs. Carolina who stood in the doorway behind me, "no, I'll be alright," I feigned a smile, "but thank you for the offer."

"Really? That's too bad..." the older woman smiled, but I don't think I was supposed to notice the sadness which lingered behind it. She didn't stand in the doorway for long, opting to leave and head into the kitchen instead.

Though it hadn't been long, I made sure to cherish every moment with Mrs. Carolina.

Compared to everything that had been happening around me, my time spent with Mrs. Carolina was... familiar. It felt like I was living moments from someone else's life; a life far happier than my own.

Sometimes I wonder what life would have been if I had stayed ignorant of the world around me.

What if the memories that found me during the night and the voices that taunted me during the day never returned? Would I be happier?

Then again... would I really want to leave behind all of the memories I'd created throughout the years? Sure, not all of them were happy but no one lives a perfectly happy life. At least, not in a world as cruel as this.