Destiny is Cruel - {Shingeki no Kyojin Fanfic}

Chapter 9

After a few years of living with Erwin since her found her after the incident, Katrina had gotten accustomed to his ways and rules. Yet there was a lot she got away with and most she didn't. 

"Katrina, I asked you to call me Erwin."

She sighed and nodded. "I know. It's just everyone calls you Commander, so I just thought I'd try it." He bent down in front of her and squished her cheeks. "Ah! Erwin stop!"

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair, messing it up. "Fine, just keep calling me Erwin. I won't do that again." 

Katrina smiled and squished his cheeks as well. "When I get older and become pretty, will we get married? I'll be a princess, so will you be my prince?"

"What makes you say something like that? Do you know how old you are? Goodness, already thinking about marriage." Erwin laughed and held her hands, sitting down and pulling the girl into his lap. "You're already pretty, I don't think you could get even more beautiful."

"Erwin, I'm old enough to talk about marriage. Eighteen is a perfect age to think about it." She giggled and hugged his arm. "I'm saying that because I want to stay with Erwin forever. And the only way to do that is to get married." He didn't say anything for a while, but he hugged her closer and placed his chin on her head. "So will we get married?"

Again, he didn't speak and just hugged her tighter. "Yeah, okay. We'll get married and we can live together forever." Kissing her head, he stood, taking her with him. "Go get some bread and meat for dinner tonight." He handed her some coins and pushed her to the door. "Go on, and be careful. If anything happens just come straight home."

Katrina saluted in a laughing manner and waved, hurrying off. The town was crowded with people, vendors and such. She skipped along, weaving out of the way of the adults as to not upset them. Everyone had a bad temper, especially since food shortage was in effect.

Paying for her food, she nodded and began to leave, when she ran into a couple men, knocking her down. They stared down at her, laughing for a moment. "Hey, aren't you going to apologize."

She stood, picking up her belongings. "You ran into me. But I'm terribly sorry."

"Wait a minute. Isn't this the little one that big shot Erwin is keeping?"

One of the other men smirked and stepped forward, rubbing his chin. "Yeah, I believe that's right. Hey girly, how are you going to pay up for running into us?"

"P-Pay up? Like I said, you ran into me. I apologized, so should you."

The two laughed and they grabbed her arms, pulling at her. She screamed and try to tear herself from their grips, but they were stronger. "I guess we'll have to play with her and that will be our reward."

Shaking her head, she thrashed and kicked, anything to get away from them. "Erwin!" She cried, hoping he'd come find her. "Erwin, help me!" As she moved, the man tried to grab her, cutting into her forehead.

The men kept pulling her until she heard a sound like scraping metal. "Let her go."

"Erwin!" She turned her head, but her smile faltered when she realized it wasn't the man she was looking for. No, it was someone else, with dark black hair and eyes that bore into your head. 

"Go away shorty, this has nothing to do with you." One of the men kept pulling her, but was soon taken from her. Another man pulled her against his chest and shielded her. After all the noise died down, the man let her go and she turned, facing her savior. 

He glanced up at her as he stood next to the unconscious bodies of her attackers. Her eyes widened and she smiled, hurrying to him. He looked startled for a moment before recovering his masked expression. "Thank you so much, mister!" She looked around for a moment and handed him the bread. "Please take it. I insist."

"You're weird." His eyes moved to her head.

She smiled again, not taking his words in a mean way. "I won't forget it. Thank you again!" Waving, she ran back to buy another loaf of bread, having extra money with her. Feeling extremely excited, she hurrying all the way back to her house.

"Katrina, what took you so long?" Erwin's eyes grew in shock and he rushed forward, pushing her hair out of the way. "What happened to you? I thought I told you to hurry back if something happened."

She looked down in shame and pressed a hand to her head. "It happened after I got everything. But it's okay, a man saved me! He was a bit strange, but I thanked him anyways." Looking up again, she flinched. "Please don't be mad at me, Erwin." She started crying and wiping her eyes. "I'm really sorry to make you worry. So please, don't be mad."

Erwin pulled her into his arms and whispered into her ear, rubbing circles in her back. She dropped everything and wrapped her arms around his torso, hugging him tightly. "Let me clean up your cut and you can start dinner." He sat her down and grabbed a wet cloth, going back to her. "Also, what did this man look like?"

"He had short black hair, and scary eyes but they held something like a coolness. He's also kind of short, not to be mean. He was wearing a cloak. Ah! He also had those things you guys wear, the-"

"Maneuver gear?"

Katrina laughed. "Yeah! But why are you asking?"

He shook his head. "Just curious. Go start dinner, I'll clean up here."

She smiled and hurried to make the best meal for him. He was always so sweet to her. If only her dreams of marrying him did come true, but it was almost impossible. Still, what was the problem with hopeful wishing? She almost forgotten the hero of her life. Maybe she'd see him again and thank him.