The Tenth Titan

A New Day

"Hey, Marco! Wake up! You better get up or else Sasha's going to eat your breakfast! Just because you're somehow back from the dead and a Titan doesn't mean you get to sleep in! Marco!"

Marco groaned and sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a troubled frown. Beside the bed stood an annoyed Jean in full uniform. 

"What the hell is up with you? Usually you were the first one out of bed, and here I am spending a full minute waking you up! As if you didn't get enough rest inside that damn Titan of yours!"

"Sorry, Jean...," mumbled Marco, trying to soothe the pounding in his head. For some reason, he couldn't think clearly, like his head was filled with fog. Jean blinked and put a hand on Marco's shoulder.

"You alright? You were kinda sweaty and pale when I walked in, and you look like you're in pain," Jean asked. Marco yawned and put a hand sleepily on his neck.

"I don't know... I think I had a weird dream that I can't remember... And the pain is a small headache that is decreasing as we speak. I'll be fine." Marco looked up and gave Jean a smile.

" You said something about breakfast?"

Jean sighed wearily." Yeah. But first you have to get dressed. Do you think you can manage?"

"Yeah. My legs are far from walking condition, but I'm sure I can move them enough to put on my pants. Having you help me yesterday...it was kinda awkward."

Jean laughed." Hell yeah it was. I'll wait for you outside the door." He turned around and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Marco sighed and put his face in his hands.

"What was that dream?... It felt so real....but I can't remember anything but blonde hair...and a lot of pain. What was it about!?"

Marco sighed again, pulling the blankets off his legs and noticed for the first time just how much muscle they'd lost. He tentatively massaged his leg before pulling up the sleeves on his arms. They had also atrophied and were about half the size they used to be. Marco frowned a little. He'd worked hard for three years to gain that muscle, and now it was gone. He would be lying if he said his pride didn't hurt a little.

Marco carefully swung his legs off the bed and planted them firmly on the floor. Taking a deep breath, he slowly stood himself up and supported himself on the bedside table. He stood for a full minute and a half before dropping back on the bed with a sigh, wondering how long it was going to take him to get back to his former strength. Hopefully not too long.

He sat up again and reached for the uniform Connie had set on the table yesterday. It was the same uniform as the one he wore as a cadet, but it had wings instead of the familiar crossed swords. Marco stared at the patch for a minute, then put it down to pull yesterday's brown shirt off. It was quickly replaced with a white collared button-up, which made him smile; someone had obviously remembered that this was his favorite type of shirt. Following the shirt was the brown jacket with the unfamiliar patches. 

Then...the pants. Marco puffed out his cheeks as he looked apprehensively at the white jeans in his hands, then at the black trousers he was wearing. He sighed and got to work.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"It's about time you two got here! What took you so long?!" Eren whined as Jean and Marco entered the room. The freckled boy had one arm around Jean's shoulder while the other held the wall in an attempt to walk on his own two feet. From the tight look on his face, Marco had worked his legs as much as he could.

Jean half dragged, half carried Marco the rest of the way to the table before answering Eren's question.

"Marco was dreaming and wouldn't wake up. I swear, I was half tempted to get a bucket of water. And then he wanted to dress himself. Happy?" he huffed, putting his hands on his hips. Eren glowered and was about to say something when Mikasa elbowed him in the ribs, effectively shutting him up.