A Promise to Keep (An Attack on Titan Fanfiction)

Rehearsals and Memories

*Hanji's POV,*

It was in the middle of the afternoon and the cold wind brushed against my cheeks as I ran on the snow covered ground, hurriedly, making my way to the HQ. I ran inside the building and went up a few flights of stairs, towards my research lab. I dropped the supplies that I bought in the market on the research table and hurriedly ran down the stairs again and made my way to the ballroom, where the rehearsals are being held.

"Hey guys! Sorry I'm late! I just ran a few errands down at the market!" I said as I entered the threshold.

"That's okay ma! We were only doing a few warmups before you came in!" Annie said.

I removed my coat, scarf and gloves and hung them on the nearby coat rack. I trotted over to Annie, she handed me the music sheet for my parts and I went over to the others and sat down on the chair next to Levi. He was looking at his music sheet.

"I would've expected that she wrote a childish song but these lyrics are on a much higher level in meaning." He commented.

I smiled proudly and placed my hands behind my head.

"Well, I did say that music has been in the Zoe family for many generations and Annie inherited her song writing ability from my sister." I said. 

Levi tore his eyes away from his music sheet and looked at me.

"Did your sister wrote these kind of songs when she was still a kid?" He asked.

I looked up at the ceiling while still keeping my hands behind my head.

"Yes she did but, her songs were much more meaningful than Annie's. To Anna, these kind of songs are basic." I said. Indeed, Anna was a genius in writing a song, she even wrote me one and up to now, I can still remember the lyrics and tone of that particular song.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard Annie clapping her hands to get her attention.

"Alright guys, now that the music sheet have been passed on, why don't we start on the vocal parts first." She said.

I found out that Annie had started talking like us rather than her usual four year old attitude. Maybe she's starting to grow back to her original age slowly, in fact, she grew a few inches taller and somehow has the physical appearance of a ten year old instead of her four year old form that she took when she came out of the crystal. Plus, she started calling Levi and I 'ma and dad' instead of the usual 'mama and daddy' and she even started calling his squad's actual names like, 'Mikasa' instead of 'Mika,' 'Reiner' instead of 'Reinerdeer,' and 'Bertholdt' instead of 'Bert.' If this keeps on going, then she'll surely remember her purpose and ability to shift! I just hope that she won't have to-

"Ma!"

I snapped out of my frantic thinking and turned my attention up front. Everyone is looking at me rather oddly, even Levi is looking at me like I've gone and jumped into a titan's mouth. I readjusted my glasses on my nose and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead.

"Uh... Sorry about back there, I was just lost in thought." I said with a nervous laugh.

"What were you saying again?" I asked.

Annie looked at me worriedly for a few seconds before saying, "I said 'if you would like to give us an example of proper singing?'"

"Oh! Sure! No problem!"

I got up from my seat and walked towards the front. Annie is still looking at me worriedly.

"Um... Are you sure you're okay, ma? Cause' it's alright if you want to rest for awhile, I mean, you already know the mechanics and all you need to do is memorize the lyrics." She said.