The thing about calling her by name was about what she was comfortable with...and also sort of a humbling thing.  Kate didn't think of herself as important, even though she had knowledge and precision operation in Titan-killing down to a T.  She didn't have her mother's talent, exactly, and she didn't want to [i]take over[/i] for her, just yet, because the [i]real[/i] Dr. Bellows had been, in her eyes, irreplaceable.  She had been there too.  In fact, she was there for the sudden initial blast that was the Colossal Titan's very first kick.  And...you know how [i]that[/i] was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[i]The gate had exploded.  Several people were instantly killed while others were injured.  Everything was in disarray, panic was in the streets already.  Among some of that rubble was a brown-haired woman with a pair of broken glasses who'd been hit by a number of rocks while thrown by the shockwave and was lying near a torn-up shop, adbent-mindedly running her head through some calculations to distract herself from the pain.  She was still doing such when her teenaged daughter found her.

[b]"...so we must conclude that the ratio of the force indicated by the blast was equal to the mass of a leg several times larger than a creature that size needs to stand up, even though..."[/b]

[color=f7941d]"Mom!"[/color]

[b]"Ah...  There's my little protege'.  How are you, my dear?"[/b]

[color=f7941d]"Mom, we have to go.  It isn't safe!"[/color]

[b]"I'm broken, sweetheart...  Couldn't move if my life depended on it."[/b]

[color=f7941d]"Then, lemme take you somewhere they can fix you!"[/color]

The woman narrowed her view and her casually-delirious tone vanished.

[b]"Katherine, you know there isn't time, and that I'd probably die on the way.  Leave me now and save yourself."[/b]

[color=f7941d]"But...I..."[/color]

[b]"I know, I know, but they're coming...and I won't let them take me."[/b]

The Colossal Titan having moved its foot, the entryway was now free for Titans to filter in.  Myra Bellows touched Katherine's cheek with a smile.

[b]"You are the best years of my life.  Now, go."[/b]

She went...and rather weirdly, the last thing she heard from her mother was of her blowing a raspberry at one...[/i]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her time trying to engage with others outside of the friends she had was hard, and she had withdrawn into herself for a while, to the point where it might've seemed like she relapsed.  This wasn't much worse than others around her, of course.  Eren had lost his parents, which were Mikasa's surrogate family, as well.  Armin had also lost everything.  Really, was there [i]anyone[/i] who hadn't lost nearly if not [i]completely[/i] all when this tragedy started?  Still, it all made authority a bit scary to Kate, taking time to eventually work it all out in her head, especially when her Aunt discovered her.  That all rather-neatly landed her in their current situation, where Kate could just about manage to get a seemingly-cold-but-perhaps-not-really Lieutenant warm up a little.

[color=f7941d]"I'd...rather call you Sara, than Lieutenant Reinhardt, myself.  Don't worry, though.  I won't be like Aunt Hange..."[/color]

So, she won't be overly-dramatic or eliminating personal space without consent?  Thank goodness.