Fortunately, Erwin should be busy on his front, organizing the expedition and - this was the part that confused her, but she went with it - keeping it as confidential as possible.  But it didn't seem likely that the Commander would suddenly call Sara, out of the blue.  Honestly, she thought it more likely that [i]Levi[/i] would spend time with her.  Aunt Hange mentioned that they were actually family, cousins.  Katherine...missed having family.  Many had lost all traces of their former lives, maybe none so much as those of Shigenshiga, but no less harsh the loss from those who were from any other point between Wall Maria and Rose.  At any rate, when Sara said that she was actually free, Kate put forth the thought that had been in her head for a while.

[color=f7941d]"I wanted to talk a little, get to know you.  We only know each other by reputation, and that can get a little isolating.  I feel like I unnerve some people, and I need to forge some new ties.  Is that alright?"[/color]

She was looking at Sara with an earnest stare, the kind that you swear might be taking too long to blink.  The truth was that now that Eren's controversy was winding down and he was no longer considered a threat to humanity (probationally), the day had started to sink in.  The deaths that occurred were bad enough, but the deja vu of how the the attack had gone and of practically [i]seeing[/i] where her mother had died, only in Trost's equivalent of that spot, had begun to bother her.  It was a reminder that she was alone, except for a few friends that survived the overrunning of her home, and her aunt...who didn't exactly come to visit often because she was doing research.  Necessary research, but still she didn't take much time off.  Over-enthusiasm causes things like this.  The distance between where she worked and where Katherine lived was probably a factor.  Didn't help, though.  At least she was trying, though.  That much was alright.

The problem mainly lay in the emotional ties.  As she lost people, Katherine felt that a piece of her would slip away.  She had actually gotten to know some of the Cadets that made it out of training at the same time as Eren, Armin, and Mikasa...and then some of them died.  Now that they were embarking on a whole new mission and things were changing so fast, what Kate wanted more than anything was someone who could keep her grounded.  That wasn't something Aunt Hange could do.  She wasn't grounded herself.  Perhaps Sara, though?