This was unexpectedly nice, like something you wouldn't think feel the way it does, but it becomes an ultimately pleasant experience, regardless.  Leaning against Sara like this was calming, focusing.  With her largely taking in the other girl's words, it seemed like Kate could put aside all of her personal concerns, effectively fencing them off for a while.  Not so much a wall, but the things disturbing her mind - the life she was having to come to terms with - felt farther away and quieter, kept at bay in this newfound peace.  Nothing was happening to them, right now.  The monsters were [i]at bay[/i], right now.  This was simply a moment in time where - and Kate was surprised at how hard it must've been for her to even do this - they could relax.

Because...what DID Katherine Bellows do when things go to hell?  What is it that [i]always[/i] happens?  She gets worked up inside, her mind races faster than a herd of stallions, and then she takes action.  And that's what it's been like the past few years, hasn't it?  The Titans go on the rampage, so she has been moving and working like hell towards survival, but never stopping for one second to [i]live[/i].  Here and now, however, Kate realized that she hadn't had much in the way of human contact in any friendly manner for a long time.  She use to enjoy those more innocent times alongside her friends in Shigenshina, her mind closed off from the evils of the world.  Now that she was combating it with her brain and her own two hands, she'd stopped being a person and stifled her own growth, but just this moment...sara's words took on new dimensions.

This wasn't merely talk of survival, in living, but of growing as a person and having something TO live for.  Even if this was not entirely the direction the Lieutenant had meant here, it took that meaning along with her own in Kate's mind.  Sara was reminding her that she was not simply beholden to the life that was her mother's expertise.  She was living this life herself and it was hers to lead, though she had much to be proud of for being her mother's child.  For Kate, it also became a statement of [i]how[/i] to proceed, what to do, what her direction was and how she could expand her horizons, even in this bleak Titan-filled world.  It actually made Kate smile, feeling much better about herself.

[color=f7941d]"It's as much my legacy as hers, but I understand."[/color]

Afterwhich, she straightened up, and stood with a stretch.  Funny how she seemed to be that fit, like she'd exercised all her life, yet she wasn't the powerhouse that Mikasa was.  Must be that brain, always figuring out the easy way.  Well, no matter.  She looked at Sara now, clearly much calmer now.

[color=f7941d]"And we can't get to it without a little rest.  Tomorrow and everything is gonna be busy.  We both have work to do."[/color]

She offered Sara a hand up before they headed down.  Incredible how she looked in the moonlight...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Some people rested better than others, and it seemed like Kate had managed, because she was clearly in high spirits when they set out, that day.  They were - by horses and wagons - bound for the abandoned castle which had previously been a Scout Regiment base of operations.  It would be so again, and had - up until now - been the subject of testing on the most advanced scientific research regarding Titans known to man.  This is what Hange Zoe was up to, anyway.  That woman's attention to detail, ever since she started observations of all things Titan in the field, had been a large boon to the survival of mankind.  [i]Another[/i] such boon was riding in a wagon with Commander Levi watching him for signs of being a monster, but we know that Eren is about as anti-monster as you can get.  An [i]additional[/i] boon was on a wagon of its own.  And we're not referring to Kate's presence there.  We mean that she was sitting with the tarp-concealed new weapon, the one that seemed to involve gunpowder, but isn't a cannon.  In their quest to take on Titans, they had the cutter blades, the ODM Gears, the high-tension wires, the heavy-piercing spears, and indeed the cannons.  This was something long, and there was evidence of a pointy bit, but the way things were stored and wrapped up...it was hardly normal.

They would be upon the castle soon.  Kate looked focused, even anxious.  Too bad the place was a mess.