Okay, so, this is a short fic based off of a popular fan theory for how the series will end. The worse part is, if one thinks about this, you start to realize it makes sense.
HEAVY SPOILER WARNINGS: Even though this won't be canon (I HOPE SO HARD), it does contain SOME spoilers for the manga. Do not read if you're not past at least chapter 50.
The Titans were surrounding them.
Every way Eren looked, he saw nothing but Titans. The white bastards had them completely surrounded, and were literally forming a wide circle around them. To say their situation was bad would be the biggest under-exaggeration of the young solider's life.
Looking to his left, he saw Mikasa, coat covered in blood, down to her last blade, her 3D maneuver gear almost empty. Connie stood next to her, in a similarly terrible state.
To his right, Jean was holding an unconscious Armin with one arm, his broken blade in the other. Next to him, Sasha was helping an injured Krista. The rest of their allies were around, trying to defeat as many Titans as they could.
He himself was no better off. Wearing nothing but his pants, nose bleeding, and feeling about ready to pass out from over-using his Titan Shifter abilities. He had his ability as "The Coordinate", as Reiner and the others had cal him, that would allow him to turn the Titans against each other and cause chaos among them, which would allow them to complete their mission with ease.
But it just wasn't working. The Titans were organized, they were in formation, and they were more formidable than any of them were prepared for.
And that fucking monkey titan is to blame! thought Eren angrily, as he spotted the hairy Beast Titan standing on the top of the broken Wall Maria. The thing was shouting orders to every Titan in the entire village, while killing anyone who tried to get near him. From what Eren could remember from the very brief strategy meeting, Levi was supposed to be going after him when an opportunity arises, but apparently that hasn't happened yet.
"Finish the Coordinate! Eliminate him and all the other humans!" the Beast yelled.
"Shit." is all Eren can say. He can't even stand up straight, but all the Titans begin to walk closer to them.
"...home..." he hears a weak voice say, and that's when he remembers the worst part of this whole shitty situation. At his feet, covered in his own blood, is Grisha Jaeger, his father. "E-Eren...we're home."
Eren cannot help but smile sadly at his father. He falls to his knees, and grabs hold of his father's remaining hand. "Yes, dad. We're home."
Indeed, in their desperation, without realizing it at first, Eren's squad had ended up at the wreckage of his house, where poor Carla was killed all those years ago. Mikasa knelt down next to him, putting her arm around his shoulder to help him not fall over.
"Eren...you've...become quite-" he coughs up blood, but only lets that stop him briefly, "quite a young man...for a father...to be proud of..."
"Dad, please" Eren pleaded, "Don't talk, you need to..." He was cut off by Mikasa putting her finger over his lips. He looked up to her in shock, and noticed the tears falling from her eyes. He understood what she was saying even as she remained silent. These are his last words, Eren, let him speak.
"I think...no...I k-know...your mom would be proud." He let go of Eren's hand, and reached his hand into his own collar, and pulled something out.
"You are...ready, Eren. Go, to the basement. The survival of humanity...is in there. Take it." He opens his hand, and hands Eren the key, the one that Eren had remembered so many times throughout his life.
As soon as Eren took the key, his dad's hand fell limp. For a moment, Eren couldn't move, couldn't say anything, couldn't feel. Mikasa simply turned her arm-wrap into a full on hug. The Titans were now almost upon them.
Suddenly, Eren stood up, finding his energy renewed just a bit. He noticed Armin had awoken, and was trying to gather his bearings. All the others looked ready to fight to their deaths. Eren wasted no time.
"Guys, listen up, and shut up. We need to get into my basement, and I don't want questions! Let's go, now, before those bastards get to us!"
Thankfully, no one had even a second of objection, as they all converged on the destroyed remains. Luckily, when the Smiling Titan had grabbed his mom, he cleared most of the debris. Jean, Mikasa, and Connie all moved a large support beam that fell in front of the door. As soon as it was tossed aside, Jean attempted to kick the somehow-still-standing door down. To his surprise, and annoyance, it didn't even budge a bit. "The fuck is with this door!?"
"Move!" Eren shouted, and put the key into the door's lock as fast as he could, and pushed the door open.
What he, and all the others, found as soon as they descended the short steps, was nothing they had expected it to be.
The room was dim, barely lit at all. Every last wall was a large chalkboard, full of formulas and calculations, so cramped together that he expected that there was no room for even a single extra letter. "Dad..." Eren breathed out. He didn't know what to make of this, so he quickly decided they didn't have time to try.
He turned to say something to Mikasa, when he saw her staring at the back wall. Not just her, but all the others too. He turned, and what he saw both shocked and confused him.
There, sticking out of the wall, was the open neck of a Titan. However, it was just the neck, and it was connected to some strange apparatuses Eren had never seen before.
He heard Sasha start to say "What the fuck is that thing" before the whole room shook.
The Titans are here.
"Eren." Armin spoke up. Eren, still shocked, dumbly turned towards his friend, and Armin hugged him. "A-Armin? What are..."
"Don't you see, Eren? Your dad made this for you. He knew you could be a Shifter, he knew you were The Coordinate, whatever that thing is, humanity needs you to use it right now."
The room shook even more.
Jean spoke up next. "Show them, Eren. Show the bastards we can't be caged forever!"
"Show them that when we're backed into a corner, we fight our damned hardest!" Sasha chimed in.
"Whatever that thing is, Eren, use it to kick their asses all the way to hell!" That was Connie.
The shaking intensified, the walls shook, and several of the chalkboards fell off.
"We all believe in you, Eren. You can do it." Crista.
Mikasa smiled. "You need to do this, Eren. We'll give you the time you need."
"W-what do you mean, 'Give me the time I need?" Eren asked. Without answering him, everyone in the room gave him their best salute. Even as horrible realization dawned on him about what this meant, he returned the gesture in full.
Armin, Connie, Sasha, Krista, and Jean all ran up the stairs, no hesitation on their faces, despite what was going to happen to them.
This is the last time I'm going to see any of them.
The thought almost sent Eren straight to tears, and he couldn't help the chills that ran down his entire body. He felt cold inside.
As if on cue, Mikasa, the only one still there, took off her coat, and wrapped it around Eren. His eyes widened in shock.
"W-what..."
She laughed. "Looks like we've come full circle, eh, Eren? You wrapped this scarf around me when we first met, and now I'm wrapping my coat around you during our last time together."
"Mikasa, wait, how do we even know this will do anything to make this worth all this death?!"
She shook her head. "We don't Eren. We're going to trust it. Sometimes, you need to take a leap of faith. And, besides, it's you, Eren." She said, wrapping her arms around him. "You can do it. I know you can. You are my own savior, and soon you'll be the world's. Whatever you're about to do now, it's going to change everything. So thank you, in advance."
And suddenly, she pressed her lips to his.
Another house-shaking quake, this time parts of the ceiling caved in.
She broke the kiss, and helped him over to the apparatus. Eren didn't know what to say, didn't know what to feel. He felt so useless, yet everyone has such faith in him.
He reached the "machine", and she helped him into it. The machine began to attach to him, just like his Titan body does.
As the "machine" reached his eyes, he saw Mikasa.
Smiling, she simply said, "See you later, Eren."
"Eren." A familiar voice said. It sounded...nostalgic. Important. And who was 'Eren'? Was that...him? Eren...yeah, that sounds right.
"Eren!" The voice repeated, and suddenly Eren regained consciousness.
"Hm?" Came his intelligent response. He opened his eyes, and saw an extremely familiar face. Who was this pretty looking girl?
"We have to get back home now, it's getting dark soon." This girl...her name...?
"...uh?" Came his even greater response. And just like that, everything hit him, he's Eren, she's Mikasa, but something's off...
"Mikasa...your hair has gotten longer, hasn't it?" He voices the first thing that comes to his mind.
She gives him a deadpan look. "Were you sleeping so long that you utter something like that when you first wake up?"
Eren searches through his mind. He can't come up with why he said that. He feels like he's missing everything. "I feel...I feel like I just woke up from an extremely long dream...but..." He racks his mind even more, but nothing comes up, "...I can't remember any of it."
Suddenly, Mikasa gives him a look of shock and worry. "Eren, what's wrong? You're crying?"
Eren can only wipe his eyes in confusion? Why was he crying? Why does he feel like he's forgetting something?
So. Weird, right?
Time travel, crazy, right?
Weeelllll, read the first chapter again. Namely, when you first meet Eren.
I really hope something like this doesn't happen, though.
I did have fun writing this, though, haha.
But now, it's back to writing my other stories that I haven't worked on in months :D