Have you ever loved someone? Was that love won with respect, emotion, and just a little bit insanity? This story is about all three, plus sadness and a strange way to love. It is about a girl, aged fifteen, and a boy, also aged fifteen, who both live in a hellish world that could only be fought with sword, blood, and desperation. This is the story of Gwen Fireheart, a girl who was infected, and Eren Jaeger, the boy who saved her life.
It was her first time past Wall Rose, in the small district of Trost, doing a small reconnaissance mission with a team of Survey Corps members. Gwen was trying very hard to be in the Survey Corps, because it was her dream to see what it was like past the walls. She released her grappling hooks and flew up, past a soldier, and landed on the roof, not too far from one of the Titans that were still in Trost. She grinned eagerly, and ran across the roof, jumping off the roof, expecting for her grappling hooks to hit their mark in the Titan's neck. Instead, she fell heavily, a foot from the Titan, spraining her leg. Gwen looked up into the Titan's face and realized this was it, before she even had a chance to start her military career. Tears spilled out of her eyes as the Titan reached down toward her, and then stopped. A chunk of its flesh, from the back of its neck, flew out and the Titan fell toward her.
Gwen moved quickly out of the way, her leg groaning at her in protest, and saw her savior standing a few feet away from her. Her savior, a male, by the looks of it, wore the Survey Corps jacket and the cocky grin, but the grin was understated by the worry in his eyes as he walked up to her. The boy was average height, around 5 foot 7 inches, had startlingly big, round teal green eyes, and longish brown hair that flapped around his face. She stood up shakily, and he ran forward to help steady her. "Are you alright?" he asks and Gwen nearly falls over again. He was gorgeous up close, and she couldn't help thinking that whoever his girlfriend was, she was the luckiest human within all the walls.
Gwen rubs her eyes and nods a bit, trying to forget her rapidly emerging feelings for this boy and says quietly, "I'm fine, I think. What's your name?" The boy grunts a bit and she moves away quickly. He looks wearily at her and then holds out his hand. "My name is Eren Jaeger, and what is yours?" Gwen takes his hand and shakes it, trying not to think about holding his hand. "My name's Gwen Fireheart. Thanks for saving me from the Titan," Eren lets go of her hand, saying "It was nothing. I just didn't want to watch another person get eaten in front of me, when I'm no longer incapable of helping," He sighs, turning around to check the area. Gwen looks at his shoulder and tries not to let her voice waver. "I heard of you, Eren. You're that soldier who's in Squad Levi, the one who can turn into a Titan," she says to him and he turns back, just in time for her to see his face.
The emotions on his face went from surprise to concern to acceptance. "I am. It's hard sometimes, being the person to decide humanity's fate, but I deal with it," Gwen nods and plays with the end of her jacket, then checks her 3D Maneuver Gear. Eren steps closer and she tries not to notice his hair, resting ever so slightly on his cheek, instead looking at the handgrips. "My Gear hasn't been working since I first got it, the grappling hooks will work one time, and another time, I fall and have to run away quickly," Eren's eyes widen and he shakes his head. "You've survived training with this Gear? I'm impressed. You're quite a soldier," She beams at him and walks around a bit. "We need to get out of here, before more Titans show up. I think your friends have already begun to head back-" A Titan appears just under twenty feet away from their location, moving quickly toward the two of them. She gasps and turns to Eren. "Switch Gear with me, then turn into a Titan and kill it. I'll help, but with this Gear, I'm not useful-" She watches as Eren quickly takes off his Gear and she does the same, pulling it on just as fast. He gets on the broken Gear and bites his thumb, blood gushing out of it. Thunder booms and a lightning bolt shoots out of him and he grows into the Titan, just as the other Titan stepped forward. Eren roars and leaps forward, knocking it to the ground and rips its head off.
Gwen steps forward, but Eren's Titan falls forward and he emerges from it. She runs forward and helps him out of it, then quickly helps him to his feet. They turn to the Wall and start moving forward, but a similar crack of thunder and a lightning blast, not from where they were makes him turn around. She turns as well, fingers on the trigger, ready to launch out the grappling hooks. From behind them comes another Titan, but this Titan looked different, it had an armored look about him. Eren gasped and hurries to the Wall. Gwen runs to catch up to him, asking "What's that? Is it a new type of Titan?" He shakes his head and turns toward her. "It's the Armored Titan. We need to alert the Garrison right away!" She nods and runs quickly with Eren, but as they move forward, the Armored Titan takes a stance.
Eren looks back and stops running. "I have to stop it! If it breaks this Wall, more Titans will get further into humanity's haven! I can't allow that to happen!" He prepares to bite his thumb again, but Gwen steps forward. "I'll help you in any way I can. I don't want it to happen as much as you do," She quickly shoves the handgrips into a couple blades and turns, just as Eren bites his thumb again and turns into his Titan. He roars and runs forward, slowing the Armored Titan, but not stopping it. Gwen shoots her grappling hooks up to the roof above her and jumps off the roof, grappling to the neck of the Armored Titan, blades out and ready to slash it. She falls downward, toward the neck of the Titan and slashes it, but the blades break and she falls heavily on the ground, breaking her leg. She screams in agony and watches as the Armored Titan turns toward her, getting ready to kill her.
Eren watches as Gwen tries to stop the Armored Titan, but when she falls and screams in pain, he moves into action, pulling the Armored Titan away from her and body slamming it into the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Gwen drag herself away toward a building, using her broken blades as a crutch. Eren continues fighting the Armored Titan, and finally manages to get to the back of the other Titan's knees. He strikes one of them and it falls again, growling at Eren. Suddenly, Gwen yells from behind him, "Hey, you ugly piece of shit! The one that looks like a rock! I bet you're not nearly as fast as Eren!" She continues to taunt the Armored Titan, and it finally moves toward her, exposing its back, and its knees. Eren leaps forward and knocks it in both knees and the Titan crumples, two feet away from Gwen.
His Titan falls over and he emerges from it, running to Gwen and picking her up, grunting a bit from the strain of transforming twice and having to carry her. Gwen yelps a bit and turns her head, but not fast enough so he sees the faint line of color on her pale face. He looks down at the petite girl in his arms, long, red with golden streaks hair falling all over her face, and her wide, blue eyes looks up at him, tears swimming in her eyes. He notices small things about her face, a tiny scar on her cheek, a smattering of raised dots on her nose and forehead, and black rings around her eyes, which were very noticeable with her pale skin, and can't help thinking, even if she has imperfections, Gwen is pretty. She moans a bit when he begins to move forward quickly toward the wall, and adjusts her head to look down at her leg, which was hanging limply at his side.
Gwen tried not to think about how Eren was holding her, how she could feel his breath on her neck, his hand resting on her back, and most of all, the closeness of his face to hers. She looked down but it was no better, his other hand was on her legs, and she could feel the broken leg healing, but not fast enough. All she could think of was her boss' face when he found out she failed her mission. They made it inside the wall and soldiers were walking around, all talking about the Armored Titan. Some of the soldiers noticed Eren carrying her to the infirmary and they snickered. Gwen looks up at Eren and whispers "I can walk now, it's fine," His eyes widen at her words and he puts her down. Gwen walks around wobbily and he runs to her and helps her until she is steady. The two of them walk forward a bit, Gwen trying not to notice the closeness of his body to hers, until she sees her boss.
Levi walks forward to the two of them, followed by two members of the Survey Corps, and sneers at Gwen. "Did you complete your mission? Judging by your leg, which seems sprained, and the way you seem to care about Eren, you did not succeed," She turns red and looks away, and Eren glances at her, shocked. "You were asked by Levi to monitor me?!" He says to her and she nods her head. "Do you not trust me, Levi?" He asks but Levi turns away, motioning to the soldiers. "Make her understand her failure," Levi says before walking away. Eren gets in front of Gwen, shielding her with his body, watching the soldiers warily. "What are you going to do to her?" Eren asks them, but they just push him away from Gwen and attack her, kicking and punching her face, arms, legs, wherever they could reach her.
Eren moves forward toward them, screaming, "You bastards! Why don't you pick on someone who isn't still a trainee?!" He grabs one and punches them across the face, knocking him out, and turns to the other one, shaking with rage. Gwen is suddenly able to see as Eren pulls the other guy and starts beating him up, his face contorted into a mask of anger. She stands up, shaking, and wipes some blood off of her face, then turns to Eren. "Stop it! You're killing him!" She runs forward to Eren, kneeling next to him, and grabs his fist, about to go down onto the guy's nose again, which was already gushing blood. Gwen holds his fist in her hand, in a tight grip, and when Eren turns to her, the mask of anger targeted to her, she has a split second to think of what to do to calm him down. Then it hits her and she moves forward, kissing Eren on the lips, holding his fist in one hand, and his cheek in her other hand, tilted toward her.
Eren beats up the guy who dared to attack Gwen, petite, defenseless, Gwen, not hiding his anger, despite what Levi has told him. A month of being unemotional goes into his swings, defending a girl he met only an hour ago, only because of Levi's treatment of her. He hears Gwen move closer and he raises his fist one last time, but it doesn't come down. He feels it in her grasp, tight and just a little painful, and he turns to her, ready to say something to her, but she leans forward and kisses him. His fist is still in her hand, but she is just resting her fingers on his now, and her other hand is on his cheek, slightly tilted toward her. Eren puts his free hand on her neck and strokes it, admiring her courage of kissing him when he was like this. He opens his eyes and looks down at her, seeing her red cheeks, and blushes in response. She finally breaks away, her blush so deep, the scar on her cheek is now almost gone. He looks down, hiding his blush and smiles at her carefully.
Gwen sees his blush and touches her own cheek, feeling it's warmth, and watches him. He smiles at her, but it is strained, and she realizes that it might have not been the right thing to do. She didn't even know where it came from, just that she had the sudden desire to kiss him. She looks down, trying not to cry, but she does a tiny bit anyway and he moves closer to her, tilting her face up to his. "Why are you crying? Did you not enjoy it?" Eren's concern was etched in his face, the mask now just a memory. She nods a bit, wiping her eyes and looks at his eyes full on. "I did enjoy it. I just don't know if you did. You seem like it was the wrong thing to do, and I'm so sorry for it!" She is crying harder now, shaking and blubbering. He watches her cry and when she finally stops and wipes her eyes, he smiles at her. "Would it make you feel better if I told you I did enjoy it a little bit?"
Gwen's blue eyes widen and she smiles wide. "You...did?" She looks ecstatic and Eren hugs her close to him. "Yes, Gwen. I did," She hugs him back and slowly pulls away, sighing a bit, but not loud enough for him to hear, and looks up at him. "Can...can we kiss again?" She asks, her voice wavering, hope written all over her face, and in that moment he knew. She likes him, maybe is even in love with him, and truth be told, he liked her too. He nods and they move forward, their lips meeting each other, in a puddle of her blood and tears, the sun glaring down on them, surrounded by their fellow soldiers, all watching Levi's favorite soldier kissing a trainee. And you know what? He didn't even care. He liked Gwen and he knew that she was in love with him. He pulls her closer so that they are pressed against one another, and he strokes her hair, her face, and she holds his hair in her hands gently.
They finally break away and she looks at him, her eyes glistening. "Will I ever see you again?" Gwen asks and he looks away. "You're trying to get into the Survey Corps? Then maybe, yes," Eren says to her, and her face loses the little color she has. "I doubt I'll get into it now. Maybe I'll just stay in the Garrison, give up my dream," She sighs and looks up at the Wall. "I would love to see what it's like past the Walls, as a Survey Corps soldier, and kill Titans. Basically be you," She grins at Eren and stands. "I better go to the infirmary before I bleed out. I'll find you sometime. Goodbye, Eren Jaeger," Gwen walks away, then turns back and says to him "Don't forget to get that Gear fixed!", then turns back, moving through the crowd, which parts for her, all looking at her back, whispering about her. She ignores them, turning to wave at Eren, sitting where she left him. He finally stands, long after she is gone, and walks the other way, toward the supply area, removing the Gear. After he is done, he whispers to himself, "Gwen Fireheart…now there is a name that I will never forget. I hope to see you again soon, Gwen," and leaves the supply area.