"i'd follow you anywhere."
but she can't, not any more.
she wishes she could forget it, but she can't.
she remembers. she was careless.
( it was her fault.)
she'd been so busy keeping an eye on eren, she'd let her guard down. he'd been thrown against the wall, and she took her eyes off the titan, just for a second.
before she knew it, she felt heat emanating behind her, the raspy breathing, the metallic stench of blood and rotting flesh that she knew, without turning around, clung to teeth stained red with death -
and then before she could even react, someone pushed her out of the way. she was sent tumbling off the roof, and just in time she managed to use her gear to prevent her from being smashed against the concrete.
she looked up just in time to see a flash of a brown hooded cloak, jet-black hair, and intense green eyes disappearing behind those hideous teeth. she heard the crunch of fragile human bones being crushed to dust.
she saw the shredded remains of the cloak drift towards the ground, and the blades impale themselves into the pavement, handles fresh with their master's blood.
she remembers picking up those blades and flying at the titan that killed eren jaeger, viciously stabbing, screaming like a madwoman, with absolutely none of the technique or skill her reports gushed about. it was as if she'd become the child who, a decade ago, hacked at thieves with a rusty knife. she would've died, if corporeal levi hadn't stepped in and neatly, efficiently sliced the back of the titan's neck open.
every detail remains fresh in her mind, sharp as the abandoned blades she clutches to her chest, blood seeping slowly into her cloak.
he's just a few crushed bones now, thrown carelessly in the massive pile of corpses. everyone around her is saluting respectfully as the flames rise higher towards the black sky, lighting up the night and glowing with an intensity reminiscent of eren's eyes.
the mask crumbles. her arms falls to her side, and she falls to her knees.
silent tears stream down her dirt-streaked cheeks as her palms dig into the ground, hard enough to draw blood. she cries, and long after the flames die down to ashes, she remains in that position - of ultimate surrender; of giving up.
"i promised - i'd follow you anywhere," she whispers.
but she can't, not anymore.