Warning/s: character death; possible OOC

TILL WE MEET AGAIN – July 16, 2013

"This is it, Heichou." Eren had a longing gaze and a dull light of sadness in his eyes.

"The view I had wished for you to see. The wind I had wished for you to feel." And he closed his eyes and imagined the presence he had unbearably missed over the past years. He felt the wind gently enveloping him in a tight embrace, as if to comfort the grief resting in his heart.

To have experienced a different emotion other than despair and grief in their short lives as soldiers is a blessing in itself. To have experienced love above anything else is deemed to be a miracle.

In a cruel world where they fought to survive each and every day and where they fought to stay sane amidst all the attempts of dehumanizing each one of them, love is out of the question. Finding hope in itself is hard and finding love is, more or less, the same; because love could be a new-found hope, a new light that could lift you up when you are drowned out by despair.

And Eren never expected to have known that emotion once again. He thought he had forgotten that. He thought it died along with his mother. He loved his family, his mother, and watching her die felt like dying the first time. It hurt and he swore he will kill all the Titans to avenge his lost loved one and to save what little humanity he retained. His heart was enveloped by anger, anguish, and pain.

And Eren never knew that a single man could heal all those wounds in one swift move. Rivaille was humanity's strongest. Eren had admired him even before but to be able to fight with him, he discovered something far greater and far deeper than admiration.

He found hope. He found love. He found two things he thought he had lost through the course of time. And since then, he found out that everything wasn't all so bad. That the world may be cruel but it is still a beautiful place.

But, they are soldiers ready to risk their lives. They are soldiers ready to fight until their last breath, until the very end. And in the face of death, there are no such things as humanity's strongest and humanity's hope.

And once again, Eren lost his new-found hope. He lost what little humanity he once had. Rivaille's death broke him and it tore him apart. It felt like dying the second time. He swore he would protect him for all eternity and he despised himself for having done a poor job of keeping his hope safe and alive.

But, Rivaille had wished. It was one thing he had never done and who was Eren to not fulfill it despite how much his heart painfully throbbed, despite how much his whole being screamed to bring back the man in his arms.

He lived. He fought. He survived every battle. He spent every single night waiting for the morning he dreaded to come. He refused to give up his life because it was Rivaille's last words that brought him back.

"Eren, I am with you. In this life, in the afterlife, in our reincarnated life. Remember that, Eren…"

Even if Eren can't see the face he lovingly traced and softly caressed, he will never forget the warmth that spread through his limbs nor the life he had embraced in his arms. Even if it is no longer possible for Eren to see Rivaille, he believed that he is there with him. Through the wind, through the precious memories Eren had with him.

As countless seasons passed, humanity had finally triumphed over their life-long battle. And Eren sighed. At last, his duty has been put to rest. His journey has been put to an end. He opened his eyes and looked at the vast sea in front of him. He walked through the sand and marveled at the sight he only saw in books. He looked at the sky and reached up his hands, as if a futile attempt to embrace the mass of blue.

The words written on the road will disappear under the trample of other people's feet.

But I hope the lights decorating the sky will end up reaching you.

The footsteps left behind in the sand will disappear as the waves wash over them.

But I hope the shore in front of the sea will end up reaching you.

"Till we meet again, Heichou. Till we meet again." He did his last salute. He turned his back and the wind blew ever so gently. It's as if whispering to him, "In another life we will meet again."

As the wind carries us towards the stars.

Towards the stars.

A/N: I should seriously stop making fics at 1-2 am and I still have classes later at 1:30 pm. Screw the prompts, they keep coming at ungodly hours. I got the italicized words, excluding dialogues, from the song Holding Hands Unseen (Mienai Te To Te) by Yoshida Jungo. I was going to base this off that song, I guess I did it? Haha! Whut? I'm so tired. /flops onto bed