Krista/Ymir

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marry me when it is all over

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1. "That man…" Krista whispers. Potato girl runs another lap even as the bells signaling for the recruits to retire for the night fades into complete silence. "That man is scary. I'm scared."

Ymir pushes a loaf of bread towards her, one eyed trained on the infallible glutton tremulously standing for another run. She smiles and it is mysterious, conniving and everything that sent alarm bells to Historia's head. But Krista thinks it is honest, the most acceptance she ever got from another person.

"You can look forward on marrying me when it is all over."

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2. She does not get the 3DM right the first time. Then the second. Then the third. She can tell that Ymir has already figured it out. But for some reason she trips, stumbles and does not mind when she gets screamed at, does not mind when they have to stay for remedial classes for those who did not prove to be a natural.

"Any slackers would be eliminated from training!" And Krista really works, really works harder on her balance. But it is all for naught.

She knows she would be taken off the Program then, just like everyone else whose heart was not strong enough for what they will face as soldiers. But there is a flash in Ymir's eyes that she likes very much and she does not want the brown-haired girl to remember her as the pathetic girl who cannot even stand on both feet.

"We'll marry once this is all over." Zip. Stand. Effortlessly floating on the wires, Ymir looks like a goddess. Kris—no, Historia's heart beats fast.

And she learns to fly too as her cold heart learns how to soar again.

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3. She gets the undeserved tenth spot while Ymir has to choose between the Garrison and the Survey Corps. Protect the walls or go beyond? Ymir contemplates this aloud, tapping fingers rhythmically on her chin. Live in comfort and in prestige is the third choice but she has willingly thrown that away to give Krista the chance to be remembered more than just the girl.

"Oh Krista! We can just get married after graduation!"

… whatever her choice may be then, Krista knows she would join her. And people would remember her as one who wasted opportunities, as one who leaped to her death. But Ymir would remember her as more than a damsel in distress, that like her, she could fly too.

Even before it is mainstream, Krista knows she would never join the Military Police.

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4. "Oh, Krista." She thinks she hears Ymir's voice falter, the tilting confidence slipping for the first time. Her eyes are wide. Her breaths hitched. But she does not seem to be afraid in the same way as everyone else is. Krista thinks she looks the same when Historia saw her Father the last time, confronting a past she does not want to go back to.

The earth shakes as the Titan gets closer. She wonders if she knows Ymir the way she can easily see through Krista, through Historia, through all the lurking demons in her head.

"Marry me when it is all over."

Every second, she checks if Ymir leaps into step beside her as she flies. And she knows then, despite her depleting gas supply that for as long as they are together, they can make it through.

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5. …But they are driven apart, when Erwin Smith assigns them on the opposite ends of the formation. Ymir openly says that she will kind of really miss her. And that if Reiner so much as touches her, he would have his head cut off. Krista tries not to think of the enemies that towered over walls and grow back limbs, of the death waiting for her through gnashing tombstones of teeth.

"Do you think we'll come back alive?"

"We'll get married once all of this is over."

Crossed pinkies. A shy kiss on the lips. Ymir makes a promise. Krista finds something to live for.

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6. "As long as we are together, we will survive!"

Ymir smiles.

But she does not respond.

She fails to tell Krista to marry her, fails to reassure that it will all be over soon.

Perhaps, because it would never be.

When Ymir disappears, Krista only has one regret.

She should have been the one who proposed this time.

(fin)

Yumikuri made me giggle in the chibi series, made me fangirl in the anime and made me cry like a baby in the manga. But alas my memories are rusty. If there are inconsistencies in canon, feel free to treat it as an AU.

Thanks for dropping by.