Mikasa stared at the bloody stump that used to be her arm. Disbelief flickered in her eyes. She didn't feel herself fall to the ground.
Eren was at her side in a second. Faster than a second and he looked more scared than she did. He started pulling the scarf from her neck. Her hands clutched at his and she kept saying "no" in a broken voice. She was pleading with him, but he didn't listen. He wrapped her scarf tightly around what was left of her arm to slow the bleeding. She knew it was futile from the way he was looking at her. Her side was bruised and the skin was perforated. Blood was soaking through her shirt. It hurt every time she breathed. Her broken ribs scratched against her insides. That fucker got her good. She was inside its mouth, stabbing the roof of its mouth with her now shattered blade and kicking at its teeth with her boot. She was lucky she hadn't lost her legs. Lucky, yeah.
"Stay with me," She heard him say.
There was wet sand wedged between her toes. The sea rushed out to meet her. Waves splashed around her ankles as she waded out until the water bobbed around her mouth. She floated on her back and drew in the salty ocean air. Sunlight traced her collarbone.
She washed up on the shore. Sand stuck to her skin. She rested there awhile. Exhaustion had ground down her bones and welted her skin.
Through her eyelashes she watched birds fly across the sky. From where she was they looked like black dots staining the sky. She must have looked the same to them, lying motionless on the shore.
Finally Mikasa got to her feet.
She reached to bury her cold hands in the comfort of her scarf, but it wasn't there. She was in strange clothes. Soft and clean and her hair was as long as it had been when she was a girl.
'Eren' was the only thought that jolted through her mind.
She looked and looked, but he was nowhere to be found. She called for him, but only silence answered back.
"It's beautiful, Eren." Mikasa whispered.
"What?" Eren choked. His dirty cheeks were streaked white with tears.
Her head felt like it was full of bricks. No matter how much she wanted to look away she couldn't. She tried to move her good arm to wipe away his tears, but she was too weak.
"The outside world," But it wasn't her dream. It was his. Her dream was to be with him. And she had been for as long as she could hold on. She was thankful for the time they had together. No. That wasn't true. She was angry. It hadn't been enough.
"I'm sorry." Her voice was weak and every word specked blood onto her bottom lip and chin.
"Don't be sorry you idiot." Eren snapped.
"I wasn't strong enough." She wanted to protect him from the world…from death, as foolish as that was. He was the one who had protected her, saved her from a fate worse than death. She had made him her home.
"You're the strongest person I know."
That might have been true, but it was because of him. He was her strength.
"Please don't forget me." Her voice cracked. She had been fighting the tears that were welling up in her eyes, but now they rolled down her cheeks in rivulets.
"I could never,"
"It hurts, Eren."
"I know, I know." He squeezed her hand.
Mikasa heard the ocean though she had never heard it with her own ears and smelled flowers sweeter than anything she had ever smelled before. Sweeter than her mother's pie or the way Eren sometimes smiled at her when he thought she wasn't looking.
"I'll be right beside you. We'll see the outside world together. I promise."
She smiled and closed her eyes to the sky. It was the palest shade of blue.
(Whoosh whoosh) The white waves foamed over the shore and tickled her toes. She was carried over the sand and into the ocean.
The sound faded away. All was quiet.