She is barely conscious when the door opens and burning light spills onto the threshold. The guards carry torches and avoid eye contact with their prisoner. They live in fear of a ragdoll.

"How does it feel?" Eren asks her. She won't look at him. She can't. He's tense, pacing agitatedly. "How does it feel to finally be on the losing side? How does it feel to know that nobody is going to save you?" She stares into the darkness. He stops. "You had a choice." His voice is raw. "Don't you understand that?"

A few days ago she would have snapped, she would have jumped at the bit, goaded him on just for the sick thrill of it.

Now she's tired. She almost smiles at the thought of what's coming. There's nothing for her to say, and yet….

"Annie," he says, and his voice is trembling despite himself. She wants to run. She wants him to yell at her, anything but this, this is a thousand times worse. "I…" He stops, licks his dry lips. She wants him to talk to her and never stop, not for anything in the world. "M'sorry," he manages hoarsely, and there are a hundred other words that go unspoken between them.

She shifts her head in his direction, slightly, enough that he will notice, and the guards come forward. Eren protests, but they haul her to her feet anyway. As they escort her, she lifts her head and looks at him for what she knows will be the last time. A smile spreads thin across her cracked mouth.

"I know," she tells him, and her voice is gentle. And he's frightened, heartbroken, all across his face. She looks away and her eyes are suddenly wet behind her matted hair.

But no one needs to see.

The door closes behind them and he is left alone.