originally posted on my tumblr
They both make it to the end, miraculously.
"Armin was right," Eren says quietly. He grips the leather reins of his horse's harness, knuckles white and breath heavy as he stares out to the horizon. The sun hurts his eyes. Mikasa glances up at him where she's kneeling in the grass, adjusting her boot straps with her hand, while her hair curls gently in the wind. She disregards the sunset, staring instead at Eren. His jaw is set and his eyes are sad; he's smiling anyways. Mikasa stands up.
"What's that?" she asks, tugging at her belt. The horses shuffle at her movements.
"The ocean," Eren explains, gesturing out over the bluffs. The cliff drops just paces ahead of them, and then there's a long shore of white sand and then water. Water so wide that it never ends. Water so wide that it reaches the horizon and touches the sun. "He said it would be beautiful," Eren continues. "He was right."
Mikasa says nothing; she brings her scarf up to her face, covers her mouth, breathes in deeply. The grass rustles in the wind and brushes against her ankles, and she watches Eren pensively as he clenches and unclenches his fists, the old fire still flaming in his eyes. Mikasa pulls her scarf down, meaning to say something to comfort him, but she only sighs instead. Eren's eyes flicker towards her. He turns his head, face curious.
"What?" he asks. He sounds almost defensive.
Mikasa shakes her head. "It's nothing," she says, and Eren turns back. She watches his fingers scratch at the leather harness, and she clears her throat. "He should have been here," she adds. Eren whips his head back around to look at her, his eyes wide and blazing. She meets his gaze, feels the sun on her cheeks and the wind in her hair, and finally Eren's eyes fall down and away as they gather tears.
"They all should have been here," he mutters, choking on his words. He bites his lip and Mikasa moves in to wrap her arm around his shoulder.
They gather wildflowers later and toss them into the waves, one for each of their fallen comrades.
"Marco," Eren starts as he throws a flower into the ocean. Mikasa drops two, whispering for Christa and Ymir. "Connie," Eren continues. "Sasha. Jean."
Mikasa throws two more. "Bertholt and Reiner."
Eren tosses another. "Hanji."
Mikasa drops another two. "My left arm. Your sanity." Eren laughs at that, but it's bitter and it hurts. He grips his last flowers tightly in his fist, then throws them altogether.
"Annie. Armin. Levi."
Mikasa hands him her last flower, and he presses a kiss to it before sending it out to sea. "Mom," he whispers. Mikasa repeats the word, murmuring into her scarf.
They let the sun sink into the ocean as the flowers wash away, and when the moon finally rises over the beach, they turn around and go home.
