AN: So I've had this AU in my head for a couple of days now. Instead of burning Marco's body, they buried him and let Jean pick the spot. Jean didn't get the closure he got in the anime, so he's getting it here.

Please give me feedback, good or bad. I need to know what and where to improve!

Listen to A Great Big World's "Say Something" while you read!

"Say Something"

It was nearly midnight when I reached the outskirts of the woods. Owls hooted and blustery winds rolled by as the moon shone bright overhead. I was grateful for its brilliance, because it was my only source of light. I had to sneak out of the headquarters, and carrying a lantern with me would have given me away. I couldn't afford to be caught, not tonight.

Short snorts came from my horse's nose as I dismounted him. The horse flicked his ears, almost in disapproval, when his reigns were tied to the trunk of a nearby tree. I didn't want to leave him alone, but I wanted to be completely by myself when I reached my destination. Patting the horse's neck, I promised him that I would be back before long. The horse shook his head like he was disagreeing with me. I rolled my eyes and started walking towards the woods.

With a bouquet of flowers grasped tight in my hand, I found my way through the growth of the forest. Trees towered up into the darkness of the night, making it impossible to see their tops. The moon would peek out between openings every now and then. I tripped a couple of times, and I was glad no one was around to see me. The horse would have snorted at me, I just knew.

I racked my brain for the route of my destination. The moss-covered tree jogged my memory, and I remembered I needed to turn left. I kept straight until I found a gigantic boulder. I turned right, and before me was a clearing. In the middle was a small grave with little blue flowers growing around it. I approached the grave slowly, apprehensively. My heart raced in my tightening chest. You've made it this far, there's no going back now. You've been waiting for this moment for a month now, Jean. I took a deep breath to steady myself.

"H-Hey, Marco," I whispered as I stood at the foot of the grave. My hand shook, and I had to remind myself to calm down. "It sure has been a while, hasn't it? A whole year…" I crouched down to place the bouquet near the headstone. I remembered when they set that headstone in the ground. My chest grew tighter at the memory.

"A lot's happened in a year…" I stared at the headstone, reading Marco's name over and over. "I've joined the Recon Corps, I've made new friends, and I've fought a lot of Titans…" The vocal cords in my throat began trembling as tears burned my eyes, causing his name to blur. "I just wish you were here to go through it all with me."

My mind was sent back to that fateful day in Trost. The 3D Maneuver Gear I carried had been damaged beyond repair, and I was left stranded in the street with a Titan on my heels. Marco saw my predicament from the rooftops and came to my rescue. I didn't see him until two days later, dead and bled dry on the wall of a dilapidated building. Half his face and torso were missing…

"Why didn't you survive with the rest of us?"

Hot tears were streaming down my face now, stinging my cold cheeks.

"I'm doing all this for you, Marco," I choked out. "I wish you were here. I miss having you around. I miss your laugh. I miss how you saw the bright side of everything… I miss… you…"

I couldn't contain the emotions any longer. With my face between my knees and hands cradling the back of my head, I cried out, "M-Marco, p-please come b-back…!" Anguished sobs racked my body as I let go. Tears poured from my eyes and hit the soft dirt below me for several minutes, and I was finding it extremely difficult to breathe. It had been years since I had cried that hard for that long.

Through my sobbing, I could hear something… rumbling below me. I looked up and found the bouquet shaking slightly. The rumbling grew louder, and the flowers began shaking violently. My chest was so tight, it felt like my heart would explode as it began quickening its pace. My eyes widened in fear.

What's happening?

Before my brain could register what was going on, I found myself falling backwards as something shot out of the ground, sending the bouquet flying. The thing landed on the ground with a loud thud as it pulled itself from the dirt. I froze as I watched it emerge from the ground, realizing it was coming towards me. I couldn't move. My brain screamed at my legs to run, but they wouldn't budge. I sat there like an idiot while the thing—"Is that an arm?"—came crawling towards me. Something black followed it out of the grave. It tilted up to reveal half a face, and then I realized—

"Marco?" I gasped aloud, bringing my hand to my mouth. The thing was half way out of the ground now, groaning and gnashing the remainder of its—his—jaw. His brow was furrowed as his sunken left eye stared me down. There were nasty bags beneath his eye, his skin was sallow and deteriorating, and his tongue hung out the gaping hole in his face. He drug himself closer to me and growled menacingly. He looked like he wanted to kill me.

"Marco," I sputtered, feeling sick to my stomach, "M-Marco, it's me, Jean!" I scooted back a bit, finally able to get my body to move. Marco followed me, grunting and growling. Then he stopped abruptly, and his face (or what was left of it, anyway) softened. His brow raised, and his eye went wide. His grunts turned to whimpers, and he slowly reached his only hand out towards me. I was frozen again. What do I do?

"Mghhh…" Marco moaned, wiggling his way closer to me. His hand touched my boot and took hold of it. He looked up at me desperately. "Ehrrghh…"

I placed my hand on his, and found it icy cold. "Do you remember me, Marco?" I asked in bewilderment. I saw a slight nod from him, and my nausea turned to relief. I pulled him up by his arm, seeing he was having trouble with his legs, and set him against my chest. He smelled like rot and death, but I couldn't have cared less at the moment. "I've missed you, bud," I murmured as I brought him into a long-awaited embrace. I waited for some sort of reply, but he never said a word.

"Marco, say something, please." Still nothing. He only groaned at me. "Marco, please," I begged. "Please, Marco, I need to hear your voice. I don't remember it well anymore. I don't remember you well anymore… I only remember that day now, that day I found you dead in the street. I don't want to remember that day. I want to remember the days before it." Still nothing.

"It's my fault you're dead! It's all my fault… I should be the one six feet under, not you, Marco. I'm so sorry…." I felt Marco shaking in my arms, as if he were crying. He mumbled and whimpered, but no words would come out. He was trying, I knew. He was trying so hard and he just couldn't talk, and it frustrated me to the point of tears.

"Dammit, Marco, please!" I pulled him back, and what I found horrified me. He had gone still. The life was gone from his dulled brown eye, which had rolled back into his severed skull. His jaw went slack, and he was limp in my arms.

The tears returned when I pressed his once-again lifeless body against my chest. I screamed at him to come back, cursed him for leaving me again, and rocked him back and forth as I prayed he would return. But he didn't. And I gave up.

After I set Marco's body down into the hole he made, I ran and ran and ran back to my horse, hastily untying the reigns and speeding away from the woods. What had happened was too much for me. Tears blurred my vision as I rode back to the headquarters. I would come back later to bury him properly, I had told myself, but I just couldn't do it that night.

When I reached the headquarters, I was too shaky to even attempt to sneak back into the bunks. I stayed in the stable with the horse and fell asleep in the hay. I'll make a lie up later, I thought as I drifted off into a restless sleep.

I never told anyone what happened that night. It was too traumatizing for me. And despite the horror and trauma that night put me through, I still returned every year to his grave. Thing is, though, he never showed up to meet me. And after a while, I gave up. I gave up on Marco.

I had to let him go.

Say something, I'm giving up on you.

I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you.

Anywhere, I would have followed you.

Say something, I'm giving up on you.