Epilogue
"We've found another body!" yelled one of the Garrison soldiers as they searched amongst the ruin that was once a beautiful inner city.
Commander Hanji Zöe walked up to where the said body was as she was collecting their Recon Corps insignia patches. At first, it seemed as though nothing was out of the ordinary: just another corpse below a pile of rubble. However, as she got a closer look, she saw the cravat, the raven-colored hair, and the clenched fist over the heart: the salute to Humanity.
Hanji recoiled back at the sight of Humanity's strongest soldier lying dead in front of her.
How could this have happened? she thought to herself, I thought that he'd be the LAST one of us to go...
She picked up the soldier's small, but solid body and walked him to a cart where the dead were laid onto.
As the cart rolled away, she made a mental note to hold a meeting the following afternoon.
...
Two lines stood underneath a willow tree the next day: one for what was left of the Recon Corps and the Garrison, the other for the Military Police. Down the center, Moblit, Hanji, and two other soldiers from the corps carried the casket towards the headstone.
Eren Yeager, who stood right next to the grave, got a good long look at the captain's lifeless body: he had his signature cravat still tied to his neck, his clothing was immaculately clean, and not a speck of blood was on him. Ignoring the fact that he was missing his left leg, he looked as if he were peacefully sleeping.
Levi was then lowered into the six-foot hole, and was buried after a salute from both lines.
Once the grave was completely filled, the crowd dispersed, leaving only Mikasa and Eren standing by the tree where Levi was just laid to rest.
They both stood in silence until Mikasa said, "Eren..."
He tilted his head in her direction.
"Why do you look sad?" she continued.
"... I don't want to talk about it, Mikasa."
"But I don't want you to feel sad, Eren."
"I said I didn't want to talk about it."
"Eren, is it because Heichou is dead?"
"Mikasa, I-"
"He died a hero, Eren. He-"
"MIKASA, I SAID STOP!"
She jumped back a little at the sudden outburst.
"What if I told you that all of THIS," he gestured to the tombstone, "could've been avoided? What if I said that if i had been able to turn into a titan sooner, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED?"
"..."
"I'M THE REASON THAT HEICHOU IS DEAD, MIKASA. DO YOU KNOW HOW THAT FEELS?"
"... Eren... it wasn't your fault..."
He got right up in her face and screamed, "THERE YOU GO AGAIN, TELLING ME THAT IT WASN'T MY FAULT FOR SOMETHING THAT I FUCKED UP. WELL YOU KNOW WHAT, MIKASA? YOU CAN'T PULL THAT SHIT THIS TIME! I'M A MURDERER, MIKASA! A MURDERER!"
As a brief silence passed, the tension hung in the air like a cannonball that was about to explode.
Then wrapped her arms around him and put her face up to his ear.
"I-I don't think that you're a murderer..." she whispered nervously.
She pulled back and said to his face, "Don't say such things, Eren..."
She hugged him again.
"I swore that I'd protect you until the day I die."
Eren just stayed quiet until he finally replied, "Why?"
"W-What?"
"Why do you go such lengths for my sake? I can take care of myself just as is, but you take this whole 'protection' thing way too far. Why do you do it?"
"... I just wanted you to be safe... I couldn't stand you degrading yourself day by day, taking the blame for every bad thing that happens to us. I just didn't want you to be in pain..."
There was a pause.
Eren then pushed her away and smiled.
"I'll be fine, Mikasa, and I can try to stop taking the blame for everything. But you have to promise me one thing."
She looked up with a bright light in her eyes.
"What is it?"
"You have to stop following me on every expedition."
"... But-"
"No excuses. Just leave me alone, and I won't feel bad anymore, OK?"
She hesitated for a bit, but then slowly nodded.
"If it will make you happy," she said in a very monotonous manner.
He hugged her one last time and said, "Thanks, Mikasa."
He pulled away from her and left.
Mikasa stood there, not knowing what to do now, until she looked at Levi's grave one last time, and walked off in the opposite direction.
...
On their next expedition (i.e. kill the titans in the lesser-known areas of Wall Maria), Mikasa simply followed her orders; she killed every last titan that got in her way. However, her horse had fled from the scene and she was now left to travel with nothing but her maneuver gear.
It was only a matter of time before she ran out of gas, though.
She could hear the screams of her comrades in the distance, but she didn't pay any attention to them. That sort of thing wasn't unusual in the Recon Corps.
As she zipped through the air on her 3DMG, she wondered how Eren was doing.
She shook her head, repeating to herself, I shouldn't even be thinking about him. I promised that I'd leave him be. I want him to be happy.
So she continued through the abandoned town.
Then she heard a roar. Obviously, it was Eren, who was probably trying to get himself out of a tight spot. Mikasa just ignored it and went about her business.
However, she couldn't resist the urge to look back and see how he was doing.
What she saw was utterly horrifying.
To the right was Titan Eren. To the left was a titan of about the same size except that this one had hair all over its body.
Eren lashed out and threw a punch aimed for the titan's face, but it dodged it and was able to have his arm in a hold with one swift movement.
Mikasa turned herself around and headed towards them.
Eren tried to land another punch, but the hairy titan used its other arm to block it and rip off his arm.
Mikasa sped along even faster towards the fight.
The titan then tore open Eren's neck with its good hand and snatched him up like smiling titan did Carla Yeager.
At this point, Mikasa was headed towards the titan's nape at a blinding speed, hoping to save Eren.
In a flash, however, a hand had imprisoned her body, and her surprise attack had come to a hault.
"Good try, human," the titan said in perfect human speech, "but I'm not as dim-witted as my brethren."
She watched in horror as the titan opened its mouth and placed Eren in between its massive jaws.
In his last moments, Eren managed to say, "Mikasa, you broke your promise..."
The titan's mouth closed.
Normally, that wouldn't do much to Eren since he had amazing regenerative powers from being a titan-shifter.
However, there was no steam coming from his body this time. The only thing that came out of it was his blood.
The titan threw away what used to be Eren as if it were garbage.
Mikasa yelled out, tears streaming from her eyes, "WHAT. DID. YOU. DO. TO. HIM."
The titan looked at her and smiled.
"I made sure that he wasn't a problem anymore. Simple as that."
"...YOU'RE WRONG!"
The titan continued to smile.
"HE WILL COME BACK. HE ALWAYS HAS. AND WHEN HE DOES, HE WILL RIP YOU APART LIMB-FROM-LIMB."
"My dear, he isn't coming back. I made sure of it."
She could feel the tears welling up.
"But... But..."
"Your loved one is dead."
She looked down in defeat. She had to face the reality that Eren was gone, and her mind was now drowned in an ocean of darkness.
"That's it, human. Wallow in your sorrows. Your precious 'hope' has only left you disappointed."
While in her trance-like state, she saw Eren, who looked perfectly fine at the moment.
"Hi, Mikasa," he said in a warm, comforting tone.
"Eren?" she responded.
He nodded.
She leapt a him and gave him a huge hug, a river of tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Mikasa! Not now! You're making me feel weird!"
"But... But you're alive..."
He grabbed her by the shoulders so that he could speak to her face.
"Mikasa, I want you to listen to me. I want you to talk to that man over there."
He pointed to a figure that was sitting in a wooden chair.
