Author's Notes: Ladies and gents, I'm back, you know the drill. Please review this chapter and enjoy. Also, an important note awaits for you all at the end of this chapter. Still, enjoy.

Homecoming

He ran. That's all he ever did. He ran on and on, running to the remaining light in the twilight sky. All he could see was a figure from a far. A beauty and a soldier. A wingless angel falling from the heavens. And so, he ran on, trying to catch her from falling on the barren field. No one else but the two of them in the world they thrived in, no physical obstacles to stop him from running to her. And yet, God would not have it so. Not without mocking him every step of the way. For every step he took, the distance grew two steps longer, making him get away from her while ironically running to her.

She fell and she fell, and yet, she always seemed to stay the same distance from the ground as she always did, leaving the two forever trapped in their positions. He should be sweating, or at least feeling a form of heat or even cold. Still, he felt nothing. His name stopped being important a long time ago, if ever he did remember it, and his life had been lost from his memories. All that had mattered, all that was real to him was the falling angel.

Through the run, he knew it was not the first time he'd seen her, that he ran to her for a reason or more. None of which he remembered. But for all the meter long skips he took, every bit of his mind worked on remembering her name. Her name. The key to remembering everything. Remembering who she was, remembering himself, remembering who they'd been. While he tried to call her in any sort of way, to let her know that he was coming, to let her know he would save her, his throat would not allow the departure of any sounds. So he ran, voicelessly screaming, attempting to catch her. That's all he ever did.

Even as the distance between them grew, he tried to focus on her figure. Porcelain skin and hair as dark as the night itself, bits and pieces of sky reflecting on it like thousands of stars captured in its entirety, he only reached the conclusion that her majestic beauty could only be that of an angel. An angel sent to protect him. And now she'd had her wings torn off by demons of the worst kind. He felt nothing but fear as he saw her crimson soul begin to leave her body, the entity parting through her neck. He remembered. Mikasa.

Corpses appeared on the field left and right. All of them wearing torn and bloodied capes of the Wings of Freedom. Walls of smoke and steam arose from the titanic corpses of the departed demons. Every bit of memory of who he was, who she was, all of what they'd fought for and died for became clear to him. Then she began to truly fall.

He screamed her name with all his might, God finally granting him the privilege of running to her without being set back. No matter, for as quick as he went, she was too far away. Tears would have left his eyes were they not as dry. Desperation had led him to try to return to his gigantic form, a form that titled him king of the demons. Still, the heavens would not grant him the power in the time he needed it the most, another form of mockery from God again, he presumed. But that didn't matter to him. He ran. That's all he ever did. But he didn't run fast enough. A crimson soul elevated to the skies when he finally reached the fallen body. The tears finally came. He wept.

…

Eren opened his eyes, feeling his cheeks moist as he gave a long weary sigh. He was quick to wipe them with his hands, the trail of dried rivers leading to his crimson scarf, a dark reminder of how he failed as a friend and a brother. He sat up, feeling the soft, grassy soil he'd lain on. The others were sleeping, but the morning sun had awoken him to find the bleach-blond Shifter sitting further in front of them looking directly at the immense, topless mountain sitting next to it. His expression composed an all signs of the dream he'd had hidden, he walked up to where Reiner sat and took the seat next to him. Reiner paid him no mind, his near-black bags under his eyes hardly restraining the oversized smile that plagued his face.

The two sat in silence, Eren finally asking, "Can't sleep?"

It took a minute for Reiner to snap out of his trance to answer excitedly, putting it lightly.

"Eren, do you know how long I've been waiting to come home?"

"Too long?"

"'Too long?' Hell no. Too long would be several months, maybe a few years. I've waited more than an entire goddamn decade for this. I've waited more than half of my life, and I still can't believe we've made it. So no, I can't sleep. Hell, if Ymir and Annie wouldn't kill me for waking them up, then I'd sure as hell be running there already." Reiner chuckled, prompting a small smile to form on the other Shifter's face.

"Then consider yourself in my debt." Eren stood up, ignoring any and all of Reiner's warnings to sit down. Walking up to Annie first, he knelt down next to her, putting his hand over her upper back and rubbing it lightly. Her eyes opened slowly, blinking a bit at the sun's intrusive rays before she shifted her position to look upwards. She found him gazing down at her calmly, holding out his hand for her. Unlike the other days they were woken up by Reiner's morning shouts, she actually felt refreshed and ready for the next day.

A soft, pink taint in her cheeks took place realizing where his other hand was but said nothing as she stood up with his other's aid. Now up and still a bit drowsy, Eren moved on to Ymir. She snored very lightly, a little bit of drool having escaped the well of her mouth. Eren decided to take a rather big risk and cupped his hand on the right side of her face slowly and gently, his thumb wiping away the trail of saliva on the cheek. His hand was already off before she fully opened her eyes, looking to find him wiping it on his pants.

"Was… was your hand on my face?" She questioned, far more shocked than Annie was when awakened. To answer, Eren simply used the back of his right index to take away the last bits of the spittle that'd gone out of her mouth. She slightly jolted at the touch, the hairs in her body standing up with his warm finger caressing her cheek. Eren watched her cheeks turn pink in embarrassment at him showing her the sticky wetness on his finger. At least, he presumed that was what made her blush. Helping her up with her averting his gaze, he finally walked over to Bertholdt.

While he was the one whose reaction worried him least, he still gently patted him on his chest, not stopping until his eyes were open. Bertholdt simply smiled, taking Eren's hand gratefully and walking up to where the others were. Walking back to where Reiner now stood, Eren grabbed his shoulder with a grin. "You're welcome."

Reiner showed them all his two white rows for teeth and gestured them to follow him. Taking a very fast sprint for a pace, Bertholdt shouted from behind, "Reiner! Aren't you going to shift?!"

"Of course not! Titans are gone, and those furry assholes have probably forgotten about us for about four years now! Hell, I wanna run and get there myself! Not while being covered in some gigantic meatsack!" He roared from up front, easily keeping distance between himself and the four. Eren couldn't help but smile at the blonde's attitude, his eagerness easily contagious. They all kept up their run for a good hour, finally beginning to enter the thin forest that surrounded the mountain. Bigger than Colossal Titans, they left next to no patches of light for them to see with. Not like they needed it much, however. Being part Titan rewarded them with heightened senses and stamina.

They slowed down when they were met with the gargantuan walls of elevated ground a few dozen meters away from them. Eating what little was left from their reserves on the roots of one of the pillars of bark, they chose to walk the rest of the way, finding the river once more. They went along its right, following every bit of its path until, rather than go on in a straight line, it ended with a pond right in front of the mountain. Going from a watery line five meters across, it was now a semicircular pool of water with ten meters worth of radius.

Eren got closer to the pond, finding it to be far too conveniently placed in front of the gigantic place. While the other three listened to Reiner trying to look where exactly they should use their 3DMG on to climb up, Eren had found the rocks to be far too easily broken to actually have something for the hooks to get a grip on. It was either those, or the soil which would also probably come off. The five of them were bound to make it over the rocks with their extensive experience with their gears, but it would not be without difficulty. He quickly came to the conclusion that the walls of the mountain were made to be that way.

His sharp whistle cut off their conversation. Grabbing Annie's now empty backpack, he tore it in three. Before they could ask why he'd done that, he began to cover the material around his own in such a way that the opening was long gone. The material being naturally impermeable, there was no longer any entry for water in it to ruin his father's legacies. Motioning to the other male Shifters to stand still, he did the same with them. Now taking off his jacket, shirt and boots, he placed his shirt and boots in his jacket, wrapping the sleeves around his waist. Still ignoring the questions from the others, he dove in.

He could their shouts from underwater, but the further he looked, the more evident that the pond was crafted by man. Far too deep for a puddle its size, he looked at a light coming from a hole at the bottom of the miniature lake. He swam as fast as he could, the weight of his pack aiding him as he went through the broad tunnel. It went on for about a quarter of a minute before he the tunnel ended. He was quick to swim back up with all of his might, the air in his lungs nearly depleted. Taking a sharp intake, he coughed a bit as he swam on to where a pair of torches were at the end of the aquatic hall.

The room he was in was somewhat like what he heard pools were like. Being born in the outermost gate, he only knew that the richer lords of Wall Sina had the personal reserves of water for their own entertainment. It was likely that the waters were the same height as the pond outside, the cavern being very spacious with nothing to decorate it, all there was little bit of a stony floor to climb up at the end of it. At that side was where the relatively large torches hung, having only the company of a few plants that grew on the soil-formed walls.

Swimming to the shore, he felt his feet touch what felt like a stony surface as he neared the ground. Now able to touch the underwater steps, he was able to make it up onto the other side and near the tunnel directly in front of him. Light shone from within the diagonal hallway, it being a staircase that went on for a few meters with more flames hanging from the walls to show the path. He heard a heavy gasp from behind, turning around to look at Annie's relieved face at the prospect of breathing again. It didn't take long for the other three to follow in their steps, soon all soaking off on the ground.

The five then went on to put back on their shirts, jackets and boots, beginning to ascend the also stony staircase. Making it all the way up, they found how the small staircase ended in a very large subway that diagonally headed upwards. The ground they were on was a large thirty by thirty meter square, being lighted by few torches on the sides of the tunnels and the massive amount of sunlight pouring from the top of the gargantuan channel. Going diagonally upwards, Eren noticed the way place had seem to have been dug up to have been very much rudimentary, the only parts actually symmetrically perfect being the Wall-stone columns built every ten meters to keep it from crumbling in on itself.

Eren noticed that there was no true way to walk upwards, since what connected their floor with the higher ground was a hardly reliable ramp of soil and mud. Instead, he observed, were posts here and there coming up and down the slope as frequently as the columns. What connected the metallic posts, however, was an intriguing black rope, located on the outer side of the post, always moving forwards at great velocities. The posts made the form of a 'u', starting upwards on the left side, going down and eventually stopping at a post on their ground, going right and then returning upwards. That was when he met the guards' gazes, both a little bewildered.

They froze as the two soldiers slightly younger than them moved near the group, their bewilderment gone. The two had very strange armor, being mostly an entire black bodysuit that covered everything neck downwards with several thin plates of metal here and there on the most strategic parts of their body. It actually resembled the way Reiner's Titan was covered head to toe with armor with the exception of their faces, except for the fact that they had boots and the fact that their armor was much thinner. Under the plates and over the bodysuits were the well-known straps that made up part of the usual Maneuver Gear, only they looked to be more resilient. The gas compartment was a little bigger, the gears themselves smaller and the pressurized gas escape-gauge improved.

The first of the two, a fit looking boy looking like he could be between fourteen and sixteen years old sighed as he grabbed a list strapped to his thigh. He had medium-length chocolate-brown hair combed to the right and bored, cobalt eyes. He stood smaller than Ymir, barely surpassing Annie's height, stating monotonously, "Alright, state your names, squad, Warrior types and… what the hell happened to your armors?"

He looked at them incredulously, seeing their worn out attire and their ragged looks. He chuckled a bit before mockingly remarking, "Let me guess, you're fresh green rookies?"

The five were a bit frustrated about the boy's remark, some opening their mouths with the intent of shutting him up until the second came into view. This one looked to be the same age as him, a bit taller with long auburn-red hair and cynical grass-green eyes. Analyzing them closely, she was quick to say, "Shut it, Dirk. They aren't rooks. I don't think they're from around here, either."

"Up yours, Irene!" He scolded back, giving her an irritated look. He then looked back at the group, actually observing their appearance. His face quickly turned to a scowl, leading him to shout, "Irene! Get back to Valhalla! Tell the Commanders we've been caught! I'll kill these human pricks."

Before he could do anything, Reiner unsheathed Annie's knife and cut his palm. The two paused, looking at it as his wounds produced steam. Eren turned to face him, finding him to have a rather scary face that resembled Annie's when she was frustrated. The blonde growled, "We are Warriors of Valhalla, and we were the ones assigned to find the Coordinate."

'Dirk' immediately took a step back, as did 'Irene' at hearing his words. Ego and rage fallen and forgotten, he managed to stutter, "Y-you mean you're-"

"Reiner Braun, and these are Bertholdt Fubar, Annie Leonhardt, Ymir and Eren Jaeger." He responded, his scowl intact. The two guards were at loss for words, not really having it in them to find them. The first to react was 'Irene', "Sirs, we are really sorry, we thought we were being infiltrated and the idiot here-"

"Don't. Just take us upwards. We've had a long ride." Eren intersected. The two looked at him in question, then in admiration and fear, knowing what his surname implied. They nodded, but not before Dirk averted his gaze to Ymir, "Who the hell are you supposed to be? Wasn't there a Marcel in your group?"

"There was, he didn't make it, and she's complicated and none of your business. Now do as I say and take us upwards before you really piss me off." Eren grunted, not being in the mood for the hot-headed kid's attitude. He caught from the corner of his eye the freckled Shifter giving him a small nod of appreciation. Dirk paled and stuttered, "Yes, sir!"

The guard jogged towards the right post on the ground and latched his gear's claws to the black cord. The cord sustained it easily and instead took the boy upwards. Irene looked like she was about to run the same way when she saw the five looking at her confused. She ran back, quickly explaining, "There's been several changes since you were gone, but your Maneuver Gears aren't much different. Not the claws, at least. Latch them to the cord, it'll take you upwards."

The five jogged after her, Eren shooting his grapples at the cord, quickly getting taken up by it. He heard the four others behind him, turning his head to make sure they were all there. Satisfied that they weren't so far away, he looked forwards again, looking at the ever growing hole at the end. From the guard, he heard the shout, "Let go when you get to leveled ground!"

The sunlight, now far more intrusive and blinding had led him to nearly miss the redhead latching off. He did the same, however, when he felt the cold winds from the top of the cut off mountain blow his hair back. Landing on his knees, soon accompanied by the others as they fell behind him with heavy thuds, he got up to see not quite so far away some very large walls. From the distance he was at, he could tell that they were probably around twice as tall as the ones he lived in during his time serving humanity.

"I don't believe it…" Reiner murmured, beaming in a very relaxed sort of way. If Eren had to have a say in it, he would call the expression the one someone would take when relieved of a tremendous burden. Knowing what he went through, however, he wasn't surprised. Nor was he surprised when he saw a tear slip from Berholdt's smiling face, or Annie's undeterred shock. Ymir was the only one who irked curiosity. Her expression was a both a bit fearful and defeated, not really what he'd expected. He figured he would ask her about it later.

"Wait." He called, prompting the six to turn to him. Without so much as uttering another word, he began to walk back the other way. Going around the hole used for traveling upwards and finally reaching the end of the mountain in silence, albeit with Dirk making a few commentaries here and there quickly silenced by his partner, he took a lone breath. Looking at his jacket's right sleeve, he tore off the emblem of the Wings of Freedom. Under the image, he read the words E. Jaeger. Taking a deep sigh once more, he let it sail from his hand as he loosened his grasp on it, allowing the white and blue wings to finally fly as they always meant to all the while he bade a silent farewell to his old life and all those who'd accompanied him through it.

Author's Notes: So yeah, we're nearly at Valhalla. The idea for the 'aquatic lake entrance' actually came from the Count of Montecristo (if you've seen it, then you know it's the treasure part). Other than that, not much more that I've got to say for this chapter, so I'll skip to the important message. Sadly, I won't be updating this story so quickly these next few months given that I am halfway through my high school 4th year, meaning I'm spending a hella lot of time studying, looking for colleges with scholarships, staying late at school for Catechesis, and a lot more things. Also, I've got two other stories that I am not interested in abandoning, so while I won't be giving up on this story, it's going to take me a lot more to update. Still, I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, so please review anything you may have on your mind or any constructive critics which you think may improve this story.

The Almighty Afroduck,

All Hail