Author's Note: Gah! So close to the main story line!

Chapter 21

"Miria!" Shit! I can't see anything! Who is that?

"I'm here!" Miria yelled over the storm. She slowed Snow to a trot, unable to keep the rain out her eyes at higher speeds. "Hello!?" No response. "Shit!" She quickened her pace, trying to catch any sign of the wagons. The rain was too hard and the thick fog didn't help matters any. They shouldn't have been too far ahead of her. Snow suddenly stopped and began backing up. Snorting in distress. "O, c'mon." Miria tapped him a few times, nudging him forward. "Don't do this to me now!" Snow took a few steps forward, but immediately turned directions, running off to the right. "No, no!" She pulled his reigns back to the left and he resisted her, continuing on his trajectory. Miria looked back and shuddered. She could just barely make out the silhouette of a titan. "What the hell…." How did it make it into the center? Is that why I couldn't hear anyone? "Snow, you're a life saver…."

"Miria!" She turned at the sound of another voice and noticed someone. She quickly approached them. "What are you doing out of ranks?" Flagon asked.

"I-I got separated. There was—" Miria stopped when she saw two other horses in the distance. Flagon followed her gaze.

"Magnolia! Church! What happened to Levi?" Flagon asked.

"We got separated in the fog!" Furlan explained. He looked calm. Miria thought for a moment. Did he go off by himself to take down Erwin under the cover of the rain and fog? Why would they let him go alone?!

"But he had to have heard the sound grenade! …is he dead?" Sairam asked.

"Of course, he isn't! Levi will come back! Bet on it!" Isabel yelled at him, completely disgusted by the idea. Isabel's eyes widened when she noticed a hand appear from the fog, grabbing Sairam.

"Fuck!" Miria screamed, stopping Snow and narrowly avoiding the titan's body collapsing down on her.

"Sairam!" Flagon changed his direction, too.

"Squad leader, stay back! Run while you can!" Tears fell from Sairam's eyes as the titan shoved him into its mouth.

"Two more titans! 7 meter and 10 meter class!" Miria yelled as they appeared from the fog. Snow took off at full speed, dodging their attempted grabs.

"Isabel, Furlan—" Flagon's word were cut short as he was grabbed.

"Leave the others!" Furlan ordered. "We can't take on this many titans! We need to scatter. Ru—" Furlan paused when he saw the titan in front of him, diving for him. His horse reared back, falling to the ground and pinning Furlan's leg under its weight. "Third titan! 15 meters!"

"Furlan!" Isabel and Miria screamed. They headed for him at full speed when the 10 meter titan cut through the fog, landing between Isabel and Miria. Flagon's blood was still visible on its face.

"Keep going!" Miria yelled at Isabel. "I'll take care of this one!" Miria dismounted Snow, letting him run off to safety while she spun around the titan and sliced its nape. She looked over, watching Isabel cut through the shoulder of the 15 meter titan. She's good. Her thoughts betrayed her. Miria stood there and watched helplessly as Isabel's foot slipped and she landed hard against the titan's back. "Isabel!" Miria ran to her. My body is so slow. Why am I so slow? Faster. Please, move faster. The 7 meter titan stepped over Miria, diving for Isabel and crushing her tiny body between the two beasts. Miria screamed. It was blood curdling. It wasn't human. It sounded like an animal. Her grapples tore through the rain and landed in the wobbly titan's back as it tried to regain balance. She saw its upper body rotating to swat her. Faster. She accelerated, avoiding the back of the titan's hand and landing a clean blow to its nape. She grappled onto the second titan, advancing on its nape, but not before the first titan fell back, taking a final swing at her with the other hand. It swatted her out of the air, sending her rolling into the mud. Miria felt her knee dislocate and she cried out in pain. She looked up, seeing the 15 meter titan smiling down at her. No…please…no. I don't want to die…. It reached for her and she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impact. She couldn't run. She couldn't even stand. In the end, her rank meant nothing. She was going to die.

"Crawl!" She heard Furlan scream. She opened her eyes and saw him slice through the titan's fingers. "You can handle that, right?!" She watched him and he repeated himself. "Crawl!" She dragged her body as quickly as she could, letting fear override the pain, she turned back to Furlan and her heart dropped. He was furiously pressing against the triggers of his grips. Broken…they're broken. He paused for a moment and watched the titan reach toward him with the other hand. He held up his blades, standing his ground. "Come on, you big fucker! Let's go!" No…run. Run! Furlan!

"Furlan!" It was Levi's scream. He would make it. He would save him. Miria laid there and watched them move in slow motion. The titan raised Furlan to its mouth, and Furlan smiled down at her. Levi is coming. Levi will save him. Her face twisted in horror as the titan tossed Furlan into its mouth right as Levi severed its arm.

"N-no…give him back…give him back!" Miria screamed. Levi sliced through its stomach, pulling Furlan out and carrying him to the ground. She crawled to him, clawing at the mud, desperate to feel his pulse. Levi walked away. He turned his attention to the four approaching titans, and Miria drowned it all out. She put a hand on Furlan's chest and whimpered as his intestines spilled out of his severed body. "F-furlan?" She pulled her face to his, running her fingers through his hair and gripping it tightly as she called his name over and over again, waiting for a response. "Please…Furlan, say something." She hugged his torso, the only part of him that remained. Levi stood over her, watching her retreat into denial as the rain and fog dispersed.

"Hey! Are there any survivors out there?" Erwin called out. Miria stiffened at his voice as she heard him give orders. "Find survivors. Leave the dead." Leave the dead? She lifted herself onto her elbows and looked at Furlan's peaceful face, like he was sleeping. "Levi! Miria! Are you the only ones left?" Leave the dead? Leave the dead?! Leave the dead?!

"Kill him!" Miria screeched. "Levi, kill him! Kill him!" Levi tackled Erwin off his horse. Mike leaped forward to defend him, and Levi spun around, holding up his blades.

"Stay back." His voice was demonic. Sinister enough to stop Mike in his tracks. He turned back toward his prey. "Erwin. I'm going to kill you, you bastard. That's why I'm here." Erwin stared up at him, remaining on his knees, and pulled out a letter from his jacket.

"This is what I supposedly have on Nicholas Lovof." Erwin tossed the envelope on the ground, revealing blank pages. "Unfortunately, you're too late."

"What are you saying?" Levi asked.

"It was a bluff. I knew that Lovof was embezzling the military funds left over from the suspension of the Survey Corps these last few years. I spread false information because I wanted definitive proof to back him into a corner. Lovof was cautious. I thought he would make some kind of move first to confirm the existence of these documents. As expected, he hired you. Following his moves back from then didn't take much time or effort. I was able to obtain the proof because he panicked."

"Then why did you bring us to the Survey Corps?"

"One reason was your exceptional military prowess, but largely it was to use you as partners to throw off Lovof. There's no longer any need for that. The real documents have been in the hands of General Zackly for a while now, since the day you were captured. It's over for Lovof."

"…it wasn't worth their lives. It wasn't worth everything that happened to Miria…. They were nothing but pawns in your worthless game..." Levi's gaze hardened. "Well, you lose." He drew back his blade and brought it crashing down on Erwin, who blocked it with his bare hand.

"Worthless game?" Erwin asked. "Who's the one that killed my subordinates? The one that killed your friends? Was it me? Was it you? Do you think that if you had come to attack me together that the two of them would have made it out alive?"

"It was my-" Levi was unable to finish his admission.

"No! It was the titans!" Erwin's voice boomed through the field. "Where did the titans come from? Why do they exist? Why do they eat people? We don't know! We're completely ignorant, and as long as we stay ignorant they'll keep eating us. We'll never be able to turn the tables on them by staying inside the walls. Look around you! In this wide-open place, there are no walls, no matter how far you go. Here, there might be something to free us from our despair, but there are people who would keep us from leaving the walls. They stay where danger can't reach them, obsessively thinking only of their own profits and losses. It's understandable. The clouded eyes of mankind blocked for a hundred years by the walls, they can't see the other side. What about you, Levi? Have your eyes remained clouded? Will you kill me and return back to the dark Underground? Or will you fight in hopes of securing a brighter future for humanity?" Levi turned back toward Miria. For once, it was a look she couldn't read. What are you thinking, Levi? "Fight with the Survey Corps, Levi! Humanity needs your skill!" Erwin paused. "From here on out, there's no deal. You're free to do as you wish." Erwin turned away and began shouting orders again. "Reform the vanguard! Meet up with the supply wagons and begin the preparations for the return before our losses become any greater." Miria watched Levi walk back to her slowly.

"What are you doing?" she asked. He picked her up and she clawed for Furlan's jacket. "No! No! I have to bring him home!"

"Leave him, Miria. We can't take him." Levi whispered. Miria squirmed in his arms like a defiant child.

"No! He's hurt! He needs help!" Levi tightened his grip on her.

"Stop it. Please…stop it."

"Levi…why are you crying?"

"I can't lose you, too." Miria glanced over Levi's shoulder at Furlan's body. I don't know. Do what makes the most sense. I'll be dead. It won't bother me one way or the other. She buried her face in Levi's neck.

Erwin rubbed his neck as he walked through Survey Corps headquarters. Levi's assault had left him more than a little sore, but fortunately, they had been able to make it back without much incident. He reached his hand out to catch the first few snowflakes of winter. The cold air chilled him, but not more than the sudden sight of Miria sitting under the tree in front of the women's barracks, blankly staring off into space. He noticed a withering pink flower in her hands. Her crutches were leaned up against the tree. Her bandaged knee was extended straight out in front of her, as the other leg was bent underneath her. Condensation appeared with every breath she exhaled. It was a small puff of fog, like she was barely breathing. She didn't notice him as he approached. He examined her pajamas—a thin shirt and thin shorts. They did little to keep the cold away from her tiny body.

"Miria? What are you doing? It's too cold for you to be out here like this." He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She looked up at him, as if she was surprised by his presence, only noticing him when he touched her. She glanced back down to the flower in her hands.

"I…I, uh…I saw this flower from my window. It's so cold out here. It was dying. I came out here to move it inside—into a pot." Her lip quivered. "But…but I just plucked it out of the ground." Tears began to flow. "I forgot to dig out the roots. I just pulled it out." She bawled, holding the flower to her chest. "I killed it! I was trying to save it and it died!" He couldn't take seeing her like this. Her sobbing, her screaming, her tears, they were all too overwhelming. She really loved him.

"Hey." Erwin pulled her hands away from her chest and examined the flower. "It's okay. We can put it in a vase with water and sugar. It might not live as long, but I bet it would bring a lot of people joy while it's here." Miria looked up at him and sniffled, nodding in agreement. He smiled at her and helped her up. She handed him the flower as she held her crutches.

"Please be careful with it."

"Of course." He led her to the mess hall and she watched him carefully prune away the dead leaves and petals. He filled a thin vase with water, and dropped a pinch of sugar into it. He placed the flower in the vase and set it in front of her. She smiled for the first time, pulling the vase close to her. It was faint, but it was a smile, and Erwin felt good about that. He sat down next to her. "Levi told me what happened." Miria flinched. "He must have really loved you to stand between you and a titan like that." Tears began to rise to the surface again, but her smile never left. She wiped them way quickly, not that it did must good as more replaced them, and nodded her head.

"We talked about buying a small house somewhere far away." Miria said, keeping her eyes on the flower. "Far away from everyone." She laughed through her tears. "He wanted to be a blacksmith." Erwin sat there, letting her get it all off her chest. "We wanted to have a baby as soon as possible. We were just waiting to buy the house." She rubbed her eyes again. "If it was a boy, we were going to name it Ian. If it was a girl, Flora."

"After you mother?" Erwin asked. Miria nodded, whimpering.

"It…it was Furlan's idea."

"I'm so sorry, Miria." She started sobbing again, pressing her forehead against the table as she tightly clutched the vase.

"It's not fair!"

"I know."

"It's not fair!"

"I'm sorry."

"He only had to protect me because I wasn't paying attention! If I didn't rush in he would still be alive!" Miria slowly brought her shaking hands to her face. Her body shuddered. She knocked over the vase and Erwin watched both the water and the flower spill out. "He should still be alive." she said through her sobs. "…it should've been me."

"You need to get some sleep. C'mon." He rubbed her back until her sobs slowed. He helped her up, handing her one crutch at a time and led her back to the women's barracks. He tucked her into bed. She looked so broken. Erwin would have given anything to see her go back to the person that she was before. Even if she was yelling at him and insulting him, at least she was happy back then. "Good night."

Miria laid there for a while, listening to the sound of Erwin's footsteps fade. Then the silence crept in. Miria couldn't hear the nonsensical mumblings of Isabel's dreams. She couldn't hear the creaks of her bunk as she tossed and turned at night. The silence served as a reminder that she was utterly alone. Levi... She tossed the covers off and grabbed her crutches, making the trek down the stairs again. She stumbled and put undue pressure on her knee, but kept going until she reached the men's barracks. His room is empty, too. She didn't care how much noise she was making. She reached his door and fumbled with the knob, finally getting it open. Levi stood from his chair, walking over to her.

"Miria-"

"Can I sleep in here tonight?" He seemed surprised by her request. "I just...I couldn't look at Isabel's empty bunk anymore." She glanced over his shoulder and saw Furlan's empty bunk. He must have been feeling the same pain. The same loneliness.

"Yea." He helped her into the room and into bed. Levi placed a pillow under her injured knee, and squeezed onto the tiny twin mattress with her. They held each other through the night, through scattered fits of sobs. It was the only way to tolerate their pain.