DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything regarding the Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin) series with the sole exception of my own characters and their story-lines or their involvement within the story. Everything else belongs to Hajime Isayama.

"-sie..."

...

"-osie!"

...

"R-Rosalie!"

Twitching slightly, the brunette slowly came to. With a low groan, she slowly opens her eyes before hissing in instant regret as the evening sunlight attacks her retinas. "Damn.." she curses, squeezing them tightly once more as she pushed herself up onto her knees. 'What happened?'

Her ears were ringing, and the headache pounding at her skull was anything but soothing, both leaving her nauseous and somewhat disoriented. Looking around, she takes in the scenery, images of a time long passed coming to mind instantly as soon as her green orbs locked on a familiar patch of purple wildflowers to her left.

'"It's really pretty out today huh, Mikasa?~"'

'"Yeah."'

'This place...'

'"What's with the flowers?"'

'"I noticed this morning that the ones your mama had on the windowsill were starting to wilt, so I got her some fresh ones."'

'"What a suck up..."'

'"You're just jealous cause your mom likes me more!"'

She lets her finger graze one of the petals. 'It's so familiar...'

It's then she noticed that something warm was trickling down her temple. Reaching up, Rosalie lightly grazes the area with her fingers before pulling back. 'Blood?... Why am I bleeding?..' she muses, her brows furrowing in alarm. Her confusion, however, was short lived. It was as if a dam broke inside her head, allowing memories of recent events to come pouring through.

'"Do you... Do you think you could forgive those involved? The Titan Shifters?"'

'"Five years ago, we demolished the wall and began our attack on humanity."'

'"I'm the Armored Titan and he's the Colossal Titan."'

'"One last chance, Bertolt. Let him go. Don't make this harder than it has to be."'

'"We've come this far already. We're taking Eren home with us. We're going back to our hometown."'

"Eren!"

Jumping at the abrupt shout, the brunette moves instantly without thinking. Her head snaps over to the right, sending a sharp jolt of pain from her head and down her spine. Her vision blurs slightly, quickly followed by white spots that obscure Mikasa and Eren's forms from view.

Biting down on her lip, drawing blood in the process, Rosalie swallows back the wail that wanted to rise up her throat as she clutched her head in her hands. 'What's going on?! Mikasa hasn't sounded like that since...' Allowing the thought to trail off, she ignores the pain and looks up, her eyes widening at the Titan reaching its hand out. 'That Titan.. it's the one that-'

Suddenly, as if to confirm her thoughts, a familiar figure appears and stops the oncoming hand from grabbing the kneeling duo.

"Hannes!" Eren, having removed the gag from his mouth, shouts.

The blond makes brief eye contact with the trio before letting out a fierce roar. He steps forward and slashes one of his blades across the Titan's palm and wrist.

"Hann..es..." Rosalie pants, her tear-filled eyes wide as saucers.

He turns to them with a laugh. "What are the odds of this?! Check it out you three!" He exclaims and turns back to the Titan. "You just watch. I'm about to avenge your mother and butcher the shit out of this!" He then runs forward slightly before using his gear to hook into and grapple closer to the Titan.

The Titan turns and follows after him, its attention solely on the blond as it attempts to swat him out of the air.

"Hannes!" Eren yells again, obviously wanting nothing more than for the blond to get the two injured girls beside him away from danger and leave the Titan for him to take care of.

The older blond ignores the brunet and continues to make slices all over the Titans body, however none were quite deep enough to send the monstrosity to the ground.

Rosalie didn't know where to focus. Everything was becoming hazy and the sounds of Eren and Mikasa arguing along with the distant screams of fellow soldiers began to bleed together.

Blinking sluggishly, her eyes slowly trail Hannes' form as he maneuvers around the Titan with his gear. He attacks the Achilles' tendon first before swooping around for the nape, barely missing the Titans hand as it makes a grab for his wires, causing a lump to form in Rosalie's throat.

"Shit!" Eren yells, his voice loud and clear through all the commotion. "Shit! What's wrong?!"

Looking over, Rosalie eyes the boy as he repeatedly bites into his already bloodied hand, his body refusing to transform. "Eren! Your body can't handle another transformation right now. It's still healing from your fight with Reiner..." Rosalie calls out weakly, frustrating the boy even more. "Eren, stop!" She snaps, her voice cracking from the exertion.

Suddenly, the Titan falls to its knees, gaining their attention once more. 'Hannes must've gotten the tendon...' Rosalie muses, a small feeling of hope bubbling in her stomach as he grins to himself and loops around the Titans front. However, that feeling quickly disappears when the Titans hand shoots up and grabs him mid air.

Feeling her breath hitch in her throat and her eyes water, Rosalie looks over to Eren and Mikasa who appear to be just as shocked as she. The formers expression quickly becoming panicked as he began biting into his hands viciously.

'He won't make it in time!' Rosalie thought to herself as fear and dread filled her being. She attempts to stand but a strong wave of vertigo overcomes her, sending her back to the ground with a grunt.

Looking up, she briefly meets Hannes' gaze as the Titan bites down on his legs and waist, severing his body in half. The light fades from his eyes and his blood flies into the air, staining the ground with red.

There was a scream.

She didn't realize it was hers.

-Meanwhile-

"HANNES!"

Eren drops to his knees in shock as he watched with wide, tear-filled eyes as the Titan continued to finish Hannes off. It's large and bloody smile just as horrifying as it was five years ago. He leans forward onto his arms as a sob tears from his throat, followed by a burst of laughter, the mix of the two creating a heartbreaking and unsettling symphony.

Mikasa tears her gaze away from the bloody sight and towards the male beside her. "Eren..."

"Nothing changed! You haven't changed one bit, dammit! You're still as useless as you ever were! Nothing changed!" He yells, his body trembling as he yells in frustration. "Mom... I.. can't... I still.. can't do anything at all."

"Eren..." Mikasa calls again, her voice a tinge more firm than before, prompting him to raise up and look at her. "That's not true."

At her words, he glances back at the commotion going on behind them. The horde was now spread out as far as the eye could see, with each Titans attention locked on the scrambling soldiers. He then meets her gaze once more.

"Eren... Listen... I need to tell you something. You've always.. been at my side. Rosie's side! Thank you. You showed me -us.. how to live with purpose. Thank you." She began, and at the mentioning of a certain brunette, he glanced over Mikasa's shoulder to see her sitting as still as a statue. "And you... You wrapped this scarf around me. Thank you."

His gaze moves away from Rosalie and back to Mikasa, who was now on the verge of tears. His eyes briefly trail down to the tattered and worn scarf around her neck before he stands up, looking down at her over his shoulder. "I'll wrap that scarf around you.. as many times as you want. Now and forever... As many times as you want!" He replies, his voice shaky yet determined.

By this point, the Smiling Titan had turned its attention back to the trio and was reaching out one of its hands in a grabbing like motion.

Eren steps forward, his own hands regenerating much quicker than before. He clenches one regenerated hand into a fist and screams as he throws a punch, the hit being met with the Smiling Titans open palm. It's hand moves back and unbeknownst to the trio, every Titan apart of the horde behind them stops what they're doing.

Eren lets out another yell and throws another punch. At that same moment, an Aberrant appears and tackles the Smiling Titan to the ground. Following it's lead, the rest of the horde begins to make their way over, forgetting the soldiers completely as they all converge upon the offending humanoid.

Using this as a distraction, Eren helps Mikasa to her feet before leading her over to Rosalie's side, who doesn't even flinch at their sudden appearance.

"Rosie!" Eren calls, releasing his hold on Mikasa as he kneels before the smaller brunette. She doesn't respond, continuing to stare blankly ahead, and it's then he notes the trail of blood running down from her hairline. 'A concussion, no doubt..' He notes before reaching out to gently grab her face in his hands. "Oi, Rose! Snap out of it! We need to get away from here while the Titans are distracted!"

She finally moves her gaze to his, and it's as is she noticed him for the first time. One of her hands leave her lap and grip onto his wrist. "Eren...", she murmurs, "Hannes, he... That Titan-"

Gritting his teeth, Eren shakes his head. "We can talk about that later!" He replies gruffly, however, his actions betrayed his tone as his thumbs gently whipped away her tears. "We will mourn him later, but first we need to leave." He adds with finality as he pulls her to her feet, moving his hands to her shoulders as she began to sway. However, she didn't stay up long, taking Eren with her as she fell back to her knees with a groan.

Rosalie raises a hand to her head while the other grips onto his shirt, wincing as another wave of dizziness washed over her. "I can't walk Eren, or run for that matter." At this, her gaze shifts to a worried yet hunched over Mikasa, who was gripping her side in pain. "Mikasa's hurt, too. You need to get her out of here. I'll only slow you two down at this point." As she says this, Eren begins to shake his head furiously, tears brimming his eyes. She gives him a sad, comforting smile in return. "Hey, it's okay. You two are more important-"

"NO!" Eren roars, making both females flinch at the sudden change. "No ones leaving anybody! We either go together or not go at all!"

"Eren, don't be stupid-!"

"You're the stupid one if you'd think we'd just leave you here!" He yells, once again cutting the brunette off. He then looks up to her with determination burning in his eyes. "I can't lose you, too! And I won't. We promised mom we'd survive this together, and we will."

With that, he forces her to stand, making sure she has a grip on his shirt to keep herself grounded. He then turns to Mikasa and motions for her to climb onto his back, she does so and once settled, she reaches out and grabs Rosalie's wrist -pulling her along as Eren breaks into a light jog.

"Eren... Mikasa..." Rosalie calls out weakly, her face slowly loosing color as she breaks out into a cold sweat. Her legs felt heavy and weighed down, as if she were running through thick mud and a small tingling sensation was building up from the tips of her fingers and toes. "I can't.. keep going..."

Both turn to her, and it's Eren who's first to look away. "We'll get as far as we can." He replies through gritted teeth, his own heart pounding at the thought of losing someone else. "As long as we're together, it won't matter."

Mikasa blinks back her tears and swallows the sob threatening to come out. She looks away from the brunette and over her shoulder, towards the Titans behind them, her eyes widening at what she sees. "Why.. are they...? They're eating it?" At her words Eren and Rosalie both turn their heads to look, and sure enough the Smiling Titan was being ripped apart viciously by the horde.

It's then they notice large footsteps heading their way. Looking away from the horde, they move their attentions to the left, instantly spotting Reiner and Bertolt charging in their direction.

Eren's anger returns tenfold at the sight of the duo. He stops running and faces them head on. "Get away from me! You bastards! I'll kill you all!" Suddenly, as soon as words passed Eren's lips, the Titans stood from their meal and began to charge in Reiner and Bertolt's direction.

"What? The Titans?" Eren mumbles as he and the two females watch in slight awe as the horde quickly close the distance between themselves and Reiner's hulking form.

"Eren!"

Looking over they're met with the sight of Armin and an unconscious Jean sharing a horse. "Get on!" The blond yells again as he reaches their side, motioning to the extra steed tethered to his own.

"Armin!"

"Hurry!" The blond urges, and Eren doesn't hesitate as he helps Mikasa up and onto the saddle. He turns to Rosalie next, pausing as he tries to figure out a solution for the three of them but stops as James quickly rides over.

The older males face was pale, but relieved at the sight of his daughter. "Give her to me, Eren. I've got her, you ride with Mikasa."

Eren nods and as soon as the smaller brunette was settled in front of her father, they were off, following Erwin's next command all the while leaving Reiner to fend off the Titan horde alone.

"Don't let this chance escape! Full retreat!"

Rosalie jerks slightly as her father nudged her leg with his hand, her eyes shooting open at the movement. She tilts her head slightly and blinks sluggishly up at him, earning a tense and wavering smile in return.

"Try to stay awake, Rose. I know you want to sleep, baby, but I need to to stay awake okay?"

She gives a halfhearted nod before letting her head loll to the side, her gaze catching Jean's. His eyes were filled with concern, though he tried to mask his worry with a comforting smile.

She returns the gesture before moving her gaze up to the star-filled night sky, her thoughts revolving around a certain blond haired Garrison soldier.

With reports declaring the possibility that Wall Rose has been breached, the citizens of Wall Rose were forced to take refuge in an underground city within Wall Sina. However, with more than half of the population surviving off food stockpiled for emergency, rations would last at most for a week. Any longer than that, and people, would turn on each other, stealing and killing to survive. To stop this from happening, within one week from the initial outset, authorities declared that Wall Rose was secure.

~Wall Rose, Trost District~

A knock resonates around the room, prompting the few gathered military officials to look towards the door.

Levi slides his gaze over to Erwin. "It's Hange." He informs before turning back to the wooden barrier. "Come in."

The door swings open to reveal not only Hange, but Connie as well. "Pardon the interruption, Erwin." She apologizes with a quick salute, her gaze briefly meeting Pixis'. "I'm glad we came while you're here, Commander Pixis. Good timing." She then turns to Connie as he steps further into the room. "This is..."

The younger male didn't give her time to finish speaking as he steps forward and salutes. "A scout from the 104th. Connie Springer."

Hange nods. "Connie comes from Ragako Village."

"The village the recent Titan invasion originated from?" Pixis asks, leaning forward in his chair with interest.

"Yes. Actually, I confirmed with him the findings of our investigation on the village. This only brings further credibility to that hypothesis. He's come to report."

-Meanwhile-

"I was taken away... And because of that, the scouts lost more than half their veteran soldiers. Just to rescue me..."

Rosalie shifts in her spot next to Mikasa on the stone wall, and glances up to the three standing males before her. "Eren..." She begins, trailing off as Armin speaks up.

"Still, there were no casualties on our way back. The Titans completely ignored us and ran off to chase Reiner and the others. About that, Jean and I sat down to try and figure it out." He begins, stepping closer to the brunet as Jean turns around completely. "We have an idea what made the Titans act that way. It was you."

Eren's eyes widen slightly and he shoots the two a disbelieving look, causing Jean to scoff. "Of course, that's just our theory." He drawls, gaining everyone's attention. "But without assuming that, there's just no explaining what happened. It's a tough spot to be in, Eren. Whether or not all those people died for nothing.. it's all depends on you. If you're worth the price they paid, you better show it. We don't have time to waste."

"Eren looks down to his hand and nods. "Yeah, you're absolutely right." At this, he clenches it into a fist. "I've gotta do this. I'll control the Titans. I'll plug up Wall Maria. I'll capture Reiner and make him pay. That's what I've gotta do to atone for all of those lives lost."

"Say again?" Pixis replies as he sits back in his chair, somewhat astounded. "The Titans responsible for this incident... Were the citizens of Ragako?"

Erwin looks down to his blanket-clad lap thoughtfully. "In other words, the true identity of Titans.. is humans?"

Levi and James' eyes widen at the notion, a sickening feeling filling their stomachs.

Hange observes the differing expressions of her fellows and swallows thickly. "We don't... Have proof yet."

"So.. you're telling me... I've spent all this time and energy running around killing people? Is that right?" Levi asks, his eyes narrowed into slits as he gives Hange a ferocious stare-down.

"I said we don't have proof yet."

James scoffs, his voice stern despite his clearly shaken disposition. "Well that'd be hard to do now, considering all of the Titans from the invasion have been taken down and eradicated. How the hell are we supposed to test that theory?!"

At his question, they delve into a deeper conversation revolving around theorized contingency plans and further steps that would need to be taken. Eventually, however, Hange and Connie excuse themselves, leaving the four males behind with their thoughts.

"Erwin." Levi calls, turning away from the window and towards the one-armed Commander, only to find him grinning down at his blanket-clad lap. "Hey. Tell me." At this, they all turn to Levi, whose face now held a terrifying leer. "The hell you smiling for?"

Erwin's surprised face becomes neutral as he looks back to his lap, though the other three couldn't miss the small twinkle in his eyes as he spoke. "It's nothing. It's just... With this, we've taken one more step towards the truth."

"Just one step, huh? We'll run out of people before we learn the truth. It's not worth the cost."

The gleam in Erwin's eyes grew brighter at Levi's words. "But it is a step towards the truth. One day, we'll break it down. This wall hiding the truth.. will fall."