Alright this might be uploaded before or a few days after my internet goes out, but I promise to post the rest of the chapters when I have a stable connection. I know the last chapter was short but I'm making it up in this one. I recommend playing "Something about us" By Daft Punk halfway through. Helps set the mood of the later half a little. As usual drop a review. Let us begin.

Aftermath-Answers

"It's...complicated James. I'll try my best to explain it all, but I have one condition." Annie tells him and he raises his eyebrow at her, waiting to hear it.

"I can't tell you their identites yet, but I promise I will when the time is right. I need to know that you won't kill them without giving them a chance to explain themselves. They didn't want this any more than I did, but like me they didn't have a choice. Please, just listen to what I have to say." James narrows his eyes and stays silent, pondering her request in his head.

'Like that's going to happen, I promised I would Kill the Armored if I ever found him again, devour him. How can she expect me to believe or sympathize with him or the Colassal?! They've brought nothing but death and pain to not only me, but my friends and family. Why-" But James stops midthought as he recalls the last time he saw both of the bastards, in Trost and Shinganshina.

He remembered that when he attacked the Collassal moments after it appeared again in Trost, how he'd seen emotion in it's face. Guilt for what it had done, and now that he thinks about it, it had the same look when it appeared outside his home years ago. He then thinks about the Armored, trying to hold off the anger rising from within him as he pictured its face, remembering it's voice, what it said to him.

"I'm here to help my people. They are outside the walls suffering because these cowards refuse to help! I have no choice, I must break the walls".

"You wont stop me from saving them, I have no choice!"

Those words had angered him greatly that day, as he remembers roaring defiance at the hulking shifter. 'It said it had no choice, but why didn't it try to negotiate like I did? Why did it chose to destroy the gate anyway? Is..is it really that bad out there?'

He shook his head and came to a conclusion, 'I'll listen for now, I'll hear their side of the story. I'll keep my promise to Annie, but if I ever find out who they are, Hell will be unleashed. They Will Know Pain, even if I don't get to kill them.' He looks to Annie who is watching him intently, and he sighed.

"Alright, I'll listen to you about them. But Annie, don't let me meet them until we arrive at your home. I'm not sure I can handle who they are, especially if I know them. I don't want more harm to happen to these walls, to our friends. I can promise to listen, but I can't promise I won't stop thinking of killing them. That's the best I can offer you. And now, it's time for me to hear you out."

She looks anxiously at him, but finally agrees to his "promise". She sighs, she knew he would always hate them as Titans, but maybe he could understand the human side of them. Like how he did hers, and how she understood his primal side.

"Ever since we started this mission years ago, it's been nothing but hard decisions. We lost one of our own, a close friend, on the journey here. Then when we destroyed the walls, the Collosal and Armored Titans expressed deep regret at what they were forced to do. The Armored couldn't handle the knowledge of killing your sister, and..the Collosal gained more grief at the knowledge of killing your parents. They-"

"So I know them, they're our friends, our fellow soldiers. I told them about me, didn't I?" He interrupts her, and the grim nod she gives him makes him take more deep breathes to keep calm. It was worse now knowing that they were possibly people he knew well, or so he thought. He shook his head and asked her to continue.

"And then when we finally enlisted, when we met you all, the weight of what we did felt even heavier on us. I only brought them to the walls, but I feel the same guilt they do, even if I didn't participate in the attacks. They decided to act like them, to be human, in order to live with what they did. I tried to stay away from everyone, I knew that someday I might be forced to kill them, but it seems it wasn't going to be that easy. That was when You talked to me.." She smiled slightly at the memory, and James began to think about it as well.

(Play Something about Us by Daft Punk here)

He remembers how bored she looked, how she'd chosen to be more of a loner than interact with the others. Maybe that's why she was so shocked when he wanted to get to know her then, because she hadn't been planning on it. He remembered how angry she had been at being called a liar, when he questioned about why she was there. And even more shocked at his respect for her wanting to be alone, only for her to seek his company a day or two after. A sudden thought popped into his head, a memory of that night, and the conversation a few days after.

"Did you know then?" He asks, and she looks confused at his question. He clarified, "Did you know I was a shifter back then?" She shook her head at him.

"No, but I had hope that you were. What really caught my attention when we first met was what you mumbled under your breathe when I blew you off. "I guess warriors aren't that common." I knew no one in the walls knows the true meaning of that word. They don't use it, only our kind use the title to refer to themselves. So when you mentioned it, it caught my interest. That you would use it to describe yourself and how you would see some people, as the years went by.

But I began to suspect it more the day you told me about your family, on the anniversary. It was after you fought Mikasa, when you went into the woods to be alone. I saw your little declaration at the lake, that the hand you cut healed. And I finally knew for sure when you asked to be with me, at the same lake, much later. I was by myself, thinking about where my life was at that point, when you came strolling by for a swim.

I hid and watched till you came out and stabbed your hand on that log. I was ready to help when i saw the steam again. I knew then what you were, and your story began to make more sense, the puzzle pieces fit perfectly in place. I was so happy that we could be together as equals. But.." She stops, and James waits as she clears her mind to continue talking.

"I couldn't tell you, as much as I wanted to then. I thought you would've grown suspicious about me, I thought you would've questioned me on how I knew, if I was one myself. I was afraid you would've stopped loving me if you knew who I was, what I've done, especially to you." Her voice breaks, and James can see that this is taking a toll on her, and his anger begins to crumble.

He gets up and walks over to her and pulls her into a hug, before walking them both to the trunk. She begins to cry, and the sound of it once again pulls at his heart. He can't stay angry at her, seeing the weight of all this hurting her this bad, that he's hurt her like this. He understands the mental stress he's unknowingly put her through, but is still angry at the other two shifters. 'Who could they be?' He asks himself, still not having an answer.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, i-" But James holds her closer. Her body begins to shake as she sobs, and he tries calm her, talking low into her ear.

"Annie, it's alright. I'm not..mad at you. I understand why you did what you did, but I'm not going to forgive the other two. Not until I hear it from them, or find out who they are. And even then, I don't think I ever could, but...Annie, but I forgive You. Please stop crying, it hurts for me to hear you cry. Please Annie, calm down its...it's gonna be alright."

Her cries continue, and James keeps her in his arms as he leans against the tree. He takes a deep sigh, his anger leaving to another more reclusive part of his mind. For now all he could do was wait until tomorrow, he knew they had enough time tonight to rest. Since he's revealed his glorious wings, they now know he can go anywhere he wanted and they couldn't stop him. It would help them reach their friends faster before leaving for her village, so he decided they could take a break.

He sits there craddleing her in his arms until she starts calming down, his shirt and chest wet from her tears. Its getting darker out, and he notices her breathing slowing back to a steady rate. He gently asks her, his voice more calm and soothing. "Annie, are you ok?" He waits for an answer, and she lifts her face to see him. Her eyes are filled with guilt, and pain. They were ringed red, much like the night he had saved Krista from the kidnappers. They were red from crying so much, both times for him, though this time it was more emotional of an outburst from her to him. She tries to speak, but has to swallow when the words get stuck in her throat.

"Do you really forgive me?" She asks in a whisper, and it reminds him of how she looked when he confessed that he cared about her on the Fall of Maria anniversary. "Do you still..care about me? Even after what I've.."

James takes her face in his hands, and she puts one of hers on his. He looks her in the face with the same fire and care in his eyes the day he told her how he felt. "Annie, I promised you, I will always care about you. I told you, I would understand even if it was something bad. I promise: I Love you, no matter what."

He slowly wipes away the tears trailing down from her eyes at his words, and he places a kiss on her lips. Annie was surprised, but grateful for it, for him. She could feel the raw passion behind the kiss, even in her broken state. He'd promised, and she knew that he would keep it, even if she were the bad person. But she would'nt say that about herself to him anymore, because she knows he'd declare himself as one and not give a damn if it helped make her feel better. As long as they were together, she would be happy with him.

The one thing she had yearned for and received since she had known him. Happiness and Love. She never believed it would last, but here now, with the blood of many on their hands, the weight of their sins in their minds, they still stayed at each other's side. Just like the day she first hugged him, she felt a warmth that melted the cold she had endured most of her life. A warmth that he gave, that she could hold onto forever in this cruel world.

She'd liked that.