Well... It's almost over for good.

I was going to have this as the last chapter, to end on an even number of them, but as I continued writing, I...forget my original goal. But I did say two more would be left, so I am still holding myself to that promise. If anything, if I do end 31 with more of the story remaining, the remaining part will be a short epilogue.

I wonder how you all felt about the ending. Truthfully, I liked it. It was...different from what I expected, in terms of what happens at the very end, but considering Eren accomplished his original goal to eliminate all Titans, so I think it is a worthwhile ending. I don't know how I'll truly end this one, but I do have an idea. So, no matter if next chapter is the very last or not, I hope to have it done really soon.

Thanks for all the support and waiting for the next part, I know it was a long wait. Now let's keep moving forward...for this is the last time Joshua and Eren will converse.

"Those Titans...I'm going to kill them all." I turned to the right, seeing three other kids my age. I recognize them from school. The only blond of the group, wearing a blue jacket, brown suspenders, and a white shirt is the shy but smart Armin Arlelt. The girl beside him wearing a white dress, a tan sweater, and a red scarf around her neck is Mikasa Ackermann, the toughest girl I have ever met. She scared most boys, but I never felt it myself. The last of the trio stands on the side of the boat, his words being the reason I looked over to them. He is black-haired, wearing dark pants, a green shirt, and a red jacket is the hot-headed leader of the trio, Eren Jaeger. He stared at the water as his friends join him, screaming out to the land, "Every single one."

I looked away, down to my hand. A single tear dropped in my palm, and I clutched it tightly. I silently allow Eren's words to dwell on my mind. For my parents...my friends...my neighbors...my hometown...I must fight back and join the military, and the front lines of action too. Not the Military Police who rather stay safe in the capital, or the Garrison who became lax in their protective efforts. I will wear the green cloak of the Scouts, and risk my life to destroy the Titans.

And with that, if I meet the one who will be known as the Armored Titan, I will kill it myself...is what I thought to myself nine years ago.

As I sit on the boat that took us from the infested Shiganshina to Trost within Wall Rose, my smaller frame stands up and wades through the crowded deck until I stand beside Eren, gazing out to our hometown. Many questions run through my mind as I think of how to speak to Eren. Why is he doing this? Does he know what it could lead to? Why am I here? The last thing I remember is setting foot and walking on the ground, just a few meters from Reiner's Armor Titan.

"It is the only way." I turn to Eren, who just answered my first unspoken question. He continues to face Shiganshina, his face devoid of emotion. "I told Armin the same not too long ago, before this fight. This is the only way."

"Why is it? We had other means, Eren."

"The world accepted me as a monster the moment Tyber declared it. You were there and heard it too. No matter what, as long as they believed me and the Founder to be a threat, Paradis was in danger. It was the reason for what we see right now, nine years past."

I fold my lips and turn back to the land. "That's why...you told us to fight. If we took you out, we'd be seen as heroes."

"Armin said the same, and you are right. I did everything I could to drive you to it, to push you away to the point you would consider killing me to save the world… I'm sorry, but it had to be done."

"Did… Did you know Sasha would--"

"Yes. I knew Sasha would be shot in Marley. I did not, however, know she'd live. As far as I knew, that simple event would put you against me immediately. So if anyone would kill me with the intent to do it, of my three childhood friends, you wouldn't hesitate… Yet I never understood why you didn't kill Reiner that day. You had him right there… I wonder if something influenced that."

"...The Founder?"

"Maybe. After all, it was me through the future memories of the Attack Titan, or maybe that along with the Founder, that influenced my father to kill the royal family. Bertholdt should have died at the front gate of Shiganshina when Dina Fritz's Titan entered the town, but he didn't. Dina went...elsewhere."

My eyes widen as Eren makes a silent confession. I slowly close them, coming to terms with what he just claimed. "Ever since you triggered the power four years ago, since your touched Historia, you've known everything, haven't you."

"Yeah."

"So tell me, is it Ymir controlling you, or you doing this of your own accord?"

"I… I don't know. But I know something about Ymir. She loved Karl Fritz, despite all he did to her. I don't get it, but in her two thousand years, her love for Fritz chained her. She searched for someone to break those chains, and the person she found...was Mikasa."

"Mikasa?" I open my eyes, finding us in a room sitting by a table and a window. We're four years older, and based on my bandages and Eren's uniform, we're days after we saved Eren from Reiner and Bertholdt, and the final time we saw Ymir. I sacrificed myself to give Connie, Sasha, and Historia a chance to escape, only to barely survive myself in the decaying remains of a Titan I killed with an internal blast of a grenade. I suddenly remember the smell.

"Don't ask me why, I don't get it myself."

"...I get it," I say while looking out the window.

"Do you?"

"Love bound, love unbound… Remember our conversation in this very room?"

"Yeah." Eren looks down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs nervously as he did four years ago.

"Hey… There's also a reason I wanted to talk to you. I can't go to Armin with this, and the other boys might just laugh at me, I know you have experience in that department, so…"

I lean back, a short smile on my face. "Girl problems? Hit me."

"This isn't funny!"

"Oh, actually, I'm proud of you right now because I have a good idea who the girl is."

"Good grief." Eren rubs his forehead. "You already know." He looks to my ever-growing smile, much to his grief. "How long was I being an idiot?"

"Well, I've only known you for our whole lives, she's known you for the last few. If I had to guess, probably whenever she first met you. Or whenever she became a woman. Girls get weird around that time. But she's never outright confessed it to me or Armin, so I know she had her way of saying it to you. How did she?"

Eren sighs. "Back at the rescue, when...she started to thank me for everything. Hannes had just died to the Titan that killed my mother, I couldn't transform, we both thought we were going to die, then… I'll wrap that scarf around her anytime."

"Wow," I say. "You are such a casanova, Eren Jaeger."

"Yeah, whatever. Ever since...it's been...well, not weird for her, I guess, but for me...what do I do?"

"Dude, she's been pining for you for years. This is normal life for her. You got to make the first move. Mikasa is a tough nut, but she's a girl, so she would like things girls like. Then again… I don't know what Sasha likes other than food, but that makes her simple."

"Indeed."

Eren lowers his gaze to the table. "So that's it, huh? Love… Armin said the same thing after he punched me. Are you going to do the same?"

"No. You're going to die pretty soon, if not already. That's enough for me. And if Armin punched you, he scolded you too."

"Yes."

"Then I need not say anything more."

Eren nods. "Can you...do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Can you...take care of Mikasa for me? Armin too, but he has someone he loves. I guess you do too, but Mikasa…"

I wave my hand. "Of course I will. She's like my sister, I'm not going to let her be in this world alone. But one day, I hope she finds someone else to love."

"...I hope not…"

"Selfish, Jaeger."

"I know." Eren stands up, and the scene changes again. We're to our current forms, standing on the southern beach. Eren stares at the horizon as I watch him walk to the edge of the ocean, feeling the waves under his fingers. "Joshua… Even though I've known Armin like a brother longer, I think I prefer you. In some ways...no, certainly, you're far stronger than me."

"Really?"

"Yes. Despite being snubbed by class rankings, you were the first to join the Scouts, handpicked Section Commander Hange. You even had leadership positions over us other recruits for a while and even became Hange's right hand when she became Commander. It is only fitting you've become the fifteenth Commander of the Scouts." He stands up and faces me, indecision on his features. "But why did you spare Reiner, Joshua?"

Hange sighs. "Only after we've inspected it. Now then," she stands while putting the case in a pocket of her own, "I've got a mountain of questions for you, but your lips seem as tight as your armor is hard. Are you going to cooperate and tell us everything that we want to know?"

"No."

"Thanks. It helps that you're prepared for this. Joshua." My blade has never moved faster. Blood spurts from the small pressure of my sword in Reiner's chest, barely a cut in his skin. I decide not to end him quickly, oh no. I want Reiner to suffer as much as he made me suffer, to know the pain I had all these years. I want him to die knowing that I-

"Hold on!" Nearly jumping out of my skin, I leave my sword in place but relieve the pressure as I listen to Jean's sudden plea. "Joshua, are you sure? We might be able to steal his power." I frown. Yes, we have a syringe that Kenny stole and gave to Levi. Commander Erwin's orders were clear, that if we captured any of the enemy shifters alive, we hold them in case we can steal their power.

"I don't think all the conditions for that have been met," Hange says. "We don't know the situation with Levi and the other side. Neither do we have the time to go confirm it ourselves. Reason being, there's no way for us to gauge the full depth of their powers!"

"Even if I cut his head off, we can't be too sure!" I cut my eyes at Jean, furious that he'll stop me at this moment. "Are you really going to make me reconsider this, Jean? After all that he's done? After all that we been through? Look around you! This, all of this, is his fault!"

Jean drops his head. "This isn't like you, Joshua. If they were here...if Mina was here, she would say the same thing to you. She would tell you that you're acting out of your anger, not with the mind we've come to respect these last few months. You have him beat. You beat the Armored Titan, and for now, until we can get this sorted out, isn't that enough? I believe you don't truly want to kill him off either because if you wanted to, he'll be dead already by now. There's something within you holding you back..."

I reach for my neck, feeling the piece of string around it. Coming down I came across the small wood carving that Mina Carolina, my friend from our cadet years and the first girl I loved, gave to me a few nights before we went to Trost. Then I reached down into my pocket, pulling the journal Thomas Wagner gave me, not the one I gave to Kaya along with my necklace before Gabi and I chased after Connie and Falco.

"It's been four years, but Mina, Thomas, they still influence me. So I had to know...for what purpose did the girl I loved then and my friend die? Why did my parents die? Why did so many of us have to die when we've done nothing to deserve it. If they were truly monsters, or if they were humans. I didn't find an answer until I held my gun in the face of Reiner's mother...and chose to shoot her in the shoulder. I was a slave to vengeance...just as you're a slave to freedom."

Eren nods and steps forward. "In the end...we're no different."

"No, we're not."

"Then… One of us is going to die. I'm afraid of dying. I want to live with everyone, but…" Eren sighs and looks up to me, a smile on his face, his hand raised. "I guess this is farewell."

"It is." I take Eren's hand, resisting the urge to pull him in for a hug. Some part of me fights the will to believe this is it, that this is a bad dream, that when I wake up from this...whatever it is, Eren and I will still be fighting. As we release hands, I look at his face, seeing a single tear trail down his face. This asshole...he's going to make me cry. "Why… Why are you sad and shit?"

"Because, in six months, a fatherless child will be born. They'll be known as the son of the queen and some farmer boy she likes, not mine. It is...probably for the best, right?"

"For now… But one day, I'll tell that child the real story of Eren Jaeger, not the one it is sure to learn." Nodding, Eren steps back and turns around to the ocean. I do the same, turning my back to him.

"Joshua."

"Yes?"

I hear a thump from Eren, his fist beating his chest. "Dedicate your heart...and save the world."

I make the same gesture. "Dedicate your heart… Give up all your dreams, Eren Jaeger, and die."

"...To the boy who desired vengeance...farewell."

Opening my eyes, I'm treated to the sight of Reiner's battered, crystal-impaled body, my hand touching his hair. It seems no time has passed, just like the previous time we conversed with Eren. I wonder… Turning around, my eyes lock on the Colossal Titan climbing out the pit it formed to destroy Eren's skeletal Titan. Maybe… Maybe it is over.

Reiner gets up and starts heading for the fort. Looking in the direction of Fort Salva, I can make out that mysterious centipede at the foot of the fort. It survived Armin, who knows what it'll take to destroy it. But if it survived the blast…

Boom!

Well… I look up to Armin, watching as he turns around to the colossal Attack Titan. I look to my right, seeing one Thunder Spear left in my possession. Yes, I'll go with Armin and somehow bust Eren out of there, leaving the bug thing to Reiner. If we beat Eren, maybe we can destroy it too…

What. Is. That. Smoke? It's coming from the centipede, floating up to the fort...and a flash of lightning follows as Falco's Titan takes to the skies. That smoke...only Titans and Ackermans…

Those Eldians of Marley.

Gabi.

Jean.

Connie.

Historia.

Sasha.

All of them...have been forcibly transformed into Titans, just like at Ragnako and Shiganshina. Those Titans leap off the fort, falling to the ground in a bid to aid the centipede. If it reunites with Eren, the rumbling will continue. Reiner, the transforming Pieck, and hopefully Annie will have to do their best to hold those Titans and the centipede off, while Armin now engages Eren in a fistfight. I look up to the sky, vaguely making out the heads of Levi and Mikasa on Falco's back as the giant bird heads for the fighting.

This is the final operation. Mikasa and I are the only ones who can do this. If we win, we save the world. If we die, so does humanity. With a gruff I make a mad dash for Armin, hoping to use his Titan to get me high enough to strike. Firing the first hook, I latch on the Colossal Titan's right leg and orbit around his legs as I climb up. Once I am high enough, I fire both hooks at the torso, rapidly flying up. I release before I make an impact and twist my body, bouncing off Armin's sternum and leaping into the space between the Titans. My eyes lock onto Eren's as I draw my right Arm back to fire the Thunder Spear at his mouth.

To my childhood friend.

To my comrade.

To one of the few people who made living in this hell worthwhile.

To the boy who sought freedom… Farewell.