A.N: This one isn't shippy, so you can read it even if you're not a fan of JeanPiku.
Freedom
"Why wings?"
"What?" Jean turns to look at the woman sitting at the table across from him, her head resting on her hands.
"The wings on this uniform" she clarifies "Why wings, instead of something else?"
Jean has no idea why she's asking, but it's not like he has a reason to not answer her question.
"They're called Wings of Freedom" he says "They represent the freedom us scouts aimed to have by venturing outside the walls before… before we actually knew what lay in wait after the titans."
Is his tone accusive? Jean wouldn't be surprised if so, nor would he be sorry if it was, but whatever the case, Pieck doesn't react to it.
"Freedom, huh…" she mutters "That's kind of abstract."
"It was… is Eren's obsession" he says, a thought suddenly occurring to him "Haven't you ever wished for it?"
She looks at him in surprise "Me?"
Jean nods.
"Well, I tended to believe that our, the Eldians on the continent, lives would eventually get easier if we worked hard enough to prove that we meant no harm" she says "You know, not having to live in the interment zones, or at the very least not needing permission to temporarily leave. Or to not have to wear armbands anymore."
Jean frowns.
"That doesn't exactly sound like freedom to me."
Pieck shrugs.
"It's the realistic amount of freedom I could hope to achieve in my lifetime" is her answer, and he grimaces. Sometimes Jean forgets that the Warriors don't have long to live anymore. He briefly considers asking Pieck exactly how long does she have left, but decides against it. It'd be too insensitive.
"And what about the roses?"
"Huh?" Jean looks at her, surprised at the sudden change in topic.
"One type of your uniform has roses instead of wings" she clarifies "Why?"
"Ah, that's the Garrison uniform" Jean pauses. Why was it roses again? He had probably heard it before, but…
"I don't remember" he hated admitting that in front of Pieck, but it was better than having to say that he didn't know.
"Don't remember or don't know?" she asks, her smirk telling him that she thought she'd seen through him.
"Don't remember" he glared.
"Hmm" she hummed "What about the horse symbol, then?"
"The Military Police" he says "Can't really remember that one, either."
"Hmm" she hums again "I think I saw swords on the backs of uniforms at one point, too."
"Those are for the soldiers in training" Jean said "Since which ever section one joins, they're expected to learn to use the swords."
"Ooh, so you actually knew that one" Pieck comments, making Jean glare at her. She laughs. After that, silence falls over them. Jean's mind starts to wander, the rocking of the ship being surprisingly calming. A calm before the storm, he was sure.
Pieck got his attention again as she fiddled with the sleeve of her coat. It was ironic that the only one on board wearing the Wings of Freedom was the one with the least reason to actually wear them.
"I kind of like this, though" she says suddenly "I think it suits me, and the idea of wings that carry you to freedom is nice."
"More like wings that carry you to a titan's mouth" Jean thinks, shuddering when he remembers that it wasn't all that long ago that he actually was in a titan's mouth. Pieck's, that is.
"Until four years ago, they were considered something that carried people to an early grave" he says instead. It's not like they still didn't, take Sasha, peace to her soul, for example, but now their sacrifices were remembered with honor instead of ridicule.
"I suppose choosing how one dies is a freedom of its own" Pieck says "I'd rather go down fighting than just waiting for doom."
She sounded awfully lot like the younger Eren there, but Jean guessed that she wouldn't appreciate it if he told her so. Besides, considering that he was here with her, potentially sailing to his own death, he wasn't much different, was he?
"Yeah, me too."