PROLOGUE
Four moments of eternity
Mikasa is waiting for Armin and the rest to arrive at Eren's grave.
Mikasa: Eren… everyone will soon be here to meet you… aren't you happy?
Mikasa lovingly caresses Eren's gravestone and start to remember their life together… a dream that lasted an eternity.
Mikasa: Was that… the last time we'll ever… it can't be…
The headache is so strong it causes Mikasa to zone out for a fraction of a second…
Mikasa finds herself at a familiar scenery… she is at Marley, the day before Eren left them…
Mikasa: Huh? What's happening? I was… at Fort Salta… Eren…
Eren appears in front of her, looking the same as that day… her appearance changed too.
Eren: Mikasa... I know you are confused, but I don't have much time… I need to know… how you really feel… without interruptions and nobody else, but us.
Mikasa looks stunned, a massive wave of nervousness sets in.
Eren: Mikasa, ¿what am I to you?
Mikasa starts to feel exactly the same as she did the first time, but then a flash of Eren's Founding Titan comes to her…
No... I can't do that again, I can't fail him again, no matter what happens, I will not lie.
Eren anxiously, and sadly, looks at Mikasa
Mikasa softly says: Eren... I… love you…
Eren looks at her stunned and speechless: I…
Mikasa with tears in her eyes: I'm sorry it took me so long... I... was scared, I failed you and made you do all this… Please forgive me.
Eren even more stunned: Mikasa no… It's not…
Mikasa: Eren please... stop what you're doing, leave all of this behind, please... let's just leave and live in peace... please Eren…
Eren feels confused, this is not what he thought would happen and he doesn't know what to do. He sees Mikasa's face, tears in her eyes, he sees so much sadness, but hope too.
I can't… I can't do this to her… but… no… shit… I'm… not strong enough…
Eren: … ok... let's go.
Mikasa's face lights up as both of them run away from that familiar scene as a haze settles… while Ymir The Founder is observing...
Unknown prairie
Eren: So what you think? Seems comfortable enough, right?
Mikasa in a slighty confused state looks at Eren, excitedly showing her a small cabin… the scenery is beautiful and peaceful.
Eren: There's a river nearby, the trees are perfect for firewood, and there is enough cattle for both of us. It's… ok… right? Eren nervously asks Mikasa.
Mikasa with tears in her eyes says: It's perfect…
Mikasa and Eren peacefully live a few days in the prairie doing chores, but both feel extremely nervous, they barely talk to each other. The cabin had two bedrooms, where they rested, separatedly at the end of the day …
Eren's bedroom
Eren is anxiously turning in his bed without having been able to sleep:
Shit what I am I doing, why am I not talking to her… why isn't she talking to me? Is she mad at me? Should I stop this? No, no, she would have said something, she gave the idea after all. Shit why is this so difficult I don't know what to do.
Mikasa's bedroom
The bedroom is lit by a candle, with Mikasa softly resting her head in her scarf… she has not put it on in all this time.
Why am I so scared… is it because this is not real? No… this is real… more so than all the rest… then what is it? Why can't I talk to him? Every time I look at him… I feel so scared…
The next day
Mikasa and Eren politely greet each other, but the tension between is them is stronger than ever. They go the woods to pick up firewood. Eren cuts his hand while chopping wood.
Eren: OUCH!...shit… why do I get hurt in here?
Mikasa: Eren! Are you ok?!
Eren: Yes Mikasa, it's nothing
Mikasa: Come here let me see.
Eren angrily shouts at her: I SAID I'M FINE.
Mikasa looks saddened, yet angry at Eren.
While they are walking back to the cabin, Eren looks disturbed, deep in thought, while Mikasa stomps angrily ahead of him. Suddenly she stops…
Mikasa: Is this… why you brought me here?
Eren looks at her puzzled and nervous: huh? What you mean?
Mikasa with tears in her eyes shouts: You think I don't know this is all a lie?! You think I don't remember what is happening?! What is this?! WHAT DO YOU WANT EREN?!
Mikasa starts sobbing: What are you doing to me… I can't take this…
Evening
Eren and Mikasa didn't talk to each other after that and retired to their bedrooms. Mikasa is nostalgically patching up her scarf, while Eren keeps hearing over and over what Mikasa told him, he starts to feel depressed again…
How… how could I do this… I keep hurting her… why can't I stop… you fucking idiot… I'm… not ready… I'm not ready to let go…
The next morning
Eren approaches Mikasa's bedroom to apologize, and when he enters, he sees her scarf on the ground. He picks it up and accidentaly wakes up Mikasa…
Mikasa: Eren? What? Where am I? What is this?
Eren panics and starts to frantically cry
Mikasa: Eren what's wrong?!
He kneels in front of her with the scarf in his hands and shouts: MIKASA PLEASE FORGIVE ME DON'T GO!
Mikasa is scared and confused by what is happening, but slowly starts to feel she knows what is going on…
Eren crying: Please… I'm sorry, don't leave me… I'm a fucking idiot, I don't deserve you, but please… don't go yet…
Mikasa, for the first time in her life, gently caresses Eren's cheek. Eren with tears in his eyes, looks at her surprised…
Mikasa: Eren… I'm never leaving you… never.
Mikasa kneels down, extremely blushed, slowly start to approach Eren's face. Eren, recognizing this scene, puts his hand on her cheek and approaches too. Eren and Mikasa kiss for the first time. After a few moments, they stare at each other, hug, and start to laugh. Mikasa is intensely crying while laughing, she has never felt this before, she is crying of joy.
Mikasa: Eren… I'm sorry I made you worry, I promise, I'll never bring the subject again.
Eren starts to tear up in relief….
After a few minutes, Mikasa and Eren resume their daily routine.
Eren: Mikasa can you give me your scarf?
Mikasa: What? Why?
Eren: I see you have been patching it up... I… want to finish up and clean it, if you don't mind…
Mikasa: Um... sure… just be careful…
Unknowing to them, Ymir is looking at the scene from a distance…
Mikasa is seeing Gabi, Falco, Pieck and Reiner reunited with their families, when a slight headache comes to her…
Mikasa and Eren since that day, kept their routine but now both of them happily interacted with each other, they enjoyed their life together, but nervousness was still present, the tension still had not gone between them… and Mikasa was concerned because Eren had not returned her scarf yet…
Some time later…
Eren: Mikasa can you go to the river and catch a fish on your own today? There… is something I have to do.
Mikasa puzzled: Oh sure… I'll be back in a few hours.
Mikasa returned to the cabin carrying a massive fish on her shoulders.
Mikasa: Eren, are you here? I need your help. She leaves the fish in the kitchen and starts looking for him in the cabin.
When she opens the door of her bedroom, she sees instead a massive field of bellflowers with Eren standing in the middle of it.
Mikasa is confused, yet she starts to shake uncontrollably while she is approaching Eren.
Eren with a determined yet nervous look on his face: Mikasa… I know I haven't been good to you, I have treated you so badly during all these years, and yet you never left me, or lost faith in me… I know I shouldn't do this, I don't deserve this… I cannot give back all that you have given me, but at least, let me give you this.
Eren shows her the scarf, very clean, yet clumsily patched up.
Eren: I… Can you… I mean… shit… I'm not good at this, I need Armin for this type of stuff.
Mikasa is paralyzed and speechless, she continues to shake uncontrollably while crying profusely, she can hardly hear anything Eren is saying, while Eren is insulting himself for not knowing what to say.
Eren: What I'm trying to say is… if you… could let me… please… wrap this scarf around you… forever…
Mikasa collapses on her knees, Eren is worried and kneels in front of her asking is she is okay.
Mikasa sobbing, not knowing what she is feeling, very faintly say to Eren: …yes.
Eren, feeling the most relieved he's ever felt in his life, starts to wrap the scarf on Mikasa, while titan marks appear on his face…
In the night, Eren and Mikasa are resting in the now only bedroom of the cabin, covered only in sheets. Eren is asleep, while Mikasa, with her scarf covering her face, is lovingly caressing Eren's shoulder. She now knows what she is feeling… she feels complete. She feels she could happily die at that moment and be at peace…
The next morning, Eren and Mikasa prepare to resume their daily routine, both with a smile on their face… the tension that was between them is finally gone. Meanwhile Ymir in the fields is looking at the scene…
I.. can't… take anymore of this… I want… to go back… to our home….
Some time later
Mikasa and Eren have been happily living together for some time now, but Eren, as time goes by, is starting to feel guilty…
Have I… done the right thing? This life… it can't go on forever… I know that… but… it's too hard. What have I done to Mikasa? She can't forget… we cannot go back… what have I done…
Mikasa, seeing that Eren is fast asleep, noticing he has seemed concerned for a few days by then, decides to let him sleep and go to get firewood by herself.
A few hours later as she returned, Eren had left her a note saying he had gone to get dinner and to forgive him for not helping her earlier. She sits on the porch of the cabin and starts to reflect just how happy she is feeling, but also tired… She starts to doze off, when she catches a glimpse of a little girl staring at her, before falling asleep.
She dreams of a cruel world, such a horrible place that feels so real, like if it were happening at the same time as her life…
She is woken up by Eren, who has brought a fish like he said. She mentions how she feels like she had just woken up from a long dream, while tears start to stream on her face.
Eren is concerned, and Mikasa tells him she started to ask herself if it's okay for her to be there.
He realizes, reality had struck Mikasa again, he realizes… the dream is coming to an end…
Eren explains to her their life together in a way she could understand easily, and notices Mikasa's expression of surprise… he is not ready… but cannot extend this anymore… he starts to interlap both realities… their life, their paradise, is selfish…
Mikasa embraces him, fully remembering by now all their life together, asking him to forgive her for bringing the subject again. Eren is torn, he cannot keep doing this to Mikasa… he loves her too much… and he now knows it.
Eren: will you make me one more promise? Throw this scarf out once I'm dead, you have a long life ahead of you, so forget about me, be free… Please Mikasa… forget about me…
Titan marks appear on his face, as a futile hope that he could amend what he did, the life they had lived in the paths, was a mistake… He has doomed her out of selfishness and fear…
Eren after that moment reveals to Mikasa the entirety of what is happening, what has happened and what has to happen. He reveals the only way to stop the cycle of hate and pain, is for her to kill him. Mikasa runs away to their bedroom and starts to cry inconsolably, devastated…
Eren leaves Mikasa alone to her thoughts for a few days… doing the chores himself and lovingly taking care of Mikasa, while giving her distance… Mikasa spends days remembering all her life, all the pain, all the suffering and loss…
I can't do this… if Eren dies… I will die too…
Some time later, while Mikasa is resting, she notices Eren is starting to get thinner and weaker… But she cannot bring herself to help him…
Eren, while picking up firewood, collapses to the ground, bleeding from his nose and his titan marks are not healing…
Mikasa from that moment starts to take care of him. She sees Eren suffering and it hurts her more than she imagined…
She remembers the time she spent with Eren and their friends in Marley, she noticed Eren was not alright… yet did nothing about it…
I can't die… who will take care of him… who will… love him…
Eren is sitting in the porch of the cabin… the time has come…
I'm… not ready…
Mikasa approaches him and kneels in front of him… she sees the sadness and doubt in his face, the pain… she cannot let this go on, Eren can't suffer anymore…
She looks at him lovingly and say… "See you later Eren", softly lifts his head and gives him a last kiss, while telling Eren in her thoughts:
Rest now, there is nothing to fear or worry about anymore, I'm never leaving you… we'll see each other again… just wait for me…
Tears stream down Mikasa's face...
Mikasa: I... want to meet you again...
A bird suddenly and gently picks ups her hanging scarf and wraps it on Mikasa.
She stands up, surprised, feeling happiness and sadness at the same time
Mikasa: Thank you, for wrapping this scarf around me Eren...
I'll keep going forward... don't worry...
