Once they returned to base, all the mid-eastern soldiers gather around to see the man who stood alone against the Warriors of Marley.
"Make space damn it, make space!"
"Is he even breathing?" Soldiers start asking as the crowd gets even bigger.
"That's enough! Bring him to the hospital. Everyone else, get back to your positions! Marley is still out there bearing it teeth at us!" A man with a big moustache and a red cylindrical hat on his head orders. His name was Effendi and he was the general in charge with the western front.
Inside the hospital they place Leo on a bed and called out priests to cover him in oils and pray for him to wake up. Half an hour later their prayers were answered and all of a sudden he gets back up ready to fight again. As soon as he stand up his nose starts bleeding and his skin burns bright red as if the wounds from the Colossal explosion only now start piling up. Lightning surrounds him and for a second everyone inside the room jumps to the ground afraid he would transform again. Only the general stood still by now used to having artillery fly by his head every day.
"I've lived many days and I still cannot believe an Eldian is the hero who saved us today."
"Hero? You seem to be misunderstanding my actions. I haven't done it out of selflessness. I want much out of you."
"I don't expect you to be satisfy with your titan's weight in gold are you?"
"I want the whole country and some. All of the mid-eastern alliance and its friends shall rally to my call. To save the world from the rumbling I must bring allies with me back to Paradise."
"You want us to ally with the island devils?"
"I'm not giving you a choice on the matter. If the world rejects the Eldians living on that island it will lead to the death of eighty precent of the world's population. If you refuse me however I will spare you from the rumbling. I've seen the warriors conquer a nation within weeks. What do you think will happen if I declare war on the mid-east? Will I be able to conquer it myself or will it be too weak from fighting on two sides and it will lose to Marley?"
Leo was threatening them however, only a handful of people were afraid of him. The chain of command was distrusting of a foreigner and an Eldian but the soldiers who fought in his shadow were ready to board any boat and circumnavigate the globe on an empty stomach if necessary. The generals didn't have a choice on the matter to begin with as the news of potential titan shifter allies drove the soldiers into a frenzy. The war with Marley lasted for years, and the soldiers were so tired. The young men that joined the army to protect their country's borders so long ago are either dead or buried under a mound of sorrow, fear and anger. People simply cannot face titans in battle every single day and not expect to suffer some form of mental scarring. Once the mid-east had enough volunteers to send them to other countries but now they barely have enough soldiers to protect themselves. The morale had to go up and the only way to do so was using the power of titans to face other titans.
In order to dodge a potential revolt the higher ups were forced into allying with Paradise, or at best into a promise. They would send troops and diplomats with Leo all the way to Paradise but what happens after that is up to them.
As soon as possible Leo and the soldiers chosen for the mission to make contact with Paradise embark on seven ships and head out for the island.
"Won't we face Marleyan resistance as we head for paradise?" The admiral in charge with the expedition asks worried about the possibility of Marley trying to stop them." There was no chance for Marley resistance though. If needed Leo could turn into the Warhammer and summon a giant bow capable of shooting arrows large enough to skewer Marleyan boats and shoot down blimps. They would only be throwing men and ships at them to be destroyed.
The fleet lands in the southernmost point of Paradise where a small land base was created. There would still be a lot of titan on the island since the scouts didn't had the chance to eliminate them all yet so it was better for the expedition to hold as little ground as possible on the island and use the ships as a base of operations. The army would travel by foot, slowly making their way towards the nearest district using mobile artillery to take down straggler titans on their way towards the walls. If needed Leo would turn into a titan and fight larger groups off but that was a concern only after they get in close proximity to the walls.
Once Leo got off the ship he couldn't help but jump out of the boat that was heading to shore and be the first to touch the ground of Paradise island. He falls on his knees and grabs a hold of the sand and grass that forms the island nearly tearing up at the idea of being finally back home.
"Five years, five long years I've waited to return home. I had to face it all, people that loved me, people that hated me, familiar costumes and traditions I couldn't wrap my head around. A juicy roast in Marley would taste a thousand time worse than stale bread on Paradise. All embrace me for I am home!"
Leo plants a flag with the wings of freedom on it. Humanities dreams were achieved by the actions of the scouts in another life and he was finally giving them back their rightful payment after all the sacrifices they've given to the world.
For a day the mid-eastern soldiers marched towards the walls encountering little to no resistance. They camped at night surrounded by torches and Leo created crystal guard towers where they put lanterns and guards to watch over the perimeter of the camp. On the second day they could finally see it from afar. The walls that kept Eldians both safe and trapped in their small world for so long. They were close to Shinganshina and from afar they launched smoke signals and started beating their drums and blowing their trumpets. For the last strip of land between the mid-eastern expedition and the walls Leo transforms into the Warhammer titan and proudly displays the wings of freedom both on his back and on a banner so large when he moved it reached from the front of the army all the way to the back.
"Commander!" A scout shouts boggled by the sight. "There are people coming towards us with a metallic looking titan in the front waving a flag with the wings of freedom on it! They are singing, launching smoke signals and firing at the titans that gathered outside!"
The Shinganshina massacre. Leo can still remember how Zeke massacred the scouts and how Erwin got killed in the charge against the beast titan. What Leo saw at Shinganshina however were not a handful of survivors but the whole scout regiment atop the walls staring back at him.
"Men! Make a corridor for the metal titan and its soldiers to reach the walls!" Erwin shouts pointing his blades towards the horizon. Seeing the scouts jump off the walls to face the titans bellow Leo charges too leaving his men to slowly advance towards the walls at their own pace.
"Eren, you stay back and wait. We don't know if this is some kind of trap to drive you out."
"Where will you go commander?"
"I'll speak with the metallic titan." To test Leo's intentions Erwin puts himself in danger flying towards the Warhammer, purposefully leaving himself open to a pure titan's attack. If the Warhammer was an enemy he wouldn't have saved Erwin since he was the commander of the scouts and leaving him to die would have been the best course of action. Leo seeing Erwin fly towards him however was like seeing a father welcome you back home after being gone to war for so long. The Warhammer jumps between Erwin and all the titans in the area impaling them with his spear and crushing them with a mace he just created.
"The lost son of Eldia is finally back home commander." Leo says offering his right shoulder to Erwin.
"A titan came from outside the walls and calls itself our ally?"
"Leo Zuege, the Warhammer titan is ready to serve!"
"Alright then. Create a path for the other soldiers to reach the walls. Lower the elevators, bring them in! Humanity finally made contact with people outside the walls!" Erwin shouts rising his hand victorious. He did it, he lived to see the day when the people living inside the walls are not the only humans left in the world. The pile of corpses got one body smaller, his actions were not in vain. To show off his powers, like a child in a play Leo summons two giant blades the same as those used by the scouts and starts cutting the titans at the base of the walls one by one until there are no more left.
"A titan capable of summoning crystallised weapons from thin air... Amazing." Eren looks with gleaming eyes at a titan ally.
"Can you believe it! There are allies out there, us Eldians have people willing to fight by our side! Isn't it amazing Eren." Armin says all happy.
"There might still be freedom outside these walls." Eren answers.
After the battle the mid-eastern soldiers are brought at the top of the walls and a clash of cultures happen.
"Cannons that are so mobile and look at their design. I've seen them fire hundreds of metres further than ours!" Hange says looking at the field cannons brought in by the soldiers.
"Hand the cannons over and explain them how they work. That is my last order as a member of the mid-eastern alliance. Send a message back to your ships, you're free to negotiate as you desire from now on. I am finally back home."
There's a meeting taking place at the top of the walls as the mid-eastern soldiers are lowered into the Shinganshina. Erwin, Levi, Eren, Armin and the rest of the 104th division gather around to hear Leo out. His story didn't had to be very long as the scouts saw what was hidden inside Eren's basement. They learnt about the world outside but they didn't knew how it changed.
"I am Eldian, I am subject from Paradise. Through the power of the paths I was sent to the continent to find allies and a way to save Eldia from annihilation. I have stolen the Warhammer titan and faced the Warriors of Marley in battle. I've lived amongst them, I know their strengths and weaknesses, I know where we can get more allies, how to modernise Eldia... we can..."
"Wait. Why would you go through all this though?" Levi asks sceptical of this too good to be true deal.
"Because I've seen you all die once. I come from five years into a different future, a world where only twenty percent of the population still lives. Commander, I've seen you die alongside the majority of the scouts in a suicidal charge against the beast titan. Captain Hange died burning to death holding off the advancing wall titans to stop the rumbling from happening. Captain Levi, you were blown up by a thunder-spears and still fought in the last battle. Sasha got shot through the lungs and choked on her own blood and... and..." Leo was going into shock. The people he saw dying right in front of him were now amazed hearing the gruesome ways they were supposed to die. That was the kind of psychological pain one cannot simply fake, Leo was visibly shaken.
"The founding titan sent you back in time with all those memories. Then... was I who sent you?" Eren asks looking at his hands.
"Yes and for that I have to thank you the most. Amongst all the people I've seen suffer... you are the one who I want to see happy the most." Leo says kneeling in front of Eren and placing his hands on his shoulders.
"You are not alone in shouldering this burden... I've found the third path."
"Right." Eren says wanting to push Leo away.
"There will be better people to deal with this but I've brought gifts with me. The second biggest force on the continent is willing to ally with us. To the west there is a nation called Hizuru which also will be willing to trade. From today onward me and my Warhammer titan are ready to serve in whatever task is needed."
"We'll need time to consider this." Erwin says getting down from the top of the walls going to speak with the mid-eastern soldiers and Hange.
"So I blew up in a thunder-spear explosion eh? How did that happened?"
"You captured the Beast titan and held him captive but then he tried running away and in a suicidal attempt to take both of you down he blew himself up."
"Who... who survived this world you've lived through?"
"I didn't. I got turned into a pure titan and died alongside the colossal titans from inside the walls. I don't even know what happened to my old body. You made it through Armin, Mikasa too, Jeanne, Connie... you kind of burnt half to death at a certain point though and turned into the new Colossal titan. Funny thing is... I don't remember how you burnt to death. It's been like this for a while now. The old memories, I can't remember even my old face, what I did in the past or even how old I was. It feels like my old world got swallowed up by this new one but I couldn't be happier."
"Do the continentals really hate us as much as my father wrote in his journal?"
"Never hate misguided people Eren, they do not know better nor do I know the truth. They accuse us of genocide, of murdering nations or forcing them to breed our children. I have the memories of the Tybur family in my head, for the very least four hundred years of history yet I cannot see these events. I caught glimpses of the titan civil war but nothing else so do not take my words as complete truth. I've tried to change too, when I first woke up in Marley my first thought was to kill all responsible for the death of my brethren but would you believe me now that I feel sorry for words I've said three years ago? Perhaps I pretend to be a little wiser but we won't carve a place for Eldia to exist without stopping the wars first."