Creation began on 05-22-21

Creation ended on 05-30-21

Attack on Titan

Rise, Sasha, Rise: Home

A/N: Sasha returns to her village after a long time away, bringing with her a guest.

Despite the end of Titan activity on Paradis, Dauper was still a small mountain village. However, it was the same place Sasha knew it as when she finally returned: It was home. Even after returning after a few years away, she still got that feeling of elation she got when she saw the familiar faces of her fellow villagers. With her resignation from the Survey Corps, it felt different coming back here, though; she was just a civilian instead of a veteran of the military, no longer bound to any oaths or groups prior to leaving this place.

"Well, this is Dauper," she introduced Niccolo when she got off the horse they were using to travel on after they left the hospital in Shiganshina District. "It isn't much…but it's home."

"It's a mountain village," Niccolo expressed. "You live on a mountain, meaning you get to see the land below from an elevated height. That's a good thing."

"You really think so?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

"Sasha!" They heard a little girl's voice, and the young woman saw the same little girl that she had rescued from a Titan attack four years ago.

"Kaya!" She greeted her as she came to a halt. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were coming back! Who's this with you?"

"Oh, this is Niccolo. He's my…"

"Sasha!" They heard a man's raised voice, seeing a man with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back. "You're back!"

"Father," she greeted, and looked to Niccolo; the reveal of their recent engagement would have to wait until later, after her father stopped hugging so tightly.

-x-

In the dark environment, probably condemned to wander it for the rest of eternity, the man Sasha had met stopped in front of another man.

"You, as well, I take it?" He asked him; he was an adult with solemn eyes.

"Eren Yeager?" The former questioned.

"Yeager? No. My name is Eren Kruger," the latter answered. "You must have me confused with someone else, sir."

"Yeah… You remind me of someone I knew…and didn't know."

"Who are you?"

"I am…I was…Bertolt Hoover, former Colossal Titan."

"Eren Kruger, former Attack Titan."

"What is this place? I've lost track of time here and have no clue where here even is? Is this Hell for those that possessed the power of the Nine Titans?"

"I'm not sure where this place is. At first, I thought it was the place where all paths connect, but this place is different from that place. There doesn't seem to be any paths."

"Then…it's Hell?"

"No," a new voice uttered to them, "this isn't Hell. Not for those of you that possessed the power of the Titans, at least. Not yet, that is."

They looked away and saw someone they had never met before. It was a man that looked as though he didn't belong to anyplace they had seen before, with dark skin and darker eyes, wearing strange trousers and a shirt.

"Who are you?" The aged Bertolt asked.

"Just a transient nomad, a nobody who's anybody and everybody. A demon to some while an angel to others, dealing in light and darkness. So, tell me… What do you want? Retribution…or redemption? Penance or forgiveness? You decide."

"Forgiveness, sir."

"Same here," went Eren Kruger.

"Find the others wandering around here. There are seven of them left to meet. Find them…and you may find a way to save everyone that was forced to pay an unforgivable price. Two down…and seven to go."

Two down and seven to go? Bertolt thought, confused until one possibility came to mind. "Do you mean to say that…there are at least seven others that once possessed the power of the Titans like we did?"

"That…is for you to discover," the dark stranger expressed, and then disappeared from sight. "Find them…and you may find a way to save them all."

-x-

It was a shocker for Artur Blouse to hear from his daughter, but it didn't change the fact that it was what his daughter had chosen to do with the time she had left to live out. He hadn't expected Sasha to accept a Marleyan man's marriage proposal, but here they were…and the guy that fell for her really cared about her. After Sasha left the Survey Corps following what happened in Marley, she revealed to her parents that she had lost her faith in what they were trying to do and that she had been shot by someone angry at what Eren had done, no longer able to stay committed to what had been a goal that some of the organization had after what had been committed in Liberio. The young woman just couldn't see any reason to believe in it, even if they had suffered because of attack made on them by Marley nine years ago.

"…Even after the girl shot you," her mother questioned, "you don't have any animosity towards her for what she did?"

"No," Sasha answered her. "I understood her reasons for what she tried to do; anyone would seek revenge for what was done to their home, the people they live with. But what happened that night didn't have to happen at all… Who goes out of their way to try and get even when all they do is make other people want revenge for what was done to them? You can't get even like that. You just make other people feel as you did when you lost everything you had at the time."

"And that's what this Eren Yeager did?" Her father asked.

"Yes. That's what he did…and that's why the girl tried to kill us when we left Marley; she wanted revenge, same as he did."

And now their daughter was marked, scarred by what happened. But she was alive and home once more. They were grateful that she had managed to return, despite the carnage.

"So…when will you two tie the knot?" Artur asked the young couple, changing the subject.

"Hopefully, by next month," Niccolo revealed; after he proposed to Sasha, he didn't want to lose her again.

"That's right," Sasha added; she only had one life, even if by only some miracle, it was a continuation of what nearly ended hers. "I hope we have your blessing."

"You do," her parents expressed, happy for her.

-x-

"You have to find her!" Reiner recalled his aunt pleading to him when it was discovered that Gabi was missing. "You can't leave her with those devils!"

It wasn't even three days after the devastation Eren caused in Liberio, but everyone had been scarred by the brutality that Paradis unleashed upon them, making any ideas of peace a thing of the past. But Eren hadn't been seeking peaceful coexistence between their nations, only war, and soon, he was going to get exactly what he came for. However, he had made a promise to his aunt and uncle that he would rescue Gabi from the island devils…and he had every intention of keeping that promise.

Damn you, Eren, he thought as he got in the water-proof box with Galliard as Pieck, in her Cart Titan, was prepared to carry them back to Paradis. You should've just killed me when I gave you the opportunity to do so! You didn't have to do this! I chose to have us attack the Walls that day…and just wanted to move forward. Well, you made a terrible mistake by not killing me when you had the chance given to you. I'll kill you.

To be continued…

A/N: Eventually, there will be something else going on, but how it affects everything in the story will be another thing altogether. Also, seriously, who wants to see Niccolo and Sasha tie the knot? That will be a scene worth fantasizing.