Everyone was ready to retreat by the time the airship had reached the rendezvous point. Yavena remained behind, counting down each of her soldiers one-by-one. Squad Jean was securing the area, Squad Kanen was already on-board, Squad Hera was assisting the injured, and Squad Marlo was taking out the few Marleyan soldiers that had followed them through the streets.

"Get in!" shouted Yavena, pointing towards the airship. "They've got nothing to take us down!"

Within three minutes, everyone was on-board save for Yavena and some of her Squad Leaders—the last one to approach was Marlo, who ran a hand through his long hair and asked, "Is that the last of us?"

"Aye, it is," said Yavena with a stiff nod. She jerked her head towards the airship. "Leave Captain Lobov to keep an eye on the streets below. As soon as we're over the ocean, he can come back aboard."

"I'm no Captain anymore," said a gruff voice: Lobov himself. He had approached from behind Yavena without making a sound; an old trick of his from training days, he always liked to say. "The world within the Walls has no need for a Wall Garrison anymore, remember?"

Yavena chuckled and nodded. "Perhaps not now. You heard my orders, then?"

He saluted in response. "Aye, Section-Commander. You got it."

With that, Yavena nodded towards Marlo and launched her cables into the wooden beam upon the side of the airship. The wind flew harshly through her hair and her ears as she ascended; eventually, she caught onto one of the rope nets with her hands. Armin was already there, extending a hand—she grabbed onto it tight as a vice and allowed him to haul her upwards.

As soon as she was there, Yavena exhaled sharply. Standing against the wall was Eren, who had tied his hair back. His clothes were horribly grimy, but she did not care—she launched forward, enveloping him within her arms.

Eren's hands rested upon her back, his cheek upon the top of her head, the way he embraced her on a few rare occasions in the past. "It's good to see you, Yavena."

She sniffled once and retreated slightly. For a brief moment in time, all of the guilt and the dreariness had melted away; a bright ray of happiness had filled her heart at this long-awaited reunion. "And it's good to see you too, Eren. We worried about you. Did everything go according to plan?"

"It seems so," he replied. "The War-Hammer is now out of the way, and my brother is on-board without the Marleyan forces any the wiser of our plans."

Before Yavena could respond, the door opened—and a sigh greeted them. "Damn, you're a filthy sight. You fall in a pile of shit, Eren?"

In walked Erwin and Levi, both of whom seemed no worse for wear. Yavena moved forward with the intention of inspecting them, but Levi held out his hands to stop her before she was able to get even within a meter of him.

"No," he said simply. "You hugged him, and now you're disgusting."

Yavena scoffed and rolled her eyes, but said nothing more on the matter.

"Captain," said Eren, nodding politely to Levi and choosing to ignore the jibe. He then saluted as he turned to Erwin. "Commander."

"Good work on neutralizing the War-Hammer Titan, Eren," said Erwin. There was no smile to his lips, no hint of any joy or happiness—but there was a thin veil of approval in his eyes as he looked towards the orchestrator of Paradis's first offensive plan. "This blow to Marley's forces shall buy us further time, even if it will solidify an eventual alliance between the remaining countries of the world."

Eren stepped forward, turquoise eyes blazing. "That alliance won't matter once the partial Rumbling is begun. The destruction it will wreak will dissuade the world from taking further action against us."

"Or it might just incentivize them to fight against us even further," muttered Levi under his breath. He glared at Eren from Erwin's side; while he had agreed that the attack upon Liberio was necessary in order to obtain both Zeke and Eren back from enemy territory, he was still less than fond of the idea of the partial Rumbling. "Enough innocents died today as it is."

"We will discuss this further in the cockpit," said Erwin, with a tone that suggested there would be no arguing on the matter. "For now, we should establish our next immediate steps. Yavena, is everyone on board?"

Yavena glanced back towards the door of the warship. No one else was nearby, waiting to haul their compatriots into the aircraft, and so she replied, "It seems so, although I have asked Lobov to patrol outside the ship until we reach the ocean, to ensure no one else follows us."

Erwin nodded and gestured into the next area. "Very good. Check on your charges and then join us in the cockpit. It's time we spoke to Zeke Jaeger."

Although Yavena was not too keen on meeting with Eren's half-brother yet again, she nodded and turned in the opposite direction from everyone else to go follow her orders.

She could hear her charges even behind a number of steel doors. They were cheering so loudly that Yavena wouldn't be surprised if the engine of the airship was drowned out—trying not to smile or roll her eyes, she walked through the hallways towards the cargo hold, where she knew they would all be congregated.

As she stepped into the threshold of the room, she heard none other than Floch Forster's voice crying, "This is a huge victory: the first of many for the new Eldian Empire!"

Many of the soldiers who looked up to Floch as a veteran began to throw their fists to the air and jeer the same way that he was—others, however, noted Yavena approaching with her arms crossed and a slight scowl on their face, and abstained.

Upon noticing the presence of their Section-Commander, most of the soldiers hushed in an instant. A few misguided whoops and hollers took a moment to dissipate; only once it was quiet did Yavena say, "Jean. How many casualties did we suffer tonight?"

Jean had dark circles under his eyes as he replied, "Six, Yavena."

"I see," she replied. A light twisting took over her lips. "Who were they?"

"Joanna. Alecs. Ethan. Primrose. Ivan. And Tobias," said Jean, whose shoulders seemed to weigh more with each name that he spoke.

Yavena sighed and uncrossed her arms. All six of them had been loyal to the Scout Regiment beyond anything else; Ethan and Tobias were fast friends. They had even gone down together: she remembered seeing them be shot down by the Cart Titan. Swallowing hard, she said, "Understood. We'll have a moment of silence for them, even if it's not nearly as much as they deserved."

Many of the soldiers bowed their heads in respect, perhaps thinking of good times they had spent with the six who had lost their lives. Each person had known what it was they were signing up for when first they joined the Scout Regiment… but Yavena could not help but wonder if they had really known at the same time.

After a few moments of respectful silence, Yavena raised her head again and glared over the crowd. "All right. We'll likely be flying throughout most of the night tonight. Feel free to get some sleep, or celebrate as you see fit—while still acting like respectable soldiers!"

This last she had to add rather sharply, seeing as a lot of the soldiers were shooting each other ecstatic grins.

"Just… don't forget the lives of those that were lost in order to get us this far," she added, her voice now strained. The visions of those devastated civilians were unlikely to leave her alone in any sort of hurry. "Be respectful. Got it?"

"Aye!" shouted most of the others—and then excited hisses and exclamations began to break over the crowd as they bee-lined towards some of the rations that had been meant for the trip back to Paradis.

With this announcement out of the way, Yavena knew it would soon be time to rejoin Erwin and the others so she might be part of the important discussions… but she wanted to check in on her friends first. And so she nudged through the crowd to reach Jean, Conny, Sasha, and Marlo, all of whom were congregated towards the door of the ship, as though waiting for Lobov to reappear.

"Tonight, we celebrate in honor of our fallen heroes!" shouted Floch's voice from somewhere behind her.

Yavena rolled her eyes and muttered, more to herself than to anyone else, "He's really become… quite the patriot, hasn't he?"

Although she'd been relatively sure that no one could overhear, Jean snorted once and retorted, "That's one word for it." As he glanced across Yavena and the others, however, a weary smile appeared upon his face. "Well… it looks like we made it."

"It's one battle closer to the end of this new war than we were yesterday," sighed Yavena. "Although I fear there will be plenty more to come in the following months…"

Conny nodded and clapped one hand each upon Yavena's and Marlo's arms. "I'm just glad we survived again." Then he lunged forward to encompass both Jean and Sasha in a headlock, which made them exclaim in shock. "It's not very fair to the others, but you guys are special… to me."

Yavena's smile grew slightly warmer upon hearing this sentiment.

"That hurts, idiot," grumbled Jean, who was wriggling his way out of Conny's insistent embrace. "Don't hug us wearing hard-ass gear."

Conny promptly released him, a scowl returning to his mouth. "Who are you calling an idiot, Jean? I think you're more of an idiot for always fussing over your tiny-ass beard."

"That's right!" exclaimed Sasha. "Why grow a beard if you can't eat out of it?"

As Jean exclaimed in shock and confusion, Yavena and Marlo began laughing. Although there were certainly dark times ahead, she could appreciate the little moments where it felt like things could just be normal amongst her friends.

"Oye, are we eating again soon?" asked Sasha hopefully, turning towards Yavena. "I'm starving. Could really go for some meat right about now."

Yavena gestured towards the rations on the far side of the room. "We have a few snacks, but no meals until we reach the island. I'll make sure we get some good grub once we're home, though. Since, you know, we can actually afford meat now."

This last was said with a wink, one that Sasha did not miss. Laughing, the young woman said, "Great! Thanks, Yavena. I'm going to grab some snacks."

Right when she was about to set off, however, Sasha stopped. She frowned and turned towards the door. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" asked Marlo.

It was hard to hear anything over the sound of Floch's incessant shouting, but Yavena had received an indescribable, all-too familiar chill in her heart upon hearing Sasha's question. She had known Sasha for far too long, had been saved by the young woman far too many times, for her to disregard a noise or a feeling that she had by now. But she couldn't hear a gods-damned thing because of all the ruckus—

There was nothing else for it. Inhaling deeply, Yavena bellowed, "OYE! QUIET DOWN!" as loudly as it was physically possible.

The ferocity to their Section-Commander's voice made everyone freeze where they stood, petrified looks finding her face. Yavena held up a hand, signaling to maintain the silence. Those damn worms… she trusted her own instincts just much as she did Sasha's—she placed a hand upon Sasha's shoulder and murmured, "What did you hear?"

Sasha gestured towards the door and, her voice emitting that same trace of a whisper, replied, "A thump underneath the ship."

Yavena bit the inside of her lip. That could only mean one thing.

Without looking back at her friends, she said, "Someone killed Lobov—he's too veteran a soldier to make a rookie mistake like bumping his head while using omni-directional gear. They're coming aboard. Be ready for them."

The dead silence within the cargo hold ensured that Yavena was heard; though her feet were like lead, she crept towards the door leading outside…

The door to the ship slammed open, and the tip of a rifle peeked out—

Yavena gasped and dodged as the unknown intruder rolled onto the ship, their gun pointed directly at her—the following bullet was deafening, and it missed her by mere centimeters. Based on the fact that it hadn't made a metallic plink, however, it was enough for her to know that whoever this intruder was, they had just shot one of her soldiers.

She released a bloodcurdling shriek and barreled towards the attacker. Blood poured through her veins, her brain, because all she could think was that this person killed Lobov, and they were going to kill her kids—

A second bullet was reloaded with lightning speed, the gun was aimed; an unfamiliar voice screamed, "Gabi, stop!"

Yavena reached out and seized the barrel of the gun, jerking it directly upwards.

BANG—the bullet rebounded off of the ceiling and hit the floor, though where it bounced from there, Yavena could not tell. It didn't matter. She had to stop this person from hurting anyone.

Her foot swept out the person's legs, causing the attacker to shriek and crumple to the ground. Their hold upon the rifle loosened, providing Yavena an opportunity to seize the gun. She screamed as she freed the rifle from the intruder's grasp and tossed it behind her; then she clambered atop the assailant to pin their arms behind their back, ignoring the muffled cries of pain that she was met with as she did so.

It was only when the adrenaline began to fade that Yavena realized—it was the fucking kid. The same kid from the streets, the same kid who was shouting for Reiner's help from the window, that thirteen-year old girl with amber eyes and brown hair.

"What…" she croaked, but she could get no further.

"Yavena!" sobbed Conny. He barreled forward, sliding to his knees beside her. "Sasha's been shot!"

Yavena's heart went cold. She looked around, her entire being beginning to shake. Her eyes landed on Floch. "Tie this kid up and get a medical officer, now!"

They didn't even wait to confirm the orders. Marlo sprinted towards the cockpit, where the officers and a few medical staff might be waiting, while Kanen and Hera scrambled around to locate a rope or any other sort of bind.

The second that they began tying the kid's wrists back, Yavena sprinted to Sasha's side. The wound was covered by her black uniform, but even without seeing the brunt of it, things didn't look good; the cloth was soaked with crimson. Blood was beginning to spill out onto the floor…

Yavena withdrew her blade and forced her hands to stop shaking. Ignoring the exclamations from both Jean and Conny, she carefully cut into the uniform so they could see the depth of how badly she had been hurt.

The entry wound didn't look that bad; it was the exit wound that made Yavena pause. She was no medical officer—she didn't know whether the bullet had pierced any vital organs—but there was so much blood. So much blood…

"A knife," she demanded, her voice raspy and weak. She glanced up at Jean and Conny with as much desperate strength as she could muster. "Get a knife, bandages, and some matches—a candle—coals—anything."

Conny nodded, his face white as a ghost's, and scampered off.

The bleeding was too fast. Yavena grabbed her blade again and withdrew her arm inside its sleeve; one quick swipe was enough to shorten the arm of her uniform. It wouldn't be enough for more than a couple of minutes, but it would last until the medical officer arrived.

When she pressed the cloth to Sasha's abdomen, the young woman gasped sharply. Her gaze was hazy—but her eyes locked onto Yavena's. "Can I… get those rations now?"

"Hang in there, and I'll give you all the rations you want," replied Yavena. Her voice cracked; she forcefully cleared her throat and blinked to rid her eyes of tears. "Just hang in there, Sasha. We'll… we'll get you back home, and you can have steaks, sausage links, lobster—all of it. I promise."

Sasha smiled slightly. "Meat."

Her eyes closed.

"Sasha!" Jean screamed. His hands were balled into fists, one of which he slammed upon the metal floor. "Sasha!"

Yavena lost feeling in her body—she was barely able to see what was going on, the shock was so overwhelming, the buzzing in her head so complete. All she could do was kneel by Sasha's side as Marlo finally returned with the medical officers in tow. They were carrying the knife, the bandages, the matches, medicines, extra supplies and materials from the Azumabitos.

Would it be enough? It had to be enough.

"Sasha," she whispered. Her throat was so tight, she could barely stand it. It was like her heart was breaking in her own esophagus. "Sasha… you can't just die now. I owed you one, remember? I owed you one."

And the shock of that realization was enough to send Yavena spiraling into that moment, four years ago, so long ago that it might've been an eternity. That moment where Yavena was scanning into the darkness, looking for who wanted to abduct Eren and Historia… and thanks to Sasha's heads-up, Sasha's warning, Yavena had known to duck early when their stalker shot his gun at her.

Thank you, Sasha.

For what?

For your bravery. And for your damn uncanny instincts. If you hadn't told me that there was someone out there, I likely wouldn't have known to duck early when I stuck my neck out. And then I would've been shot. I owe you one.

"I owed you one," Yavena whispered—and then she began to sob, her hands covering the entirety of her face as she rocked back and forth upon her knees, hardly registering the fact that Jean and Conny were exhibiting the same grief next to her, unaware of the fact that Armin and Mikasa had sprinted out of the cockpit and were by her side, too.

It had been so hard, losing the members on her squad all those years ago. When Eld, Gunther, Petra, and Olou had died… for a while, Yavena had been broken. Her very willpower had shattered into pieces, and it had been a long process building herself back up again. But with help from Levi and Hange and Eren, she had somehow managed it.

Yavena swallowed hard and, through her tears, caught a glimpse of Sasha's face. Her eyelids were still fluttering, as though fighting to hold onto that last thread of consciousness.

She remembered how difficult it had been to stay alive when on the brink of death, too. It had already happened twice; she didn't really know how she had managed it, looking back on it now. It all seemed so far away, a faint and fleeting memory…

But there was one thing that Yavena remembered holding onto, at what could've been the end of all things.

Taking a deep breath, she crawled past Eren, who was staring down at Sasha with horror etched deeply into the lines of his face. She gently pushed Armin and Mikasa, both of whom were screaming her name, aside. And then, her voice soft, she said, "Sasha. You have friends here that would do anything to see you make it back to the island. There are so many of us—and there's Nicolo. Nicolo is waiting for you… back at home."

Sasha choked.

"That's what I held onto, when I thought I couldn't stand another minute," said Yavena. She reached out to grasp Sasha's hand, even though it lay limply in her own. "Now you. I gave you an order, remember? Don't die."

Was this what it had felt like, when Levi had been trying to get her to live through the unyielding pain? It probably wasn't the exact same, but… now Yavena could see how poorly it felt, to be on the other side of it.

She was so scared.

"Section-Commander," said Jythins, the Chief Medical Officer. "We need to move her. This is no place to treat wounds."

Yavena glanced up at him, attempting—perhaps futilely—to maintain her composure as she did so. "Is she stable enough to move?"

Jythins paused for a moment… and then shrugged weakly. "I don't know. But we have more advanced equipment in the other side of the ship. If we can get her there, then maybe…"

He trailed off, leaving whatever else he was about to say to the imagination.

Yavena took a deep breath. She had had her moment of vulnerability; she had told Sasha what she herself had needed to know in order to fight to stay alive. That was all she could do for now—that, and make the decisions that could either save her friend, or hasten her death.

"Get her there," she said, even though shivers ran down her spine upon uttering the words. "She'll just bleed to death if she stays here. Take the risk."

Conny choked. "Yavena—"

"Understood," interrupted Jythins. He saluted Yavena and waved an arm; two more of the medical officers approached, carrying a thin cot. They placed it upon the ground and ever so carefully lifted Sasha onto it. Some of her blood dripped onto the floor, having trailed off of her body and uniform.

And then they were off, towards wherever the equipment they needed was stashed.

Once they were gone, Yavena rose to her feet. Everything was numb; her squad's death four years ago had been quick. One sharp burst of pain for each of them… and then they had died.

In a way, watching Sasha bleed out, watching her lose collective consciousness… was worse.

"Jean," she said. Her eyes drearily focused on his face. "I was too busy trying to take down the kid to see what happened. What happened, exactly?"

He wiped a hand at his eyes, but began to speak as she had requested. "When the first gunshot went off, both you and Sasha leapt out of the way. But Sasha wasn't fast enough—the bullet lodged in her stomach, and the force of the blast sent her flying into the wall of the ship. She hit her head, hard enough for me to hear it. Then the second shot went off; it flew just past my ear. As Conny and I were tending to Sasha, Marlo tied up the second kid. You were tackling the first all the while."

Yavena blinked. "Second kid?"

Jean nodded and gestured towards the two children, who prior to that very moment, had escaped Yavena's notice. She was unsurprised to see the blond boy who had been leaning out of the window with the girl was there, too; two peas in a pod, for better or worse. They were each guarded by Floch, who was keeping them restrained by maintaining a tight hold upon their hair.

"Ah. Second kid," she repeated, now scowling. "I see."

"You were right, Section-Commander," said Floch, whose voice was heavy and tinged with no indiscernible amount of loathing. "They killed Lobov and used his gear to climb aboard. Shall I toss them out of the airship?"

Jean slammed a fist into the wall, his teeth tightly grit. "If we toss kids out of an airship, will the killing ever end?"

Yavena did not answer Jean's rhetorical question. Instead, she maintained eye contact with Floch… and then shook her head. She raised a hand to place her fingers against her throbbing temple. "That won't be necessary."

"Then what do we do with them?" asked Floch.

She glanced at the two kids. The boy was staring up at her with fear, but the girl… she was glaring. Despite being held by the hair, her face bloodied and her wrists tied, there was still a fighter's spirit unbroken.

It almost reminded her of Eren.

"Names," said Yavena, her voice edged with steel.

The boy glanced between her and the girl he'd arrived with. Trembling, he stammered, "I-I'm Falco… and this is Gabi."

"And I'm a true Eldian!" spat Gabi. She wrestled against Floch's death-grip, which only prompted him to hold onto her hair tighter—which only seemed to make her angrier. "We're going to haunt you until we die; we will carry on the will of War-Chief Zeke!"

Although it was hardly the time or place for it, Yavena couldn't help but laugh at the spirited exclamation of this last sentence. "Will you, now?" She narrowed her eyes and inspected the girl from head to toe… then she sighed. "The moment I saw you in the streets, I had a feeling you were going to be trouble. Makes me wonder if I should've just killed you then and there."

Gabi's eyes widened a fraction of a degree as if in fear, before remembering herself and promptly narrowing them once again.

"But doing so now would just be senseless," sighed Yavena, shaking her head. She turned towards Marlo. "Are the officers still conducting their meeting?"

Marlo nodded and saluted. "Aye, Section-Commander. They are."

"Good. I'm taking them there. I think our special guest will have a good idea of what to do with them."

Although Floch didn't seem too pleased to do so, he released Gabi and Falco and allowed Yavena to place a hand on each of their shoulders, steering them towards the cockpit as she did so. Just before they could step through the threshold of the next door, however, she glanced over her shoulder and said, "Conny, Jean, Marlo. Keep watch over Sasha while she's being tended to. Make sure she knows you're there. I know firsthand that when you're alone in the dark, it's harder to stay alive."

Their faces paled, and then they raced off through the hallways to obey her suggestions.

The walk to the cockpit was normally a short one, but with all of the excitement that had occurred, it felt like ages. Yavena was careful not to grasp onto the children so tightly that she would cause them pain, but not so loose that they could try anything funny, either. As their footsteps echoed across the metal floor, she asked, "What possessed you to come aboard this ship, anyway? Don't you two have families or friends to go back to?"

"I came to kill Eren Jaeger," said Gabi, completely unabashedly.

Yavena couldn't help but smile slightly. "Many have tried. And just like the rest, you have failed."

She could feel rather than see Gabi seething as Yavena reached out to knock upon the door of the cockpit. It immediately swung open to reveal Levi standing there, a scowl upon his lips yet great concern hiding within his eyes.

"How is she?" were the first words he asked.

"I don't know." Yavena locked eyes with him and sighed. "I did everything I could. But… it's still too difficult to say. I sent Jean, Marlo, and Conny to watch over her condition. I've no doubt they'll let us know of any changes."

With that, Levi nodded—but then he stopped short. His eyes widened a modicum of a degree. "Marlo told me that you were grappling with the assailant. You weren't shot?"

"No, of course not," said Yavena, a confused frown settling upon her face.

Hange stepped forward and, completely ignoring the children before them, placed a hand upon Yavena's shoulder. "You're covered in blood. Is it… Sasha's?"

For the first time, she realized that her uniform was stained. It had to have happened in the moments where Yavena was kneeling over Sasha, doing everything she could to staunch the bleeding, to whisper reassurances: to keep her friend alive. But the realization that this was Sasha's blood made Yavena feel that shard of ice all over again.

She had just given the order for the medical officers to move her, even though she was far from stable. But what other choice had there been? If Sasha had just been left on the ground of the cargo hold, she would've died for sure…

Yavena swallowed hard and grabbed Hange's hand, squeezing it the way she would a lifeline. "It is. I'm unhurt. I just… worry."

"Of course," said Hange, and their voice was filled with utmost understanding. They turned aside to allow Yavena and her two captives to see who else was in the room: standing still and petrified were Eren, Armin, and Mikasa, while Yelena was sulking off to the side. Erwin was sitting tall upon one of the benches, and sitting across from him was Zeke Jaeger, whose countenance shifted almost imperceptibly at the sight of the two children that Yavena had just lightly prodded into the room.

"Zeke," said Yavena, nodding curtly in his direction.

"Yavena," he replied just as politely. "Pleasure to see you again." But he did not maintain eye contact for long, because at the sound of this simple greeting, Gabi had wailed in what sounded like utter betrayal and fury.

"You're alive? Why did you let them capture you?" she cried, stomping childishly upon the floor.

It was Erwin who spoke next, shooting Yavena a look of mild surprise upon noticing the restraints that the children were being kept under. "Am I to understand that the ones who shot Braus… are these children, Yavena?"

She nodded grimly. The darkness to her eyes told Erwin that she spoke nothing but truth as she replied, "Yes. They killed Lobov and appeared on the ship with his omni-directional gear. The girl—Gabi—she had a gun. I tried to stop her, but… she was faster than anticipated. And she put up a hell of a fight when I tried to restrain her, too."

"Of course she did," said Zeke. "She's a child soldier: a Warrior candidate of Marley."

Yavena glared at him, ignoring the outraged cries of both Gabi and Falco as they came to the realization that their War-Chief was not, in fact, loyal to Marley at all. Trying not to sound too hostile, she exclaimed, "And you thought only now to tell us that Marley trains literal children to be warriors? You didn't think that would be helpful information, did you?"

"It wasn't pertinent at the time," Zeke replied. There was not a single change in his face; it was as if the man had been born ready to lie. "And I did not wish to endanger the students that, I will admit, I had become attached to."

Levi shook his head and glared at the newly liberated War-Chief. "Tch. As if we should believe any of that."

A small smile lingered upon the corner of Zeke's lips as his eyes—brown, still so utterly unlike Eren's—met Levi's face. "Don't glare at me like that, Levi. What if I piss my pants? And you're quite the actor yourself, considering you want to kill me so bad."

He stepped forward, glare unrelenting. "Rest assured, I will kill you one day. But I'm the kind of person who saves the best bite for last."

Yavena shook her head, amused though she was by their exchange. "We should be planning our next step. Erwin—any ideas?"

"We killed the Marley brass and destroyed their port and fleet. That should buy us some time," said Eren, speaking for the first time since she had arrived.

Erwin nodded. "That does, but if the world manages to put together this alliance that Willy Tybur spoke of, that bodes ill for every citizen of the island." He glanced around, his gaze lingering upon Zeke and Eren. "My main concern now is how many more sacrifices we will have to make in order to make safe the people of Paradis."

"You won't need to worry long. Now that we've got a Titan of royal blood along with the Founding Titan, you can continue the political necessities to prepare for the next step of our plan," said Zeke. He raised both of his hands to push the bridge of his glasses further up his nose; for the first time since she had arrived in the room, Yavena noticed that his wrists were bound. "The cost of those sacrifices will be paid through Eldia's freedom."

Before anyone else could say a word, the door slowly creaked open. Standing just behind it, looking shaken yet stable, was Conny. His hazel eyes landed upon Yavena's face as he swallowed and relayed, "Sasha still isn't doing so well, but… but she's alive. Jythins said they're going to get her better care as soon as we land."

Yavena exhaled sharply, nearly stumbling forward due to the sheer sense of relief that she felt. The palm of her hand rested upon the cool metal of the wall; it was the only thing she could feel, other than the way her legs were wobbling like freshly made jelly. Her voice faint, she asked, "Anything else?"

"No. We just… they think she'll make it until then. Hopefully."

Someone launched to their feet: it was Eren, who was blinking rapidly. "I'm coming with you. I need to see her."

Conny smiled weakly at Eren and gestured back towards the hallways. "Y-yeah… come on."

They left the room, with Armin and Mikasa silently following at their heels. The door shut behind them with a loud thump.

Once the last of the members from the 104th were gone, Erwin turned to Yavena. "Find these children somewhere to rest. We'll figure out accommodations for them when we're back on the ground, as I believe it to be rather obvious that we cannot simply return them to Marley after what they've learned today. Then come back here, if you would. There are things I should discuss with you, Hange, and Levi alone."

Yavena nodded curtly and replaced her hands upon Falco's and Gabi's shoulders. They did not put up much fight this time around; it seemed as though the news that their War-Chief was a traitor had shaken them to their very core.

Angry though she was for their efforts in harming Sasha, there was a tiny part of her that could sympathize with the shock. After all, if it had turned out that Erwin had been a double-agent for Marley the entire time, then… well, she would certainly be less than functional.

"Are you hungry?" she asked through a clipped voice.

Gabi did not reply—whether it was still out of lingering shock or anger Yavena could not tell. But Falco glanced hesitantly up at Yavena and said, "A little."

There was something about Falco that intrigued her: a surprising lack of hostility, considering what he had just witnessed and been through. Yavena herself had made a death threat to him while he and Gabi were leaning out that accursed window, and yet… there was no hatred in his eyes, no blatant loathing. Unless he was an actor of Reiner's skill level, he truly wasn't angry.

Perhaps it was because he was young and didn't yet know what was going to happen, or perhaps he was simply so goodhearted that he couldn't bring himself to reciprocate the hate that everyone else had grown up knowing. Either way… Yavena couldn't bring herself to be cruel to a person like him.

"All right," she said, squeezing his shoulder lightly. Falco did not flinch underneath her touch. "I'm going to bring you two to a room and lock it. I'll be back with a few rations and blankets. And in case it wasn't obvious: don't bother trying to escape. There's nowhere for you to go, unless you fancy a chance at flying."

Gabi grumbled under her breath, but nothing comprehensible.

True to Yavena's word, she escorted them inside a room of steel that would have plenty of room for two. She set two soldiers to guard the doorway before returning to the cargo-hold and grabbing two rations each, although she was accosted by a number of her soldiers desperate for news on Sasha's welfare.

"We can't say anything for certain yet," said Yavena, brokenhearted and concerned once again at the reminder of her friend's fate. "She's still breathing. That's all I know."

No one seemed to want to press their Section-Commander for further details, a small thing that Yavena was grateful for. With the packages of food in her fists, she left her soldiers and dropped off the food—Falco even waved at her as she shut the door—before returning to the cockpit of the ship.

She could've gone to the medical bay, but… Yavena wasn't sure she'd be able to keep herself together if she did. For now, knowing that Sasha had lived this far was enough.

By the time Yavena returned to the front-most portion of the ship, Yelena and Zeke Jaeger had been escorted out of the room. Now it was only Erwin, Hange, and Levi waiting for her arrival.

"The kids are being guarded by Kanen and Edan." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair—and promptly frowned as she remembered one side of her hair was much shorter now than the other. "They should be all right until we reach the island, though I've no idea what to do with them now that they're here."

"We'll figure that out later. For now, there is something I should reveal to you; something I've kept secret until now," said Erwin. He stood tall, the way he always did. "I apologize for not confiding in you of this information, but I did not wish for the news to compromise the mission. Nevertheless: the Premier and Nile Dawk were less than pleased to hear of our attack plans on Liberio, but were unwilling to forbid us from traveling to Marley considering our need to return Eren home. This much, you know. What I have kept from you is that they have threatened to imprison myself and Eren upon our return, should we enact the attack upon the city that would solidify the alliance of all other countries against us."

Both Hange and Yavena yelled in shock and outrage, fury poignant upon their faces in mere milliseconds. Levi had locked up, cold anger emanating off of his body in waves.

"How can they possibly deny the fact that if we didn't attack, we'd be in a much worse off place!" bellowed Yavena, uncaring of the fact that she should probably keep her voice down. "After what we reported on our infiltration a year ago, the hatred the entire world harbors for us… they're willing to imprison you? You and Eren are the reasons we've made it this far!"

Erwin chuckled, though the sound was slightly forced. "It does not seem the Premier follows our line of thinking. He is insistent upon the idea that a passive approach would be the more… prudent… of our options. But I have ensured that your involvement in this plan is minimal, so that way none of you will pay the price of insubordination. Thus you may continue to run the Scout Regiment for the next undisclosed period of time."

Yavena froze, all the air depressurized from her lungs. He had not yet said it, but she knew what Erwin was getting at. She had long suspected that the day would come, but… after everything that had happened, all the years she had now been a Section-Commander, she still did not want it to.

Then again, that was how she had felt about first becoming a Captain as well.

But still. There was no ignoring the way her heart pumped within her chest, how an invisible weight had just settled atop her shoulders. Yavena could almost feel them now—the hundreds of pairs of eyes fastened upon her face, all awaiting her next set of orders.

"Erwin," she said, her mouth dry, "is there nothing we can do to keep you out of the cells?"

The Commander was still for a moment… and then he answered, "I am uncertain. There is a chance I will be able to convince them once again in my report to the importance of our strike this evening, although I will not place much hope in it. Yavena—I recommend that you take the rest of our journey to think and prepare for the next steps of the Scout Regiment. If I am to be arrested and removed from duty, I am leaving you as the Fourteenth Commander of the Scout Regiment."

She nodded, though the gesture was hollow. Her words were more automatic than she would've liked upon saying, "Of course. I'll do everything I can to follow in your steps, Erwin."

"Don't follow my steps. Forge your own," said Erwin. He smiled slightly and placed his hand upon her shoulder: calloused, warm, supportive. "I will go prepare for the report I must give the Premier, the Queen, and the other military leaders. Take this time to relax while you can. We have a long road ahead."

With that, the Commander nodded towards his three officers and exited the cockpit, a weight to his steps that wasn't there a few minutes before.

Yavena sank into the bench once he was gone. Shock and uncertainty had taken over most of her body, washing it in something reminiscent to cold water. Everything in the last few hours had fallen into chaos… and if Erwin was arrested on the morrow, then it would be her job to clean it up.

She was so busy juggling these thoughts and her difficult job of maintaining her composure that Yavena didn't notice Hange and Levi had moved until she felt Hange's hand upon her knee.

"We're with you all the way," said Hange, and their brown eyes were filled with such sincerity there was no way to doubt they spoke anything but truth.

"Thanks." Yavena smiled at Hange and wrapped her fingers around their own. "I just have no idea how I'm going to keep all this together…"

A few careful fingers trailed through her hair—Yavena blinked and began to turn around to see what Levi was doing, but his other hand carefully yet firmly kept her head locked in place. "Don't move. I'm fixing this mess."

Yavena couldn't help but laugh slightly at this; she had almost forgotten about his promise to clean up the sheared portions of her hair from her earlier fight against the War-Hammer. She sat still, keeping Hange's hand within her own, reveling in the soft moments of trust between her two greatest friends while she still could.

For a long moment, all that Yavena could hear were the engine's hums and the sounds of soldiers shouting from the cargo-hold. Her eyes fell to the ground; Levi was taking off a few centimeters of her hair, though it was obvious he was trying not to cut it too short. They both liked it longer, after all.

After a number of minutes of contented silence, Levi finally finished with the chore. He allowed her hair to fall against her back again—shorter than it was, but still the long, straight style that Yavena preferred. Right when she was about to thank him for his help, however, Levi spoke. "No matter what happens—I will follow where you lead. Anywhere you take the Scout Regiment, I will be there. I made you promises, just as I have with Erwin. And I will see them through."

Yavena swallowed hard and looked back to her husband, the corners of her mouth trailing upwards in gratitude. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against his own for but a fleeting moment before retreating again and saying, "Thank you. I will need you… both of you."

She turned back to Hange, who was waiting for her with a smile.

"We'll have your back," they promised. "It's been twenty years of us standing together, Yavena, and I anticipate there being many more."

Although the morning would bring both tension and answers to questions that Yavena would prefer had never been asked, she could at least have that moment in time to steel herself for when the dawn would rise.

Sasha's death really gutted me, so... I said, "No thanks, we're going to pass on those alligator tears today. At least in some capacity."

Thank you again for reading, everyone. I see all your follows, favorites, and comments, and they never fail to make my day. :) You guys are the best. I hope you're all having wonderful days; please take care of yourselves as always!