Author's Note: Just a little longer! Not quite the reunion you're waiting for yet, but next chapter I swear. Hopefully you will enjoy this one in the meantime.
The noise was like the roar of a wave, rolling across the ocean but never reaching the shore. Addie had no idea what the sound could be, but this overwhelming sense of dread from the unending rumbling could only be from a coming storm that would change the world forever.
At one point she believed she fainted and had this weird dream. She found herself in a desolate place with nothing but sand for miles. All she could see was a black sky above her and the blue shadowed ripples of the sand dunes around her. She seemed to be sitting in a giant crater of sand, cut off from everything and everyone even in this terrible place.
There was a voice, but she could not recognize it. The garbled words were impossible to understand, and the rumbling noise from the real world further distorted the voice that seemed to come from the dark sky in this nightmarish place.
Addie awoke drenched in sweat and suffering an almost unbearable headache. She finished the water from the pitcher on the small round table beside the bed drinking straight from it rather than bothering with a glass.
Little rivulets of the cool liquid ran from the corners of her mouth and soaked the front of her dress. She did not care as it cooled her off further. There was no one to impress or act proper for out here anyway. Wiping the back of her mouth with her hand, she realized there was no need to care about what was proper or "right" anymore. Things were all screwed up and a damn hopeless mess.
Getting up, she decided to search the little cabin. There were two rooms. The one she was in served as the bedroom and living room area with a bed, a chair, and the little round table beside the bed. There was a trunk at the end of the bed with a few pieces of clothing in it. They were obviously Eren's; another one of the black hooded jackets he seemed to favor, a pair of pants, and a white shirt with little strips of leather lacing the opening at the neck.
The other room looked like it could be something akin to a kitchen with another bigger square table and a stand alone cupboard. A bucket full of water sat in the middle of the table which led her to believe there was a well or a river nearby.
There was a little food in the cupboard. Potatoes, carrots, onions, and even a couple of apples. Addie grabbed one of the apples and took a big bite while looking at the labels of the canned goods. There was enough for a few days, but she would have to leave here soon.
Somehow she had the feeling no one would be coming for her. The thought of starving to death while wandering around lost in the forest, or worse yet running into Floch Forster again, terrified her but there were no other options.
Inside the soot covered stone fireplace there was a big metal hook complete with a black cast iron pot hanging over where the fire would be. Chords of wood were stacked on the hearth in case she wanted to build one. She did not. Maybe later. She could fix herself a nice vegetable soup.
She wondered if Eren used this place as a safe haven for himself, a place to run to when he just needed to think and not listen to everyone else's opinions. But he could never escape the voices in his head, the tragedies of the past and the angst riddled thoughts of the future.
Plopping back down on the bed, Addie contemplated her next move. She had been unconscious during her transport here, but she believed the place he had brought her from was to the west. At least she assumed it was to the west since she had seen the airships and paratroopers in that direction along with the Titan transformations of who could only have been Eren and Reiner.
Obviously Eren had brought her out here by himself. She was positive Forster would have been here right quick and in a hurry to kill her if he knew her whereabouts.
"Oh, Reiner, where are you?"
~\'/~
When the rumbling stopped, everything became disturbingly quiet. No birds sang. There were no forest animals scurrying through the underbrush or deer grazing on the soft luscious grass in the clearing. It was as if they all sensed the danger and fled, but to where?
While out searching for the river, Addie would swear she heard gunshots. Just a few low little pops like the sound of a child's pop gun toy when the a cork in the end of the barrel is ejected by pushing the plunger. Once she finally found the water source, she hurriedly filled the bucket and ran all the way back to the cabin hoping she would not get turned around and lose her way. Miraculously, she did not.
Occasionally she would hear more of the faint little pops, carried through the forest on the breeze while she explored the area during the day. Sometimes she would swear she heard voices brought to her ears on those same little gusts of wind. Citing it as wishful thinking born of loneliness and fear, she convinced herself that she was not losing her mind.
A few days later, she opened the final can of stewed tomatoes. Pouring it and the absolute last can of food which happened to be corn into the pot, she prepared what remained of the food for what she hoped was not her final meal.
After her meager little dinner, Addie decided she should take a walk to the river for a bath. Opening the trunk, she took out the set of clothes she had found inside. Even if they were Eren's, they were clean, and they would have to do.
The water was freezing cold, but she did not care. She wanted to get clean. It had been days since she had last bathed, and she was sure that by now someone could find her by following the stench.
Her nerves were so on edge she felt as if her entire body shaking, sizzling with a nervous energy and having nothing to do with the frigid water. Tomorrow she would have to set out toward the city. She had no weapons, nothing to protect herself except her own two fists. She had not had to use them in a while. At least the hard work on the farm had kept her strong.
Any extra room that might have been in the pants was easily taken up by her burgeoning belly. Besides, she should not feel bad or fat because Eren was extremely slim albeit muscular man. Her face heated with the recollection of the few times she had seen him shirtless.
In contrast, Reiner was thick and wide. She would swear his prominent pecs made his chest bigger with more to hold than her breasts which she had never considered small. Self-consciously, she snatched the shirt over her head to cover her breasts which had actually grown a little bit bigger already with her pregnancy.
Picking up the smelly dress, Addie decided she would burn it in the fireplace upon her return to destroy it not only due to the odor but to get rid of any traces of herself in the cabin. The ends of her wet hair soaking the shoulders of her shirt making her shiver in the night air.
On her way back, she heard voices. Loud and angry. People arguing. She was positive she heard people that time, and it was definitely not her imagination. Rather than running toward them though, she ran back to the semblance of safety offered by the cabin.
Dumping the dress at the door and hopping onto the bed, she cowered in the corner with the pillow hugged to her chest. She was not sure when it happened, but she had become a big coward. Maybe it occurred when she was brought here to Paradis because she was too far out of familiar territory, exposed to dangers and madness she had never experienced in her life in Marley.
She chuckled dryly, mirthlessly, when she realized she had foolishly thought nothing could be worse than the insanity of her father, of how the Marleyans thought and acted as a whole. But she had learned it could get worse; a whole lot worse and far scarier than she would have ever believed.
Pressing her forehead into the soft material of the black pants covering her knees, she rocked back and forth on her behind. Why she had become a coward bent on self-preservation was not so mysterious. She was pregnant. Although people had always counted on her and needed her for help and healing, and even protection, in her job as a nurse, never before had those human beings been a part of her. This was far different because it was her child. Hers and Reiner's.
And what if she never saw Reiner again? This baby was the only part of him she had left to hang on to. There was too much at stake, too much to lose, if she got killed or worse yet, something happened to their baby.
Addie finally cried herself into a short fitful sleep. She awoke with a start, afraid and not sure why, unable to remember the fevered dream she had been having. The cabin felt too small and too stuffy, prompting her to go outside so she could breath again.
Looking up to the sky, she could see it had turned a light gray with the impending dawn. She would have to suck it up, push past the fear, and leave soon. Although she would be walking for who knows how long, she walked in circles around the cabin.
On her fifth circuit, she heard a twig snap, broken under a footstep. She halted immediately like a spooked deer, her irises dilating and drawing in every bit of the dim early morning light making things much brighter than they actually were. On high alert, her ears picked up the sound of someone walking despite it being on the lush grass and soft dirt of the forest floor. They took heavy, deliberate steps, purposeful as if on a mission. Or possibly they were just upset and trying to walk it off.
More twigs cracked underfoot followed by shushing sounds as the person pushed through the bushes and low limbs. They were headed toward the cabin. Frozen in abject terror, unable to move except to turn her head toward the approaching stranger, Addie could no longer hear anything but her own heart thrumming, her pulse beating against her eardrums.
Suddenly, the person burst through the brush, revealing themselves. Jean Kirstein! He was dressed in a uniform with a green overcoat and knee high brown leather boots. It was the same one Floch Forster had been wearing. He looked like a dream and a nightmare all at the same time.
His eyes which had been narrowed with fury opened wide after seeing her. His tense face slackened and drained of color. His lips were no longer pressed into a thin line of anger, parting as his jaw dropped.
"Addie?" he breathed in shock and awe. Like her, he was unsure if the person he was seeing was merely an illusion.
"Oh, my God, Jean," she gasped.
He was real! And he was standing right in front of her. Somehow managing to find the ability to move, she rushed forward, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Oh, my God, it is you!" she cried out, joyful tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Addie," he whispered, slowly enclosing her body with his arms as if afraid she might disappear in a puff of smoke.
Once convinced she would not vanish, his arms tightened around her, lifting her from her feet and swinging her around.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," she said when he set her down on her feet in front of him.
"I can't believe you're really here! I'm so glad you're alive!" he exclaimed, pushing her wet hair away from her face so he could get a good look at her. "Oh, my God, it's so good to see your beautiful face."
Addie giggled, her face heating with a self-conscious blush. "I could say the same thing about you."
She pressed her hands to his cheeks, taking in their warmth through her cold palms. Her eyes met his which were still wide with surprise as they skimmed over her face.
"How did you...why are you...what?" He could not get out a full question because so many were running together at once, begging to be asked.
"Oh, Jean," she said, her voice nothing more than a rasp. Tears continued to stream down her cheeks, dripping from her chin unchecked.
"Addie, don't cry," he begged her, tears brimming at his lower eyelid.
"I'm just so..." Her voice failed her, but she forced a smile to her quivering lips. "I'm just so happy to see you."
Neither one of them really expected what happened next. Addie pushed up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, but he turned his head to catch her lips with his. Desperate for comfort, thrilled to see a familiar face, she pressed her lips to his to express her happiness.
The kiss was brief, but their embrace lingered. Jean continued to hold her while she cried with both rapture and relief. He allowed his own tears to fall, not ashamed to cry after everything they had been through the past several days - especially what he went through last night.
Jean did not feel an ounce of guilt for kissing her. Besides, it would be one more way to piss off Reiner. That asshole probably still carried a torch for Historia anyway and deserved to feel a little bit jealous or even downright hurt.
He had no doubt Reiner confessed to Addie about Historia. However, he doubted she knew exactly how infatuated he had been with her and might still be. How much would it hurt her if she knew?
Jean could not possibly care less about Reiner's feelings. After what he did, everything he did, Jean wanted hurt Reiner in all sorts of ways.
"Come back with me. There's a group of us," Jean said, loosening his arms from around her. Standing up straight, he looked down at her as she turned her chin up so she could see his face.
"Who?" she asked.
You wouldn't believe it if I told you, he thought but said, "Come on. Let's go. I need to get back. I'll tell you on the way."