Chapter 7
The next day, Armin and the others are accompanied by the queen, as the queen states that she's going to visit an old friend, and Armin and the others are good enough to accompany her. Despite the Yeagerists' protests, they reluctantly agree to let Historia go with them.
When they arrive in front of the Coordinate Village, Historia asks, "So this is the place you're talking about? This Coordinate Village?"
Armin nods, "Yes, this is the Coordinate Village, where the Titan shifters are living. And the wall is not that thick, meaning there are no Colossal Titans inside. Just the Hardening."
Just before they can knock on the door, they hear the sounds of the ODM gear. They turn around to find that up in the trees, some people with cloaks are swinging around until they get into the walls.
"Was that..." Jean gasps.
"The ODM gear..." Connie mutters.
On the other side of the wall, Petra, Fay, Marco, and Colt jump back down and Fay says, "The Queen has arrived."
"Okay, we'll open the door." Eren says as he walks towards the door and opens it. "Your highness."
"Eren..." Historia steps forward and punches him in the arm hard. Eren groans a little as he remembers a few years ago, she did the same thing to Captain Levi. Everyone behind her is also shocked to see Historia trying to punch the devil that almost destroyed the world, and their expressions were just the same as the time when Historia tried to punch Levi.
"I think I deserved that." Eren sighs. "Long time no see."
"I can't believe you're still alive..." Historia then hugs him, "I thought you were gone... I thought Mikasa beheaded you to stop the Rumbling..."
Eren sighs as he says, "I might be suicidal, but I never stayed down for long."
Historia huffs a little before giving a slight laugh, and Jean walks forward, "Yeager."
"Jean Kirstein." Eren stares at him. "Been a while."
"Can't believe you're still alive." Jean grabs his collar and says. Eren sighs as he swiftly pushes his hand out of the way.
"I guess you're still the same." Eren says as he turns to Connie. "And good to see you as well, Connie."
Connie also gives him a slap and says, "Yeah, good to see you still alive."
"Anyway, I'm sure the others will definitely want to see you again, just come in." Eren says as he leads them in, and they are surprised to see a small training village with houses, a farm, and also training grounds.
"Damn it... Marco! I was supposed to hit that target!" At the shooting grounds, Sasha and Marco are competing who gets the most targets.
"Looks like you're too slow on that one." Marco says as he tries to shoot the other target, only for Sasha to hit it first. "Take that."
Eren says, "Sasha. Marco." When Eren calls them, they turn around to see him bringing the others. Connie says, "Sasha, is that really you?"
Sasha sighs and gives a smile, "It is nice to see you again, Connie."
"Marco... glad to see you still alive." Jean says to Marco.
"Same here, Jean." Marco says with a smile as the two of them share a brotherly hug. "Glad to see you doing well."
At the farm, Eren also brings others, and they see Mikasa, Frieda, and Colt working at the farm. "Colt..." When Reiner calls him, Colt looks up and gasps, "Reiner, Pieck."
He walks towards them and says, "Good to see you again."
Pieck asks, "So...um, how are you? Are you doing fine here in Paradis?"
Colt sighs, "Never been better. Training with these guys is kinda fun, though I never thought I would eventually become a Titan. Now that it is not for becoming the Honorary Marleyan but to protect the ones we care about."
"I see." Reiner says. "Did Falco know you're alive?"
Colt frowns, "I did get to talk to my parents, but I wanted them to keep a secret from Falco about me being alive. Maybe because of the fact I'm still a Titan shifter."
At the same time, Historia manages to meet Frieda again, and they also share a sibling hug. Historia says, "It is good to see you again, sis."
"Me too." Frieda says, "Look at you, you're now the queen, and you have been much more ladylike since I saw you last time."
Historia sighs, "Yeah... being a queen is not that easy. And about our father... I'm sorry."
"I understand." Frieda says, "When I inherited the Founding Titan, I thought I could fight against the vow of renouncing war, but I was also affected by it in the end if it wasn't for Eren's father. I failed my father, and I also failed everyone. But I'm still glad I got a second chance to meet you."
Historia smiles and she turns to Eren, who is standing by Mikasa's side. "Eren... thank you. For bringing back my sister, and also for everything to protect the island..."
Eren frowns, "Please don't. What I did... my actions don't deserve any thanks..."
Historia shakes her head and says, "I don't want to pretend the Rumbling was anything but evil, but it was a necessary evil for Paradis, and it was the path we chose. I supported you, Eren. I chose to let you commit this act when I could have done something to stop you."
This causes Mikasa, Armin, and Annie to gasp a little, they didn't know about this. Historia says, "Back then, I always thought what it felt like for you, to do something that you hated, and trying to find another way that resulted into nothing... I admit I was selfish, I didn't want any children to eat their family just to die 13 years later, and I'll be happy to see my daughter growing up and become what she wants to be."
Eren feels his face becoming wet, and Historia continues, "So Eren... I know I chose myself over the world for selfish reasons, but I don't think I could have gone through the 50-year plan after all...so I wanted to thank you for what you've done."
"I see..." Eren says, "But it is just like I said, my actions don't deserve any thanks, in fact, I also wanted to thank you as well, for keeping everything a secret."
Historia frowns a little, and then she asks, "So how were you still alive? Everyone told me that they killed you..."
"I did die, just like everyone here in these walls." Eren says, "But when I woke up, I found myself in the Paths. The Founder Ymir revived me and created the final Titans for the 8 of us before leaving. The cruse of Ymir is no more, and we were the last Titans. If we were killed, the powers will also disappear like us..."
Historia, Armin, and Annie can only stare at him with shock, and Historia says, "I'm glad you came back, I was… so mad when I learned they killed you. You never told me you'd die."
"I never wanted to die." Eren admits. "I kept wishing there could be another way, but… we never found one, and then I had to die so the Titan powers could end. That's why...I let them kill me... That way, the Titan powers will cease to exist, or that's what I thought until this happened."
Everyone feels silent after hearing what he said, and Historia says, "Despite you're still a Titan, I'm glad you are able to live in the world without Titans trying to eat us... We lost so many people..."
Eren sighs, "I know... though sometimes, I still feel like I shouldn't be living. I killed so many people... So many of them were innocent… There were millions of children outside of Paradis, and I murdered most of them."
Everyone frowns at what Eren said, and Historia says, "I helped you, I could have stopped you, or I could have tried harder to find another path, but I was too selfish. I didn't kill them myself, but all that blood is on my hands too."
She gives a wry laugh and says, "I told you back at my father's chapel. I'm the worst girl who ever lived, but I'm still your ally."
Mikasa suddenly grabs Eren's arm, "You and Historia… you were allies..."
Eren turns to Mikasa with a frown, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you don't know."
"You told Historia what you were going to do. You were honest with her, but you lied to me." Mikasa says.
"Mikasa..." Eren says with a helpless tone, "I- I had to lie to you, you had to be the one to stop me-"
"No. You chose to tell Historia and not me, and then I had to." Mikasa says with tears in her eyes.
Everyone flinches at what Mikasa is saying, and Armin frowns as he remembers the restaurant incident.
"You made me kill you. You gave Historia a choice, but you never gave me one." Mikasa says. "I would also help you find a way-"
"I wanted better for you." Eren says as he starts to think if he dragged Mikasa into the mess he made, he will never forgive himself. "You thought I was controlled by Zeke-"
"I wanted better for you too!" Mikasa says. "I almost chose you over the world even at the end. I wanted to. If you hadn't shown me that vision in the Paths, if I hadn't known it was what you wanted, I might have. All I ever wanted was to be with you, Eren. All I wanted was to bring you home, but you wouldn't let me. You said you never had any choice, and… you made it so I didn't, either."
Eren frowns, he knows that he was unable to fight his own fate, he wanted to protect the ones he cared about, but he also hurt them. He betrayed everyone even though it is for their own good, and it was all because he gave into a future that was decided in advance.
"I'm sorry...Mikasa..." Eren also closes his eyes, trying not to let his tears come out. "I never wanted to hurt you as I did, but… I still did, I still hurt you, even though you... you've always been… the most important thing to me."
Mikasa turns to face Eren, who then gives her a hug, "I can't change what I've already done, but… I can make better choices in this life. I will never hurt you again."
"You'd better... losing you hurt the most out of anything. I don't want to lose you again..." Mikasa says.
"You won't. I told you I'm not going anywhere without you. I'm never leaving you again." Eren says.
Eren likes the feeling of embracing her like this, holding her in his arms and comforting her, protecting her. He just wishes that he wasn't always the reason she ends up in need of comfort.
Everyone can only stare in silence, even Sasha and the others, all of them. They are so focused on the love drama that they didn't realize Fay, Petra, and Erwin returning. Fay asks, "Um... did we miss something?"
And here is a new chapter, as you can see, not only did Historia and the others manage to see Eren and the others again, but I also decide to have another conversation with Mikasa and Eren that causes them to be honest with each other. I hope you like this chapter and the next chapter will be the rest of the conversation.
