A/N: There is a crucial and significant edit I am thinking of making to a past chapter after reflecting on it. Either that, or just wait for the Final Draft to address my issue with it. I made a few small edits prior to posting this chapter, but it is one of the many things that should be getting entirely reworked in the Final Draft. If I can find a way to improve it before then I sure will.

Chapter XVII: Free

I don't know what to do in my mind
But I believe in your mighty heart
Whenever I lose control,
your soul always brings me back

Night had fallen and The Cart Titan needed an understandable break, but that was merely traveling at a slower pace and not a full on stop to take a real rest. Even in Titan form, her stamina was limited after running at full speed for a considerable amount of time. Still, she had to keep moving. They had no way of knowing whether anybody would immediately be in pursuit of them, so it was imperative they kept moving if they could. The enemy forces suffered heavy losses and it was unlikely Zeke's group would be caught up with, but there was no point in getting careless with their time.

Nobody had said anything for hours; the silence had gone from slightly uncomfortable to just being an accepted thing at this point. What was there to be said anyway?

Reiner's body had fully regenerated but he was still unconscious while Priss kept him held to her chest, never faltering for a moment in her task to keep him close to her heart. Her arms were tired, but she could mostly rest his weight against her own body as she leaned against the inside of the cart rather than hold his body upright for hours on end. Unfortunately for her aching muscles, the night was cloudy and the moon was obscured. Priss thought maybe if she had the lunar light her arms wouldn't be so tired, but luck with the weather wasn't on her side in terms of tapping into her passive otherworldly ability. She would really enjoy laying down for a nap herself, but she refused to move until Reiner was awake.

"Uggh..."

The sound of a weary groan coming from Reiner snapped her to full attention, "Reiner? Are you ok? How are you feeling?" She frantically asked.

"Heh," He laughed lightly as he looked up to her, managing to crack a smile for her, "Much better now."

Being nestled nice and cozy in the ample chest of his lover was pretty good on it's own, but it wasn't just that... During the time where he was barely conscious, the thing he could most focus on was the sound of her heart; the hard and strong beat that brought him back.

"Thank God..." She sighed in relief, followed by a kiss to his forehead.

"What about you?" He asked.

"Me?" She spoke, a bit confused, "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

He let out an amused scoff as if the answer was obvious, "I haven't seen you at all since the other day. Couldn't help but worry when I didn't know anything happening on your end, and..."

"And?" She pressed.

"I noticed your heart was beating like crazy when you told me to listen to it earlier," He explained, "I slipped in and out of consciousness over the hours, and eventually it slowed to a normal pace, but I can't help but wonder if something had you upset or worked up at first. I couldn't really tell what was going on around me at all except for hearing the beat of your heart."

"Oh..." She murmured as she thought back to the events that transpired just prior to their reunion. She glanced over to Zeke who was very much within earshot even though they sat in the corner furthest away from where he was positioned on the Titan's head, "...It was just your boss being a real piece of shit again. I mean, as usual."

Zeke shouldn't have been stunned by her flagrant shit talking directed at him but it caught him a bit off guard in that moment regardless – he hoped in some wild delusion that she'd just let all that go and not bring it up again, but no, Priss lives for two things: Loving Reiner and trashing Zeke any chance she got. The Warchief didn't know how to interject at this point though so he just chose to keep listening in since they weren't making an effort to go unheard.

"I see..." Reiner replied. He was well aware of Zeke's weird behavior at this point and how poorly it mixed with Priscilla's personality; it didn't 'mix' at all really, it was a full on constant clash.

"Yeah it was kind of absurd," Priss went on, "Even before he showed up to get me and started doing weird shit everything was a bit crazy while I was alone in Hyperia. I read more things since I had nothing better to do and it was just... just a lot to take in."

"Huh... Maybe we should just leave talking about all that later, no point in digging up something unpleasant so soon, right?"

He gave her a certain look that she easily read and thus responded with an unspoken acknowledgment of her own. While what he said was true, he also meant that they'd be better off waiting until they were truly alone before they got to any serious talking – and she couldn't agree more.

However, there was a burning question he couldn't ignore, but for asking this one he did his best to keep his voice low, "...What happened to your clothes? Why are you just wearing Zeke's coat?"

"I washed them in a river since.. well, it's been a while and all," She explained quietly, then motioned to the pile of her still somewhat wet garments nearby, "He showed up while I was having a bit of a bath... and he actually made an effort to be a decent human being... offered me his coat to wear since I couldn't wear my soaked clothes."

Reiner looked slightly shocked – to hear her say something somewhat nice about Zeke was stunning enough in itself, but Reiner was more surprised that Zeke managed to be somewhat of a good person after all the inappropriate behavior he'd witnessed from his boss. Priss wouldn't give Zeke the satisfaction of hearing her say that though, so she had made sure to keep her voice as low as possible.

"So can we consider the hatchet officially buried?" Reiner asked, his words ripe with sarcasm.

"Not even a little bit," She assured him with a smirk before her expression softened again, "But like you said, the rest of what happened while we were apart... we'll save that for another time."

"Of course," He agreed, "Maybe we should get more comfortable for now and just relax."

Priss tilted her head, "You aren't comfy?"

"Oh I'm great, trust me, but you must have been sitting in this same position and holding me for hours at this point..."

"Well, you're right... My back hurts, my arms are weak..." She rattled off, "But it was worth it."

"Well then come here, you..."

Reiner adjusted himself so he sat straight up on his own, moving off of her and effortlessly pulling her onto his lap facing him. He moved easily even with her weight on him so that he now sat against the cart and he could support her as needed. Priss placed her hands on his chest, somehow his shirt was obliterated in the battle, and just slowly ran them across it for a bit – taking in the feeling of his strong body beneath her fingertips yet again along with savoring that precious skin to skin contact. Her hands traveled up to his shoulders after lingering on his pecs for a while, then promptly started to massage and knead her fingers carefully on the area between his neck and shoulders. She was focused on this task and fell into a bit of a trance as she went about massaging him for a while, so when Reiner suddenly let out a quiet laugh it surprised her. She looked up at him with confusion.

"You having fun?" He asked after he broke her focus, that handsome smile in full force making her melt on the inside.

"If I'm making you feel good then you bet I'm having fun," She replied with a sweet smile that got him melting too now.

They held each other's loving gaze for a long moment without saying anything more. Once that moment had passed, they both threw themselves into embracing the other tightly. He rested his head on her chest with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist while one of her hands made it's way to the back of his head where she played with his hair. Reiner closed his eyes and smiled softly as he once again was able to listen to her heart, something that he quickly had gotten himself attached to with how soothing it was. They stayed like that, quiet and content, for a long while until the silence was broken by a little whimper from Priscilla.

Reiner looked up to her where he saw tears in her eyes, "Priss? What's wrong?"

"I'm just..." She gasped softly. Despite the tears in her eyes, her expression wasn't one of sadness at all, "I'm so happy you're safe."

Reiner brought a hand to her face to wipe away her tears, he could easily support her weight with just one arm around her.

"I'm glad you're safe too," He replied as he thumbed away those tears of hers, "I was worried the whole time you were gone... I couldn't focus. I kept thinking maybe something horrible might happen to you and I couldn't do anything about it..."

She sniffled loudly once he took care of all the tears that had spilled from her reddened eyes, allowing him to go back to holding her around the waist with both of his strong arms. She tried to smile at him but she was having an awkward time with what she thought should be a simple task. Her mouth contorted, her nose and brows wrinkled along with it as she fought off more tears by trying to smile at him to let him know that she was fine, and that everything was going to be okay.

Watching her goofy attempt to pull herself together enough to offer him a loving and comforting smile made Reiner's heart nearly stop. His jaw fell open slightly and his eyes widened as he watched her with a sense of wonder, but once Priss noticed his odd reaction, her expression shifted to clear confusion.

"Uhhh..." She said, "Is something wrong?"

Reiner's face started to go pink, "N-No nothing's wrong! Not at all, it's just that..." He began, "Your face just now... it reminded me of when we were kids. After I took a beating from those bullies in your place you said you'd pay me back with anything I asked for... and I all I wanted was for you to smile at me."

Now Priss was the one who's eyes went wide and who's face full on flushed red – she knew exactly the moment he was talking about, it was a day that was etched in her memory forever. That was when she knew he was her be-all-end-all, she went from a homeless girl with no prospects in life other than survive by any means necessary to desiring a life where she could be with this sweet boy who had showed her kindness for no reason other than that he knew it was the right thing to do – no ulterior motive, no catch or anything like that, just sincerity.

"You... still remember that?" She murmured in amazement.

"Of course..." He responded quietly, "How could I ever forget the day I fell in love with you?"

"Huh?!" She exclaimed, "Really? All the way back then? That was the moment for me too but... I can't imagine why you would have..."

"We barely knew each other but with just a few small gestures you showed that you had genuine care for me... you tore off a bit of the only piece of clothing you had to wipe the blood from my face, asked if I was alright... you also said I was stupid for doing what I did, which was fair enough. Trying to go up against a group of older boys wasn't a smart choice, but how could I just pretend I didn't see anything and just walk away? ...But you pointing that out was another way of showing you cared, even if it was a scolding," He explained, "You may not think that sounds like it means all that much, but those brief moments really stuck with me... then when I got to see your cute smile, that sealed the deal."

"I know I wasn't very good at it," She laughed lightly in an attempt to fight back more tears, this time ones of happiness that were inspired by the overwhelming love between them as they shared in that memory, "but that's what my hero asked for in return for saving me, so I did my best."

"It was the best," He assured her, "Your smile will always be the best."

"Reeeeineeeeer..." She was getting all weepy again.

"And from that point on I wanted to be the one to make you smile. I had to work hard so I could be strong for you and make sure you kept smiling," He went on, "You have no idea how special the simple care and gratitude you showed me made me feel, Priss. That sort of thing was rare in my life at the time, and is just rare in this whole world... just like you yourself are rare."

Priscilla was about to break into a full out sob but the moment came to a screeching halt when an annoyed groan was heard from Zeke, followed by his very much unwanted opinion on the situation.

"Children don't understand being in love," He bitterly remarked.

"Ohh my GOD!" Priss yelled as both she and Reiner looked to him, "Can't you just mind your own business?!

"I'm just stating a fact..." Zeke added, looking over his shoulder to them – and oh the absolute contempt in that woman's eyes, but the rage didn't carry over into more yelling or screaming that was her typical modus operandi that he expected – he just saw her quickly lunge toward some small debris left over from the boulders he crushed against the battle with the Scouts that had fallen into the cart. It didn't register at first what she was doing, but once his head was pelted with a handful of rocks he got the message.

"You don't know us, Zeke..." She spat as she grabbed more and threw another volley at him, "Eat rocks, dickhead!"

The Warchief winced as he was hit by her tiny barrages. Sure, he wasn't being legitimately harmed, but the sting of the irony of his own battle tactic being used against him and the physical pain was annoying all the same. He turned forward again and shook his head; there truly was no escaping her wrath, but he had to hold out. Suffer a silly girl's torture now and reap the otherworldly benefits he was promised later. Exactly how much longer he had to wait was up in the air and he needed to reunite with her brother before anything could proceed at all, but enduring her volatile outbursts that, in his mind, were unwarranted was maddening.

"In case you two were too absorbed in your own obsession with each other," Zeke began in a loud and irate voice without turning to look back at them as he made his dramatic announcement, "Bertolt is dead."

It was true that neither of them noticed Bertolt's suspicious absence, the two of them were quite caught up in enjoying each other's presence. However, Priss didn't notice because she simply didn't care about Bertolt enough. Reiner, on the other hand, was shocked by this.

"...So... that means the enemy now has the Colossal Titan?" He asked, and he heard a hum of acknowledgment from Zeke in response, "And we didn't get the Founding Titan back either... I... I failed."

"And the Marleyan government won't take your failure lightly..." Zeke said, but before he could continue delivering a lecture to Reiner on how heavy the consequences for his failure would be, he heard the girl hurry to console him instead.

"It'll be okay, Reiner..." She assured him, "We've got each other and I love you, so it's alright."

Now this rubbed Zeke the wrong way to an intense degree. To a normal person, this would be just benign comfort, but he just couldn't contain his bitterness. He whipped around and shouted at her, "Who do you think you are, Ziegler?! Telling a Warrior that failure is acceptable just because he has your love? How dare you..."

Priss sighed deeply. Zeke again fully expected her usual style of tantrum that involved screaming and bitching for him daring to call her self importance out, but she had something more scathing in store for him, and from her plush lips came a calm yet still oh so smug sneer, "If only someone out there loved you. But you'll just be unloved and alone forever."

Her delightfully honest eyes displayed that Priss fully believed she had utterly destroyed him by throwing out a statement that was both barely relevant and aimed below the belt – but Zeke showed no trace of emotion one way or the other, he merely turned back around and kept silent. To her, this was a defeat for him; in her mind she had rendered him speechless and humiliated with her juvenile attack. Zeke was acting in his best interests by not responding at all, not even with twitch of expression on his face. He didn't feel particularly defeated, in fact he felt far from it, and his choice to not react proved to be the right move since Priss lost her interest in trying to bother him and went back to fawning over Reiner instead.

Things were quiet for a brief time as she got situated with Reiner once more, returning to his lap where she sat facing him as he laid his back against the cart just like she was sitting before she started her rock throwing. Priss inhaled and let out a deep sigh, causing her chest to rise and fall fast enough for there to be a tantalizing amount of jiggle right in front of him. Both of them were hot horny rascals for each other, there was no doubt about that, but he was the one who was getting all fired up first this time. He couldn't see her body entirely due to the large, loose coat, but there was enough skin visible to completely throw any other thoughts from his mind other than ones of her.

Honestly she didn't even need to be showing skin at all to spark that reaction in him, to have his mind completely fixated on this girl in any sense, but this was a guarantee right here. Reiner's eyes shifted to her face, and in her eyes he could see that she knew exactly what he was thinking about – the fact that he was getting hard was a dead giveaway.

"Heh..." He laughed lightly, "Glad that thing still works..."

Priss giggled in response to his silly comment, "Would be pretty weird if the only thing your shifter regeneration didn't repair was a dick that got critically damaged."

The two of them laughed together at the idea, bringing back much needed levity to the atmosphere. Once Priscilla's giggling faded, it was replaced by a silent and sweet smile as she looked him right in the eyes in her usual lovestruck way.

"What?" Reiner asked with a touch of amusement.

"Even if that was the case," She began, "I wouldn't be going anywhere, whether your dick worked or not... That sounds pretty silly when I say it out loud like that, but I'll be here by your side no matter what state you're in. In sickness and in health... those things are part of marriage vows, aren't they?"

"Haha, already planning those out huh?" He chuckled, then reached out slowly to her chest, not to go for a grope but he wanted to get yet another feel of her beating heart for a moment. He heard her let out a pleased hum when his hand made contact and started feeling around for the spot where he could best get the sensation he was searching for. Once his hand came to a stop, Priss raised one of her own hands to cover his with.

"That heart right there, that's yours..." She said.

He moved to grab her free hand with his other, and brought her hand to his chest, "And this heart of mine is yours."

The lovers stared into each other's eyes as they both felt the other's hearts beneath their palms, steadily increasing in pace as they lingered there.

"...This is what we should do," Priss said after the extended silence, "Do this during the wedding as part of the vows."

"Yeah, I like the sound of that a lot," Reiner replied with that comforting and warm smile he only ever gave to her. His loving smile always made her blush and grin stupidly no matter how many times she saw it, but she didn't look away from him because she was unashamed and not embarrassed of her openly strong emotions towards him.

After they lingered for a long moment feeling each of their heart beating beneath the palm of the other, Priscilla moved in close and gave him a tender kiss on the lips, raising her hands up to his face to hold him as she lingered there so they both could really soak in that moment. It objectively hadn't been a great deal of time since they last got to be intimate, but any time away from each other felt like ages and it was unbearable. Reiner's hand on her heart ended up moving to one of her breasts with her change of movement and he could feel her lips curl into a smile against his.

"Hehe..." She laughed softly as she pulled back just slightly, the sensation of his hand on her breast without even squeezing it or anything explicitly erotic was a delight. She felt Reiner's hardon twitch against her and let out another devilish giggle, "I can't leave that unattended..."

"Well y-yeah it's be ideal if we could do something..." Reiner whispered back, then glanced over to his Warchief who wasn't all that far from them, "But we're... we're just right out in the open here."

His sheepishness on this subject was always so cute to her and downright irresistible – well frankly they always found each other unbelievably irresistible, and on top of all that his actions were contradicting his words since he started to rub his thumb across her nipple, which drew a shudder of pleasure out of her. These two had no ability to contain themselves once something hot got going in some way, and the fact that he woke up with her mostly nude was a jump start to all this.

"I'm sure we can figure something out that we can do..." She said. Priss sat back slightly and opened up the coat enough so that he could see her, as much as he could in the night anyway. The moon was starting to peek out from behind the clouds every so often, illuminating the goddess on his lap.

"You could just do something for yourself, and that'll be good for me too," Reiner suggested.

Priss sort of got the idea and gave him a nod, she didn't really get what the specifics of this meant for him were but she trusted his words. To prevent himself from making a ridiculous mess in his pants, he quickly undid his fly and shifted things around so his dick could pleasantly plop out for her to rub herself against. She inched closer to him and put her arms over his shoulders to hold him like that before she started to go to town rubbing her clit against his cock. Another pleasured shudder came from her as she started to stimulate herself with the assistance of his body, and once that shiver passed through her a tiny smile appeared on her lips.

Reiner rested his hands on her hips so he could gently guide her along if she needed, and also just to feel her soft skin however he could. His own skin had the benefit of staying in great condition just due to his regenerative properties – no callouses, scars or roughness anywhere to be – but somehow hers felt so much better to him. He was formed of mortal, earthly flesh while it was more like she was constructed with artful care from something far more rare and precious; something untouchable like the light of the stars and moon. The idea that they both were just humans made of the same thing was hard for him to believe. She was a pure being made of light pulled from darkness that tried to suffocate and consume it. Light that was brought out from a dark place was the most powerful form of it, and the radiance she provided was one of the things keeping him going.

Reiner worried something such as she may be so fragile she could end up shattering if held too tightly. But the truth was that she would urge him to hold onto her as tight as he could and that it would make her feel the safest she could ever possibly be. Even out where they were, so openly exposed, she did not have a shred of fear or shame within her despite what they were doing. He didn't either – because he too was all consumed in the safety being with his lover provided.

Priss leaned forward and pressed her forehead against Reiner's. Her eyes were closed but she was still very much with him there in that moment. He must have gotten lost in his thoughts about her as he sensed she was rather close to hitting her climax, either that or she was getting to it quick for one reason or another – possibly being generally eager or the fact that the situation they were in now wasn't ideal for these activities – but at the same time, he felt like she was trying to hold out.

"If you want to... just go for it," Reiner whispered, "Don't hold yourself back."

Priss pulled her head back but threw her body as tightly against his as she could as she made her final push over the edge. Reiner had moved his hands from her hips to a full embrace around her once she made her shift in position. Despite him not technically receiving a great deal of physical stimulation, Reiner felt himself approaching orgasm in time with her. There was some strong bond cultivated in their deep love for one another that let him feel a sort of spiritual erotic connection on top of everything else they had in tune with each other. The fact that she felt good made him feel the same. He felt her power, and she felt his, and in this case it culminated with them both hitting their orgasms simultaneously. As their hips bucked and trembled, she drew her face back and gave him a deep kiss as the waves of pleasure ran through her.

The two of them managed to keep any grunting, moaning or other related noises fairly low key as their bodies shuddered against one another's – the kissing certainly helped muffle those sounds, but not completely. That familiar warm, thick cum ended up on both of their torsos like this, but it didn't matter much, especially when Priscilla scooted back, lowered herself and shamelessly cleaned his insanely ripped abs with her tongue where she made sure not to miss a single trace of that special substance of his. Once she was done, she looked up at him with a cheeky yet satisfied grin which made Reiner chuckle a bit. Content with her 'work' she sat back up properly so she could be eye to eye with him.

"I don't know how you got off too from just that..." She said, equally curious as she was happy, "But I'm glad you did."

"Maybe it's cheesy to say this, but I feel there's something very powerful shared between us... obviously not just with that... a shared power just being in love."

"It's not cheesy at all," She assured him, "Maybe to someone who doesn't get it, yeah then they'd think it's cheesy or silly. But I know you're right. This love we have is what makes us strong and so connected. I don't think there's anyone else in the world who could understand that."

"That's right," He agreed. Reiner could see the weariness in her face start to become more apparent now though – he was positive she could do with some kind of rest. He brought his hand up to her cheek, "Why don't you lay down for a bit?"

She laughed weakly, "I think I could go for a bit of a nap... not sure how to get comfy in here though..."

"Don't worry, I'll hold onto you this time," Reiner said without missing a beat, "Like you did for me."

Even with the growing tiredness evident in her eyes, hearing that sparked a brief glee in them too that shined through the sleepiness. The pair shifted around a bit so she was laid up against him like he was with her earlier, her head against his chest so she could get a good feel of his heart as she drifted off. Sleep took her quickly that night, only a few beats of his heart and she was out like a light. Reiner, being far more well rested than she was at this point, vowed to do exactly what she did for him: hold her while she slept until she awoke once more.

The morning sun had risen by the time the group had made it to yet another wall. A now weary Reiner looked down to his sleeping beauty laid against his chest; he felt guilty about waking her when she appeared to still be deep in slumber, but he believed she would want to be awake for this.

Reiner gave her a gentle shake and spoke softly, "Hey..."

Priscilla's eyes slowly opened to see her tired-eyed lover still holding her close to him. She realized he had done exactly the same thing she did: forgoing sleep for the sake of keeping the other comfortable. Sleeping in a hard wooden cart wouldn't be comfortable, so offering each other this kind of support seemed like the best choice for their situation.

Priss didn't take her eyes off him to take in their surroundings, but she had a solid guess about where they were, "Are we close? To the ocean?

"Any moment now, Priss. You're gonna see it. You excited?" He confirmed.

"Honestly, for a while I didn't think all that much about it... too many other things on my mind..." She admitted, "I don't think I had the time or energy to get excited for the beach and the ocean..."

"Heh, that's fair enough..." He chuckled, with that tinge of weariness in his voice. It didn't take long for him to come up with an idea that could make the experience even more special, "Maybe we should cover your eyes first."

"Oh! Yeah!" She exclaimed as she sat up at full attention, feeling suddenly very invigorated by his suggestion, "I'll close my eyes and you lead me out... It'll be fun!"

Priscilla's enthusiastic energy was hard for Reiner to keep up with at the moment since the man was sleepy from his keeping vigil, but he wouldn't say no to her, especially as simple a request as this. He had recovered his strength from his critical injuries by now and a little bit weariness from lack of sleep wouldn't deter him from making his lady happy. Priss closed her eyes as the Cart Titan made it's way along, but she felt it starting to slow soon enough. Once their steed came to a stop, Reiner scooped Priss up in his arms and carefully got out of the cart with her in tow. Zeke watched as Reiner carried Priss towards what laid beyond the final wall thinking that it was a dumb idea, even letting out a condescending scoff. To him, the ocean wasn't that big of a deal and he couldn't understand why this was apparently going to be something of an event for her at all.

As Reiner walked along, unfamiliar sounds started to fill Priscilla's ears. The noise his feet made as they hit the ground changed and a rhythmic "whoosh"-like sound got louder and louder. It wasn't long before Reiner came to a stop.

"I'm gonna put you down now, be ready..." He said.

Slowly they went, and when she had her feet on the ground again it sent a shock all throughout her body. Her feet were wet, that was incredibly obvious even without sight, and the ground beneath her felt completely foreign too. The water around her ankles wasn't stagnant either, it would flow away from her and then rush back over her feet again.

She still had her eyes closed, so Reiner gave her the official go ahead, "Open your eyes."

Once her eyes fluttered open, what she saw spread before her was unlike anything she could have ever imagined and it stole away the air in her lungs to see it. The expanse of water seemed endless; all she could see other than the ocean in front of her was the sun on the distant horizon that reflected it's light in glittering patterns in the water further out. The brightness of it made her squint her eyes as she gawked at the sight before her.

"...Hoooooly shit!" She finally exclaimed after just staring forward for a while, whipping her head to see Reiner, "That's the ocean?"

"Yep, that's the ocean." He replied with a warm smile. He could see the gears start turning in her mind, generating more thoughts before she finally launched into a full on deluge of questions in a single breath.

"Why is the water moving? What is this kind of ground? It feels weird and I can feel my feet sink in kind of and it's getting between my toes which feels weird. But not really bad-weird, so I guess it's ok... all I know is it's DEFINITELY not regular dirt, and there's more of it behind us but it looks different? Ohh how deep is the ocean? And this gritty ground stuff is on the bottom of it? Are there fish like in rivers and lakes? And Marley is on the other side of it? I can't see anything... Can I drink ocean water?"

"No drinking ocean water," He instructed with an amused laugh. Her excited cluelessness about this brand new environment was cute as hell, "It'll make you sick and I don't think anybody wants that."

"Oh, got it. Don't drink ocean. Don't wanna get sick," She repeated with a nod.

Reiner then went on to do his best to explain the other things she asked, but his answers ended up leading to more questions. Telling her the ground was sand – and how the sand she stood on was wet and the sand behind them was dry – just made her ask what sand was, telling her about waves and tides didn't do much to help her since she didn't have a concept of either of those, he had to make it clear that Marley was very very far away and that's why she couldn't see it – and of course she asked just how far away it was – and he had no concise way of explaining how much the depth of the ocean varied. As Reiner did his best to get through what she was asking, Zeke finally made his way to the shore too. He listened in on their conversation for a moment before choosing to make himself known.

"Giving her science lessons now, Reiner?" He asked dryly, but his words went ignored completely.

"Can we go a bit deeper in, Reiner?" She asked, however, Reiner wasn't sure about this request. Swimming in a lake was one thing, but her inexperience with how the ocean worked could prove troublesome. He worried she might get overwhelmed by the push and pull of waves if she got overly ambitious in how far they went, but as long as he guided her through it and didn't venture far, he chose to oblige her.

"Yeah, just not much further than this," He said. Discovering this awe inspiring piece of the world she had no comprehension of with her only love at her side was the only way she would want it.

"Hey!" Zeke shouted angrily when he picked up on what they were doing, "Don't do that, you'll get my coat all wet!"

This caused her to freeze before she even took a few steps forward from the ankle deep water. Her posture was first rigid from annoyance at him piping up at an unwanted time, but after a moment her body relaxed and she looked over her shoulder at him.

"...You're right, it would get all wet..." She agreed with a dark smirk.

In what seemed like a single swift motion, she stripped his coat off her body and sent if flying onto the dry sand behind her. Both he and Reiner were hit with an initial shock that she'd so easily strip back down to the nude, but when they considered who they were dealing with... it wasn't all that surprising. Just like Zeke experienced before, he saw no shamefulness or insecurity in her about being seen in such a way so openly. Reiner already got to see this lovely sight regularly, but Zeke didn't expect her to willfully expose herself again when he was around – the last time was not expected on either of their parts, but here she was now totally naked and wading out into the ocean hand in hand with Reiner with an aura of pride and power emanating from her.

They only went out far enough for the water to come up to their thighs, but that was more than enough. She was filled with such vigor, a level of it she rarely ever felt before, and it kept ramping up the more she took in her surroundings. The air, the sea, the sky, the sun placed in a seemingly endless expanse before her made her just want to start screaming or crying to let all the building emotion in her out. She stood tall and strong, holding Reiner's hand tightly while she clenched her free one. A determined smile spread across her face and her heart was racing at this point – this was the beginning of something great, her world was on the cusp of the biggest change ever and she was a bit scared, but it was just bubbling in her subconscious for now – Her fear was muted from the overwhelming sense of being free finally in was in her grasp, and that feeling was augmented by her lack of clothes. Others would think it would be uncivilized to conduct herself like that, but her own desire to be naked was a powerful way for her to flex the fact that she was free.

Reiner had been watching her face and he noticed the powerful look in her eyes that sparkled in the sun, "What's on your mind, Priss?"

"...Freedom," She murmured. The wind suddenly picked up and her long shimmering white hair flowed elegantly in it. She squeezed her lover's hand even tighter, prompting him to do the same – the hand that fit so perfectly in his; they were undeniably made to connect with one another and now they would be embarking on the next chapter of their story together.

...Meanwhile, Zeke shuffled over and picked up his coat from the sand where Priss had carelessly tossed it. When he stood back up straight, he held it in front of him to hide his awkward boner that was inspired by the naked pretty Priss.

"God I hope the ship arrives soon..." He whined under his breath.