A/N: Here's a fun fact, absurd typos and nonsense grammar that come through are because I spend a good amount of my time sedated, so it fucks with my writing ability and sometimes I just wanna post something without clear headed proof reading. I swear I'm not a HUGE idiot. I'm early this time.

Chapter 31: Official

Was I wrong to leave her by herself?

Zeke shuffled along through the crowded streets; with the way he carried himself, nobody would ever think he was the great Warchief of the Warrior unit, and in that moment, he really wasn't – that's how he felt anyway. Zeke Yeager wasn't a champion of great feats, he was just a sad man who had been shown just how horrible of a person he is. His one great achievement wasn't even something he could take credit for: managing to get Priss to her brother. Technically it was Reiner who got her on the path to Marley and Zeke merely got lucky.

As he walked along where the crowd started to thin a bit, he saw a discarded newspaper on the ground. It was a recent front page news story about the suspicious deaths of two men, with the headline stating the speculated cause was homicide. This wouldn't be noteworthy to Zeke at all if the photos of the men weren't extremely familiar.

"Those are..." He began as he stopped and picked up the paper to get a closer look and make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him, "The Marleyan soldiers who Priscilla got into a fight with."

It was no surprise the pair turned up dead, Anteros has his ways of finding things out and making certain things happen. A double homicide of two soldiers of low rank was a simple order for Anteros to fill – he was always careful not to be the one to get his hands dirty as well, which had been a long standing trait of his. When he killed his people, he used his mind to make themselves commit suicide. When it came time to kill his father, he ordered Zeke to do it as a way to prove his loyalty. His alliance with Willy Tybur only amplified his ability to get shit done without sullying himself with direct action, their friendship surely allowed for some political sway to be accessed by Anteros to some degree – a degree that was 'safe' and let him still be an existence in the shadows, just one that has a frightful amount of power.

Zeke shook his head and threw the paper to the ground again; two dead soldiers were not his problem, and remembering them only served as a painful trigger for one of the more brutal moments he shared with Priss. As short as their voyage on that ship was, it was plentiful in shameful memories. He marched away from the spot he paused on and shifted his thoughts onto what he could do now. Zeke was fully committed to getting Reiner and Priss legally married, those words of his weren't empty, but he knew he would have to report back to Anteros eventually to see what was going on. It felt more overwhelming than it probably would end up being, and the fact that he's helping the girl he just fell in love with get married to another man only makes it all feel so much worse.

Zeke had been far less than a virtuous man though, and this was his chance to do something truly honorable.

From within Reiner's childhood bedroom, Priss heard the front door of the house open and what could only be Karina returning home. She wanted to leap out of bed as fast as she could, but she still felt physically unwell, so she took her time and quietly made her way to the door and locked it.

I don't want anyone around right now

Once the bedroom door was locked, she let out a deep sigh and dragged her feet back to the bed where she carefully laid herself down onto her back. Instinctively, her hands came to rest on her stomach, but once she realized it, she pulled her hands away and laid her arms straight against her sides. Something felt wrong about putting her hands there now, irrational as it was, but it reminded her of the loss she had freshly suffered. She drew her knees up so her feet wouldn't uncomfortably hang over the edge of the bed frame, leaving her in an awkwardly stiff position – how could she possibly relax like this?

The girl was all alone with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company, and there was nothing happy locked away in her head for her to discover and revel in. He past 'happy places' were thinking about seeing Reiner, the baby or both, but now one of those options was out of the picture forever... and Reiner, she still had no real news on what was going on with him, and focusing on that was driving her nuts. Priss began to wonder if being alone really was the right choice for her right now since being by herself would be miserable – but who would she call out to? Karina and Priss have a relationship with a very strained undercurrent so she'd rather not involve the woman in this grave of a problem. Gabi was far too young to understand the ramifications of that day's event, but it's possible she wouldn't ask about it and would just provide innocent, distracting company. Reiner was out of the question, if he was available then she was confident Zeke would have let her know. It didn't leave much else to choose from; she would never go see her brother, but she wouldn't mind seeing Helen again, but that meant being caught in Anteros' clutches if she ventured out to try and meet Miss Tybur.

"What, should I have asked Zeke to come stay with me?" She dryly asked the empty room, staring towards the old wooden celing as if it would answer her back.

What was the deal with him anyway? She thought, still unmoving from her awkward stiff position. The way he was looking at me, how he spoke to me and just acted... That's not the Zeke I know.

Priscilla was at a crossroads, one path telling her he was being honest, while the other road told her he was up to something. Either way, she couldn't do anything about it in the state she was in – mentally and physically miserable – but she put the faintest amount of trust in that he would come if she called for help.

Zeke made haste to do his part and getting this marriage signed off on. It wasn't easy with the two parties being separate and absent, but he flexed his Warchief status a bit where he needed to. With the task left being to just get the two who are to be wed to sign off on it, he first sought out Reiner. Something in his gut told him that time was working against his younger comrade – he couldn't specify how or why he felt this way, but at that point he was into trusting his instinct when no other option was better than another.

When Zeke rounded the corner to where Reiner was being held, he saw two Marleyan guards closing Reiner's cell as the blonde wandered to the pitiful excuse of a bed to sit back down. The poor man was looking more and more worse for wear every time Zeke saw him.

"What's going on?" Zeke asked.

"The fate of this Warrior has been decided," One guard announced, "He'll be fighting on the front lines of the recently established war against the Mid-East Union, along with the rest of the Warrior unit. His life is spared for now, but if he fails to prove his worth in battle, then his power will be passed onto the next candidate."

"War against the Mid-East?!" Zeke exclaimed, "I haven't even heard about this yet."

"Well you would have soon, official briefing hasn't happened yet for you Eldian soldiers..." The guard went on, "Discussion on the conflict has been ongoing with higher Marleyan military officers, action will soon be taken for us to launch an all out offensive."

Zeke grit his teeth; he was frustrated with this new development, but he was in no position to complain, so he continued with what he set out to do,"Very well then, but I need something from my subordinate before you go and send him off."

The other guard scowled at Zeke, "You may be the Warchief, but you're still beneath us Marleyans. Who are you to give any orders here?"

"I just need him to sign something," Zeke said calmly, reaching into his long coat and pulling the documents from one of his spacious inner pockets, followed by a pen, "It's important and regards a legal issue, read it over if you don't believe me."

Reiner looked over at the commotion, his tired eyes revealing he hadn't been doing much sleeping at all – yet as tired as he was, the color of his eyes didn't seem to be any less vibrant. Zeke had unfolded and boldly thrust the various papers in the face of the closest guard, who could clearly see the seal of the Marleyan legal system and other markers indicating this was a legitimate official document.

"Alright, alright I'm not gonna read the whole damn thing," Said the annoyed guard, waving the documents away from his face, "What's the gist of it?"

"A marriage certificate."

Reiner's tired eyes widened and he perked up when he heard Zeke. They had discussed it previously, but with how grim things were presently for him, Reiner hadn't held on to any optimism – especially now that his 'sentence' was given to him. The chatter between Zeke and the two guards fizzled out into a dull white noise as Reiner thought back to Priscilla, whose visage was now more powerful given the hope Zeke had delivered to him. Reiner could only imagine what she had been up to; he lost track of how long it had been since they last saw each other – when you're stuck in a holding cell with next to no interaction with the world outside, you tend to lose track of time.

Reiner let his tired eyes close so he could picture her better. He missed everything about her: her glowing smile, her exuberance, the way she seemed to fit perfectly in with him in more ways than one, how she talked, what she talked about, the softness of her skin, the list goes on... there was a profound emptiness in Reiner's soul without her beside him. He would give anything in the world to see her before he left, if only to be able to hear her call him once by his name before leaving – or even better, to have her say 'I love you' one last time before he returns from his deployment, but just hearing her say his name would be good enough. He was so starved for her, but he didn't crave things from her in excess, just her voice and to see her. Those were what he absolutely needed right then and there, but even things so simple were out of reach...

"Reiner!" Zeke exclaimed, having come right up to the bars.

Reiner opened his eyes and sprang to his feet, jogging to get close to Zeke, "Yes, Warchief?"

"You know what to do," Zeke said, passing the papers and pen through the gaps to Reiner, "Any line marked with an 'x' is where you sign, or initial."

Reiner nodded and pressed the paper against the nearby wall as a hard surface to write on, scribbling his signature the best he could; his hands were shaking though, between knowing he was going to war and the adrenaline running through him now that Zeke pulled through with the marriage plan. The blonde went through the short stack of papers several times making sure he got everything, and once he handed the papers back to his boss, Zeke did the same; neither of them wanted this to get screwed up. Upon finishing his double checking, Zeke let out a sigh of relief, then looked Reiner dead in the eye as he spoke.

"Congratulations, Reiner. Once I get her to sign her part, you'll be officially married to the girl of your dreams," He paused and took a breath before he continued, "So you better make it back home safe and give her a nice wedding and make her happy."

Reiner was feeling relieved too knowing that she should now have some stability and security due to being a military wife. However, he wasn't so lost in the moment that he didn't notice Zeke's expression begin to fall a bit and his eyes drift downwards, nor was he ignorant to a strange under tone to Zeke's words. Zeke had done the best he could with wishing Reiner the best, but even he couldn't completely mask intense underlying feelings.

"Is everything alright, Warchief Zeke?" Reiner asked, catching Zeke's attention, "You sound a bit... off."

"No no, it's nothing..." Zeke assured him, tucking the important documentation into his inner jacket pocket once more. He reached over and scratched his ear in his attempt to remain casual, "I better get going. No time to spare."

"Wait! You haven't even told me how she's doing!" Reiner shouted.

Without addressing his desperate question about the state of Priss, his boss dashed away, leaving him once more and totally in the dark on what was going on with her. The guards shrugged, really not caring about the wedding matters of some Eldians, and resumed their usual posts while Reiner went back to his poorly cushioned bed. Somehow it felt more comfortable than it typically did when he laid down on it, sliding his hands under his head as he stared straight up at the ceiling. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he thought about his beautiful blushing bride-to-be. All thoughts about having to go to war first disappeared and he was worry-free, only thinking about what kind of dress she might wear or what kind of ring he would get her. One thing was for sure, no matter what, she would be stunning and he would be the luckiest man in the world.

He really needed to think hard about that ring though; it needed to be perfect, just like her.

Priss had remained in her awkward position in the bed all day and past the sun going down. Karina hadn't bothered to come check on her, which she was relieved with, and judging by the smell there was dinner being prepared at this point. The white haired girl frowned; the food smelled good but she didn't feel like eating, as the thought of actually doing it nauseated her. Her limbs begged for her to get up and stretch them, which she both wanted to do but also didn't feel like getting out of bed for either. The battle of trying to choose between those two options ended up in an easy victory for her emotional need to stay bed bound, which also was wise for her physical health as well still. The 'procedure' was still recent, and details of it started to come back to her that she wasn't cognizant of in the moment of her emergency visit to the hospital.

Just as she was beginning to dwell on what was done in the operating room, she heard something going on downstairs. The front door had been opened and Priss swore she heard Karina exclaim 'Warchief Zeke?' and then her voice quieted down to the point that all she could hear from either of them were too muffled to understand. Priscilla knew he had no purpose here other than business with her, there was no way he was close enough with Karina to just pop on over and see what's cooking in the kitchen – and Priscilla's point was proved when she heard him ascending the stairway and his heavy footfalls coming to a stop outside the door, followed up with a knock.

Priss slowly sat up and scooched to the edge of the bed and got her feet on the ground, "Ah... I'll be right there," She said as she stood up. She made her way to the door, unlocked it and opened the room up for Zeke to enter. He was there alone thankfully, having told Karina the business he had with Priss was just between the two of them. Priss started to take steps backward towards her bed, but she quickly turned herself around out of fear of making an ass out of herself and falling over. Zeke followed her in, closing the door behind him, but upon approaching her on the bed he chose not to sit with her. Instead, he stood towering over her while she was hunched over on the edge of the bed looking up at him with a numb expression.

"How are you feeling?" Zeke asked, not letting them linger in silence for long. Priss shook her head and grunted, "...Didn't think you'd be doing well. But I have some good news for you."

Her face lightened up a little at the prospect of 'good' news, "What's that?"

"I was able to get Reiner to do his part with the marriage documentation," Zeke said as he reached into his inner pocket to retrieve them and a pen for her, "Which means you just need to sign, then I'll take care of the rest."

Her green eyes came to rest on the papers and pen he held out in front of her, glistening with wonder, "...Really? It's that easy? Then we're married?" She asked incredulously, unable to tear away her gaze from Zeke's offering.

"Yes," He answered simply, "Should be self explanatory. Sign and initial your name where indicated..."

The girl, who felt invigorated by this tremendous news, carefully took the pen and papers and began to work on doing her part. Similarly to Reiner, she checked over and over again to make sure she made no mistake.

"How is he?" Priss asked as she went over everything one last time.

Zeke scratched his ear, "About as well as you could imagine in his situation... he was happy about the marriage stuff working out smoothly but..."

Priss looked up from her paperwork, "What do you mean 'but?'"

The Warchief let out a deep sigh and dug his hands into his pockets, "His fate has been decided. If he proves himself in war, his life will be spared. It turns out Marley has already engaged in a conflict with another nation, so he is deploying there. And that means I will have to as well."

"Deploying?" Priss repeated in disbelief, "You mean like... right away?"

"I don't know, I really don't..." Zeke spoke with a shake of his head, feeling guilty for not having answers for her, "I imagine it's soon though."

Zeke's eyes locked with the sorrowful green ones of Priscilla, who was silently begging the question that he probably did have the answer to, but didn't want to give her the hard truth right now. As if her silence wasn't enough, she went ahead and spoke the words aloud anyway.

"Will I be able to see him?"

Zeke hung his head, taking one hand out of his pocket and running it through his hair – hair he desperately needed to have a trim on soon, "Realistically the answer is gonna be no... I can't think of any circumstance where the Marleyans would be sympathetic enough to let you in."

Priss suddenly stood up and went toe to toe with him, forcing him to lift his head back up. Her green eyes flared with passion, "What if we told them his son is dead?" She asked boldly.

Zeke gasped and took a step back; he stared her down wondering if she had lost her mind with grief – she was willing to tell Reiner about what happened, likely before she was ready to, if it meant she got to see him. The longer Zeke stayed silent, the more visibly the girl trembled, waiting for an answer.

"Do you really think that's something he needs to have on his mind when we goes to war?" Zeke spoke calmly, straightening out his posture, "It wouldn't be good for his state of mind out on the battlefield..."

"Ah..." Priss gasped, flopping back down onto the bed weakly, "You're right... I can't put that on his shoulders when he has to fight for his life... How stupid of me... and selfish..."

Zeke knelt down so he could be closer to her level now that she was seated back on the edge of the bed. He had the urge to grab her hand or some sort of comforting gesture, but his rational side told him it would be out of line.

"You don't have many options," Zeke began firmly, "You tell him before he ships out and put him in a bad state... Tell him in a letter while he's away at war, ends up with the same result of him being distracted by his personal troubles... the only thing left is waiting until it's all over and he comes home."

"Shit..." Priss cursed.

"And he deserves to hear it from you, not me. Better in person than a letter too," Zeke explained, "I have no way to tell how long the conflict will be going... but I also get the feeling you're not really ready to talk about the incident with him either."

A small tear twinkled in one of her eyes and she slowly shook her head side to side. It was true her suggestion about using the miscarriage as a way to reach Reiner was impulsive in a moment of desperation, and she felt horrible for even considering trying it – especially since Zeke was right, she wasn't ready to talk about it.

She opened her mouth to speak, but all that came from it was an awkward deep inhale to stop herself from sobbing before she composed herself enough to whimper, "I just know he's going to blame himself."

The words the doctor said came right back to Zeke, the part about how the cause of the miscarriage was most likely a genetic problem they wouldn't have been able to correct and that the fetus was never going to make it. He shut his eyes tightly; he didn't know if the doctors told her that as well, or if she came to the conclusion on her own. Zeke could hear her start to breathe heavily, prompting him to open his eyes again, only to find her red in the face and sweating.

"I started to remember some of the things that happened," She panted. Priss wrapped her arms tightly around her midsection, looking off to the side, "They spread my legs while putting my feet up in these things to support them... I couldn't really see what was happening, but I could feel cold metal with some slick substance on it go into me... there was pressure... and they waited a bit... before something else went in and... it was like they were scraping me out..."

A look of horror crossed Zeke's face as she described to him the procedure the medical staff used to complete the miscarriage that had started. He recalled saying it had to be done or else she likely would have died, but he didn't know what the nature was of what they were doing – and hearing her recount it in this haunting way left him feeling harrowed.

"I remember them saying they had to make sure they got all the 'tissue' out or something like that..." Priss went on, her voice shaking, "To make sure the 'termination was completed safely.'"

Zeke flung himself forward and onto his hands and knees, head down turned to the ground, "I'm sorry!" He shouted, taking Priss off guard, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to do anything to help! I'm sorry for everything I've done to you, I was trying to put on a facade of a ruthless leader... but now... now that we're back here in Marley where I am nowhere near being that... I'm actually just a lowly dog of war who had no right to ever do or say the things I did to you. I'm not the person I tried to make you think I am, and I'm sure that doesn't shock you..."

"Uh, Zeke?" Priss interjected awkwardly, "Why are you telling me all this?"

He slowly lifted his head, "Even I don't know why I just said all that," He admitted, "I just feel the need to say things now that I think you need to hear from me, because I get it now."

"...You... 'get it?' What?" She pressed. His sudden outburst managed to suck the chaotic energy she was giving off and left her as the calm one now.

"I can't really explain it..." Zeke dismissed and Priss sighed with frustration over his vagueness, which prompted him to spew out more words, "Maybe someday in the future I'll figure out how to put it into words... I suppose it boils down to empathy. And I'll leave it at that for now."

"Yeah come on get up off the floor, you're embarrassing yourself..." Priss insisted with a pained. awkward tone, but shook off the secondhand embarrassment she had for him and happily exclaimed "go and get those documents finalized so Reiner and I can finally be married!"

Zeke slowly stood up and smoothed out his clothes, while he kept his head down he cracked a smile at what she just said, since it reminded him of her usual self. He grabbed the papers and pen to bring along with him. It was his nice pen, he wasn't just going to leave it around carelessly. Although, part of him knew that if she did something as silly as ask to keep that pen, he would have let her.

"I'll get right to it. We should be able to move you to a new residence soon," Zeke explained, "And do what you can to find your own words that you need to say. I won't claim I have the right answer on how or when to do it... but just be prepared."

"I want to do what will impact him the least while he's at war." Priss said, "I want him to focus and fight his hardest so that he can come home. It would be terrible if he was caught up in the baby issue and ending up losing his life over it... so, I think it will have to wait until the war is over."

"Are you sure?" Zeke asked.

Priss nodded, "Yes. It's a no win situation for anyone... but that's the choice I'll go with. For better or worse."

Zeke looked down upon her, admiring her for at least having conviction in making her choice. It was a hard situation to deal with, but he was pleasantly surprised with how well she was coping with it. As he was looking down at her, a critically important thought struck him.

"Shit! I almost forgot..." He exclaimed, then dug his hand again into one of his pockets, producing a red armband that had white outlines and a white star shape one it, "As far as most people know, you are an Eldian, and Eldians must always wear their armbands when they go out. Make sure the star is always visible and on the left arm... since you'll be married to a Warrior, the red designates you an honorary Marleyan like Reiner is."

"Honorary?" Priss asked, reaching out and taking the armband from Zeke.

"Nothing will change the fact that Reiner and I are Eldians, but we trade our lives to the Marleyan military to gain a minimal boost in social standing. A Marleyan in name only, and it's a name that still doesn't mean a whole lot to most people."

The white haired girl figured she should start getting used to this new routine in her life and immediately slipped the armband onto her right arm.

"Err..." Zeke said, moving forward to correct her, "I said put in on the left, not the right."

He reached out to take the armband off her just as she brought her hand up to as well, earning him a passing touch of her smooth pale skin. This was completely irrelevant to her, but Zeke found it to be a beautiful little moment since it wasn't like he'd get much contact from her otherwise. Priss then slipped the armband onto her left arm and adjusted it so the star was perfectly visible. She looked up to Zeke, who nodded in approval.

"So..." Priss began, "I'm a Hyperian pretending to be an Eldian who is an honorary Marleyan. What a mess."

Zeke chuckled, "It is getting a bit complicated, isn't it?"

"If that's what take to be with Reiner," Priscilla spoke, "I don't care how complicated it gets for me."