It's only been a few days ever since they had taken Annika away, yet Frieda was already dead inside.

Her only light in this dark world, her only hope for the future, had been taken away from her. Irony of fate could state that she had done something similar in the past, so she deserved it. However, nothing could soothe her aching heart, whenever she reminisced the memory of her little girl, being torn away from her hands.

This state continued on for several days. Many times, she had considered using her powers to get her daughter back, to simply do something to stop the pain… Yet, this wasn't the right thing to do. She had committed a crime and she had to repent for it.

But why did they have to take away her dearest person in the world?

"Annika…" Frieda whispered weakly, staring blankly at the ceiling.

It really was no use, without her daughter. Moving forward from there, sounded like an impossible feat.

She really just wanted to disappear…

Slowly she was losing her will to live. Eating, sleeping and doing all regular daily activities gradually got more and more painful. The possibility of continuing on, while her daughter desperately needed her care, seemed like she was agreeing with this horrible state of things.

"Please…" Frieda said to herself.

She knew that she hasn't been good at doing her job, lately. She knew that Historia would probably soon consider taking over her power. And she wouldn't oppose her. Her fate had been sealed, once she had fallen from the sky.

But why did they have to take her baby?

Then, she heard a cry of joy.

Instantly, she recognized this voice. There was no mistaking it. For a single moment, she even thought that she had become crazy, just to turn towards the front bars of her cell and dispel all of those notions.

Eren was standing there with Annika.

In an instance, Frieda jumped from the bed and ran over to them.

"W-what's going on?" She asked with wide eyes, watching the young man open the door with a set of keys.

"We came for a visit" Eren responded, while walking into the cell, holding their child in one hand.

She couldn't believe this. Her daughter was here, once again and smiling at her. The fallen queen thought that she would never see this beautiful smile, until the end of her days. But here she was, reaching out to her from Eren's arms.

"Oh, Annika…" Frieda expressed, taking the little girl into her hands.

Tears fell down her face as she kissed the baby on the forehead. As the little one cheered, Frieda was engulfed in happiness. She almost forgot what it feels like. To have her dearest thing in the world, right there, in her arms. And so, she cried tears of joy.

Annika seemed unsure what it was about and looked at her mother in wonder. Seeing that the fallen queen simply had to experience this for herself, Eren took the girl into his arms, and led Frieda towards the bed.

Once they were seated, the fallen queen brought hands to her face, to wipe away the tears. The young man didn't really know what to do, then. There was a crying woman here and he ought to do something, since he was already here.

Frieda wasn't a good person. She never hesitated to use him like a toy, back when she believed she was at the top of the world. And he never forgave her…

But seeing her misery, right now, he just couldn't help himself. Slowly, he took one of her hands in his.

The fallen looked at him with shock, upon that gesture. He looked towards Annika and brought Frieda's hand to the baby. As the little girl rested on their laps, their hands entwined around her, keeping her from falling.

Then, Eren raised his other hand and brought it up to touch the woman's face. As man and woman looked each other in the eyes, Eren smiled at Frieda and swiftly, with one motion of his thumb, rubbed the remaining tears off her cheek.

"You look miserable" he spoke, as the fallen queen brought her own hand to the one resting on her face.

"So do you" the fallen queen responded.

"I convinced Historia to let us visit you here" Eren explained, turning his head down, to look at their daughter.

Their daughter. It was pretty amazing to think that their criminal relationship created such a beautiful thing. There was no denying the fact that what Frieda did, was despicable and she definitely deserved her punishment. Yet, he couldn't shake off the thought that had she not done that, Annika wouldn't be here, lying on their laps.

"I heard you weren't eating much, lately" Eren spoke, once again.

Indeed, she looked a little emaciated. However, even that, combined with her haggard appearance, didn't make her any less beautiful.

Because there was no denying that she was beautiful. Maybe it was simply due to them having identical features, or maybe it was because of how similar she was to Historia. Nevertheless, even after considering the crime she had committed against him, he still didn't consider her any less pretty.

When he tried to lower his hand, he felt her fingers clasp upon it.

What was obvious to him, was her affection for him. Given what she had said and done, during that fateful night, she must've wanted him, for a long time. Whether those feelings meant genuine love, or simple desire, didn't really matter.

"I'm sorry" Eren expressed as he brought his hand out of Frieda's grasp "I cannot return your feelings. Maybe you were hoping that Annika would make us into a loving couple, but not everything always goes according to your plans."

Then, he looked the woman in the eyes.

"I love Historia and Ymir" the young man spoke with determination "I will raise our daughter with you, but that's as far as our relationship goes."

Frieda's reaction to that, kind of caught him off guard. The female didn't cry, she didn't look depressed, she didn't even flinch while listening to his reasons. Instead, she smiled weakly and put her hand on Annika.

"I'm sorry for what I did to you" the fallen queen confessed "I should've just listened to what you were saying, back when that happened. I think I wanted love…"

The young parents looked at their child. The little girl fell asleep, something that Eren would usually spend a lot of effort to achieve. And he knew why that was.

Annika could finally be at ease, because her mother and father were together with her at last.

"I don't regret having her with you, though" the young man exclaimed, surprising the woman.

"B-but…" Frieda stammered, turning up, to look at him with wide eyes.

"I love our daughter" Eren affirmed, grasping the little girl's hand "I believe it was fate that gave her, to us… Or maybe, it was a doing of some god, watching over you and me."

Some god… Ever since Frieda had understood, that she wasn't actually as godlike as she thought she was, this word held all the more meaning to her. Maybe, there really was one, watching over her, hoping she would somehow redeem herself.

"I think that Annika had been given to me, so that I could heal from what you have done to me" the young man continued while playing with one of his daughter's loose hair strands.

In a way, those words were speaking to Frieda. Hope filled her heart, as she brought her other hand to caress the sleeping girl.

"Maybe, I'll redeem myself too, in the process" she whispered.

"Maybe…" he admitted, with a small smile.

Ever since then, Frieda would regularly meet Annika along with Eren. The government was also pleased with the fulfilment of the plan, which finally got its official name, of the General Plan. The waves of worldwide Eldian migration, soon overtook Marley. Moreover, it was quite difficult for the Marleyans to ignore all the social unrest caused by that, especially among the lands of other, conquered nations.

The prolonging war with the Mid-East allied forces, bore its fruit with the failing economy of the global superpower. The central government would quickly lose support, due to being unable to utilize the titan powers they've lost to Paradis. Eventually, in order to finish the war, they had to call in for the Tybur family support. Finally, after three long years, they were forced to concede some of the conquered territories, in exchange for peace.

The news of the superpower losing the war, quickly spread over the world. As Marley was trying to keep up the appearance of a strong nation, they were struggling quite visibly. Essentially, spending all the assets on their image, made them omit the incoming rebellion of the Eldian people.

The General Plan was finished. The new, innovative arms created by Arlert Industries had been distributed among the rebels, all across the continent. A newly formed air squadron, which used the flying boats made by the company, was eagerly awaiting instructions. The widespread military recruitment campaign among the Paradisians also proved to be a great success, so the islanders could deploy up to a hundred thousand troops, to support the rebellion.

All that was left, was to simply pull the trigger.