The Wings Of Our Dreams

AN: Hello there, my dear readers! This one came out a bit sooner than you thought it would, eh? Well, I found some time to write it and here we are! Hope you enjoy!

Also to note, allow me to give a shoutout to RememberShiganshina's story 'Our Friend'. It is a very good story also based on AoT 2, and right now some very interesting things are happening in it. I highly recommend you guys check it out.

Now to reviews.

Yoyon586: Thank you.

tijgersprong: I actually did originally think of having Annie be the main love interest, but I decided Sasha would be best. Still thanks for your support.

Alph4Scorpion180: Thanks, and I'll definitely try.

EZEmily: I thank you very much for your review. One of my primary fears was thinking that people will see Collin as a Gary Stu, and I'm grateful that's not the case.

As for Annie being with Collin, well, yeah her being in a relationship with a person she's supposed to be against isn't really something you should be doing, but you have to remember, she's doing it for a person she cares about, which is her father, so what if she grew to care for another person. Besides, human beings are never so simple. Yeah, you said it's minor, but I still think it's worth addressing.

Guest: Okay, I can barely understand what the hell you're saying, but from what I can gather you're way off the mark. The tone I take in the story is the same one the anime established, with the training arc being more lighthearted than anything that comes after it. As for Collin making some fuck ups, well newsflash, he's only human and humans screw up. I mean, look at Eren. If he wasn't a Titan Shifter, he'd be dead a long time ago.


A Surprising Return


"Man that was a close one," Connie said with an uneasy grin as he tapped his gas canisters. "I was running on fumes. Good thing we made it."

"Mikasa, you're…" Jean said, stunned at seeing his crush alive as she slowly stood up. "Am I… dreaming?"

"You're a genius, Armin!" Connie said as he tapped Armin on the back, a little bit too hard for the blond's comfort. "As far as I've concerned, your word is law." He then rose and turned to the rest. "Hey, check this out! We found an abnormal that has a bone to pick with its own kind," he said as he pointed at the opening. "And the best part, he couldn't care less about us!"

Collin quickly shook his head. "Wait, hol'up! You're tellin' me, that Titan o'er there… is fightin' other Titans?!

"Yeah, that's right!" Connie confirmed, his grin not leaving his face. "This big SOB is our ticket out of here!"

Outside, the pointy-eared Titan slowly walked forward, his feet producing loud thuds as he did so.

"That's… I can't believe it," Collin said as he watched the Titan walk away from them towards the group of other Titans.

"Neither can I," Jean said. "You're out of your mind if you think this is gonna work."

"It is working," Mikasa sternly confirmed. "Trust me. For whatever reason, he's rampaging against them. Stand back and let him do it."

The sudden abnormal punched a Titan, one matching his fifteen-meter size, and knocked its head clean off before roaring.

"I'll be damned," Collin said as he watched the Titan fight his own kind. He never thought he would see such a sight. Even by appearance alone the abnormal seemed pretty unique. The clear eyes, teeth placement, and pointy ears were already enough to set him apart from others, but there was also the fact that his muscular body had no sign of any deformity or disproportion.

It definitely seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime sight to behold.

"Either way, we have no choice," Mikasa continued as she glanced outside. "He may be our only chance of survival."

The abnormal then struck a thirteen-meter before stomping on a three-meter one. He then grabbed another Titan in a headlock before squeezing its head off.

"Well, you'll hear no arguments from me," Collin said as he watched the Titan wreck the others like nothing.

"You can't be serious about this," Jean protested.

"I ain't lookin' a gift horse in the mouth. If that Titan's helpin' us, then I'll take it. 'Sides, like Mikasa said there ain't much choice. We better use this to stock up on necessary supplies so we better get movin'," Collin said before turning to the recently arrived trio. "Also, mind tellin' us how the hell you found that Titan?"


So as it turned out, Mikasa actually ran out of gas and was stranded in one of the streets of Trost, where she was confronted by two fifteen-meters, only for one of them to punch the other, who was indeed the 'Rogue' Titan. So Armin had the idea of using it to clear a path to the HQ. And it definitely paid off.

In the further down levels of the HQ, the gathered cadets began assessing battle strategies. As it turned out, there were also Titans within the building itself. So while the 'Rogue' Titan was holding off the Titans outside, there were still some in the building itself they needed to deal with.

So right now they rested in an elevator room while some gathered the supplies they had on hand.

Mina leaned against one of the stone walls, her eyes settling to look at the floor while her mind raced through everything that happened so far.

To think that just this morning they were happily talking and laughing, thinking about their possible futures, only for everything to turn to hell. The friends she had were mostly gone, and even with this breather, they aren't out of the woods yet.

It seemed like life was adamant in making it impossible for them.

She then noticed Collin approaching her.

"Hey there, Mina," Collin said softly. "I'd ask if you're alright, but at this point, it's a dumb question."

Mina lightly chuckled. She was glad the situation didn't kill Collin's sense of humor. "Hey there, Collin. I just… I was just thinking about how many times I was close to the end." Her eyes then settled on the gear around her waist, while she traced her fingers on the sheaths and canisters. "Do you even know who this gear belonged to?"

Collin sighed. "Can't say I do. The body I got it from was mangled good."

After Mina's gear was broken, they needed to find a replacement, and Collin found a functioning one on one of the dead bodies. The upper part of the chest was bitten off so any chance of recognizability was non-existent.

"So, is that how it will end for us? Just dying in the streets? And even if we do win, the people may not even know who we were," Mina said, her voice cracking as she wiped tears that threatened to fall. "I'm afraid. Not just of death, but to die alone and forgotten, and never accomplishing a thing in my life. I mean, look at how Eren, Thomas, and the others died. I would have too if you hadn't saved me."

"Hey, hey," Collin said softly. "I wish I could say nothin' bad's gonna happen, but I can't. However, what I can say is that not all of us are done for. We'll fight and give it our all.

"We will make the deaths of our comrades count, and that is by continuin' to move forward. We'll give their deaths meanin' by survivin' and completin' our mission," Collin said and meant every single word. Daz was dead because of his blunder, and he'll never be able to pay him back the favor he owed the wrinkled cadet. So Collin will make sure to make up for it in any way he could.

Mina took a calming breath. "I'll… make sure I give it my all," Mina said before straightening. "Don't worry. The training we did together won't go to waste."

Collin proudly tapped on the shoulder. "That's all anyone could ask for."

"Good news!" Jean's voice permeated across the room as he and some other cadets came with several long wooden boxes. "Courtesy of the Military Police! Also covered with a layer of dust."

The crates were opened revealing there to be muskets. The cadets soon began arming themselves as they prepared to execute the plan.

They gathered around Armin who was kneeling next to a floor plan that was presented on the ground.

"Though to be honest," Jean said as he adjusted the rifle in his hand. "Are guns even effective in this situation?"

"They'll be better than nothing," Armin said before looking over the chart. "Alright, there are seven four-meter Titans in the supply room. The ammo we've gathered should do the trick if perfectly timed. Okay, so we'll lower a group via the elevator into the supply room to get the Titans' attention. Then when the Titans are in range, the group fires in all directions simultaneously to blind them."

Armin then looked over his fellow cadets. "Then there is the hard part. Before the Titans can recover, seven of us swoop down from the ceiling and strike the Titans in the vital spots. And that's the plan. Seven people have to slay the Titans with one blow at the same time. We screw up, we're dead.

"So we'll need the seven most physically capable and adept with their blades for this one. It's the only shot we have."

Reiner gave a smile. "Well, it definitely looks like a sound plan."

"Either way, the risk is the same for everyone," Annie added.

"Well, if anyone wants to talk me out of this, I'm willing to listen," Armin said. "I mean, one half-baked strategy can't be our only option."

"Alright then," Collin said with a shrug. "Anyone else here got a better idea?!" Collin looked around, trying to see if anyone would answer. As expected, nobody else did. "Yeah, Armin, I think they're set."

"Armin, you need to be confident in yourself," Mikasa said as she kneeled down to Armin's level. "Your mind saved me and Eren plenty of times."

"What? But when did I…?"

"Hey, Armin!" Jean interrupted. "We still need to decide who goes to kill the Titans."

"Uh, right," Armin said. "Well, based on the estimates, I think the cadets should be…" The blond boy then gave all the cadets a consideration. "I think the group should be Mikasa, Reiner, Bertholdt, Collin, Sasha, Jean, and Annie."

"Hmm, solid choices," Collin commented.

"With those muscles of yours, not choosing you would be idiotic," Annie said.

"Heh, and you would know all about those muscles, wouldn't you?" Reiner asked with a teasing grin, which got him an unimpressed look.

The gates of the elevator then dropped. "Alright, the lift is ready and the guns are loaded! Let's go kill some Titans!"


The seven selected then began walking down the stairs where they would get into the position above the Titans.

"Goddammit," Jean muttered. "Taking on Titans without ODM gear? That would normally seem like suicide."

"Eh, you worry too much, Jean," Reiner said. "Those Titans are only four meters tall so their weakspots are not too far above eye level."

"Yeah, you're right," Jean said. "The spot is one meter high and ten centimeters across."

"Back of the head to the nape of the neck," Sasha affirmed.

"Worst comes to worst," Reiner said with a grin as he raised one of his blades. "You can shove one of these up their ass. That's the other weakspot."

Jean glanced at the tall blond with a slightly annoyed expression. "Seriously?"

"That's news to me," Sasha said with a raised eyebrow. "Did I miss a day of training or something?"

"Sasha, Reiner's obviously just jokin' around," Collin commented before tapping the redhead's forehead with his index finger. "Please tell me there's more here than just potatoes."

"Ugh, is nobody gonna let me live that down?" Sasha said in frustration.

"Not as long as I live!" Collin answered smiling teasingly. "Though considerin' where we're goin', that may as well be five minutes."

"Hey, we'll be fine," Berthold assured. "We just need to stick to Armin's plan. And with our skills, it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Hopefully your last words won't be an ass joke, Reiner," Jean said to which Reiner just shrugged.


The seven of them soon found themselves in the supply room. They positioned themselves on the steel beams that were placed under the roof, several meters above the Titans. They couldn't help but sweat at the silence that was only broken by some heavy footsteps of the four-meter Titans.

The lift was then slowly descending into the supply room, with the cadets there immediately preparing their rifles and pointing them in each direction of the square elevator.

One of the Titans noticed before turning to the lift, its unnerving grin almost making some fire.

"Steady," Marco said slowly as he aimed his gun.

The Titan slowly approached them, followed by the six other Titans as they also noticed the group of cadets placed in the elevator.

"Steady," Marco repeated.

Everyone was nervous, but they steeled themselves as the Titan drew closer. That was until one of the Titan's eyes was just in front of the rifle.

"NOW!"

The cadets fired their muskets, the loud gunshots permeating through the large room as the bullets struck the Titans. The large creatures were blind as their eyes began steaming.

Taking the cue, the seven quickly ran across the beams and jumped down with audible exclamations. Their blades quickly struck the Titans on the napes, with the giants falling down one by one.

Collin gave a smile as he saw the Titan he struck fall down dead. Looks like things went without a hitch.

"Sasha missed the nape!"

Jean's shout immediately got Collin back on guard as he looked at where Sasha was. Indeed, the Titan she struck still standing and regenerating his wound.

Sasha looked in fear as the Titan stared down at her. She was vulnerable, no gear to escape, and the Titan looked just about ready to eat her.

"I… I'm sorry for sneaking up on you," Sasha tried a desperate plea as she walked backward, with the Titan also slowly approaching. Sasha then lost her balance and fell down. "Oh… Oh, God."

"SASHA!" Collin exclaimed as he saw the Titan reaching for her. Immediately Collin ran at the Titan and slammed his shoulder into the Titan's side, making the beast fall over to the side.

Not wasting any time, Collin jumped on it and ran across its back, and putting a lot of strength into his swing, sliced through the nape. The Titan stopped moving after that.

Swinging his blades to wipe the blood off them, he ran over to Sasha who looked at him in shock.

"Sasha, are you-?"

He was stopped as Sasha suddenly shot up and wrapped her arms tightly around his torso, all the while mumbling 'thank you' into his shirt and some tears escaped her eyes. It took a little bit for Collin to get over his surprise and hug the redhead back in comfort.

"Come on, Sasha. We need to go and resupply ourselves," Collin said before breaking the hug.

"I'm… I'm sorry for caving in like," Sasha said she wiped her tears. "But… that Titan was…"

"I know, Sasha. I know. But we need to focus on other things and now that is getting ready to go out an' over the damn Wall," Collin said.

"Um, right. Let's go."


The cadets began filling their canisters with gas and taking extra sets of blades. Something Collin was thankful for as he was down on his last pair. He wasn't planning on fighting Titans with his bare fists.

While he filled his canister with gas, he took a look at Annie who was not too far away from him, with the said girl now looking back in his direction.

They only stared at each other for a moment before Collin spoke. "So, uh, please tell me you ain't gonna break up with me because of that thing with Sasha earlier."

Annie raised an eyebrow. "Of course, I won't. I'm not stupid."

"Right, right. Sorry 'bout that. Guess I was just bein' paranoid."

"Honestly, with everything that happened to us, I can't blame you for being paranoid," Annie said as she finished refilling her canister.

"Annie, sometimes I feel like I don't deserve ya," Collin commented with a smile.

Annie looked at Collin for several moments before shaking her head. "You really have a too high opinion of me."

"Well, in my eyes, that opinion is at a pretty stable level."

Annie cracked a barely visible smile at that before quickly settling back. 'I'm honestly starting to think I'm the one who doesn't deserve you.'


With their ODM gears ready again, the cadets quickly ran outside before firing their cables and zipping away. They were definitely more than eager to leave all those things behind them. They suffered enough death and tension for their entire lives as far as they were concerned.

Armin then ran outside, but before he fired his cables, he saw Mikasa standing on a roof and looking at something.

"Uh, Mikasa?" he said before zipping over to his friend.

"The hell are those two doin'?" Collin asked, wondering why the two aren't evacuating like everybody else was.

"I don't know," Reiner said. "But I saw we check just in case."

So Collin, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Jean zipped over to Armin and Mikasa. They then realized what the two were actually looking at.

That Rogue Titan from before was still there, but slumped against a building and partially inside as he was swarmed by Titans, who right now were eating him.

"They're… cannibalizing him?" Armin said. "Can't he regenerate like the others?"

"This may sound stupid," Mikasa said as her eyes slightly narrowed at the sight below. "But I was hoping he would be the key for us. That he'd help mankind break the cycle, turn the tide just long enough to give us a little ray of hope."

"She's right," Reiner said getting everyone's attention. "He is too valuable to just let die. There is too much we can learn from him. I think it should be the top priority that we get the scavengers off of him. He's no good to us picked apart."

"Are you out of your mind?!" Jean protested. "We've got a path out of this nightmare and you wanna stay?!"

"I agree with Reiner. We should help the Rogue Titan," Collin said. "And not just because he's useful. It's because of that Titan that we're even here. It helped us by fightin' off other Titans. I think it's only natural we repay the favor. We… owe it to him."

"Besides, having an abnormal like that would give us an incredible advantage," Annie chimed in. "Things like cannons are nothing to the Titan that rips apart its own kind."

"Do… do you hear yourselves?" Jean asked shocked at what was being suggested. "It's not like he's your new friend."

"Jean, as far as I'm concerned, he is," Collin said before looking back and readying his blades. "You can go if ya want. Nobody's stoppin' ya. But there's no way I ain't helpin' him."

"Oh no," Armin suddenly said as he looked at a skinny blond Titan. "That Titan over there. It's the one that ate Thomas."

"Well then," Collin began. "Looks we'll also get some-"

The Rogue Titan suddenly gave a roar before moving forward and throwing off some Titans that clung to him off. One of his arms was torn off, followed by another as that was being chewed on by another Titan, and his ribcage was half exposed, but he still managed to look threatening as he suddenly charged towards the blond Titan, and bit its nape.

The group looked in shock as the Rogue Titan slammed the one held into another, using it as an improvised weapon. Then with another bite, he tore off the nape before throwing the Titan into another large one, sending the two crashing into a building.

The Rogue then stood and let out a triumphant roar that lasted for several. The Titan's body then shivered for a few seconds before he suddenly fell down face-first into the road.

"Well, looks like it's a moot point now," Jean said before turning away. "Let's go. We wasted enough time here. God, it's lucky the bastard didn't get bored. We'd be next on the menu."

"Jean," Collin said in a stern tone, catching the Trost resident off guard. "For once in your miserable life, will ya please shut your mouth?"

The cadets looked at the fallen Titan with some form of sadness, but Mikasa, Armin, and Collin more so.

'So… that's another favor I will never be able to repay,' Collin thought as he looked at the steaming body of the Rogue as his wounds seemed irreparable. 'The world must be playin' a cruel joke on us.'

But then, something happened that once again caught everyone by surprise. Even more so than this Titan's very existence.

The nape of the Rogue suddenly began steaming as an opening presented itself. An opening out of which came… a person?!

That person slowly rose, ripping the strands of muscle that connected them to the Titan's body before being completely free in a leaned-back position.

The group was even further shocked, but nobody more than Mikasa who began shedding tears, at the sight of none other than Eren Yeager, as his body was revealed from inside the Titan.

Mikasa then swiftly zipped down to the road, ignoring everyone calling for her as she ran towards Eren. She jumped on the Titan, wrapped her arms around Eren's form before listening for his heartbeat. Hearing that he had one, she immediately began crying as she embraced her childhood friend.

'What the… But… Armin said that…' Collin thought as he looked at the scene below. There was no mistake that it was Eren down there. So he was alive? And he was also the Titan that fought against other Titans? How was any of that possible?

"Hurry, let's bring Eren back with us!" Reiner quickly ordered as the rest of them quickly descended down.


A little later, the group was located at the top of the HQ tower as they surrounded Eren, who was still being embraced by a crying Mikasa. None of them could believe what going on.

Collin reached into his jacket, taking out the small bundle of cloth and unwrapping it, once again revealing the severed arm. The arm that supposed to belong to a dead Eren Yeager. Except that the same Eren Yeager was in front of them, and was now also embraced by Armin who began to cry as well.

Could Armin have made a mistake? No, he said that Eren got both his left leg and arm bitten off, and seeing the tearings on Eren's clothes indicated that something did rip through those places. However, besides some lines that formed just under his eyes, Eren looked completely unharmed.

Collin cast a glance at the severed arm he held before glancing at Eren's own and then back at the one he held. The shape of them was pretty much the same of course, but how could there be two unless… Eren grew his limbs back.

"Look at that," Jean said as he, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Collin looked at the sight below, many pillars of steam flying into the sky as Titan corpses littered the ground, with some buildings reduced to rubble. "Did Eren… do all this?"

After a moment, Collin looked back at Eren, who was still unconscious in spite of all that's happened, before looking back at the severed arm. His face scrunching for a bit, Collin threw the clothed arm over the edge of the building, not even bothering to look at it fall. His friend was back, so there was no need to bury his remains.

Still, the entire situation raised a whole lot more questions than it did answers.


AN: And that is it for now, my readers! Eren is back with the main group, and Collin doesn't have to carry around that severed arm. I tried not to just retread the evens in the anime, but it was kinda unavoidable in this one. Still, I hope you enjoyed it.

Again, I have to give a shoutout to RememberShiganshina's 'Our Friend' story. I really hope you check it out. It's very good.

And I implore you to check out my other stories. Trust me, they are worth it. And leave a review, they are great motivators.

See you next time!