As Mikasa thought about all this, she heard a knock on the door.

"Lady Mikasa?"

She snapped from her thoughts to see Stella at the door. She then looked at the clock to see almost an hour and a half had passed.

"Yes, Stella."

"Olivia is awake. She says her headache has got down a bit. Ronnie's with her."

Mikasa then slowly got up as she said

"T-That's good. What did the nurse say?"

"She said that she needed a lot of rest, probably a month. Olivia was initially worried, but after a lot of convincing from Ronnie, she agreed not to go to work for a while Ronnie would work for a while. The doctor says she's fine to go home now."

Mikasa smiled. She then adjusted her scarf and walked to the window. Ronnie and Olivia looked at her and waved at her with bright smiles on their faces. Mikasa waved back with a slight smile as Stella came next to her. As she kept watching them as they went away from the building into the city, Mikasa asked Stella

"Stella, tell me, do you think Olivia loves Ronnie, or as Ronnie said, is she simply just protecting him because he's her last family?"

Stella looked at her for a second and then back at the window.

"Well, if you'll ask me, although it doesn't look like it, Olivia truly loves Ronnie and cares about him…a lot."

Mikasa looked at Stella as she continued

"From what I've seen in my life, I can say this: In any relationship, love is sometimes overshadowed by emotions like fear, anger, greed, sadness, jealousy, or guilt. Whenever there are emotions like this in the middle, people only tend to recognize or act on the latter while the love isn't visible at all. . Olivia does love her son, but her fear of losing him made Ronnie seem blind to that feeling. And Olivia's fear made her blind to how much Ronnie was suffering after his father's death. Sometimes, emotions like desire, happiness, gratitude, interest, care, or hope can be mistaken for love which does not exist at all if the former emotions disappear. In any case, it's only when those emotions clear out that truth of one's feelings become visible, just like with yours."

"W-With me?" Mikasa asked surprised

"Yes. You know ma'am, I've worked here for nearly 10 years, ever since I finished school. For all these years, I've fallen in love and had my heart broken so many times. Every time I did, I used to lose my faith in love. But then, I see you, going to that grave on top of the hill and talking for hours over there with the man you loved. 52 years…that's a very long time to wait…if I'm not wrong, you've been like this since the age of 20, correct? At a really young age like that, every woman would be craving for a man's affection, if not then, then at least in their later years. But you stayed the same, loving only one man, who'd never come back to you. Even today, I don't know whom you loved, but I do know this: if there's anything called pure love, it's on top of that hill. Even now, every time I go on a date with someone again, I always hope that I find love like yours"

Mikasa lightly smiled at this.

As she kept thinking, another incident came to mind.

She remembered the day when Eren accessed the Co-ordinate for the first time. Hannes had already been killed by Dina, who then came to then devour her and Eren. Mikasa's ribs were crushed and Eren was unable to turn into a Titan. All hope was lost for both of them and it was only a matter of time before they were killed in Dina's hands. At that moment, all her fear of losing Eren was gone because even though they were going to die, they'll be dying together. She didn't realize it, but that was the first time she ever spoke so softly with him, with a consoling tone. That was the first time she reassured and consoled him for losing a loved one. Even Eren was quite surprised to see this side of Mikasa. He always knew her as a tough and cold individual, but never like this.

Maybe…this side of her was what Eren needed all along. This gentle, caring side of hers. She still remembered how out of character he was that day. She was surprised as she kept looking at him like that. It was the first time he had stood up bravely and went against a titan for her in such a hopeless situation. It wasn't like the first time they met. He wasn't a boy trying to protect some unknown girl from traffickers whom he thought of as animals. He was a boy who was standing up to protect someone he cared about. Someone whom he didn't want to lose at any cost. It was the first time he spoke so gently to her without his usual annoyed tone. She still remembered his words that day

"I'll wrap that around you as many times as you want. Now and forever…as much as you want!"

She remembered how she looked at Eren in surprise as he stood between her and Reiner and screamed at him in rage

"GET AWAY FROM US! THAT BASTARDS! I'LL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!"

Stella then continued

"But it's a good thing that things got cleared between Ronnie and his mother. Otherwise, there was no telling what Ronnie could've done in the future. Just thinking about it makes me afraid."

Mikasa then asked her "And what do you think he'll do?"

"I-I don't know. One can never predict. He may turn into a rebel who hates society or someone who hates his mother his entire life. The feelings of loss and guilt are very much akin to real wounds to a person. They must be healed by someone as soon as possible before it gets worse...by someone who had gone through the same pain and understands them. If a person like that is left for long enough without any help, his pain can turn into something worse: Anger, hatred, revenge, depression, or even madness that can destroy people and lives if unleashed.

On a personal note, I think that's the reason why I don't really hate Eren Yeager. I don't support his actions but…I simply pity him, I think. He might have had his own days of feeling loss and guilt but had no one to heal it. If that had happened, maybe he wouldn't have destroyed the world…"

Mikasa stared at Stella. On hearing her words, Mikasa then slowly began to realize: It had been her all along…Armin might have been the one who left Eren with no options, but she was largely responsible herself for leading Eren down that path ever since the beginning. Although she had a lot of chances to stop him from going down that path, she failed to do so. If she had just…kept him more company in his pain, things wouldn't have happened the way they have.

In the end, her one desire for her to be with Eren and keep him safe was the thing that took him away from her in the end.

That was the irony of her love.

A/N: After I wrote this chapter, I saw the Marley restaurant scene again, and…it seemed like I was looking at a different scene altogether. It seemed like Eren wanted to try one last time to tell Mikasa and Armin of his pain. Before the first question by Armin…Eren wanted to tell all that he was experiencing…but Armin ruined it. Eren was already pissed because Armin failed to find solutions to the conflict, all because Bertholdt's memories clouded his judgment. His inefficiency and ignorance to the gravity of the situation lead Eren to take this measure. Here's a manga line by Eren

"I'm just saying there's nothing further removed from freedom than ignorance."

He literally called Armin useless in the manga

"You weren't soft like this before. You never backed the enemy. Your judgment was always able to lead us to the answer. But every time you open your mouth now it's 'Let's talk.' You're absolutely useless."

All the 'pacifist' nature Armin showed was because of Bertholdt's memories. Armin was not a kind peacekeeping person. He was a tactician and analyst who'd resort to even the most unethical ways to get victory.

Eren's look when Mikasa kept saying that he was manipulated by Zeke and that he won't kill innocents or civilians clearly seemed to say this

" Are you fucking serious? You're still clinging on to that ideal version of me? Even after I destroyed an entire city? I destroyed the whole of Stohess and you still think I wouldn't kill a civilian for my own goals? Looks like you never understood me at all."

After that he really got pissed. He was disappointed in his friends whom he came in to confide in. You could clearly see how his eyes were furrowed the whole scene

As Ronnie thought, Eren slowly began to think Mikasa was just a slave who didn't care about what he thought since the beginning. His belief was further enhanced when he got to know that the Ackermanns used to serve the king. In reality, yes, Mikasa wasn't free, she was a slave to her fear…her fear of losing Eren, her fear that she won't be able to do anything if Eren is not there for her. That fear kept her from thinking straight at times during battle. That very fear kept her from harming Eren. That very fear kept her from going against Eren during the Rumbling. That very fear kept her from understanding Eren's character.

She wasn't a slave to love (whatever that means)

Eren got annoyed again as thought of how little Armin understood him. He couldn't believe that Armin would think he'd side with Yelena and Zeke, even though he's known him for so many years.

And looking at that scene this time, I think both of them deserved it.