Choose today, to fight and win, or wait to die.
- Kruger
"That's all he said?" Jean scoffed, pounding his fist on the table where Levi Squad was seated in exasperation.
"That's all he said." Levi gingerly set a teacup onto the table. "We don't know where it's from, so we can't even send him our response."
Fight and win.
The phrase resembled one Mikasa had heard so long ago, when she had been powerless.
Her fingers massaged where her temples ached as the choked voice of a younger boy echoed in her ears; and for the first time since that day, she remembered how it felt to be powerless.
Fight and live. Fight and win.
Mikasa had always made the choice Eren had urged her to. She'd aligned herself with him almost every day of her life since that day in the cabin. She'd chosen to fight, and he'd promised to win. Yet here she was, on the other side of an ocean they vowed to cross together.
Now, Mikasa didn't know what her vow would lead to, but she refused to change because of uncertainty.
Hange noticed Mikasa's reaction to the letter and cocked an inquisitive eyebrow. "Mikasa, does this mean anything special to you?"
"No." The younger Ackerman replied.
Shifting her gaze towards the wall, she allowed her eyes to gloss over. She wanted no part of this conversation. She was fully capable of taking matters into her own hands much later.
"Armin," Hange turned the question towards the blonde next to her, who's eyes flickered from his superior to Mikasa before responding with a shake of his head.
"Great, we have no clue what it means." Jean snipped, shaking his head. "So, how did we even get the message and how do we even know it's Eren?"
"The ship that delivered it was from Marley, that we know." Hange explained. "And when we threatened to hold the vessel in the port to scramble an escort to retrieve Eren, the captain claimed that we would 'lose our greatest weapon' if we didn't let him go by sunset."
Jean cursed, leaning back into his chair. "He meant the Founder, didn't he?"
The statement was barely a question, but Hange nodded anyways, confirming their fears.
"Suicidal bastard is forcing our hand now," Levi said. "If we don't side with him, we can't defend Paradis."
"It's much worse than that," Armin bit his lip. "We can't defend the world. Who knows what Eren is planning or how reckless it could be?"
"Or what it could mean for Eldians as a whole?" Hange surmised, her glasses glinting with reflected light. "The question is, what is our answer?"
"What do you mean?" Connie's voice cracked with the question. "Our answer to his letter?"
Armin nodded, staring blankly into space as his mind raced with possibilities.
"What else would our answer be?" Mikasa straightened. "Obviously we can't just leave him alone."
"Slow down Mikasa," Levi waved his hand, a grim look painted over his features. "This isn't something we can rush into blindly. Whatever he's doing, he's moving on his own and using his powers to persuade us—"
"Not to mention, we don't fully understand the enemy." Hange interrupted. "We still have so much to learn, and so far to come. With the help of the volunteers, I think infiltrating Marley is possible, but not for a long while yet."
"Do we have that option, to spend the time trying to get everything exactly perfect? Why do you think Eren left?" Mikasa argued. "He was frustrated we were wasting so much time on technological improvements, instead of improving our chances of survival—"
"Mikasa," Armin placed his hand on his friend's arm. "We can't help the choices he made. We can only make the best decisions possible now."
"And why wouldn't that be helping him?" She replied softly, jaw tensing as she glared back and forth from Levi to Hange.
"First of all," Levi inquired, "Why does he need our help, and why now? Until we know that, we can't make a definitive decision to join him, or continue our efforts here without him."
"His objective is the same as it's always been." Jean said bluntly. "He wants to destroy those threatening him."
"I thought that was our goal too," Sasha questioned.
"That is our goal." Connie shook his head at his friend in disbelief.
"Frankly," Jean sighed. "I may not agree with him using his titan to force us, but like Mikasa said, does the island really have the time to wait and develop? If we don't have the Founder, Paradis definitely won't survive, even with technological advancements. We don't have any other choice but to go with him."
"Exactly," Mikasa agreed, turning to Armin for his support.
"I agree with Jean…" Armin acknowledged, hesitantly forming his next thoughts. "But that doesn't mean we can't have any control of the situation if we do join Eren."
"What do you mean?" Levi took a skeptical sip of his tea, before casting a worried look at Hange.
"Well, I have the Colossal." Armin stated, brushing hair from his face. "Whatever he's planning, he's going to need me."
Hange interjected. "That may or may not be the case—"
"He will," Mikasa pulled her scarf down to speak. "He can't overtake Reiner, Cart and Jaw on his own."
"And whatever else they have over there," Jean added. "No doubt they have artillery and weapons that we won't be expecting."
"How do you think he would react if we told him he'd lose the Colossal without us," Levi stated. "The Colossal is an asset but not one nearly as influential as the Founder. What does he have to lose?"
"Security and allies," Hange stated. "Those are the two things he has little of that we can provide him."
"And if he chooses it's not worth it?" Levi asked.
"He won't," Mikasa glared at her superior, defiant faith glittering in her eyes. "We are worth it to him."
Commander Hange's Office, Days Later:
Hange sat at her monstrous desk staring at an empty sheet of paper, one designated to bear Paradis' response to Eren's uncouth correspondence.
"You have to write something down, you know." Levi said, cocking his eyebrow at her from across the room. "You want me to do it?"
Hange chuckled softly, knowing the captain had admirable combat and tactical skills, but very little to boast of in the form of literacy.
"I think I'll manage," she muttered, taking the quill in her hands and dipping it into the ink. "How hard can it be?" She scoffed, removing the pen as she mulled over possible responses in her head. What would Erwin write?
What would Erwin write…
"Hange."
The commander's eyes widened at the sound of her name.
Startled, she looked at the captain, who gestured to the page where a growing puddle of ink had dripped off the pen and stained the paper as a result.
Looking up at the quill, Hange watched as another black droplet fell from the tip and further ruined the stationary. "I'm sorry." She conceded, replacing the pen back into the ink well. "I don't know how to begin, or if the choice we're making is the right one."
"Then don't write it yet." The Ackerman crossed the room to the door, nodding to her as he opened it to leave. "I'll go get another paper."
"Thank you," she sighed, resting her forehead on her arms as the door softly shut.
"What would Erwin write?" She mused aloud, tapping her finger against the smooth wood of the mahogany desk.
Closing her eyes, she searched her memory for the answer, one particular memory coming to the forefront of her mind.
"Who is the enemy?"
"What?" a version of herself mused, quizzically pushing her glasses up her nose as the question swam around in her consciousness.
"He said, 'who is the enemy', dumbass." Levi replied, shaking his head as he huddled over his ODM gear, tirelessly polishing the equipment.
"Who do you think it is?" Erwin repeated his question. "And who are our allies?"
"I still don't know the whole answer to that question, Erwin." A current Hange sniffed, fighting frustrated tears. "I know Marley is an enemy, but who isn't?"
There were so many enemies, so many questions, so many uncertainties.
She remembered the days when her greatest concern was protecting "remaining humanity" from the titans. Now it felt as though she was charged with protecting her world from all of humanity, using titans themselves as an asset instead of an adversary.
Just how much had changed, and how much else would change, before all of this ended?
Would it ever end?
And who are our allies?
Slamming her clenched fist on the surface of the desk, she shook her head. "I thought Eren was an ally to Paradis, but I don't know anymore!" Why would he leave? What was his goal?
Straightening, she almost let out a cry of frustration if a hesitant blonde hadn't been standing in front of her.
"I do," Armin whispered, blue eyes scanning the page where a giant blot of ink was now smeared into the fibers of the paper. "Please let me help."
"I found Arlert and thought he might be able to help you." Levi said, casually taking a seat a few paces from the desk. "Here's some more paper. Don't mess this one up."
"Thank you," Hange said, motioning that Armin take the blank page from Levi and bring it to her. The Scout did as she asked, walking around the desk and placing the stationary in front of her.
"Hange," Armin stood behind her as she once again drew the quill from the ink and prepared to begin her first sentence. "What if I wrote the letter?"
A breath Hange didn't know she had been holding inside escaped as she abruptly stood and handed Armin the quill. "By all means," she helped him take a seat at the desk. "That's a great idea. He will probably respond to you the best anyways."
Taking a deep breath, Armin nodded as the Commander and Captain took a seat in front of the desk and waited for his next move.
"We are choosing to work with him," Armin clarified, "But we want to know what his plan is?"
"Exactly," Hange confirmed, leaning back in her seat, far more relaxed.
Nodding, he straightened in his seat, preparing to write.
"This might take a moment."
"Take all the time you need," Hange answered as he dipped the quill in the ink.
Sighing, he touched the pen to the paper, and began his response.
Eren,
Have we ever chosen to lay down and die?
Was that all he wanted to say? No, he had to continue. The fate of the island rested on this letter.
We all chose to give our hearts, not just to the Scouts, but to Paradis and to each other. Now the fate of Paradis rests in your hands, I know it and so do you. I ask you to trust, that our promise remains the same, and that we will work beside you if you will let us be your ally, and your friends.
We ask nothing more and require nothing less.
Sincerely, Armin
"It's done," he said, carefully placing the quill in the ink well and sliding the page across the desk to his superiors.
"Already?" Levi said, cocking an eyebrow as he took the page and read it for himself.
"What did you say?" Hange waited as patiently as she could until Levi finished, then snatched the letter from him and examined it thoroughly.
"I reminded him what mattered," Armin stated, wringing his hands together as both Levi and Hange inspected his work. "It's short, but I think explains that we are his allies, and his friends."
"…and not his pawns." Levi finished, nodding his approval to the letter's author and sitting back in his chair. "I think it's good."
"It's excellent," Hange corrected him. "Much better than what I had in mind."
Levi scoffed. "Did you have anything in mind?"
"I was getting there!" Hange shook her head as she stood, and returned to her position behind the desk. Opening a drawer, before she took a seat, she retrieved an envelope, sealing the letter inside and handing the parchment to Armin, who furrowed his brows in confusion as he accepted it.
"You should deliver it when the ship returns." Hange said, nodding to him in assurance. "It could stimulate one of Bertholdt's memories."
"Oh, I didn't think of that." He muttered, holding the message reverently in his hands. "I doubt it will, but it wouldn't hurt to try."
"I just ask one thing," the Commander stated, pushing her sleeves up her forearms, before finally taking a seat behind the spacious desk. "Please don't tell Mikasa when you deliver it. I worry enough about her taking reckless courses of action without an opportunity for her to stowaway to Marleyan territory."
Levi nodded in agreement. "She has been more on edge these past weeks than I've ever seen her."
Armin bit his lip, glancing back and forth between his superiors. "She's worried for Eren's sake."
The captain rolled his characteristically cold, grey eyes, "We all are. But if she acts like an impulsive child and does something stupid it could hurt everyone. Her, Paradis, and him."
"I understand, Captain."
"Please," Hange took control of the conversation before her Captain could say anything else. "Just don't tell her for now. I will let you know when the ship arrives. I imagine it will be in the next few days."
"Yes, Commander." Armin saluted briefly before heading to the door, dismissed. "I will do my best."