"Would you quit that damn game already?" Jean flicked ash brown hair out of his eyes, looking up from his sketchbook to glare at his friends from across the room where they were waiting for Captain Levi. "Armin you know no one is going to win this."

Conny and Sasha both looked up from their stalemate game of chess, a game that Armin had been refereeing. For the past hour, the two players had been chasing each other's final pieces across a board stationed on the coffee table, gaining little tangible progress towards winning.

Armin sighed, close to losing faith in his comrades, but refusing to admit it. "I think they're getting close to the end." Standing above them, the blonde scratched his temple skeptically and refrained from offering advice that could have progressed the game long ago.

"He's right, Jean." Conny puffed up his chest. "I'm finally about to corner Sasha."

"No, you aren't!" Sasha pointed to the game piece in her friend's hand. "That's my piece, I'm about to corner you!"

"What? No, I'm the black, you're white." He protested.

Armin shook his head and crossed the room. Plunking down on a couch close to Jean, he put his head in his hands, finally giving up.

The argument continued.

"No! That's not true—"

Jean had heard enough, slamming his sketchpad shut, he raised his voice. "Just quit the game already!" The two quieted as he gestured to the chess pieces scattered on the floor below them. "And clean the hell up! Captain Levi is going to give you both stable duty for a week if he walks in and sees the room like this!"

From her position on the farthest side of the room, Mikasa added her own encouragement, scarcely turning her gaze from the window. "You better

hurry. He could be here any minute."

Sasha's eyes widened. "I can hear his footsteps!"

Conny's face became visibly pale as he scrambled to clean up their mess.

Tossing pieces carelessly into a box, the two nearly collided heads as they worked. One by one each piece made its way from the carpet to the box. Just as the door cracked open, Conny slammed the wooden box shut, catching his finger between the lid and the compartment.

"OWW—"

"SHHHH!"

Each Scout jolted to their feet as Captain Levi entered the room, their closed fists drumming against their chests as they saluted and addressed their superior in unison.

"Captain Levi!"

"Sit."

They each took their seats, gathering at the couches that encircled the dreaded chess table. Levi sat at the head, pulling what looked like an envelope from his jacket.

"Who wants to read it?"

Sasha hesitantly raised her hand, to which the captain responded by rolling his eyes and handing the letter to Armin at his left.

"I expected you to volunteer, Arlert."

"I'm sorry—"

"Just read it."

Conny raised his hand sheepishly. "What is it?"

"What do you think it is—" Jean scoffed, preparing to launch an arsenal of insults before Levi interrupted his assault.

"Shut up and let him read." The captain turned towards the letter's recipient, gently nodding for him to proceed. "Go ahead."

Reluctantly, the intuitive blonde accepted the message, carefully opening the already broken seal and drawing the stationary from inside. Clearing his throat, he unfolded the letter and prepared to read it, but not before looking to his comrades for their encouragement.

Mikasa nodded, expectant eyes wide with hope.

"Ok, it says…"

Armin,

I will never forget the promise we made, both to each other and to Paradis.

We both know the imperative truth, that the island where we were born is on the brink of extinction. I ask you to accept another imperative truth, that our redemption is not in development or diplomacy, but in the destruction of our enemies. The same enemies who tried to destroy us years ago.

I intend on keeping my promise, and I hope you still feel the same.

- Kruger

Mikasa shifted in her chair. Why was the letter addressed to Armin?

"What does that mean?" Conny asked, looking to the captain for explanation.

"It means war," Jean answered for him, his tone dropping dangerously low. "What the hell is he planning?"

Armin folded the letter and set it on the table. "This is bigger than just the Scouts or Paradis. He's planning—"

"It's an attack on Marley." Levi interrupted, taking the letter from the table, and briefly scanning it for himself. "It's pretty obvious. We're being forced into an attack on Marley."

Jean stood abruptly; his fears confirmed.

Leaving his chair to stare out the window, he clenched and unclenched his fist. How many lives would an attack on Marley cost? What would it mean for their future? Jaw set, he glared out the glass, watching a group of recruits strolling through the military compound, laughter reverberating up to the second floor where he stood.

He used to be like them.

Mikasa pulled her scarf down to speak. "Were there any plans in the letter, Armin? For an attack?"

Armin frowned, shaking his head, "No, I imagine he wants us to fully commit first."

"What the hell are we committing to?" Jean said, tossing his hands into the air as he turned to face them again. "I mean, lives are at risk, and I don't see any other choice other than going with his plan, but isn't he thinking about the people he's dragging into this—"

"Jean," Armin tried to console him.

"We have to do this." Mikasa turned in her chair to face him, empty grey eyes pleading with him for his cooperation. "You know we do."

"That's the worst damn part!" Jean gritted his teeth, shaking his head at Mikasa in disbelief. "I thought you, Mikasa, of all people, would understand the number of casualties this sort of attack would have. Yet you're still willing to hop on a boat and waste valuable life for what? What has Eren done for us recently—"

Armin pleaded with him once more. "Jean—"

"No, Armin, what has he actually done since he left?"

Mikasa stood, an icy cold stare accompanied a low growl as the younger Ackerman prepared for a fight.

"Sit down, both of you," The captain commanded, to which they both reluctantly obeyed. Turning to the blonde, Levi gestured to the note once more, a skeptical eyebrow raised in question. "Armin, you're positive that this is Eren? No one is manipulating us?"

Armin nodded. "He's addressed the letters as Kruger. Zeke wouldn't reach out to Paradis under that name. He would address us officially as Eren if it was him."

"So, since it's Eren, we're doing it?" Conny grimaced. "We're attacking Marley?"

Levi shook his head. "No one said that. We have to respond to this letter first."

Mikasa's eyes closed, and she took a deep breath, head pounding violently as the same question repeated itself in her mind.

Why was the letter addressed to Armin?

"Hange and I will discuss what an attack would look like," Levi said, interrupting her thoughts. "But there's something he isn't telling us. He knows something we don't."

Armin nodded, his gaze drifting as he lost himself in thought.

"Hange and I wanted you all to read the letter first," The Captain conceded, standing to leave. "Because it's your decision as his friends. You get to choose if this attack is worth standing beside him or not."

Jean scoffed, crossing his legs, and curtly bouncing his extended foot.

Levi knew what they would choose. He himself had made the same choice.

They had to attack.

It wasn't worth the lives wasted for them to throw this opportunity away. Erwin's face flashed momentarily in his vision, followed by the many others who had lost their lives for humanity's sake. He would honor their memory, fulfil his promises to them, that was his purpose.

Eren just happened to be the person who would make that happen.

"Make your decision," Levi said, tucking the letter into his jacket before turning towards the door. "Hange and I will discuss the hypotheticals with you all later."

No one responded as the door closed, but each knew the answer.

"Armin," Mikasa broke the silence. "The letter is addressed to you."

The Scout's face instantly reddened, before he gently nodded.

Jean furrowed his brows, suddenly realizing the same thing.

"It said something about a promise," Kirstein mumbled, "What promise was he talking about? Why did he say—"

"How did you write to him?" Mikasa demanded, onyx eyes boring into Armin's icy blue ones.

"Hange asked me to." Armin raised his hands innocently, intentionally concealing the truth. "She needed help with Paradis' response."

"What promise was he talking about?" Jean interjected, glaring at Mikasa, who was still studying Armin skeptically.

"The one we made as Scouts, to give our hearts for the sake of Paradis."

Nodding, Jean fell silent, clenching and unclenching his jaw.

"He said he'd keep that promise." Sasha looked back and forth between Mikasa and Armin before continuing. "Why did he leave then?"

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense." Conny muttered before resting his head in his hands.

"It doesn't matter now." Jean said, running the palm of his hand over the stubble on his jawline. "He made his choice, now Levi asked us to make ours."

Mikasa remained silent, looking to Armin for support of her unspoken decision.

"There has to be another way," Armin shook his head, wracking his brain for a peaceful solution. "Something other than war. Like you said Jean, so many lives will be lost if—"

"A lot of lives will be lost. That's just it." Jean said, cursing under his breath as he stood. "Levi's pretending like there's another option, but the reality is that Eren didn't give us a choice." Crossing the room, he stood in front of Conny, extending his hand and helping him up. "We are attacking Marley."

Conny stood next to his friend, his lips pressed into a thin line before he spoke.

"I'm gonna beat Eren to a pulp when he comes back."

Jean scoffed, "Not if I get to him first."

Later that Afternoon:

"Niccolo, I told you already, that's not how you ride a horse."

Niccolo had joined the navy for a reason. He was terrified of horses and always preferred the freedom the open sea offered him.

Now, it seemed that the opposite had fated its way back to him. He was atop a towering brown mare, stiffly gripping the saddle horn as the horse meandered as it pleased, nipping at wispy green grass without a care for its passenger.

His fear aside, he was a prisoner of war with barely the privilege to walk outside when he pleased, much less board a ship and travel the world.

Something else was different too.

He lived with Eldians. He spoke with them too.

"Are you sure this thing isn't going to just take off running with me on its back?"

Sasha, stood in front of both man and beast, proudly admiring the fruits of her labor. "Sure thing," she nodded, approaching the mare, and patting its neck gently. "She's a well-behaved horse. My paw' would say she has an old soul."

"An old soul?" Niccolo chuckled nervously, noting his knuckles had gone white with the force of his clenched fists around the leathery saddle. Nonetheless, he refused to let go for fear of his life. "That's a good thing, right?"

Sasha laughed, her brown eyes glittering in the afternoon sunlight. "Yes, it is. Besides, where would she run to? We're still in the sable pasture. 'Farthest she'd get would be to the fence over there, and I doubt she'd try to jump it, though she probably could."

Niccolo pried his eyes from the contently munching horse to the fence that was fifty meters away, and the stable beyond the wooden fence line. Gripping the saddle tighter, he imagined himself being thrown off the horse, surmising a fall from this height meant at least a few broken bones, maybe worse.

He'd fallen off the side of a ship before, braved many a sea storm, but none was nearly as daunting as the possibility of jumping a fence atop this "gentle" animal.

Casting a pleading look at his riding instructor, he silently begged she allow him to dismount.

"Oh, hush," She waved her hand as she ignored his cry for mercy. "You're fine." Turning, she took the reins in her own hands and began to slowly guide the horse into a leisurely walk around the pasture, much to the horse's dining displeasure.

"Oh no," Niccolo whined, his legs tensing around the sides of his mount.

The mare, sensing his anxiety, began to shake her head back and forth, jingling the metal clasps of her bridle and prompting another whimper from the Marleyan.

"You both are little babies." Sasha shook her head, turning over her shoulder to look at Niccolo. "Don't make me come up there," She warned, a mischievous glint in her eye.

Momentarily, he forgot his peril at the words of the Eldian.

"You probably should," He quipped, before he could think. "I learn best by watching others."

Dropping the reins, she shook her head.

"Fine," she said, giving him little time to scoot back in the saddle before she swung her leg up and mounted. "Let the lady do it, I suppose."

"By all means."

Shaking her head once again, she fixed her skirt before securing her feet in the stirrups and retrieving the fallen reins.

Heat climbed into his cheeks as he scooted closer to her, feeling her body between his legs. The exhilaration lasted momentarily, though, as trepidation quickly prevailed over attraction.

"Okay," she huffed, shaking flyaway hairs out of her face before turning in the saddle to look at him one last time.

"You ready?"

He shouldn't have let her have control.

"Please no."

She clicked her tongue, flicking the reins and prodding the horse into a steady trot.

"No— Please! No!" Frantically throwing his arms around Sasha's waist, he continued to protest, his voice thudding with each of the mare's steps.

She kicked her heel into the animal's side, slightly increasing the speed once again.

"C'mon now, this is fun. You know it!"

Pressing himself against her back, the Marleyan clenched his eyes shut as she girded their mount into a canter, turning slightly, to avoid the fence, then switching to a slow run.

His heart pounded in his ears as he bounced up and down in the saddle, each time knocking a little more air out of his lungs. Sasha's hair caught the wind, tangling itself in his nose and mouth and making it even harder to breathe. Still, he refused to let go of her middle to clear the webs of hair from his mouth, and hoped it wasn't possible to asphyxiate atop a horse.

"Sasha, please!"

"Quit your whinin'! I learned to do this when I was a kid!"

He clutched her waist even tighter, wondering how she could breathe with the desperate force of his grip.

"Ow!" Crying out in pain, she pulled the mare to a halt, jolting both Niccolo and the mare and causing his body to slam against her back with the abruptness of their stop.

"Niccolo, stop holding on so tight." She pried his hands off her waist. "You're hurtin' my ribs."

Gasping, he used the break in their ride to clear the mass of hair from his face and drink in a breath of air.

"I'm sorry." He apologized, jumping off of the horse before she had the chance to chastise his cowardice. Stumbling and landing clumsily in the grass on his backside, he cast another pitiful look towards the girl. Sheepishly, he recovered, standing to his feet and backing away from the animal, watching closely to assure it wouldn't charge towards him.

"I'm sorry, Sasha, I can't ride."

Furrowing her brows, she watched his gaze flicker anxiously between her and the mare before bursting into laughter.

"Fine then," she conceded. "Watch how it's done."

Niccolo raised his hands in surrender as he watched her take off, shying away from the clods of dirt that broke and flew towards him as the mare sprinted away.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he shook away his nerves and planted his feet squarely on the solid ground, grateful to be standing once again.

"Yah! Yah!"

Smacking the horse's withers, Sasha goaded the mare into a full sprint, laughing as her skirt billowed majestically behind her, flapping in the breeze like the sail of a ship.

"Watch this!" She shouted at him, directing the horse to gallop along the fence line.

His stomach churned as the animal continued to run and she surrendered the reins, wondering if he should call for her to stop.

"Be careful…" he whispered beneath his breath.

He watched her place her hands on the saddle horn, and loose her feet from the stirrups, casting an impish glace to assure he was looking.

"Oh shit! Sash—"

Laughter overshadowed his caution as she pulled her legs into a squatting, then teetering standing position on the horse's back, her hands waving over her head.

"You see me?" She called, hair whipping in front of her wild eyes.

"Sasha, you're going to get yourself killed!"

Dropping back into the saddle she continued to laugh at his discomfort, slowing her steed into a walk and approaching him.

"That's child's play, Niccolo." She giggled, clearing her face from the mass of tangled hair. "I used to be able to stand up and shoot a boar straight in the heart when I lived in the woods with my paw'."

"Get down from there!" he said, taking the reins and pulling her down from the saddle. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"No, I wasn't—"

"Please don't do that again!" He waved his finger in her face, scolding her like a child. "Or at least don't do that when I'm watching!"

She chuckled, raising an eyebrow at him. "You asked for a ridin' lesson. I was just showin' you what you're gonna learn."

Shaking his head, he assured her he would never ride a horse like that if his life depended on it.

Sasha shushed him with a finger over his lips.

"Niccolo, you wouldn't last in the forest for a day."

His eyes widened as her hand remained over his mouth for a moment, and a blush painted itself over his features. Speechless, his mind raced for some kind of retort, but it was useless. She had bewitched him; stolen his heart and his tongue.

Sasha. A damn Eldian.

His silence was broken by the startlingly loud sound of a hunter's growling stomach.

"Gosh, I'm hungry," She whined, grasping the reins of her horse, and turning to walk towards the gate. "Must be time for supper."

"Yeah…" He whispered, falling into step beside her and her ride, still grasping for words.

"Someday, Niccolo, I'll show you how I hunt standing on a horse. In my village, I was the only girl who could do that. Paw' was so proud."

She was one of the only girls he knew who could ride, much less shoot.

"I learned how to do that before I learned how to cook!"

He nodded blankly.

"Gosh, what I wouldn't do for some boar meat stew right now…" She took a few steps more before noticing Niccolo's hushed demeanor. "Hey," She grabbed his sleeve, stopping him. "What happened to you?"

Niccolo shook his head. "I don't know."

"Did I say somethin' wrong?"

He sighed, clenching his fist at his sides. "You said all the right words, Sasha. You always do." Turning to face her, he stared into the chestnut eyes of the devil that would haunt him in his dreams that night. "I have to get back to the volunteer camp before dinner."

"Oh," She whispered, opening the gate to the pasture so they both could walk through. "Well, I hope the horse didn't scare you that much."

The horse wasn't the only thing that scared him.

"It's alright." The Marleyan chuckled. "I'll see you later?"

She nodded, the playful light returning to her eyes. "Have a good supper!"

He shook his head, a smile tipping his lips upwards as he turned and walked away.

"You too."