The heat of two hundred bodies beat down upon your skin like the sun in the dark, each standing at attention individually, hands fisted over their hearts. The fire of their honor was contagious, and even you had to admit, even if you felt a little sick from the overbearing heat and humidity, you were proud of yourself.

You stood in the front, with the rest of the top ten. The end of the line of the most elite of the 104th Cadet Corps.

Graduation was here. And it was almost over.

In five minutes, you would be a soldier.

You couldn't see the faces of your comrades very well. You were all illuminated by only firelight from the surrounding torches as Shadis' voice rang out over the field, saying the words that some of your number had died in the attempt to hear.

Finally, he was nearing the end of his speech. He began calling out names, one by one, and they all came up to the stage, fisted their right hand over their heart, and said their oath. You were ridden with excitement and nerves and a tiny bit of nausea, but eventually, he called your name. You walked as steadily as you could up to the stage, ascending the stairs with careful steps. The last thing you needed was to trip or collapse on your way over to say your oath. They'd probably kick you out of the military on principal.

Finally, you stood in front of your instructor, and saluted with as much force as you could muster.

"I swear my heart to Maria, to Rose, and to Sina to dedicate my heart and life to the betterment of humanity."

You slowly returned to your spot in the front row, glowing with pride. You watched the rest of the soldiers swear their hearts, and then finally, it was done. Shadis looked over all of you with a strange expression on his face.

"The past three years have been as meaningful, and sometimes as trying for me as it has been for all of you." You could hear a few soft chuckles from the trainees as they remembered some of the more difficult days when Shadis was ready to strangle each and every one of you. "But here you stand before me, true soldiers at last. I am honored to say that I have taken part in your journeys."

All the former-cadets stared at their instructor affectionately. Sure, you had your suspicions that he had grown rather fond of you all, but he had never spoken anything similar to such praise out loud. Shadis cleared his throat, and saluted the group of young adults.

"You are now officially soldiers. Congratulations. You will choose your factions tomorrow. You are dismissed." He departed the stage.

Like releasing a great breath, all the cadets slowly broke out of formation and began congratulations, laughing and slapping each other on the back. The sound of milling soldiers surrounded you, and you began grinning just as your knees began to feel like jelly.

Uh oh.

You felt a hand grip your shoulder tightly and turned to meet a pair of beaming, green eyes.

"Congratulations, [Name]," he said quietly, still smiling.

You returned his expression weakly. "You too, Eren. We made it."

He nodded in agreement. "We made it. Finally."

You looked at him fondly, faltering in your stance.

How embarrassing! I can't even stand up!

You gave him as friendly a grin as you could muster. "Yeah. Finally. Why don't you go find Armin and Mikasa? I have something I need to do."

Eren's eyes widened ever so slightly, and he looked a little hurt, but brushed it off easily enough. "Yeah, okay... I'll see you later, right?" he asked hopefully.

You gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course. I'll see you later."

He squeezed your shoulder once before departing, finding his friends like you had suggested. You congratulated a few of the other soldiers you had become friends with over the years, but you found the crowd to be generally overwhelming and ended up making a beeline to the very edge of the group of people. You felt more than a little bit light-headed now, and needed to be alone for a few minutes.

You weren't sure anymore if it was just the heat, or if you were going to have a panic attack about selecting a branch tomorrow. You slid down against the wall until you hit the floor, dropping your head into your hands.

After a few minutes, a light sprinkling of rain began, so everyone slowly began to make their way down the street towards the hall where you would all have your graduation feast. You hung back, not particularly wanting to get stuck in the crowd again, but relishing the feeling of the cool water upon you.

The rain began falling harder, and what before felt refreshing had become as overwhelming as the crowd. You stood up and began to make your way to the hall as well.

You didn't make it very far. Your traitorous legs collapsed on you, and you began to fall forward, towards a puddle. Right into a pair of warm, strong arms.

"Deja-vu, huh?"

You smiled at the familiar voice, letting him help you up. "Yeah. Still haven't quite gotten used to this kind of heat yet."

Eren chuckled. "We've been training out in the sun for three years and you're still not used to it?"

You smiled sheepishly. "It's a different kind of heat when you're in a crowd. It's overwhelming."

He nodded, understanding. "I know what you mean. Come on, let's head over to the feast before we drown in this rain. I'll help you."

You gave him a grateful look as he pulled your arm around his neck, wrapping his own arm around your waist and helping you along the alley.

It felt so much like when he caught you that first night in the military three years ago. So much had changed since then, but they two of you were still here.

"We haven't changed at all," you remarked, contrary to your previous thoughts.

"Hm?" he responded absentmindedly.

"We really haven't. We're the same people. Just different."

Eren laughed loudly at that, eyebrow raised. "I don't know if I would say that. The first time I met you, I honestly thought you would bite my head off if I said the wrong word. I was afraid sometimes that I'd bite off yours."

You considered this. "That's fair, I guess."

"Also, you haven't yet threatened to kill me if I tell anyone you fainted."

Your face reddened in anger and you frowned. "I did not faint, idiot. And I only don't say it anymore because I thought it was an unspoken understanding."

"That it is," he conceded, laughing. "But we've grown, as people. I used to want to kill you sometimes, and I imagine you must have felt the same. Now I..." he stopped abruptly, turning ahead and continuing to walk.

"You what?" you asked, struggling to get a look at his face.

"Nothing. Never mind," he responded brusquely.

You furrowed your brow, but recognized the tone of his voice when you weren't going to get any more out of him. "Okay."

His expression softened and he sighed. "Just... thank you."

Now you were confused. "What for?"

He chuckled softly. "Nothing in particular."

You looked at him mischievously. "Are you drunk already? We're not even at the feast yet!"

He glanced at you with bright eyes. "Don't be dumb. Just forget it."

You leaned on his arm, sighing. "Well, whatever it is, I'm happy to have been of service."

He looked at you fondly and smiled. "Let's get out of this rain."

You laughed, throwing back another mug of some substance that had a very bitter taste and a name you couldn't care less about. As it turns out, food was what you needed to shake off your nausea. It was the graduation feast, and you were sitting with all of your friends, probably for the last time. Some of them were joining the Military Police with you, of course; namely Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Jean, Marco, Connie, and Sasha. Some were joining the Garrison: Mina, Christa, Ymir, Hannah, and the rest of the soldiers. And then there were the few joining the Scouting Legion. Mikasa, Armin, and Eren.

The boy himself threw back his head beside you and laughed loudly at something Jean had said. You were shocked that the two were getting along so well at the moment; they usually had a volatile friendship at best. But it seems tomorrow's decision was cowing them into behaving themselves, just for this last night.

Every time you thought about the fact that tomorrow Eren would be headed out for the Scouting Legion, you felt sick to your stomach again.

"What do you think, [Name]?" Eren asked. You looked up. Eren had a napkin with a tiny drawing of a horse on it. He was holding it up next to Jean's frowning (a bit forced, you noticed) face. "Can't you see the resemblance?"

You chuckled, taking the napkin from him. "Shut up, idiot."

Eren faked being shot in the heart, groaning. "You wound me!"

"See, Eren!" Jean said smugly. "She's on my side!"

You smiled sweetly. "I said no such thing, horseface."

Jean stuck his tongue out at you.

While it made you happy to see the boys somewhat getting along, you still felt that underlying tension. Trying to ignore it, you swallowed back the last of your nausea and tore off a piece of your bread with your teeth and simply enjoyed the time you were spending with your friends.

Later that night, you, Eren, and the others were walking through the streets of Trost district in the persistent rain, still talking and joking. Sasha and Connie were hand-in-hand, Jean and Marco were whispering to themselves, and Ymir was giving Christa a piggy-back ride (she was letting Christa use her jacket as a kind of umbrella). Mikasa and Armin were talking (Armin was talking a bit louder than usual - you imagined he had had a little too much to drink). Eren remained close by your side.

Eventually, you and Eren had begun to fall back and the others ended up far ahead of you, hurrying to get out of the rain. You didn't mind being in the rain with Eren, and judging by the content look on his face, neither did he. You both walked comfortably in silence for a few moments. You heard him clear his throat beside you, and he stopped walking. You halted beside him.

"About earlier," Eren started, facing straight ahead still. "When I thanked you?"

You smiled and bumped into his side lightly. "You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. I understand if you don't."

"No," Eren said firmly, still looking away. "I want to."

You looked at him then, your curiosity overwhelming you. The others were finally too far ahead for you to see them. The rain beat heavily on the pavement around you. "Okay."

Eren took a deep breath, turning to face you. "I wanted to say -"

Then you heard it.

A scuffling sound and a splash from a nearby alley, followed by a pained, high pitched grunt.

You and Eren both froze, looking into the darkness. You felt the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and a chill completely unrelated to the cold of the rain wrack through your body. Things that hadn't been awakened in years came to life inside you.

It felt so familiar.

It had been so long.

If there was one thing you had learned from the childhood you had, it was that sounds like that coming from dark places never meant anything good.

It meant someone was in trouble.

You jumped into action before Eren could react, running quietly into the dark alley, trying to avoid making as much noise as possible.

Finally, you came out into a small circle of light cast by a single torch mounted on the wall of the alley.

What you saw there made you sick.

A man had a woman... a girl held by her hair and was pressing her face into a puddle of water forcefully. Her tears mingled with the rain, but she seemed to have been knocked into a daze, so she kept silent. Her dress was being pulled up past her waist, and the soldier behind her was about to... you couldn't even think about it.

You saw red.

Stop this!

"Stop," you snarled.

The man (a military policeman, you noticed with disgust) looked up at you quickly, eyes flashing. When he saw you standing there, he got up off the girl, throwing her aside like trash. She snapped out of her daze then, looking up at you, eyes wide, before running off down the alley. The man didn't even spare her a second glance.

Eren came up beside you, taking in the scene with a look of shock on his face.

The man's disgusting mouth curled into a smile as he fixed his pants. His graying hair was slicked back over a receding hairline. The light of the nearby torch reflected off his shiny, balding head.

You remembered.

"So tell me, little thief, whatever possessed you to think that stealing above ground was a good idea?"

The man chuckled, walking towards you.

"You've raised quite the uproar with your little antics. Stolen a lot of important things from important people. Normally, we wouldn't bother arresting some street rat from the underground, but you... you're special.

Eren growled, protectively pushing you behind him. You were too much in horror notice.

"Aww... what bright eyes. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a [eye color]... awfully quiet, aren't we, thief?

Him. It was him.

You wanted to scream, but couldn't.

"Where did you get this, thief?"

Eyes like stale water stared at you, accusatory, and his tight, thin lips uttered a single word that put ice in your blood.

"You."

It was then that you realized.

You can't run forever.