What She Believed

Liesel awoke to find herself against a familiar back. She tried to slightly move, but found her limbs too weak to move. She softly closed her eyes again, feeling her breath against Levi's neck.

"Levi…where are we?" For a moment, there wasn't an answer. Liesel heard the increasingly comforting sound of footsteps across the ground, and she felt herself going back into a dreamlike state when Levi spoke.

"We're almost at the headquarters." If Levi was surprised, he did not show it. His voice was cool and Liesel could even imagine his blank expression. "You took your shitty time waking up. The others have already gone inside." Although the dark-haired girl heard his conceding tone, she heard a strange note of concern in his voice that had not been present before. I saved them, then. Liesel allowed herself a small smile despite her present exhaustion at the thought of her comrades alive. She could still remember the fight between herself and Rod Reiss. The fight had drained her. As Liesel steadily became aware of her surroundings, her blue eyes followed the color of the dark sky. There were no stars, unlike many of the nights that she had stared forlorn at the night sky. The young woman was grateful that she had managed to save her comrades. Not like back then… Liesel thought as she became subdued as she felt flashes of memory from her past. She had failed, but not this time.

"Eren, what happened during the time you were kidnapped by Rod Reiss?"

That was the first question the fellow Titan-shifter was asked as soon as Liesel was able to sit down. They were in a dim-lit room with only a candle illuminating the darkness. She could see the solemn gazes of her comrades as they sat at the table, and another unfamiliar face as well. Levi was sitting next to him. Although Liesel could see the vacant sleeve where his arm was missing, the former soldier could feel the aura of authority surging from him. He had blonde hair, a lighter shade than Armin's, and blue eyes that had briefly pierced into her own when she had walked into the room. Now his attention was on Eren Yeager, who was uncharacteristically tense from the question and refused to meet his gaze. He's thinking about what happened, Liesel thought as the silence became thick. Historia too was still and staring at her trembling hands. Guilt, the dark-haired teen thought as a familiar rush of emotions surged through her. …I know what that feels like.

Eren's voice halted as he spoke, his expression guilt-ridden. "I…was almost eaten by Historia." Shocked gasps and narrowed eyes followed his words, and Liesel could feel the murderous gaze of Mikasa Ackerman as Historia trembled. "It wasn't Historia's fault," Eren echoed, even though it appeared apparent that no one was listening to his words. "Her father –"

"How could you think about eating Eren?" A sense of de-ja vu underwent the room as Mikasa Ackerman leaned her face towards Historia's, her expression enraged and murderous. "After all that he has done for you!" Mikasa's expression hardened when her cold eyes followed Historia's trembling form. Liesel noted uneasily of how the others had similar reactions. Jean's lips became a thin line as Armin appeared pensive and solemn. Sasha was crying, and the others were angry. The superiors were still, their expressions unreadable as Historia began to cry.

"I'm sorry!" Historia cried as tears leaked from her eyes. A jolt shook through the dark-haired young woman as she recognized the pleading and despairing tone. "Bitte…mein bruder…" Her expression became empty as she recognized the contempt in her former comrades as she whispered. "I simply didn't want my father to hate me…I wanted to believe what he said was true. I wanted to." Her swollen eyes lifted slightly as she tried to meet Mikasa's eyes. "I had no one but him," she whispered as she looked at the ground again. The tears appeared like rain as the silvery substance fell onto the wood. "Ymir left me…and I thought that I had no else to turn to but him. I'm sorry."

"You had people, Historia!" Jean shouted as the girl flinched at his enraged tone. "You had us!" He paid no heed to the stricken expression of Eren or of Armin, who was trying to calm him. "We had this mission to protect you and that stupid suicidal idiot!" For a brief moment, his heated gaze met Armin's. "And you're saying that you were about to forsake everything we sacrificed for some selfish bastard?"

"No, I didn't." Historia abruptly stood and her swollen eyes steadily became empty as she spoke quietly, her face turned away from them. "Ever since I revealed my past to you, and who I truly was, none of you truly liked me. Not like…Christa Lenz." At the sound the former name, the young Survey Corps members stilled. Liesel observed cautiously as Historia began to speak in a halting breath, noting of how much pain the girl must have for saying the words deep within her heart.

"I had emptiness inside me…no light or happiness, simply an empty shell that could not be fulfilled. And when Levi-heichō forced me to accept a positon of queen," she stated sullenly as Levi observed her, his expression unreadable. "All of you were furious with his treatment of me, but in reality, your only thoughts were about Christa, not Historia." Her voice became barely audible as fresh tears down her face, leaking into her mouth as a harsh sob suddenly came from her. "The only one who truly cared for Historia…was Ymir. And she is gone." For a moment, Liesel met Historia's eyes, and blue eyes met blue as if the girl understood the empathy in the former soldier's eyes.

"Then I remembered what she said to me, to be true to myself and no one else, and I decided to not become another shallow person for someone to mold. I…defied my father, and aided Eren, because I chose my own path, not a path that someone chose for me."

"What was the path that you chose?" The Survey Corps looked surprised to find Liesel speaking to Historia. There was a gentle gaze that hadn't been there before.

"I decided to help people that believed they were alone in the world. People like me…people like Eren…and people like you." Historia wiped her eyes and she spoke clearly now, although there was a faint tremble in her voice. "I wanted to be the person to tell people that they were not alone even as loneliness and despair was the only emotion they knew."

Levi stood. A premature scowl was on his face but his voice held no anger or disappointment. "Historia is right. I did use her as a means to obtain a hold on the monarchy and complete our mission," he added with a look at the blond man across from him. "I'm grateful that you have become your own person, Historia." The former enraged and shocked faces of the Survey Corps were subdued, although Liesel could see anger remaining in Mikasa Ackerman's expression though the young woman did not say a word.

"What else occurred, Eren?" The man across from Levi spoke as if the situation hadn't occurred. Liesel heard Eren breathe a sigh of relief as the tension in the room dissipated. His expression became serious and no longer held the uncertainty and fear.

"My father ate Historia's older sister, who had the memories of humanity before the Walls came." At the mention of his father, Eren clenched his hand tightly and bit his lip. "He…was a Titan-shifter, and on the night Wall Maria fell, he attacked the Reiss family and slaughtered all of them except Historia's older sister…who he ate." The others listened intently to what was being said. "He ate her, and obtained the memories that she had. And then, he transferred them to me."

"How did that happen?" The question caused Eren to shake and almost lose his composure. Tears started to appear in his eyes. Mikasa was about to comfort him when a hard look by Levi stopped her.

"I ate him." Eren's words gritted through his teeth as his lips started to bleed. "It was shortly Wall Maria fell, and he…put a needle with a strange liquid in me. I transformed," he stated thickly as his eyes grew wide at the mention of the darkest memory he had. "I don't remember anything else but screaming with the key around my neck with half of his torso gone." An uneven breath escaped from him. "He wanted me to save humanity."

"And you did save humanity, Eren." Mikasa's voice was uncharacteristically gentle, and her eyes widened in hurt as Eren began to yell.

"I haven't done anything to save humanity!" Tears now trailed down his cheeks. "I really haven't done anything against the Titans, and…I don't know if what Rod Reiss said was true." A snarl appeared on his face. "It's highly likely he was lying about a single Titan making the Walls, and the king making them in the first place to create peace." He sighed. "He was a good liar –"

"No." Eyes turned as Liesel spoke. Her voice echoed slightly against the walls as she spoke, hesitantly again. "He was telling the truth." She paused, working to find her voice as her body suddenly became heavy and her mind spinning with grief. "I…was there when it happened."

"What is your name?" The tall blond man stared at her curiously. "I do not believe we have the honor to meet."

"My name is Liesel Eichenlicht," she stated. It suddenly seemed as if one hundred seven years had not passed and she was addressing a man known as Edmund Kӧhler.

"My name is Erwin Smith." Liesel's eyes widened in the recognition of that name. "You were the Titan that was found in the expedition?"

"Yes."

"Luz…" Liesel turned to find Armin staring at her solemn face. "Is that your true name?" he asked quietly.

"Ja." Armin appeared confused, and Liesel flushed slightly at the fact that she had accidently spoken her language to him. "I mean…yes." As Armin shared a look with Jean, Liesel's thoughts turned inward. I recognize this language. It's similar to my language, but also different. Friedrich used to call me stupid because I wasn't very good at it. English, huh? How is it though that I'm able to speak it though I…was deplorable at the language before? Could it because I'm a Titan-shifter? Suddenly Liesel could saw Erwin Smith's mouth moving and could only hear the last words stated in her direction.

"…how do you know this?"

Liesel swallowed heavily and rasped, "I was born over one hundred seven years ago under the name of Liesel Eichenlicht." Why did it feel like a hole was breaking in her heart when she said her true name to them? Why did she feel the need to weep, as if the pain of the four years of war were not one hundred seven years ago. "I was a soldier…of a proud nation known as…Deutschland."