They never said "I love you" to each other.
Not when they first kissed, neither before an dead promising mission.
Not when they made each other smile.
Not when they satisfied their lust together.
Never.
It was an unspoken promise, never needed to be said out loud. It was just there, between them as a silent agreement. And they would keep it to death.
They were strong, stronger than anybody else, and strength meant everything in this rotten, cruel world. It meant surviving, even if it was just for one more day.
But it would be one more day, they could spend with each other. And it made them happy, stronger.
Together they were Humanity's Strongest. Equals. Lovers.
But they were also human. And that's it.
This undeniably knowledge, that layed over them everytime they returned from a mission, everytime they woke up next to the other.
Sometimes it felt like the two of them were the only ones who knew it for sure. Even they could die within a few seconds. It was a fact. The only truth.
Maybe they made it out the last time, but an uncertain next time would always lay befor them. There would always be a next mission. More titans to fight. More loss to handle.
But they needed to stay strong. To give their strenght to humanity, to each other.
They knew they were humans, together they could feel like one.
And being human means to suffer. Being strong means to let go what is weak. To know that you could have saved someone's life, if you only were faster, stronger, less human.
Once, after a horrible mission, she had started to cry. And he was there to hold her close. He did not say he loved her, he did not need to. When his arms kept her steady, she knew he would always be there. At least, she hoped so.
Once he just fell to the stony ground with a dulled gaze, unable to move. So many of his men were vanished by the titans. Again. And she was there, next to him, holding his hand. She did not say she loved him, she did not need to. When her head was laying on his shoulder, he knew she would always be there. At least, he hoped so.
Sometimes they were weak. In moments, when nobody else was there.
In times they showed how damaged they were.
Damaged by being strong.
Damadged by loss.
Damaged by war.
Damaged by their own race.
But sheltered by each other.
They never said "I love you". Nobody would ever hear them saying it.
But one day the whole world was able to see it, their love and that even The Strongest are nothing but human.
A child was born. The strongest woman gave birth to it, like every other women gives birth, too.
And the new tiny human had a strong and loud voice, that kept its parents busy all day, just like every other healthy baby too.
A baby, a weak human, could never have saved humanity, not even when its parents were The Strongest. And if it was not important to the other people's sake, for their own safety, the baby was not important to them. Just because it was nothing but a human child. As human as its parents were. But its parents would love it, more than they loved each other, because there was one more reason for them to survive the day. To stay strong. To give love and obtain some.
They never said "I love you" because something obvious must not be said.