After being in the underground, we were then ordered to stay above ground and begin cleaning up the city. I did not think that my heart could take it. There was so much death and destruction. I had probably carried more bodies out onto the street than there were living soldiers carrying them out from under the bricks. I just had to grit my teeth and not think about what I was doing. I had just set down another body (a woman) when I heard my name being called.

"Ariadne! Ariadne!" I turned to see Joseph running up to me. He had not changed at all, his face still made him look like a boy. He wore a Garrison jacket instead of the trainee ones they had given us. "Hey, long time no see!"

It was hard smiling back at him. I wish I could have seen him again at a better time. "Hi," I said, my voice cracking a tad.

"I would ask how you are, but," he gestured to the rubble around us, "sorta bad timing."

I nodded. "Yeah."

"I have orders to help clean up here as well," he said, following me towards a crushed building. "I saw everything from on top of the walls."

He helped me move some large stones and broken wooden beams. After a while of moving more debris, we did not find anymore bodies. I was thankful for that. We marked the place off and moved on to the next one. Joseph made small talk about his life as a Garrison Soldier as we worked. He told me he was finally able to begin paying for his sick mother's medicine and she was getting better. The first good news I had heard all day. We stopped for a break and sat on a discarded wooden box to continue talking.

"What about you? How's life treating you in the Survey Corps?" he asked, wiping his sweaty forehead. His light orange hair stuck to his face.

I shrugged. "As well as it could be treating me, I guess," I replied, rubbing the dirt from my hands. I could not tell him about getting engaged or how it was not hard for me to adjust living among the Survey Corps again after training. "It's hard work that's for sure." At least that was not a lie. I fiddled mindlessly with the ring on my finger.

He laughed lightly. "I would expect. How's Mary Kat? She doin' alright? Haven't seen her in a while."

I immediately thought of Mary Kat's face after the little girl had fallen off the building to her death: helpless and heartbroken. I could still see her crouched on the ground, curled up within herself while I had been talking to Levi. I cringed, remembering the sounds of her loud sobs. "I would like to say that she's well," I replied finally. "She's taken it the hardest today I think." Speaking of Mary Kat, where was she?

Joseph frowned. "Sorry to hear that," he said sympathetically.

"It's not your fault," I said, shaking my head.

We sat in silence for a while. Someone brought a bucket of water to us and we gratefully drank some. I felt somewhat refreshed, but my chest was so heavy, I was unsure of how I was still breathing. I put my head in my hands, resting my elbows on my knees.

"Hey, Ariadne."

I did not look up. "Hm?"

"I overheard one of your Commanders talking to a Wall Priest while up on the walls. It was shortly after we had to put that huge tarp over the hole."

I straightened up and looked at him. "Wait, so you saw it too?" I asked, surprised.

Joseph nodded. "I was one of the few to go down on the gear and nail the tarp into the wall. I saw it alright." He glanced around. "But you have to keep this secret." I nodded, intrigued as to what he would say next. He got close to me and whispered in my ear, "I overheard Commander Hanji talking to a Wall Priest. I guess they know something big about the wall and its origin. I didn't hear much, but it sounds as if the Wall Religion Leaders are keeping some huge secrets from the public and maybe even the government." He glanced around again before speaking more. "My guess is that even the higher ups had no idea about Titans being inside the walls."

"Wait, so the higher ups as in even the King?" I asked. My brain swirled with this new idea. I thought of Annie's ability to harden herself while she was in titan form. I had not seen her do it myself, but Espyon told me that was how she got into the crystal in the first place.

Joseph nodded again. "But I'm not entirely sure. I'm only telling you what I overheard. Apparently, some Titans have some sort of ability to harden their skin. From that ability, that's possibly how the walls formed."

"Yeah, I knew that. Did you hear anything else?" I asked a bit too eagerly. I needed a distraction from my thoughts of Erwin and Mary Kat, and this was extremely interesting.

My friend shook his head. "No, I didn't. I was then given orders to come down here and clean up. I didn't hear anything else. Sorry," he apologized sadly.

"No, don't be," I replied, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Hey! You two!" A stern voice made us jump. "Get back to work! We have a ton more to clean up here!" Another soldier was glaring at us. From what I could tell, he was of a much higher rank than either me or Joseph.

"Yes, sir!" Joseph and I said in unison. Reluctantly, we got back to work.

That night when we were finally able to return to the Survey Corps Headquarters, a lot of us immediately went to bed. Some stayed in the cafeteria, eating away their sorrows or trying to have a humorous conversation to lighten their hearts. I was among the group who went to bed. I needed to be alone. My heart was heavy.

I got back to my room and was soon greeted by Marcus. He meowed pleasantly and rubbed against my legs. "Hey, Marcus," I said nonchalantly, scratching him behind his ears. I removed my bloody and dirty uniform and left it on the floor, not caring about putting it away. It was going to be washed tomorrow anyway. I took a quick shower then flopped onto my bed after getting on some pajamas. My whole body ached. I could already feel sleep crawling to me. I welcomed it greatly. I felt Marcus jump onto the mattress and paw at my face.

"Quit," I told him and pushed his paws away from my face. He meowed irritably and laid down beside my head, curling up into a little orange ball of fluff.

I would have fallen asleep immediately, but my mind was plagued with terrible memories of the day. All I could see was Eren and Annie fighting and crushing buildings, the little girl, the thought of Erwin being tortured, Mary Kat sobbing, and all the bodies laid out in the cobbled street. I felt a wave of panic wash over me. I reached out a hand to pet Marcus, hoping his company would calm me. Like always, I was unsure of when I fell asleep. It just came.

I was back in the cell. I could hear the door at the end of the hallway opening and then closing. I did not move from my spot on the floor in the corner. They came for me and pulled my to my feet. I did not protest. I let it happen. They dragged me down to the torture room. It was all familiar, but it felt different this time.

This time the torture table was occupied. I immediately recognized him by his blond hair. I cried out, reaching for Erwin. The soldiers held me in place. I watched as he fought against the bindings that held him to the table. He writhed in pain every time a new device was put on his skin, but he did not cry out. He just gritted his teeth and suffered through it. His blood flowed darkly and slowly out of his body and off the table, dripping on the stone floor.

What was I to do? I could not do anything. I tried to get out of the soldiers' grips and run to him, shield him with my own body. I had enough scars that even more probably would not do anything.

As I protested I saw him turn his head towards me, acknowledging me for the first time since I had entered the room. His blue eyes were wide, straining to focus on me. He opened his mouth and said, "Ariadne, wait for me." Wait? How long am I suppose to wait? I was panicking. I could not stand watching him for much longer. I shut my eyes.

When I opened them again, a bright white light blinded me. I could not see anything but weird outlines of what looked like people. I heard voices saying things like: "Is she awake?" "Her eyes are open!" "Do you think she sees us though?" "Ariadne, do you hear me?"

All of the voices were so familiar. To whom did the voices belong? The female who said my name sounded the most familiar, but I could not place the owner of the voice. Nothing made sense. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I could still hear the little girl screaming and the terrible crunching noise following her scream. I closed my eyes again, shutting out the bright light.

I sat up quickly in bed, clutching a hand to my chest as I tried to catch my breath. The blankets were tangled around my legs. Sweat dripped slowly down my forehead. I gulped for air. Marcus nudged my hand, making me pet him. I focused on how soft his fur was and how his claws hurt when he pawed at my leg as I pet him. He meowed softly and purred gently into my palm.

"I'm sorry, Marcus," I apologized. "I didn't mean to wake you." He meowed again as if accepting my apology.

I stayed awake, petting and playing with Marcus. At about 3 in the morning, I heard a soft knock at my door. I looked up as the door opened, expecting to see Erwin. Instead, I found Mary Kat wanting to come in.

"Oh, good, you're awake," she said, entering the room even though I had not invited her in. She crossed the room in several strides and promptly sat at the foot of my bed. "I need to talk to you."

"What is it?" I asked, suppressing a yawn. I wanted to sleep, but I forced myself to stay awake in fear of the nightmares sleep came with it.

She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin between her knees. "I can't stop hearing her screams…" she said, pulling her fingers through her short mouse-brown hair. I knew immediately what she was going to ask me about. "How do you make these sort of things stop? I don't want to hear them anymore." Her hazel eyes looked at me desperately, waiting for my answer.

I cleared my throat. "Well," I started. I paused. How the heck was I going to be giving her advice when I did not even know how to take care of myself? I could not just tell her I did not know. I ran my fingers through my own hair. It nearly touched my shoulders now. I sighed then continued, "I honestly don't know."

Mary Kat grimaced. Tears lined her eyes then quickly started falling down her face. "I can't take it! I can't fucking take it!" she cried out, hitting her head with her fists. "I should have held onto her! I shouldn't have landed on the fucking roof! I should have known she was going to run from me!"

I reached out and stopped her from hitting her head anymore. "Stop! Stop!" I pleaded. "Mary Kat, listen, it's partially my fault as well," I admitted. Mary Kat paused. "She ran past me before I could grab her." I was sitting on my knees in front of her now. "It's not just your fault. Don't take all the blame. Don't give up because you failed to save someone's life one time. There are many more opportunities to come to save someone." I was unsure of where these words were coming from. They were out of my mouth before I really thought much about them.

Her fists slackened. She looked up at me with her tear stained face. "T-thank you," she choked out. She wiped her eyes and nose. "Don't tell the rest of them I was crying," she said after a while. "I still got an image to keep up."

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever," I mocked, jokingly. I sat back down on my butt. Marcus stretched out behind me. I had forgotten what I had dreamed of before Mary Kat came into the room, but I supposed that was a good thing I had forgotten. Something kept troubling me in the back of my mind to remember something important I had dreamt. Mary Kat ended up staying the rest of the night in my room. It ended up being like a sleep-over like when I was a kid. We joked and laughed, muffling our laughter into our hands or the pillow. Eventually we both fell asleep. The next morning, I still could not remember what I had dreamt, but the thought of it being important nagged at me.

Erwin did not return for another two weeks. When he did return, I had to hide my joy at seeing him again. Espyon conveyed a message to me to meet him later that day in his office. When I arrived, Espyon, Levi, and Erwin were looking over a paper at his desk.

All three of them looked up as I entered. I was unsure of what to say or do since in my excitement of seeing Erwin again, I had forgotten to knock on the door. I stood there awkwardly. "Uh…"

Erwin stood. "Ariadne, come in," he said pleasantly.

I walked up to the desk. "What are we looking at?" I asked, peering down at the paper. I read the upside down lettering. It was the marriage certificate. My heart was suddenly beating very fast. "Oh…!" was all I said.

"It's not fake," Levi said matter-of-factly, "if that's what you think."

I shook my head. "Why would it be fake?" My stomach was in knots.

Espyon pressed her lips together. "I'm good at forging her documents, but not that good. I have never seen one of these before today."

"It's real, trust me," said Erwin. "I wouldn't get a fake one."

"So, now what?" I asked after a while.

"You both sign it, of course," said Levi. "Espyon and I are suppose to be witnesses to this." He looked at Espyon.

Erwin reached for the pen, dipped it in the ink, and wrote his name neatly and darkly on the left side of the paper. I liked watching his hands while they created the flowing letters on the page. It was all very precise and very much him. It was not like watching his hands sign his name on a death letter, all scratchy and hastily written. Espyon turned the paper around to face me while Erwin handed me the pen.

My hands were shaking, but that was nothing compared to the excitement I felt in my heart. I dipped the pen in the ink. Once I signed my name, I would be married to Erwin. It was not the wedding I wanted, but it was better than nothing. I put the tip of the pen to the paper and signed my name in cursive. It did not look quite as good as Erwin's signature, but it would have to do.

I set the pen back down on the desk and looked at Erwin. His eyes were shining brightly as he stared at me. I was unaware of how long we had been staring at each other. Levi cleared his throat. "Now that that's settled, we need to take care of the dangers facing us."

I do not think that Erwin heard him, because I certainly did not hear him. He had stood up and went around the desk towards me, keeping eye contact the entire time. He took me up into an embrace and kissed me deeply. Immediately my arms went around his neck while his arms went around my back, pulling me closer to him.

Levi cleared his throat, louder this time. We stopped and turned to look back at him. "I said, we need to take care of some dangers that are facing us right now. Commander, it is imperative we do this now."

Erwin coughed lightly and nodded. "Right." He turned back to me. "I'll see you this evening."

I nodded, still dazed from the kiss. "Okay," I said dumbly and walked out of the office. All I could think of was getting to see Erwin again this evening. I was too dumbfounded by the kiss that I failed to notice Espyon staring at the floor after I had signed my name.

I wanted to keep this last part cute but obviously I have to give you something to look forward to for the next chapter or so. :)

Yay, they're finally married! I've been waiting for a long time to finally get them hitched lol

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Until next time! Don't forget to write a review if you would like!

Also if I don't update anymore this year, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you lovely readers!