I guess I didn't realize how much people actually like this story because I had like 4 people unfollow it after that last chapter. Like geez guys, the story's not over yet! (pleasestillloveme)

"You're in a hospital in Germany. You were in an accident a little over a year ago. You're lucky to be alive."

It took me several moments to process what the white haired doctor had just told me. After those moments had passed, I remembered being in Dr. Wyatt's laboratory and testing the machine and something had gone wrong. What had happened to him? What happened to the machine? Then I realized that I had been asleep for over a year. Approximately the same amount of time that I was in the other world.

I shook my head, not believing it. This had to be another dream. I must have fallen asleep in Erwin's hospital room. I was still in the medical wing of the Survey Corps headquarters.

"Where's Erwin?" I croaked, my voice straining. "Where's my husband? Is he alright?"

The doctor looked at me confused. "Miss Sloan, you aren't married."

"Yes, I am," I insisted, looking down at my hand. "I have a ring—" It was gone. My left hand did not have the gold ring I had gotten used to wearing. My eyes filled with tears as I slowly realized this was not another dream. I had come back to my own world. I did not want to accept it.

The next couple of weeks were mostly a blur. The doctor had come in and out of the room just as often as the nurse did, checking my blood pressure and things like that. My mother came to visit me every once in a while. It took me a while to register who she was when she first walked into the room, but she looked like an older version of myself with grayer hair and a few more wrinkles around her eyes and forehead. She in fact had visited me often while I was asleep. I also had found that the scars on my skin were still there. Apparently the accident caused most of them from glass and then a few others were from surgery. The doctor also said I might have slight amnesia from being asleep for so long and because of the accident itself, which also explained why I had forgotten so much from this world. As a matter of fact, they sent me and Dr. Wyatt to this hospital because it had the most advanced technology to date. Thankfully, the University was paying for it all so I did not have any medical bills or payments to worry about.

Eventually, they (the doctor and nurses) had started to send me to a psychiatrist every morning and a physical therapist in the afternoon. The physical therapy was not hard, but I hated talking to the psychiatrist about being "asleep" as they thought I was. I had a hard time accepting that I had been dreaming, so I pretended I had accepted that world as fake.

Several months later, they released me out into our world again, expecting that I would almost instantly readjust. I was still seeing the psychiatrist, but I still hated it. I did not want to talk about my experiences there because I knew they would believe I was crazy and would nod their head and sarcastically say, "That's nice, Ariadne." Or "It's time you moved on."

I hated it.

I decided to go ahead and stay in Germany instead of returning to live at the University in England or back home in America (relearning German was not hard). Even after I was released from the hospital, I found that Dr. Wyatt had stayed here as well. I got connected with him and found out where his address was. He had retired from being a professor and was continuing to write scientific books while living in a small house just outside of Berlin. When I first visited him, I was surprised to find that he had been confined to a wheelchair.

I visited him often. I liked seeing him more than I liked seeing my therapist because he was actually interested in what I had to say. We became good friends, but I still felt lonely.

One afternoon, I was sitting at Dr. Wyatt's dining table, sipping a cup of tea while he prepared himself a sandwich. I silently watched him, still irritated over the session with my therapist I had to go to later.

"Hey, Dr. Wyatt," I said, breaking the silence between us.

"Yes?" He replied, finishing up his sandwich making.

"I have a question to ask you," I said, setting my mug on the table.

"What is it?" he asked, wheeling himself up to the table with the plate in his lap. He seemed to have aged quite a bit since I had first met him. The wrinkles around his eyes were deeper, more defined. There was more gray in his curly hair than black. He had lost so much weight that his hands were skinny and knobby. Even his personality was dampened from the peppy, enthusiastic scientist I had met.

"I don't think I ever asked you about the machine we tested that day. What ever happened to it?"

Dr. Wyatt thought for a little bit, putting the plated sandwich on the table. "Well," he started, looking off into the distance as he continued to think, "I believe the government took it and put it in secret storage somewhere. Either that or it was destroyed. I don't really remember what happened to it." He picked up his sandwich and took a bite.

I nodded and took another sip of my tea. "I've also been wondering, and maybe you know the answer, if it was the machine that sent me to that world or if it was being in the accident itself. You know what I mean?"

He shrugged his shoulders and continued chewing for a moment before answering. "Yes, I believe I see where you're going. However, I don't really have an answer. I honestly don't know."

I sighed. I had expected that answer, but even I could not figure it out. If it was a dream (which I am still convinced it was not) then it would make sense that the accident itself sent me there. If it was not then the machine sent me there, but either way, I had been in another world.

The next question I had also wondered about, but it was not until now that I decided to ask it. "Dr. Wyatt, did you… Did you end up in that world too?"

He set down his sandwich, staring at me silently. "I knew you would ask that," he said softly. "I'm sorry, Ariadne, but no. I did not. When the accident happened, I woke up in the hospital a month later," he gestured to himself, "and ended up like this."

I frowned. That was not the answer I was hoping for. I needed someone who I could talk with about the world itself, without them having to question me every few minutes about it. I had already explained a good portion of it all to Dr. Wyatt and to my therapist, but I still kept some things private. As I thought about it, I realized that if he had come to that world like I did, then I might have seen him there.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again.

I shook my head. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

Dr. Wyatt finished his lunch while I finished my tea. I checked the time and sighed irritably, realizing I would have to leave for my session soon. I put on my coat and scarf then said good bye to Dr. Wyatt and headed back towards the city.

"I've already explained it to you," I said irritably to my therapist, Brady Larson. He insisted I call him by his first name. "The Survey Corps was in charge of going outside the walls. The Garrison protected and fixed the walls. The Military Police were in charge of the Interior and the King himself, but really they were corrupt and evil."

"And the other two branches weren't corrupt?" Brady put his ankle over his opposite knee, balancing a notebook on his lap.

"Not that I could tell," I replied.

"Why do you say the Military Police were corrupt and evil?" He glanced down at his notes and scribbled something on the paper.

I had mentioned that I was tortured multiple times to him, but he continued to question me about it. Just thinking about it made me cringe and more upset than I already was. "They… theytortured me. I don't get why you keep wanting me to bring it up."

"I think it's important we get to the root of all things. Let everything come out. Nothing hidden."

"But I don't want to talk about this."

He leaned forward in his chair. "Ariadne, I am here to help you. I cannot help you if you don't let me in. I want to understand what happened." I stayed quiet in my chair, looking down at my lap. He leaned back, getting comfortable again. "Was there anyone who rescued you out of the torture or did you save yourself?"

Slowly, I nodded. "I was rescued." I could hear the pen scratching on the paper as he wrote.

"By whom?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes."

"There… There was a woman who took care of me. Tending to my wounds and bringing me my meals. She ended up being my best friend…" My heart hurt.

"Espyon, correct?"

I nodded, tears coming to my eyes. I wiped them away. I did not want to think of Espyon. When I had first talked about her, Brady said it sounded like I had survivor's guilt, but the fact that I would never see her again was what really hurt. According to Brady, he concluded my mind had created Espyon to get me out of the tough situation, sort of like a support, which in a way was true, but she had been more than just a support for me. When she died and I found out about it, my brain eventually woke me up once the finality of her death settled in. I did not want to believe it, but it made some sort of sense. I realized I was slowly beginning to be convinced of their perspective instead of what I knew to be true. Thankfully, the session did not last much longer. The clock told me I had another 10 minutes and I could leave.

Brady looked over his notes, flipping a page every so often to read over our previous sessions together. "Tell me about your relationship to Commander Erwin."

I gaped. "That's something I would rather keep private." I still felt like I needed to keep this a secret, even though I did not have any reason to.

"Was it a negative relationship?"

I shook my head quickly. "No, no! It was anything but that!"

"Your doctor said when you woke up, you were asking about your husband, a man also by the name of Erwin." He shrugged slightly. "Is this the same man?"

I nodded hesitantly. "Yes."

"Was he your commanding officer?"

I nodded again, feeling like I should keep my mouth shut, but the words just poured out before I could stop them. "We secretly married shortly after I joined the Survey Corps."

Brady scribbled on the paper. "Why a secret?"

"I think you can already guess that," I snapped. "It would have gotten us both in trouble."

Brady glanced up at the clock. "Well, it looks like we are out of time for today," he said, closing his notebook. I instantly felt relieved now that I did not have to talk anymore about it today. I still felt at fault though for revealing that I had gotten married.

"Thank you," I muttered as I stood and walked out the door of the office. I grabbed my coat in the hallway and shrugged it on. I wrapped the scarf around my neck, pulling my hair out from underneath it. Briefly, I checked my phone before leaving the building and ordered a cab to take me home.

As I waited inside for the cab to arrive, something compelled me to look through the pictures on my phone. It was of no surprise now that the faces in the pictures were not blurry anymore. Almost immediately I noticed a picture that I had no memory of taking or of it being on there before.

It was obviously taken by Hanji because her arm was extended in the photo. I laughed as I imagined her figuring out how to use my phone as she had probably seen me use it. She had her other arm around Levi's shoulders and was smiling big. Levi looked bored (as usual). Beside Levi was Espyon, looking uncomfortable and unsure of what exactly was happening. On the far right of the picture was Erwin. He was leaning down to get into the group shot, but his face was clear and bright. My heart simultaneously leapt and ached at the sight of them. I now had proof to show that I was notcrazy, but I thought better of it, wanting to keep this picture for myself. I stared at it some more, taking in every detail and burning the image into my brain.

Eventually, I put my phone back in my pocket and walked outside to look for the cab. My breath came out in a vapor, swirling and quickly disappearing in the wind. As soon as I stepped outside on the sidewalk, I ran into somebody and was knocked onto my butt.

"I'm sorry!" the man apologized quickly, helping me up.

"It's alright. It's alright," I assured him, brushing myself off then staring up into his familiar blue eyes. I gasped quietly.

Oh, man. Please don't hate me for that last chapter. The story's not over yet folks! I can still get some plot out of it!

Thanks for reading!