A/N: I so did not mean for this chapter to come out this way... I apologize...

Warning: ... You may cry... Oh yeah, and mentions of character death as well as character death... I regret everything.

Day 3: Traveling Outside

-Misty

Eremin Week!

Seven days of these two adorable idiots doing adorable thing! Rated k-m for fluff, adult language, and smut.

Chapter Three: Traveling Outside

"Look at it..."

"I'm looking at it..."

The two teens were in awe at the sight of their dreams. Their hearts clenched, their bodies ached, and in front of them was a sight for sore eyes.

The ocean.

"We did it, Armin... We did it..." Eren breathed, his legs feeling weak.

It seemed too good to be true, yet here they were.

"We did..." Eren heard Armin sniffle beside him, and after looking down, Eren saw the tears on the blonde's cheeks that he quickly tried to wipe away. "You kept your promise..." Armin whispered with a smile.

Eren smiled too, turning his body to face the boy. He placed shaking hands onto his shoulders and turned him, making the smaller teen face him. When Armin looked up into those big, golden eyes of his childhood friend, his best friend, he couldn't help the tears that kept coming. They were like the ocean, endless, but all they were for was the happiness, the heartache, the seemingly endless pain that needed, wanted to end, but it had.

The war was over.

The titans were gone.

"I said we'd go outside the walls, didn't I?" Eren asked, placing a hand on Armin's cheek. Armin nodded, trying to suppress his childish whimpers to the best of his ability.

"You did. We're here, Eren... We did it..." Armin closed his eyes while nuzzling his face into Eren's palm. The brunette smelled like pine needles, similar to the trees they had finally escaped. He smelled like sweat and musk, and that was all it took to have Armin's head spilling.

"Armin..." Eren mumbled. Armin opened his blue eyes to look up at Eren, and if his heart wasn't already pounding enough, Eren had gotten closer in the short time they had been standing together. Very close.

"This is sweet and sentimental and all, but if you guys are going to do this, now would be a good time." The two boy's jumped apart to the sound of another voice. They staggered when finding Corporal Levi standing by, eyes looking at the two of them with disinterest, though with some glint of humor behind the disinterest. He had a hand on his hip, his body jutted to one side to show his annoyance to the situation.

"S-Sorry, Corporal Levi," Eren apologized while stuttering, his cheeks aflame with a heavy blush.

"Uh huh." Levi uttered. "Like I said, now would be an excellent time to out there and swim for a bit. The water is probably still warm, so do it before dusk rears its ugly head at us." He instructed, looking over to his shoulder to flick away a stray twig that caught on his cape.

"B-But sir, we don't know how to swim." Armin argued meekly, and as soon as Levi's attention was back on him, he looked away.

"Then walk in the shallow parts. It's either that or sit and stare at it." Levi said gruffly.

"B-But Corporal-" Eren began, but Levi cut him off.

"If you didn't hear me the first time, then let me make it clear. That was an order, brat. Go out there before I turn us right back around to the fucking walls." Levi was having nothing even remotely close to insubordination, even if they were only trying to get proper explanations from him.

Instead of arguing with the man, ultimately leading to their untimely deaths, Eren grabbed Armin's hand and yanked him forward towards their goal. Both of the young teens ran through the grass until the green blades molded and morphed into tiny grains of sand. The two of them couldn't help but laugh at the sudden difference where they now walked, how it felt like their feet were being sucked into the ground.

"Hold on, Eren," Armin said and let go of the brunette's hand. Eren watched with wide eyes, pupils blown out of proportion from excitement as Armin bent down and removed his boots. His first foot hit the sand, causing him to yip and then laugh. "It feels weird!" Armin exclaimed as his other foot touched the sand.

Eren did the same, trying to hold back his laughter as his feet scrunched into the little rocks and got between his toes. The sand was somewhat warm, the sensation feeling like heaven after seven days on a horses back.

"Come on, Eren!" Armin couldn't wait any longer for Eren to delve in the world of sand, not when there was a whole ocean looking them in the eye. It was Armin's turn to grab Eren's hand and pull him towards the moving water, shouts of excitement leaving both of them.

As they got closer, that soon found the sand wet, sticking to the souls of their feet and getting on their ankles. The water's edge moved, and the two of them jumped back before the water could lick at their feet.

"What's it doing?" Eren asked while pulling Armin in front of him.

"It's called a tide, brat!" Levi called out to them, making sure to yell so the teens could hear him over the water. "The water pushes and pulls with the change of the-!" Levi was stopped when Armin suddenly screamed in both surprise and laughter as the water reached him first. Eren was quick to get drenched as well, but only from the calf down.

"It's so cold!" Armin cried, but that didn't stop him from running after the moving water, Eren following after him until the two of them were in the ocean, the water up to their thighs. Levi rolled his eyes, allowing the smallest of smiles to grace his lips.

Brats these days.

"Ah! Stop that, Armin!" Eren yipped when cold water was met with his arms and chest when Armin splashed him. Armin laughed and did it again, but was only met with resistance when Eren splashed at him as well. The brunette managed to get Armin, and when the boy covered his face to avoid the water getting to him, Eren used brute strength as he ran into the boy, knocking the two of them into the water.

The water was all around them now, and Eren pushed himself up to breathe while pulling Armin up, who had been trapped under him. The two of them coughed and sputtered, water caught in their throat and noses and burning their eyes, but the moment was too sweet for something like that to ruin it.

"You idiot," Armin chastised and wrapped his arms around Eren's neck to keep his head above the waterline.

"I'm sorry! I don't know my own strength," Eren gulped down the air he needed while placing his hands under Armin's back to keep him up. He sat up then, bringing Armin with him until the smaller teen was in his lap and well over the edge of the water.

"That's what you always say." Armin argued.

"No I don't- Gah! I've got water in all of the wrong places!" Eren whined, and Armin laughed and slapped at Eren's arm under the water.

"I don't need to know that!" Armin tried to stand, but Eren had a firm grip around him. So instead of Armin doing it, Eren did it for him.

Eren stood up, lifting Armin with him who practically yelped while wrapping his arms around broad shoulders. His wrapped his legs around a slender waist and narrow hips to keep himself up, but as Eren walked to shore, Armin realized that he had nothing to worry about.

Eren wouldn't drop him.

"Ugh, you're heavy when your clothes are wet." Eren said as sand was squishing between his toes.

"Same for you, Eren." Armin mocked as Eren dropped to his knees, and Armin fumbled to the ground under him.

So much for Eren keeping him up.

Eren hovered Armin for a moment before dropping, his head falling against Armin's chest while his feet were licked by the water's edge. Armin grunted at the impact, cursing at Eren for his heavy head as he tried situating himself under the boy, but it didn't help him any. As of now, their positions were awkward in every way; Eren laying against Armin with Armin's legs on either side of his torso. Armin could only roll his eyes before running his fingers through Eren's wet hair, pulling out a few tangles every now and again.

"Hey..." Armin mumbled.

"Hm...?" Eren hummed as he looked up at Armin, his cheek squished against the blonde's chest.

"You… Don't know how much this means to me…" Armin said, voice shaking and eyes becoming red with so many unspoken emotions. "I-I mean… Just being here with you… And getting to see this with y-you…"

Armin's bottom lip trembled as he tried covering his eyes, but the sand stuck to his shirt scratched at his face. He couldn't look at Eren when he was looking up at him like that, even if it wasn't painful. After the war finally ended, Armin hadn't been able to control his emotions, and right now he was truly hating that little flaw.

"Armin," Eren sighed and sat up. He wanted to wipe away the tears sitting at the corners of Armin's big eyes, but knowing he also had sand on his hands, he restrained himself for the time being. "I think I know… It's probably how I feel about being here with you…"

"S-Stop it, Eren. You're going to make me cry." Too late for that, because Armin's tears were spilling over his cheeks and landing into his wet hair.

"You're already crying, dummy." Eren said with a small laugh and placed a hand against Armin's cheek, mindless of the sand. He wiped against Armin's temple, cutting off the path of tears as the blond looked up at him with a pleading look. Eren felt his throat constrict, his hand barely shaking, but it was something controllable.

"Eren…" Armin mumbled, his voice almost a whisper. Eren bit at his bottom lip for a moment before moving forward, catching the smaller teen's lips with his. He vaguely heard a small sound of surprise come from Armin, but it was muffled by their lips. He wanted to care, thinking maybe that the hard pressure of their lips together or the bump of their noses caused that sound, but Armin's lips were soft and warm, seeming to melt with his in the nicest of ways. Eren wanted to care, but how could he when Armin's fingers were threading through his hair, pulling him closer? How could he when the next sound that left Armin was a groan of slight approval?

Eren wasn't sure if it was the cold water that kept touching his feet, the sand cooling against their bodies, or Armin and the way he clung to him, but he had goose bumps rising on his skin. Any old aches and pains he felt before seemed to be gone, and he knew that this was Armin's doing.

"Eren…" Armin breathed against his lips, but their lips were sealed in one quick movement.

The cold water was no longer an issues. The heat their bodies were creating was enough to keep them warm, get them sweating even. The kisses they shared went from sweet and simple to passionate and heavy in a matter of minutes, hands gripping at various articles of wet clothing to keep a grip on reality. Hips unknowingly connected in the heat of the moment, and at the sudden wave of pleasure, all thought process was gone.

Or maybe that was just the tide coming in.

"Ah shit!" Eren cried out when the cold was once again invading his senses. He jumped up in place, and Armin followed to get his back out of the water.

"Good thing the tide came in. I didn't feel like pulling two horny teenagers off of each other." The teens looked up to see Levi standing over them, and how they hadn't heard his heavy boots walking through the sand was beyond them. Both were breathless, cheeks flushed and bodies aching with multiple reactions. They exchanged glances with one another, and when realization of what had happened between them dawn on their clouded minds, the two of them parted quickly, but reluctantly.

"S-Sorry, sir, we um… W-We were-"

"About to fuck each other senseless. You think I don't notice how you two look at the other?" Levi asked while crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm surprised you lasted this long, to be honest."

"I-It's not like that at all!" Armin tried to defend, but with how mused his expression and appearance looked, no one would believe him.

"Sure, and I'm still a blushing virgin." Levi bluntly joked. Armin was ready for a rebuttal, but he noticed the look come across Levi's face as he looked up and out over the ocean. "Eren…" He uttered.

Eren and Armin looked behind them, looking over to the setting sun falling over the horizon where the water seemed to end. Armin's eyes widened, looking over to Eren with anxiety, but he was surprised to see how calm Eren seemed. It was unsettling at the least, frightening at the most, making his stomach turn.

"Eren…?" Armin questioned quietly.

"Right…" Eren said and sighed.

"… Come on, Eren." Levi said and began walking back to where their horses were tethered. Eren stood up, clothes sagging on him as he moved to grab his boots he left further up on the shore. Armin quickly followed, grabbing Eren's arm to stop him from continuing.

"Eren, wait!" He exclaimed. Levi looked back at the two as Eren turned to his face his friend before turning away, deciding that they needed this last moment with each other.

"What is it…?" Eren asked, far too apathetic for a moment like this.

"You…" Armin's hand squeezed around Eren's wrist, his muddled mind trying to come up with the words he needed to say. "Y-You don't have to do this."

"… Yeah, I have to, Armin." Eren said.

"N-No, you won't hurt anyone, I know you won't."

"Maybe not intentionally, but what if I did lose control?"

"You won't!"

"You don't know that, Armin…" Eren placed a hand on top of Armin's, forcing the strong grip off of his wrist so he could hold the blonde's hand.

"We just got here…" Armin tried to argue, but he was losing the battle, the tears back already before they had really even left.

"I know…" Eren moved forward, brushing a finger under Armin's eye. "I can't run the risk of hurting you though… I don't want to lose you too…"

"But I'll lose you." Armin whispered, his head falling to rest against Eren's shoulder.

"You aren't losing me, Armin. I'll always be by your side, and at least then I'll be human." Eren stood back, getting the chance to catch Armin's eye. "I don't want to die a titan, Armin… So please… Let me die as a human…"

That got Eren more than he thought it would. Eren didn't want to die young, but he didn't want to die as a monster. He wanted to die as a human, knowing who he was. This was the only way he could control his death, control the life he had left while he had it.

This was all he wanted now. He had gotten to the ocean like he promised Armin, and the titans were gone.

With that, there was nothing left to accomplish.

"E-Eren…" Armin sobbed.

"Levi promised he'd make it as quick as possible. I won't feel anything."

"I know! But I…" Armin rubbed his eyes raw, having no control over himself. "I-I love you, you idiot… I don't want to be alone like this…"

"… Me too…" Eren mumbled.

"Eren," Levi spoke up, catching the brunette's attention. Eren looked back at Levi, seeing the man now dressed with his 3DMG. There were only two blades, two in case something went wrong, but Eren knew nothing would. One quick cut was all it would take to end it all.

"… Okay." Eren said and nodded his head. He looked back to Armin and kissed his forehead, something simple, but spoke more than words could. He pressed one more kiss to Armin's cheek, close enough to whisper something into Armin's ear before stepping back and turning away. He heard Armin's sobs intensify, but he knew he couldn't look back.

If he looked back, he'd change his mind.

"Come on…" Levi said softly and began walking away. Eren followed, keeping close to Levi as they walked far into the tree line, away from eyes and away from the horses tied to the tree line. Where they were was heavy in trees, and at least, if something went wrong and Eren turned into a titan, Levi would have things to grapple to.

He stopped and turned to Eren, his eyes watching the boy carefully. While Eren's eyes were staring at the ground, he still looked unwavering in his decision.

Why did it have to be this?

"Are you sure about this, Eren…?" Levi asked, trying his best to keep himself together.

"… Yes, sir…"

"Eren, we've done our jobs. We don't work for the military anymore. Just call me Levi."

"Okay Cor-… Levi…" Eren corrected, trying to smile and play off the terrible atmosphere.

"Better… Eren, you don't have to do this."

"I already said the same thing to Armin. I have to. I can't hurt anyone else."

"You can run now, Eren. The world is open, and you've got so many places to hide that no one will ever find you."

"It doesn't matter…" Eren barely looked up at Levi as he spoke. "I don't want to hurt myself either… Please let me have this, Levi…" He pleaded with the older man.

"… Stop fucking begging…" Levi said and drew his blade from its holster. Eren nodded his head, slowly falling to his knees to be lower than the blade. He placed his hands behind his back, just in case, and looked up at the man.

"Corporal Levi, could I be selfish and ask for one more thing from you?" Eren asked, his eyes still pleading even after Levi had told him not to.

"It's Levi, you little…" Levi stopped himself short of his insult. "… What is it?"

"I don't want to leave Armin behind like this, but it's the only way to keep him and you safe… Could you look after him for me? You know… Keep him safe? Keep those idiot bullies away from him?" Eren pleaded with the man, his golden eyes tearing up.

"… Yeah, I can do that."

Levi wouldn't lie and say he wasn't upset by this. Of course he was upset by this. He didn't want to kill Humanity's Hope. He didn't want to take away the life of a teen who risked everything for a selfish world and got nothing in return. He'd been beaten and abused by the world, threatened, kidnapped, and on multiple occasions, attempts to kill him had been thrown into the equation. After all of that, however, Eren stood strong, battling until the bitter end.

And Levi was his bitter end.

It just wasn't fair.

"Can you do me a favor in return?" Levi asked, kneeling down to be at eye level with the brunette.

"What is it?" Eren asked.

"When you get up there… If you meet two people named Isabel and Farlan, could you… Tell them that I miss them?" Levi asked, and damn it, his eyes were watering. "I'll protect Armin if you do me that one simple thing." Eren smiled, nodding his head.

"I'll do that, Levi…" He said softly. Levi nodded as well, swallowing a thick lump forming in his throat. He stood, clearing his throat to keep himself collected, but it wasn't doing much.

"Okay… Lower your head so your neck is showing." Levi instructed, his voice shaking. Eren did as told, lowering his head to hang, his neck and the nape bare for Levi. "I'll… Try and make this hurt as little as possible."

"I know you will…" Eren mumbled and closed his eyes. "Thank you… For everything, Levi…"

Levi bit his lip, a tear running down his pale cheek as he brought his sword down.