A/N: Thank you all for reading this story! In this part you will be traveling a lot throughout time, which will be distinguished by bold time stamps. Please let me know what you think so far and enjoy!

Part 4: The Shattered Memories

Chapter 26

Three Years and Four Months Ago – The First Week as the Female Titan

Willow sits down at the campfire, hugging her knees close to her chest as she watches the fire dancing off the logs and lifting to the sky in a flurry of embers. She keeps her eyes on the fire, not daring to allow her eyes to fall on the blonde man that watches her on the other side of the pit. She can't even begin to process what is going on in her mind in this moment as she considers the absurdity that she has been resurrected from the dead to return as a Titan.

She questions what her next steps will be. She is a dead woman as far as the Scouts are concerned and she is not particular to the idea of showing her face in front of those who were so willing to leave her for dead. The idea of showing them just how big of a mistake they made entices her more than she would like to admit, and she wonders when she will begin her assault.

Reiner and Bertolt don't often come by to visit them, as it is difficult from them to sneak out from the Training Corps without raising suspicion to their absences, so most nights Willow is accompanied with Zeke alone. Her eyes finally dare to look onto the blonde man that sits across from her, to be greeted by the fire reflecting off of his glasses and chillingly obscuring his gaze from her.

"Something on your mind?" Zeke finally speaks up, seeing the confliction in her eyes as she watches him and battles in her mind over something.

"Who was the female?" she asks him. He cocks his head to the side, moving out of the fire's reflection and allowing Willow a view to his blue eyes. "There was a female's voice when I was injected. I heard it clear as day, but when I woke, there was no female with you."

Zeke swallows hard, and Willow knows that she was not mistaken. "She was the Female Titan's previous inheritor," she tells him rather than questioning its truth. "Where is she now?" Willow asks and Zeke does not answer her.

She thinks for a moment, remembering his threat of allowing Reiner to devour her and take her power if she did not comply. She grows grim as the thought penetrates her mind. "I ate her?" she questions, looking up at him and he looks away from her. "Why?" she asks confused as to what is happening.

"When a Warrior is given the honor to inherit one of the Nine Titans, they are cursed with a life capacity of thirteen years from the moment they devour their predecessor."

"So, I am going to die in thirteen years?" Willow states angrily, not agreeing to such a thing.

"Well considering we bought you thirteen years, I would say you should be grateful."

"Grateful?" Willow scoffs, "If it wasn't for that heavy bastard Reiner, I could've had more than that," she presses.

Zeke chuckles, scratching the back of his ear, "Perhaps, or perhaps not. I suppose we won't know either way."

Willow sighs exhaustively, "So she was at the end of her lifespan?" Willow guesses and Zeke nods once, clearly consumed by the memories of the woman. "Why not give her to one of your warriors? Why give her to me?"

Zeke deliberates for a moment, curious if he should divulge the plan with her, but figures that in order to expect an ounce of trust from her, he should provide her with the same. "Her name was Laylah*," he begins. "She was the half-sister to a warrior named Annie, who was set up to inherit the Female Titan. They shared a mother. Knowing that her sister would only live to twenty-five and not have the chance to experience a long fruitful life, she came to me with the proposition to force her Titan form on someone else, outside of the Marleyan's Warrior Candidates," he informs her.

"You see, the original Paradis mission was given to the Armored, the Colossal, and the Jaws," he continues. "They were given a time limit, and when they didn't return to the wharf when they were supposed to, the Female and I were dispatched for recovery. Annie was to assume the Female just before the mission since Laylah's term was ending, however, the night before the ritual, Laylah escaped to Paradis with a boat and crew that she held hostage," he tells her with a glimmer in his glasses that Willow can't see past.

"Once it was discovered that the Female fled Marley, I was tasked to retrieve her and see why the initial mission failed. When I arrived on the island, I located Laylah and with the knowledge that she had less than a week of life left, fearing that we would lose the Female Titan forever, I had no choice but to go with her plan."

"We found Reiner and Bertolt soon after, and focused our mission on locating a suitable host for the Female," he sighs heavily. "We had noticed you in the woods, using that intriguing technique to take over the movements of a Titan. I'd be curious to know how you encountered such a fascinating discovery."

Willow doesn't respond to him and he continues, "Now that you're aware all Titans are humans, I assume you've come to the realization that you were severing the human's capability to control their Titan body," he begins and she allows him to continue.

"Piercing the nape—but not deep enough to kill the human inside, allowed you to take control of the Titan. When you removed your sword, you provided them the time to regenerate, or you killed them when you pressed your sword too deep and cut through their throat. But did you ever question why it never worked on Abnormals?" he asks and she looks up at him with enlarged hungry eyes, hoping he knows the answer.

Zeke chuckles to himself when he sees the reaction in her eyes. "It is because Eldians with the Titan serum inside them are able to transfer their consciousness from their head to their bodies. If at risk of severe damage to the brain, Titans are able to transfer their consciousness from their brain to their body, where they will be able to survive the attack and regenerate accordingly. Though not as complex as Titan Shifters, Abnormals are able to temporarily transfer their consciousness, resulting in your puppeteering trick to become ineffective. However, with their consciousness transferred to their body, they are unable to command their receptors to move, leading to their frozen disposition."

Zeke returns to his original point when she does not respond to this, "Laylah knew in that moment when she first saw you atop a Titan, that you were the perfect inheritor, so we planned our assault," he says and Willow tightens her posture. "We used the Armored. Since you were proficient in combat, and considering your puppeteering trick, we knew sending the Female Titan would be a risk, but with the heavy body armor of Reiner's Titan, we knew your blades would be no match to his hardened exterior."

Willow tries not to let her mind open the memories of that day, doing everything in her power to keep herself composed and numb, but she can't help but notice that the Armored continued to grab for her, never once making a fatal move towards her or near her. The idea makes her sick knowing that she was always safe that day, and had she known that, she might have been able to change the events of that day.

"We truly were not expecting you to make such an attack on the Armored Titan, and when you decapitated him at the jaw, we realized we would need to regroup and reconsider our strategy, and attempting a capture seemed to be off the table," he continues and Willow inhales deeply.

Zeke shakes his head at the memory, "The following attack we had not expected Reiner to retaliate against you in such a vicious manner, I apologize for that," he says condescendingly, regarding being thrown and wrapped around the tree. "It was clearly personal for him, but the fact remained; we were able to detain you and administer the serum."

He thinks for a moment, reliving the night. "At first, it seemed as though your body was rejecting it. Strange, though I have seen some react in this way. However, soon after your body took on the form of a pure Titan," he shrugs, unable to explain the strange rejection.

"Once you had turned into a pure Titan, we fell back while Laylah approached you. You quickly ate her, and within a few days, you regained consciousness, and now here we are," he concludes in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I'm curious," Zeke continues, "In some cases, the successor can see the memories of the predecessor when they assume control over the Titan. Have you been able to view her memories?"

Willow watches him, seeing the curiosity pushing through his posture. It seems as though he is more curious than he should be, and Willow wonders why he would care so much if she could see her memories. Willow sighs, shaking her head, "No," she says simply and Zeke's shoulders drop with disappointment.

"Well, that's a shame," he exhales, leaning back and looking up at the stars.

Willow sighs, lying down, lifting her arms to support her head as she watches the stars. She hears Zeke shift and her eyes transfer from the stars to his. "Strange," he says in a smooth tone. "I expected you to be more engaged with this knowledge."

Willow exhales deeply, turning her attention back to the stars. "Doesn't really change the fact, does it?" she tells him with no clear inflection in her tone to tell him how she feels. She keeps her eyes back to the sky, watching a star fall from the sky and for the first time in her life, not wishing for a thing.

The following morning, Willow wakes to Reiner and Bertolt speaking with Zeke. She inhales, lifting herself into a seated position as the two look at her with unsure eyes.

They don't seem to trust her much, and with her constant attacks targeted at Reiner, she doesn't blame them for believing she will run at any moment.

"The sleeping princess awakens," Reiner says with a smug smile on his face at his joke that no one laughs at.

Willow turns her eyes from him and looks over at Zeke, "When are you going to teach me to turn?" she asks him in a flat tone. "It's been a week and when I ask, you always dodge the question."

Reiner and Bertolt look over at Zeke, wondering what his plan is with her and he figures now is as great as any. He lifts himself to his feet and approaches her, extending his hand out to her to help her to her feet. "I suppose we cannot delay the inevitable," Zeke exhales as she takes his hand and lifts to her feet.

"Transitioning into a Titan can be difficult, and in order to successfully assume the Titan's form, you must do two things. The first," he says as they stand facing one another, "is inflicting some sort of self-harm. This can be as simple as a prick to your finger, though some of the most common techniques are biting one's thumb, or cutting one's palm," he informs her as Reiner and Bertolt listen in.

"The second thing needed to assume the Titan form is purpose," he tells her strongly. "You must have emotional purpose to assume the Titan's form. If your determination is clouded, you will not be able to turn into a Titan, so you need to ensure your mind is clear of any emotional limitations that might hold you back." Zeke glances over at Reiner, asking for his knife as the blonde reluctantly hands it over to him. Zeke takes the knife and hands it to Willow.

She looks down at the shining weapon, apprehensive to try, and wondering if she will even be able to take form with how wildly her heart is beating.

"Don't be discouraged if you don't get it the first time," Reiner tells her with a smug tone laced in his words. "Not everyone gets it their first try," Willow rolls her eyes at him and takes the knife in her hands.

She looks down at the knife in her hands, lifting her shaking palm to face upwards as she prepares herself for the cut. She thinks about how to focus her mind with the intention on becoming a Titan.

For the past two years, she has done everything in her power to kill all Titans, and now that she finds herself being one, she cannot help but cling to the fact that she has become what she has always hated.

The three men back away from her, knowing that she might not turn on her first try, but on the off chance that she does, they do not want to be in the firing range of her.

Willow takes in a shaky breath, looking down at her trembling hands, knowing that she is not in the right mind space to change into a Titan.

She looks up at Reiner, seeing the arrogant look in his eyes as he watches her with an amused glare. She looks into his eyes, seeing the gold in them glowing in the early sunlight. She is reminded of the Armored and his golden eyes that watched as all her friends and comrades died at his fists.

She shakes in hatred as a wave of rage flows through her. She takes the knife to her palm, wanting nothing more than to do the same to him.

She slices her palm and with the crackling of yellow lightening dancing off of her hands, she begins turning. Reiner groans at the sight of her, "You have got to be shitting me," he growls as he watches her turn. "She turns on her first try too?" he says angrily, knowing that Bertolt was the only one of his class that was able to turn on the first try, and now she can as well.

She starts running full speed to Reiner as her body begins transforming into the Female Titan. Reiner stumbles back, his expression moving from anger to shock as he quickly bites his hand in response to her full speed pursuit towards him.

Reiner barely assumes his Titan form before the Female Titan manages to punch him in the face, causing him to fall back.

Zeke and Bertolt jump back, figuring they need to allow them to hash out this lingering heaviness between the two of them. They watch as the Female Titan pins down the Armored Titan, hardening her fists and punching him repeatedly in the face.

The Armored manages to lift his leg between them, and send the Female flying across the field with a vicious kick. She quickly lifts herself up, charging at him and wrapping her legs around his waist. She swings her body, forcing him to fall to the ground once more, and locking his head between her thighs. She tightens her grip, trapping him in a headlock that he is unable to escape.

The Armored lifts himself to his feet, lifting her up with him. She crunches down, hardening her fist and bashing his skull repeatedly while she maintains her lock on his head. He lifts his arms up to her, grabbing her by the waist and tightening his hold on her. He crushes her waist and she presses a roar of frustration. She removes her hold on him, kicking off of him with a firm kick to his back, knocking him off of his feet and planting his face in the dirt.

He goes to turn towards her, and she roundhouse kicks him to the face, causing the armor of his jaw to splinter. She smiles to herself and goes in for a hardened punch to the face, but he returns the gesture with a hardened hit of his own, knocking her to the ground.

The Armored Titan crawls atop the Female, punching her wildly in the face with hard hits that smash her face. The Female wails woefully as the Armored pins her down in a hold that she cannot escape from.

"Reiner, that's enough!" Zeke calls out to him as he continues to punch her.

The Female Titan pushes out a deafening roar as the Armored continues his assault on her. Distant thumping is heard and the Armored stops punching the Female Titan, looking up into the distance to see a horde of Pure Titans approaching them with a wild purpose on their stride.

Zeke widens his eyes and steps away from the scene with Bertolt quick to follow.

The Armored attempts to lift himself from the Female, however, before he can manage, the hordes of Pure Titans tackle him to the ground, crawling all over him as they ferociously feast on his hardened skin.

The Armored begins panicking as he throws the smaller Titans off him in a frantic attempt to regain himself. The Female lifts herself to her feet as she approaches the mass of snacking Titans. She grabs hold of the Armored, hardening her nails as she digs her fingers into his nape and tearing Reiner out of his Titan. She tosses his body across the field and into a tree where his back takes the brunt of the hit as it smashes at the base of it. Reiner moans in pain, doubling down on his hands and knees as he begins vomiting blood.

The Female Titan approaches the blonde as he looks at her with wide fearful eyes, fully expecting her to take his life for everything he has committed against hers.

She looms over him, allowing him a moment to believe his life is over as Zeke and Bertolt prepare to intervene.

Willow lifts herself from the Female Titan's nape behind a hiss of steam, jumping down to Reiner as he cowers on his hands and knees. She positions herself before him, standing taller than him as she bends down to him.

She snatches his blonde hair in her fist as she forces him to look up at her. "Remember who won this fight, and remember it well," she tells him between clenched teeth as venom drips from her lips, tossing his face down and turning away from the fearful boy.

She turns away from him and walks over towards Zeke and Bertolt, who watch her carefully, coming to the realization that she may not be as stable as they once had believed.

Zeke looks onto her cautiously as she sits down, resting her elbows on her knees as she twists Reiner's knife in her hands.

Zeke approaches her, standing tall next to her. "How did you know about the Scream?" he asks her suspiciously, wondering if she does in fact have Laylah's memories.

"I didn't," she tells him, watching the glint of the sun reflecting against the knife. "I just wanted Reiner's heavy ass off of me."

She turns to him watching him with satisfaction on her lips, "Cute trick. I imagine it will come in handy," she says thinking about how she will use the power to her advantage.

"Zeke," Reiner comes to join them with a breathless tone. "Are you going to do anything about her?" he asks him flustered with Zeke's willingness to shrug off her attack. "We cannot trust her," Reiner presses. "She's a fucking unhinged animal!"

Willow turns to look at him as his golden eyes watch her with cautious hate. Willow lifts herself to her feet, approaching the boy who towers over her in stature. He watches her carefully, waiting for her to make a move against him, and preparing her to fight him, but she does not. She simply holds up the knife and hands it over to him.

He takes the knife after a moment of hesitation, watching her as the line between his brows grows with confusion. "You won't have to worry about me," she tells him, flashing her eyes from his to Zeke's. "My eyes are set on the Scouts."

Three Years Later – One Month Before the Female Titan Attacks

Willow looks down at the cast iron pot as she stirs the contents of the container, watching as the stew bubbles to perfection. She hears Reiner and Bertolt shuffle in their seats as they watch her cooking at the fire.

Reiner admires the view while Willow moves around the fire. Bertolt notices his lingering eyes on her, and finds it strange that despite it being three years since they have fought one another, his interest in her seems misplaced.

It is clear that she is uninterested in Reiner, and Bertolt figures Reiner's lingering eyes to be simply hormonally driven.

Willow turns towards them when her eyes catch Reiner's on her body. She sends him an annoyed look and he flashes her a satisfied smile. It is clear to Bertolt this is not the first time his wondering eyes have been caught, and he wonders why Willow allows it to go on.

She hands Reiner a bowl of the stew, with Bertolt quickly to follow. She grabs her own bowl as the two men begin digging in without waiting for her.

Reiner moans as the food explodes his tastebuds, "this is so much better than the shit the Scouts give us."

Willow looks down at her bowl with no smile on her face, "Oh yeah, congrats on the new position," she says with no inflection in her voice as she remembers that they are no longer in the Training Corps.

"Now that we know Eren is the Founding Titan, we can make our move against him, and go home." Bertolt tells them as they continue to eat. "You will be able to get your revenge on the Scouts and we can extract Eren at the same time," he says smiling at how easy this will seem.

"Speaking of," Reiner says swallowing his food, "You got a plan for that?"

"I do," Willow says keeping her eyes on her bowl.

"Mind filling us in on that?" she shakes her head and Reiner grunts, "Not really a team effort if we don't know what you're planning, Erwin." Reiner says spitefully and Willow looks up at him through her lashes, not appreciating him calling her by the Commander's name.

"Zeke put me in charge of you two while he returned to Marley," Willow reminds them. "The mission will not require any intervention from either of you beyond telling me where Eren will be positioned."

Reiner begins to retaliate when Bertolt speaks up, "Give it a rest, Reiner," he tells him softly, timid to speak against the blonde who has developed a more assertive approach. "She knows what she is doing. She has planned this for three years. Let's just let her do what she has to do so we can finally go home."

This settles Reiner and Willow watches curiously as the promise of returning home calms the rash blonde. "You guys talk about it so much. Tell me about Marley," Willow says as she takes another bite of her stew. "What's it like there?" she asks them.

"Better than this shit hole," Reiner says offhandedly.

"Examples?" Willow presses unenthusiastically.

Reiner sighs, thinking of how to explain his home to her. The concept of this is hard for him to describe, having never thought he would need to. To describe Marley is to describe the sunset to someone who has never seen the sun. In his eyes, it is magnificent and wondrous and quaint, all in one.

"We live in a town called Liberio," he begins. "It's a port town," Willow narrows her eyes at him in confusion and Reiner chuckles, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess you don't know what that is," he says realizing this will be just as difficult as he expected.

"Our home is surrounded by something called the Sea," he begins and she completely abandons her stew to listen to Reiner describe his home. "It's the largest body of water you will ever see, endlessly stretching out to the horizon where it seems to never end," Reiner says with a glint in his eyes that Willow has never seen from the hard blonde.

"Seagulls squawk as they fly above you, while the crashing waves hit the rocks. Merchants calling out to you to buy some of the best assortments of fish and seafood that you will ever try," his eyes shine as he desperately hungers for the taste of lobster again.

"Cars zip past you in the streets, with planes flying ahead in the sky. Innovation and industry await at every corner, with everyone working hard to make a great life for themselves. Festivals each year to celebrate with all the fried food you can eat until you vomit, then eat all over again." Reiner chuckles at all the memories he had with the other Warriors at the yearly Festival, remembering fondly as Marcel rubbed his and Porco's backs while they vomited next to one another from eating far too many deep-fried pastries.

Reiner smiles genuinely, "Maybe I can show you one day," he says and Willow looks at him with shining eyes, wishing nothing more than to see the place he describes.

Willow looks up at him with wishful eyes at the amazement at his recollection of his home, "Promise?"

"Yeah," Reiner chuckles with a sideways smile, seeing the excitement in her gaze.

Bertolt watches Reiner carefully, seeing the awe in his eyes as he recalls his home. He curiously keeps out the gates in the Internment Zone and the smog in the air, and the Marleyan guards that watch them with wary eyes.

Bertolt wonders if he has completely forgotten the dark cloud that looms over their home and what they are to Marleyans.

"I can't wait to go back and seem my mother again," Reiner says with a soft smile on his face. "She can finally see me as a Warrior and savior to Marley."

"You're close with your mother?" Willow asks and Reiner nods, smiling softly. He digs in his jacket pocket, pulling out a small piece of paper and handing it to Willow.

She looks down with wide eyes, taken back by the image before her, "This painting is so detailed."

"It's not a painting," he tells her. "It's a photograph. We have them in Marley," he begins, "It stores light in a special paper called film, and it manages to capture one's likeness in an instant."

Willow looks down at the photograph with wonder struck eyes as she looks onto the woman who resembles Reiner in many ways. She hands the photograph back to him and he places it back into his breast pocket.

"Where's your mom?" Reiner asks her, "Are you close?"

Willow shrugs, dropping her shoulders. "I don't know where she is. Dead I presume."

"You don't know?" Reiner asks as his distinct brows furrow together to deepen the line between his brows.

"She was working the day the wall fell to the Armored Titan," she begins, completely separating the Titan from the man responsible who sits across from her. "With the chaos of the day, I always assumed she never made it out."

Reiner lowers his head, unable to ask her any further questions, knowing he was responsible for the chaos she speaks of.

"You never tried looking for her?" Bertolt asks, feeling shocked that she never tried to find her or know without a doubt that she had in fact perished that day.

Willow shrugs once more, "I never saw a point in it. Keeping this false delusion that she managed to escape only gives me impractical hope that she survived. Allowing myself to come to terms with the knowledge that she died that day—and it was quick—helps me move forward. There's no point wasting my time dwelling on the fantasy that she is still alive out there."

Bertolt and Reiner lower their heads at her dark response, feeling that if they were in that situation, they would never stop searching for their loved ones, but also unable to shake the fact that it was because of their direct actions that Willow no longer has a mother to admire.