I told you guys I didn't have time to write another story. :P I apologize for the wait, but I'm back! I would never abandon a story, so I'll try to be consistent from now on and give you a chapter once every three weeks! Also, I changed a couple of small things in the first chapter, but nothing major. :) I hope you'll enjoy chapter two!

''Titans!'' Speech

''Titans!'' Thoughts

''Hey, dad?'' Eren said, breaking the hug with his father. His voice was soft, almost unsure. Grisha assumed it was because he still hadn't fully realized yet where he was at the moment.

''Yeah, Eren?'' he responded calmly. As crazy as it sounded, Grisha had less difficulties accepting the fact his son was an adult in his teenage body and from the future than he would've expected. The prospect of saving all the Eldians and seeing his first wife again outclassed the absurdity of it all.

Eren coughed to find the right words, his eyes darting towards the door where his mother had gone through. ''She's there, probably doing the dishes while humming a happy tune. Mikasa is probably helping her, worrying about me.'' Taking a quick look around to take in his surroundings, his mind reassured him he was really in his old room. Everything was on the exact same spot as the day Shiganshina district fell.

''This may sound like an odd request,'' he whispered as he eyed his dad again, his heart beating faster in his chest, ''but could you send mom to my room? I—I'd like a moment alone with her, please.''

Eren almost choked up, his eyes turning watery. Now that his mind had settled down a little, the full weight of reality crashed down on him. His mom was alive. He could see her, talk to her, and hug her. The emotions that poured out of his body were like a dam that broke.

Grisha smiled warmly while he looked at how Eren wiped the tears away that rolled down his cheeks; he saw how much his son was aching to see his mom. It must be a surreal experience to finally be able to see a loved one again who had passed away for so many years.

''I understand fully,'' his father responded, opening the door to get Carla and then looking back. ''When you're done,'' he added, ''could you meet me in my basement? We have a lot of planning to do tonight.''

Eren nodded his head. He knew if they wanted to succeed, they had to think this through. No more rushing into battle blindly. He had the entire night to prepare for the titan-shifters from Marley. He knew all three of them like the back of his hand. Defeating them was going to be tough, but this time around, he had the upper hand and not them.

When Grisha disappeared in the door opening—apparently satisfied with his son's answer—everything seemed to get deadly silent. In truth, this was not the case. He could hear Mikasa's disgruntled voice from downstairs, arguing with his father who responded calmly and sternly. He could only assume she was demanding him to tell what was going on, but she eventually settled down. Yet, with all the noise going on, it was like he was at the grassy meadow where he used to play with Armin and Mikasa a lot when he was younger.

He always liked the silence there while he stared at the humongous wall otherwise known as Maria, convinced no titan was ever be able to break through. It reminded him of this moment, where it seemed nobody was able to harm him or his family.

Then, he heard the soft, feminine steps of his mother come upstairs. A silent gasp escaped Eren—the stiffening of his muscles his only preparation as she appeared in the doorway. There she was, and she was exactly like how he remembered; those warm eyes—now full of concern for him—locked unto his, seemingly searching for any possible injury. Her soft hands were clasped together—hands that would always soothe him so lovingly whenever he got in a fight or hurt himself.

''Eren?'' she asked silently, taking a gentle step forwards. She saw how her son was shivering. The white of his eyes was bloodshot and tears had poured down his cheeks. Whatever had happened was emotional, and she could hear how her son was crying out to her silently, begging her to hold him. It was a mother's instinct that had perfect accuracy.

At the sound of her voice, Eren hiccuped while fresh tears streamed down his face. ''Mom,'' he croaked, his voice uneven as he held out his hands to her. ''M—Mom!''

Carla didn't need more reason to rush to her son's side and envelop him into a gentle, motherly hug. She didn't need to say anything to console him either; she knew her presence was enough as Eren cried on her shoulder, holding her tightly like he was afraid she'd disappear into thin air.

At that moment, all the emotions Eren had held in for so many years were finally released. He cried tears of joy for his mom, but also tears of sadness for all the despair he'd been through. He could smell the familiar scent in her hair, hear the soft hums leaving her throat and reverberate through his broken mind, making him whole again.

He didn't know how long he just sat there, his mother wrapped around him like a protective cocoon, enveloping him and shielding him from all the evil in the world. All Eren knew was how much he realized he had needed this.

When he finally—almost reluctantly so—left his mother's embrace, he gave her a weak laugh, like he couldn't believe he was the luckiest guy in the world. His mother let a giggle escape her mouth in return. She wiped his cheeks clean with her thumb while stroking them lovingly, her eyes warm and pleasant.

Eren remembered he'd always groan when she did that, but he was not going to groan today. He understood she was confused about what was going on, but also saw she was okay with that. There was no way he was going to be able to hide what he was going to do with his dad for long anyway, and he wasn't planning on it either. His mom had the right to know, as did Mikasa. But for now, he had a district to protect.

''Mom,'' he whispered, pausing so he could take her hand into his, closing his eyes as she continued to give him gentle affection. ''Thank you.''

Later that evening in the basement of Grisha, Eren was going over the plan with his father one more time. ''All right, our top priority is to stop the titan-shifters from reaching wall Maria, so we have to leave early in the morning to intercept them.'' Eren drew a circle around the area on a map of Paradis where they'd most likely find them. ''We know what direction they came from and where they're heading, so their camp for tonight must be somewhere here.''

Grisha nodded his head in agreement. If Eren's recollections of the event were accurate, the simple math he had done to pinpoint their location would have to be correct. ''After we've found them, we stay low and we wait for the right moment to strike,'' Eren added.

His father rubbed his chin. ''You told me they were going to attack with four titans initially, right?''

''Yeah. The jaw titan is present too, but not for long. We shouldn't intercept until he's eaten by Ymir. Not only will she be a very valuable ally to us, but if we attack before the jaw titan is gone we have to deal with four of them. Besides, he was their leader, if we face them immediately afterwards they'll be vulnerable.''

''That's very clever thinking and strategizing,'' Grisha praised, ''but are you sure we should approach them in our human forms? What if they attack immediately because they see us as their enemies?''

Eren hummed. His father's question was a very legitimate one. He had thought about it a lot—if they would immediately surprise them in their titan forms or not, and ultimately, decided it was better to take the slow approach. ''They're not going to. In the state they're in, they most likely won't think of killing another human being, especially if we don't appear as a threat. Besides, we don't want to scare them; we want to talk sense into them first before we will resort to violence.''

''This is going to be hard.'' Grisha groaned. ''They have been brainwashed by Marley since they were born. I'm not much of a psychologist, Eren, but it's going to take time, more time than we have available.''

Eren knew his father was right, but he also knew these three titan-shifters by heart. They were just innocent Eldians—merely children—forced to do what Marley had commanded them to do in hope of a better life. He knew their motives, and with what he had to offer, hoped he could get them on his side.

''We're going to have to try. Especially the female titan, Annie Leonhart, is not fooled by Marley's deceptiveness. If we get her to change her mind, the two boys are most likely inclined to follow,'' Eren explained.

''And what if they don't?'' Grisha asked. He knew the answer already, but he was just making sure.

''Then we're going to battle and defeat them with the intention to capture them alive. We only kill them if really necessary,'' Eren responded resolutely. He had done enough killing in his previous life. This time, he was going to save as many lives as possible instead. ''Keep a look out for Dina and protect her with every fiber of your being. She can't die if we want the mindless titans on our side.''

Grisha rubbed his temple, his palms sweaty as he wiped them off on his pants. ''Eren, I just hope you know as much about the power of the titans as you do about this catastrophic event,'' his father said. ''Inheriting a titan power from somebody without killing the host is going to be a hard one for me to crack, never mind that my thirteen years are almost up as well.''

''Well, if somebody is going to find the answers, it's going to be you,'' Eren said resolutely. ''You're very smart, dad, but let's do one thing at a time.''

''All right then, you're right,'' his father agreed, calming down a bit. ''These shifters, we haven't talked about their personalities or skills yet, what are they like?''

Now, Eren smiled fondly. He didn't know why a frown hadn't appeared on his face instead. These shifters had betrayed the Survey Corps and killed countless of innocent human lives. Yet, the only thing he could think of was how Annie had taught him her fighting-style, how Reiner acted like the big brother he never had and how Bertolt was the silent support he could always rely on. He would never forgive them for what they did, but at this moment, all of that hadn't happened yet.

''I talked about Annie before. She's the female titan and also the scariest when it comes to facing in battle. Her style is very unique, relying on a lot of well-placed kicks and blocking a lot with her arms. She also has the ability to harden parts of her body, though I can do that too.'' Eren smiled at his father's amazed look.

''Keep your distance from her or stay right in her face, take out her legs first,'' he suggested wisely.

''Reiner, the kid with the blonde hair, is the armored titan. He'll be very frail and indecisive when we face him because he blames himself that the jaw titan is dead, so battling him shouldn't be a problem for me. I've taken him down multiple times in the past—the future for you,'' Eren elaborated. ''His armor is pretty much impenetrable, as you may know, so you have to rely on locks and hitting him on his joints if you find yourself facing him.

''Lastly, Bertolt, the kid with the black hair, is the colossus titan. Whatever we do, our first priority is knocking him out before he can shift. He'll follow Annie or Reiner no matter what, so when one of those two shifts, he will too, so then we go for Bertolt immediately. If he manages to get in his titan, I will focus all the mindless titans on him to keep him busy. We'll take down Annie and Reiner first, and lastly Bertolt by cutting his Achilles tendons.''

The confidence that radiated from Eren surprised Grisha for a moment, but then he closed his eyes and chuckled. Only his son could come up with such a risky plan and be confident it was going to work foolproof. ''Well,'' he admitted, ''I do have to say we have a big chance of making this work. After all, surprise is on our side and the conditions the shifters find themselves in are very poor. Also,'' Grisha added with a wide grin, ''You have to teach me how to do that hardening trick sometime.''

The excitement that twinkled in his father's eyes was something Eren never could get tired of. He gave his dad a firm nod and a warm hug afterwards. ''I missed you, dad. So, so much.''

''I can imagine it must've been hard for you, Eren,'' his father sympathized. ''But I'm here now, and so are you. It's going to be all right.''

At the same time, a distraught voice could be heard coming from upstairs that Eren recognized as his mom, immediately followed by Mikasa's angry one. Her footsteps got closer until the door to the basement was opened rather harshly.

''Mikasa, please,'' Carla pleaded after her, but she was promptly ignoring her surrogate mother and stormed downstairs to face Grisha and Eren.

She was still as beautiful as ever, with her gorgeous black hair flowing from every side, and the cute scarf he'd given her wrapped around her face. Her eyes were piercing daggers, though, particularly at him, but he knew her so well that he had no trouble recognizing it as the ploy she used to hide her concerns and uncertainties. From the inside, she was scared, because she felt something big and dangerous was about to happen to them, and she wanted to know every single detail right now so she could keep Eren safe.

''I'm sorry,'' Carla apologized, ''I tried to stop her, but she's persistent.''

''Eren,'' Mikasa said harshly, trying to sound intimidating. ''Tell me what's going on right now!''

Instead of being afraid of her or getting angry as he would normally be, he stayed calm and approached Mikasa until he was face to face with her. All of a sudden, her confidence was non-existent. Eren would never do something so bold like this, and instead of flat out refusing to answer her like she had expected to, he did something even more incredulous.

He gave her a kiss right on her nose.

The blush that appeared on her face was the most adorable thing he'd ever seen. Mikasa acting shy was something that was unheard of, but here she was, unable to comprehend what just happened. Gosh, she was so cute!

''I can't tell you yet, Mikasa,'' he replied genuinely, holding one of her hands, ''but I promise I will as soon as the time is right. You have to trust me on this one. Can you do that for me?''

Mikasa balled her fist and turned her head low. For a moment, Eren was afraid she was going to hit him, but instead, she gently put her fist on his chest. Looking up at him, her eyes had turned soft and a little bit scared; she'd calmed down at least. ''Do you promise me you'll be safe, Eren?'' she whispered.

''I promise you, Mikasa,'' he said. Eren knew she wasn't convinced in the slightest but wasn't going to press anymore. She slowly went back upstairs again and found the embrace of Carla. ''Let's get you to bed, sweetie, it's getting late,'' she cooed. ''Eren, you won't make it late either, will you?''

''I won't, mom. Dad and I have wrapped things up here.'' He nodded at his father. ''I'll go to bed in a minute.''

His mom gave a kind smile and then disappeared with Mikasa upstairs. Eren sighed; this was going to be a lot tougher than he'd initially thought. Telling his father the truth was one thing, but his mom and especially Mikasa? Now that was going to be difficult.

''You shouldn't wait too long before telling the truth,'' Grisha suggested. ''It's like she has a sixth sense for things like this. She's deadly scared for your safety.''

''I know,'' Eren agreed, ''I will do so after we're finished saving Shiganshina.'' He shook his head. ''You have to tell mom too, you know.''

''I know, son,'' Grisha replied bitterly. ''But like you said, we'll do one thing at a time. Now let's get to bed. We need every bit of energy tomorrow.''

Early in the morning, at the break of dawn of a new day, the impossible had happened to Reiner Braun. He was on his knees in the dirt, clutching his head together in refusal. His whole body was numb, his eyes wide as saucers as he looked at how thick, salty droplets of his tears fell to the ground.

''Marcel, no,'' he whimpered, shutting his eyes tightly. ''It's all my fault,'' he thought, his head throbbing with pain. ''He's dead because of me. A titan ate him because of me.''

''What do we do now?'' Bertolt yelled to the group anxiously, his breathing erratic. They'd just fled from the titan that ate Marcel. They hadn't even reached the wall yet and their leader was already killed. He looked desperately at Annie, who was in complete shock herself.

She tried to even her breathing and control the slight trembles in her hands. She had to assess the situation and think about this clearly. A sigh escaped her lips while she rolled her stiff shoulders. Marcel was gone, Reiner looked like he was going insane and Bertolt was as scared as a trapped mouse.

''We have to abandon the mission,'' Reiner muttered from the dirt. ''Without Marcel we're useless, we will be—AH!'' A swift kick to his face shut him up, his already throbbing head exploding in pain. Blood gushed out of his nostrils where Annie had hit him. She kicked him again between the ribs, knocking the wind out of him.

For some reason, beating the shit out of Reiner made Annie think clearly, her body surging with adrenaline as she used another well-placed kick to hit Reiner straight across his cheek; it'd heal, she knew. A titan-shifter had an amazing healing factor. For the time being, she hoped it'd knock some sense back into Reiner.

After she had kicked him for a final time in his belly—making him wheeze and clutch it in pain—her features turned into a scowl. ''Are you suggesting we should go back to Marley, be disgraced in front of the whole nation and then executed while our families will continue to suffer from our failure?''

She eyed Bertolt, whose whole body was shivering from the rough treatment she was giving Reiner. She put her hands in her pockets and glared at Reiner again. ''You shouldn't have fled from that titan that killed Marcel. Now the jaw titan is lost and we have no idea how to retrieve it.''

Reiner growled at her in his pained state, blood running past his lips and chin to the ground below. He hated that she was right—right in the fact Marley would execute them, right in the fact Marcel's powers were lost because of him, and it made him so angry.

He wiped the blood from his face, slowly standing up while grimacing at the pain Annie had caused. It soon turned into a dull throb, the hopelessness of the situation making him realize they hadn't much of a choice. ''We have no other option but to continue the mission then,'' he agreed to Annie. He was already formulating a plan to avoid any other mindless titans while also closing the final gap between their location and the wall when Bertolt tapped him on his shoulder feverishly.

''We've got company, guys,'' he said, pointing his gun in the direction of two silhouettes approaching on the horizon. Both Annie and Reiner stiffened, expecting the worst, only to drop their guards in surprised stupor when the silhouettes turned out to be humans.

They could tell one of them was young, maybe around the same age as they were, while the other was definitely an adult. They couldn't make out any distinct features yet, but it was clear they were approaching them, which raised multiple questions in the shifter's minds.

''What are they doing here so far outside the wall?'' Bertolt whispered finally, voicing what they were all thinking. ''You don't suppose they're military, right?''

''Not likely,'' Annie replied. ''They look like normal travelers, but that's impossible considering how many titans are walking around here.'' She watched with a tense expression on her face how the duo came closer, the rising sun casting them partly in a shadowy cloak. Bertolt still had his gun raised on them, sweat dripping from his face.

''Should I shoot them?'' He asked unsurely. All three of them knew they were the devils of Paradis that needed to be wiped away, but they also knew that their mission was to get the founding titan first and foremost. Moreover, killing them would not give them answers to their questions.

''Don't shoot, but keep your gun at the ready,'' Reiner ultimately decided. He looked at Annie for confirmation, who nodded her head.

''Let's see what they want.''

Finally, they could make out their features. The clothes they were wearing immediately ruled out they were part of any sort of military. It came abundantly clear the travelers were family as well, probably father and son. They weren't carrying any sort of weapon either, but they knew looks could be deceiving. They had learned that the devils of Paradis were ruthless, and this was their first time interacting with them.

Annie sharply noticed they were very calm even though Bertolt had a gun pointed at them, and while the distance was relatively far still, he was an excellent sharpshooter. The determination on their faces was the most troublesome in Annie's mind; it screamed they were here with a mission, and she didn't like that one bit.

''Stop,'' Reiner eventually commanded when they were only about ten meters away, which resulted in Bertolt being extra cautious for any sudden movements. When father and son obliged silently, Reiner eyed them up and down.

''Who are you and what are you doing here?'' he demanded. He didn't like how calm they remained. They should feel threatened in a situation like this, but that wasn't the case at all.

''Allow me to introduce myself, young warriors of Marley,'' the father began, which made all three of them stiffen slightly—he knew they were from Marley. ''I'm Grisha Yeager and this is my son Eren Yeager. We are here on account for all people living on Paradis,'' he revealed diplomatically, his tone not unkind. ''Please hear us out.''

Annie scowled slightly; Grisha—if he was called Grisha—had a silver tongue. She couldn't detect if he was lying or not, which led her to the conclusion he was telling the truth, even though she didn't want to believe it.

''Why would we waste our time hearing you out?'' she challenged them, just to make sure.

''Because we mean you no harm,'' Grisha offered gently. ''We're unarmed, as you can see, and in the middle of nowhere. You could shoot us if you so wish, but the fact you haven't yet leads me to believe you want to hear what we have to say.''

Grisha had a good point. Annie looked at Reiner and Bertolt uncertainly, until both of them gave her a nod, telling her they were okay with it. ''All right,'' she admitted, ''we do want to hear what you have to say. So, go ahead.''

The man called Grisha paused for a moment, readjusted his glasses and then smiled slightly. ''I'm offering you guys a way out,'' he said simply.

''What do you mean?'' Reiner commanded, his nervousness building. The way how Grisha was implying things screamed he knew more than that they simply were warriors from Marley.

''I understand you are in a very precarious situation,'' he elaborated, ''with a dangerous task of infiltrating Paradis to receive the founding titan while also experiencing the death of one of your friends. There's no way back for you guys now, is there?''

Apparent shock was visible on all three of the shifter's faces. Reiner was baffled how much knowledge Grisha possessed about their mission. Had spies leaked information to Paradis in advance? He couldn't believe that could be the truth, the military of Marley had been so cautious.

At the same time, Annie was wondering the same thing. She felt anxiety kick in but remained positively calm on the outside. Bertolt, however, was visibly shivering.

''How do you know all of that?'' he yelled, taking a few steps forwards while keeping his gun pointed at him. ''Answer me!''

''Bertolt, calm down,'' Annie replied, her mind working over hours to find an answer that would make sense. ''The last thing we want is to lose our cool.''

Bertolt growled at her, but eventually backed off. Reiner had his teeth gritted as well, but didn't say anything for the time being. He knew Annie was right.

''I won't ask you how you know this information,'' she told Grisha, ''but it most likely means you also know we're extremely dangerous.''

He nodded. ''Hence why I want to avoid a conflict at all cost,'' Grisha admitted. He paused, looked at his son—who gave him a firm nod—before continuing. ''Listen, you guys don't have to destroy the wall or retrieve the founding titan. The people inside the walls are all Eldian like you and me, and they live a life of obliviousness. You would kill thousands of innocent people of your own kin, and for what? To become an honorary Marleyan? To restore Eldia in its former glory?'' Grisha shook his head. ''They're all lies told by your government.''

''Shut up!'' Reiner screamed while Bertolt also was on the brink of exploding. ''Are you devils trying to deceive us? You don't think but for a second that we would believe you!?'' he questioned.

For the first time, the boy who was introduced as Eren spoke up. ''We don't,'' he said gently, ''but is the alternative that Marley is speaking the truth anymore promising? They've locked you up in intermittent zones; they treat you like cattle and have taken your freedom away.'' He gave them all a serious look. ''You'd be all executed if you failed this mission. Would that ever happen if you were Marleyan?''

''Then what do you propose we should do?'' Annie replied, shutting both boys up before they would do anything rash. They looked at her like she'd lost her mind for even humoring the idea of listening, let alone being completely serious about it.

''Annie?'' both Reiner and Bertolt hissed incredulously. She waved them off; she was curious what they had to offer, which made Eren hopeful.

''Help me get you back your true freedom,'' he offered her genuinely. ''Please help us free the people of Eldia. We'll overthrow the faulty government that's installed in both Paradis and Marley together. You'd be free—truly free.'' He gave Annie a few moments to let that sink in.

''I know you don't trust us; I wouldn't either in your position, but I also know that you're deceptively good at spotting lies. So I'm asking you; has anything that my father and I have said not be truthful?''

''Don't listen to him, Annie,'' Reiner warned, his voice trembling and uneven. ''It's all a trick to lull you into a sense of security. The moment you take their offer they're going to capture you.''

Annie wanted to agree with Reiner, but something told her both Eren and Grisha were telling the truth. She knew Marley was full of crap and that her people were treated like trash. She'd hoped for a quiet life with her dad after she pulled this off, but knew deep down that was never going to happen. But now, these two strangers out of nowhere offered her such a ludicrous solution. She almost asked herself what she had to lose.

Both Reiner and Bertolt saw this too, their eyes widening like saucers at the very realistic threat to lose another friend and teammate. They had to do something drastic, and so, without warning, Reiner grabbed his knife and cut himself across the palm of his hand, triggering his shift into his titan form.

There you have it, folks. I promised you guys a battle, but I split the chapter because otherwise it would be too long. :P Did you guys like it, love it, hate it? Please review! I promise to respond to all the reviews I get. :3 Next chapter will truly be Annie, Reiner and Bertolt versus Eren and Grisha. Until then. ^^

~Syrup-Waffle