Berthold was looking out in the distance. There were no distinguishable features on the horizon. Just meadows of grass and trees.

He bent his knees close to his chest and exhaled. I can't believe we left Annie behind. Was it really okay that we did that? He thought to himself. But it really was the perfect plan. Eren was on Wall Rose with the both of them, and Riener and Berthold saw Zeke head in this direction.

When we find Zeke, we'll tell him about Annie, and we'll get her back. If we work together, I'm sure we'll be able to find her.

He hugged his knees tighter.

Who am I kidding? This mission has been a disaster from the start.

Refusing to think on it further, he returned his gaze to the horizon. That was when Berthold noticed the abnormal titan in the distance. Its arms were bent in a strange way, both elbows bending upward, its hands reaching for the back of its neck. It was coming towards them at an incredible speed.

It was maybe thirty meters away before it suddenly fell to the ground.

"What the…?" Berthold heard Eren say behind him.

Out of the steam, came a scout member. They were too far away for Berthold to see exactly who it was, but the uniform was unmistakable. He stood up.

"Reiner! Someones coming." Reiner looked towards the smoke.

Ymir, who was laying down on the branch next to Eren, sat up. "Berthold, what are you talking about?" She asked.

The scout member ran towards where they were at. There were currently seven titans sitting under them. Four of them turned their heads towards the scout, and two proceeded to change their target from the four titan shifters towards this scout member.

"LOOK OUT!" Eren yelled.

Lighting cracked. The scout member was suddenly behind the two titans who had been chasing him. Steam covered their napes. The scout's blade broke from the impact.

Berthold rubbed his eyes. "What the hell?" Reiner asked, confirming that Berthold wasn't imagining whatever was unfolding before them.

The moment that happened, all the other titans, including the aberrant, switched their focus towards the lone scout member. He charged them, discarding his broken blades. He did not replace them.

The aberrant was the first to attack. Being larger and faster than the other titans, it reached the scout member first. The scout member fired a wire past the abberents arms, hooking it into a titan behind him, and vaulted under its arm.

The aberrant turned back around. The scout member dodged all of its attacks using his ODM gear. Its attacks hit the shorter titans instead.

They let the larger one take care of the smaller ones. Berthold realized. Their movement…

"Mikasa?" Eren wondered out loud.

Berthold glanced at Eren confused.

The closer the scout got, the more features Berthold could recognize. The young man that was trying to reach the forest of the trees had light blond hair. That's not Mikasa. Berthold confirmed in relief.

The scout twisted and turned around all the titans. He was less than ten meters from the base of the Berthold's tree.

The grappling hook hit Erens branch. Air released behind the scout, lifting him up. Eren saw the scouts face.

"JASON?!" Eren yelled.

The aberrant titan grabbed his left leg and pulled him down.

The scout quickly flipped a golden coin that turned into a spear. Stabbing the aberrant hands with the golden spear released lighting all across its body. The aberrant let go, and the scout hooked another wire onto Reiners branch.

He swung under Reiner and landed on the branch belly first. Luckily the large branch held his weight.

Berthold saw Reiner take out his blade, so he proceeded to do the same. But the blond haired scout didn't get up. Panting, he raised his head to see Eren.

"Yo." He said in an exhausted tone.

Breathing heavily, he turned face up, lying down horizontally on the tree. Berthold finally got a good look at his face. Short blond hair covered his head, along with a roundish face colored with a black eye. Fresh cuts and bruises could be seen all over. His body was covered in blood, all of it steaming away. The titan blood on his face made his light blue eyes intense. Berthold wanted to look away, but the scout trapped him in his gaze.

"What are you… how did you…? Eren couldn't finish any of his questions.

Reiner then chimed in. "Did… did you run here from Wall Rose?"

The scout nodded, his forehead damp with sweat.

"What was that attack earlier? Who are you?" Reiner demanded.

The scout, still panting, shook his head. The following was said in between breaths. "No… Energy… Can't… Talk."

Reiner looked at Berthold. Over the years, Berthold came to understand every look Reiner would give him. This one indicated that this person was currently not a threat. Berthold sheathed his blade. Reiner did the same.

All four of them were in shock, but nothing could be gained while he was still catching his breath. So they waited for him to start the conversation.

Berthold sat back down in his original position. While not on the same branch as the scout, he felt a strange anger towards him. He had no idea why he felt this way. He kept the feeling to himself.

After maybe half an hour of recovery, the scout finally moved towards the trunk of the tree. He sat up, with his back to the bark. He grabbed the same coin he used earlier from his pocket and flipped it once again. This time it changed into a double edged broadsword.

Didn't he use that against the aberrant? Berthold looked down at the fried titan. The javelin was no longer impaled in its hand.

"I'm…" He gulped, most likely from running so hard, "I'm only using this to protect myself. If you don't attack me, I won't attack you."

Reiner sat cross legged on the other side of the branch. "We have no reason to hurt you." He assured him. The scout kept his sword up.

"You…" Reiner didn't know what to ask. "Why are you here?"

The scout, still breathing heavily, looked at Ymir. "I need to ask her something."

Ymir widened her eyes at him. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"So, you don't recognize me? You're not Rachel?"

"Rachel? Who is that?" Ymir put her hand on her chest. "My name is, and has always been, Ymir."

The scout, disappointed by that answer, put his sword down. He shifted his head upward. His eyes locked on to Berthold. "Oh well, at least I tried."

"You ran all the way from Wall Rose, in titan infested territory, just to ask me that?" Ymir asked in disbelief.

"Sure." He replied unenthusiastically.

Eren then asked his own question, "Jason, you ran out of gas this morning. How did you resupply it?"

The scout, named Jason, starred at Eren. "I borrowed Hange's tanks. They hadn't been used much, which was good for me." The boy took another deep breath, "I swear, if I didn't have my speed and a full tank of gas," He blew out air, "I would have been dead ten times over."

"You… borrowed…" Eren couldn't finish his sentence.

Berthold glanced cautiously at Jason. He remembered where he first saw him. This was the scout that killed the titan that was about to attack him, Reiner and Connie back at Utgard castle.

Jason's eyes eerily glanced back. Berthold quickly returned his gaze to the horizon.

A couple minutes passed before the scout spoke again.

"Do any of you have any water?" He looked at Reiner.

Ymir, although still a little shocked, added, "Yeah, if I don't get any water soon, I'll dry up and die."

Reiner addressed their request. "Even if it's a matter of life and death, there is nothing we can do considering our situation." He said matter of factly.

Jason groaned at the news. "Yeah, our situation is pretty shitty." Ymir agreed.

Silence.

"Speaking of which… Ever since the titans showed up yesterday morning, we've been working our asses off." Berthold's face darkened. "With nothing to eat and drink, and not even a wink of sleep. Fortunately the wall wasn't broken or anything." Reiner gripped his nose. "We deserve to take a break. We'll see about getting promoted first."

Berthold gave his friend a worried look. Why did it have to come back now?

"Reiner…" He said quietly.

"What? We've done plenty enough to deserve it." He looked back towards Berthold. "I think we've performed outstandingly, considering all we've been put through."

How many times has it happened? When did it start?

A memory Berthold did not want to recall came to the surface.

Right. It was after Trost. He thought somberly.

"I know soldiers like us are expected to fulfill their duty," Reiner continued, "but I think we all deserve it." He glanced nervously at the scout. The boy's face was still.

Yimir was the first to speak. "Reiner… what are you talking about?"

"What? I'm not saying we get promoted right away, but we should be rewarded at least."

Ymir tried to reason with him. "That's… not what I mean."

"Oh yeah, where did you get that cannon from?" He laughed a little. "You totally saved my ass back there. And it's a good thing Christa was there too. You know what, I think she has a thing for me." He scratched his chin.

"Hey…" Eren said quietly.

"Now that I think about it, she's always treated me differently…"

"Hey!" Eren shouted angrily. He stood up and glared at Reiner.

"What the hell are you saying?"

Reiner gave a surprised look, "What's wrong Eren? Did I do something to upset you?"

"You keep talking and I'll kill you!" Eren's voice broke.

Reiner glanced at everyone confused. "Seriously what's going on?"

Ymir raised her hand at Eren. "I don't know, why don't you ask Berthold. Based on his face, I think he knows what's going on."

Berthold held his legs closer to his chest. He knew what he had to do, but it hurt more every time he did it. He gave Reiner a sad look.

"Reiner." He said slowly. "We're not soldiers. We're warriors."

Reiners eyes slowly widened. He covered his face with his hand and began hyperventilating. Berthold hated what was happening. But there was nothing he could do. They had done horrible things. Things that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. It was only natural that something like this would happen. He looked at Reiner. But why did it happen to you?

Berthold saw Eren's face. And why did you have to suffer?

"What is this… am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" Eren asked sarcastically.

"PTSD?" Berthold barely heard what the scout said under him.

Ymir crossed her healing leg over the normal one.

"I thought it was strange." She began. "Why would the guy who broke the wall risk his life for Connie?" Eren stared at her. "Everything he does is contradictory, but he doesn't realize it himself. I don't know why he ended up like this, but it's probably… He was originally a warrior whose goal was to break the walls. But after pretending to be a soldier for so long, he lost sight of who he was and couldn't tell the two apart."

The scout, still breathing heavily, kept his eyes on Reiner.

"No. Unable to bear the weight of his sins, he convinced himself he was a soldier protecting the walls to maintain emotional balance within his heart." Ymir smiled coldly. "As a result his heart was split and his memories broken. This might not be the first time he's talked nonsense, based on Mr. Bertholds expression."

She's pretty sharp. Berthold kept his compliment of the girl to himself.

Eren, getting fed up with not understanding any of these conversations, began ranting. "What the hell is wrong with you guys? Why are you acting like the victim?"

He said this next part to Berthold. "When I met you, I told you what happened, didn't I? How the boulder you sent flying trapped my Mom. How she was eaten alive because she couldn't run away! Right, Berthold? What were you thinking?"

I was thinking I felt sorry for you. Berthold kept the insult to himself.

Eren then went on a tirade for the next couple of minutes. But Berthold wasn't paying attention anymore. He was so tired. Tired of the lies, of Reiners illness, of worrying about Annie. It had been five years of nothing but anxiety and exhaustion. He was tired, and all he wanted to do was go home. He decided to close his eyes for a bit.

Sleep will do you good. Whispered a voice.

"Huh?" Berthold opened his eyes.

Berthold was sitting at a rectangular table filled to the brim with expensive food. A grilled lobster sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by an assortment of appetizers and freshly baked bread.

"I said it's a shame Berthold!"

A hand clapped his back. "All the women in the world, and you choose Annie?"

Berthold looked to his left.

Reiner, holding a bottle of wine, wore the classic Marleyan uniform. He was pouring Berthold a drink.

"I mean, it makes sense to me." A voice said across from him.

Porcos dark complexion met his. He was also in uniform, but he had grown since the last time Berthold saw him.

Bethold stood up in shock. "Porco! What are you doing here?"

Porco tilted his head to the side.

"What do you mean? We're here to celebrate your engagement to Annie!" He held out a cup for Reiner to fill.

Berthold widened his eyes.

"We're not in Paradis?" he asked.

Reiner gave him a worried look. "Paradis? What are you talking about? That mission ended years ago."

"Berthold, are you okay?" Another familiar voice cut in. At the edge of the table was Colt. His messy blond hair looked exactly the same it did before he left.

Berthold started crying. Everyone reacted.

"I swear I only gave him one cup." Reiner defended himself.

"Is he that happy to be marrying that psycho?" Porco asked.

Colt got up to rub Berthold's back. "Guys, I think somethings up. He's not acting normal."

He didn't know what was going on, but he was home. Berthold wiped the tears from his eyes. He must have drifted off thinking about their confrontation with Eren in the forest of giant trees. But that was ages ago, why would I think about that now?

Suddenly the door to their small party opened. Piek crawled in on her hands and knees.

"God, Piek, can't you just act normal for once?" Porco criticized her entrance.

"I'm sorry but this is my natural state." She stood immediately, and walked in with a simple light blue long sleeved dress. "Unlike you boys, we ladies wanted to dress up for the occasion."

Berthold noticed the light blonde hair immediately.

Annie walked in with a colorful green skirt decorated with a rose pattern. Her clean white blouse accented it perfectly. Her hair was tied up with a hairpin decorated with dark red gems in the shape of roses.

Berthold stood up, unable to speak. Annie approached him shyly.

"Sorry we're late."

"You look stunning." He told her.

She blushed.

"Oh, get a room!" Reiner shouted behind him.

"For once I agree with Reiner." Porco said.

Piek clapped her hands. "Alright! That's enough teasing." She placed herself at the other end of the table, "While the official engagement party and wedding will happen next month, we wanted to celebrate your union in our own special way, warriors style."

Colt and Porco whopped in excitement. Rainer began filling everyone's cups.

"And because we can't pay for any of this food, we will thank General Magath later for financing this party." The room filled with laughter.

Piek waited for everything to die down. "Though in all seriousness, we dedicate this party to you." She grabbed her cup and gestured towards them. "Berthold, Reiner, Annie. If it wasn't for you guys, none of us would be here today." She raised her glass.

"To the warriors." She said quietly.

Everyone else raised their glasses in unison. "To the warriors!" They all shouted back.

Berthold put his arm around Annie. He was finally home.