Years ago

"Thought we were gonna die out there. No one ever said winter training would be tough."

"Damn it, I can't feel my legs."

"I wish they'd just let us inside already."

I shiver in my seated position beside Eren, listening to him, Jean, and Connie rightfully complain about this stupid training session we're being put through on a fucking snowy mountain. I swear on my chattering teeth, I'm going to punch Sadies in the face. "I can't feel my fingers, or anything from the waist down. Is this what a woman feels? Just...nothing between the legs?"

Mikasa looks down at me with mild disgust. "Is that really what you're thinking about right now, Elijah?"

"Shut up, Mikasa. You wouldn't even know the difference. Why the fuck are they keeping us outside?"

Sasha's face is the only one that looks warm. "I bet they're busy putting together a huge feast for us! Yum..." That would be nice.

"Hey!" We look to Reiner walking over to us, his face alarmed. "Christa is missing."

"Huh?"

"She was sticking with Daz since he wasn't doing so well."

"That pathetic waste? Where the hell is he?"

"Daz isn't here either. Ymir as well."

"Maybe they're with the last squad?"

"Can't be. The last squad, led by Thomas just arrived. They never saw those three." I look over to Thomas and his squad. They're the last? Shit...

"You don't think...they got lost?"

"Hey... They don't stand a chance if they're stuck in this blizzard."

"Shit." Eren stands and I know exactly what he's thinking. It's stupid, crazy even...but for once, it's out of the question of if it's the right thing to do/

"Eren!" Mikasa grabs Eren's wrist, but he pulls away.

"I'm going back out to try and find them!"

Marco nods. "Me too!"

I stand up, stretching my still-numb legs. "Same here, but only for Christa and Ymir. Daz can freeze his balls off for all I care. Might actually do him some good to lose 'em."

Just as we were getting together, one of the senior officers came to us. "Everyone, inside the cabin."

Eren gasps. "But... Christa and-"

"Yeah. We'll send a rescue team first thing in the morning."

"It'll be too late by then!"

"We won't make any more victims!" A chilly wind speeds through, killing the fire and rocking the windows of the cabin. Initially, I was with Eren, but...this weather will kill us before we find Christa's team and make it back. Sighing, I hold one of Eren's shoulders, shaking my head sorrowfully.

He sighs as well. "Shit."

Present

"What...the...fuck...?" I wipe my eyes, trying to wrap my head around what I'm seeing. Ymir jumped off the tower, then lightning struck, then...a small Titan with a big head started snatching napes with its mouth. I hope I'm thinking straight... Ymir's a Titan?

"Is this real?" Ymir is a Titan, too?"

Okay, Connie sees this too. "No way..."

"Ymir..."

"Th-That Titan is..."

"...From that day..." I hear Reiner and Bertholdt talking behind me, but before I can ask what they're talking about, Christa nearly falls over the top of the tower, saved only by Reiner's quick grabbing of her lower leg. Connie and I turn around quickly for obvious reasons, she's wearing a dress, but Reiner seems to be out of it. Christa's pleas for Reiner to let go, but it doesn't register with him.

"Reiner! You're hurting Christa." That wakes him up as he gasps and sets Christa down.

"S-Sorry."

"No, you saved me."

"Christa... Did you know? That Ymir is a Titan?"

She turns away to the battle below. "I had no idea. I was always so close to her, too. How? How could this be? That Titan...is Ymir?"

"In other words, she knew some of the secrets of our world. And I never suspected a thing."

"Hey," Connie says. "Do you think she's known about it? Eren's a Titan, but he didn't know until it happened. But Ymir is like...she is aware of being a Titan all along."

"Are you saying she might be an enemy of humanity?"

"I'm saying that's one hell of a power to hide. Who knows what she might have been thinking."

"I wonder... What could be Ymir's goal?"

"It's simple, Bertholdt," I say, banging on the new gas tank I took from one of the dead Scoiuts. I also replenished my blades. I hate that looted from the dead, but they won't need weapons anymore. "Ymir is not the enemy, for one. I know she doesn't care about anyone but herself...and Christa. For now, she's with us."

"Woah, Woah, Woah," Connie holds out his hands as I readjust my Scout cloak. "You're not...going back down there. Are you?"

"Yes, I am."

"But you're hurt!" Christa exclaims.

"And alive." I step up to the edge, seeing Ymir hanging on the tower wall with only her pointy fingers. Her Titan is a small class, but its agility makes use of that size. "I started this fight, now I must finish it," I say with confidence and resolve, but in reality, I wish my pride would let me stop fighting before I really get hurt...or worse. Damn you, me, I really am a stubborn fool, aren't I? I step off, dropping to land on Ymir's shoulder. I grunt a bit in pain. "Hey, Fritz! I don't know how in the hell this is possible, but that doesn't matter right now! We have to protect the others. I'll do my best to cover you."

She grunts in understanding, then we're off into the fray.

Back on the snowy mountainside...

"It's better if you guys don't come along," Eren says much later after we're ordered inside. He hasn't given up on finding Christa, Ymir, and unfortunately Daz. It pains me to say this about my best friend, but the dumbass wants to go by himself. "Like our instructor said, you'll end up becoming more victims."

"I'm going so that doesn't happen."

"I'm not leaving Christa and the others."

"The four of us stick together, like always, Eren. Even through this damn blizzard." Eren looks back at us, not denying us anymore. But we aren't the only ones following Eren.

"Hey. What do you think you're doing?" We turn back to see Reiner and Bertholdt suited up as we are.

"Don't try to stop-"

"You're gonna need a lot more gear than that."

"If you go by yourselves, you'll be in the same pickle as Christa."

"In a search, the more eyes, the better."

"You guys... Thanks. To be honest, we could use you."

"Hey, we're coming too." Connie, Marco, and Sasha join us, surprisingly without Horse Face in tow.

"The weather's steadily improving. I think we'll be fine."

"I brought extra rations!"

I smile at Sasha. "Did you bring extra, or did you find them somewhere?"

She smiles back. "Does it matter?"

"You guys…" Eren starts off but a noise interrupts him. Concerned, we all look to the door.

"What was that sound just now?" Ignoring Armin, we follow Eren out of the cabin back outside. With visibility still bad, we can at least see for a mile or so, proven by Sasha's call from behind me.

"Somebody's coming!" In the distance, I see lantern light. Taking initiative, I run out to the light, followed by the other boys. As we get close, we see exactly who it is: Ymir, dragging a planked Daz, with no Christa in sight.

"Ymir! Guys, get Daz." I almost couldn't believe I said that but now that he made it here, might as well keep him alive. While Eren and the others hoist Daz's body back to the cabins, I walk with Ymir back, my only concern being that of Christa's whereabouts. "Christa?"

"She'll be here, don't worry."

"You sound so sure."

"Hmph, when am I not?"

Now at the fence bordering the cabins, I lean on them, narrowing my eyes at the narrowed-eyed girl. "I know you too well, Ymir. You did something, did you?"

She sighs but waits for the others to be out of earshot before sitting down in the snow and continuing. "If you say so. But I swear, she'll be here. I'll wait right here for her, won't come inside until she does."

"Hmph." I sit down beside her, folding my arms and closing my eyes. I don't know what Ymir did, but… I know that she is right, Christa is coming. "Guess I'll keep you company."

"You think you're doing me a favor?"

"I say you owe me plenty, especially after what you put me through."

"I saved your hide because you were late for training. Far as I can tell, you helping me feed hungry kids, doing most of the work on a mission, and protecting Christa evens us out as we agreed."

Yes, we're so even. "Then you had me fetch water. As a favor. But no, this is not a favor, this is me keeping a promise."

Ymir scoffs as she wiggles a finger in my face. "Oh don't give me that 'momma's promise' thing again, that's not it... Ah, I see. You like being around me, don't you? Or, just like me? Hahahaha! That's it!" She uses her finger to turn my expressionless face to hers, dangerously close that the only heat I feel is her breath.

"Sometimes I wish I could be as delusional as you, Ymir."

"Oh? How delusional can I be when you know I'm right? Tell you what...one day, I'll do you a favor...however you want to interpret that...and you promise me a favor."

"What do you want?"

She releases me from her holding, turning to the snowy fields outside the forest. "When a time comes...when I'm unable to watch over Christa, I want you to be there for her."

"Where is this coming from?"

She shrugs. "Who knows? I know it sounds crazy, but...something tells me I can trust you with this."

"...Fine...though I think you're getting the short end of the stick."

Ymir chuckles. "Am I now? That's disappointing, but I guess I can live with another disappointment in my life."

I roll my eyes, but can't help but laugh. Damn my sense of humor. I playfully punch her shoulder. "That's not what I meant, you bitch."

Ymir

Christa, I felt the same, that it would have been better had I not been born at all. I was hated by the world just for existing. I...to give countless people joy, I gave up my life. But from that time, there was a wish I held in my heart. if someday, I was given a second chance at life...this time...I would live for no one but myself!

Elijah retreats back to the top of the tower, his gas tanks nearly empty again. He was of some help, but the Titans... There are too many for him to fight with the ODM gear. Hell, too many for me to take down on my own. But...he did good.

Dumbass. Always protecting others at the cost of his own life, I think he's a bad influence on me. Now I'm doing my best to not have the tower topple over with Christa and the others on top. It's safe to say that Elijah won't be back for a while.

One of these nasty brutes grabs my hair, then another grabs my waist and arms. Shit, they got me. Christa... I did my best... "Don't you die, Ymir! Not in a place like this!" Christa? I look up to see the young blonde standing on the edge of the tower, Connie desperately holding on to her. What the hell is she doing?

"Don't pretend you're good, you idiot! You wanna go out in a blaze of glory?! Are you stupid?! It's too late for you to try to get into heaven! Live for yourself, Goddamnit! If you're gonna die protecting this tower, forget about it! Tear it down!"

Tear it down? Hmph. I free myself and jump for the tower, removing stone brick after stone brick from it and throwing them at the Titans below. The tower begins to fall over, so I rush up to the others. "If you want to live, grab me!" Or, what my Titan actually said, "Want live? Grab me!" The five humans grab hold of my hair as I climb to the safer side of the tower. It falls on the Titans below. Myself now on the ground, the others release me to examine the destruction themselves.

The peace doesn't last long. The Titans sprout from the rubble like a sapling out of the Earth. I manage to take one out, but another grabs my hair and slams me in the ground. Dazed and wounded, I am unable to defend myself as the Titans jump on me, ripping my Titan apart with their mouths and hands. Inside, I slowly accept my fate, closing my eyes to receive the death I possibly deserve. Heh... You told me not to die in a blaze of glory, didn't you, Christa? Is this better?

"Ymir...wait! I still want to talk to you! I still haven't told you my real name!"

...Your...real name?

Elijah

"Christa!" Damn it! Not sure how much gas I have left in this third set, I run after Christa before the Titan in front of her grabs and eats her. Damn myself if I fail Ymir now, after all she's done for us. I never forget a promise. Never.

But it seems my promise is kept. Before I reach Christa, blood spills from the Titan's nape in the air. Above, a flash of green lands on some rubble, pausing my advance. That figure stands up, speaking in a voice I've known for five years. "Christa. Everyone, get back. We got this. Leave the rest to us."

"Mikasa!" Above her, the Scouts fly in heroically, eliminating the Titans before they realize what's going on. I chuckle almost maniacally.

"It's about time you got here, Ackermann."

"You're not going to help."

I draw my blades, ignoring my completely exhausted body. "Can't let you get all the glory, can I?"

Within fifteen minutes, the Titans were eradicated. Completely drained of energy, I lean on Mikasa for support as we stand behind Hange and Christa. I can't believe we survived...how long was I fighting? Hours? Days? We lost Nanaba, Gelgar, Henning, and Lynne, Reiner injured his arm, I'm probably worse than I look, and Ymir...her secret is out.

"It can't be... Ymir is..."

"It's true, Armin. She's like Eren."

"Ymir..." Up ahead, Christa holds Ymir's wounded body. Remembering how Eren somehow made it alive back in Trost, it doesn't surprise me that Ymir is alive. What does surprise me is seeing Ymir's normally condescending brown eyes open again, but this time...there's a much different emotion in them. Or maybe none at all. Only Christa knows as she continues talking to Ymir. "My real name...is Historia," Ymir says nothing back but leaves a smile as her eyes close again.

"Historia..." I say softly for the first time. We have many questions about the name, but for now...I just want to rest...and find an old friend...