Reiner pulled along a medium-sized bag with Mikasa's ODM gear over his shoulder. They both left her home a few minutes ago, heading toward the exit of the internment zone.

Mikasa was dressed in a loose, tan dress with an identical colored cardigan covering her shoulders and her armband snug around her left arm. One thing (of many) she won't miss about Marley is that damn incessant accessory.

She glanced over at Reiner, who was dressed in the same outfit as usual, a tan jacket and a tucked-in off-white undershirt. Mikasa couldn't help but notice how much sharper his appearance had gotten with age. His facial hair suited him very well, and his current physique was quite striking.

Mikasa's breath spiked, she closed and rubbed her eyes. It was just an intrusive thought due to fatigue. That's all. She made an effort not to think about him that way anymore... it brought back memories she'd have rather forgotten.

Memories and feelings that meant nothing to her anymore.

The man beside her saw her rubbing her eyes ferociously in his peripheral vision. He had to restrain himself from asking if she was fine, as much as he wanted to, he realized that she wasn't in a space where she wanted or needed him to check up on her anymore.

And yet, he couldn't help but wonder what she looked like without the wig. As he remembered, her hair was such a striking shade of black. Did it get longer? Did it still shine the way it did back then?

He closed his eyes. Thinking about her that way tore him from the inside out—thinking about her features as if he had any right to stung... it made him long for a forbidden fruit he'd never be able to have.

He realized that being in her presence would have to suffice.

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he shook his head and kept it down as they continued to walk in silence.

Of course, he wasn't "just in her neighborhood" last night. Sure he tried to convince himself that the reason he went to her house was for the mission.

But really?

Reiner needed to see her. She was his beacon of hope in this dreary world. He could remember years ago—seeing her walk around never failed to brighten his day. Talking to her and making her smile seemed like the one thing he aspired to do after a while.

Her eyes lighting up anytime he succeeded made him fall deeper and deeper.

"We're here."

His head shot up at the sound of her voice. They both stopped in their tracks as they noticed the gate a few feet away. "My clothes are hiding the gear, right?"

"Yeah." Reiner said lowly.

They figured that hiding the ODM within a thin layer of clothes could help mask the contents, if for any reason they took a peek inside the bag.

"Don't say anything, I'll handle the talking."

She nodded.

They inched closer and stopped in front of two guards, both eyeing them suspiciously. "Where do you think you're going?" One of them tilted their head. "With a big bag, nonetheless?" The other questioned.

Reiner quietly set it down in front of them. "My friend and I are going on the train to the main city. We're hoping to visit and give thanks to the great Helos statue."

The Liberio soldiers eyed him, then looked behind him at Mikasa. Reiner cleared his throat, bringing their attention back to him. "She wanted to see it. I'll be supervising her the entire time." He said, flaunting his red armband.

One of the soldiers looked down at said red armband and scoffed, "You'll never be a real Marleyan." Reiner kept his face straight, trying not to express the hurt he felt from the blatant bigotry.

His eyes instead followed the movement of the other soldier creeping towards Mikasa.

"You're not bad looking for a devil." The man said in a hushed tone towards her. Mikasa fought to keep eye contact, holding back the clenched fist that itched to send him into oblivion.

The man turned towards Reiner, "Give her to me and I'll make it worth your while." the slovenly soldier rubbed his fingers in a motion resembling a monetary reimbursement for the "rare" eastern racial woman.

The fucker wanted to buy her.

Her breath quickened as the soldier's back was towards her, Mikasa was quickly entering fight or flight mode as she glanced over at Reiner.

She blinked several times when a few seconds had passed and he didn't say anything. Mikasa focused her attention back to her partner.

He looked straight through her.

Visibly taken aback, she watched as the gears turned in his head.

The warrior expressed little to no emotion—the amount it did express was enough for Mikasa to read his eyes... and all they said at the moment was it wasn't too late to turn her in and save his country.

He glanced down at the bag on the floor and realized he'd have a clear advantage. One on one, he wouldn't stand a chance. But with three men overpowering her, the odds were more in his favor.

"Well?" The bargaining soldier yelled out, impatiently.

Reiner looked at Mikasa and saw the regret reflecting from her face. She chose to put her life in his hands and was about to get screwed for it. They shared a stare that stopped time.

Mikasa broke away and quickly darted her vision towards the waistband of the soldier in front of her. As the circulation started to cut off from her fists, she focused on the gun in front of her.

If she could quickly reach for it—

"No." Reiner whispered. Mikasa's eyes shot towards his and she let out a staggered breath. Her face once again betrayed her true emotions, because the brief feeling of relief spilled from her eyes. She couldn't tell if he felt any regrets, or if this interaction just wasn't beneficial for him at the moment.

He tore his eyes away from hers and looked into the guard's. "Now let us pass." he said in a hushed, removed tone.

The man in front of Mikasa growled lowly but obliged nonetheless. Once the guards gave them the all-clear to go, Reiner couldn't bring himself to glance over his shoulder to confirm whether she continued following him.

They got to the train station and boarded the last car, sitting next to one other. The walk from the internment zone to where they were now consisted of bleak silence—with Mikasa a step or two behind.

Reiner sat with the bag atop his lap, his thoughts refusing to leave a moment's peace within his head. Why did he hesitate back there? He knew he'd never betray her trust again, so what was that?

He stared straight ahead—several questions ravaged his entire rationale. Reiner barely knew what he was doing back there, but in the end, he knew that he didn't want to lose her again.

He mentally reprimanded himself for succumbing to Marleyan indoctrination. He didn't want to hesitate like that again, even for a second. He understood it would take years to unlearn everything he was groomed to learn as a child. But even still... the only genuine thing he's felt for anyone and he contemplated throwing it away.

He shut his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind. Everything about her absolutely enamored him, but maybe he should leave the past in the past. What he once felt for her wasn't real. Any moments they shared together were fake because his entire persona was. Everything was a damn lie.

"Reiner." Mikasa whispered beside him, "Stop clutching onto my bag like that. You're going to arouse suspicion."

He relaxed his fingers immediately upon hearing her call his name. He opened his eyes and turned his attention towards her.

His eyes locked onto hers, and hers, his. They sat pretty close to one another—so close that their legs would lightly brush together when the train came to abrupt stops.

Mikasa quickly realized their close proximity when she saw him look down at her—she thought to move a seat down in response.

But she couldn't find the strength to do so.

They hadn't gotten this close to each other since she slapped him... and that was in pure darkness.

But now?

In bright daylight?

She got to closely observe the strong facial changes in him since he became a man and studied the harsh creases in his face. Her eyes slowly moved from his stare to his blond eyebrows; she traced one over with her gaze, then the other. She moved her wondering eyes over to the bridge of his nose, and down to his strong jaw.

Mikasa took in the smallest details from his face: from the slightest imperfections to the major changes she remembered from when they were teenagers. The deeper creases in his forehead and eyes added maturity and the beard accentuated the rest of his features. Every other facet of his face accented the smaller details perfectly.

She couldn't stop analyzing his everything. Only when she felt herself itching to bring a hand up to feel his face, did she register what she was doing. She immediately brought her attention back to his shocked gaze.

Mikasa's eyes widened.

Words refused to form for her.

Reiner's face expressed everything he felt in the moment, though as surprised as he was to see Mikasa exponentially take in his appearance, he couldn't help but do the same.

His stare roamed from her shocked grey eyes to her slim cheekbones, down to her rose-tinted cheeks. He noted every single detail of her face, from the smallest beauty marks to the lightest freckles. Every imperfect spot to every perfect one. Reiner's gaze covered every detail of her face until his stare rested on her supple lips.

They were just as he remembered them.

Putting kilometers of space between them wouldn't be enough. The tension was achingly palpable. Mikasa tried her best to snap out of it but found herself looking deeper into his golden eyes.

A sudden jerk of the train brought them both back to reality, Reiner brushed his shoulder with hers inadvertently, which forced Mikasa to bring her attention back to whatever she was focused on before.

It was hard to tell who broke eye contact first, as both were scrambling to get back to their normal composures. What followed was a long silence accompanied by the occasional railroad tire screech.

The blond man cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry." he mumbled. His apology was lackluster at best, but Mikasa silently accepted it nonetheless.

They didn't owe each other anything, there was no reason for her to be disappointed.

"What were you thinking of doing?" She asked faintly.

Reiner heard her but gave no indication of it. He gulped thickly and let his gaze fall to the floor. "I was thinking of leaving you and taking your ODM gear." He said bluntly, almost with no remorse in his voice.

Almost.

"Why didn't you?"

Reiner looked up at the ceiling of the train, trying to think of a response. Truth is, he could think of several good sentimental reasons, however none were logical. He had no logical reason for anything he's been doing so far.

Only one question sat at the back of his head.

Why did you stop me?

"I want to see this through." He lied.

Maybe next time.

They got out at their stop and walked through one of the largest, bustling cities within Marley. This was mostly where Marleyans resided and where the general economy boomed the most.

Reiner continued to carry Mikasa's bag with the concealed ODM gear, mostly so they could avoid random searches and partly because he didn't mind it. Carrying her bag wasn't much of a hassle anyway.

Mikasa kept the same pace with the titan shifter, walking by his side this time instead of lagging behind him. "What's the plan?" She asked, taking a glance at her bag, then back up to Reiner. "I can probably carry that now."

He shook his head, "It's fine. I got it."

Mikasa looked at him puzzlingly, "We're out of the internment zone, I doubt I'd get searched."

Reiner looked her way, "I don't mind carrying it, Mikasa." An inappreciable smile disappeared from his lips before she was able to catch it, "I'm here, so you don't have to worry about it."

Mikasa looked away, feeling an uncontrollable source of heat fill her cheeks. She brought a hand up to her face to confirm the warmth she felt... her fingers gently brushed the side of her face; the heat resonated throughout her.

Before she could reasonably address her misconstrued feelings, the marvelous infrastructure of Marley caught her eye. Mikasa's bewildered stare found its way up to the stunning height of the edifices. She couldn't stop staring at each one—it's as if they were all priceless gems. From very tall building plans with large floor-to-ceiling windows to beautiful wall patterns she'd never seen before.

She took note of the architecture and ingenuity it took to build it. The city was more advanced than the Liberio internment zone, which was more advanced than Paradis. It was a culture shock to her, but a pleasant one at that. Reiner silently walked side by side with her, amused at her taking in the surroundings.

A few moments passed, with Reiner breaking the silence. "Do you want to hear the plan, or do you want to explore the city a little?"

Mikasa almost felt remorseful as she was visibly enjoying the place that tortured her people, working alongside someone who played a role in humanity's darkest hour. As guilty as she should feel, she couldn't help but feel content at where she was... with whom she was with.

"What's your plan?" She cut her thoughts off.

Reiner gave her a nod. "The plan is to find some Marleyan news: Newspapers, bulletins, and word of mouth are what we should focus on," He continued walking, scanning the city for a starting point.

"The government will fabricate the news for Eldians ninety-nine percent of the time. For Marleyans, they do it half as much. Odds are, we'll find something leading us in the right direction."

"Understood."

They both continued walking until they found a newsstand. Reiner paid the vendor and grabbed a newspaper. "Marley wins the four-year war," he mumbles, skimming over the text.

He led them over to a bench where he sat down and continued scanning the paper. He read over all of the tabloids, none of which talked about Paradis. Mikasa stood beside him, crossed her arms, and tried straining her eyes at the paper. Reiner paused his reading and glanced up at her.

"What?"

Mikasa continued looking at the text, trying to translate some words. "I'm not adept at reading Marleyan language," she admitted, giving up and sitting down beside him.

Reiner watched her scowl and couldn't help but raise a brow in confusion. "There will be other ways you can help," He turned his attention back to the newspaper. "I suppose there's something I can do better than you." he mumbled under his breath, amusement apparent in his voice.

"Hm, one of the insignificant few." Mikasa retorted.

Reiner withheld the nostalgic smile that threatened to creep onto his lips. He continued scanning the paper until he came across something familiar. "Unknown origins." he quietly mumbled.

Mikasa turned her attention to him, "What?"

Reiner continued to read it, but spoke out about his findings, "During the war, there were Eldian soldiers inside the trenches that were never used for combat, and now that I'm remembering, there were plenty that were undocumented."

Reiner put down the newspaper and turned towards her, "Soldiers of unknown origins," he said in air quotes, "There were a few dozen, and I assumed they were immigrants from foreign nations allied with Marley."

Mikasa's eyes widened, was it possible that Jean and the others entered the war a few weeks ago under false pretenses?

"Most of them survived, but some didn't return to their respective internment zones," Reiner paused, "My only guess is that some were taken by the government. Maybe under suspicion of treason or they could be under a false persona. Regardless, the ships that came back from the island were probably hijacked."

Mikasa narrowed her eyes. She knew it was a possibility, but she almost wasn't ready to hear it from his lips. This could mean that there were dozens of newly recruited scouts in Marley–this was going to be a war.

Regardless, with the lack of communication, the harsh reality was that something happened to her teammates: if what Reiner was saying was true, she didn't know how to go about finding them.

"Reiner, you can find out can't you?" She asked lowly, desperation in her voice.

He took in a deep breath, "I don't know." He got up to his feet, "as the situation stands, the government is still trying to figure out if there's a spy high up in the ranks." He stared down at her, "It wouldn't take them long to theorize my being a threat."

Reiner sighed and nervously held the bridge of his nose, "I'd get eaten immediately, Mikasa."

She quickly scoffed, "Isn't that what you want?"

I want an explanation first.

He didn't answer her.

Mikasa stood up beside him, "We need more intel. There are too many questions about their whereabouts right now."

Reiner nodded in agreement. "I think I might know the place." Reiner walked in the opposite direction, Mikasa following behind.

They got to and sat down at a bar. The atmosphere reeked of booze and loud people arguing. There were citizens, government officials, and heavy military presence in the establishment. Mikasa was suddenly very aware of her Eldian status. She looked around for a weapon in the event of mayhem unleashing.

Reiner glanced over at her, marveling at her sharp senses. "Calm down, everything'll be fine." He tried to reassure her.

She whispered a faint "Fine."

Reiner made sure to eavesdrop on any important conversations. He overheard talk of the previous war to personal issues between people, nothing of importance.

After a few minutes turned into an hour, his ears finally perked up.

"Did'ya hear? The Tyburs are gonna be coming to town tomorrow," a patron slurred out, "Willy Tybur, the head of the family is gonna come here and make a declaration of war against the island devils!"

Mikasa's ears instinctively stood up. Reiner continued listening.

"Word on the street is that their Warhammer is gonna be at the festival too!" A different man yelled out. "A new war is starting, Marley is gonna take back what was once hers!" Cheering and applause came from the drunken patrons.

Before Reiner looked over at Mikasa, he stared ahead of himself, dazed. The Tyburs are coming here instead of Liberio? Gabi said they were going to make their declaration of war in the other part of the land. The slumps.

What changed?

Will Gabi and Falco—

"They're here." Mikasa interrupted Reiner's thoughts. She whispered to him under her breath. "Eren and the rest of them are probably undercover militants from the war, waiting to figure out the details of where the Warhammer is going to be." Her eyes widened in relief at the reassuring news. She knew she echoed his earlier thoughts, but Mikasa had to say it aloud for herself. To know it was true.

Reiner nodded in agreement, forgetting his previous train of thought, he turned his attention towards her. "Jean is most likely trying to blend in as a veteran with them as well, that would explain the radio silence." Reiner added. Mikasa immediately got up from the stool, turning her heels in the direction of the exit.

Reiner followed behind her into the sunset evening. "So, there's going to be a festival tomorrow and we can expect to see your comrades." He let out a sigh into the cool night air.

A small smile graced her lips, she was almost certain that they were going to show up tomorrow at the festival—she was going to see her teammates again. She glanced over at Reiner, who was staring down at her; the way he looked at her brought a sense of tranquility over her.

She liked that feeling.

The smile on her face made Reiner temporarily forget all of his problems. Instead, it made him feel something he couldn't put into words... but it was something he hadn't felt in a long time. And after taking in such a sight, it's a feeling he decided he wanted to experience until the end.

He liked that feeling.

As the blue hues in the sky darkened into night, Reiner excused himself and walked towards a small library near the inn they were going to stay at in the city. Mikasa waited for him to get back before walking into the lobby and getting their rooms for the night.

"Two separate rooms." Reiner pulled out and handed some cash to the innkeeper.

The man looked past him at the auburn haired girl, then back at him. "Relationship problems?"

Reiner's eyes widened, he looked over at Mikasa whose gaze was focused elsewhere. He felt a tinge of heat creep on his face and turned back towards the man, clearing his throat.

"No... er, we're just traveling partners." Reiner mentally reprimanded himself for that one; he made a mental note to use different verbiage next time. His hand was still outstretched with the money, getting a little damp from his sweaty palms.

"Um, acquaintances..." He tried to clear up but instead mumbled under his breath. The innkeeper eyed him suspiciously, grabbing the money from Reiner's hand.

"Rooms next to each other or apart?" The man asked.

"Next to each other!" he blurted out quickly.

The innkeeper handed him two keys, gave him a reassuring nod and turned his attention back to the desk.

Reiner turned around to find an empty spot. He looked around and saw Mikasa a few feet away looking outside at the bright lights in the city. As foreign as it was to her, she couldn't help but be a bit inquisitive about her surroundings.

The electrical street lights lit up the road so clearly. She saw many automobiles with families inside. From children with joyful smiles on their faces to elderly people enjoying the company of their families; Marley had its flaws, but the people weren't much different from her people... something inside Mikasa told her that this is what carefree and happiness looked like.

Reiner thought about telling her that their rooms were ready, but the words didn't form for him. Watching her observe the city that he thought was dreadful gave him a different perspective... for someone as incisive as Mikasa to be mesmerized by Marley was something to marvel at.

The concept of that was enough to bewilder him, but if he was being honest with himself, watching her was a delicacy in and of itself. The combination of moonlight and outdoor fluorescent light reflecting off her features was one of the finest things he'd been able to guiltily bask in.

He once again cleared the intrusive thoughts. "Mikasa, your room is ready."

She snapped out of her thoughts and walked over to him, grabbing her key. "I could have bought my own room." she said quietly.

He shrugged, walking in the direction of his room, "Hold onto your money for now, having some on you would be a good deterrent for treason if someone searched you."

Mikasa kept that in mind, noting all of the effort he was putting forth for her. Why was he so accommodating to her? Was she supposed to be on high alert around him? She almost felt foolish feeling relaxed around him... they were still enemies weren't they?

She turned around and watched his back disappear as he walked into the dark hallway. In the moment, and as she stared down at her key, she remembered his overall goal.

Her heart tinged strangely at the thought.

Mikasa stepped out of the warm shower, a towel wrapped around her figure. She reveled at the amenities offered at this place and in Marley in general; surprisingly, this was one of those cases where Mikasa didn't know she needed something until she experienced it.

She walked out of the hot bathroom and into the coolness of her room. Freezing in place, she stood still on the carpeted floor. She instantly remembered the bag that had her ODM gear and clothing in it.

The bag that Reiner carried.

She sighed and sat on her bed, wondering where Reiner's room might be. Her mind roamed to what he may be doing at the moment... and well, the thought made Mikasa's face flush. Her mind left no room for decency.

She shook her head and massaged her temple.

Focus.

The only clothing she had now was what she wore earlier. Her only option would be to hand wash them and hope they would be dry by the time they left tomorrow.

What a hassle. She pinched the bridge of her nose and got up. Mikasa walked back over to the bathroom and started filling the sink with warm water and soap.

On her way to pick up the soiled clothing, she heard a faint knock at her door.

The Ackermann immediately looked up and heard the knock again. She looked down at her towel and then back up at the door.

Was it Reiner?

Maybe with my clothes?

Mikasa walked over and looked through the peephole.

Thank goodness.

"You brought my bag?" She asked loudly.

Reiner nodded, then cleared his voice when he probably figured she couldn't see him very well, "Yeah, I figured you would want to hold onto it for the night."

Mikasa backed away from the door and closed her eyes, thanking the gods. "Just leave it there, I'll get it soon." She said, turning around and walking back towards the bathroom.

Reiner heard her footsteps quickly becoming faint. He lightly gulped. It's now or never.

"Can you let me in?"

Mikasa stopped in her tracks... did she just hear him correctly? "What was that?" she replied with a tinge of confusion in her voice.

Reiner only took a second to respond. "Please let me in." he said again, sternly.

Mikasa walked back towards the door. On her toes, she took a peek at him standing still outside. "I'm, um—" She quietly trailed off, her heart thudding in her chest.

She bit her lip. Could it be essential information that can't wait until tomorrow? She winced at the thought of anyone possibly overhearing anything of importance being said behind the thin walls of the hallway.

However, she had no clothes on. In her current state, opening the door felt inappropriate. The other option was to get back into her dirty clothes and then speak with him, but obviously that wasn't really an option.

Shutting her eyes, she inhaled deeply and took a couple of steps backwards. She tightly wrapped her moist hand around the knob, opening it slowly, revealing herself in a tightly wrapped white towel with her dark silky wet hair covering her shoulders.

Reiner's eyes didn't register what he saw at first. But when they did, he fought to keep eye contact with her. His hairs stood up on end, not out of fright, but out of excitement. A tingle ran down his spine when he saw her hair, her real black hair.

Gods.

He almost forgot how well her black hair suited the rest of her, contrasting perfectly with her pale skin. He never knew how well a lifeless towel could perfectly indent on a woman's figure to accentuate curves he never even imagined before. The man almost forgot what he came to her door for.

"Come in, Reiner."

He heard her say his name, but it sounded like a faint whisper, like he was miles away from her. Looking at her gave him tunnel vision.

She was a siren.

Only after a few milliseconds of speechlessness, did he regain his senses and pick up the bag. He walked into her room, putting it on her bed. "I'm sorry. I'll go wait outside while you change." He said, walking towards the door, trying to avoid gawking at her.

Mikasa stopped him, "I'll change in the bathroom." She said uncharacteristically quickly, walking past the man in her room and over to her bed. She dug out some clothes and closed the door behind her.

Reiner finally let out the huge breath he didn't know he held. He ran a hand through his hair, inadvertently feeling the hotness of his face, looking down at his palms revealed a bright red color.

He held his head in his hands, regretting coming to her room. Was it even worth the embarrassment he felt?

Mikasa walked out, clothed in simple nightwear. "What did you need to tell me?" She asked, walking over and sitting down on her bed.

He quickly looked up and made the mistake of adverting his eyes from her face to the rest of her. He saw her cross her legs on the edge of her bed, watching as stray droplets of water from her hair dripped onto her bare legs. He couldn't help but notice how much longer her hair got and how enticing it looked in its wet state.

Reiner had to shut down his mind and bring himself back down to Earth. He did so by quietly pulling out a small book from his jacket pocket.

He sat on the foot of her bed, gazing at the book cover. "It's one of the first books I read when I was a kid," He continued, trying not to stumble over his words. "I thought I could teach you some basic wording and phrases in Marleyan language."

Mikasa looked at the book, then at him. She couldn't believe he would go out of his way to teach her something as irrelevant as Marleyan language. Didn't he know that tomorrow was their last day here?

Reiner glanced over at her, awaiting for some sort of confirmation.

Mikasa looked up at him and gave him a look that sent a shiver down his spine. Her eyes instantly softened as she silently agreed.

Reiner took a mental picture of her in this moment. He could tell she was still on guard around him, so her beautiful eyes were almost as he remembered. He was intent on basking in those expressive orbs one last time before he died.