I didn't know how much time had passed once I and my new allies regrouped, but apparently, we did a lot of work. Reiner, however, gestures me over to him for a private conversation. "What's up, Reiner?"

"Are you alright?"

"Is watching all your friends die alright?' If yes, then I'm just dandy."

Reiner sighs at my sarcasm but lets the subject go in favor of a more important one. "How's the civilian evacuation? Could you check how things are going with the rear guard?"

"Rear guard?" That's where Mikasa is, and last we talked, Armin is heading there too. I nod, somewhat eager to join with Arckermann for some reason. "Yeah, I'll check things out."

Reiner pats me on the shoulder. "We'll take care of everything here. We're counting on you, Elijah"

"Elijah, we…" I turn to Bertholdt, who looks surprised that we actually made it. "Have we… Have we made it, Elijah? Is this the end of the road?"

I shake my head, then I turn to everyone. "We survived this far. I'll be honest, I came close to death many times today even I almost lost hope." I bring my hand up to my neck, touching the carving and the jewel lightly. "We've already lost so many along the way, but...perhaps our training is finally paying off. Either that or we got lucky. Doesn't matter which it is, it better continue for all of us. Now that we're here, let's investigate as to where the supply team went." I look at Sasha, winking at her. "I think we still have that special dinner to consume."

As Sasha begins to pant like a dog, Bertholdt smiles. "We never did get around to that dinner of meat we promised ourselves, did we?"

"Armin!" I spot my friend sitting on the dirt road, looking in the forward direction. He looks too shocked to see us.

Reiner gets to him first, having caught Armin's horse. "Hey, can you stand? You won't last outside the walls unless you're on horseback... Hurry!"

"Right!" Armin quickly jumps on his horse and we ride off again, chasing after a near-skinless Titan with short blonde hair. By the definition, it seems to be an Abnormal. "I saw the smoke signal signaling an Abnormal. Was it that one there with the nice ass?"

I internally facepalm. I knew you had some affinity with asses, Reiner, but to compliment a Titan's? Well... I guess he's not wrong.

"Why were we kept in the dark?" Connie asks. "You, Jean, Mikasa, and Armin got to go, but not the rest of us."

"Because the four of us were cleared of suspicion of colluding with Annie. Being she's part of the 104th, it makes sense that she'd have allies in the same class."

Nanaba nods. "That's the real reason we kept watch over you."

Christa shakes her head. "But there's no way any of us are like Eren and Annie."

"I know. Annie talked to no one in particular. There's no way any of you guys are the Colossal and Armored Titans." We sit around in uncomfortable silence, trying to make sense of the situation. I truly believe no one here is an ally of Annie, even Sasha couldn't be...there's just no way. But they're out there somewhere. We have to find those monsters. I still have to make that Armored Abomination pay.

Reiner... Bertholdt... I'm gonna kill you... YOU FUCKING TRAITORS!

"Get out here, Bertholdt!" I swing underneath the Colossal Titan's armpit to its back, then dash forward to its nape. I successfully make a cut, yet as I look back, I see that I barely made a dent. His muscles are too thick for one set of blades. As I swing back to his front, I see other Scouts rain down on Bertholdt's neck, but before they can reach, he covers his body in steam, much more powerful than when he transformed. Scrambling out the steam, the Scouts land all around me, either fine or nursing their injuries due to the sudden steam. "Damn it." I curse myself for not being able to do anything as I walk over to Hange and Armin.

"He's trying to disappear again?"

"No, something is different. The last time he vanished instantly, but now, he's maintaining his form and emitting heat like a furnace. If he keeps protecting himself with steam..." Armin fires a hook, but it flies back after coming in contact with the steam. "We're unable to attack him with ODM gear! Wh-What do we do?!"

"We can't do anything. We wait. Squads Three and Four, take position behind the target. Rashad has command."

"Got it!"

"Squad Two will wait here. Lauda is in command."

"Understood."

"It's yet to be seen how long he can keep his body burning, but we wait for that moment to attack. Listen up. Forget about capturing them. Kill 'em and don't hesitate." Hange looks to Armin and me, the blonde looking horrified while I bear a stern expression. She knows I have no problem with killing them. "Armin, Elijah...and Squad One follow me! We've got a date with the Armored Titan!"

"About time." We leap off the Wall to its side, in time to see Eren get beat around like a sack of potatoes against Sasha. He gets up, but honestly, there's no way for Eren to fight Reiner, not with him bearing his armor. "Eren..."

"Eren!" Armin shouts. "Don't do it! You can't win in a slugfest! Run this way! Eren! Don't try to fight him!" Eren screams a blood-curdling roar at Reiner, effectively ignoring Eren. "This is bad!"

"Did he lose control?"

I shake my head. "No. He's pissed off... Like me." Reiner and Eren throw punches, but Reiner's moves faster. However, as quick as the punch was, it wasn't faster than Eren's dodge. Eren sidesteps to his left and grabs Reiner underneath his right arm locking up over Reiner's left shoulder, then throws Reiner to the ground while maintaining the hold. I gasp as I recognize the move as none other than Annie's.

"Wait...isn't that...the technique Annie used?"

"Yeah. She taught it to me and Eren. Still hurts to this day." Eren tries to punch Reiner, but the Armored Titan pushes him off. However, this works in Eren's favor as he holds Reiner's head and right arm with his legs. Pulling down on Reiner's arm, it isn't seconds and another counter grapple later before Eren severs it in half.

"Holy shit..." I say as Armin and I land at Mikasa's side on the edge of the small forest. "Mikasa, you alright?"

She nods. "Yes."

I pat her on the shoulder. "Good. Armin, be quick."

"Right." Eren is now close enough for us to talk to him, but the battle is far from over. "Eren! Can you hear me?" Eren responds by looking our way, his way of saying yes. "Run away! Get close to the Wall! Their goal is to kidnap and take you away! We've gotta escape and prevent that from happening!"

"But Armin," Mikasa counters. "Reiner isn't going to let us do as we please."

"Speaking of, Reiner's getting back up," I say, pointing to the bastard. "Come on, let's get to the Wall." Armin and I retreat first, followed by a hesitant Mikasa and surprisingly, Eren. "Good call, Eren."

"He's in control again."

"Yeah, but like you said, it'll be almost impossible to escape Reiner."

"We'll have to disable him...but how?"

Hange swoops down to Eren's shoulder, engaging in conversation with him as Reiner approaches. "Listen up, Eren. If you're gonna escape, we've got to find a way to halt Reiner and buy you some time! Can you break his leg with another one of those joint locks? Our blades don't seem to work on him, so use your head and figure out the best course of action!"

Eren nods to her, in which we hear an admittedly cute cry from the Section Commander. As she comes up, something about Reiner changes. He starts to run very fast for someone armored as he is. He slams into Eren, knocking him to the ground. Eren quickly grabs Reiner's leg and dodges his punches.

"Don't stay on the ground! Eren!"

"Stand up!"

"Kick his ass!" Eren kicks Reiner off him and gets to his feet. Shuffling away from the Wall. Now's his chance.

"Since when could he move so quickly? Are we completely useless here?"

"No," Hange states. "If his entire body was hard as stone, there's no way he could move like that. In the armor they used in wars of the past, it had sections at the joints not covered in metal to allow for movement, like in the armpits and groin. And also the spot behind the knee."

"Behind the knee..." I look down, seeing that the back of Reiner's knee has no armor like she said. That's it! That's how we escape! I turn to my left, facing the soldier much stronger than I am. "Mikasa, when the opportunity comes, take out his knees."

"Huh?" She looks at me, confused. "But you-"

"Not yet. If Eren somehow beats Reiner and exposes the nape, I'll gladly contribute to his downfall." As I say that, Eren counters Reiner's tackle, putting him in a headlock and further restricting movement by locking up Reiner's waist with his legs. Perfect! "Now, Mikasa!" Mikasa, in a series of flashy ODM movements, reaches Reiner's legs and damages them. With steam pouring out of them, the joint becomes temporarily useless. Noticing this, I look to Eren and I think he looks up to me. I nod. "Break that bastard open, Eren!"

Eren leans back, putting stress on Reiner's upper back as we see the first cracks open in his armor. Shards fly up in the air, giving us some hope Eren can do it. "You can do it!"

"Go for it, Eren! Tear the head off the neck! Pull the traitor outta there!"

Let me kill that son of a bitch. Reiner somehow scoots him and Eren along the ground, closer to a huge nearby pit. However, each move works against Reiner as his armor continues to break...until he stops.

"He stopped," Armin softly says. "But why there?"

"What does he think-" I look to Armin, but his eyes are above me, his mouth hanging open. "What is it?" Before he answers, Reiner emits a series of roars, one so familiar it sets Hange on alert.

"Be on your guard! He's calling in Titans!"

Two minutes pass before a Scout comes down to us. "No other Titans spotted in the area!"

"What a useless struggle. Try screaming for help with your head ripped off, you idiot!"

As blood spews from the cracks in Reiner's armor, I turn to Armin. "When Reiner screamed, you looked away, as if you knew something. I know you, Armin, what did you figure out?"

"I... I think... He was calling to Bertholdt..."

"Above you! Look out!" Moblit's call from the top of the Wall... We look up, seeing the Colossal Titan's nearly decayed body topple over the side of the Wall. its mouth wide open as it was when it consumed Ymir and another Scout, lands first, directly around Reiner and Eren.

Steam flies everywhere, causing us to lose our footing on the Wall's side. As the Scouts are scattered, I see Hange grab onto Armin to cover him. Hearing her cries nearby, I quickly swing over to Mikasa and grab hold of her before we are swept off the Wall.

"Mikasa, hang on!" As we descend, I lock a hook in the Wall, allowing us to land safely on the ground. Or as safe as we can be since we're surrounded by steam. I do my best to cover both of us from the heated air with my cloak as we watch the growling Reiner bite into Eren's nape, similar to how Annie did right in front of us just days prior. The steam setting in intensely, I manage to see Bertholdt on the back of his Titan carrying the unconscious Ymir just before hooking on to an escaping Reiner.

All I can hear is Reiner's retreating footsteps, my blood pumping in anger, Mikasa's soft cries under my chin, and Armin, twenty meters above us shouting, "Eren!"

Damn it...

Sometime later...

"What a disaster..." Armin looks up behind me as I continue to hold Mikasa in my lap. Seems that between the three of us, she didn't come out relatively well. We did take a harder landing than I hoped, and the steam didn't help either... Now with Eren and Ymir taken by Reiner and Bertholdt, not only are we feeling helpless, but Connie and Christa are too, especially her... Hannes couldn't have said it any better as we look to the wounded.

"Luckily we were above so we got away unscathed. Everyone underneath git blasted by steam and wind. You're lucky, Elijah, that you managed to cover yourself."

"I just wish I did a better job protecting her," I say as I look down at Mikasa.

"How is she anyway?"

Armin looks to the girl in my lap. "I don't see any bad wounds, so I'm guessing it's a bad concussion. Elijah did manage to protect them both from the steam."

"I see... Have you two eaten? I'll get you something."

"I'm good..." I say softly. Armin simply shakes his head, but Hannes steps away after ruffling Armin's hair.

"You gotta eat." After Hannes leaves us, I let a finger of mine slide down Mikasa's face, from her forehead to her chin. It's...soft.

"...Hey, Armin."

"Yeah?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"A day when some bullies stole my food, so Eren tried to defend me and get it back. Mikasa, of course, had to come to save him. Oh, yeah, you were there, weren't you?"

I smile slightly. "I always heard that Mikasa was a badass, but seeing it with my own eyes... I thought about helping you guys, but I had to get home."

"Yeah. I remember that you gave me the bread you had afterward. You insisted and bought yourself some more. Didn't you get in trouble?"

"No. My mother always wanted me to do the right thing, so she was okay with it. Hell, my dad even said that I could've taught those punks a lesson if I wanted to." I look up from Mikasa to Armin, my smile disappearing. "We weren't really friends then, I guess... Not after until Shiganshina fell, right?"

The boy smiles at me. "That time, you did join the fight."

Five years ago...

"Hey! You took extra rations!"

"So what? You gonna cry about it?" As the man walks away, I bump into him, my hand quickly going back into my pockets. "Hey, watch where you're going, brat!"

"S-Sorry, sir." I turn heel and run off before he can get a word in edge-wise.

"Oughta teach you some... Hey!"

Dumbass. As I get a good distance away, I get a good look at the rations I swiped from him. Serves him right for taking more than he should have. I should give some of these to someone in need.

"Hey, give that back!"

"Oh, you want this?"

I look up from my ration to a group of kids gathered on the street close to the refugee camp. Three of them I instantly recognize as Armin Arlert, Mikasa Ackermann, and Eren Jaeger. Armin looks ready to run, Mikasa tries to pull Eren back while he talks back to the older boys. Since they don't look like refugees, they must be civilians. Ever since we arrived, it's been nothing but trouble for us, but it's the situation we live in. I don't understand too much as to why they want to bother us. It's not our fault the Titans stole our home.

The leader of the civilian boys takes a huge of what I believe is Eren's rationed bread, which angers the boy. Pushing Mikasa off him, Eren leaps over and punches the boy in his jaw, knocking his opponent to the ground. Immediately, Eren is swarmed by other boys and Mikasa is forced to jump in as usual, but in some cases, it makes the fight more fun to watch, and it seems the boys are going to be pushed back.

That is until one of the boys uppercuts Mikasa, knocking her to the ground proudly. "Litte bitch, you want to fight like a man, you get beat like one. just like your boy toy here." With two boys holding Eren in place, the one who punched Mikasa saunters over and prepares to pummel Eren. No adult in the area tries to stop them, not even the lazy Garrison soldiers close by, probably drunk or too stupid to care. It reminds me of home... And any reminders of home...remind me of my mother and father. So before Eren is even punched, I stand behind the boy, grabbing his raised arm. "Huh? What the hell? Who are you?"

"...Did you really just hit a girl like that?"

"Huh? What do you-"

I grab the back of the boy's head and slam it down on the pavement, hopefully breaking his jaw. "You never, ever, hit a girl in the face like that. A woman's face is what makes them beautiful, and to rob them of their beauty...is a sin unforgivable in heaven."

The boy gets to his knees, blood practically pouring out both corners of his mouth, looking at me incredulously. "You're a refugee too, aren't you? Isn't your daddy digesting in a Titan's stoma-" I kick the boy's mouth, knocking a few of his teeth out across the ground. I turn to the others, giving them a glare that scares the hell out of them. They drop Eren and run off without their friend, who weakly picks himself up before skipping after them.

"Hey, you okay?" I hold out my hand to Eren. He takes it and gets to his feet.

"Yeah. Thanks, Elijah, but they got away with our rations!"

I shake my head. "Don't worry." I walk over to Mikasa and Armin as she tries to hold back her tears. She's tough, but that hit she took was tougher. I pick her up in my arms with surprisingly little resistance and turn to the others. "I have extra rations. Follow me."

Once we made it back to camp. I took three rations out of my pocket, including the ones I 'stole.' I hand them to Eren, Amin, and Mikasa. "Here." As I got to the girl, she took it with some scrutiny. With the other boys seated nearby, I sit beside her. "Does it hurt, your jaw?"

"...I'm fine."

"Good." They eat in silence for a moment, though I can see her taking her food bit by bit. "What's wrong?"

"...Why did you help us?"

"...Because that's what you're supposed to do when people need it. That's what my Mom taught me... To do what's right. 'No matter where life takes you, I want you to promise me you'll always do what's right. Not only for yourself but for everyone you may meet in your life.' That's the promise I made for her... To be honest, I'm jealous of the three of you. We're all survivors, but you guys have each other... I.. I have no one. So maybe I was looking for that too." I look to Mikasa, her eyes cold but losing the untrusting edge. She looks down to her bread, taking a slightly bigger bite than before.

Armin looks at me, concerned. "But what about you, Elijah? Don't you have anything to eat?"

"I'll be fine, Armin. You guys need it more than I do."

Eren smiles with a mouthful of bread. "Thank you, Elijah. For having our back."

"You're welcome."

Present day...

"I still can't believe you pickpocketed those rations from a man. And...you've watched over Mikasa ever since. All of us, really. In turn...we added another person to our already discombobulated friendship." Armin returns his eyes to his knees. "You've been a better brother to Mikasa than Eren ever has, if I may be honest. Although...she doesn't see him as a brother, not in years."

"True. But you and Eren... I may not show it, and I know that, but you guys give me a lot to live for. Seeing the ocean, I never would've considered such a dream. I just wanted the Armored Titan dead and my parents avenged, but... To know what the world is like beyond our hometown, we deserve that much. Once we do that, we'll finally be free. We can live our lives. You can even get a girlfriend, Armin."

"Huh?"

"I mean, sure, Annie's out of the picture, being crystalized and all... So what about Christa? I saw the way you looked at her when she came for us during the expedition. She's kind, smart, honestly the cutest of the bunch, and she's nobility. What more could you want?"

Armin chuckles nervously. "Oh yeah? What about you and Sasha?"

I laugh but soon stop. "Wait, how do you even-" Mikasa suddenly rises up and looks around, seeing the wounded to our right and Armin with his face buried in his legs to the left until he notices she's risen.

"Mikasa?"

She launches herself at Armin, grabbing him by his cloak. "Armin! Where's Eren?!"

"Mikasa! Calm down!" Mikasa releases Armin and crawls over to the edge of the Wall. "You shouldn't be moving! We don't know how badly you're injured!"

"I got her." I stand up and walk over to Mikasa's side, seeing a small group of Titans on their side of Rose, between here and Maria. Hearing my footsteps, she turns to me, her face in a panic.

"Where is he?"

"Eren was taken, Mikasa. Ymir too, by Reiner and Bertholdt. That...was five hours ago. Wherever they are, they are far from here."

Horrified, she turns back to the land. "Is anyone... Is anyone chasing them?"

"...No."

She levels herself in my face. "Why not?"

"Because we can't Mikasa. The horses are on the other side of the Wall, and we have no way of bringing them up here until the lifts arrive. So saving Eren and Ymir will have to wait. The officers, including Hange, are too injured to move. Without reinforcements, it would be foolish to give chase. Do you understand?"

Mikasa lowers her head, raising a hand to it. "Not this again."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I must've hit my head pretty hard when we landed, but I'm fine... When Eren was taken away by Annie, we chased them right away. And fighting beside Captain Levi, in the end...in the end, we were able to get him back. But...if it's already been five hours..." She stands up, walking over to her scarf and tying it on. "Hey, Armin, Elijah... Why does Eren always go somewhere far away from us?"

Armin sighs. "Yeah, now that you mention it, Eren has always run off on his own, leaving us behind. I guess that's just the way things are meant to happen, for Eren at least."

"But...all I want...is to be at his side. That's all I ask for..." I sit beside Mikasa again, wrapping my arms around her. She leans easily into my shoulder, resting her head underneath my chin.

"Don't worry, Mikasa, we'll get him back. I promise." We ease into a few moments of silence before I notice footsteps coming our way. It's Hannes, with the rations he promised.

"Mikasa? So you're up, huh? I bet you're hungry. Here, eat this." I take two for Mikasa and myself. He throws one to Armin and takes his seat nearby. I hand Mikasa hers, but my hunger is still nonexistent. "As usual, field rations are all there is. Hmm, tastes neither good or bad. Same as always. Speaking of which, this is the same as always too. Ever since the good old days, you two have been there to clean up the mess of that brat. You even brought Elijah into that job. That's what I call a lousy relationship. Sheesh. It's a different time and a different place, but you kids are doing the same thing you always have. Am I right?"

"The neighborhood bullies and Titans are a little bit different in size." Armin says.

"True. The thing is, that brat isn't even all that good at fighting. But no matter if he's up against three of five, he'll charge in all the same. By the time Mikasa or soldiers show up, he'd been beaten into a pulp every time. But you know, I've never seen him win a fight before, but I've never seen him get beat and give up either. Sometimes he's so tenacious that even I think it's scary. No matter how many times he's knocked over, he gets back up. That's the kinda guy he is. You think he'll get taken away without putting up a fight? Nope. He'll keep resisting as long as he has strength. Even more so when he's up against just two. He'll give them hell no matter who he's up against. Until you or I show up to help. That's how Eren's always been." Armin and Mikasa's eyes widen while mine turns to the land between Rose and Maria. "I loved the good old days. If you ask Eren, he'd say those days were nothing more than a false peace. But for me, I'm more than happy to be a drunk, useless soldier. If it means getting back to those plain, ordinary days, I'll do whatever I have to. No matter how long it takes to get there. I'm coming, too. Without you four together again, I can't bring back the good old days."

We all nod together, our resolve to save Eren firm. The three of us cadets open our rations and bite down, eating with purpose.

To bring back the good old days.

Mikasa turns to our left. "They're here."

I nod. "Good. We can finally get started."

Commander Erwin, a few Scouts, and the Military Police arrive with the equipment needed to rescue Eren. Instead of riding on land, they come along the Wall, in the direction from Trost. "I never thought they'd ride along the Wall," Armin says.

"That's probably the quickest route," Christa responds.

"Christa... I'd prefer if you stayed back, but..."

"No matter what you say, I won't. I refuse to wait here when Ymir was taken away. You three should know how I feel."

"Christa has a point, Armin." We look to Connie, whose back is to us. "We have plenty of reasons for chasing after them One of which I still can't believe... That Reiner and Bertholdt are our enemies. I've gotta hear it straight from their mouths."

"Whatever you say, Connie." I turn to Christa, nodding to her. "We're bringing Ymir home too. We leave no one behind."

Hange, still too injured to stand, points to a forest on a map. "It might be a long shot, but there's a giant forest here. We should head straight for it. Though it's not like they have a way to hide the Armored Titan's footsteps, but I think that's where they're headed."

"Why's that?" The Commander asks.

"It's a gamble, but even if they have the strength to change into Titans, the other Titans outside the Wall might still be a threat. Especially after all that fighting. They may not be as bad off as Eren, but I'm sure they're exhausted. Like how Annie was out cold for a while. Let's assume for now that their destination is somewhere outside Wall Maria. Considering the distance they'll have to cover, we can assume they'll want to rest somewhere where Titans are unable to reach them. At east until nightfall when Titans can't move."

"Even then, that's no longer a guarantee." I look to Christa and Connie, with last night's events still prevalent in our minds.

"We have until night. If we reach the forest before nightfall, we still might make it in time!"

Commander Erwin nods and stands up. "Let's move!"