Attack on Titan: A New Path

by The Court of Talons

Ozma and Salem have been at war for millennia. The fight has taken many lives and taken many years. The champion of the Brother of Light has failed countless times to complete his task. Now, more than ever, Remnant needs a new protector. It needs a man who knows the cruelty of life. A man who doesn't falter in doing the unthinkable. A dark guardian. Remnant needs... Eren Yeager.

5. Chapter 5 (Rewrite)

"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance."

Harrison Ford

Chapter 5: A Second Chance

"And then what happened?"

"Then we realized that it was time to actually stop learning about the world and start seeing it. After we met Kiyomi Azumabito and talked it over, a few of the Survey Corps left the island for the first time."

"And you went with them?"

"Yeah, I did. Mikasa and Armin came too. And together, we finally got to see the outside world."

"Wow."

After they met with Darkness and talked things over, Eren and Cinder decided that they were going to stay together. They had gone through too much together and seen a lot together to simply go their separate ways now. And after all, Cinder found herself sharing Eren's goal to stop Salem and free the world.

When Eren partially entered his Titan again, something he learned he could do from his experiments on Paradis and the invasion of Liberio, he continued to swim. Not only was he trying to reach the mainland, but he was also trying to get to Argus. Cinder remembered reading that Argus was the link between the Kingdoms of Atlas and Mistral, and that it was a city near the ocean.

If they were lucky, they could find themselves near or at Argus when they reached the mainland.

As he swam, it became obvious to Eren and Cinder that the voyage would take a while. They naturally found themselves passing the time by talking, which led to Cinder confessing that she had only seen part of Eren's memories rather than his entire life's story. Darkness saw fit to explain the major events of Eren's adventures, from the death of his mother to his own demise.

And so, Eren decided to tell his own story in his own words. He told Cinder about his mother and father, his hometown of Shiganshina, and what drove him to joining the Survey Corps. Even before his mother had died, Eren knew he wanted to join the Survey Corps. He told Cinder how he knew that people could eat, sleep, and survive well inside the walls.

And how he could compare that to living like a caged animal.

Cinder knew what it was like to grow up inside a cage, since she could never leave the farm in Mistral. And her recent experiences, however brief, helped Cinder learn the meaning of the term "gilded cage." So it was only natural for her to agree with Eren, especially how stopping the fight against the Titans would mean everyone else who did died in vain.

Eren then shared everything else about himself since the day he graduated from the 104th Training Corps. The first thing he decided to share was how the Eldian writing system was different from Remnant's. Using his own blood, which he discovered to be as black as Grimm, Eren wrote his own name on his hand to show how different it was to Cinder.

Cinder was amazed by the differences, and she quickly discovered that it was only the tip of the iceberg. Walls, Titans, and people that could fly without a Semblance. Cinder was amazed and taken away by it all.

And as she listened to his story, as she listened to everything he lived through, Cinder found herself more and more inspired by Eren. The memories she saw already told her that Eren was a strong and capable warrior, but hearing everything he believed in made Cinder see that she was right earlier; that there was no such thing as freedom without him.

Cinder also believed that in a strange way, Eren's story was the greatest story she had ever heard. She had read multiple books at the farm, but Eren's story felt so real, so extraordinary, so... human. It was long and tragic, but it was also beautiful to her.

The only thing she regretted was that the story had a very sad ending.

"The Rumbling did what it was meant to do," Eren said as he swam. He had finished telling Cinder about how he stayed in Marley, attacked Liberio, and activated the Rumbling that would destroy the world. "Everyone knew that I was the one who started it, that I had killed around eighty percent of humanity."

"..."

Eren had been talking for a while, but he didn't mind sharing his story. It was nice to have someone listen to him, and Cinder had told him multiple times how she understood and agreed with what he believed in.

Eren couldn't remember the last time someone had said such things to him. It was a blessing to hear them.

Only now, at the end, did Eren feel unable to finish his story. "I, uh... I guess you saw the rest of it, right?"

"Uh-huh," Cinder confirmed. "Mikasa and everyone else finally caught up with you and attacked you. And when you died-"

"The power of the Titans died with me." Eren looked ahead once again. "And with Armin still alive, humanity will be saved. I'm sure of it."

"..."

Eren quickly realized how strange that sounded. Not because he didn't believe Armin would fail, but because Eren recently discovered that humanity existed beyond his world. This time, the fate of mankind rested on Eren's shoulders instead of Armin's. And this time, Eren would have to save a world rather than destroy it.

Eren had been so obsessed with finding his mother, with getting out of danger multiple times... he never actually stopped to think how daunting the task really was.

Cinder quickly noticed the discouragement on Eren's face. She knew that his story on Paradis had ended, and now a new one was beginning. Along with the end of the story, Cinder knew that Eren's friendship with everyone had also ended. He could never see Armin, Jean, Connie, Historia, Reiner, and Mikasa ever again. Darkness showed Cinder that Eren was able to say his goodbyes to them, but it wasn't the same as seeing them again.

Cinder almost lost her friendship with Eren, so she knew how heartbreaking such a thing was. To have a friend only to lose them in the end was the worst thing she could imagine, maybe even worse than dying. And more than that, Eren had to die knowing that he would be hated by the rest of the world. Not Paradis, not the Eldians, him. Eren's actions and death made him worthy of hatred.

But not from everyone.

Cinder quickly threw her arms around Eren, despite the fact that he was still attached to his Titan. The strands of flesh were hot and very uncomfortable for Cinder, but she refused to let go of Eren.

"Cinder?" Eren asked without returning the hug. "What-?"

"I'm sorry," Cinder said as she held Eren. "I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I'm sorry you had to do what you did alone." Cinder squeezed Eren a little tighter. "And I don't care what anyone might say. Whether it's about Paradis or Atlas, I don't hate you. I will never hate you."

"..."

The child's words awoke something within Eren. As he smiled and returned Cinder's hug, Eren began to feel hope. Not just with defeating Salem or finding his mother, but hope that things would be different on Remnant. Some things were similar, namely the fear people had of the Titans and their destructive capabilities. But Cinder's hug and affirmation of friendship reminded Eren that people believed in him too. And now he had the chance to do good with the power of the Titans.

In a way, Remnant was similar to Eren's world.

"I guess it's true what they say," Eren thought to himself. "The more things change... the more they stay the same."

When Cinder let him go, Eren began to swim again. "Thank you, Cinder," he said. "That was... really good to hear."

"You're welcome," Cinder said sincerely. "I really am sorry, though. I wouldn't know anything about your world, but what you did sounded... hard."

Eren nodded as he swam. "Yeah. It was. The things you need to do are always harder than the things you want to do."

"...Do you regret it?"

Eren turned back to Cinder. "That's... actually a good question. I talked about it with Armin before, that it's... complicated."

Cinder moved closer to Eren and sat down as she listened.

"Even if I didn't know that everyone would stop me in the end... I would have flattened the world. I know that now."

"..."

Eren looked down as he continued to talk. "It's like... I wanted to do it... and I had to do it. At the same time. I don't know why it's like that though. Sometimes I think it's because that's how I was born, and sometimes I remember what the Attack Titan does. It always moved forward, it always strived for freedom." Eren turned around to look at the direction to Atlas. "It always fought for freedom."

Cinder silently turned to Atlas and remembered how Eren fought to escape the Kingdom. And since his goal was to free himself and Cinder, then Eren proved himself to be a worthy inheritor of the Attack Titan.

"So it's hard to say if I regretted it or not," Eren said. "It's even hard for me to determine if I did it of my own free will. I can't tell if everything I did was my own choice or the effects of the Attack Titan. I can't help but wonder... what I am."

"..."

Eren was about to reflect on all of this and find the answer he sought. He would either find out if he really was free or if he was simply deluding himself. If he was a liberator or simply a slave.

But Cinder's words came faster.

"Eren... the Attack Titan is gone," she said. "It died when you died, right?"

As Eren looked up to Cinder, he realized that this was true. But it wasn't as simple as that.

"I-"

"And you believed in everything you said before you got the Attack Titan. Your dad was still alive, and he still had it. You were the one who wanted to join the Survey Corps, not the Attack Titan. Don't you think it would have told your dad to join if it made him a slave?"

"..."

Cinder smiled as she pointed out to the ocean. "Eren, you're even moving forward right now. You're making your own choices, just like you did on Paradis. You're choosing for yourself." Cinder put a hand on Eren's shoulder. "If that's not freedom, then I don't know what is."

"..."

Once again, Eren became grateful for Cinder's presence and her words. Once again, these words were something that he needed to hear. He had known Cinder for a very short time, and she was already proving herself to be a great friend for Eren.

She was one of a kind.

"Besides, look where we are," Cinder said as she turned around again. Her eyes fell on the water before her, which stretched as far as the eye could see. "You were right, Eren. The ocean is amazing. And remember what you said was beyond the ocean?"

Eren looked at the ocean in front of him instead of the spot where Cinder was looking. Once he did, he saw something that made him almost distrust his eyes.

"...Lights?" he asked.

"Huh?" Cinder asked as she looked at Eren. "I don't remember you saying anything about lights. I was talking about-"

"No, Cinder, look!" Eren said as he pointed forward. "Look at those lights!"

Cinder did as she was told and found herself staring at a group of lights. The lights weren't from the moon or the stars, but there was something glowing just behind their reach. Upon closer inspection, Eren and Cinder saw tall structures that shined. It took a couple of minutes for the children to realize that they were buildings that either created the light or reflected them on windows.

This was a city. But not just any city.

"Is that-?" Eren asked.

"I think it is," Cinder replied with a smile. "I think it's Argus!"

Eren didn't think so. He knew so.

After all this time, after spilling so much blood and sweat, Eren had finally reached the city of Argus. Here, he would find the only family he had on Remnant. Eren swelled with pride as he looked upon the city and watched Cinder smile with joy. The first part of his journey was finally over.

The next part, however, would be difficult. Eren knew that he would have to work on training his Titan, he knew that he would have to make it grow stronger and faster to stop Salem. And he knew that he would have to help Cinder the day she would receive a Titan of her own. Cinder had started learning how to fight, but she had a long way to go.

Eren didn't know what his future exactly had in store for him, but he knew that he wasn't going to be alone. With Cinder and his mother by his side, Eren would have something worth fighting for. And he would stop fighting until he won... or died.

Unfortunately, death was starting to grow closer.

"Uh, Eren?" Cinder called to get his attention. "It's starting to get a little wet here."

Eren turned around fast to see what Cinder was talking about. The water he was swimming in was starting to rise on the Titan's back, at a slow but steady pace.

Suddenly, Eren felt the Titan's body begin to submerge into the water. That was when he realized that the water wasn't rising, but rather than the Titan was sinking. It seemed that the damage he took at Atlas had finally caught up with him.

"Oh, no," he whispered as he felt the body sink deeper. "Cinder, come by the head! Grab the Titan's hair!" Cinder did as she was told, but not without question.

"What's going on?!" she asked nervously. "Are you getting tired?!"

"No, it's everything from Atlas! The body's giving up on us!" Eren prepared to move into his Titan all the way. "Hang on, I'll get us to the city!"

Cinder took one look behind her to see that the Titan's body was decaying at a fast rate. In fact, one of its legs was on the verge of falling off. She was on the verge of panicking, but one look towards Argus gave Cinder an idea.

"We won't make it to the city!" she said as she pointed to the right. "Swim towards that cliff!"

Eren looked at where Cinder was pointing to see a cliffside that met a large forest. It seemed to be part of the mainland, but it also looked to be a considerable distance from Argus.

"That cliff's too far from the city!" Eren argued. "If I can just-"

"Eren, your leg is about to fall off!" Cinder pointed out. "We don't have much time!"

"..."

Eren turned around one last time to see that Cinder was right. Black blood, steam, and flesh were all in the ocean behind him. The healing factor was trying to salvage his body, but all the swimming had only made healing impossible. And with the multiple holes in his chest, Eren realized that the Titan was sinking at a very fast rate.

The cliff was the only chance at survival.

"Okay, hold on!" Eren said as he fully rejoined his Titan. Once he did, Eren swam as hard and as fast as he could. His arms crashed into the water as he moved, and his legs were also helping him move faster.

But not after they fully left his body.

Cinder nearly slipped as Eren's backside moved deeper into the water, but she was able to catch herself. However, swimming even further would only make the inevitable come faster. Fortunately, Eren could see that he was close to the shore, and it was possible for him to make the rest of the trip.

But not from inside a Titan.

Eren partially emerged from his Titan and looked to Cinder. "The body's done for," he said. "We'll have to do the rest ourselves."

"Ourselves?" Cinder nervously repeated. "But... Eren, I can't swim!" Given that she had never been to a body of water before tonight, Cinder had never received any swimming lessons.

"It's okay!" Eren said as he finally abandoned from his Titan. "Here, watch me!"

"..."

Eren was expecting Cinder to say that she didn't know how to swim. Not many people on Paradis knew, since the ocean was outside the walls. As part of his training, Eren was forced to learn how to swim in the rivers and ponds inside the walls. According to Instructor Shadis, a soldier had to be prepared for anything.

And so, Eren used the remaining time the Titan had to teach Cinder what he knew.

"Just reach out, and pull back," Eren instructed as he swam near the sinking Titan. The instructions and demonstration combined together to give Cinder proper instruction. "See? Reach out, and pull back."

"..."

Cinder carefully watched Eren as the Titan sank deeper into the water. When it had reached her knees, Cinder knew that she had to stop being afraid and trust Eren once again. And so, she gently lowered herself into the ocean and kept her head above the water.

"Okay, you're doing great!" Eren said. "Now reach out and pull the water back!"

Cinder did as instructed and found herself moving in the water. She inadvertently splashed some of it on her face, but Eren showed her how to move her arms in the water. And in no time at all, Cinder began to swim with Eren towards the shore.

As Eren predicted, he and Cinder were close enough to the shore to make the swim themselves. However, Eren realized too late that it looked closer when he was inside his Titan. So the rest of the swim was long and arduous, and Eren had to grab hold of Cinder when she felt her energy leave her.

But eventually, the duo found themselves right at the base of the cliff. As soon as they did, Eren and Cinder were forced to give in to exhaustion and fall into a deep sleep.

---

Ever since Eren arrived at the world of Remnant, he had only one goal. He was aware that the mission given to him by the God of Darkness was to defeat Salem, but that wasn't Eren's current goal. His goal was to find his mother, who had miraculously been brought to Remnant before him. And from the moment he laid eyes on the distant city of Argus, Eren knew that he would turn it upside down until he found her.

But little did he know was that she was going to find him instead.

"Do you really have to be special? Do you really need people's recognition? I don't think so. At the very least, not when it comes to this child... He doesn't need to become great. Why would he have to be better than everyone else...? Just look at him... Don't you see how cute he is? He's already great. Because he was born... into this world."

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*CLICK*

The sound of an alarm clock had awoken Carla from sleep. When she turned it off, her hazel eyes turned towards the window and the sunny day before her. The sights, the warmth, and the recollection of a dream she just had were all enough to make Carla smile.

"A good dream," she said as she got out of bed. "Let's hope today's just as good."

Carla soon moved into a morning routine of making her bed, changing her clothes, and fixing herself a quick breakfast before she left her home. In the city of Argus, Carla lived in an apartment complex a little different from the other buildings. Most of the residential areas were made of brick and joined together, but she lived in a slightly taller building with the exterior being made mostly of windows. One could see the building material dividing the windows from each other, but the first thing one would notice when looking at the building was the windows.

However, Carla knew that she would not be living here for much longer.

As she stepped into the kitchen and made herself some coffee, Carla looked upon a vast amount of cardboard boxes stacked up and scattered across the area. The sight of these boxes reminded Carla that her days in Argus were limited, that she would be leaving very soon. She wasn't being forced out or evicted, but a new chapter in her life had just begun; a chapter that would take her far from Argus.

Carla still had a little time left to live in Argus. Work, on the other hand, would be ending today.

After Carla finished her coffee and a small bowl of cereal, she stepped out of her apartment and made her way to the exit. Once she did, Carla welcomed the warm sunny day and made her way to a trolley car. This was the main method of transportation in Argus; a trolley car connected to rails on the ground and cables overhead would move up and down the streets taking passengers wherever they needed to go.

Carla's commute wasn't very long, and she would normally pass the time by looking at her Scroll. Today, however, she looked upon the scenery of Argus. This would be one of the last days she would see its mighty wall and vast ocean, as well as the airships that flew overhead. The city was a joining force between the Kingdoms of Mistral and Atlas, which was why there was an Atlesian military base near the ocean with multiple ships. Carla had lived in Mistral all of her life, whether it was Argus or her hometown. She had visited Atlas before, but it wasn't the type of place she would like to stay at.

Mainly because its emphasis on military strength and life was too strong. Carla always preferred the simplicity towns and places that Mistral had to offer.

One these places was the multi-story building that Carla had arrived at.

Carla had been to this place multiple times, since it was her current place of employment. The name of the building was Glory Dawn, and it functioned as a medical clinic to the city of Argus. Most people would describe Glory Dawn as an "urgent care," a place that focused on the delivery of urgent ambulatory care outside of an emergency department one would see at a hospital. It had also earned a reputation of bringing in and caring for children who had lost their homes and families to accidents or Grimm, children who were abused both physically and mentally, and children who lived on the streets their whole lives. It wasn't exactly an orphanage, but a place of care and healing for everyone. Healing was either long or short, but everyone who left the place would always feel better than they did when they arrived.

Carla had been working at Glory Dawn for years; it was the main reason she chose to live in the city of Argus. She wasn't a nurse or a doctor, but her role at Glory Dawn was vital. She worked in management and administration, and it was her responsibility to oversee the general administration of the building and other provider facilities. She was a part of a team whose central goals were to prioritize patient safety, as well as to ensure the financial and operational sustainability of Glory Dawn.

Carla wasn't the leader of this team, but she had earned a reputation of being one of the best members. Her personable attitude made her well-known among the staff, and her work ethic was especially helpful to the patients and staff alike. She wasn't knowledgeable in medicine, but she made sure the patients had everything they needed. It was this work ethic that made Carla nearly irreplaceable.

So everyone was sad to know that today would be her last day of working here. To lighten the mood, the leader of her team arranged a little going away reception for her.

That was how Carla found herself talking amongst her coworkers in a room with a banner and multiple snacks and drinks. The nurses and doctors were mostly busy, but they were able to spare a few minutes so they could say goodbye.

*DING*

*DING*

*DING*

Everyone turned to the center of the room to see a man named David Gelb standing with a glass in hand. He was the leader of Glory Dawn's administrative team, the man who hired Carla in the first place. Once he had everyone's attention, he spoke with a natural authoritative yet humble voice.

"Well, I guess this is one way to break up the day, huh?" he asked sarcastically. Everyone laughed at the joke before he spoke again. "I know we all look happy, but I think speak for all of us when we say we're gonna miss Carla."

Everyone in the room turned their eyes to Carla, who smiled and briefly waved at her friends and colleagues.

"Glory Dawn wasn't exactly in its infancy before you came along, Carla," David continued. "But boy, did we grow fast. Your eye for details and work ethic saved our skin more times than I can count, but I think I know what we're gonna miss most." David briefly chuckled to himself before he continued. "It took me a while, but I think I figured out what it is that we and the patients like about you. The way you've been working, it's like... you have a mother's touch, you know? Calm, but efficient. You just know how to set things straight. You know what's what, and that's that. I just hope that touch doesn't leave with you."

Everyone began to applaud and invite their colleague to give a brief speech. And so, Carla stepped forward and nodded to her boss with a smile.

"Thank you, David," she said gratefully. "You know, I haven't actually thought about it until now, but that might be a good way to think about it. I mean, I've had a few days when I've told myself 'Oh, my Gods, I'm turning into my mother.'"

Everyone laughed once again before Carla continued.

"But it wasn't all bad. My parents taught me everything they knew before I came here, so it all came in handy. And honestly, I didn't think I'd make it this far." Carla looked at her hands and fumbled them a bit. "I'm sure you're all aware that I'm one of the few who's not a native to Argus. And that I grew up outside the capital of Mistral. Not a lot of people leave the villages, and I had a feeling that I would be like them." Carla briefly chuckled. "A part of me always thought that I was going to be just a housewife or a waitress at the very least. Who knows? Maybe I was in another life."

Laughter filled the area once again, and Carla naturally joined in before she shared the rest of her story.

"But no, my parents had other ideas. They were able to afford an education beyond the outskirts, along with everything they taught me about management back home." Carla raised her glass. "I know you didn't know them very well... but my parents taught me that the sky was the limit. Even for someone like me. And all of you showed me what I could do with what I learned. So here's to them... and to all of you."

It was true that nobody knew Carla's parents, but that didn't stop them from joining in her toast.

"Cheers!"

With the speech now over, Carla rejoined her closest friends.

"Great speech, Carla," said Felicia, a woman with blonde hair. "Your parents would be proud."

"Yeah," said Miguel, an older man with graying brown hair. "Uh, what did you say they did again?"

"Well, it's actually what I'll be doing now," Carla explained. "I'll be taking over their farm back home."

"Farming, huh? Never took you for a farmer."

"I wasn't. That was mostly my dad. He worked the fields with all the help he hired. My mom was the brains of the business, and she made it her mission to teach me everything she knew."

"Wow, I guess David wasn't kidding about the mother's touch," Felicia joked. "You nervous at all?"

"Well, that's what I was saying earlier," Carla replied. "I was a wreck when I came here. I always kept telling myself that this was a mistake, that I should have just stayed where I was back home. But looking back on it all, I think I really grew here. I mean, I'm looking forward to going back home, but everyone here helped me grow. That I can actually do this, you know?"

"That's great," said Miguel. "And by 'everyone here,' I'm sure you're just talking about me and Felicia, right?"

"Says the guy who kept forgetting to mail our checks the first month he came here," Felicia joked.

"Be nice," Carla said after she stifled a laugh. "We all had to learn everything here." Carla looked out the window. "I'm just happy I'll be taking what I learned back home."

"Right," said Felicia. "As long as you're not letting anyone be a Huntsman or Huntress, right?"

"Oh, Gods, no."

Everyone laughed at the joke. Carla always expressed her disinterest in being one of the people who risked their lives fighting the Grimm, despite the fact that it kept everyone safe. In her mind, Argus and her hometown were the safest places she knew.

There wasn't a need to risk anything.

"Uh, I think we'll be seeing a lot of 'em soon," said Miguel. "I mean, with what happened in Atlas last night?"

"Unbelievable," said Felicia. "And here I thought it was the safest place in Remnant."

Carla was the only one who wasn't following the conversation. "What do you mean?" she asked calmly.

"You didn't hear?" Miguel asked. "Atlas was attacked last night."

"What? Wait, you mean Mantle?"

"No, the city of Atlas," said Felicia. "I heard a lot of Grimm came out of nowhere and attacked it on the inside."

"No, you got it wrong," said Miguel. "It was just one Grimm. That's what the news said."

"One Grimm? Okay, let's not forget what the news showed us. There's no way a single Grimm could have done all that."

"Wait a minute," Carla said. "So the city, the floating city, was attacked by Grimm?"

"Yeah, it was all over the news," said Miguel. "Crazy stuff, you should check it out."

"Yeah... I'll do that." Carla looked past her friends to see that everyone was starting to leave. "But I looks like that'll have to wait."

Felicia turned around while Miguel looked at a watch he was wearing. "Yeah, we should probably get to work," he said. "Good party, though."

"Yeah," said Felicia. "Don't forget to say goodbye to us, Carla. You know, before the day's over."

"Don't worry, I won't," Carla replied. "I'll see you later."

As she walked through the halls and towards her very own office, Carla began to think of a multitude of things. First off, the idea of the Grimm attacking Atlas was intimidating. So much so that Carla believed that moving back to her hometown would be for the best. The farther away she was from Atlas, the better.

The second thing Carla thought about as she arrived at her office was how touching David's speech was. She knew her work at Glory Dawn was important, but it was always better to hear how much she had been appreciated for being who she was and doing what she was doing. Once upon a time, she would have said work like this was impossible for her. But she overcame this belief with time, and soon she would be taking what she learned back home.

The last and most important thing Carla thought about was something that David said; about how her work ethic almost had a mother's touch to it. Carla agreed, but not because she applied what she learned from her own mother.

Carla was a rather special person. Not just because of what she did, but also because she had a secret. Her secret wasn't a crime or something she was worried about coming out, but it was something that most people wouldn't believe or understand. Carla was someone who either enjoyed or suffered from extreme dreams. The dreams were in great detail, and they all seemed to center around Carla herself. Most of them were good dreams, but Carla always suffered from a recurring nightmare about a monster that Remnant had never seen.

Her dreams had affected her since youth, and it had gotten to the point where they were forced to rely on sleep medication and seeing a specialist. Unfortunately, the specialist's answers only raised more questions for Carla. But eventually, the dreams became less frequent and more tolerable.

Before this happened, however, Carla found herself relying on a trick, of sorts. A coping mechanism. This was easy because her dreams seemed to focus on one other person besides herself. Every time she dreamed, Carla would always be with a little boy. She would always be caring for him, no matter what he did or said. Because of this, Carla found herself linked to the boy, she began to have a connection with him.

It was easy, since the boy always referred to her as "Mom." In the dreams, Carla took this role very seriously, and found herself still caring about the boy after she woke up. Because no matter what, he would always be a part of her.

The life she had in her dreams, to be exact, would always be a part of her.

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

Carla snapped out of her daydreams when she heard knocking at her office door. "Come in," she quickly said. The door opened to reveal a man around the same age and height as her, but he had red hair and green eyes. He was wearing a white coat over his shirt and pants and he looked at Carla with a neutral expression.

"Hey, Carla," the man said calmly. "Think you could help us with something real quick?"

"Of course," Carla said. "What is it?"

"Yeah, here's the thing. We got a couple of new patients earlier today. Someone found two kids at the point of exhaustion come out of the woods."

"Two kids?" Carla didn't even know who they were, but her heart was already breaking. "Oh, no. Grimm survivors?"

"We don't know. Hira was supposed to find out, but I think she only made things worse."

"Why, what happened?"

"..."

---

A few minutes ago

It was true that two young children had been brought to Glory Dawn. Eren and Cinder woke up on the beach beneath the cliff they swam to, but they were still incredibly exhausted. And scaling the cliff to begin their journey to Argus was even harder. Eren's Titan powers had healed any wound he received last night, and Cinder's Aura did the same for her.

Alas, an Aura or Titan's powers couldn't prevent physical exhaustion. In fact, over-reliance on both would only increase exhaustion.

That was how Eren and Cinder once again passed out, but they were at the edge of the city this time. They were found by two patrolling officers, where they were immediately taken to Glory Dawn for help. They assumed they were either runaways or survivors of a Grimm attack, but they decided to let the proper specialists determine that.

Cinder was the first to wake up, and she immediately took a liking to her surroundings. Instead of a broken barn or a cold backroom, Cinder found herself on a soft bed in a white, sunlit room. There was one window behind her, which was where the sunlight was coming from. She saw that there was another bed right beside her own, which was where Eren was resting.

"Eren?" Cinder called out as she began to get out of the bed. "Eren, are you-?"

*CLICK*

The sound of a door opening caught Cinder's attention. She turned fast to see that a woman had entered the room. She wasn't like any woman Cinder had seen before. Rather than dirtied clothes or the clothes of a wealthy-socialite, this woman was dressed in a light-blue shirt and pants. She was also wearing gloves and a mask over her face. Right behind her was a tray on wheels that contained a variety of tools. The first tool was a clipboard with two pieces of paper on it.

"Your name?" the woman asked calmly.

"Wh... What?" Cinder asked.

The woman didn't look up at Cinder. "What's your name?"

"Oh. Um... Cinder."

The woman wrote on the first paper before she turned to the next one. "And his name?"

"Eren. Eren Yeager."

This time, the woman looked up at the children. "His name is 'Erin?' That's a girl's name."

Cinder knew Eren would be unhappy to hear that. "No, that's his name. Spell it with a second 'e.'" The woman looked down and scribbled the name on the paper. Once she was done, Cinder asked another question. "Where are we?"

"Where we can help you," the woman replied. "How long were you out in the woods for?"

"I... I don't know. An hour?"

The woman sighed as she looked at the tray. "That's still a long time. Who knows what you could have caught on your way here? And that close to the Grimm?"

"We weren't close to any-"

"Never mind that." The woman picked up a needle from the tray. "I need you to hold still."

The sight of a needle immediately caused Cinder to become afraid. "What is that?" she asked. "What are you doing?"

The woman was planning to take a blood sample from Cinder, but she didn't say anything about that. "Hold still," she repeated as she moved closer. "And this will be as painless as possible." She immediately took hold of Cinder's arm, but the child resisted.

"Wha-No! No, stop it!" Cinder screamed as she fought against the iron grip. "Get away!"

"We need to find out how sick you are!" the woman argued. "Now hold still!"

"I'm not sick! You're hurting me!"

"That's because you're fighting me!" The woman was acting rather impulsive for someone who was supposed to be helping Cinder, but she kept telling herself that it was for a good reason. "You're worse than my daughter," she muttered under her breath.

For what felt like the millionth time, Cinder had met someone older and stronger than her who wished to do her harm. It seemed to be a pattern of sorts, and Cinder didn't know if that was her fault or the world's. Fortunately, her continuous screams and fighting had awoken her best and only friend.

A friend who recognized the sounds of despair and quickly moved to action.

"Hey!" Eren screamed as he grabbed the tray. The woman had made the mistake of keeping the tray close to him, and now he used it to swing at the woman's face with all his might.

*BAM*

*CRASH*

The woman dropped her needle as she fell backwards, which caused her to panic. "Security!" she yelled as she grabbed her head and ran.

---

Present

After he hit her in the head with a tray, Eren watched the crazed woman flee out of the room and leave him behind with Cinder.

"Are you okay?" Eren asked his friend.

"I... I think so," she replied as she looked at her arm. Some blood was dripping from the hole she received from the needle, but she healed the wound with her Aura. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Eren looked around at the room he was in. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. I just woke up here. Are we in Argus?"

Eren looked out the window to see more buildings outside. When his eyes laid on a part of the ocean, he could tell that they were indeed in Argus. "Yeah, we are," he said. "Look. You can see the ocean from here."

Cinder joined her friend by the window to see the ocean that she once swam in. "Wow," she said. "It's amazing."

"Yeah," Eren agreed. "But let's stay focused. We should we leave while we can."

"Oh, right." Cinder moved away from the window. "I just hope that's the last woman I meet that wants to hurt me."

"She will be." Eren affirmed this not just because he planned to protect her, but also because he still planned on finding his mother. He was sure that she would treat Cinder better than anyone else she had met.

But first, he had to find her.

Eren moved to the door of the room to look at the window built into it. Once he did, he could see that the woman was pacing back and forth while wrapping a bandage on her head.

"She's still there," he said as he turned back. "And she's not alone."

"How many people are there?" Cinder asked.

"A lot. And I'm not even sure what this place is."

Cinder looked around the room to see beds and a bathroom close by. "Well, it looks a lot better than the farm or the Glass Unicorn." She turned her attention back towards the window after Eren said that the exit was blocked.

Eren found himself looking at the materials on the ground that he inadvertently scattered. He saw bandages, scissors, small cylinders, and needles that once rested on the tray. When he saw this, Eren thought back on the last time he saw someone have things like this.

"Hey, Cinder," he said. "I think this place is where doctors work."

"Doctors?" Cinder asked. "What, like a hospital?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"How do you know?"

Eren looked at the needles and bandages. "This stuff looks like something my dad would carry. Whenever he needed to visit or help someone."

Cinder remembered that Eren's father, Grisha, was a doctor. But rather than confirm Eren's theory, she looked out the window and found a possible escape route. "Eren, we don't look that high up," she said. "We might be able to climb out from here."

"You think so?" Eren asked as he looked out the window. "We could give it a try."

"We have to. This looks like the only way out."

Eren looked back towards the door and knew that Cinder was right. "Okay," he said. "I'll go first. My Titan powers can heal me if something goes wrong. Just follow my steps and we should be-"

"What were you thinking?!"

Eren stopped dead in his tracks when he heard a familiar voice. When he turned around and saw nothing, Eren immediately thought that his mind was playing tricks on him.

But then he heard it again.

"You can't just expect someone to cooperate like that, what's the matter with you?!"

Eren realized that the voice he heard was coming from the hallway. The voice belonged to a woman, and it seemed that she was scolding someone for certain behavior. Eren was drawn to this voice almost immediately; he heard it a hundred times before.

He knew who it belonged to.

Eren slowly moved to the door once again, much to the dismay of Cinder. "Eren?" she called out. "Eren, what are you doing?! We have to go!"

For the first time, Eren found himself ignoring Cinder. Instead, he looked out the window to see that the woman who had grabbed Cinder was joined by a man and another woman. He didn't know the man, but he recognized the woman in a heartbeat.

Carla had followed her visitor, a man named Tomas, to the area where Hira was currently resting. She was holding a bag of ice on the left side of her face, given what had happened with the boy she was trying to treat. She had called for help, which led Tomas to see what was going on.

Seeing an injured woman, a member of the staff no less, was enough cause for alarm. But between his knowledge of Hira and the sight of two scared children backed against a corner from inside the room, Tomas was hesitant to rely on Hira's explanation. Instead, he sought out Carla to help deal with the mess.

"I was doing my job," Hira explained. She had told Carla and Tomas what had happened in the room, but neither of them were willing to take her side.

"Your job is to scare the crap out of kids?" Tomas asked sarcastically. "What did you think was gonna happen?"

"Who knows how long they were out there? It's protocol to have them tested and evaluated before anything else!"

"Not like that, it's not! Just because you're scared of getting sick doesn't mean you get to do anything without patient consent!"

"Do I need consent from someone who thinks it's okay to hit people in the head on a whim?!"

Carla immediately put this argument to rest. "Hold it, hold it!" she demanded. When the duo fell silent, Carla scolded Hira again. "While I don't condone what happened to you, Hira, the comfort and consent of our patients are our top priority here. Whoever those children are, they're probably scared more than ever thanks to what you did! And this isn't the first time we've gotten complaints from your patients."

"..."

This was true. Carla didn't work in the human resources division, but she was aware of the complaints Hira got from patients and staff alike. She wasn't necessarily a hypochondriac, even though most of her fellow staff called her one. However, Hira chose to combat sickness and disease through her own means. Because of this, Hira was known to act on impulse and cause discomfort in most of Glory Dawn. Complaints and situations such as these usually happened once a month, but Carla was still unhappy.

"Hira, this has to stop," Carla firmly demanded. "I'm giving you a choice. You can either work full-time at the desk and reception, or you can't work here at all. Now which is it?"

Hira was no fool, and her fear of disease wasn't strong enough to make her abandon her work. "I'll be at the desk," she said as she stood up. "But at least consider restraining that boy, he's completely mad!" With that, she finally walked away.

Tomas was about to follow, but Carla stopped him. "I'll be reporting this to David," she said. "He can handle it from there."

"Thanks," Tomas said as he calmed down. "Still would've fired her, though. But that's just me."

Carla understood these sentiments, but she wasn't ready to fire someone on her last day of work. Her approach at this was firm, but fair. Almost parental, in a way. Besides, if her boss wanted to fire Hira, she wasn't going to stop him.

Right now, she had more important things to worry about.

"Let me call Rachel," Carla said. "She's dealt with kids like this before, I'm sure she can help." Rachel was another member of Glory Dawn's staff, someone who dealt primarily with mental trauma and disorders. And since these children most likely came from a Grimm attack, trauma was surely to follow.

"Oh, I think she called out sick today," said Tomas. "No big deal, I think I can take it from here."

When Carla turned towards the room, she could only see one child through the window. Cinder was staring at Carla, and she was immediately taken aback by the coincidental experience. What she saw in Eren's memories told Cinder that the woman she was staring at was his mother. She knew Eren's plan was to find her, but neither of them had any idea that she would be finding them instead.

And it only took the child a few seconds to see how this coincidence was for the best.

Cinder had seen Carla through Eren's memories, but seeing her in person was different. The first thing Cinder noticed was that she almost looked like her; they both had black hair and near golden eyes, and Cinder immediately thought that she was pretty. She then thought how different she was from other people when she saw Carla gently smile and wave at her.

When Cinder waved back, Carla made a decision.

"Let me warm them up for you," Carla offered. "I'll help them see we're here to help."

"Are you sure?" Tomas asked. "I only needed help with Hira, I got it from here."

"They might be a little wary of doctors and nurses right now."

"Yeah, that's true. But one of them attacked Hira, I don't want you getting hurt or anything."

"I'll only be a minute."

Carla was slightly nervous about doing this, since what happened to Hira was true. However, one look at Cinder made Carla feel that she should help.

"Eren, she's coming!" Cinder said. She wasn't entirely afraid anymore, but she was still a little anxious.

Eren, on the other hand, was unable to process his emotions.

The moment he saw Carla, Eren was in shock. That shock soon turned to joy, but the joy then turned to fear. He had been so focused on finding his mother, making sure that she was still alive and well, Eren didn't have the time to actually think about what would happen next.

Darkness had promised Eren that Carla remembered him, but Eren couldn't help but wonder what exactly she remembered. Did she remember their last conversation? Their last argument?

Did she remember how he abandoned her?

Eren then remembered his initial hesitance about coming to Remnant. He believed that Carla wouldn't accept him, not after everything that he had done. And especially not what he was; how could she accept that her son was the very thing that killed her? The very thing he once swore to destroy?

"Eren? Are you okay?"

Eren snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Cinder. She could tell that something was wrong, but she didn't know what it was. And when he tried to explain himself, none of his thoughts were clear.

"I... Um... She... I don't-"

Eren became so overcome with emotion and thought, it had become more than he could bear. Panic came as soon as he heard the sound of a door opening, which caused him to run into the bathroom and close the door.

"Eren!" Cinder called out as she tried to follow him. She knocked on the door three times, but he didn't open it. "Hey, what's the ma-?"

"Hello."

Cinder quickly turned around to see that Carla had opened the door. Anxiety overcame her again, but not quite like the fear she had for the nurse or the woman from Atlas. Carla recognized the signs of anxiety, so she kept her distance.

"I don't believe we've met," Carla said calmly with a smile. "I'm Carla. And, you are?"

Cinder also kept her distance from Eren's mother, but she replied. "Ci... Cinder," she introduced herself.

Carla continued to smile as she nodded. "Nice to meet you, Cinder. May I come in?" She was still in the doorway, and didn't want to overstep whatever boundaries the child had.

Cinder nodded, given that finding Carla was the whole reason she and Eren came to Argus. Though she still kept her distance from the woman.

"Did Hira frighten you?" Carla asked as she stepped inside. "I'm awfully sorry, she wasn't supposed to be like that to other people." Carla smiled again. "But you don't have to be scared of me. We're all here to help you with whatever's bothering you."

Cinder looked down at the tools Eren had knocked down. "Is... Is this a hospital?" she asked.

"Yes, actually." Carla remained perfectly still as she explained. "This is Glory Dawn, and we function like a hospital would. We help treat anyone who's brought here that's either sick or hurt. Not me, though. I'm not a doctor."

Cinder was immediately drawn by Carla's honesty. So much so that she wanted to test it even further. "Was I... brought here?"

"You were, yes. I believe someone found you and assumed you needed help. Do you remember coming here?" Carla watched Cinder shake her head. "Do you remember coming here with someone else?" Carla remembered that someone else was supposed to be here, but she could only see Cinder.

"Um... he's in there," Cinder said as she pointed to the bathroom. "I think he got scared."

Carla sighed as she looked at the closed door. "I'm so sorry about what happened. I know we just met, but I want you to know that what happened to you should have never happened in the first place. We're supposed to help people, not hurt them."

"..."

Once again, Cinder was drawn to how upfront and honest Carla seemed to be. She was still reluctant to trust people, save for Eren. However, there was something about Carla that told Cinder that things would be okay.

"In fact, I think I know how to help you and your friend," Carla continued. "You look hungry. Are you hungry?"

*GRUMBLE*

Cinder looked down at her stomach when she heard it growl. Carla easily noticed this, which caused her to laugh a little. "I knew you were," she said. "Would you like me to get you and your friend something to eat?" Cinder nodded slowly. "Then I'll be right back."

Carla stepped out of the room to see Tomas waiting for her. He was looking at a couple of papers on a clipboard that Hira had left behind, but he gave Carla his full attention when she approached him. "How are they?" he asked.

"Better... sort of," Carla sadly replied. "I just talked to that poor little girl. I think I got her to trust me."

"Oh, that's good. What about her friend?"

"He's locked himself in the bathroom. I think Hira scared him half to death." Carla sighed. "You did the right thing coming to me."

Tomas let out a heavy sigh before he gestured towards the direction that Hira had left in. "Mental, that one. I'm telling you. How did a hypochondriac get hired in the first place?"

Carla shook her head. "I have no idea." She quickly refocused on the situation at hand. "I'm going to get some food and water for Cinder, the girl in there. I'll get something for her friend too, but could you send someone to look them over properly? I'll tell them what's going on when I get back."

"Yeah, of course," Tomas said. "I don't think I have the time to do it, I got a few people to check in on before I can discharge them."

"That's fine, you go do that." Carla looked at the clipboard in Tomas' hands. "Are those for them?"

Tomas had forgotten that he had been holding the papers. "Oh, right," he said as he handed them over. "Uh, here you go."

"Thanks," she said. "I take it Hira didn't completely fill it out?"

"Looks like she only got their names. Sorry, I gotta go." Tomas began to walk away and wave at Carla. "Good luck at your new job, Carla. Take care of yourself."

"You too, Tomas." Carla smiled as she waved back. When he disappeared from view, Carla made her way towards the cafeteria to fulfill her promise to Cinder.

And along her way, she looked at the information Hira had taken before her departure.

"Let's see... who are you?" she asked herself as she walked. She wasn't a doctor or nurse, but her instincts told her to help the children as best as she could. In order to do that, the first thing she needed to do was find out who they were.

"Okay... Cinder." The paper with her name was on top, so that was the first thing Carla saw. "Don't worry, we're going to take good care of you. Now, who's your friend?" Carla carefully moved the paper upwards so she could see the second report. And just like the first one, it possessed a single name.

"Eren Yeager"

---

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

"Eren? Eren?"

The sound of the door closing and his friend's voice were enough to assure Eren that he and Cinder were alone again. So he opened the bathroom door and stepped outside to see a confused Cinder.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. "Why did you run and hide like that?"

Eren sighed as he leaned against the wall. "I... I wasn't ready," he confessed.

Cinder quickly smiled. "It's okay! She'll be coming back." She walked back towards the bed and sat down on it. "She said she was gonna get us something to eat. You were right, by the way; I do like her. She's nice."

Eren nodded, but he didn't return the smile. "I heard. Thanks for covering for me."

"You're welcome." Cinder gestured for Eren to come to her. "I'll be quiet when she gets back. You two have a lot to talk about, don't you?"

Eren remained perfectly still. "...Not that much." Eren rubbed the back of his head to relieve an awkward itch he had. "Look, Cinder... we can't tell her everything that's happened to us. We can't talk about Salem, about the Titans, and especially about the Rumbling. She can't know, okay?"

But it wasn't okay for Cinder.

"Wh... What?" she asked. "But... all of that's why you're here. To save her from Salem."

"That's not going to change." Eren looked out the window. "But there's a lot I know she won't understand. I don't know if anybody would." This was a logical thing to assume, but Eren was more afraid about how Carla would react if she knew what he did.

Cinder understood the logic, but she didn't agree with him. A part of herself believed that the reason behind Eren's decision was how she reacted when he tried to tell her the truth. Given that reaction, it seemed only natural for Eren to be afraid of telling anyone else.

"Eren, I'm sure she'll understand," Cinder encouraged him. "It might take some time, but she might come around. And you're still her son."

Eren quickly spun around. "So I shouldn't worry how she'll react, right?" he asked in a disagreeable tone. "Then does that mean you were going to tell her about what happened to the people who enslaved you?"

"..."

Cinder lost her voice when she heard Eren's argument. Not just because she was surprised to hear something like this, but also because of her plan. She hadn't thought of it until now, but Cinder knew that she wasn't going to tell anyone about that. She saw how the Huntsman reacted, so how could anyone else possibly understand?

That was when Cinder realized that Eren felt the same way about his secret.

Eren sighed when he saw that he had gotten through to Cinder. "Don't tell her, Cinder," Eren requested. "Please."

"..."

Cinder didn't say a word, but her promise to remain silent came in the form of a slow nod to Eren.

Even though Eren was sure that Cinder would keep his secret, as well as her own, he was still incredibly nervous about seeing his mother again. He realized how nervous he was when he felt sweat move down his forehead in multiple places. In order to fix that, Eren moved back into the bathroom to wash his face. He recognized the sink before him, and that it worked similarly to a sink on Paradis. So after he closed the door again, Eren began to wash his face.

As soon as one door closed, another one opened.

Cinder looked to see that Carla had returned with what she promised. When she took her first steps inside, she placed a tray on the table that had food and two cups of water. Cinder smiled at the kind woman and took a drink from one cup. Carla smiled back for a moment, but the smile disappeared when she turned back to the bathroom.

"Cinder?" Carla said to the young girl. "You said your friend was in there?"

"Mm-hmm," Cinder replied as she drank her water. When she finished, she talked normally. "He's still in there, but I think he's ready to talk now."

"Okay." Carla looked at the clipboard in her hand, which was shaking from nerves. "Cinder... there's something... I need to know. It's about your friend."

"..."

Carla took a deep breath before she asked her question. "Is his name... Eren?" she asked. "Eren Yeager?"

Cinder nodded. "That's right," she said. "That's his name."

"And... And you're sure about this?"

"Uh-huh."

Carla cleared her throat. "Cinder... this is... I need you to be absolutely sure about this. His name is Eren Yeager?"

"That's what he told me."

"..."

Carla finally put down the clipboard and held her hands together. Unfortunately, this didn't make them stop shaking. In fact, her entire body was shaking from chills she had gotten ever since she read the boy's name on the piece of paper. She nearly became hysterical when she read it.

She had heard the name a hundred times, she had heard herself say the name before. It only happened when she slept, but Carla knew the name even when she was awake. Of course, she was incredibly skeptical about what she was currently believing. It sounded crazy, it sounded like something that would be coming out of a fairy tale.

However, Carla didn't waver from her current point of view. In her mind, she had a very good reason for believing what she currently believed. But she needed proof to validate her idea, she needed proof to tell her that she wasn't going crazy.

And as far as she knew, there were two people that could tell Carla what she needed to know. She was talking to one of them now, and she was already doing a good job of confirming her beliefs.

"Cinder... do you think you could describe your friend?" she asked. "Could you tell me what he looks like?"

"Sure," Cinder said after she took a bite from a delicious apple. "Eren has-"

"Wait."

Cinder immediately stopped talking upon command. Carla didn't want Cinder to stop talking because she was afraid of the truth. Instead, Carla had a better idea to discover the truth.

"Your friend... is he about the same height as you?" she asked. "About the same age?"

"I... I think so," Cinder replied. She never asked Eren how old or how tall he was, so she wasn't entirely sure if her age or height was the same as his.

Carla decided to go into specific details now. "And... he has dark hair? Hair that stops at his forehead?"

"Yes." This time, Cinder was confident in her answer.

There was one feature about Eren that Carla had seen countless times, something that always stood out to her whenever she dreamed. She knew the detail well, but now it was time to see if Cinder knew.

"And... what color are his eyes?" she asked.

Cinder knew this detail well, since she also saw it countless times. "They're blue," she said. "Well, sort of blue. They look a little green too, but they're almost the same color as the ocean."

"..."

Carla's shakes and chills came to an immediate halt.

She knew exactly who was behind the door to her right.

Cinder's confirmation was the last piece of information Carla needed to know that she wasn't imagining things or making connections that didn't exist. It was impossible, it defied any sense of rational thought, but it was true.

The boy behind the door was the boy from Carla's dreams.

As soon as she put all of the pieces together, Carla realized that her conversation with Cinder was over. She still planned on helping the girl, but there was something else she had to do first.

Carla stood up and approached the bathroom door very slowly. As she did, she took note of the shadow moving at the bottom, which told her that someone was still in there. The woman's nerves and chills returned instantly, but they weren't enough to make her have any second thoughts. She knew who was behind the door, but she needed to see who it was as well.

Carla needed that more than anything in the world right now. That was why she calmly knocked on the door and spoke.

"E... Eren?" she uttered. "Is... Is that you?"

"..."

Eren had been listening carefully on the other side of the door. Because of that, he knew that she was starting to put the pieces together. But when she spoke directly at him, Eren couldn't help but gasp as his eyes widened.

Carla heard this gasp. It sounded just like the loss of breath she had when she read Eren's name on that paper. And yet, Eren couldn't find it within himself to answer her. It was clear that she knew who he was, but she could never imagine what he was.

But Carla didn't leave. Instead, she leaned against the door as she talked.

"I... I think I know who you are," she said. "I've seen you. I've seen you hundreds of times in my life. And... I think you've seen me too. I think we know each other."

"..."

Carla suddenly realized how odd this might sound, so she decided to explain herself rather than be counterproductive. "Ever since I was a child, I've had these... dreams. Dreams where I always took care of a little boy. A very special boy." Carla smiled a little. "He didn't like everything I said. He didn't always agree with me. But... I still cared about him. I... I loved him. I still do."

"..."

"One day... we were separated. In a way I wouldn't expect anyone to understand. All I had to prove it were my dreams. And I think... I really think I've seen you in them."

Hearing this caused Eren to lean against the door as well. Tears began to fall down his face as he listened carefully, where he could hear crying and more talking.

"I know you must be scared. Confused. I was too, when I found out. And I... I still am."

"..."

"I... I want to help you," she said. "I will help you. Even if you're not who I think you are. And it's okay if you're not. You can forget what I said."

"..."

"But please. I... I have to know." Carla found herself gently pressing her forehead against the door. "Eren... it's really you... isn't it?"

"..."

*CREAK*

Carla immediately moved away from the door when she heard the knob turn. When it fully opened, Carla found herself staring at a young boy just as tall as Cinder. Once she made eye contact with the boy, who also had tears in his aqua eyes, she knew any semblance of doubt and uncertainty had faded away when she looked at the face she had seen countless times before.

But even still, Eren confirmed what she believed to be true.

"Mom... it's me," he said.

"..."

That one word was everything Carla needed to hear. She had said nothing about being the boy's mother, but she knew that was what she was in her dreams.

And she knew there was nobody else she would rather be the second she saw Eren.

Neither Eren or Carla could find themselves to say anything else. The emotion that came over the both of them caused them to do nothing but let tears fall down their faces and embrace each other for the first time in years.

---

The joy and relief Eren and Carla shared from their reunion was a blessing for both of them. They both knew that they had so much they wanted to tell each other, questions they needed to have an answer for.

But first, they needed to find the time to do it.

Tomas had sent someone to give the children a proper examination, and they were greeted with Eren and Carla hugging. Carla explained that she knew Eren and Cinder, though the latter part was a lie. She planned to take Eren home with her, and she knew Cinder would be more than welcome to join them. She needed time to get to know her better, but it was clear that Eren trusted Cinder and considered her a friend.

After the brief explanation, Carla allowed the physician to give Eren and Cinder a proper checkup. Carla stayed in the room to give whatever support Eren or Cinder needed, since Hira had made a poor first impression. No bloodwork was done, and the children seemed completely healthy.

Their only affliction was hunger, which was solved by them sharing a meal together. Carla had stepped outside to take care of a few things so she could spend more time with her son, so Eren and Cinder were eating together in the room.

Cinder finished her food first, so she broke the silence. "How do you feel?" she asked. "About all of this?"

Eren swallowed a bite of food he had before he answered. "Better," he said. "Much better." He looked at Cinder with an awkward smile. "Uh, sorry about leaving you like that. I kind of panicked a little."

"That's okay. I think she needed a minute too. She was gone for a long time when she left. She came back and started asking about you a little later."

"Yeah, I heard. How did she know my name?"

Cinder became confused. "Well... she gave it to you? Right?"

Eren quickly saw the misunderstanding and laughed. "No, I mean, how did she know someone named 'Eren Yeager' was with you?"

"Oh." Cinder laughed as well when she realized her mistake. "The nurse who came in before her asked for our names. I gave them and she wrote them down. Your mom must have seen it there."

"..."

Eren had no memory of this, but he believed Cinder. He probably would have done the same thing as her, but that didn't change what Cinder had done.

"That means... it's because of you," Eren said.

"Huh?" Cinder asked.

"My mom came... because of you."

"Oh. Um, I don't-"

"She knew who I was, she knew what to say because you told her."

Eren was making eye-contact with Cinder while he pointed this out, which was starting to make her uncomfortable. "Eren, are you-?"

Without warning, Eren hugged Cinder. "What just happened was one of the best things that happened to me," he confessed. "I probably would have hid longer and missed my chance if it wasn't for you. Thank you, Cinder. You're a... You're a good friend."

A strong heat and red color rose to Cinder's cheeks when Eren said this. Eren was the only friend that she had, and she knew he was the best one she would ever had. Whenever she had gotten herself into trouble, Eren was always there to help. From Mistral to Atlas and then back to Mistral, Eren did nothing but prove how good of a friend he was.

So to hear that she was also a good friend was completely unexpected. It only took a few seconds for the compliment to not only mean the world to Cinder, but it also caused her to doubt herself.

"Really?" Cinder asked. She eventually returned the hug, but she still doubted herself. "But... this was just one time."

"No, it wasn't," said Eren. "You taught me to read Remnant's writing, you taught me about each of the Kingdoms, and you even unlocked my Aura." Eren stepped back and activated it, which was another lesson from Cinder. When light surrounded him, Eren felt a little stronger along with feeling amazed. "I mean, I still need to learn how to use it, but I know it's going to help me. It's like... I can actually start to believe in myself. That wasn't something I could always do back home." Eren looked up to Cinder and smiled. "You helped me, Cinder. You really did. Thank you."

Cinder smiled as the heat to her face rose once again. Now she knew that there was nobody she would rather be than Eren's friend. The feeling was so strong that she gave Eren another hug, one that he reciprocated.

*CLICK*

Eren and Cinder broke their hug when they heard the door open. Carla once again stepped into the room and closed it.

"There," she said. "All of that should buy us some time." Carla had just returned from running a few errands and doing some work earlier than expected so she could use the extra time to reconnect with her son.

Eren stood up from the table when he saw his mother. "...Hi," he said with a smile.

"Hi," Carla said in return.

"..."

"..."

Eren and Carla hugged each other once again out of instinct. Tears came close to falling once again, but the mother and son fought them back as they let go of each other. Carla led Eren back to the table where he was eating with Cinder so they could talk some more.

"I'm... sure you're confused," she said. "About all of this."

"I think I'm more... surprised," Eren replied. "Mostly that... you remember me. After all this time."

Carla put a hand on Eren's cheek. "Eren, sweetheart... how could I ever forget you?"

Eren appreciated the gesture and words, but they didn't exactly answer his question. "Well... we're both somewhere else. Somewhere... we weren't before."

Carla easily remembered this was true, and she knew that she had some explaining to do. However, there was one factor that was making her skeptical about sharing her answers with Eren.

His friend.

"Cinder, I don't mean to be rude," Carla began. "But do you think I could talk to Eren alone?"

Cinder looked at Eren with an unsure expression, but Eren assured her that being alone wasn't necessary. "She knows," he said. "About us."

"That you're from another world," Cinder finished for Eren. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. And... I believe you. Both of you."

Carla paid more attention to the first part of that sentence. She didn't know if Cinder was like her or Eren, but she didn't seem to say anything about being from another world as well. Carla then assumed that Eren had told her, that he had shared this secret with a complete stranger.

But there wasn't anything she could do about it.

"I think... that's about right," said Carla. "About me and Eren, that is."

Eren was taken aback by two things. The first was that his mother was taking the idea well; as well as anyone could, that is. The second was something Eren picked up in Carla's tone.

"You sound a little... unsure," he said. "Are you sure you remember everything?"

"Well, yes..." Carla began. "But also no. Let me explain."

"..."

Eren and Cinder gave Carla their full attention as she spoke.

"What I've seen, what I have... I wouldn't exactly call them 'memories.' Ever since I was a little girl, I've had dreams. They're not like fantasies or make believe, they're not flashes. They've been telling me a story. About another life." Carla turned to Eren. "A life where I was your mother, and you were my son."

Eren leaned closer. "Dreams?" he asked. "Since you were a child?"

"Yes."

"How long have you lived here?"

"All my life. I was born in a small town in Mistral called 'Kuroyuri.' My parents were both farmers, and wealthy ones at that." Carla turned to Cinder. "Perhaps you've heard of Ambrose Farms?"

Cinder shook her head and remained silent. However, hearing the word "farm" was making her nervous. But Carla didn't notice this as she continued to talk.

"As I was saying, I've been having dreams for as long as I could remember. Some were good, but the others were bad."

Eren had a good feeling what the bad dreams were. "Was it... that day?" he asked. "When the Titans invaded?"

Carla shuddered at the sound of the word. "Titans," she said. "It's been a long time since I heard that word."

"I... I'm sorry."

Carla nodded before she talked again. "Yes, it was that day. But I also dreamed about being sick for a while. It was hard, and I was eventually healed by a doctor." She turned to Eren again. "That doctor became your father."

Eren nodded. "Grisha. Grisha Yeager."

Carla remembered this name from her dreams, so she knew that Eren was telling the truth. "Being sick and... that day... were my worst dreams. Sometimes I woke up sick and covered in sweat. My parents and friends tried to tell me they were only dreams... but they always felt so real." Carla wiped her forehead of sweat. "Then I had to hear that they might have been real."

"What happened?"

Carla let out a sigh as she recounted an experience she had as a girl. "Having all those dreams started to have an effect on my health," she said. "I was never getting enough sleep. So, my parents took me to Mistral, to see a therapist who could help me."

"A therapist?"

"Yes. That's another kind of doctor we have here. They deal with the mind rather than the body." Carla looked back to Eren. "Eren, do you know anything about Auras and Semblances?"

"Oh, yeah." Eren showed his mother that he had an Aura of his own. "Cinder actually unlocked it for me. It's incredible. But I haven't found my Semblance yet."

Carla was more concerned about Eren's understanding rather than a possession of an Aura. "Well, this therapist had a Semblance of their own. She could see into the memories and dreams of a person, to see what was afflicting them."

Eren was beginning to understand. "So she was able to help?"

"Well... sort of." Carla looked down again. "What she did only raised more questions. I'm not sure how she did it, but... her Semblance told her that my dreams were more than just dreams. She honestly believed that they were memories."

Eren understood once again, and he said something that he believed would help. "Mom... those were memories," he said calmly. "I'm sorry they hurt you. Really, I am. But... they were memories." Eren tapped his head. "They're my memories too."

Carla nodded. "I know, I know," she said. "The therapist couldn't block out my dreams, but she made them less frequent. It was the only thing she could do to help me. And it did. My dreams didn't bother me like they used to."

"But... you still had them."

"...Yes. Yes, I did." Carla looked down at Eren again. "They wouldn't be going away. But they were much more tolerable, and growing up helped with that."

Eren understood Carla's story now, as well as what Darkness meant when he said that his mother remembered him. Since it was clear that she remembered everything, Eren needed to tell her something.

"Mom... I'm sorry," he said. "I don't want you to live through it again, but... I'm sorry about that day." Eren began to tear up again. "I wasn't strong enough to save you. I couldn't get you out of the house."

Carla knew what Eren was talking about, and it caused her to tear up as well. "Eren..."

"I found out you were here, but I didn't know you remembered it all!" Eren couldn't hold back the tears anymore. "I just wanted to find you! I wanted to know if you were safe, I didn't want you to be hurt! I didn't know about the dreams, I didn't know you had to live like that! If I knew... if I knew what was happening, I would have done something! I would have said-!"

"Eren, Eren!" Carla quickly wrapped her son in another hug. "Never mind that now, please. What happened was terrible, it was the worst thing I can imagine. But dream or not, it's better now. Safer, too. Believe me." She made Eren look at her. "Besides, my dreams weren't all bad."

"They... They weren't?"

"No. I had dreams that showed me other things too. They showed me something that acted like a light in the dark."

"...Really?" Eren dried his eyes. "What?"

"You."

"..."

Carla gently squeezed Eren as she continued to talk. "I don't know what happened to us, Eren. Or why. Some people here would call it 'reincarnation,' but I never believed it. My parents didn't either, but it doesn't matter what it's called. We're together now, and that's that. If we did share a life together before today, even if it ended tragically, then I'm happy we got to share it. And I'm so happy we get to share it again." Carla nuzzled her chin on Eren's head. "My little boy. We're both special, Eren. Because... we were born into this world. This beautiful, wonderful world."

"..."

Eren found himself clinging to his mother like a baby. Everything she had said meant the world to him, it was all something he had been waiting his whole life to hear. Eren felt truly happy, and there wasn't anything that would take it away from him.

But more than happiness, Eren's felt his resolve return to him. Now, more than ever, Eren was resolved to complete the mission the God of Darkness had given him. He didn't know when or how, but Eren knew that he would stop Salem. He wouldn't let her take this freedom from him. He wouldn't let the witch take anyone or anything from him, whether it was his mother or Cinder.

He was going to fight. No matter what.

"There," Carla said as she wiped Eren's eyes. "All better."

Eren smiled. "Thank you," he said. He then turned to Cinder, who was rubbing his back while his mother was hugging him. "Thank you too."

Cinder smiled in silence and let the mother and son continue to talk.

"Mom... are you... alone here?" Eren asked. "I mean... is Dad with you?"

Carla frowned a little bit before she looked at Eren neutrally. "No," she said. "It's just me. Well, just us now."

"Yeah. Just us."

Eren's question gave Carla an idea. "What about you?" she asked. "Is Mikasa here? Or Armin?"

Eren shook his head. "No, it's... just me," he said. "Well, us." Eren looked at Cinder. "She's been with me ever since."

Cinder nodded. "It's true," she said. "Eren and I met about a week ago, in Mistral. He told me everything, and then-"

"A week?!"

Eren and Cinder jumped at the question and looked to see a surprised Carla. "Eren, you've only been here for a week?" she asked. "For seven days?"

"Well... yeah," Eren replied honestly. The confusion as to why this was a problem was clear, but Carla appeared to be more confused than him.

"But... how?" Carla asked. "Eren, you're the same age as you were before! How could you only be here a week and look like... this?"

Eren quickly remembered that Carla had been on Remnant her whole life. So looking like an adolescent child who had only been on Remnant for a week was indeed surprising, and hard to explain. Fortunately, Eren was able to think of a lie since he wasn't ready to talk about Darkness.

"Oh... that," he began. "I, uh... don't exactly know. What happened to you makes sense, but... not me."

"What do you mean?" Carla asked.

"I mean, I didn't have a second family or other parents. One minute I was with my friends, then I woke up here. Like this." Eren rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know how."

Carla immediately became puzzled. "That's strange," she said. "So... you've been here a week? All alone?"

"Well, I had Cinder." Eren looked to his friend. "I found a farm where I could sleep, and I met her there." Cinder remained silent, since the last time she spoke only led to more questions and confusion. "We left the farm to find you."

Since Carla couldn't explain the circumstances of her presence on Remnant, she didn't try to make sense of Eren's presence. "Okay," she said. "I'm sorry, I was just-"

"No, it's okay. I understand, really."

"Okay. If that's the case, would it be okay if I asked you how you... Um..."

"How I came here?"

"..."

Eren was ready to share this answer with his mother, even though it required some exaggerating. But he was going to tell her everything he could that didn't involve the Rumbling, the God of Darkness, or Salem.

And he knew the best way to start.

"So... do you remember what happened right before Dad left?" he asked. "How I, uh... said I wanted to join the Survey Corps?"

This was one of many dreams Carla had about Eren. And since the details of her first home stuck with her in these dreams, she knew exactly what the Survey Corps was.

More specifically, how dangerous it was.

"Oh, Eren... you didn't," she said in disbelief. She immediately grabbed his hands. "Please tell me you didn't."

"Um..."

Carla sighed as she discovered the truth. "Eren, I told you it was dangerous! It's just like being a Huntsman or Huntress! What were you thinking?!" Disappointment immediately turned into concern for Carla. "Were you eaten? Did one of those Titans kill you?!"

"No, no, it wasn't like that!" Eren insisted. "Honest!" He was telling the truth, though it was clear Carla was having a hard time believing that.

Fortunately, Cinder was able to help.

"He's telling the truth," she said. "He, um... He told me." Carla already knew that Cinder knew who Eren was, but she didn't know everything Eren showed her. "Eren, do you want me to tell her?"

"Tell me what?" Carla asked.

"..."

Carla turned back to Eren, who was starting to look disheartened and depressed. When she remembered the circumstances of all this, Carla immediately became worried. "Eren... tell me what?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

Eren let out a sigh. "I... I wasn't killed by a Titan, Mom," he said. "I died... I died fighting in a war."

"What? A war?"

Carla always remembered the peace inside the walls, that the only fighting going on was between the humans and the Titans. So the idea of a war was strange to her, and it became stranger when Eren answered her next question.

"A war against who?" she asked.

"...Everyone," Eren replied.

"..."

When Carla fell silent, Eren explained everything that he had learned about the world he left behind. He told his mother about the reality of the Titans, how they were people with the ability to turn into Titans through blood and science. He then told her about the people responsible for their creation, how the country of Marley used the Titans to fight their wars and stay in power. And how they treated the Eldians, the same people living in the walls, worse than simply second-class citizens.

Eren then told Carla how the war unfolded the day the Colossus Titan broke through Wall Maria. He told her about his adventures on Paradis, how he helped dethrone a King and how he helped retake the wall that had fallen. He even told her how he fought in the war and how the Global Alliance failed to conquer his home.

All while careful to keep his identity as a Titan and the Rumbling a secret.

When he was finally done, Carla took time to process everything that she had just heard. She thought her dreams were bad enough, but all of that was simply too much to believe.

But she did.

"They... wanted to kill us?" Carla asked. "All of us? That's why the Titans broke through the wall?"

"We were the descendants of the Eldian Empire," Eren repeated. "In their minds, that made all of us enemies. Devils. People who didn't deserve to live."

"This... is..." Carla began to bury her face in her hands. "I don't even know what to say right now. I really don't."

Eren was very sympathetic to Carla's feelings. She had no idea that she was once a Subject of Ymir, that people's minds were being erased by the Founding Titan. Eren had to tell her about the Nine Titans, but he didn't go into specifics about the Coordinate or Ymir. He simply referred to them as "special." And how Marley exploited these features to further their own agenda.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Eren said sincerely. "I'm so sorry about all of this. Are you... okay?"

"..."

No.

Carla was not okay. Everything she had just learned made her feel like all of the gravity in the world was pushing down on her, crushing her. She had felt like she had just died all over again.

And yet, just like the times in her dreams, there was one thing that she had that was making her happy.

"It doesn't matter now," she said as she gently held Eren. "We're together now. We're far from that war, and we're safe here." Carla felt a tear fall down her face again. "Oh, Eren. You were so brave to fight like that."

Eren hugged his mother once again. "It was hard," he said. "And scary. But... I didn't fight alone."

Carla smiled as she looked at Eren. "I still can't believe Armin of all people joined with you. Mikasa I can understand, but Armin?" She couldn't help but laugh. "He was always so frail."

Eren laughed as well. "Yeah, but you know how smart he was. It helped us out when we needed it."

"I'll bet. And your other friends? What were their names?"

"Jean, Connie, Sasha, Reiner, and Historia." Eren had forgiven Reiner for what he did, and he let Reiner know this before he died.

"And you're sure they're all still alive? I mean, I know you died too, but-"

"I'm sure. The last thing I saw was them still alive. Well... Sasha wasn't there. She was shot when we were trying to escape after a mission."

"Oh. I'm... so sorry."

"Thanks." Eren let go of his mother. "So... does that answer all your questions?"

"I think so. About what happened to you, at least. But, Eren, there's one thing I don't understand."

Eren became briefly concerned, and he wondered if there was something he may have missed or given away in his story. "What's that?" he asked.

"How did you find me?"

"Huh?"

"You said you were trying to find me. Ever since you came here. But how did you know I was here? Did you have any dreams too?"

Eren immediately took the chance that Carla had given him. "Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, something like that. It was before I woke up, actually."

"Really? What did you see?"

"The ocean and the big wall were the first things I saw. Then I saw you somewhere. It looked like a house, but it was inside a building." Eren pointed towards the window. "Buildings like that."

"Oh, yes!" Carla immediately understood. "That's where I live, you're right. Well, I won't be living there anymore."

Eren became worried. "Why, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong. I'm moving back home soon."

"Back home?" Cinder asked. "To Kuroyuri?" She said the name of the town slowly, since she wasn't sure if she was pronouncing it correctly.

"That's right," Carla replied with a smile. "We found each other at a great time. A couple of days later, and I would have been gone."

"Why are you leaving?" Eren asked.

"A new job, actually." Carla stopped smiling. "Do you remember when I said my parents were farmers? Well, my father was the farmer. My... My mother ran the business." She then let out a sigh. "She recently passed away."

"...Oh. I'm sorry."

Cinder was sorry as well. "Was it the Grimm?" she asked.

"Oh, no," Carla assured the child. "Nothing like that. It was just old age." Carla wiped her eyes. "It was her time."

"..."

Eren and Cinder gave Carla a moment to recuperate. It was clear to Eren that her parents on Remnant meant just as much to her as the parents she had on Paradis. Eren never met them, but he knew how much they meant to her.

"Anyways, she left the farm and its assets to me in her will," Carla explained. "So, I'm leaving Argus and going home so I can pick up where she left off. To continue the tradition."

"Tradition?" Eren asked.

"The farm's been in my family for generations. And it's very well known in the outskirts. We've even done business with the capital of the Kingdom."

Eren immediately saw how important this was to Carla, but he was a bit surprised to learn that she planned on managing it. She was a simple housewife on Paradis, not a manager. But it didn't seem like something worth questioning.

"When are you leaving?" Eren asked.

"A couple of days," Carla replied. "This was just my last day of work." She suddenly gasped and jumped out of her seat. "Work!" She looked up to a clock on the wall. "I'm still at work!" She had lost track of time due to her much-needed conversation with her son and his friend.

But she had to go now.

"Eren, I'm sorry, but I have to get back to work," she said before she left. "As soon as I'm done, I'm taking you and Cinder straight home with me. Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Eren replied. "Yeah, that sounds great."

"Y-Yeah," Cinder agreed. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're welcome, sweetheart." Carla looked up at the clock on the wall. "It'll be a while until we can go, but I'll check back whenever I can. You can just rest up until then. You two look like you've been through a lot."

"We have," Eren and Cinder replied at the same time. Cinder giggled at the coincidence.

"I'm sure. But don't worry, you're safe now. And you'll love Kuroyuri when we get there. My house has the biggest field, there's a pond where you can swim in the summer..." Carla let out a chuckle. "Oh, and just wait until you meet Dina."

"..."

The color on Eren's face disappeared at the sound of that name. "What?" he asked. "Sorry, what?"

Carla stopped smiling for a moment. "Didn't I mention her?" she asked. When she saw Eren shake his head, Carla smiled again. "It's funny, I actually met her at my therapy. She had bad dreams too, we talked about some of them... and we've been best friends ever since." Carla looked at the clock again. "I'm sorry, I really have to go. I'll see you in a bit."

*CLICK*

"...Wow," said Cinder. "Just... wow."

"..."

"Did you hear all of that, Eren?" she asked. "It sounds... It sounds unbelievable."

"..."

Cinder was lost in the sea of possibilities, both good and bad, about her near future that she didn't notice Eren's silent demeanor.

He was so happy to have said everything he did to his mother, and his resolution to stop Salem was stronger than ever. But when he heard the name "Dina," Eren found himself at a crossroads. He only knew one person with that name, and the circumstances of her meeting Carla seemed too much to be a coincidence.

"It... It can't be her," he said to himself. "...Can it?"

---

As promised, Carla took both children home after her last day of work finally ended. She was forced to tell a white lie that she was bringing them home after they were discharged. This was true in Eren's case, since Carla still considered him her son. As for Cinder, Carla promised that she would have a home in Kuroyuri. She would open her home to Cinder if that was the case; Carla had done the same for Mikasa, once upon a time.

In the couple of days Carla had left in Argus, she showed Eren things that not even Cinder's books told him about. The first thing she showed him was something Eren saw in Darkness' vision. When she was asked about an invisible voice that disappeared, Carla showed Eren where the voice was coming from; an object called a "Scroll."

Carla explained that a Scroll was a primary means of communication with people across the Kingdom. She explained how she could "call" someone and they would have a conversation miles apart from each other. Eren was immediately impressed by this technology, as well as the fact that it was capable of taking photographs of him. Cinder had heard of Scrolls before, but she hadn't seen one before she met Carla.

The second thing Carla showed the children was called a "television," an object that displayed moving pictures for information and entertainment. Eren was impressed once again, as was Cinder. Both children were drawn to the moving pictures, so Carla showed them different channels they could watch.

One of the last things Eren learned was taught by both Carla and Cinder. When he saw a man with horns on his head like Darkness on the television, Eren became afraid and confused. But Carla and Cinder explained that he was a "Faunus," a person with animal features on their bodies. Eren was surprised by this, and he wondered what caused them to be like this. Carla didn't have the answers, but all she asked was that Eren didn't use their features as a reason to discriminate them.

"Was that what Darkness meant?" Eren wondered as he listened to Carla explain how some humans looked down on the Faunus for being who they were. "When he said there was a place like Paradis? People like the Eldians?"

Eren put this question and the others he had aside as the days passed. Before moving day came, Carla showed Eren and Cinder the city of Argus. She showed them the multiple places for essentials and entertainment alike, such as a grocery shop and a movie theater.

The last thing Carla showed them was the ocean, which was Eren's favorite part. He had explained to Carla that he saw it with Mikasa and Armin before, but this time was different. This time... it was better.

Eren knew he would miss Argus, but Carla assured him that Kuroyuri would be much better. The only one who doubted this was Cinder.

Cinder was happy to meet Carla and be with Eren, but she was nervous about leaving. Ever since Carla revealed that she was the daughter of farmers and that she planned to take over the business, Cinder was reluctant to leave. She only admitted this to Eren, who did everything he could to assure her that nothing bad would happen to her.

Carla, on the other hand, knew that something was bothering Cinder. She didn't pry into what was going on, but she knew the child was upset about something.

And this finally came up on moving day.

"Eren, put that down!" Carla said to her son. "For the last time, those boxes are too big for you!"

"I carried bigger stuff than this on Paradis!" Eren argued. "I'm fine, I can help!" Eren picked up a box and began to carry it, even though he stumbled a bit. He cursed himself for not having the same strength he did on Paradis, and he knew the only way he could develop it again was by working.

But Carla prevented that by picking up the box out of his hands.

"I appreciate the help, Eren, but the moving men will be here soon," Carla said as she put the box back down. "And I don't care how old you say you were, all I see is my ten year old son."

Eren relented when he saw that Carla was in the way of the other boxes. "Okay, okay," he said as he began to walk away. Both he and his mother were starting to see how things were starting to become like they were back home. Eren was a little more agreeable than he was on Paradis and he wasn't getting into fights, but the similarities were still there.

Still, Carla had to admit that it was nice to see Eren try to be helpful instead of confrontational. He may have looked like a little boy, but his mind had certainly matured. And so, Carla decided to give him a simple task.

"You know what would be helpful?" she asked.

Eren stopped walking when he heard his mother's voice. When he looked back at her, Carla gestured towards a melancholy Cinder. "She's been really quiet ever since the day started," she said. "Do you know what's going on?"

Eren only needed one look at Cinder to realize what his mother was talking about. "I think she's just nervous about moving," he said. "She was really excited about coming here."

"That's understandable, but that doesn't really look like nerves." Carla took a quick glance at Cinder again. "Was it something I said?"

"No, it's not that." Eren saw Cinder get up and move to a different area of the apartment; she hadn't even noticed that Eren was talking to his mother about her. But this gave Eren a chance to explain things a little better. "Mom... let's just say this isn't the first time she's lived at a farm."

Carla remembered that Eren had met Cinder at a farm, but she was still confused. "I remember. Wait, did something happen to her at the farm?"

"Well... nobody was really nice to her there. She's just scared that things will be like last time."

Carla looked back towards Cinder. "How long did she have to stay there?"

"A while. She was there before we even met. Her whole life, I think. It was the only home she knew and... she doesn't want things to be like that again."

"No, of course not." Carla smiled at Eren. "Thank you, Eren. I think I might be able to help."

Eren was willing to let Carla help Cinder, but he had a simple request. "Could we just keep all of that to ourselves?" he asked. "Cinder doesn't like to talk about it."

"I won't say a word," Carla promised. "Thank you, Eren."

"What are you going to do?"

"Come and see."

Eren followed Carla to Cinder, who was still keeping to herself. "Cinder?" Carla asked to get her attention. Once she had it, Carla smiled at the child. "Are you upset about us moving?"

Cinder's first reply was a shrug. "I... I don't know," she said as she moved to the ground.

Carla kneeled down to Cinder's level. "I know how scary it is. Leaving one place that's so amazing to find yourself somewhere else. It almost sounds like going to an entirely different planet."

"..."

Carla thought that this was a good example, and so did Eren. But Cinder didn't really express anything other than her gloom, so Carla tried again. "I know I've said you and Eren will love Kuroyuri, and I really think you will. I can't show you it right away... but I can give you something I got from Kuroyuri. Maybe it will help."

When Carla turned around to look at her boxes, Eren noticed that Cinder immediately backed away and put two hands to her neck. She had removed the necklace the Madame gave her at Atlas, but she remembered the last time she was "given" something.

"Hey, it's okay," Eren assured his friend. "Nobody's going to hurt you."

"..."

"Let's see..." Carla said as she dug through one box. "Here we go!" She pulled something out of the box and hid it behind her back before she turned around to Cinder. "Do you remember how I said my therapy helped with my dreams? Well, before that... I had something else to help me. Something my mother gave me years ago. I always found a reason to keep it with me, in case I ever got scared again. But I think you need her more than I do."

"..."

As Carla moved the object from behind her back, Cinder grew a little more nervous and skeptical of accepting something. However, her fears disappeared when she saw something completely new and harmless.

Instead of another shock collar, Carla had slowly pulled out a rag doll. It was something that Carla slept with every night she had bad dreams, and it only served as a memento to the woman. But this time, Carla hoped it would give Cinder the same comfort it gave her once upon a time.

Cinder put her hands down and moved closer to the doll with an observant look on her face. She examined the doll's triangle nose and sewn smile, which refused to disappear. The doll was old, but Cinder was entranced by it. She stopped walking when she was arms length from the doll, and was about to reach for it. But she stopped when Carla spoke again.

"I called her 'Vasilisa,'" she explained. "I had her when I was about your age. Dina actually has a doll like her too." Carla looked at her possession and smiled. "I always liked seeing her smile, day and night. It actually helped me sleep better after my bad dreams." Carla held out the doll further. "It's okay. Take her."

Cinder slowly took the doll and looked at the smile again. Carla's words replayed in her mind, and she began to realize how nice it was to see a constantly smiling face. The doll was smiling more in a few seconds than Cinder was all week. It was almost as if nothing was going to make Vasilisa unhappy.

"It's even better when you hug her," Carla included.

Cinder took the advice and hugged Vasilisa, embracing how soft she felt. She began to smile as she hugged the doll, and so did Eren. He wasn't interested in dolls or toys, but he was happy to see that Cinder was happy.

Once she stopped hugging the doll, Cinder began to hand it back to Carla. "Keep her," she said with a smile. "I think she looks better with you."

Cinder couldn't agree more.

---

Update: hey everyone. So this is our update to Chapter 5 we promised. We changed a lot here, mostly with Carla's presence. Dina Fritz will still be in our story, since she was an important character. Her role will just be a little different, that's all. You'll see that in the next chapter.

We hope you liked this chapter. Make sure you leave your thoughts in the comments before you go, your support and feedback is more important than you think. And we have another chapter of Beyond the Path coming up in the future, so keep an eye out. We hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Author's notes: thank you for being so patient. It's been hard to find time to write another chapter with finals going on. But I'm almost done so I made this. The Avenging Titan and his ideas helped me write everything faster so please support him. Hope you enjoy this chapter!