Reiner woke up suddenly, he felt extreme confusion and pain. It took a while for his mind to adjust. He only saw Pieck hovering over him.
"You've been in a coma for thirty years," she told him seriously.
Reiner was first alarmed but soon came back to his full faculties. The Warrior raised himself slightly from the hospital bed. "Then how come you still look exactly the same?" he questioned her.
"I just happen to have flawless skin," Pieck joked.
"It's been thirty days," Annie divulged, with arms crossed, staring straight at him from across the room. Reiner turned to her and she walked closer to the bed.
"Now you look even younger than I remember," Reiner noted, exaggerating his tone a little.
"That's impossible," Annie replied with a gentle eye-roll. She stood next to the hospital bed. "You just hit your head really hard," she explained.
The two comrades hadn't seen each other, in that dimension, in over four years.
"I think she looks a little taller," Pieck joked, humorously trying to measure Leonhart's height.
Reiner sat up straight, still trying to make sense of it all. And Annie rushed to hug him, she hugged him tight.
"Settle, settle," Reiner told her. "Don't break my ribs," he pleaded almost out of breath and voice, but actually pleased.
"Careful, Leonhart, he ain't got many of those left," Jean joked, standing on the end of the bed. Kirstein had his arms crossed, but he looked at Reiner smugly. He was happy to finally see him fully conscious.
Reiner looked around, he was glad to be alive, and glad to be surrounded by his friends. So he hugged Annie back tenderly.
"Don't go dying on me," she told him quietly, "you're the only one left."
"Excuse me?" Pieck asked with eyebrows raised high, almost offended.
"Well, you were never very close to our group," Annie told her, shrugging slightly as she finished that hug. "How are you feeling?" she then turned again to ask Reiner.
He sighed. "Like a building fell on top of me," Reiner explained sincerely.
"Well you broke quite a lot of bones," Pieck explained. "And your regeneration slowed down significantly, but you're still healing well it seems."
"You took quite a dive, man, it was scary," Jean relayed, uncrossing his bandaged up arms.
"He saved you," Pieck disclosed to her fellow Warrior, gently pointing her head towards Kirstein, and Reiner turned to him.
"It was a team effort. And I wasn't about to let another one of my friends drop to his death," Jean solemnly said.
Reiner looked down, clearly feeling very lost. "Thirty days?" he asked while scratching his head. "I was out this whole time?"
"You would wake up from time to time. We took turns looking after you," Annie explained. "You were hallucinating a lot."
"You kept calling out for Bertholdt, and your mother," Jean told him, the soldier then squinted slightly. "And who's Heidi?" he asked very curiously and Pieck slightly bumped him on the shoulder with a light admonishing side-eye. But Jean couldn't help but smile.
Reiner looked down again, searching those missing memories deep inside his consciousness. "I don't remember any of it," he confessed, holding his head. He still felt very confused.
"The doctor said it will still be a couple of months until you fully recover, but it seems you're in the clear," Pieck told him.
"You scared us a lot, the first few days were tough," Annie added.
"Most of the staff wasn't confident you would make it, but the doctor told us you would," Pieck continued. "That you were quite the fighter."
"Did it work?" Reiner inquired, hoping for the best. "I mean, if you're all alive here…" he trailed off.
"Oh, yeah," Jean told him confidently. "You slaughtered that monster, alright. You're going to be quite famous once you leave here. You already are."
"I don't think I did, I only remember falling," Reiner replied, scratching his head again, very confused.
"After the witch stopped moving, remember? She plummeted down to Earth," Pieck tried to help him.
"But what made her stop flying?" Reiner questioned. "I know it wasn't what I was doing."
"Oh, you're gonna love this. Floch used the petals to destroy the weird portal. The Marleans guided him to it," Jean told him more excitedly. "It weakened her."
"Who's Floch?" Reiner asked, still very lost.
"The weird ginger kid, who talked nonsense nonstop during training," Annie tried to jog his memory.
"Oh, I don't remember him," Reiner noted, he then looked down. "I don't remember anything, it seems," he added more quietly, and sighed. His brain was swirling in confusion.
"Don't worry, you'll recover," Pieck assured him more softly, gently grasping his shoulder.
"You two will have to share the glory," Jean continued. "Well, and Falco too. If you and him hadn't removed that witch from her Titan she would have probably survived that fall," he explained.
"Congratulations, you killed a nasty two-thousand-year-old witch," Pieck added.
"And Falco. I mean he's the Jaw, that helped a lot," Jean noted again.
Reiner's memory was jogged with the mention of the young Warrior. He looked around the room again. "Where's Gabi?" he asked.
"With Falco," Annie soon replied. "Probably galavanting somewhere in this damn island," she added annoyedly and with arms crossed.
"Galavanting?" Reiner questioned.
Annie sighed, also annoyedly. "I can't wait for you to be given the clear so we can finally leave. I'm sick of this awful place," she let out.
"You would be, you have been here long enough," Reiner noted with a small smile. He then laughed. "To be completely honest, I wasn't sure if you were still alive," he told her more joyously. Reiner was slowly returning to his natural charm as his mind gradually cleared.
"Didn't you come back here to take me back home?" she questioned him, with arms crossed.
He chuckled. "I came back here to kill Eren. But possibly taking you back home sure was an extra incentive," he commented with her.
-.-
Eren Yeager was in that same building. He had gone down to Shiganshina to visit a different patient. A patient who he had been very curious about through those passing four years. He went down to the basement to see "Frank" - the last Pure Titan they had encountered all those years ago, right before the Survey Corps expedition reached the ocean.
Commander Hange had not only named him, but she had also made sure to bring the motion-impaired creature back to this very Military Complex, outside of Shiganshina, to be thoroughly studied. After all the dust settled and the volcanoes stopped spewing lava, the Eldians finally were able to begin rebuilding their lives. And the Military soon discovered that not only the - alive - Paradisians who had been turned to Titans that day had gone back into human form. But also all the Pure Titans that they had been studying in those past four years had reverted to human form as well.
Falco had asked Arlert to go on the small expedition to the remains of Ragako, as he felt he owned Springer that much. The young boy assisted the small group of soldiers in finding the lost woman through the rubble of the city and in bringing her back to that very Military Complex. And the young Warrior was currently there, also in that basement - still assisting the confused woman, who insisted on calling him her son. But not necessarily in the same area as Yeager had gone down to, for all those frightened and confused people had been separated into different, pitch-black rooms.
Those Eldians were very lost since many of them had been Pure Titans for years, even decades. Contrary to the hundred thousand ones who had only become Pure Titans for less than a day and presented little side effects afterwards. A particular side effect that had intrigued Hange and the other scientists greatly was how much difficulty these older Pure Titans were having in getting accustomed to sunlight.
Connie's mother was slowly getting accustomed to it, and to the outside again. She had gone out of her room for a few strolls with Falco and Gabi, but only at night. She greatly enjoyed the company of those two young and lively souls. They reminded her of her own children.
But not "Frank", the man was still very lost and sunlight bothered him immensely. He stayed only in his dark room, trying to read the books Hange had given him only with the assistance of one small candle.
"No, I do not know my name yet," he immediately warned Yeager as he saw him approaching from the stairs. The lost man had been interrogated daily by the scientists, and he expected Eren was yet another curious inquisitor.
"Do you like 'Frank'?" Eren asked back charmingly as he climbed down the stairs, he smiled, hoping to ease the stranger into a good conversation.
"Not really," he sincerely told Yeager, with a small smile as well. "It doesn't feel like me."
The man looked down, feeling saddened with the thought, he then looked up to his visitor again.
The room was quite dark, but he could see Yeager was in formal military get-up. All tidy-up and serious-looking. Eren had even cut his hair shorter again, which made him look more like his father. Yeager was doing his best to look older and more mature, hoping it would help others respect him best in the new role he had taken on.
"I can leave if you want," Yeager suggested, noting how the man was perhaps a little bothered by being disturbed.
"No, please," he gestured to the opposite chair, inviting Eren to sit down. And Yeager reached to greet him.
"Eren Yeager," he presented himself and the man reached out to shake his hand.
"Oh, you're the boss," the man quietly commented.
Eren let out a small smile. "What are you reading?" he curiously inquired while sitting down, noting the many books in the corner of the table.
"Just some old tales, the glasses lady wants to see if it will help me remember from when and where I come from," the stranger told Eren, and he tilted his head. Eren had begun to notice how he truly had a very different accent, like the others had said. And it was almost too difficult to understand.
Yeager turned over to the pile of books and began to analyse them, picking them up and checking the titles near the small candle flame.
The man continued. "She wants to see if I recognise any of the old stories, if I have read or heard of them before. The thing is, I don't recognise any of them, at all. And it's getting frustrating."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Eren replied, he felt for the man.
Yeager had noticed how many of the books were very old. A couple of them were tales from five centuries before, and one was even from eight centuries before. Written in a version of Eldian that would be very difficult for a contemporary Paradisian to read. Eren immediately began to wonder why Hange had given him those. 'What is she looking for? What is she hoping to find here?' he questioned in his mind.
"Can you read this one?" He asked the man, picking up the oldest book in the pile.
The man picked it up from Yeager's hand and began to leaf through the pages. "It's a little better than these other ones," the man responded, pointing at some of the others in the pile. "But I don't recognise the story. I don't recognise any of these stories," he continued. He then looked up to see his visitor completely stunned.
"Yes, they always make this exact same face," he noted to Yeager with a small smile. "When is it from? They don't want to tell me," the man inquired and Eren looked down, scratching his slicked back hair.
"Maybe you were a scholar," Eren cogitated, hoping it to be a good explanation as to why the man could understand Middle Eldian so easily.
"Oh no, I was a soldier," the man replied firmly. "That I remember. Your outfit seems a little different from what I'd call a uniform but it clearly shows you are a soldier too," he noted to Yeager.
Eren scratched his hair again, almost completely ruining his serious, slick-back look. He turned to the side again, to that large book pile. "Why do you think Hange gave you all these books?" he questioned the man.
"I'd say to pass the time but that ain't just it, is it?" he questioned Yeager back, leaning back on his chair. The man began to cogitate. "Because of how I sound," he suggested. He himself could tell his Eldian accent was very different from the current Paradisian dialects he had heard from his visitors so far.
He then leaned forward on his chair, closer to the table and to Eren. "And because they asked me about 'The Walls' and I laughed," he relayed. "There were never any walls in Paradise! That is something I also know for sure." He told Eren confidently, the man then began to leaf through the many papers he had drawn himself. "I tried to draw what I remember from the island, but I'm not very good at that. It has all been very frustrating," he let out while grasping his many doodles.
"I'm sure things will come back to you eventually," Eren assured him, trying to give the lost man some hope.
He stopped. And calmly stored his drawings again into their leather binder. The man sighed earnestly, looking up again. "Thank you," he said. "For not killing me when I was in that state," he earnestly thanked Eren. "I have no idea how long I was like that for, but I know I always wanted to get out of it," he disclosed.
Eren tilted his head again, filled with compassion. "How do you remember you were a soldier?" he gently questioned.
The man scratched his head. "I don't, I just know I was," he told Eren. "I don't even remember my name, where I was born, I don't remember the age I was when I was turned into that thing. But I remember that." The man laughed. "That's military training for you," he said more cheerfully, "no matter the circumstances, it will never leave you."
"Was there a war going on then?" Eren then curiously asked.
"Yes. There's always a war going on," the stranger replied. "I was in a battle, I remember that. But my memories of it are still very vague," he disclosed. "I know I turned into that thing and then I woke up again-" The man stopped and looked to the stairs with dread.
He continued his account. "I saw the moon and it hurt me. It was just moonlight and it was so painful, so I buried my face in my hands and hid inside that black tarp they had used to cover the Titan I was in," he told his visitor. "I just cried, terrified the sun would eventually rise and the pain would be much worse, I actually wished to go blind," he sorrowfully disclosed.
"I'm sorry to hear it," Eren earnestly replied, quite upset by that retelling.
The man looked around the dark room. "Now they accommodated me nicely here, and I slowly got used to this little one," he told Yeager while pointing at the small candle.
"It's nice to see you're getting better," Eren replied more cheerfully. "One day you might see the outside," he hoped.
The man gave him a small, broken smile. "I'm sorry for being of little help. I'm sure you're all very curious, and so am I," he told Yeager.
"You've clearly been through hell and over," Yeager replied. "The least we can do is help you. I hope Hange wasn't too harsh with her experiments on you before."
"I don't remember any of that either," the man disclosed. "And I don't blame you. You just wanted to understand your enemy better."
"But you were never the enemy," Eren soon replied. "None of you ever were."
"In my experience anything that can eat you alive is an enemy," the man told him humorously. "Even if unintentionally."
"You were just used to others' gains," Eren maintained, "just weapons of war. I understand that now. I finally understood when I saw you," he disclosed.
The man was taken aback. "So is that why you're here?" he asked, realising his meaning to Eren.
"Well," Eren looked down, reflective. He looked up to the man again. "I guess I was just curious to know you, just like everyone else," he timidly disclosed.
"I'm sorry for not being so helpful in that, yet," the man earnestly replied. "I'm still trying to know myself as well."
Yeager smiled again and stood up. "I know you'll get there," he told the man while shaking his hand again. "It was nice to finally meet you."
"Thank you," the man told him solemnly. "For not giving up on me when I was a monster."
-.-
"You need to stop giving the others all the glory," Pieck gently commented with Jean as she cleaned his grafted burns so as to change his bandages. Both Kirstein's hands and much of his wrists had been badly burned during their last encounter with the witch. "You cut her limbs," Pieck added more cheerfully.
They were sitting in the Complex's garden, enjoying the cold morning among the trees and flowers. That table was a nice spot, still close enough to the medical wing and also well illuminated. Pieck was already used to changing Kirstein's bandages; she had done it a few times after the nurses taught her how to.
He sighed, staring at his burned hands. "All I did was mark the spot for you," he noted. "A beast that size? I wasn't even making a dent with my tiny swords! You were the one who yanked her limbs off," Jean insisted. "Aarhg!" he let out as Pieck gently pinched his palm.
She looked up at him annoyed. "It is what you said: it was a team effort, now stop selling yourself short," she complained.
Jean looked to the side, reflective. "Any news from Arlert?" she asked while bandaging his hands up.
"No, nothing yet," Jean replied. "It might be like Levi said in his last telegram, they might never find him," he complained upsettingly. "I should be out there looking too."
"So it can go as well as last time?" Pieck questioned. Kirstein had collapsed in high fever in the first expedition after the battle with the witch. He had insisted on going to look for Connie's remains, but collapsed early in the journey. "You need to let yourself heal, Jean," she reminded him.
"I just want to find him," he told Pieck brokenly. "He deserves a proper burial."
"At least you get to bury your friends," she commented while finishing binding his new bandaging. "I never had the luxury to."
"I'm sorry about Porco. I know I don't say it enough," Jean told her sincerely.
"It's fine," she replied. "I'm sure he was happy in the end, he was happy it was Falco," Pieck told him more cheerfully, but still a little broken. She looked up at Jean to see him still saddened and too reflective. "Now stop with all this survivor's guilt," she sternly advised.
"It's not survivor's guilt," he soon argued. "It's logic. I should never have survived-"
"Stop saying that," Pieck was quick to admonish him.
"You are all Shifters!" Jean maintained his argument.
"So? It shows your resilience and your skill," Pieck insisted.
"It shows my luck," Jean soon countered.
Pieck leaned back in her garden chair and looked up at him more inquisitively. "I don't believe in luck. I know all things happen for a reason," she told him.
Jean let out a small laugh. "What?" Pieck asked indignantly.
"I remember being at your end," he began to explain, "back when we battled, well- you. And the others; all those years ago. Floch was the sole survivor, among hundreds. He struggled with it a lot," Jean reminisced. "I remember wanting to help, even though we weren't very close. I wanted to get him out of all that darkness and depression and I had no idea how to," Jean disclosed, staring intently at the lovely garden, he then turned to Pieck. "Now I know exactly how he feels… and you assumed my place," he told her quietly.
"Would you ever have thought I would?" Pieck asked back, she leaned closer to the garden table. "That I would be the one here trying to console your sorrows?" She held his bandaged hands gently.
"I collected all those rocks," the Warrior reminded him, gently playing with his fingers, she was quite contemplative while she divulged. "I made sure they would be good enough to slaughter all those soldiers once the Beast threw them. And now I am here," she told Jean, then looked down at their hands as she grasped his softly.
"Now we are here…" she said quietly. Pieck looked solely to their hands, avoiding his eyes, she too felt very guilty. "I'm sorry," she told him in a whisper. 'I certainly paid the price for my sins,' she thought.
"We are here," Jean repeated, also grasping her hands. "And we stopped an evil being from destroying our entire Planet!" he reminded her. "Together."
Jean let out another small laugh. "Lord knows, all I wanted to do once I got to Marley was to kill you," he told her among his chuckling. He sighed, Jean was now a little more cheerful.
"Perhaps you're right about Fate and Reason," he began to realise, staring intently at the trees dancing in the calm winds. "Somehow Floch survived that day," Jean noted. "Despite the mercilessness Yeager showed and your mercilessness in helping him. Floch still survived and no one else."
Jean laid back on his garden chair. "I don't think I could have been as brave as he was," he told Pieck sincerely. "He saved us. All of us. I hoped he realised that at the end, he was a hero after all." Jean then gave Pieck a small smile. "He survived all those rocks for a reason," he told her cleverly.
'So perhaps I'm still here because I'm destined for something more,' Jean then wondered in his mind. That thought gave him peace.
He looked towards Pieck again, he could tell she was lost in thought, that conversation had clearly brought up her own guilt. "Are you all right?" he gently asked her.
She looked back at him with broken but also slightly mocking eyes. "I killed your people. You killed my people-" she began to say and Jean interjected.
"Hey, all is fair in love and war," he told her charmingly.
"Love?" Pieck soon questioned with eyebrows raised.
"Why not?" he questioned back, still charmingly.
"I do not love you, Kirstein," she firmly affirmed.
"You don't?" he questioned her, lifting up the bandage hands she had just treated so carefully. "My hands still smell like pure putrefaction and you still change my bandages daily," he cleverly argued.
"That doesn't mean I love you," she maintained, with arms crossed, shaking her head full of certainty.
"Love doesn't need to mean romance, Finger," Jean argued back. "It comes from caring about others."
Pieck leaned back on her chair again, still with arms crossed. "All right, I care about you," she conceded. "Are you satisfied?"
He gave out a small smile and looked down, reflective but gleefully. So she decided to surprise him with a kiss. He kissed her back in pure delight and they both laughed and continued kissing each other joyously.
It was a precious moment for the two of them, so after quite a few kisses they stared intently at each other, in the joy of that garden. Jean leaned in closer, resting his forehead on hers gently and they both closed their eyes, both in deep elation.
"Argh," Eren let out, standing next to their table. "You can't keep it in your pants, can you, Kirstein?" he let out in annoyance.
Jean opened his eyes and slowly turned to look up at Eren. "You are the one to talk," he sharply replied.
Pieck looked away, slightly embarrassed but also annoyed by Eren's presence. She began to organise all the medical supplies over the table, tucking everything away, into the medical kit. Hoping to leave.
Jean stood up with authority, firming his bandaged hands on the garden table. "What are you doing here, Eren?" he firmly questioned Yeager. "And why are you even dressed in uniform? You shouldn't be allowed to."
Kirstein himself was only wearing his brown civilian coat, for he was off duty, still recovering.
"I'm just doing my rounds. Checking if everything is in order," Eren explained.
"Order? You should be in prison. You shouldn't be allowed in this Complex, this is Military ground," Jean firmly replied, pointing at the table with his bandaged finger.
"This is my Military Complex, just as all the others," Eren soon told him. "And I would advise you to lower your tone, soldier," Yeager firmly said.
Jean looked down to see all those new stripes and a couple of medals on Eren's uniform.
"Argh," he let out. "Historia shouldn't be allowed to make decisions while in that state," Jean complained.
"The Queen is very wise and she follows her people's wishes," Eren told him in full authority.
"Her people's wishes?" Pieck questioned, deciding to join in that argument. She leaned back on her chair. "I always thought Paradisians were stupid but now I know for sure." She told Eren, crossing her arms in pure mockery.
"She just doesn't want her children growing up with a deadbeat rebel, foot soldier for a father." Jean argued, looking Eren straight in the eyes. "But something tells me all this makeup won't last for very long."
Eren looked away, sighing in annoyance. He ignored Jean and turned to Pieck. "When are you leaving?" he questioned the Warrior.
"We are just waiting for Reiner to recover. Believe me, I do not want to stay a minute longer on this damned island than I ought to." Pieck firmly replied, still with crossed arms.
"He can go on a ship later on his own," Eren argued back. "The sooner you are out of here the better." He told Pieck threateningly.
"Don't talk to her like that!" Jean warned him firmly. "She helped us finally defeat that monster. What did you do to stop the world from ending?" he questioned Yeager, staring him down. "You have done nothing apart from protecting your own spawn."
Eren just ignored Jean's authoritative slander once more. He turned to focus on Pieck again. "You killed my brother," Eren said to her in pure anger.
"Yes," Pieck replied, she tilted her head. "Considering the nature of your relationship I wouldn't think you'd have a problem with that," she noted.
"He was still my brother," Eren maintained in anger.
"So what?" Pieck asked. "I did the entire world a great service in doing so," she argued. "I thought it would upset me but in the end it didn't," Pieck disclosed. "He should know well not to betray me," she added and Jean only raised his eyebrows. "He deserved to die and he knew so himself in the end."
"You don't get to make that call," Eren argued in anger. "It wasn't your place."
"Why are you so upset over it? The two of you were never even close," Pieck questioned the younger Yeager, then thought about it. "Was that what took away your Founding Powers?" she cogitated, and laughed joyously. "I should get a medal for that," Pieck then joked.
"That was not what happened," Eren countered her.
"Wasn't it?" Pieck questioned. "You both died together. Only he was not so lucky as you were to transform again before too late," Pieck argued.
"Reiner should have eaten you. Or perhaps Falco, the world would be much better. Especially if it had been Falco," she told Eren sternly. Pieck then turned to Kirstein. "And you think you don't deserve being here, Jean? This one only deserved to 've been locked away in hell," Pieck said, turning to Eren again. "You should never have come back," she told Yeager, staring firmly into his eyes.
Eren's eyes were drenched in pure fury. He leaned in towards her very threateningly and Jean pushed him away. "Hey!" Kirstein warned. "You better get out of here before I throw your fake medals in the gutter."
"One more word and I'll discharge you," Eren threatened back in full authority.
"Oh, I'll gladly give the Army my resignation," Jean rebuked. "I won't ever serve under your rule."
The two old friends stared at each other intensely, getting ready for a brawl.
"Stop it!" Reiner firmly warned the two, standing in between them. Their conversation had been so intense that none of them had noticed the recovering man approaching with his crutches.
"What are you doing walking?" Eren immediately asked, clearly worried. "You broke forty-three bones."
"How do you even know how many bones I've broken when even I don't?" Reiner asked back.
"He's called everyday to check up on you," Jean told Reiner reluctantly.
"Reiner, you need to go back to bed," Pieck warned him while standing up, also filled with concern.
"I'm tired of lying down," Reiner complained back. "I wanted to see the outside."
Reiner's presence had strangely calmed down Eren and Jean's nerves. It brought their spirits back into their regiment days.
Eren sighed. "Any news on Connie's search?" he calmly asked Jean.
"Why don't you ask Armin?" Jean asked him back, clearly still annoyed and hoping to provoke. "He's been leading that."
Reiner let out a small smile, and asked Eren. "He's not talking to you, is he?"
Eren sighed annoyedly. "Just go back to bed, Reiner." He told his old friend.
"Not a chance," Reiner refused. "I'm going for a walk," he added, walking further into the garden.
"Reiner, wait!" Pieck let out. "Put that back for me, will you?" she asked Jean, giving him the medical kit.
"Yes, ma'am," Kirstein soon replied, nodding gently at her. And he and Yeager then watched her go after their recovering friend.
Eren looked down to that medical kit and to Jean's bandaging. "I'm sorry about your hands," he genuinely told his old friend.
"Yeah, it's a bummer that I can't regenerate," Jean began to joke. "But it's funny to think that now: neither can you."
Kirstein left the garden, going back into the building again and Eren stayed there, observing Reiner and Pieck for a moment. It was quite comical watching Pieck trying her best to convince Reiner to sit down in one of the benches. Eren let out a small smile, strangely feeling amused about them. And secretly happy that they were all fine.
-.-
Annie could hear Hitch's loud laughter faded from afar, and it made her curious. She couldn't find the source of the sound so she began to climb down the stairs in that Military Complex, going in the direction of the basement. The Warrior found the origin of all the gleeful noise. She curiously watched her friend cheerfully conversing with one of the old experiments. Annie let out a small smile and went back upstairs, to wait until Hitch came back up with that empty food tray.
"You do love fraternising with your prisoners," the Warrior commented, surprising her MP friend.
Hitch was first startled, but she soon had a response. "I usually do better with the ones who are not mass murderers," she sharply replied.
"How do you know he's not?" Annie questioned. "No one knows anything about this man," she noted. "He might as well be."
"Lars is a good person," Hitch countered, annoyedly putting the empty food tray to the side. "He's not like you or any of your murderous friends," she argued back.
Annie raised her eyebrows. "I thought the scientists had named him Frank," she immediately noted.
Hitch opened her eyes widely for a moment, realising her slip. But soon replied. "I decided to call him Lars."
Annie crossed her arms with a clever smile and Hitch sighed, realising her quick lie had been unconvincing. "How old is he?" The Warrior questioned.
Hitch was annoyed, she had been caught. But she decided to divulge. "If you are referring to the age he is from, then you should know he lived over three hundred eyes ago." She told Annie very quietly.
"That's a lot." Annie noted. "Why are you keeping that from Hange and her team?" she questioned.
"Because I respect him. It's not my life, not my secret to tell," Hitch soon replied. She continued, crossing her arms and legs and leaning sideways on the stone wall. "He doesn't want to tell anyone here yet. He doesn't trust anyone in this place, which is fair if you consider the amount of torture he had to endure. When he's ready he'll come forward with his truths, he just wants time to heal."
"Okay, I understand, it must not have been easy living in hell for that long," Annie conceded. "Why are you telling me then?" she asked the MP.
"You're the only friend I have," Hitch replied with a slight shrug.
"Fair," Leonhart conceded with a small eyebrow raise. She thought more about it. "How old is he really? I can't really tell," she decided to probe.
"When he, well, died - for lack of a better word. He was twenty-seven," Hitch relayed.
"That is… sad," Annie genuinely noted. "I wasn't a Pure Titan for long, but I don't wish that on my worst enemy. Three hundred years must have felt like an eternity."
"He's very glad to be back, and I just want to cheer him up," Hitch told her sincerely.
"Must be quite a change then, warden," Annie joked coldly. "You spent four years only pestering me with your hate."
"Not my fault," Hitch rebuked. "Lars is a good person and he didn't choose his curse," the MP argued. "You're a cold-hearted murderer who quarantined herself on purpose-"
"I did not," Annie immediately countered, stopping her friend in her tracks.
Hitch dropped her joking tone. "What will you do now? Now that you're free?" she genuinely questioned her friend.
"What do you think? I need to see my dad," Annie soon replied.
"Sure, but that's it? What are your life plans beyond that?" Hitch asked further.
"I don't know," Annie replied coldly.
"Seeing your dad can't be your only plan," Hitch proceeded. "You're free now and there's so much you can do."
"Meeting my father is the priority," Annie maintained.
"What about after that? Will you go explore the world like 'you know who' invited you to?" Hitch questioned more cheerfully, giving the Warrior a gentle side-bump.
Annie only side-eyed her, deeply annoyed.
"Come on! It sounds so romantic," Hitch insisted.
"He didn't invite me to do such a thing," Annie told her off more seriously. "And even if he had, it wouldn't be romantic," she maintained.
"Oh, yes it would. Don't be a bummer, come on," Hitch complained. "Why can't you just enjoy life a little?"
But her protests were of no avail. Annie only rolled her eyes and turned away. She walked off, in the direction of the large garden.
"Send me a postcard from Ninua!" Hitch still cheerfully yelled as she waved her hand goodbye. But Annie only ignored her and went outside.
-.-
Captain Levi led this particular excursion, he was being accompanied by Onyankopon and a few dozens of veterans from the Survey Corps and other military branches. They were in a particular section of the Maria Region, analysing the fallen villages and taking notes. No survivors found so far, not even bodies to bury. The Ackermann supposed that the people in those regions had run off into the open fields during the intense earthquakes, like most Paradisians did. And since a month had passed and they hadn't returned, it probably meant they had died elsewhere.
The expedition was about to leave the region when they saw a large group of soldiers coming out from the open woods. The group seemed quite beaten, it was clear they had been living in all that wreckage for a while. The Ackermann and the others soon raised their rifles, for the men were wearing Marlean uniforms.
"We're Eldians!" Carlisle frantically shouted, and repeated, with arms raised high. "We're Eldians! Please don't shoot."
-.-
The Ackermann went over to the Trost Region, to relay that information to his Commander. And was surprised to find Hange seemingly having a nice afternoon tea with none other than Tremblay himself.
She invited the Captain to join them.
"I can't believe you ordered them to jump out," she commented with the old army veteran while Levi took a seat.
"Hey, I gave them all parachutes," Tremblay argued back. "I just didn't want my airships destroyed. We knew they becoming Pure Titans was inevitable. It was just a matter of time."
"Well, most of your ships were still destroyed regardless," Hange reminded him while drinking some of her tea. "By the force field."
"Oh, so is that what we are calling it?" Levi asked while pouring himself some tea.
"Makes sense, doesn't it?" Hange asked him back with a smile.
"We didn't know what that barrier was, it took a few tries to understand it and finally stand down," Tremblay explained, fixing up his few hairs with some confusion. "Not that I'll ever understand all this Eldian magic anyway."
"We found over five hundred men so far, all from the fallen Marlean battalion," Levi relayed to the Commander. "Counting mine and Arlert's expedition findings."
"All Eldians regardless," Hange soon reminded him. "They can choose to return to the wider continent if they desire. An option that is not available for Mr. Tremblay here and the rest of his men. But I'm sure we can come to a pleasurable agreement," she noted, turning to Tremblay.
"If you want to absorb my men into your Army-" Tremblay began to offer but Hange interjected.
"That is not quite what the Queen has in mind," the Survey Corps Commander noted. "I received a letter from her just yesterday. It seems she has no intention in expanding the Paradisian Army. She wants the refugees to receive pardon and to be able build their lives here. After all, they have no other option."
Tremblay was a little taken aback by that. "Am I included in this pardon?" He questioned in disbelief, after he had made killing Queen Historia his personal vendetta for those past three years.
"You guided Forster to the portal," Hange reminded him. "I believe none of us would be here otherwise. You could have refused to help, but you didn't. You sensed the right path and chose it. And I commend you for that."
Tremblay looked down, feeling conflicted, but also relieved. He knew growing old in the ultimate enemy territory wouldn't be easy. But he was glad to have kept his head intact and still attached to his neck. He also had a promise to fulfil, the promise he had made to Floch. And that memory made the old army veteran even more reflective.
"So the Marleans are all pardoned, and the Eldian-Marleans can leave if they want?" Levi asked, crossing his legs and leaning back on that sofa. "Do you think they will?" he asked Hange.
"Some of them might," she conceded. "But from the stories we heard so far, they didn't have the best life in the continent. So it wouldn't surprise me if most of them decide to stay, to begin new lives here." Hange thought about it. "And don't forget the Queen's big announcement that is soon to happen," she added.
The Commander turned to Tremblay again.
"I had news that the Warriors intend to leave," she relayed. "I hope you won't be opposed to that," the Commander commented.
"They can do whatever they want," he soon replied, "come and go as they please. I'm stuck on this Island, so I better make the best of it." Tremblay added.
-.-
A few days passed and Queen Historia made her first world-wide announcement. The recording was circulated through many radio stations and was the first time the world was hearing her young voice. But certainly not the last.
She relayed the situation in the island, thanking the Marlean forces who helped the Eldians combat such Evil. The Queen also asked for the countries to not object to any Eldian citizens who might want to come to their island. She solemnly invited all the children of Ymir to come live in their paradise for it had been built for them. And not long after many started coming in droves, looking for refuge. The Army was in charge of organising the new citizens who now doubled the previous population of the Island, despite all the dead.
The other countries were glad to send off those citizens, especially now that it had been proven that they could no longer become Pure Titans and were of no use to them. And they were too busy with their own internal turmoils to worry about that strange race of humans. Marley had lost power and control over most of their current empire; the wars and revolutions were spreading all over the great continent. It was mayhem and the Eldians were glad to be given a way out of that.
The Island was in peace, and prospering. The people were struggling but feeling brightened and inspired to rebuild their lives. The next harvests were the best Paradise had even seen, after the volcanoes had fertilised their lands intensely of course.
There was a happy sense of life-rebuilding going through all the Paradisians that was represented by the birth of the Queen's two children. The babies became a symbol of survival and the tales of Queen Historia giving birth and fiercely defending her small newborns from the invaders spread like wildfire through all the regions. "I expected nothing less from her," most of the Eldians said. "She cut off her own tyrant father's head."
"That's our Queen!" All of them rejoiced.
-.-
The Lighthouse
[ Mid-January, 855 ]
Mikasa was happily taking care of her sunflowers in her vast garden. The Ackermann had removed herself from that chaotic aftermath, she retired her swords and went in search of tranquillity. She rejoiced in her sumptuous fortress. Mikasa smiled as she watched over her toddler. Azzy was cheerfully playing with a very colourful kite. He ran fast across the sand, the toddler was very cheerful, looking up to his kite and admiring how high that paper could fly in those strong shore winds.
The boy was getting closer to his third birthday. Mikasa reached down, to feel Sonnenblume growing inside of her. The mother was now five months pregnant.
"You'll be born in Spring, my sunflower," Mikasa gently whispered.
She then began to hear the motor sound. Coming through the sand, getting louder. "Don't run to the edge!" she firmly shouted to Azzy and the boy stopped in his tracks. The mother then extended her hand for the boy to come to her instead. Mikasa was afraid he would go towards the large - and deep - trench at the edges of their home.
Azzy came rushing towards her excitedly, cheerfully bringing his kite with him. They held hands and walked towards the tunnel, to wait for the father's arrival.
Armin went down one of his many large tunnels with that brand-new car. That entrance, like all the others, had been concealed before. But he had now left it wide open, for Armin had no intention of concealing his Lighthouse anymore. He and his family had no intention of living there for much longer, and they didn't see any threats coming their way in the few weeks they still had left in Paradise Island. The large trench was also of no use anymore, since Pure Titans had ceased to exist. But Armin couldn't do anything about that, since he also couldn't turn into a Titan anymore. So the large, empty space had to remain empty.
The deep tunnel was made out of pure Titan Crystal and it beautifully illuminated his way as he passed through with that fast machine, reflecting its headlights. Armin was thinking about his precious construction as he passed through all that glimmering crystal. He was cogitating closing off the tunnel entrances permanently. So their home could be isolated and protected from invaders, in case they one day decided to return. "But that is highly unlikely," he let out under his breath, and sighed. Arlert was now emerging from the tunnel, arriving at his home.
Azzy promptly gave Mikasa his colourful kite, for safekeeping of course, and the mother put it to the side. The boy was shaking and jumping up and down with his little legs. He was extremely excited as the big machine emerged, coming out on their side of the crystal tunnel. The toddler rushed towards his father as soon as he stepped out of the big metal thing.
"You need to learn how to drive this thing," Armin commented with Mikasa as he held the boy in his arms. Azzy was curiously looking inside the vehicle from over his father's shoulder.
Arlert could note her disinterest while he closed the car's door. "Kiyomi sent it to you," he soon reminded her.
"Perhaps after Sonnenblume is born," she conceded.
He gave her a small smile and turned to their boy. "So, are you ready?" he cheerfully asked Azzy.
"Ready for what?" Mikasa questioned warily.
"We've discussed this," Armin replied seriously.
"And I said I don't agree. I don't think we should try this," Mikasa soon argued, clearly upset and worried. "I won't let you put him in this position. What if he kills someone?" she questioned in a wary whisper.
"He won't. We'll guide him through it," Armin insisted.
"I don't think it's right," Mikasa maintained.
"Mikasa, we are still trying to understand what that barrier is," he told her calmly. "But if it works the way it seems to, then we need to see if Azzy can really trump it. He might be the only way out for the regular folk. I'm not intending to make our child a method of transport. You know that. But we need to know we can have his help if it is ever needed."
"This is madness," Mikasa insisted. "And you promised you would never run experiments on him," she hastily whispered. All while Azzy was already climbing out of his father's arms and through the fancy car's window.
Armin looked back for a moment as the boy was already playing around on the leather seats. "Don't break anything," he warned, turning to Mikasa again. "It's not an experiment and he has done this before. On this very beach, with Connie," he argued with opened arms. "I know you remember that."
Mikasa looked down, she still seemed upset and reluctant.
He reached for her hand. "Hange won't be there, it will be just us and the Warriors-" Armin gently said, to comfort her, for he had promised from the start that he wouldn't let Hange and her team of scientists anywhere near Azzy, let alone know of his abilities.
"The Warriors are all Eldians, what would be the point?" Mikasa hastily interjected.
"And our volunteer," Armin finished his sentence.
-.-
"This seems absolutely unnecessary," Reiner grumpily commented while sitting on his wheelchair again. He was beyond tired of it.
"Settle down, Braun, your femur still needs some time," Onyan joked with him. "It's not fully healed yet."
"Are you ready?" Annie turned to ask him.
"Not really. I could die," Onyankopon replied, clearly nervous, but trying to maintain the humour. "Do you have my bucket?" he asked.
She took the small, wooden bucket and placed it on Reiner's lap. "It will be ready for you," she told Onyan. "See you on the other side!" Annie added more cheerfully, and began to push Braun's chair.
Reiner raised up the little bucket. "Good luck!" He wished to Onyan, also very cheerfully, as they began to move.
"Are you sure the chair will pass through?" Braun briefly cogitated while Annie pushed him forward on the chair.
"I mean, we know we can pass through with our clothes," she noted, still moving. Leonhart didn't even consider slowing down after his comment, and they soon crossed through the enormous gate.
They both looked up for a moment, as they passed through that barrier. The intertwining of all those crystals in that giant gateway was a breathtakingly beautiful sight. The many crystals reflected the light of that early morning entrancingly.
"Wood, cloth, even metal have been proven to pass through," Armin immediately answered Reiner's doubts as they emerged on the other side. "Projectiles and explosives definitely cannot," he continued to tell them the new findings. "We also know now that what looks to be a semi-sphere is actually a full sphere. The barrier goes down, clearly very deep underneath the earth. Paradise is completely isolated from the outside world."
"Any theories as to why projectiles and explosives can't pass through?" Reiner questioned Arlert. "It seems very war-specific," he commented.
"Not yet," Armin replied. "But I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. I refuse to blame it on magic," he told the Warrior reluctantly.
"You refuse?" Reiner immediately asked back, baffled. "Have you been through all the same things I have? You're not just an Eldian, you're a Titan Shifter, and yet you refuse to believe in magic?" he questioned.
"Magic is just a lazy way to explain things. I believe everything has a true, logical explanation," Armin argued while holding up his little son.
Reiner turned to him with one eyebrow raised. "What is your kid about to do again?" he questioned, trying to hold in his laughter.
"He is just going to jump for a quick stroll in the Titan Realm with our friend," Armin said, nodding to Azzy and the small boy nodded back. Azzy was gently scratching his ear and hair. The toddler was a bit confused, but he understood the assignment.
Armin turned to Reiner again. "And came back here," he added, then turned, pointing at Mikasa. "To mummy," he said, nodding again and the boy also nodded back.
"And that's not magic?" Reiner asked, leaning back on that wheelchair with a wide grin, he was extremely amused.
"All of us Shifters can do that walk mentally, Azzy just has the extra ability to walk there physically; and to also use that to move differently in there within correlation with our world. Thus reappearing in a different place from where he first left," Armin calmly explained.
"Oh, is it just?" Reiner asked, still very much amused.
"Can we just get on with it?" Annie interjected, annoyed. "We have a boat to catch."
Armin nodded and went with the boy across the gate.
"You seem more nervous than I am," Mikasa gently commented with the Warrior.
"What?" Annie slowly turned to ask her in surprise, for she was previously lost in thought.
.
Azzy immediately noted a small insect across the grass as he left his father's arms. "A cricket!" he shouted excitedly, pointing at the animal.
"Yes, small Azymondeus, it is a very green cricket," Onyankopon told him cheerfully. He gently kneeled down in front of the boy. "You know, in my land we call you 'The Wanderer'," he softly told the boy.
"The character, you mean?" the father gently asked as Onyankopon stood up again. "I didn't know you also had those books," Arlert commented.
"Yes, I used to read them as a child," Onyan told him with a small smile. He turned and held the small boy's tiny hand.
"Now, are you ready-" Armin was about to ask, but Azzy had already built up all his otherworldly energy and Arlert turned to already see those two on the other side of the gate. "You are getting better at this," the father quietly commented, secretly concerned.
Azzy reappeared with the foreigner right in front of his mother, and rushed towards her. Onyankopon only dropped down on his knees, feeling completely dizzy, his entire world was turning.
"It works!" Reiner shouted from his chair, with arms raised high.
Annie rushed to aid the man, carrying the little bucket. "How are you feeling?" she asked Onyan as he threw up intensely, trying to aim on the thing. "Glad to not have died," he eventually told her, still feeling completely hazed.
Azzy opened up his small hand and showed the foreigner the green cricket that they had seen hopping on the grass on the other side of the Wall.
"Now it's free too," the toddler told Onyankopon, letting the small insect hop away. Onyan was at awe as he witnessed the small creature hop away from the boy's hand - covered in bright blue dust. The cricket disappeared into the bushes.
Azzy smiled at him.
"No, my darling," Mikasa gently corrected her boy. "The cricket is free to go wherever it wants," she softly told him while fixing up his hair. The mother then picked her boy up in her arms again.
"Indeed it is," Onyan agreed, standing up again. Still dizzy, but clearly much better. "But it was noble of you to bring the small creature on this journey with us, Small Wanderer," he told the toddler fatherly and more cheerfully. For he could see the boy looked confused and almost afraid he had done something wrong. Onyan wanted to appease him.
"Was it? I feel bad for the cricket," Annie quietly commented, immediately throwing Onyan's efforts away. He turned to her with some reprove but she only smiled at him cleverly.
But it didn't matter, Azzy was already distracted. He had forgotten about the cricket as soon as it disappeared into the bushes. The boy was now focusing on the flock of birds flying high up in the morning sky.
"So, how was it?" Armin shouted cheerfully as he nonchalantly walked back through that barrier. Arlert was of course an Eldian so the force field had no impact on him whatsoever.
"Not as bad as I expected. But I am never doing this again," Onyan replied, putting his hands on his hips. "I'm glad I don't have to," he added, and turned to the toddler again. "Thank you," he said, sincerely.
"So you never want to go back to the island? Even if the kid can give you a lift?" Reiner asked curiously.
"Thank you," Onyan repeated, "truly, my boy, thank you." The foreigner turned to Reiner. "But no. If I ever come back here, I'd rather just stay outside of the Wall."
Onyan then turned to Armin, who was now arriving closer to the group. "Arlert, I don't think this is a good idea," he relayed, "for anyone. It was harrowing, I do not recommend you try again with others."
"Good, because that was never the plan," Mikasa immediately said, holding her baby boy closer. "You were the exception." she revealed.
"Oh," Onyankopon let out, surprised. "Thank you," he gently told the mother. "I could never have spent my entire life here, without seeing my homeland again," he told Mikasa and turned to see the rising sun. "Without seeing the world again," the man added solemnly.
"I understand," Mikasa replied. She felt similarly.
Armin gently grabbed the foreigner's shoulder. "Good luck out there," he wished him sincerely.
"Where's Pieck?" Reiner asked, looking around the area.
"Argh," Annie grunted, going towards their coach. "If she wants to stay I couldn't care less," Leonhart let out as Onyankopon approached, pushing Reiner's wheelchair.
"I thought you two were friends," the foreigner noted gently.
"It's her life, it's on her if she wants to stay in this backwards place," Annie soon replied as they readied themselves to carry Reiner up.
"Ok. Enough of this," Reiner complained, trying to push them away. "I'm not a child."
Annie leaned closer to his face, very threateningly. "If you break your healing leg again trying to play tough, I'll gladly break the other one," she seriously whispered. "Let him help you," she added, pointing with her chin at Onyankopon.
Reiner sighed reluctantly as Leonhart opened the coach door and the foreigner carefully helped him up to his seat.
"You're one tough cookie, aren't you?" Onyankopon gently told Leonhart as they closed the coach door. Annie only grunted and rolled her eyes. And walked away, to the other side of the coach, so she could enter through the other door.
Reiner charmingly leaned on his open window. "Why do I have a feeling you like tough cookies?" he gently whispered.
Onyan only looked away, he turned, with no reply. "Finger! We'll leave in five minutes!" he shouted and went to check on the horses, taking on his driver's seat.
.
"I think they're leaving," Jean noted, looking from a small corner, on the other side of the Wall.
"They won't leave without me," Pieck objected, and kissed him again. She then turned, "oh, but did it work?" she wondered, looking from that small corner as well, into the large gate.
"I don't know, I wasn't really paying attention but it seems it did," Jean noted then turned to kiss her again.
"When are you coming to see me really?" she asked, looking up at him as Kirstein hovered over her.
"I need to spend at least a couple of months with my folks, I need to help them rebuild their house," he told her sincerely.
"Why don't you bring them with you?" Pieck asked, hoping he was willing to build his life with her, away from the Wall.
Jean scratched his head. "I don't think it would be very easy, but I'll see if I can convince them," he conceded. Jean too didn't see a future inside that Wall. "Can I write to you?" he asked.
Pieck crossed her arms, "I'd rather see you in person," she told him seriously.
"Don't worry about it, I can come and go. I'm not trapped here," Jean told her and leaned in closer. "I'll be there soon enough," he told her in a gentle whisper.
"How are you going to find me?" Pieck wondered.
"Oh, I have my own spy skills," he charmingly told her, leaning in to kiss her again.
"Finger! We'll leave in five minutes!" They both heard Onyankopon shout from the other side of the Wall.
"Well, he survived," Pieck joked. She turned to kiss Jean on the cheek. "Please come find me," she whispered romantically in his ear.
"I will," he replied, looking deep into her eyes. He caressed her long, jet-black hair one last time, watching it dance in the wind as she ran off.
Pieck crossed the barrier.
.
"Well, she's happy," Arlert commented as they watched Finger rush by, in the direction of the carriage.
She cheerfully sat beside Onyankopon. "Sail away!" Pieck joked with him.
"This is a coach," Reiner replied annoyedly from the back, he had his arms crossed. "We are still on land."
"Don't be so grumpy, plaster boy," Pieck joked, looking back.
"You're a mess," Annie noted, about Pieck's clothing and hair.
Finger only winked charmingly at her as they began to move.
The travellers were making their way to the harbour, to sail away from Paradise.
.
"She kick me, mum!" Azzy suddenly told Mikasa, a little scared and slightly offended. "Again!" he shouted, with his blue eyes opened wide in surprise.
Mikasa laughed. "Well, maybe Sunny is only letting you know you're too heavy, baby boy," she told him as Armin reached to grab the toddler from her arms.
Armin smiled widely at him. "I'll carry you for now on." he told the boy. "Don't worry about it."
"But I like mummy more," Azzy immediately protested. He was incredibly sincere.
"Azzy!" Mikasa soon reprimanded him.
"Let me tell you a secret," Armin told him gently, bringing the boy closer and Azzy became curious. "I do too," Armin whispered to him.
Azzy laughed and hugged him closer.
Armin turned to see Mikasa's look of disapproval as the boy hugged him tenderly. "What? We understand each other," the father explained.
-.-
Eren looked around in the hospital wing of the Military Complex - outside of Shiganshina. He was analysing the place again, like he began to do to all of his regiments, every two months. He wanted to see the recovering of the soldiers and the progress the kingdom was slowly making in rebuilding itself. For it was his kingdom after all, his Paradise.
He looked out of the window to see 'Frank' walking slowly, but happily in the garden, accompanied by Hitch. Eren smiled. He was happy the man could see the sun and the outside again.
Yeager then continued to make his way across the medical wing, he then saw Mikasa, which completely took him by surprise. He hadn't seen his sister in those past three months and she had made no effort to contact him. But there she was, happily making conversation with some of the bedridden soldiers who once had served with them.
Mikasa looked up and noticed him approaching slowly, so she immediately rushed towards him. She smiled and he then felt confident to smile back at her. Eren then opened his arms cheerfully. "Sonnenblume," he almost shouted, noting how his sister was more heavily pregnant now. So Mikasa laughed joyously and hugged him tight.
"I know she'll be precious," her brother told her, gently holding her stomach. "She already is!" Eren added cheerfully.
"How are your precious ones?" his sister asked back with a sweet smile as he cheerfully caressed her stomach.
Eren looked up and into her eyes again, he took a small step back and scratched his hair. "It's alright, a little less crying now. They're finally holding their necks up… most of the time." he sighed. "I love to watch them sleeping, it gives me peace. It truly is the best time." the new father relayed.
Mikasa smiled. She then noticed Eren looking around the large hall of bedridden soldiers. "If you're looking for Reiner and the others they left yesterday," she soon relayed. "We personally sent them off."
"I know, I was informed," her brother told her more seriously. "There's nothing on this island I'm not informed about."
"So I heard," his sister concurred, reaching out so they could walk arm-in-arm, as they passed through the many beds of the medical wing.
Eren scratched his head again. "Where's Armin," he timidly asked.
"At his office, grabbing a few things so we can leave," Mikasa explained.
"And Azzy?" Eren also asked, looking around.
"With him," Mikasa soon replied. "I wouldn't let him see this," she noted, about the bedridden soldiers, for many of them had ghastly wounds.
The sister then began to pull him out of the medical wing and into the office area of the large complex.
"I'm happy to see you," she commented, "before we leave."
Eren stopped. "Why are you leaving?" he asked his sister in anger. "You shouldn't. You know your place is here." he told her indignantly.
"I'm not going to discuss this with you," Mikasa soon told him off. "We are leaving and that's final."
"We?" Eren began to challenge her, now that they were in an isolated corridor, away from witnesses. "Armin wants to leave," he spat out in anger. "Let him. You belong here in the place you were born, with your family," Eren told her seriously. "I'm your family."
"You are not my only family, Eren," she argued back, equally seriously. "And I'm not leaving because of Armin. Armin is leaving because of me," Mikasa revealed. "If it were for him, he'd stay in his precious lighthouse, he loves that place. But I suppose he loves me more."
Eren only looked at her confused. "Why do you want to leave?" he questioned her as they proceeded to walk.
"Lady Azumabito invited me-" Mikasa was about to explain.
"That's it?" Eren hastily interrupted her. "You're going to leave everything behind just because some old lady is trying to be diplomatic?" he questioned annoyedly.
The two siblings continued to argue as they walked through the empty complex corridors.
"I'm not leaving anything behind. I'm taking my everything with me," Mikasa countered. "And it's not just from some old lady being diplomatic. It's my mother's heritage and I want to meet it."
Mikasa continued with true passion. "I want to finally meet it. I want to know all about it," she said, holding her stomach gently and thinking of her own mother. "I want to see that land with my own eyes. I want to live there. It might just be for a few years but I want to do it," she told her brother with a smile. "I want to try it. I want to have the experience, to live it."
"Why?" Eren still questioned.
"Because it makes me feel closer to her, to my mother. And it makes me feel complete," Mikasa told him sincerely. "I'm sure you can understand that."
Eren crossed his arms. "And Sonnenblume is going to be born there? Not here, on our island?" he hastily questioned.
Mikasa looked down, and continued to caress her stomach, thinking of her baby girl inside. "I suppose so, we don't have a problem with that," she replied, shrugging.
"You know people are going to treat you like crap there," Eren continued harshly. "You can play the Asian all you want, but you're still Half-Eldian and there's no hiding that. They'll never respect you or treat you as equal. And they'll treat your husband and your kids even worse."
Eren became more frustrated, scratching his eyebrow. "Mikasa, why are you doing this? You're going to ruin your life!" he almost shouted, more agitated. 'After everything I built just to protect us, all of us!' he also thought, equally rattled.
They stopped once again and his sister only crossed her arms, undefeated. "You are not going to convince me not to go, Yeager." Mikasa declared. "I'm all set. I have decided." She maintained.
"Yeager? Seriously?" her brother immediately complained, she had never called him that before, and it felt very impersonal. "Aren't you a Yeager too?" he questioned.
"Oh, I'm an Ackermann, and we both know that very well," Mikasa soon replied, still with arms crossed. She then tilted her head and looked at him more lovingly, uncrossing her arms. "But I still loved your parents very much, and you know that. And I still love you, and I always will," Mikasa solemnly declared.
"Really? You love me?" her brother challenged her.
"Eren, of course I do," she maintained, almost confused.
"So you were just going to leave? Without even saying goodbye? Mikasa you haven't talked to me ever since that day," Eren complained, clearly still very hurt.
They proceeded to walk and Mikasa only sighed. "Eren, I'm pregnant," she began to explain. "And these past few months have been too stressful. Partially- No, not partially," she corrected herself. "Mainly because of you." Mikasa let out in emphasis. She continued. "So I decided to spend some time away in the Lighthouse, so we could rest," the mother explained, caressing her unborn child once again. Mikasa held her stomach tenderly.
"I want my baby girl to be born healthy," she said. And then looked up at her brother again. "I was going to write to you, hoping you would meet us at the harbour," she explained, "to see us off."
"I'm never going out to the harbour again," Eren spat out in anger, he crossed his arms. "In fact, I'm never leaving the Wall," he told Mikasa more seriously.
The Ackermann blinked slightly, after that uncharacteristic statement. "Now, would you ever have thought you would be saying that?" Mikasa complained to her brother.
Eren had truly hated those previous Walls, and the sense of entrapment he had felt throughout his young years. But after all he had been through; after finally knowing the outside world, he had found comfort in the safety of Ymir's barrier. And in the belief that his world would never be destroyed. Yeager believed all his children were finally safe in the confinement of his Paradise.
"This island is my home. It's where I belong," he told his sister with certainty.
"It's good that you know that," Mikasa told him, understandingly, "that you feel that way… I don't feel that way," she tried to explain. "I want to see the outside world, Eren. I want Azzy and Sunny to play in the gardens of Hizuru. I want them to meet my ancestral home," Mikasa smiled sweetly. Eren only looked down, he seemed very quiet and contemplative. "I hope you can understand that," she gently asked.
Her brother only sighed, he was finally admitting defeat. "Well, I'll send Azzy many kites," he told Mikasa more cheerfully, holding her hand gently and with a small smile. "The most colourful ones," Eren added.
"Oh, I'm sure he will love that," Mikasa replied, smiling back very sweetly too.
They had finally arrived at their destination, so the siblings stopped a little further away from the office door.
Eren looked more cheerful again. "He needs to know his uncle is always thinking about him, I don't want to lose my throne there," he told his sister.
"Don't worry, Levi never put enough effort," Mikasa joked back at him as Armin suddenly opened his office door. The toddler immediately came rushing out, and as soon as the boy saw his uncle he rushed to Eren's arms. "Uncle Eren!" Azzy shouted, full of joy.
"You're so big!" Eren immediately noted as he was about to hug him. The toddler had grown a lot in those past three months. He kneeled down and received the boy's affections with much love, hugging him and raising up again with Azzy in his arms.
Armin only gave Yeager a look as he left his office. 'Of course you're here,' he thought, clearly annoyed.
Mikasa then rushed to help him with the heavy boxes he was carrying. They divided the work in half.
"Please don't be too mad," she gently whispered as Arlert locked the door.
"You need to stop treating him like he's a child. And he needs to stop acting like one," Armin hastily whispered back at her as they divided the boxes.
The couple proceeded to their coach as the uncle followed behind, cheerfully carrying the boy and playing with him.
They arrived at the entrance of the Complex and Eren was surprised to see a regular carriage. "I thought you were going to bring the car all the way up here," he noted, almost joking as they all walked down the many entrance steps.
Mikasa turned back to him. "You do know everything," she noted to her brother.
"Told ya," he cleverly replied.
"We wouldn't risk passing it through the barrier," his sister explained as he approached with the toddler in his arms.
"Fair. But we'll soon test those materials too," Yeager told her, excitedly. "I'm sure we're all curious to know more about that gate and the force field."
He gave Azzy to Mikasa and she helped the toddler into the carriage while Armin was organising the boxes inside.
"That's everything," Arlert noted, finally securing all his boxes on the coach.
Mikasa stopped, thinking for a moment. "Oh, just give me a moment," she realised, taking the office keys from Armin's hand. "There's something I need to check in my office," she hastily explained and quickly left.
"I can-" Armin was about to say. 'Go,' he finished the sentence in his mind. But Mikasa had already taken off. "Your office is the same as mine," he mumbled, closing the coach door with the toddler inside. Azzy looked at him from the open window, he could tell his father was frustrated, but he couldn't understand why.
Armin was sure Mikasa just wanted to leave the two of them alone. He sighed, Arlert only gave Eren a side-eye, walking towards the driver's seat.
"You really won't talk to me, will you?" Yeager challenged and Armin stopped.
He turned to Eren again, "367.953, and counting," Armin told him, dryly.
Yeager crossed his arms and looked at him seriously. "I know our death toll so far, there is no need to remind me," he replied in the same dry manner. "Is that all you have to say to me?" He challenged Arlert again, as he was about to walk away.
Armin turned once more. Clearly beyond vexed. "Congratulations," he told Eren sarcastically, walking threateningly in his direction. "You were able to kill more people in two days than the amount Rod killed in a year," Arlert let out very seriously.
"Stop blaming for everything," Eren spat back, staring into his eyes. "I didn't cause all this!"
Azzy hid under the coach window, with only his eyes watching that heated discussion.
"You set that monster free! And it caused it all! All the destruction! And you knew it would," Armin argued back, pointing at Eren's chest with his scarred hand.
"I - I didn't. I thought-" Eren was about to argue back when Armin interrupted him.
"You thought you would be in control, didn't you?" Armin questioned, knowing Eren's true plan was to destroy the outside world. "You are so naive sometimes," he added, sighing. Arlert put his hands on his hips.
"That wasn't what I was going to say," Eren replied, very serious.
"What were you going to say?" Armin challenged him.
"You- You know, right? You know who caused all this?" Eren asked back, almost confused. He gently turned his eyes to the toddler. And Azzy only hid further into the leather seat. Eren turned his head to Armin again, trying to catch his eye.
Yeager couldn't understand completely, but Armin was clearly not on his same wavelength. Arlert only walked forward and hastily grabbed Eren's scarred arm from Yeager's coat pocket. To his surprise. Eren was slightly startled.
Armin looked intently into it, very glad to see that thin scar was still there, stretching across the larger one. It meant Eren hadn't regenerated, he had just healed like any other human. So he looked up, smiling, relieved and also ready to tease.
"Good," Arlert let out and Eren pulled his hand back hastily, hiding it back in his coat pocket again. "It's a relief knowing you can't be harm to others anymore," Armin told him in full fatherly authority. "And to yourself."
"Horace!" Azzy shouted excitedly, suddenly jumping on the coach seat, and they both looked at the toddler confused.
They hadn't noticed Mikasa coming down the Complex's front staircase, she held the small toy soldier happily in her hand, to the boy's cheer.
"Oh, right," Armin let out. He finally understood why the mother had gone back, this was one of their son's favourite toys.
She finally arrived near the coach, standing in between the two. She could clearly tell they were fighting before. Mikasa expected they would, she knew them both extremely well. But she only ignored those two, she leaned on the window and gave Azzy the toy, glad to see her son smiling so happily. Mikasa caressed his hair and turned to her brother. Caressing his hair and shoulder gently as well. She held the side of Eren's face very motherly.
"You know this isn't goodbye - goodbye, right?" she asked.
Eren held her hand sweetly. "I know," he replied, looking in her eyes.
"Good," Mikasa said, and nodded.
She then entered the coach.
Eren only watched Armin going up to the driver's seat, upset his once best friend was now refusing to say goodbye to him.
Azzy appeared on the window again. The toddler could see the sadness in his uncle's eyes, so he gave him the small toy soldier.
Eren grabbed the toy, a little confused. He looked towards Mikasa and she only shrugged. It seemed the boy had decided to gift him his favourite toy. Azzy looked up at him from the window with those big, round blue eyes. They seemed full of con-solidarity.
"I'll keep him safe with me until you return," the uncle softly promised and Azzy smiled. The toddler then crawled into his mother's lap and Eren walked a couple of steps back.
Arlert pulled the leashes, calling the horses and they began to walk. Eren watched the carriage slowly making its way out of the complex and into the broken road. He looked down at that toy soldier, upset.
-.-
A few weeks passed and Eren took that same toy soldier from his mantle, thinking about them. The father was softly cradling Ymir to sleep.
"You know there isn't much I can do for them," Historia noted to him in concern, after noticing him staring intently at the toy Azzy had given him. They had just received news that the Arlerts had left the island in the latest boat.
They were in their favourite drawing room, out of many in that luxurious palace. In the safety of their kingdom's capital.
Historia stood up, still feeding Ezra in her chest. "I can't protect them so far from the Island. They're on their own out there, completely out of my reach or control," the Queen relayed. She knew Eren was very concerned for their safety, out there in a world who hated Eldians so much. And she was very concerned too.
"They know that," Eren replied seriously, putting the toy back into its cherished spot. He looked down into the flames of the fireplace, contemplative. Holding Ymir very close to his chest, she was very quiet, already falling asleep. "They are not children," he continued.
Eren turned to Historia. "They know the risks. And as much as I would like to, I can't trap them in the safety of the island," he argued maturely.
Yeager looked very contemplative at his queen, while she caressed their boy, who was feeding intensely from his mother.
"The safety of Paradise is for those who want it," the father declared very solemnly. Reflecting about it, "in a sense, there is a beauty in that." He concluded.
-.-
To be continued...