Hey, sorry this chapter took so long. I don't have an excuse for the wait, but I hope you like it.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
By midday they were close to Shiganshina. Eren was somehow even more upset then before. Annie transformed to take them before Eren could object.
The whole day had been a mess for him. He was mad at himself for kissing Annie at a time like this; it was selfish. He should be focused on their mission instead of her, all of humanity was a steak after all.
Although at the same time he was mad at Annie. She wasn't an idiot, she had to have known she was leading him on this whole time. So why would she act like that? It's not like she's a needlessly cruel person.
On top of all of that, they were getting close to the home he lost four years ago. Close to where his mother was eaten. This was the plan the whole time, yet somehow he still didn't feel ready to reenter his city
The journey so far had been pretty quiet until Armin spoke
"Hey, Eren? Are you okay?" He asked.
"I'm fine." Eren said
"You know, it's okay if you're not. We're getting close to home. I know I'm not okay right now." Armin said.
Eren hesitated for a moment. "To tell you the truth I'm scared to see it again, but it's not just that." Eren shifted his gaze to Annie's Titan for a moment before quickly turning back to Armin. "I'll tell you about it later." He said.
As Annie's titan moved on closer, Eren began to recognize the area, and soon after he could see Wall Maria itself.
The buildings behind the wall were worn down and damaged. Years of abandonment let vegetation grow through the streets and up the walls of the houses.
"Annie, let's get to the top of the wall. We can see if any titans are in the city from there." Reiner said.
"They all should have all moved closer to Wall Rose by now." Armin said
"Can never be too safe." Reiner said back.
Annie exited her titan and they all grappled up to the top of the wall.
Eren wasn't sure what to expect at the top of the wall. Despite being born here he had never stood on top of Wall Maria.
Looking down on Shiganshina his sadness amplified. His town, once so full of life, lay abandoned with vegetation, debris and blood overtaking the streets. Life was never great in Shiganshina, the people weren't rich, the homes weren't that big and the streets weren't always safe, but it was his home and he hated seeing it like this.
The sight also reminded him why all titans must be killed.
The closer he got to his house, the harder his heart beat. Part of him doesn't want to see what was left of it, or what's left of his mother. A small part of him was telling him to turn back, but the rest told him to keep moving forward. He knew the answer to the Titans mystery and possibly the key to saving humanity was in that basement.
He didn't realize his hand was shaking until Mikasa gently held onto it.
"It's going to be okay Eren." He didn't realize how much he needed to hear that. He felt his nerves ease and her gentle voice.
Eren turned his head back to Annie who walked behind them, hoping she'd be slightly jealous. To Erens disappointment she seemed more interested in Shiganshina ruins than him holding Mikasas hand.
"Thanks Mikasa." Eren said, turning back to her.
When they finally reached the cellar door to Erens horror, the key wouldn't open the door. No matter how hard he tried to turn the key it wouldn't bunch. "Fuck, come on." Eren said in frustration.
"Here Eren, let me try." Mikasa said. Eren moved over and Mikasa had the door opened in two kicks. A cloud of years old dust shot up around them, causing them to cough.
"Guess the key wasn't that important after all." Reiner said.
Inside it just looked like a normal basement, turned workshop. It was filled with medicines, beakers, books and other things you'd find in a doctor's office.
"I guess it'd make sense he hid the information down here." Eren said. He took a book off the shelf and began to flip through it hoping it would have something about Titans, but found nothing. The others began doing the same, going through the shelves and his dads desk.
"Reiner you find anything in the desk?" Eren asked after a while.
"No nothing."
After what felt like a few hours, Eren felt like he searched everywhere. He went back to research a few areas. The whole time his frustration grew more and more until he snapped.
"There's nothing here." He said. Everyone's eyes turned to him to him. "There's nothing fucking here!" He screamed.
"We don't know that, we just gotta keep looking." Armin said.
"Looking where? We searched every inch of the stupid cellar and we found nothing about titans, this whole thing was a waste of time!" Eren turned and quickly left the cellar. "Eren!" Mikasa said, but he kept going.
Almost by instinct his anger led him to his childhood room. It was never nice to begin with, around the size of a janitor's closet, but it was still his room. Vegetation had begun to grow through the walls, and the window was shattered. Every time he got in trouble he would run here to let out his frustrations.
He saw his old bed and punched the mattress, flinging dust into the air. "Why?" He yelled. "Why dad? Why did you lie?" A tear dropped from his face and fell onto the mattress.
His friends became outlaws for this, and it ended up being nothing.
"Eren." Mikasa's voice came from the doorway. Armin was with her.
"I'm sorry guys." Eren said. "We came all this way for an empty basement."
They both looked confused. "Do you really think so little of us Eren?" Armin said, sitting down on the bed. "You could have never mentioned the basement and me and Mikasa would have still come with you." Mikasa nodded her head.
"What about Annie, Reiner and Berthold? They only came cause they thought I was the key to saving humanity."
"You still are Eren." Mikasa said. "Even without secret knowledge you still have a titans power. You still saved Trost. I guarantee they would have come regardless also."
Eren couldn't help but crack a small smile.
"Well, the basement is a bust, so what's our next move?" Eren asked Armin.
"Hey, I know." Armin said, since we're already in Shiganshina, why don't we find a way to plug the hole in Wall Maria! At least that way no more stray titans can wander in."
"Right, if there's another boulder, we can plug it just like you did at Trost." Mikasa added.
"Shiganshina doesn't have a giant boulder though." Eren said.
"There might be an alternative. Something else large enough to seal the gate. Let's go look." Armin said.
Eren couldn't help but feel somewhat happy at their optimism even though the original mission was a failure. He couldn't share in it though. He still blamed himself despite their supportive words.
"You guys do that. I wanna rest for a bit."
"Are you sure Eren?" Mikasa asked. Eren could tell she was as worried as always about him.
"I'm sure, I'll catch up in a bit."
Eren sat alone with his thoughts for a few minutes. His old bedroom filled him with memories good and bad. Whether it was being sent here after talking back to his mom, or playing with his toys on the floor.
Eren heard footsteps approaching, he figured it must have been Armin or Mikasa coming back for him, or maybe Reiner or Berthold.
"So this is your bedroom?" Eren sat up surprised to hear Annie's voice. She was standing in the doorway looking at the ruined walls. "It's not what I expected."
"What do you want?" Eren said. He was still upset about how she rejected him yesterday.
"That's a rude way to talk to a girl." She said, "I thought you'd want to talk."
"You sure you're not gonna run off again, are you?"
"Not this time." She finally looked at him and smiled slightly. Erens heart melted a little. "Sorry about that by the way. You caught me off guard." She said so quietly it may as well have been a whisper. "Can I sit?"
Eren nodded. His heart rate accelerated as she walked closer and sat on the bed next to him. Her head was down for a moment. Eren wasn't sure what to say. Before he could think of anything she picked her head up and moved to kiss Eren.
Now he was taken by surprise, it happened so suddenly, but he didn't resist.
Her soft lips felt like they were melting onto his.
Eren savored every second until his hands began to wander.
Suddenly the feelings of depression and failure were washed away by her.
He ran one hand through her hair, while the other made its way up the back of her sweatshirt. She ran hers under his shirt to feel his abs and chest.
Eren ended up falling back with Annie on top of him. Erens heart was going faster than it ever did in bootcamp.
His hands soon started running up her legs to her waist. Eren was so excited until he heard her whisper. "I'm so sorry, Eren."
He slowly moved away from her to Annie's surprise. "Sorry about what?" Eren asked.
She simply replied "For everything."
Eren hated being pitied. Just cause they were in his destroyed childhood home he didn't want anyone feeling sorry for him. He would have objected, but Annie sat herself on his crotch and moved his hand to her chest. "Don't think, Eren. Just enjoy this moment." she said
Eren put his thoughts aside. As Annie leaned down to kiss him again.
He could accept being pitied just this once.
