COMRADES • Eren Jaeger

CHAPTER 18: Beyond the Walls

Armin and Mikasa stood together against the waves, pure smiles on their faces as they basked in the glorious achievement of their shared childhood dream.

Only Eren stood alone. The cool waters splashed against his bare shins where he had rolled up his white pants to his knees. His turquoise eyes were glued to the distance, and in the clear blue sky he saw a flock of white birds glide above his head.

Oh, how he hated how they could spread their wings and fly off to wherever they pleased. Those feathered little creatures were all free, the very opposite of what his jovial friends thought they were at the moment.

You had mentioned something to him about birds some time ago last year, on that innocent little day in the field. He couldn't remember it well anymore, but he could still recall how your arms were spread out like that of a bird's as you declared that the two of you were going to see everything once you'd reclaim Wall Maria and get rid of the Titans.

You were such naive children back then.

"See, Eren? A lake so big that a merchant could spend his entire life collecting salt and still not get all of it!" Armin said breathlessly, starting to sound emotional. "That's what I said! I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yeah," Eren replied softly. "It's so huge..."

He could distinctly remember a time in the Cadet Corps when he had first told you about the sea. If his memory was correct, it had been after a lunch when you stormed out of the mess hall after getting cross with Jean. Eren had followed you to the nearby lake, telling you that the ocean was going to be much bigger.

Ignorance was both a blessing and a curse.

"Y/N would have liked it here, right, Eren?" Mikasa asked him, wondering why he was so stiff. "She would have been happy to know that we made it here."

"Yeah," Eren murmured. "She would have liked to have seen it with us for the first time."

"Look, Eren," Armin continued excitedly. "On the other side of the Walls—"

"Is the ocean," Eren finished, still gazing at the view beyond. "And beyond that ocean lies freedom. That's what I always believed... but I was wrong."

Mikasa and Armin stared at him.

"On the other side of the ocean are our enemies," said Eren, looking over his shoulder. "This is all exactly how it looked in my old man's memories."

"Eren—"

"She's on the other side of the ocean," he said quietly, turning back to the ranging vista. "It's not going to be very long before she comes back to us... I've been waiting for so long."

"She? Who–Who are you talking about, Eren?"

He did not reply. A gentle breeze drifted past, causing his dark long tresses to sweep across his face. Eren pointed a slender finger at the false horizon, as if his eyes could make out what lay in the line where the sky met the sea.

"If we kill our enemies on the other side, will we finally be free?"

-

YEAR 850 (two months after the Battle of Shiganshina)

Your keen eyes were fixated on the rolling hills and mountainside outside the window. Lush trees covered the landscape with a flourish of warm colors. Daisy yellow, sunset orange, and apple red swirled together as the wind ruffled the leaves. You could barely hear the soft squeal of the machinery propelling you across the new continent as you were engrossed in the alphabet translating book Zeke had lent to you — the sunlight pouring in through the window of the train car was just the right lighting for reading.