Tough // A.O.T

29 // trouble

"I'm going to demand a house in the best part of central. Morning or noon, I'll drink the finest liquor there is.

No one will have a right to criticize me.

My wife and kid and grandkids all got a right to be happy."

Jean looked up at the bright sky. He was on the balcony, hearing the laughter of a child and a mother's smile.

.

.

.

clang!

"Jean, it's me."

Jean kept his eyes shut, covering his ears with his hands. He told himself that when he stays, he'd be able to achieve that dream of his.

"I'll be outside."

The commander's voice muffled through the window pane, heading over away. He told himself that he wasn't going to come outside.

But the temptation got the best of him.

.

.

.

"Thanks for coming, Jean."

Hanji says, leaning on the wall. "Mikasa just told me about the situation. I'm sorry I wasn't on the scene. You did an amazing job under harsh circumstances." They say, congratulating him for his survival.

"Levi isn't fine, but he's alive. He won't be able to fight for a while. And... we've joined forces with the cart titan and Marleyan remnants."

The commander informs the two soldiers.

"To stop Eren."

"How will you stop him?" Mikasa then asks. "First, we gather allies. What we can accomplish depends on them. But without you and the nine titans, we can't do anything." Hanji replies, "The organizational chain of command has dissolved. I am no longer your superior. So I ask you-"

"I'll do it." Mikasa says without hesitation. "I don't want Eren to massacre any more people. Even if he's doing it to protect us and this island, I want to stop Eren." She explains her reason.

"Mikasa... if you really are able to stop Eren, what are your plans then?" Jean asks. "Even if Eren can maintain the power of the founder, and lives four more years, what happens to this island after that?

If in the decades after that, the hatred from the rest of the world doesn't disappear, stopping Eren would mean destroying this island."

"As I see it, the moment Marley launched their surprise attack on the island, that was the rumbling." Hanji tells the two. "They won't be able to touch this island for some time to come."

"Unless the island is completely destroyed, the world can be destroyed at any time. This is a greater provocation than Willy Tybur's speech!" Jean retorts, concerned for the future of the island. "That may be true, but even if the island is eventually destroyed, it should be years before that happens."

"But as we search for possibilities, time keeps passing! We couldn't find a solution at all! That's why Eren-"

Hanji slammed their fist on the table, interrupting Jean. "This massacre is wrong! Why would I ever affirm his decision?" They silenced the man, seething.

"Sorry. I raised my voice." They apologized, regaining some of their composure. "Like you said, Eren came to this decision because of my idealism. And while I bark all these ideals, I thought about running away. Abandoning everything, forgetting everything. Surviving.