Hometown

Chapter 38 - Chess

~Y/N's Pov~

All of the information Reiner had given me all made sense, yet understanding it didn't make it any less startling to behold. He told me of the Titan Powers, how there were even other human-clad Titans I hadn't seen yet back in Marley. He told me of Ymir, the first Founding Titan and of King Fritz. He told me of everything he learned, everything he was told, the pains he had lived through and the rejection of his father... Suddenly I understood him more than I ever had before. I should've been appalled at some of the things I heard, but all I saw was a man who was failed by his country and everyone who was meant to be there for him. I could not fail him. I could not leave him. I finally spoke to him after what seemed like ages of silence.

"Reiner, I want you to promise me something..." I turned around to face him after I had been sitting on the edge of the bed, pondering what I had heard. He sat leaning against his pillow, seeming drained from his spouting of everything that was. I crawled onto his lap, sitting on his thighs and held his face gently. "No more secrets. You've kept secrets from me, and I've kept secrets from you. We can't anymore. I trust you, and I love you. I'm not going to hide anything from you, and I don't want you to hide anything from me." He looked at me, and put his hand to my own as it held his face. He nudged his cheek deeper into my palm, a look mixed with sadness and relief coming over him.

"No more secrets..." He said. He took his other hand and placed it on my waist, and leaned forward. His lips gently met mine. It was a kiss of understanding, of unity, and it was clear we would no longer be working apart from one another. We'd be together, and we'd fight to be together no matter the cost.

He gently turned me over, so that my head sank into his pillow. He kissed me softly and slowly. It was different from his past kisses. He had always seemed to be filled with lust, desire, intoxication at the mere sight of me, but now it was something deeper... It was something more meaningful and passionate. We had always loved each other, but never like this. I slid my hand gently to the back of his neck.

"Reiner... What is this?" I asked, unsure of what I was truly asking about. Neither of us were smiling, but rather our lips parted in a passionate craving.

"Love..." He said. "I've always loved you... but I've always loved you with a weight on my chest." His fingers played through a wisp of my hair. "But now, the weight is lifted and somehow you still love me..." He spoke in a whisper his voice trailing off as he gently kissed my neck.

"I do love you... and I think I now know you, Reiner. After all these years..." He moved away from my neck and looked into my eyes. "I know you, and I love you. I'm sorry I couldn't have found you sooner..." I ran my fingers through his hair. His head lowered slowly until he rested his cheek upon my chest. Things might've been simpler if I had grown up in Liberio with him. If my family was among the Eldians that stayed behind in Marley, there was a chance I could've met Reiner before the world would try to tear us apart. He had to do it all alone for so long.

I still couldn't believe what I had heard. There was a world beyond my own. There were people out there beyond Wall Rose, Wall Maria, beyond Shiganshina, and beyond our island which I didn't even known was an island until Reiner told me so. I couldn't blame him for my lack of knowledge. I couldn't blame him for withholding it for so long. I couldn't blame him for my family's death. 

I blamed the Marleyans.

I had never seen a Marleyan, I barely knew what they looked like. I wondered if they looked like us or if they bared fangs that resembled their own evil natures. How dare they use Eldians for war? How dare they subject us to pain at the hands of our own kind? How dare they give Reiner such a burden? They had convinced him to fight, only then would he be accepted and able to be with his father. Even so, his father wanted nothing to do with him, and his father was a Marleyan.