COMRADES • Eren Jaeger

AFTER THE EPILOGUE: The House by the Shore

You were, for all accounts, a kind person. You loved deeply. You cracked horrible jokes that made Eren laugh. You have time to work on actual hobbies now, like swimming and putting furniture together, since there is no reason to feel guilty for being lazy anymore. That is why Eren tells you to take it easy, because you never did.

You're pretty sure that when everyone is dead, that is when you will finally reunite. The way it should be. The way you're meant to be. There's just no way you could live in the world all alone, without them. You just love them all too much.

Maybe one day, it would stop hurting. You would find peace in the fact that you are both dead, and you will eventually stop longing to live in the "real" world.

Maybe one day, you would forget.

But not today.

Today, you would grab Eren's hand and lace your fingers together, the way you've always done since you were a child.

"The sea is calm now," you say. The conversation always steers back to the sea. It's always fun. You're slowly learning to feel less bad about enjoying life. It's surprisingly not as complicated as you once thought it was. "We should go for a swim."

"Race you," he says.

"I'm faster," you say back.

You look at each other for a moment, dead serious. Then, you both break into laughter, giggling like children. You push him for a moment, causing him to stumble back, before you shoot away like the wind as you speed towards the waters. Your laughter echoes throughout the coastline as Eren reprimands you.

"Not fair!" he whines, mouth slanting unhappily. But he sees you smiling, free as a bird, and you know he's more than satisfied to see you laughing again.

Freedom is so sweet.

Together, you run down the beach and jump into the welcoming waves of the ocean.

-

From you, 2000 years from now.

History is, for some reason, your most dreaded subject.

You hated reading about the history of past wars, back when Eldians were oppressed which subsequently led to a global genocide. Some people fawned over the details, eager to trace everything accurately, but you felt deeply uncomfortable.

It was never fun to read about how your ancestors killed people and died in gruesome ways. That was why you liked PE best, and you found that your body was adept like it was born physically fit. You were a varsity sports captain, after all, for good reason.

There was one history detail you loved to read about, though. The Survey Corps. Brave and honorable, they were your heroes. You idolized them the way some people idolized dead queens. Every child had that one historical phase they were obsessed with, after all.

You thought of this as Annie handed you the pamphlet for the museum your class was taking a trip to. It was a historical art museum, which you thought was very boring. Some people like Jean and Marco would like it, but you personally didn't care.

Levi, your adopted father, sent you off to the field trip with a lollipop in your backpack, which you thought was slightly embarrassing, but you appreciated the gesture anyway. He was always so serious and no-nonsense that it was hilarious to imagine him filling a grocery basket with candy just for you.

Your class had to take a train all the way from Trost just to get to Shiganshina, which you knew was a city that was rich in ancient Eldian history.

Your class arrived at the exterior. You eyed the structure of the museum, which was tall and grand—just like the rest of the modern city of Shiganshina District. The penthouse, where they kept the best displays, supposedly overlooked the ruins of old Wall Maria. It was a perfect blend of the ancient world and the modern one. You could even see the ground dents where the Titans once stepped on.