~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.
"Reiner..." He stirred, lifting his head from my chest. "I want to go to Liberio with you. I want to meet my brothers and sisters across the sea..." Reiner widened his eyes. He sat up, and pulled me gently up with him. He grabbed my hands.
"I want nothing more than for you to come home with me... but..." He looked a glance, "The Eldians in Liberio hate Paradis Eldians... To them, you're known as island devils..."
"We can show them I'm not a devil!" I exclaimed. A wave of anger hit me. Everything I had heard rose within me, and I couldn't help but think of the Eldians across the sea as our long lost comrades. Together, we could all unite once more and bring down the Marleyans. "Reiner, I'll show them who I am. I'll show them they have nothing to fear from us – that they are one of us!" I watched Reiner, and a fear seemed to rise in his eyes.
"No, you don't understand, Y/N. The Eldians of Liberio hate their own blood so fervently, it can't be helped! You can't change their mind!" He gripped my hand even more tightly. "If I bring you to Marley, I'll have to smuggle you there with Bertholdt's help. Once we get to Marley, I can act as if I met you in the internment zone, and we can tell my mother you're from Liberio!" I withdrew my hand from him.
"But... But we're the same... We're all Eldians aren't we? I understand smuggling me past the Marleyans, but the Eldians would hate me too?" Reiner looked at me sympathetically.
"Y/N... I don't want to risk losing you... If anyone back home found out you were from Paradis..." He grabbed my hand once more. "I don't know what would happen to you..." He placed his forehead on my hand gently. I thought for a moment. I couldn't leave Reiner's side – it wasn't an option. But he couldn't stay on Paradis... I wouldn't ask that of him. His mother awaited him back home, but I had no one left on Paradis other than the Scouts. Even so, I was already under suspicion and Reiner was likely unsafe as well. Our time on Paradis was running short.
A curious passion was burning inside of me. I wanted to see this world of which I knew nothing about. Even if that world hated me, it was intriguing, and just to touch it I knew I'd be satisfied. My old desires of discovery crept back to me, but this time I didn't wish to learn more of the Titans. I wanted to know of the Marleyans.
"Alright." He looked up at me, his sharp eyes watered slightly. He was a big brawny bear with the heart of a kitten. But Reiner always seemed to be two things at once and would show those sides of him in different lights. "We'll go to Marley." His lips curved up into a smile.
"I'll take you to my hometown..." He sighed. "You'll meet my mother, Gabi, and the rest of the warrior unit. I'll finally go home..." We laid down on the bed together, wrapped in the idea of leaving it all behind. I vividly remembered that night in the moonlight...
"Reiner." I said, my voice drifting away as though in a dream.
"Yes?" He replied intently from afar.
"One day... Do you think you could take me to your hometown?" I didn't look at him in that moment, my eyes were fixated on the nature in front of me, even as my thoughts swirled.
"If you want, I will," He spoke in a hushed voice. For a moment, neither of us spoke as we listened to the rustle of the leaves, and felt the wisps of our hair blow in the breeze. I then heard Reiner's footsteps draw nearer to me, and I felt the presence of his body as he stood so close. I quivered, unexpectedly feeling the touch of his hand upon my shoulder. "I promise you, I will," He said quietly once more. Feeling his gaze on me, and feeling his breath on my neck, I was given a sense of security and a sense of warmth.
I was still warm, even with coldness that filled the world. He lay there with me, his breath upon my neck once more. I realized that back then I could've never known what the future had in store for us. I would've never known what truly lied in those words... but alas, the words from that night seemed to be coming true. We'd go to his hometown.
~
"Your move, Bertholdt." Reiner said lowly. They didn't seem to be having much fun in the game. It looked to be more of a ruse to act normal. They were actors on a stage, but they acted so as not to seem like they were acting. Bertholdt picked up his rook. "Y/N's coming with us to our hometown," Reiner stated harshly. Bertholdt lost grip of his rook, and it went clattering straight into Reiner's bishop.
"Are you crazy?!" Bertholdt exclaimed in a loud whisper. Sweat was already dripping from his forehead. "Are you sure she even wants to go to your hometown, Reiner? You know, since it's riddled with Titans?!" His whisper was more aggressive.
"Marley has no Titans." I whispered back. "Unless you count those in the warrior unit." Bertholdt stared at me in disbelief. His eyes seemed to almost bulge out of his head as he looked between Reiner and I.
"This has gone too far..." Bertholdt said faintly. The color was draining from his face and he seemed almost ready to pass out. He looked at Reiner. "Ever since that morning in the mess hall when you came back to our quarters... I knew this would happen..." He fixed the fallen chess pieces as his hand shook.
"Bertholdt, I once told you I didn't plan on telling anyone your secret..." I said to him carefully. "The secret has gotten bigger, but I still don't plan on sharing, and I want to help you guys. It doesn't matter what I have to do, I just want to be with Reiner." Reiner's cheeks went red, but he still tried to maintain his puffed chest. He seemed more intense after last night. He was the tough leader I had first seen in him when we met. Perhaps in telling me everything he had been holding back, he was returning back to his full strength.
"I understand that Y/N." Bertholdt let out an exasperated sigh. "But how the hell do you expect to just come with us?" He looked over at Reiner. "There isn't exactly much leeway for a girlfriend you picked up in enemy territory..." He let out another long sigh and put his hand to his forehead.
"You're beginning to sound like Annie." Reiner said coldly. Bertholdt stiffened as his cheeks went pink. I felt bad for him. Bertholdt liked Annie, but had no idea she was captured. Reiner and I had decided we wouldn't tell him what happened to her, as much as it pained us. If we did, he wouldn't trust me, and he'd want to go back for her. Reiner seemed to know that wasn't really an option.
"I don't sound like Annie!" Bertholdt exclaimed shyly. "But if she were here, she'd agree with me... and you should run this by her."
"But she's not here, and I think we can sneak Y/N onto the airship." Reiner moved his queen, taking Bertholdt's rook and putting his king in check.
"How?" Bertholdt asked urgently, staring at Reiner's queen in annoyance.
"We'll figure it out when the time comes..." Reiner crossed his arms.
"When the time comes for what?" Sasha and Connie sat down at the end of the table. The two of them seemed bored and tired. "Anything we should know?" Sasha asked with a yawn.
"We're just wondering when the time will come to get out of here..." I said slowly. It was dreadfully boring sitting inside waiting for further orders. We all had been strictly told the 104th regiment was to stay indoors.
"My village isn't far south from here y'know..." Connie mumbled in boredom.
"My hometown is close by too..." Sasha replied in the same tone. I couldn't help but think that Reiner and Bertholdt sat so close to them, yet so far away.
"Damn. Why can't I go visit?" Connie exclaimed. "Maybe I'll sneak out at night..."
"My family told me not to come back home until I was normal..." Sasha pouted. I couldn't help but think it must've been nice to have a family at all.
"If you two are serious about sneaking out, I'll help." Reiner said suddenly. I turned to him, and felt my brows furrow in confusion.
"What? How come?" Connie asked. I touched Reiner's arm.
"Yeah, don't you think it's better if we stayed here tonight? Those were our orders..." I couldn't help but wonder if this was a part of his plan to leave for Marley. I couldn't read him this time. His eyes were sharper than ever.
"Doesn't it seem strange?" He looked to me. "We're on standby in our plain clothes, and we're not allowed to train or wear our uniforms." He got up and went over to the window. "What's even more suspicious... is that everyone else is fully armed. We're inside the wall, not on the front line." He looked back at me, a drop of sweat on his cheek. "Who are we fighting?" He knew the answer to that question, so did Bertholdt, and so did I.
"Well, there are bears in the area..." Connie seemed close to falling over in boredom, but Sasha beat him to it. Reiner and Bertholdt resumed their chess game. There was a moment of silence, until suddenly Sasha sat up and gasped.
"I hear thuds! They sound like footsteps!" We looked over at her, unsure exactly what she could mean.
"Get serious, Sasha..." Reiner said. "If you're suggesting there are Titans here..." He looked at me. "That would mean Wall Rose had fallen..." I raised a brow. How could that be possible? Reiner and Bertholdt were the ones responsible for the breaches before, how could there be more if they were sitting right at our table?
"It's the truth! I really hear footsteps!" Sasha stood up shrieking. One of the officers, Nanaba, zipped up to the window with her ODM gear and landed on the ledge.
"Everyone here?" She asked, opening the window, "Multiple Titans, 500 meters to the south. They're coming right this way." Fear rose in Reiner's eyes. I looked at him, seeking an answer, but he didn't seem to have one. "There's no time for you to gear up. Take your horses and evacuate all nearby homes and settlements. Understood?" Nanaba spoke with a stoic calmness. We nodded, and she zipped away from the window. I watched Reiner, as my heartbeat thumped loudly in fear. Reiner turned, looking to Bertholdt urgently.
"Has the wall been breached?!" Reiner exclaimed. Bertholdt just stared at him wide-eyed. It didn't make sense. Titans could only mean a breach in the wall, but Reiner and Bertholdt had no idea what was going on. Was there something more Reiner was keeping from me?
Once we got outside, I mounted Monty while Reiner mounted Stark. We all got on our horses as quick as we could and began galloping. Officer Miche rode with us, asking if anyone knew the lay of the land. Sasha rode off to her village in the North while Connie would ride to his village in the South.
"I'll come with you Connie!" Reiner exclaimed. I was following his lead, and it seemed Bertholdt was as well. He seemed sterner somehow, and more determined. I couldn't help but wonder what exactly about last night had stirred him so? As Reiner noticed I was beginning to follow the southern team, he rode next to me.
"Y/N, I want you near me at all times." He tried to speak as quietly as he could. "If something happens, you know I'll protect you." My heart thumped loudly.
I wondered if he was saying he'd transform if it came down to it. But then, I didn't have to wonder. I looked into his eyes, and they flashed the ferocity of the Armored Titan.