"What do you want?" Reiner lifted his head up, turning to the brunette who was intensely staring at him with her large chocolate colored hues. He dropped his writing utensil as his eyes immediately glued onto the object in her hand.

It was a white envelope with his name written on it. Through the handwriting he immediately knew who had sent it. On the front of the envelope was his name printed in black ink. A knot tied itself in his throat as he struggled to even utter a single word.

"I'll just leave it here." Gabi slid the paper onto his desk before turning on her heels, burying her fingers inside the pockets of her auburn cardigan. "Come down for dinner Reiner. You skipped out on lunch earlier."

The blond could only nod silently. His eyes were completely stuck onto the paper.

Settling with a sigh she left the room shutting the door behind her. Reiner's hands quickly gravitated over towards the sealed envelope. He took the envelope and delicately opened it, taking out the folded piece of paper it contained. The first thing he read was your name printed in bold ink at the bottom of the page. He unfolded the paper and began reading with his heart beating at an unbelievable rate.

His fingers trembled against the paper with his nails slightly digging into it. By the time he finished reading the letter the page was stained with little drops of his tears that he subconsciously shed. That was it.

An official goodbye and breakup letter from you.

—

THREE YEARS LATER

"Attention!" Commander Hanji Zoë clasped her hands behind her back bringing her undivided attention to the group before her. You were a part of that group. "We'll be taking off shortly so review your duties if you must. Give your hearts when taking part in this mission."

You were merely on this mission to help guide them through Liberio since you had gotten very familiar with the streets there. You were a part of the group going undercover to scope out the internment camp. It had been a few years and so much has happened within those years so you haven't really looked back ever since the day you left.

Reiner was the only one who would always end up crawling back into your head. Sometimes you wondered if you ever crossed his mind since the day you left Liberio. The day you left him. You were immediately snapped out of your thoughts by a pair of hands clashing together next to your right ear.

"Hello? Can we get Y/N back to earth? Please and thank you." Connie threw his arm around your shoulder causing you to lose balance for a moment. Luckily Connie was there to support your weight with his other arm.

You released a soft sigh and rolled your eyes. You shot him an unenthused look with your lips pressed into a straight line. "Really?" Was all you could say.

"Really." He gently pinched your cheek before sliding his arm off your shoulder. "Don't be such an airhead now, we're on a mission so you should be on full alert mode."

They were completely clueless about you and Reiner. All they knew was that Reiner had this huge crush on you throughout their time during the three years of cadet training. But they avoided even mentioning Reiner's name nowadays since they knew who really was now. Bringing him up would only be raise tension between you and the rest of them.

You nodded, forcing a crooked smile on your face. "You're seriously doubting me out of all people Connie? You even said yourself I was almost included in the top ten when we graduated. Jean compliments me on my quick reflexes when we're training."

"That was before your accident. Yeah, we know you're pretty quick with your reflexes but don't tell me you didn't think we'd notice whenever your mind would wander to a completely different planet." The skin between his eyebrows creased with pure concern. "You still haven't completely opened up to us about what you went through."

"Do I have to?" You exhaled quietly, rubbing your index fingers in circles against your temples. "Gives me a headache every time I think of it. Better yet, it was traumatizing." You lied for your sake and Reiner's as well.

"Fine." Connie's lips drooped into a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll let it slide but don't expect the Captain to do the same when he asks you. I'm sure he's dying to know what happened to you. He just hasn't found the right time to ask."

You swallowed thickly at the thought of being interrogated by Levi Ackerman. That man scared you shitless despite how short he was compared to the majority of the Survey Corps. To hear that your skills could almost match up to his before was probably an overstatement. Never in a million years would you want to go up against him.

"Yeah. I got it, I'll come clean to the Captain whenever he decides to ask. It's not like I have much of a choice anyways." You chuckled uneasily, running your fingers through your h/c strands of hair. From your roots all the way down to the ends.

It was true. You weren't dreaming, you were actually going back to Marley.

—

   "Reiner will you come back to your senses already? I figured that letting you suffer in whatever nightmare you were in would satisfy me but it's just getting annoying. Stop mumbling her name too." Porco turned in his seat shooting Reiner a small glare. "She's not coming back."

Reiner lifted his hand up in the air with his palm facing the ceiling of the room. His fingers curled inwards forming a loose fist. "You think I don't have that figured out already?" He sighed letting his other hand tousle through his blond locks.

He cleared his throat side-eyeing the slicked-back blond, "Did you see them?"

"That girls memories? Yeah. Little bits of it and you know what? I'm shocked." Porco scoffed, turning his body so it was no longer facing him. He twirled the writing utensil between his fingers as a dry laugh escaped his throat. "What the hell were you even doing on that island? Always being saved, acting like an older brother to those who needed advice. And last of all, falling in love with one of them? Did you hit your head on a rock or something?"

"I guess I should be somewhat thankful to that girl. You said she came back willingly to return what rightfully belonged to my older brother right?"  He bit into his sandwich, using the back of his hand to wipe the corner of his mouth. "For a woman with such a powerful name.. she was quite pitiful."

"Yeah." Was all Reiner could utter out as he swung his legs over the edge of the mattress. He sat up and propped his elbows up over his knees and let his chin rest in the cusp of his hand.

"You know what? If only the armored titan was given to me instead of you... maybe Marcel would still be alive. No— I know he would've been alive. Bertholdt and Annie would have actually had a chance to return home."

"That's enough Galliard." He shakily inhaled bringing his unoccupied hand to his forehead.

"How could have they chosen someone as incompetent as you? I'll just never understand why they went with that decision." He pushed on, his fingers dug into the surface of his sandwich. "And look where it's gotten the both of us."

"Your sweet girlfriend abandoned you in the end. Do you see why we can't trust those dirty Eldians?"

"Oh shut up Galliard. My head feels like it's about to burst." Reiner pinched the bridge of his nose inhaling sharply. He closed his eyes and let his head drop so that it was facing the floorboard beneath him.

Porco merely rolled his eyes before going back to writing on the piece of paper in front of him. He angrily bit into the sandwich again before dropping it on the porcelain plate. Incoherent strings of curse words fumbled out of his mouth as he pressed the pen harder against the surface causing the ink to become darker.

Both their attentions was pulled to the door when it suddenly creaked open. There in the doorway stood none other than Pieck herself. Beneath her armpit she held one crutch to help her walk around.

"Pock, it's not nice to pick on those who have nearly been hit by artillery." She walked over to the bed across from Reiner's and seated herself. Pieck flashed both of them a lazy smile.

Porco simply rolled his eyes and groaned with slight annoyance oozing in his voice. "For the millionth time Pieck, that's not my name. It's Por-co. Not Pock."

"How are ya?" Reiner lifted his gaze to meet hers.

"I don't know if I've been hallucinating but I could've sworn I caught a glimpse of someone who looked like Y/N." She sighed, letting her body fall backwards onto the mattress.

Porco's eyebrow shot up with skepticism at what she had just said. He brushed it off and clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Being in titan form for a few months.. you must be really exhausted to be hallucinating that type of shit."

Reiner furrowed his eyebrows at the dark haired girl and frowned. "Why aren't you at your house resting?"

Reiner didn't show he was phased in the slightest bit on the outside, but inside his heart fluttered at the thought of seeing you back in Liberio. Although he knew that it was impossible since the chances of you returning was nearly at zero percent. He let his shoulders droop.

"I'm trying to get used to walking around on two legs again. Four months in titan form and I forget how to walk on two legs." She chuckled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Anyways, Gabi and the others have been worried sick about you. So why don't you go see them?"

Reiner didn't waste another second. He gave her a quick nod before pushing his bottom off the mattress. He gave Porco a firm pat before rushing out of the room. Porco rolled his eyes in response not sparing him a single glance.

"Don't be so harsh on him. He's been through much more than we could ever imagine." Pieck exhaled softly as she listened to Reiner's heavy footsteps that were slowly fading away.

Porco dropped the pen on the table and turned his head slightly to get Pieck in his peripheral vision. He clenched his jaw before running his fingers through his hair. "His incompetence just pisses me off. Now that I have that girl's memories I know what exactly happened to Marcel."

"Fine." Pieck breathed out, staring up at the ceiling. "But can I just say something about what I saw before I got here?"

"What? About you supposedly seeing Y/N?" He scoffed.

"Yeah.. our eyes met for a brief moment and I swore it felt so real. It was definitely her eyes."

Porco shook his head, pushing the pen with his index finger. "Forget it Pieck. Go sleep for the entire day or something. Hallucinating is a sign of lack of sleep and out of all the things to see.. you see her. Unless.." He turned toward her with both eyebrows raised. "That was her ghost."

Pieck looked at him with half-lidded eyes, not amused in the slightest bit. She sighed and twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "So you're saying she might be dead?"

"It's possible." He shrugged.

"You say the stupidest things sometimes Pock. You never fail to disappoint me with your so-called wisdom." The corners of her mouth tugged melted down into a small frown. "Y/N isn't dead."

Pieck didn't want you to be dead. She wanted to see you again for a proper goodbye. Despite you turning your back on all of them and running away, she was the second person who understood you the most. Although your friendship lasted for a mere few months, it meant more than anything to Pieck.

Your kindness. Your genuine smiles. It made her forget that you were an enemy to Marley for a moment. She had forgotten about the war that built a barrier between you two.

Someone like you, she'd never meet another one nearly close to how perfect you were in her lifetime.

—

authors' note;

6k+ reads... that's insane.
thank you so much. truly.

this is where the story will begin to
follow along bits from aot s4.
im going give you all a heads up: i think
the end is going to shatter you.
planning it already broke me.

/
im sorry for the lack of updates,
recovering from writers block.

please bare with me. 😅