A/N: Hello, readers! You get to see some Julian and Jean bonding time! (And the last time you'll see it T-T) Enjoy!

edited on december 13th, 2023 @ 12:45pm

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𝓒𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙵𝙸𝙵𝚃𝚈-𝚂𝙸𝚇,
𝓝𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙾𝙵 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝙽𝙳.

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JULIAN WAS BANGING ON THE WINDOW, trying to get his younger brother's attention. "Jean, it's me." He said, banging on the glass window again. "We're waiting outside."

Soon enough, Jean was outside, joining Julian and Mikasa. "I'm glad you came, Jean. Mikasa was filling me with the situation." Julian informed. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been on the site with you guys. You have done well under such an adverse situation."

"As for Levi... He's not unscathed, but he's alive. Same with Lyon. I have Hange watching over the two." Julian continued. "Neither of them will be able to fight for a while, though. And lastly, we joined forces with the Cart Titan and remaining Marleyan forces. It's to stop Eren. Genocide is a mistake."

"How will we stop him?" Mikasa asked.

"We must first gather allies. What we can do depends on who we have on our side. But we're powerless without the help from you and the Nine Titans. The old chain of command has been wiped out and I'm no longer your superior. With that in mind, I ask you—"

"I'll do it." Mikasa interrupted Julian, causing him to glance up. "I don't want to let Eren slaughter anyone else. Even if he's doing so to protect us and this island, I want to stop him."

"Mikasa..."

"If we can somehow stop Eren... What will you do?" Jean asked. "Even if Eren can maintain the Founding's power, he only has four years left to live. What'd happen to this island after that? If for decades to come, far into the future... The world will still continue to loathe us... Then stopping Eren would also mean leading this island to its doom."

"From how I see it... The Marley assumes the Rumbling happens immediately after their surprise attack. At the very least, they won't lay their hand on this island for a while." Julian said.

"'Unless we destroy that island completely, we'll never know when they'll destroy the world.' It'll just stir up more rage than Willy Tybur's speech." Jean said.

"You may be right." Julian agreed. "Either way, even if this island is to be destroyed, we'd still get at least a few years to spare."

"But the last time we decided to explore possibilities with the time we had, we couldn't solve a single thing! That's why Eren decided to wipe out the world—" Jean began to argue, until Julian slammed his fist down.

"Genocide is wrong!" Julian exclaimed, gritting his teeth. "There is... There is no reason to commend such an act!"

Both Mikasa and Jean went silent. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted like that. Just like Jean said, Eren was pushed to do this... all because of my feckless idealism. And I might be howling about it... But I was trying to run away. To abandon everything... To forget it all and just survive... But I'm still the Commander of the Survey Corps. Many of my comrades dedicated their heart for the freedom of humanity... and I can feel they're all looking at me. Almost all of them died without even knowing that humanity exists beyond the walls." Julian ranted.

"'It's all good as long as this island is free.'" Julian continued on as the deceased Scouts were looking at him. Ida and Melody were next to their former leader, looking at him. "Do you think a single of them would've been so selfish to say that? We only have one chance to stop this genocide. And that is now."

Jean widened his eyes as he turned and saw Marco amongst the crowd, making him narrow his eyes.

"Nii-san." Jean began, closing his eyes for a bit before re-opening them. "I'm... I'm still a member of the Survey Corps."

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The Allied Forces were now sitting around a campfire. Hange was cutting potatoes to make stew while Julian was passing the potatoes to them, peeking an eye over at a sleeping Levi every once in a while.

"Can somebody other than Julian help me?" Hange asked. "Or maybe stop staring at each other like that."

"So you want us to eat together after all the time we spent killing each other? It's quite curious. What changed your mind? If you let Eren Yeager be, you'll attain the world you wished for. A paradise for the island devils. We were so close to stopping Eren and Zeke coming into contact. Had it not been for you guys helping them." Magath claimed.

"Like I explained, General. None of us wished for a genocide. Otherwise, we wouldn't be hiding here in the forest and make a stew." Julian told him.

"So you're saying you finally see whose side justice is on?" Magath questioned.

"Justice?" Jean repeated, making Julian sigh at his younger brother. "Did you just talk about justice? You're saying we're the bad guys for fighting back against the Titans you people kept sending? Listen! We fought as hard as we did because we didn't want to be eaten alive by Titans! And you're saying that's something only a devil would do, you old geezer?!"

Magath took a sip of his alcohol. "Yeah. You do look like devils to me." He replied. "All our fears about the threat of Paradis have come true, and the world's on the brink of destruction. This is the result of all your struggle. Isn't it?"

"Listen here. If he hadn't watched his mother eaten alive when the wall was breached... Eren would never have done anything like this! You people left him with no choice but to use the Rumbling!" Jean exclaimed.

"Oh, so now you want to talk about history? You should at least understand that Eldia was the first to devastate Marley and put our people through hell." Magath said.

"How long are you going to play the victim over something that happened two millennia ago?"

"Good grief, it's like I'm talking to a child. You think nonsense like that holds up in face of two thousand years of real history?"

"What did you say?"

Julian grabbed a potato before throwing it at Jean's head, making him yelp. "N-Nii-san!" He exclaimed.

"Just because you're not fifteen anymore, doesn't mean I won't treat you like a child." Julian claimed before turning to Magath. "General, with all the respect, talk to my little brother like that again and I'll kill you myself."

Lyon, who overheard from his spot where he was laying down, chuckled to himself. "Seems as though Julian still cares for his brother. Even though he doesn't show it as much." He thought.

"No one gives a shit about what happened over 2,000 years ago that none of us were even alive to witness. And for the love of God would you please keep your voices down? Levi is finally resting and I don't even remember the last time he got some decent sleep so I would appreciate it if you don't wake him up." Julian concluded before huffing and taking his seat back next to Hange.

"Jean. The General is perplexed over our existence. To him, we're strange devils who'd abandon our own paradise just to save the very people who tried to eradicate us. We lived in the outside world for several months. We can never go back to being the ignorant island devils." Hange added in.

Jean said nothing as he turned around. "So? Can you guys kill him?" Annie suddenly asked. "Can you kill Eren?"

"Killing Eren isn't the only way to stop him." Mikasa responded.

"I knew you would say that. Then what? Are you going to persuade him? You think the guy who'd reconsider that easily would begin genocide on the rest of the human race?" Annie questioned.

"We don't know. Not until we talk to Eren." Armin answered.

"Then assuming you managed to talk to him. What would you do when he refuses to stop his genocide? Has thinking of Eren as the enemy turned you into idiots?" Annie asked as she didn't get a response. "I knew it. If those of us from Marley try to protect our homeland by killing Eren, you'll end up fighting us to protect him. I'm sure of it. That's how it'd end up, right? Mikasa? I'm sure never in your life you ever thought of anything more precious to you than Eren."

Mikasa's eyes widened as she grabbed her blades, giving Annie a dark look. "So you're saying you need to kill me?" She asked.

Annie opened the blade of her ring, putting it close to her thumb. "Eh?!" Hange exclaimed, looking at the both of them.

"Leonhart!" Magath said.

Annie and Mikasa stared at one another before Annie placed her hand down and extended her other hand. "I get how you must feel. I also have a reason I want to stop Eren. I don't want my father in Marley to be killed. That's why I need your help. If you can convince Eren to stop, then great. At the very least, we have no reason to fight until then." Annie said.

Mikasa turned around. "Fine." She agreed.

Hange tapped the spoon on the caldron. "There, there! Come on, the stew is ready now." They announced. "Let's eat."

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"Even after resting the horses, it'll still take five hours at full speed to the harbor. We'll have to rely on the Azumabito." Julian informed once everyone was settled. "According to Miss Kiyomi, there's a flying boat meant to observe the Rumbling ready at the harbor. We can use that to get close to the Founding Titan."

"I knew it. So the Azumabito were helping you behind the scenes." Magath commented.

"The problem is locating the Founding Titan. We'll run out of fuel in no time if we just fly around aimlessly." Julian pointed out.

"Yes. That's why we captured her. Where would Yeager be headed first?" Magath questioned Yelena.

"How should I know? Even if I die, why would I tell you?" Yelena asked.

"Yeager had no knowledge of the mainland. So you must've told him what he needed to know. He's planned out which direction his Titans will head toward. You should be able to make some guesses." Magath responded.

"Shit head."

"Hmm?"

"I'm asking why I'm ought to help a Marleyan shit head like you." Yelena repeated.

"Remember we get to decide whether you live or not." Annie threatened.

"It's pointless. She's eager to die." Jean informed, taking a sip of his stew.

"But aren't you fighting Marley to save your own homeland? Are you okay letting it get trampled like this?" Connie asked.

"Yelena?" Onyankopon questioned.

"She's fine with that. Because... She's a Marleyan shit head just like the rest of us." Magath revealed.

"You've completely outwitted us in Liberio, after all. Yelena." Pieck spoke up, moving towards the woman. "We looked into your past, and found some surprises. You were born into a perfectly normal Marleyan family, but you pretended to be from a small nation annexed by Marley. It was right after you met Zeke. After becoming disillusioned by Marley, you crafted a story. A miraculous fairytale of how you and the prince saves the world. You tried to solidify your lie into an indelible part of human history. I'm impressed by the depth of your desire."

It was silent as everyone stared at Yelena, who reached her hand up to touch the Cart Titan. "To save the world. Are there any words sweeter and more alluring than this? You give yourselves to the sublimely exciting idea that you will save hundreds of millions of lives, and gulp it all down, as if to wash away all the hatred you felt in the past. That's how all of you look in my eyes right now. Let's take a quick look into the past." Yelena ranted before starting with her first victim.

"Reiner Braun. Who knows how many Eldians lost their life because you breached the wall that day." Reiner looked away as Yelena moved onto Annie.

"Annie Leonhart. I've heard you've killed quite a lot of the Survey Corps members. Including a large number of residents in the Stohess District." Julian clenched his fist, remembering Ida.

"And of course, the same goes for the soldiers of Paradis. You're usually very sensible and decent person, so I've never thought I'd see you to raze a military port so mercilessly Armin. Your military accomplishments should be relative to the mountain of corpses you left behind, including the civilians'." Yelena continued. "I have vivid memories of the brave acts the rest of you have done in Liberio. Especially Jean."

"You valiantly hurled a Thunder Spear at that little boy Falco to defeat the Cart. And Gabi, the girl over there, shot Sasha to death. Sasha was a really good girl. Even I was sad about that. However, for all of you who think of her as family since your training corps days... Your sadness and hatred easily dwarf mine." Yelena said.

Jean soon finished his stew. "This is delicious, Hange. Can I have more?" He asked.

"Yeah, there's plenty more." Hange responded, taking his bowl as Jean picked up a bottle of alcohol.

"Thanks, Yelena. You were trying to air out all our grudges out so we can get our minds straight, weren't you? Right when your dream you're so committed to that you blow up your friends' brains out just to attain ended up failing, and all you wish is death." Jean said, taking a sip from the bottle. "I say it's very considerate of you."

Yelena was silent for a moment. "Oh right, I almost forgot. What was it again? The name of that good friend of yours that you once told me about... Oh right, it's Marco." She said, causing Julian to flinch at the mention of his best friend's younger brother.

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there. Marco's a sensitive topic to Jean so for you to even mention his name—" Julian began but stopped when Jean gave him a look with his eyes.

Julian sighed. He knew Jean needed this closure, and he would be lying if he wasn't interested to find out how Marco died.

"At least I can give Marcus some closure too once this whole thing is over." Julian thinks to himself. 

"You said Annie was involved in his death, didn't you? Have you asked about it yet?" Yelena questioned. "The truth behind his death."

"I took off Marco's Vertical Maneuver Gear. That's why a Titan ate—" Annie started to explain.

"Annie was only following my order." Reiner interrupted, defending Annie. "Marco overheard the secret conversation I had with Bertholdt. In fear of our cover being blown... I thought the best way to silence him was to have a Titan kill him. I slammed Marco into the roof while in the air. And while I hold him down so he can't move, I had Annie take his Vertical Maneuver Gear from him. Marco then stuck there until a Titan came up and ate him."

Everyone stayed silent, processing Reiner's confession. "So that's what happened to your brother... Marcus..." Julian thought.

"Did Marco say anything at the very end?" Jean asked.

"He said, 'We haven't even had a chance to talk this through.'" Reiner answered.

"Yeah... He's right. We haven't been trying to talk this over! That's why we've been fighting each other to death like this, isn't it?" Jean questioned.

"It's still not too late. We've been at each other's throats all this time. But at the very least, we're now talking without trying to kill each other. Who could've imagined this? That we'd all be eating around a fire like this." Julian replied.

"As I watched the Titan eating Marco... I wondered why Marco is being eaten." Reiner spoke.

"Eh?" Hange said in confusion.

"Then I flew into a rage and killed that Titan. Claiming it was for Marco—"

"That's enough!" Jean interrupted. "You're saying the guilt messed with your head, right?"

"Don't forgive me. I really am just a helpless—"

"I said enough!" Jean repeated.

"I'm sorry."

That's when Jean sprinted forward, sending a punch towards Reiner's face and knocking him back. Jean soon got on top of him, punching his face repeatedly.

"Hey, Jean!" Connie shouted, rushing over to stop him along with Armin.

"Don't do it!" Armin yelled as both him and Connie held Jean back.

Jean sent a kick towards Reiner, but ended up kicking Gabi instead, who rushed in to protect Reiner.

"Gabi!" Falco exclaimed, rushing to her side.

"I'm sorry. We... Our wish... was to slaughter all of you... on Paradis. We wanted the world to accept us, to forgive us. That's why we kept hoping the devils on this island to go away. And now, my mom, my dad... and everyone on Liberio will be gone because of it. I'm sorry." Gabi said before she bowed in front of Jean.

"I know it's very impudent of me to ask this... But we need your help! Please... lend us your strength!"

"We beg you. Please stop the Rumbling together with us." Falco begged.

"We beg you."

"We beg you!"

"We beg you!"

Gabi and Falco kept pleading to Jean. "Let go of me." Jean said as both Armin and Connie released him. Jean turned around and walked towards the forest.

"Where are you going, Jean?" Connie asked as he received no response.

"Jean! What about your seconds?!" Hange called out.

"Leave him alone, Hange." Julian told them.

"It's not working... He left..." Gabi muttered as she released a tear.

"Gabi..." Magath mumbled.

"You guys are so loud." Levi said, now awake from all the commotion.

"Go back to sleep, Levi." Julian told his fiancé before he sighed and stood up from the crate he was sitting on, deciding to check on Jean.

Julian frowned at the sight of his brother's state. He walked over to him before engulfing him into a hug.

"You know, you do the same thing I do. Covering the ears. Must be a Kirstein thing." Julian said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Nii-san, can you promise me something?" Jean muttered.

"Sure thing."

"Don't die."

"Jeez, did Levi get to your head or some shit?" Julian asked.

"I'm serious. I can't lose any more people I care about. Especially you. I can't—" Jean paused to take a breath.

Julian chuckled. "It won't be that easy to get rid of me. I promise I'm not going anywhere, okay?" He said, making Jean nod.

"Well, at least I'll be able to give Marcus some closure." Julian said.

"Oh, right." Jean released the hug before pulling out a letter from his pocket. "Marcus wanted me to give this to you. Now's the best time as ever."

Julian took the letter before unfolding it, reading Marcus' familiar handwriting.

To Jules,

If you're reading this, then that means I'm most likely dead. I have drank the wine that had Zeke's spinal fluid. Any minute now, I can turn into a Titan. So I am writing you a letter to say what I couldn't say to you, or rather, my pride stopped me from doing so.

I would like to apologize for how I reacted when you told Maya and I you were joining the Scouts before graduation. If I'm being honest, the only reason I reacted in such a way was because I was afraid you'd be the first to die.

How ironic, right? Turns out, even in the Military Police, I couldn't escape death.

I guess this is farewell. Thanks for dealing with my arrogant ass over the years.

Sincerely,
Marcus.

Julian chuckled before he folded the letter back up.

"I hope you finally found peace, Marcus..."

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Morning soon came as Jean shook Gabi awake. "Wake up." Jean said as Gabi opened her eyes. "It's time to go."

"You will help us?" Gabi asked as Jean stood up.

"Yeah. Of course." Jean replied, grabbing onto Reiner's collar.

"Come on! How long you're going to sleep, Reiner? You're already healed, aren't you?!"

The Allied Forces soon headed off towards the harbor. Jean took a glance at Gabi and Falco.

"Gabi. Sorry I kicked you. Are you okay?" Jean questioned.

"Yeah, it's okay. I'm fine." Gabi reassured.

"I see." Jean said before addressing Reiner, who was next to him. "Reiner, you won't get any apology from me."

"Yeah. That's fine." Reiner said.

"What about me?" Annie asked.

"The Cart's coming." Connie informed.

"Stop. Something's wrong." Magath said.

Pieck appeared from her Titan, releasing steam. "The harbor. The Yeagerists has taken control of the harbor! They must've gotten there first by steam engine. There are many soldiers with Anti-Titan Gear surrounding the place. They're ready for combat." She informed.

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A/N: Don't mind me just making Julian's death more angsty than it already will be. Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 3516 words.