Hometown

Chapter 16 - The Second Surrender

When we landed on the roof by the riverside, we saw soldiers from the Garrison surrounding the plume of smoke. Looking up at the wall, I noticed there was a cannon pointed in the direction of the smoke. Something had been shot at.

"Hey! What happened?" Jean shouted as he landed by us along with Annie and Bertholdt.

"I'm not sure," Reiner replied. "but this is where we left Eren."

"Eren?!" I exclaimed loudly. Reiner winced, and I realized that was the information he wasn't allowed to reveal.

"Reiner! We were under a gag order!" Jean yelled at him. They started to bicker, but I couldn't help but stare at the plume of smoke... Is Eren under there?

The smoke began to clear, and revealed the most alarming sight. The upper torso of what appeared to be a fifteen meter class Titan. It was as still as a rock. It had no skin, and its arm reached up to where the cannon was placed. Had it stopped the cannon fire with its arm? I jumped back in fear when its eyes suddenly moved.

"It's alive!" Some of the soldiers shouted below. Eventually the eye movement seemed to stop, and the Titan began to decay. I turned to Reiner and whispered.

"Reiner... Is that Eren?" He seemed to understand my question, and he nodded. My whole body quivered at the thought that Eren was alive. His death had impacted me so, and now I was being told he was indeed not dead and now he held a similar power to Reiner? I couldn't possibly understand what it all meant... 

This was what I wanted, wasn't it? I wanted to discover the truth... I'm already discovering more than anyone else, so why is it so startling to behold?

Armin emerged from the smoke, with his hands raised in the air. Armin?! He was in there the whole time?! The day was filled with surprises. How could so much have happened already, and it had only been a single day? I felt my thoughts swirling around like a storm cloud brewing.

Armin claimed Eren wasn't a threat, shouting that he was willing to give up his life for humanity. If his words wouldn't convince the Captain who shouted orders below, I was unsure what would.

Then, the Captain's hand began to rise, signaling for cannon fire.

"No!" I shouted aloud, but they couldn't hear me below.

I couldn't bear the thought of possibly losing Eren and Armin at once. Before the order was given, a skinny bald man walked up to the captain and grabbed his arm. Before I knew what was happening, he had saved Armin and Eren. After all the smoke had cleared, I noticed Mikasa was there as well. 

I later learned the man's name was Dot Pyxis, the commander of the Garrison Regiment. He took the three of them up to the wall in an attempt to talk. About what? That I did not know, but I knew that I was ready to question Reiner, and after that kiss, he would dare not refuse me an answer. At least that's what I hoped.

After the troops had cleared, the two of us went to a bench by the riverside and sat down. There was a pause for a moment. Neither of us fully knew what to say.

"I shouldn't have kissed you so abruptly, but I couldn't help it." He laughed lightly. We both stared ahead, gazing at the river, but I glanced at him through the corner of my eyes.

"You shouldn't regret it, because I don't." My words surprised me, as much as they surprised him. "Actually, I kinda liked how spontaneous it was." He turned to look at me.

"So... you feel the same way as me then?" He asked with a slight smirk on his lips.

"I do," I said plainly. "I think I always have, but I never knew you did as well. I honestly thought you saw me as a sister." When I turned to look at him, he was snickering with his hand covering his mouth.