Your Promise | Shingeki No Kyojin ;; Eren Jaeger |

Chapter Thirty-Four

Rose

I shoot up from the ground, holding my chest after blacking out in the middle of the streets of Trost. I look around as I sit in the midst of the thick wood. The sun barely shines through the canopy of the trees, only allowing some light to reach the grass.

"Where am I?" I question myself. I touch my legs and my arms, feeling for any indication of pain from my fatal injuries but I feel normal, as if nothing ever happened. "I'm completely fine... Does that mean I died?"

I scrutinize my surroundings once more and then gasp when coming to a realization. "I know this place!" I come to my feet and call out, "Raeger, are you here?"

A sage birdwing butterfly flutters past my eyes and flies deeper into the forest. I begin to follow it, hoping it will lead me somewhere. As I tread through the wood, voices from the past echo around me.

"Get away from her!!"

"My name's Raeger, what's your name?"

"I'm Rose,"

"The sky is pretty... But I think there's something here that's prettier,"

"I... I love you, Rose, I always have,"

"I'll come back to you, someday,"

"Thank you, Rose... Thank you for being the light in my life... You made it worth living,"

The butterfly emerges from the forest into the daylight and I cover my eyes from the sun. A male figure stands at the edge of the cliff with his back facing towards me. Once the butterfly reaches him, the blonde boy holds up his right hand to allow the butterfly to perch on his finger. He looks at the butterfly and gently smiles, his eyes softening at the insect.

Tears come to my eyes and I whisper, "R-Raeger..." My trembling hands cover my mouth.

He turns to face me with a startled look on his face. "Rose?"

I sprint towards him and tackle him with a hug. "Raeger! It's you!" He loses his balance a bit but then regains it. "I thought I would never see you again," I look up into his eyes and examine his face. Although he died when he was nine, he's grown as well. Raeger's features have become more defined and structured but I'm still reminded of what he used to look like. "I guess you can still age even in the afterlife, huh? Or is this how I perceive you?"

Raeger ignores my comment and stares at me bewildered still. "How are you here, Rose...?"

I let go of him and sigh. "I'm sorry, Raeger. I tried to fight but I couldn't last out there. Even after all this time, I'm still so weak,"

Raeger tilts my chin up so he can look me in the eye. "You are not weak, Rose. You're brilliant and brave, I meant that in the letter I wrote to you all those years ago and I still think that," Raeger brings his lips to the top of my head, softly kissing my forehead. My heart flutters at his soft touch and I feel light as if I'm floating. "I fell in love with a strong-spirited girl and you still are to this day," Raeger whispers.

I bury the side of my face into his chest, cherishing his warmth. "I love you too, Raeger, I've never stopped,"

"But your heart longs for another now," Eren's face appears in my mind and my heart sinks.

"Yes... But nothing can be done about that. I'm dead, there's no way I could be with him!"

He shakes his head in response. "Not quite,"

"What do you mean?" I question. He points to my hands and I look down. My hands start to glow white and become transparent along with the rest of my body. "W-what?!"

"This is exactly what I thought, you aren't dead, Rose. Soon, your soul will return to your physical body,"

"Wait, but I can't leave you here!" I wrap my arms around him tightly. "I want to stay here with you,"

"And cause pain to your new lover?" Raeger asks, making me think of Eren again. My gaze falls to the grass below but Raeger's index finger lifts my chin up. "Don't worry about me, Rose, I'm fine here. Besides, I watch over you from here. Your past and I shouldn't hold you back from experiencing the world, it's like your friend told you, Sasha, right? I don't want to be the reason you lock yourself away from everyone," He consoles me.

Tears run down my cheeks and I sniffle. "You're right, I think I needed to hear it from you of all people the most. Goodbye, Raeger, I'll miss you..."

He wipes away the tears on my face with his thumb and my body glimmers brighter before disappearing. "I'll miss you too, Rose," He whispers as I fade away from his arms.

• • •

In the original version of this chapter, I had Rose and Raeger kiss but it felt so forced and unlike Raeger to do that so I changed it :)