Life after torture: AOT boys x reader

Chapter 22: (Un)Happy Ending

The grey sky reflected the mood of them all. Tears threatened to fall as people in black began to shuffle into the room. Many couldn't even believe they were there, that things had ended the way they had.

You had gone through so much trauma, suffered through so much that to end up here, it was a horrific end. The room was packed to the brim, a reflection on how much of an effect you had. People loved you, cared for you. Even a few MP's were scattered here and there.

The majority of the room was Survey Corps, as expected. Considering that they were the symbols of hope, they looked so crushed. Not one of them ever wanted to be where they were.

Erwin led the group, the most put together of them all. Hanji trailed behind, a chilling mask put on her face to mask the internal weeping, screaming inside for a better ending. Levi didn't know how to feel, so used to the pain of life. Erin and Armin were holding each other, an unspoken support between the two of them. Jean lurked, refusing to let people see the weakness. Even Mikasa got a little teary-eyed, not that she would admit to anyone.

The looks of pity sent their way didn't help. It wasn't like these people actually cared, not like they should.

Up ahead, they caught sight of Alex, stood next to a middle-aged woman that was sobbing her heart out. Nothing could stop the waterfall of tears, as if she was trying to cry enough so she could drown. Anything to drown out the pain.

As expected, they wondered about, talking to people about you. Offering support, reminiscing etc. It didn't matter now. It wasn't them that they were there for. They were there for you, to support you. Always there to help.

Except they weren't. They weren't there. Not when they were needed most. The Survey Corps couldn't even keep one of their own safe within the walls. It stung, as if they had been stabbed. The loathing slowly swallowing them whole as time went on.

Of course, they couldn't move around the room without eventually coming to the obvious object in the front of the room. No one wanted to approach. No one wanted to see.

You deserved better than this. Alex deserved to have both of her best friends by her side, yet she had neither. Your mother deserved to have both of her children alive and well, yet she had neither.  Robbie deserved to grow old, marry Alex, have children and have a happy long life. Why couldn't they? Why them?

Because he was cruel. He took what wasn't his and he damaged it beyond repair. How someone could be so unhinged, they could never understand. He tortured you in more ways then they could understand and in the end, you still lost.

Erwin could feel his jaw clench as he stared ahead of him. His stomach twisted in knots, feeling more nauseated as he stood there. The group had stopped behind him, in little bubbles of their own. They all knew you differently, some better than others. In the end, you would be missed. Perhaps more than you ever realised.

A quick nod from Nile made him realise that for once, the MP's were on his side. Even they seemed to care to a degree. So many people. So many people cared.

Erin pushed past, walking up to the dreaded obstacle. The casket stood out like a sore thumb, wanting people to pay attention to it. Inside, you looked ever so pretty just like usual. A ghost of a smile was present on your drained face, giving the illusion of happiness. That's all it was, an illusion. You had died alone, in fear and in pain. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair.

Without warning, he fell to his knees. His fingers wrapped around the side of the casket with such force that his knuckles turned white. He barely registered the fingers that rested on his shoulders, belonging to a full on sobbing Armin and a sympathetic Mikasa.

But you would never be forgotten. Stories of you would be told to anyone who was willing to listen. The one who lived to help, the one who was so ready to sacrifice themselves. The one who deserved to live. For them, you would be a reminder. A reminder that good people can come from bad things, kind people can suffer through things and still be kind.

A reminder that happy endings don't always exist.