She laid her hand over his, turned her head to kiss his palm. "Oh, Pock. You didn't leave me behind."
In front of them both, her clothes had changed to something much, much more familiar: brown skirt, white uniform shirt, the khaki jacket she'd worn for years. And she recognised the sand beneath their feet. She'd been here. Not as often as some, certainly, but when Eren had pulled in all Eldians to speak to them, that had included her. And while it still broke her heart that he'd...
That Falco had...
She swallowed, tears standing in her eyes, but now, around them, the world changed, and it changed with her memories. Red-hazed air, clouds of steam, blistering heat, all on a moving set of bones with the wall titans underneath. It was over her shoulder, but she was there, too, her arm steaming where her hand was trying to regrow, one of the soldiers from Paradis armed and standing by her protectively - but coming at them full-strength were ancient titan shifters, their bodies pure white, with half of Bertholdt's Colossal hanging overhead. It looked like she was going to die. And then, out of seemingly nowhere, two similar-looking Jaw Titans appeared, clamping on to the napes of the two that had been moving to attack her. One, in the memory, was slightly blurred. The other, however, was crisp, clear, unmistakable with its double-rows of teeth, the mane around its skull-like face.
And she said quietly, tears starting to make their trails down her cheeks, "You always come to save me. You always have. You say you're not the strongest or best or bravest, but you always dove in to battles without fear. You're always so fast, so smart - even I can't keep up with you and how fast you'd cut through the embankments. I always knew when we were dispatched together, nothing could stop us. And then..."
One little half-step toward him and she practically buried herself in his chest, her arms winding tight around his waist. "And then, when we were off the battlefields, you kept me safe. I didn't trust anyone else the way I've always trusted you. You'd hide me. Or keep me warm. When I was afraid to sleep alone, you made room for me. You... you gave me a place where my smiles could be real. Nobody else ever did that for me."
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In front of them both, her clothes had changed to something much, much more familiar: brown skirt, white uniform shirt, the khaki jacket she'd worn for years. And she recognised the sand beneath their feet. She'd been here. Not as often as some, certainly, but when Eren had pulled in all Eldians to speak to them, that had included her. And while it still broke her heart that he'd...
That Falco had...
She swallowed, tears standing in her eyes, but now, around them, the world changed, and it changed with her memories. Red-hazed air, clouds of steam, blistering heat, all on a moving set of bones with the wall titans underneath. It was over her shoulder, but she was there, too, her arm steaming where her hand was trying to regrow, one of the soldiers from Paradis armed and standing by her protectively - but coming at them full-strength were ancient titan shifters, their bodies pure white, with half of Bertholdt's Colossal hanging overhead. It looked like she was going to die. And then, out of seemingly nowhere, two similar-looking Jaw Titans appeared, clamping on to the napes of the two that had been moving to attack her. One, in the memory, was slightly blurred. The other, however, was crisp, clear, unmistakable with its double-rows of teeth, the mane around its skull-like face.
And she said quietly, tears starting to make their trails down her cheeks, "You always come to save me. You always have. You say you're not the strongest or best or bravest, but you always dove in to battles without fear. You're always so fast, so smart - even I can't keep up with you and how fast you'd cut through the embankments. I always knew when we were dispatched together, nothing could stop us. And then..."
One little half-step toward him and she practically buried herself in his chest, her arms winding tight around his waist. "And then, when we were off the battlefields, you kept me safe. I didn't trust anyone else the way I've always trusted you. You'd hide me. Or keep me warm. When I was afraid to sleep alone, you made room for me. You... you gave me a place where my smiles could be real. Nobody else ever did that for me."