The streets of Liberio felt heavier than usual under the gray afternoon sky. Reiner Braun walked slowly along the edge of the internment zone, shoulders hunched, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his coat. Months had passed since he returned from Paradis, and the weight of everything he had done still crushed him daily.

The guilt never left. It lived in his bones, in the nightmares that woke him sweating and gasping, in the way his hands sometimes trembled when no one was watching. He had become a hero to Marley, paraded as the armored titan who helped declare war, but inside he was hollow. Every smile he forced felt like glass in his mouth. Every time he looked at the Warriors, at Gabi’s fierce determination, at Falco’s innocence, he remembered the friends he had betrayed on the island. The 104th. Eren. Mikasa. And her.

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She had been one of the few in the 104th who treated him like a person, not just a soldier. Quiet moments, the way she never pushed when he grew distant. He had let himself get close, closer than he should have, and when the truth came out, the look in her eyes had haunted him more than most. He told himself she was probably dead now, another casualty of the war he helped start. It was easier that way. Safer.

He turned down a quieter path lined with benches, trying to clear his head before heading back to the Warrior unit headquarters. The wind carried the distant sounds of children playing and soldiers drilling. Reiner kept his gaze low, counting his steps like he always did when the memories pressed too hard.

Then he looked up.

And the world tilted.

There, sitting on a bench in the distance, were two figures dressed as wounded soldiers. One was unmistakable. Eren Yeager, head lowered, green eyes staring at nothing, one leg maimed. And beside him…

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She sat quietly, posture straight despite the bandages, her presence steady even in the middle of enemy territory. Reiner stopped dead in his tracks. His breath caught sharply in his throat. For a long moment, he couldn’t move, couldn’t think. He just stared at the girl he thought he’d never see again, now sitting mere meters away from the boy who wanted to wipe Marley off the map.

His heart slammed against his ribs, a mix of shock, guilt, and something painfully warm he hadn’t felt in years. He didn’t step forward. He didn’t call out. He simply stood there, frozen in the middle of the path, eyes locked on the two figures who represented everything he had destroyed… and everything he still couldn’t let go of.