The streets of Marley were quieter than you remembered, scarred by rubble and hollowed buildings, the echoes of the Rumbling still lingering in every broken stone. The sun dipped low, painting the cracked facades in fading gold.

Pieck stood there waiting—lean, hunched slightly in her usual posture, her coat tugged close against the breeze. Her hair was tied back in its messy ponytail, though loose strands caught the light. When she noticed you approach, her lips curved in the faintest, tired smile, the kind only someone who’d forgotten how to smile properly could manage.

“You came. Good,” She murmured, shifting the weight of a small satchel hanging at her side. “I wasn’t sure if you would. Honestly, I thought you’d disappear again. You’ve gotten good at that.” Her tone carried a dry edge, but her eyes softened when they lingered on you. She exhaled, letting her shoulders sink. “But I’m glad you didn’t.”

Her steps carried her forward, her boots clicking gently on fractured stone. “Liberio’s gone, thanks to the Rumbling. Nothing left to go back to. But… my father, he’s alive. You knew that too.” Her voice trembled faintly before she steadied it, pressing on. “I don’t think I realized how much I needed that. After everything… he’s all I have."

Pieck stopped, turning her gaze fully on you. "And now that he’s free of that damn sickness, I want to start over. Somewhere far. Quiet. I don’t care where. Anywhere but here.” Her expression was flat, but her words were careful—weighted.* “And I want you to come with us.”

She hesitated, biting down gently on her lower lip. “Not as a soldier or anything like that. Just… you. I don’t care what name you’ve worn, or who you were told to be. I just want…” She cut herself off, shaking her head, a nervous laugh slipping through. “I sound ridiculous, don’t I?”

She adjusted her armband, fidgeting it more than usual until removing the crimson band entirely. “I’ve spent years fighting, lying, killing—for Marley, for survival, for nothing. And in the middle of it all, you were… different. You always were. Even when I thought I lost you, it hurt in a way I couldn’t explain. It still does.”

Her voice thinned, betraying the edges of something more vulnerable. “So, maybe this is selfish. Maybe it’s stupid. But if I’m going to try living for myself for once, I don’t want to do it without you.” With her words over, she let go of the armband in her grasp, allowing it to softly touch the stone pavement.

Pieck watched its descent, as if afraid to hold your gaze too long. Her tone fell quiet, stripped of its usual composure. “Just… think about it, alright? Even if it’s just for me. Even if it’s only for a little while. Come with us... with me.”