I WANTED TO become a warrior because I thought it would make my mothers wish to live with me and my father come true. But my father never wanted any part of us. Mom lived for a dream she knew was hopeless. I should've never been chosen; I should've died today. Why apologize? And why save someone like me? This can't end with me doing nothing. Knowing nothing. Before I die, I need to change something! I need to make the life I want. The life (y/n) deserves. I need to make it back; for her.

(y/n) stood at the entrance of the docks, waiting behind everyone as families and army officials were standing there. Her hands were shaking at her chest, the girl gripping onto each one to try and calm her nerves.

A lump formed in her throat, watching as the boat was slowly crawling closer to the shore. The sails were the only thing in her view, but she was still over anxious. The crowd went silent for a bit, a thunk heard as the stairs to get off the boat hit the dock.

At the landing of the metal piece, the crowd stayed silent, waiting for someone to walk off the boat. (y/n) scooted herself back, trying to stand a bit away from the anxious crowd. She decided to look down, not wanting to come in contact with anyone.

There were generals and commanders up at the front, the first to greet the warriors as they got off. Her father was one of them, but this really didn't matter to his family, it was part of his job. She could've joined him at the front, joined with the other warrior unit cadets, but she felt scared. The anxious feeling gnawing at her body as she was terrified of not seeing the boy walk off the boat.

Man, she told herself, he's a man now.
Just like she grew older, he must've as well. They had gone through puberty. Adulthood was approaching them. What if she wasn't the same to him anymore? What if he wasn't the same?

She looked up again, watching as the crowd parted and people continued to softly congratulate those who got off the boat. They brought a girl out, pushing her to the ground as she winced. She didn't try to fight her captures, didn't try to look up. She rather kept looking down, holding her head in shame.

Had they brought back an island devil?

There was a pained scream, (y/n) turning back as she watched the old warriors families stand with uniformed men, the old Warriors at their side. Her body froze up, muscles trembling as her anxiety began to flood her body. She choked on air, hand going to her hand as she watched them.

There were three in total standing somberly there. Five had been sent on the mission. The crew was left to take things off the ship, no one else was going to come down from the boat.

There was relief in her chest, painful, but it was there. His hair had grown over, very much unkempt. His nose became more predominant, his boyish cheeks gone. He had filled out, his shoulders wide and strong.

But no matter how much muscle he had, no matter how intimidating he was now, he wasn't holding himself like that. He kept his eyes to the ground, eyes unmoving as they dared not to look up. She wanted him to; wanted him to look up and just glance in her direction.

But he was busy, she told herself. He had just gotten off the boat from his mission. He lost his friends. Disturbing him wasn't something she wanted to do. He had his family to see first, show them that unlike the other three, he made it home safely. She saw him from a distance, she knew he made it back. She'll just wait to get her chance later.

Just as she got movement back in her body, ready to walk out of the landing, his head moved up. Their eyes met and suddenly everything in her body became disheartened. He missed her, she could see it in his eyes. But she also saw so much more.

Even as his mother cried and wrapped her arms around her son, he was too busy keeping eye contact with (y/n). Tears pooled at his eyes, the man biting his lips to keep from letting out any noise.

She could care less, she sniffled loudly, rubbing her nose to keep from having it runny. Her lips curled up, a shakey smile falling from her mouth. The rest of his family rushed at him, the little girl with brown hair noticeable as she tried to climb on her cousin to give him a better hug.

She didn't dare to get closer to him, she allowed him to see his family before all else. But she raised her left hand, the mark on her pinky clear to Reiner. He let out a sob, hands moving around his mother finally as he saw her raise her hand.

He was going to see her after this. He needed it. He waited for it. He deserved it.

She waited at the alleyway she had last saw him, trying to calm down her burning nerves. Clenched in her arms was a medium sized box, filled to the brim with paper. She gazed at the ring she had placed on her left hand, her pinky mark directly next to it on her ring finger.

FOOTSTEPS DOWN THE small space alerted her, hands clenching harder onto the box. But it didn't matter once she looked up. Watching him walk slowly towards her, eyes staring directly at her. She dropped the box in a rush, not caring about the contents in it. It wasn't as important as her rushing to him and having him in her arms.

"Reiner." She sobbed, arms circling his neck in a tight grip. The man sniffled, head falling into her shoulder as he leaned over her, his body giving out from the high emotions.

"You're okay! You're here!" (y/n) cried, trying to be as close to him as possible.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Reiner cried, his arms around her waist tightening as he felt soft and content with being in her arms.

"You didn't do anything, Reiner! Nothing was your fault!" She spoke into his neck, shaking her head to try and get him to move on from thinking about that hell.

"You're here with me! We can talk about it later, but for now just let me hold you." She pulled back, hands moving to his cheeks to look at him in the eyes.

He had matured, he looked handsome to her. Even if he was holding in dark things and his mind was amok. He was still her Reiner, her best friend from all those years ago.

Reiner moved his hands up to hold hers, his breaths coming out rapidly. He watched her give him a sad smile, eyes going over his face. He spent the past five year trying to finish his mission. Trying to keep his head screwed in correctly. And the only time he would come back from his scout personality, was remembering he had her back home.

He learned so much more on the island about soulmates. Meeting a pair in his cadet class. His love for her only grew immensely, thinking that one day he would get the freedom he wanted to be with her. Looking down at her, having grown so much and gaining more knowledge, he could see that she loved him just as much.

So he hastily grabbed her cheeks, pulling her closer to him as he sealed his lips against hers. She was quick to react once her brain comprehended that he was kissing her, only wasting a millisecond.

"I love you." "I'm so sorry." "I love you, so much." Reiner cried between kisses, pulling her into his chest, softly crying into her shoulder again.

"Hey, you're okay! You're here. You're with me, now." She soothed him, rubbing the back of his neck. She pulled him back, moving to hold his head between her hands.

"You're not going back." Reiner tried to smile, he really wanted to, but there was just a dark cloud over him. It was weighing on him.

He tilted his head, feeling something cold rub against his cheek. He moved back, grabbing a hold of (y/n)'s left hand and rubbing against the small metal band and tiny diamond sitting at the top.

"It fits." He whispered, remembering how she had it on a necklace before he left.

His hands were always bigger, but holding her now he noticed just how much they both had grown. She had grown taller, her child-like features were gone and replaced with that of a woman. He had spent five years, replaying her face over and over in his head. Before he went to sleep; before he woke up. But he now that he was back, the remembrance of her 12 year-old self did it no justice.

"I started wearing it a year ago." She spoke, breaking him out of his trance of trying to memorize her face again. "Odd that no one has mentioned it."

She chuckled sadly, rubbing away at her ring. Reiner looked down, softly brushing over the mark on her pinky as well.

"I met these soulmates." He told her. "On the island."

She didn't make a comment, noticing how he said it with a tenderness. She wasn't going to pry, he would tell her when he was ready.

"She gave up herself, knowing that her soulmate was on that island. She decided to come back."

(y/n) gripped onto Reiner's hand, allowing him to get what he needed off his chest. She wasn't going to interrupt, watching as his mood seemed to change. She didn't want to cause him to have a meltdown.

"The girl on the island reminded me so much of you. Well of what I remember. I'm a little regretful to admit that I had a crush on her when we met."

(y/n) giggled sadly, hands squeezing Reiner's.

"But it was just an admiration. You were always on my mind when I did anything." Reiner's eyes suddenly went dull, his PTSD flooding his eyes. "Even when I broke down that wall."

"I have a job in the Warrior unit." (y/n) spoke quickly, trying to get Reiner from thinking longer about something that would bring him discord.

"What?" He asked, eyebrows pulled together. She gave him a nervous smile, chuckles falling from her lips.

"The advisor job opened up last year. I applied to it." She told Reiner. "I regret that I had my dad help me but I did not want any other job."

Reiner only looked at her in confusion, wondering why she would put herself in the area of war.

"I did it because I was waiting for you to come back. It was my one chance of being close to you, so I took it." She smiled at him.

"I had so much faith that you would come back. I just knew that you were. It was a feeling that you were." She looked behind her, letting go of Reiner to walk up to the box she had dropped.

She gathered the envelopes that fell out, thankful that the ground wasn't wet this time around. Closing the lid back up, she turned back to Reiner who had caught up with her.

"I spent the last five years writing to you." (y/n) told him, handing him the whole box. "I know I couldn't send them, but I still wanted to hang onto them."

Reiner carefully took a hold of the box, opening it up and glancing over the dozens of letters neatly filed into it. He looked back up at her, eyes once more filled with tears.

"I learned so much more, so much about what I wanted. I get that we were kids, we still practically are. But I realized how much I loved you. I learned what it truly was."

Reiner leaned back down, giving her a kiss once more.

"You're my soulmate, (y/n). And I will always come back to you."

YMIR SAT SHACKLED in the jail cell, her head hung low as she tried to get rid of any emotion she might've had. She couldn't tell how many days it had been, her brain short functioning as she wanted to get this hell over with.

There was a clank on the ground, the metal food tray placed on the ground carefully rather than harshly like it usually was. Ymir looked up, confused on who was the new guard to bring her, her food.

The guard was much smaller than she remembered, a cap on their head as they had it down to prevent Ymir from looking at their face. However, when they finally did look up, Ymir noticed their feminine features. This was not her normal guard. They had stayed squatting, watching Ymir just stay shackled to the wall.

"I tried to pick out the best food they had." Their voice was that of a girl's; Ymir clenching her hands as she was suddenly reminded of Krista. "There weren't many options."

"Why are you here?" Ymir asked, wanting to get the small talk out of the way. She didn't want to be here; she didn't want to talk with anyone.

(y/n) sat down on her bum, crossing her legs to sit comfortably. She pulled out a pen and paper from her pocket, placing them down to the floor. Ymir glanced between them and the girl, squinting her eyes in suspicion.

"Reiner told me about you." (y/n) spoke. "He told me you had a soulmate."

Ymir unconsciously clenched her left hand, mind set on the mark she had.

"What's it to you?"

"I have one too." (y/n) told her, raising her hand to show Ymir the mark. "I just...I wanted to ask you about the island."

"Why don't you ask Reiner? If he told you about me, I'm sure you guys are buddy enough to have him tell you about it."

"Reiner isn't Reiner...anymore." She told Ymir. "I wanted to ask you if you knew what he saw. I don't want to cause him anymore damage by having him remember his time there than need be."

"Why do you care? Aren't you just a Marleyan?"

"He's my soulmate." She answered Ymir, the girl flinching some. "I want to know what he saw. I want to understand why he's different."

Ymir took a moment, looking the girl over. She glanced at her hand, the mark easy to see if you knew it was there. She was looking at Ymir with patient eyes, the titan shifter feeling as though the room was becoming suffocating.

"There was nothing." Ymir finally told her. "There was absolutely nothing wrong with the island."

"The people were just people. They were living their lives, in ignorance. They didn't know about the evil in their bodies. They didn't know about their Eldian curse."

(y/n) swallowed the lump that formed, listening intently to what Ymir had to say.

"Reiner just doesn't know who to trust anymore. None of us do."

The girl sighed, rubbing the anxious sweat on her pant legs before looking down at the paper she had brought.

"I wrote letters," She started. "These past five years while I waited for Reiner to come back. They never got mailed to him, but it kept me from forgetting about him."

(y/n) looked up at Ymir, watching her face for any form of expression.

"I was thinking maybe you would like to write one to her."

Ymir huffed out, a chuckle falling from her lips.

"You and your soulmate think alike." She told (y/n). "Don't worry about it. Your man let me write one before I came here."

"You willingly came here?" (y/n) asked.

"I had nothing left to do." Ymir shrugged.

"But you had your soulmate." The brown haired girl suddenly looked off to the side, irritated with the girl's statement.

"I was the one who ate the guy. I needed to atone for what I did. I didn't want that on my conscience." she took a bit to recollect what else to say. "Besides, I only have so many years left."

"But that doesn't mean you should end it early. You still have a lot left."

"13 years isn't nearly enough time to be with the person you are destined to." Ymir suddenly scoffed. "Maybe it's just how fate turned out to be. Maybe that was why we found our soulmates, because none of us have time to be with them."

(y/n) looked down, trying hard not to think about how much Reiner had left and how much would be spent together. It was every little girl's dream to marry someone she loved, start a family with them, and grow old together. But (y/n) spent the last 5 years knowing that it wouldn't be possible.

Though she told herself, no matter how much time was left, if Reiner came back, she would live with him for however long he got. Whether it was 5 years or 5 days, she was going to try her best, to feel what it was like to be with your soulmate.

"That maybe true," (y/n) told Ymir. "But everyone wants to experience the chance to meet their soulmate. Even if just for a fraction of the time."

Voices down the hall were beginning to turn up, their footsteps falling to the floor. (y/n) made quick work to get up, snatching the pen and paper back into her hands and putting them in her pocket. As she was about to leave, she paused at the cell door.

"What was their name?" She asked. "Your soulmate."

Ymir looked up at her, sighing a bit.

"Historia," She told her. "But I called her Krista."

"Oi!" Someone shouted, opening up the cell door causing (y/n) to look down quickly. "What are doing in here?"

"They were giving me my food." Ymir answered for her, skeptically eyeing Reiner who stood in the hallway. "Is it time already?"

(y/n) moved out of the way as some guards walked into unchain Ymir, the girl's body slipping out the door. She began to walk away from the scene, but was stopped as a hand grabbed onto her bicep. She only took a glance at it, looking up slightly when she recognized Reiner's body.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her, eyes trained on the people who were hauling Ymir.

"Just curious." Reiner squeezed (y/n)'s arm as a form of reassurance.

"Reiner?" Zeke called, waiting for the man to catch up.

"Coming." The blonde called, taking one last look at his lover. Ymir was hauled out the cell, being pulled by a chain in the opposite direction (y/n) had been walking to.

"I had five years." Ymir spoke over her shoulder. "And I owe my thanks to that kid."

(y/n) didn't turn to look at Ymir, but Reiner took a glance at her retreating back. The man walked up next to Ymir.

"Take care of that girl of yours." She told him, looking directly a head. "They don't deserve us."

"I know."