𝗶 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗶'𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 - 𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘁

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚. - ch. 1

You were riding your horse along with the other scouts. You guys were finally going to see the ocean. You've heard all about it because of Armin.

           "Have you perhaps heard of the ocean, y/n"? Armin asked, hopeful that you would say yes.
            "I might have heard of it somewhere. But I don't really know much about it. Mind to tell me?"you say.
            After hearing all about the ocean, you became fascinated.
          "Really? Is it that big? Wow. Hey Berthtoldt, once we become full fledged scouts let's see the ocean!" you said excitedly.
          "Uh, yeah for sure." He said nervously.

Obviously, that never happened. God, how much you missed him. But you didn't blame Armin at all for what happened. You knew that it needed to be done.

————————————————————————

As you were riding your horse in the desert, you looked around. You hadn't really noticed but your comrades changed quite a bit.

Jean had become quite mature and grew out his hair a bit. Eren had also grown out his hair. But you've also never seen him this emotionless. He now has a face of boredom and tiredness. Whatever he saw when he kissed Historia's hand must've phased him.

Mikasa didn't change much, though she did grow close with you over the years. Armin also didn't change much, he was still the same old kind boy. Connie and Sasha were still the same idiots you had met in training. Captain Levi didn't change at all. He was still the same harsh clean freak. And Hange was still the same energetic titan freak, but you didn't mind because you loved hearing her talk about her interests.

"There's no mistaking it. This is where they turned Eldians into titans." Eren said in a serious tone, breaking the silence. "And just beyond it is..."

Wow. Just as Armin had described. It was beautiful. Tons and tons of water. Crystal clear and blue water. It felt like, paradise. You felt the breeze against your skin, making your h/c hair flutter in the wind. Everyone sat on their horses in shock and silence. Nothing could be heard but the ocean currents and the birds. You never truly admired how beautiful nature really was. Even Captain Levi had a expression on his face. You sat there for a while admiring the view.

You took off your boots and decided to dip your feet in the water, a little water couldn't hurt.

You walked into the water and felt the cool water touch your feet. The sound of the currents was so peaceful.

"My eyes!" you heard Sasha yell while Connie was dying of laughter.

"So salty!" Jean yelled as he touched his eyes with his salt-water covered hands.

You walked over to them and began splashing water on them. Somehow you guys ended up all getting your clothes soaking wet. Maybe it was because you guys tackled Jean in the water.

"Woohoo! Is this really all saltwater?! Whoa, I see something weird." Hange said.

"Hey, Hange. Whatever you're about to touch is probaly poisonous, so don't." Captain Levi said seriously.

"When he finally gets the chance to loosen up, he decides to ruin the moment." you thought.

You walked over to Armin, who was picking up seashells.

"I guess you really were right, Armin." you said with a smile. "It's exactly like i told you, y/n!" He said fascinated. "I wonder what's on the other side of the sea." you said. You two stood there for a while admiring the sea. There was a moment that he turned to look at you and couldn't stop staring. You looked over at him, which he quickly turned around to hide the fact that he was blushing.

You turned around to see Mikasa who was struggling to balance because of the currents. You chuckled softly and smiled, to which she smiled back. She also smiled at Armin. She didn't show it much but she had a soft spot for you, Armin, and Eren.

Armin walked up to Eren and said, "Its.. just like i always said, Eren! A salt lake so big, merchants couldn't could never deplete it even if they spent their whole lives extracting salt. It was out here all along, just like I said." Armin said. "Yeah. It goes on forever." He replied.

"Hey, Eren, look at this. On this side of the wall-"

"Is the ocean." He said, cutting armin off. "And beyond the ocean lies freedom. That's what I always believed. But I was wrong." Eren said. You moved closer to hear him better.

"The only thing we'll find out there is the enemy. Everything here is exactly what like I saw in my dad's memories." He said. At this point, even Hange and Levi were listening.

"If we kill every last one of our enemies out there, will we finally be free?" He said, pointing out to the ocean.

You never truly thought about it that way. You thought what you had was enough. But what you had wasn't really considered freedom. Freedom. It sounds too good to be true. But was killing the enemy the only way? Was it really what needed to be done? What about peace? Peace. It barely exists in a world like this.

————————————————————————
Hey guys! This chapter was just a filler chapter, next chapter is season 4 when the scouts return! Please let me know if you have any feedback! :)

word count: 909