Nest & Wings (Annie Leonhardt x Male Reader)

Chapter 50: Room for Redemption

Six weeks since infiltrating Liberio,

The Restorationist movement had progressed well and had grown at a considerable pace. What started with a handful of hopeful families had now grown into a movement with over a thousand members.

That was only the number of people who were brave enough to join the movement. There were countless others that bought into the idea, but remained silent. All in all, the movement turned out much better than you expected.

Of course, there were still many people who resented the people of Paradis and held on to their view of seeing them as demons who were responsible for all the suffering they've been through. Annie had warned you about it earlier, so you didn't expect any less.

However, your recent discovery; thanks to the information Rico acquired, would suggest otherwise. Willy Tybur, having essentially admitted that his family is to be blamed, gave you a joker to use later to help convince those people when the time was right.

For now, you keep things under wraps to make sure you don't alert the Marlean authorities of your activities in the internment zone. So far, the rallies have been kept hidden from them. You and the rest of the members took the additional effort to deliver the handouts personally instead of distributing them in public to keep them away from Marlean soldiers as much as possible.

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Among the restorationists was a kid named Falco. His uncle was once of the members of the previous movement who was sent to paradise alongside Dr. Jager. Falco's dream was to stop Eldians from being used as tools of war.

Originally, he thought the way to do it was to put an end to the legacy of Ymir by helping the Marleans wipe out Paradis. But after learning the truth about the people of Paradis and how they've suffered from titans because of Marley, Falco joined the revolutionaries to support the Eldian Liberation instead.

You become close with Falco during your time there as he shared some of your ideals in understanding people's circumstances before judging them, even when they're the enemy. When Falco tells you how he was one of the candidates next in line to receive the Armored Titan, you realize he must've been close to Reiner and ask if he could take you to see him.

He agrees and the two of you head out to meet Reiner in his barracks. You and Falco walk into Reiner's room to find him holding a gun to his mouth. Falco was terrified seeing that.

You quickly pull it off of Reiner's hand and hug him. Reiner starts breathing heavily as he comes back to his senses. He had an indescribably sad look in his eyes. Even more so than what Annie's used to look like.

As Reiner's breathing slowly begins to ease, Falco asks, "Are you ok Mr. Braun?"

"Thanks to you... I guess I am, but... I'm not sure." he answers.

"What's wrong Reiner?" you ask him.

Reiner stares at you for a moment before he starts talking, "You... why are you here? Why'd you stop me?"

"You saved my ass twice, remember? I can't let you give up just yet. I'm sorry Reiner, you've been suffering alone this whole time, haven't you?" you apologize to him.

"But I'm— because of me... Marcel, Annie, even Bertolt... they're all gone because I messed up." He gets down on his knees and explains how it was him that convinced Annie and Bertolt to continue with the plan after Marcel was eaten.

You already knew about it as Annie mentioned it back when you saw Reiner escape Shiganshina. You reassure him, "No Reiner, Marcel chose to save you. He did it to make up for what he did. Besides, Annie and Bertolt are still alive and doing pretty well in Paradis."

Reiner says, "Wha-what? How? I saw Bertolt get captured. And Annie—"

You cut him off and respond, "I saved both of them. I got Annie out of Stohess, and I got Bertolt to join us instead of having him eaten. I wanna save you too Reiner... "

"What? Why would you do that? We attacked you and..." He looked completely distraught.

You respond, "Marley attacked us! They brainwashed four children and sent them on a murder mission. It's not your fault for being born in the internment zone. Besides... soldiers watch each other's backs, right? I've got yours Reiner, come back home!"

As you help Reiner to his feet, he asks, "What really is home?"

"What do you mean?" You ask. You already had the answer, but you needed to hear what Reiner thought first.

"My family's here in Liberio. I was born here... but for some reason I've felt out of place since I returned. The way you guys treated us, I felt more at home in Paradis." It was exactly what you expected.

Eren had mentioned earlier how he saw Reiner having split personalities when they tried to capture him. Judging by his answer right now, it's apparent why. Reiner was torn between two worlds, much like how you were between Annie and the Survey Corps back then.

"I might have a solution for you. But it's not gonna be easy." You tell him.

"What? What should I do?" Reiner asks anxiously.

"For the past few years, we've been working on a plan to bring all the Eldians in the internment zone to Paradis. We've already built cities outside the walls for you guys to live." You explain your plan to Liberate the Eldians.

"Are you serious? Why would you go through all that trouble for us?" Reiner asks.

You explain, "Originally, I came up with it as a way for Annie to see her father again. Oh... I forgot to tell you, huh? Annie and I are sort of together now and I promised her I'd get her a way to reunite with her father."

"Wait... you're like that with HER? How did you even approach her?" Reiner was baffled by it, as he knew more than anyone how isolated Annie was.

You continue, "That's a long story. Anyway... while that's still one of my priorities, I've since seen the kind of suffering your people are going through— actually let me correct myself, what OUR people are going through. So now I genuinely want to make sure this works for everyone's sake."

Once you explain all the details of your plan, Reiner agrees to join you and fight for your cause as soldiers once again.