swain. 𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳𝘥.

chapter four.

the letter laid flat on the wooden desk, Nila sprawled across her mattress, hand hanging over the edge and tingling with the feeling of pulsating blood rushing to her fingertips.

the decision looming above her head weighed on her, she felt it in her shoulders, which she then rolled around to rid them of the stress.

"man up, Nila." she mumbled to herself, "you can do this, he's your best friend, he'll understand." she took a deep breath in and held it for a moment, shoving herself up on her elbows, "is he my best friend?" she couldn't help but wonder, they certainly didn't act like best friends.

she rolled out of bed and planted her feet on the hardwood, she hated these floors. she hated this country. she hated this stupid war. she hated everything about this stupid world. her feet padded the floor as she made her way towards the door, that sounded like it was one good swing away from flying off the hinges.

as she opened the door, cautious of her hinges, she saw a line of panicked Marleyan soldiers running out of the living quarters. her eyebrows furrowed, "guys!" she yelled "what's going on?!"

a horrible feeling nestled itself into her gut and she cringed, she didn't like this. a soldier from way in the back fell to his knees, he was older than the rest of the soldiers pushing through the thick crowd, Nila rushed over to him, getting knocked and bumped around in the process.

she finally reached him and threw his arm around her shoulder, lifting him up and trying to walk with him out. "hey, you don't owe me anything so don't sweat this, alright? but can you at least tell me what's going on around here?" she asked, leaning so he could hear her.

"ma'am, it's Eren, the Jaeger boy. we fear he's finally come at last. i—" the old man began but Nila stopped him.

"that's all you need to say, thank you." she was horrified, he could hear it in her voice. when you're trained to do something your entire life and it suddenly shows up on your doorstep, ready to take away everything, you were one of two things; completely frozen with fear or ready to fight and end all of this.

the thing was, Nila was neither.

she was scared, yeah. but she wasn't ready to fight, she was ready to run.

she needed to find Porco, she had to. she would focus on getting this old man back in shape to march and then she would find her love.

"Nila!!" she heard, "Nila, thank god you're alright!" the voice came from way ahead of her, it was Porco's voice.

soon she saw him, pushing through the crowd to get to her and her heart rested easy knowing he was safe. all she could think about was him, all she could see was him. nothing else mattered.

she felt the man with his arm around her steady himself and she turned to him, he gave her a smile and said "go get your boy. this life doesn't last long enough to wait for a war to be over before you get to be happy, go. i'll be alright now."

a smile rose on Nila's face and she took the man's hands in hers and sent him on his way with a "thank you" and "be safe".

she turned back to where she last saw Porco and hurried over to him, pushing a lot more aggressively through the crowd to get to him.

she found him, he found her, they embraced each other tightly.

her worries melted away as his arms wrapped around her, she was safe. cutting the embrace short, she pulled away for a second.

"Pock, hey," she put her hands on his cheeks and pressed her forehead to his, "listen, i... i want you to be safe out there, okay? i'll be right by your side, but you have to promise me you will. i have to tell you something but i—"

the building above their heads rumbled and pieces of brick and cement began crashing down around them.

the ceiling was tall enough for Pock to transform and get everybody out of here before it all crashed down, she thought.

she pulled away and the two shared a look before he nodded his head and went to say something to someone in front of him, but he turned back to Nila and smiled as he said "i love you." and quickly transformed, the air filling with lightning and static as the atoms formed something entirely new from nowhere.

Nila never got tired of that sight, she ran to the back entrance as fast as she could, escorting some people out as she went.

her heart was racing in her chest, the pulse hammering in her ears as her mind replayed those three words over and over again. i love you.

i love you.

i love you.

i love you. Nila thought, i love you.

he meant it that time, didn't he?

she smiled and carried on her way before she finally reached the exit and within a few meters from the door, her teeth came into contact with her hand as sparks flew as her body was swarmed with titan muscle and veins.

the searing heat overwhelming her for approximately 15 seconds before it all cooled down and she could see again.

this was her titan form, she looked down at the sudden large hands that had veins of fire and kinda twirled them around a little.

it was time to go, she made to run off to find the source of those explosions in the distance, but more rumbling followed by her and she turned right as the building she, and Pock and all of those Marleyan soldiers were just in, got hit by a cannonball or something alike and it all crashed to the ground.