Attack on Titan One Shot Collection

"I'm Coming..."

Jean Kirstein X Reader

Summary: Hearing Jean's last words makes you remember someone you knew long ago...

WARNINGS: angst, death, hints of Jean being bisexual, hints of polyamory if you squint really hard, the title is not kinky.

Word Count: 944

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This was it...

Jean Kirstein was on his last legs. The same Jean Kirstein who always had something witty to quickly reply with when someone said something ridiculous. The same Jean Kirstein who had gradually become a much better person as the years passed by, who had finally become comfortable in his own skin. The same Jean Kirstein that always had an effective plan for everything.

Your Jean Kirstein was nearly dead. You wished you could do something about it, but it was out of your hands. You needed to let nature take its course.

You sat by his side the entire time. It was a much longer process than you anticipated. Your two grandchildren stayed with the two of you nearly the whole time. Your own children were present as well, though they had their own things to do around the house.

It was late into the evening. While Jean laid in bed and you sat beside him in your chair, your three children conversed. They recounted old memories in his last moments, answering any questions your grandchildren had.

It finally happened when the room was silent, grandchildren quietly reading or drawing and your own watching their father with sad eyes.

You were holding his hand. Tears had already started falling because you knew, you knew these were his last breaths. You knew that after today there would be no more of his witty remarks, his beautiful laugh. No more smudged graphite drawings of long forgotten faces scattered around the house. No more of him.

He squeezed your hand once, which you returned. You brought a hand to cover your mouth and let out a silent sob.

Immediately the rest of your family had come into the room and pulled their chairs closer to his bed, tears filling their eyes as they quietly spoke to him, wishing him well in wherever one went after death.

He had a slight smile on his face, and he brought your hand to his lips to leave a soft kiss on your fingertips. "I love you," he said softly.

You nodded, bringing your head down to connect your intwined hands with your forehead. "I love you, too."

He smiled contently, blinking slowly before he looked up at the ceiling. "I'm coming, Marco..."

Those were his last words. His final breath left you a sobbing mess, so overridden with grief that your entire body shook. You swear your heart shattered into trillions of pieces, and you had just lost the second half of your soul to death's cruel, cold hands.

You recalled his final words, smiling through the pain at them because he remembered his best friend in his final moments.

You had thought less and less about Marco as the years passed, coming to terms with his death after a while and accepting it. He was taken too soon, and while it left you sobbing for months, you knew you needed to move on.

Jean, however, thought about Marco almost daily. You would sometimes catch him silently talking to himself in a room, speaking aloud to update Marco on life's happenings. You'd sometimes see a face that resembled the freckled boy's among the collections of sketches in his study.

It was an arrow to the heart. Both of your best friends were now dead. The loves of your lives gone, and there was almost nothing left for you to live for...

Almost...

"Gramma?" It was your youngest grandchild. She couldn't pronounce D sounds, so she always skipped over them. She gently tugged at your skirt, and you looked down at her with wet cheeks. Quietly, she asked, "Who's Marco?"

The room went quiet again. No one else said anything, but you knew they had that same question.

You and Jean never shared much about the time before you had children. Your time as soldiers was tragic and bloody and neither of you felt particularly eager to relive it. On the rare occasion that you did, you always made sure it was something more lighthearted. The most they knew about your lives before they were born is that you and Jean were soldiers of Eldia, who bravely fought to protect the world from Eren Yeager.

They didn't know anything.

They didn't know about life inside the walls—before it was made know that there were entire countriesout in the world.

They didn't know about your time as cadets and the rigorous training that made you into brave soldiers.

They didn't know about the Titans that once made Eldians live in fear.

They knew nothing about the betrayal of Reiner, Annie, and Bertholdt, and how devastated everyone became when they learned that their trusted comrades were foreign enemies.

And they knew nothing about Jean's other half Marco, who died a terrible death far too soon...

You lifted your granddaughter onto your lap, taking a shaky breath in. "Give me a moment, okay?" She nodded as you wiped your eyes, still letting out silent cries. "I promise to tell you everything."

And when you finally spoke they listened. Your family listened so intently. You told them about your time as cadets, about when you were part of the Survey Corps. The discovery of Eren's Titan abilities and Marley and the Rumbling and Ymir and everything you could think of and remember. The faces may have faded and the colors may have gone dull and the memories may not have been as sharp as they needed to be, but you remember the way you felt as vividly as if it was yesterday.

And of course, you told them about the second love of your life Marco Bott.