The Guardian's Tale (AOT fanfiction)

-Recovery-

"I allowed Yuki and I to be kidnapped...it's my fault." Eren said with wide eyes. "Because of me...the Scouts lost half of their veteran contingents. All in a single rescue attempt."

"Still tho, there were no casualties on the way back." Armin said, trying to be positive. "The Titans completely ignored us. They were too fixated on Reiner and the others."

"Listen...here's an idea." I leaned on my crutch and brushed my fingers over my ring. "They acted that way...because of you Eren. Well of course it's just a thought."

"That explanation made more sense than you being married to Reiner." Jean sighed, pointing at my ring.

"S-SHUT UP IT'S NOT LIKE THAT !" I yelled as I blushed and my heart tightened at the thought of Reiner.

"Anyway." His face turned serious. "I'm not saying I envy the position you're in Eren. Maybe all those Soldiers really DID die for nothing. That all depends on you. If you're really worth the sacrifice, you'd better prove it."

Just like that, we all went silent for a bit until Eren agreed with him. Saying that if this indeed WAS real, he had to plug up wall Maria and make Reiner answer for what he's done. I clenched my crutch tighter and looked away, not knowing whether I should hate him or whether I still had the right to love him. 

(.............)

Jean, Armin, Sasha and I carried food in as Jean threatened the poor girl that if she stole any more food he'd have Captain Levi chop her head off. I sighed and set the flour and bag of groceries down on the table. Unfortunately, my recovery was taking longer than expected and I still had to use a crutch so that was all that I could carry.

"Hey ! Did you guys even wipe the mud off your shoes before you came in ?" Eren asked, a broom in hand. 

"Wha-...are you kidding me ?" Jean asked, annoyed. "Do you not see all this stuff we're carrying ?" 

"You idiot...you really think an excuse like that is gonna play with Captain Levi ?" The boy with emerald eyes panicked. "Bad enough I had to make your bed for you this morning now you pull this crap ?!"

I let a small laugh escape me as I put my crutch down and limped towards the cupboard to store our goods. Mikasa and Historia came back, holding firewood and Armin lectured the black haired woman about how she should be resting due to her previous injuries. 

"Chaos..." Armin muttered. "Almost makes me wonder why they chose US for this new Levi squad. Protecting Eren, Yuki and Historia is such an important mission."

"Sasha what did you just stuff into your bag ?" I sighed as I slowly stood back up and grabbed my crutch.

"It's something that's definitely not bread." She simply answered. 

We all started telling her to put it back when Captain Levi walked into the room, making us all freeze.

"Hey kid, glad to see you're doing better." He said, patting my head. "Now what's all this commotion about ?"

He brushed his hand under the table and looked at us darkly, remarking he gave us enough time. He then shook his head and told Eren and I that Hange was waiting for us for her experiments. They mostly consisted of her having Eren transform multiple times and having me crystallize as much of my body as I could. She also occasionally asked me to try and turn into a Titan but the result was always the same. I could only form one body part. 

(............)

When I opened my eyes, I saw Reiner walking to me, his arms opened wide and a sweet smile on his face. His blond hair was glowing in the Sun and his hazel eyes sparkled.

"My love." He greeted.

"Rei...Reiner !" I exclaimed. "Reiner I missed you so much !" I could feel warm tears running down my face. "You're safe thank g-" I was interrupted by him softly placing his lips on mine.

"I'm sorry princess..." He said as he backed up into a horde of Titans. "I hope you'll forgive me one day..."

"Reiner ! PLEASE DON'T !" I started running to him but it felt like I was running in place. "REINER DON'T LEAVE ME ! I NEED YOU ! PLEASE !" I pleaded.

"Yuki...Yuki...YUKI !"

"REINER NO !" I yelled, opening my eyes, panting with sweat dripping down my forehead.

"Yuki...it's me." Jean said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. "You fell asleep...that's why you shouldn't have stayed on lookout for 3 shifts." He slowly lifted me up and handed me my crutch. "Come on...Hange and the others are back."

I walked back into the house silently, Jean following right next to me just in case I lost my balance. He always mocked that I was special for managing to fall despite using a crutch but I didn't mind, I knew he just wanted to get my mind off of things. After a bit, everyone joined us and Levi greeted me with his usual head pat. 

"I'm sorry...Pastor Nick...he was murdered." Hange announced. "Today in the Trost barracks."

No way...but he was the one providing us with information about the Walls. Who could have done this to him and with what motive ? Before I had time to ask myself more questions, she explained that she things the Military Police tortured then killed him. 

"They tortured him...presumably for information but...did they just want to know what he passed on to us ?" I asked as I put my crutch down and sat next to Jean.

"Most likely." Levi responded. "But these are the INTERIOR MPs we're dealing with. So you can bet there's something deeper at work here. Now, how many nails was the good pastor missing ?" He asked Hange. 

"I only caught a glimpse of him but...all the nail beds I saw were empty." She replied, looking up from a paper she was studying.

Levi then explained how people usually talk after one and how ripping off more wouldn't make a difference. According to him, they had no idea that we knew about the Reiss family. However, the government was up to something and we had a target on our backs. Suddenly, a woman walked in, saying she had a message from Commander Erwin. She then handed Levi and I a piece of paper and I opened it, curious as to what message anyone would possibly need to send me. The paper read :

"My dearest child, 
I've found the plush you loved so much while I was cleaning up my study. Do not worry. He is in good hands now. I do hope you finally got better and got rid of that crutch of yours.
Love, Dad."

TO BE CONTINUED !