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It was two months after all of the titans in the world had been eradicated, and people were free to live where and as they chose. The walls were mostly destroyed, and people were beginning to explore faraway lands, charting lands never before seen by humans, or at least not remembered by humans anymore. The new government was working to reestablish society and get it working without too much chaos as people wondered about their new lives. The military was working together once again to rebuild the cities, and there were no titan shifters to threaten humanity anymore. Finally, humans could thrive once again, and there was no more fear.
Armin and Mikasa came home one day after helping Levi and some of the other members of the Scouting Legion to prepare for a scouting party into the world past the walls. They had gone out once before, but had not made it as far as they would have liked for fear of losing their way. But this time, they were going to try to find the ocean that Armin and Eren were always hoping to see. Eren had stayed home to rest for the next day since he would be one of their main sources of protection. He was the only titan shifter left, and the only one who could protect everybody against the unknown elements of the new world.
“Eren, we’re home!” Armin called out to the small house the three of them shared. There was no response. “Eren?” Armin called out once more. When Eren did not answer, Armin assumed that he had simply left for town to buy a few groceries or to visit the graves of the fallen like he sometimes did. The ones that he visited the most were Annie Leonhardt’s grave and Commander Erwin’s. Annie Leonhardt’s crystal was crushed in a battle between the leaders of the titan shifters and Eren Jaeger, and Commander Erwin was hanged for treason when all of humanity believed the Scouting Legion to be rebels. It was a sad time for everybody, but Armin was glad that was finally over with. Now they could focus on pushing forward instead of simply fighting for their survival.
Mikasa took off her jacket and hung it up. “I’m going to take a bath.” She said, and walked off in the direction of the bathroom. Even months after the fall of the titans, Mikasa still tried her best not to show any emotion and to be strong. Armin believed she was constantly worried that what happened to her parents would happen to Armin and Eren, and thus was always on edge. Armin did not mind. He always felt safe around Mikasa.
Suddenly Armin heard a banging and Mikasa screaming. Armin ran down the hall to the bathroom door that Mikasa was standing in front of. At first Armin thought that Eren was actually home and had just not heard him call out his name earlier, and Mikasa was yelling at him to hurry up so that she could take a bath.
Then he saw the fear on Mikasa’s face.
“Mikasa,” Armin rushed up to her, anxious. “Is everything okay?”
Mikasa ignored him and continued to yell at Eren. “Eren! Get out here! We can talk about this, please! Eren!”
Then Armin heard Eren’s voice and his heart dropped. “I’m sorry, Mikasa.” Eren’s voice was horrifying calm. “But I have to do it. I promised. I promised mom that I would kill every last one.”
Armin went cold. He wanted to convince himself and Mikasa that Eren would never kill himself, that Eren wanted to protect humanity as long as he could, that he wanted to stay with Armin and Mikasa and see the ocean and travel the lands. But he knew that he would be convincing nobody. Eren always said that he would do anything to kill all of the titans, even sacrifice his own life just to kill one titan more. Armin feared that Eren would lose his life young, but he never suspected that Eren would die like this.
“Eren, no!” Armin screamed, joining in. He knew yelling and begging was futile, but he could not think of what else to do at the moment. Eren could not die. Eren could not die. Eren could not die. Eren was going to kill himself, but Armin would not let Eren die. He began to kick the door. The kick startled both Mikasa and Eren. Mikasa began to kick at the door with Armin attempting to break it down. Eren’s reaction was a completely different one.
“Armin, don’t,” Eren snapped, then calmed himself down once again. “I have to do this Armin, Mikasa. I have to do it. I have to kill them all. Every-“
Mikasa and Armin kicked at the same time. The door was beginning to break. Just a few more kicks and it would be down.
“-last…”
They kicked again and the door was nearly off its hinges. Between all of the cracks and splintered wood, Armin could make out Eren standing in front of the mirror, knife poised above his heart. His face was calm and determined, but Armin noticed that his face was streaked with tears. Eren could not do it. Armin would not let him.
“One.”
One final kick and the door was down, but it was too late for them. Eren plunged the knife into his heart and dropped to the floor. Everything else happened in a haze. Mikasa shrieked and rushed toward Eren, but Armin just stood there, horrified at what he saw. He heard Mikasa screaming at Eren, shaking him, telling him not to die as tears streamed down her face. He saw Eren mouth the words ‘I’m sorry’ before his eyes glazed over and his body went slack. Mikasa shrieked again, holding Eren to her chest, rocking back and forth, shaking her head. Armin fell to his knees in disbelief. After everything that had happened, all of the titans they had killed together, discoveries they had made, people they saved; after all of this, and Armin saw his friend die twice. Armin thought it was all over when he saw Eren get eaten, but now Armin knew that this was truly the end of Eren Jaeger. There was no way that Eren would be able to regenerate his heart. He could not come back after he had died. Eren Jaeger was dead. Armin’s best friend was dead.
Armin covered his mouth to hold back his sobbing, but it was useless. Tears streamed from his eyes, and his sobbing made his body shake, but he could feel none of it. He could feel nothing but the emptiness of knowing that Eren was dead. Eren was dead. Eren was dead. The thought was unreal. Eren could not be dead. He had not even been to the ocean yet. Armin stared at Eren’s body. No. Eren had to visit the ocean. They had promised each other that they would see the ocean together no matter what, and Armin was bound to keep that promise
It was 3 months after Eren had committed suicide, and 3 months since the Survey Corps began their expedition to see the ocean. The trip had been delayed several days so that Eren could have a funeral parade and his body turned into ashes. Most everybody in the city showed up for his parade, but Armin was in too much pain to notice any of them. He had been able to calm himself down just enough to deliver the most beautiful speech at Eren’s funeral, but once he was off the stage both he and Mikasa lost it and had to leave. In fact, Armin still hurt over Eren’s death but was attempting to cope. Mikasa was much worse off and would have committed suicide herself had Armin not stepped in.
“This is not what Eren wanted,” Armin had said to a hysterical Mikasa. “Eren killed himself so that we could continue living. So if you want to kill yourself, go ahead, but when you meet Eren in the afterlife, don’t blame me when he refuses to talk to you.” That had struck a chord with Mikasa, and she vowed to live for Eren.
But finally, they were at the ocean. Armin walked along the sand and gazed upon the vast ocean. Everything was blue and misty as far as his eyes could see. The ocean and sky seemed to blend into one another, but Armin figured that could also be the mist covering the ocean. He briefly wondered at that; was the ocean covered in a cloud, or were the tears in his eyes simply blurring the world around him. He wiped away the salty tears and slowly walked over to the ocean. In his right hand, he held Eren’s ashes. In his left, he held Mikasa’s hand. He squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.
“Well, Eren,” Armin said softly, looking at Eren’s ashes. “This is it. We finally saw the ocean together.” Then he let go of Mikasa’s hand and unscrewed the lid to the jar in which Eren was being held in. Both he and Mikasa took out a handful of Eren’s ashes and released it into the wind. His ashes were lifted up by the breeze and flew out over the blue water. Armin and Mikasa watched as Eren’s ashes were scattered into the ocean, and Armin felt a sense of peace wash over him. After years of Eren being in hell, killing titans, and then finally killing himself, Armin felt as though Eren was finally able to rest in peace.