A/N: ABSOLUTELY HUGE MANGA SPOILERS FOR ALL CHAPTERS

They had chosen Erwin.

Between Armin and Erwin, Erwin had been the one to live. Armin, barely a remain, crumbling into blackened dust, was dead. Forever. No breaths passed through his lips anymore, nothing as Eren stared down at him, wishing that maybe he had not let Levi save Erwin.

Not let Levi save his lover.

The lover that was not Eren's.

Yet Levi was.

The complication relationship had been running steadily for years. Levi and Erwin had been together nearly a decade when they met Eren. And from there, they had doted on him.

But, Erwin's heart was restrictive. As Eren had heard, Erwin fell with everything. His devotion was always aimed at a single thing, whether it be in love or in strategy. He did not have room for another in his heart.

But, Levi did.

And so, as Erwin suggested, Levi did. Levi split his heart in two and divided it between the two. Eren loved him wholeheartedly back and so did Erwin- even if Eren did express a little disappointment by the lack of another partner at his side.

If it were up to him, he would have Erwin and Levi by his side. It had not worked out that way. Yet, he had still lost his best-friend because of it.

The war had been crippling. 300 soldiers dwindled down to just more than ten and the ones that were left were traumatised by the bloodshed they had encountered.

Erwin had led the suicide mission and had been the only one to survive. Levi had battled dozens of titans, one being one of the most powerful titan shifters that they had heard of, and lived to see the other side. No one knew how and he had refused to speak the information.

No, he hadn't.

He had refused to speak at all.

His eyes spoke volumes, shedding tears, holding dark, heavy bags beneath them and so bloodshot that Eren had feared that he had resorted to extreme self-medication.

Saying that, hadn't they all?

Mikasa and Eren were crippled by their best friends death.

Levi was mute- something that meant that he had to become co-captain for his struggle to give orders.

Erwin had drowned himself in alcohol.

Hanji had not yet left the research lab, despite her new promotion to second Captain.

Historia had hidden herself away in the palace.

Jean had not been seen for days.

Connie and Sasha left the military.

The Survey Corps were nothing. The military was nothing. They had found out the secrets of the Titans and there was no one to solve it. Wall Maria had been reclaimed, as had the territory outside of the walls and people were beginning to repopulate. The underground was destroyed, by Levi's request, and all citizens moved to the outer walls. Or, if they wished, outside the walls.

Not many had opted for the final option, the fear of leaving the pen as present as ever. But, as always, a few were persuaded. The explorers, the adventurers, the curious.

Like those nine broken people. Like those nine people who made it to the ocean. Those nine people that lived their friend's dream and scattered his ashes amongst the place he wished to visit the most.

The ocean was Armin's dream and in death, he made it.

Eren's cries were drowned out by the ocean's tide and his tears hidden in the salty water but they all felt the same. They all felt the hollow loss of their friend.

Erwin had still not forgiven himself.

Levi had, though, and for now, it was keeping him alive. Enough for Erwin to dip his toes in the water, despite Levi desperately trying to drag him- and Eren- out of the water.

It was still dangerous, he claimed.

And dirty: so, so dirty.

When they had left, it was heavy, full hearts. They finally had the answers and they had seen it for themselves, no matter how much it scared them. And, apparently, that meant a lot of people were willing to sacrifice a few years for it.

Eren, in a year's time, would be sent to Marley under his father's friend's name- Eren Kruger- where he would finally have an insight to what life had been like outside of the walls all this time. He had a task to find out about weaponry, technology and strategy- anything that could help them in their fight against the Marlyans.

Eren and Erwin, being titans already, had no need to shed any more years of their life. Erwin had twelve years left. Eren was still in the dark but he assumed around four.

With the timer ticking down- ignoring the looming presence of death- Levi had made his decision rather quickly. Voicing it in his new language, sign language, which he had opted to.

Still, no one knew why it was that he did not use words but they were all happy to learn and to converse with him and the new, and rather simple, way. Apparently, with the exception of Erwin, they were all a lot better at expressing themselves through actions and not words. Erwin was nonetheless good at both but still had a good way of words which made for the quirky conversation method of Erwin talking whilst Levi signed back.

Eren liked to sign, his words coming out as clunky as ever, and he liked to think of it as him maturing. He was finally reaching an age where the age gap was not as taboo and he was making the most of it. All of them were.

Especially with the danger rapidly approaching.

They would all have to fight soon, against the ones that hated them. It was coming soon. Very soon. The fight that could end all fights. The war they were already calling the Great War: The War For Peace.

But first, they had a job to do.

-

'Levi, you will not-' Eren stood behind Erwin, practically trembling, as Levi and Erwin went head to head.

'I will, Erwin. You two can handle it and so can I. I'm not weak, Erwin! This is for everything you've been working towards!'

'Levi, don't do this. Our lives are already being cut so short, I don't want yours to end so soon as well.' Erwin reasoned, Eren stepping out from behind his back hoping for the situation to diffuse. But, as expected, Levi wasn't going down without the last word. No matter how much he trusted Erwin, when it came to his own life, he was willing to sacrifice it and he knew that Erwin would do anything to stop him- it was the only point in Erwin lost all rationality. Levi was his weakness. And, in some ways, so was Eren.

'It doesn't matter because you'll both be dead anyway!' Silence fell, the tension palpable in the foggy air, the billowing smoke from the kitchen seeping through the open window of Eren's room. Eren was very much regretting allowing this to be their meeting place. Why not Erwin's office? At least then, it would be Erwin's stuff that was smashed and not his. Because at this rate, Levi looked very much ready to break something- his usually passive nature turning quickly violent, his hand gestures becoming more and more wild, despite their always perfect composure.

'You really think that us dying will mean you can die too? We're soldiers Levi, you have to carry on. I've died once and you didn't, you are perfectly capable of living on.' Erwin's anger was pushing him into irrationality. It was always this way. Their fights were far and few between but when one arose, it was always one of magnitude. They were not petty by any means.

'I did and I don't ever want to do it again! Just let me do it, Erwin. We'll take the consequences for the gain it will give us. They have named me as one of their largest threats, imagine what I could do if I was a titan as well. I know so much more than I once did, Erwin! I won't hate myself for becoming this just as I don't hate either of you,' that was the first recognition Eren got in the whole situation, 'and I want to do this, for myself. For Humanity. It may be a bit of a shitty experience to start with but it's nothing worse than what I've already experienced.' His hand gestures were becoming desperate, the precise hand gestures becoming sloppy at their ends as he moved his hand so quickly that they almost couldn't understand him.

'Are you sure, Levi?'

'I am.' Eren let out a relieved sigh and wrapped his arms around Levi, thankful for the peaceful ending- despite the rising tension between the other pair. They would solve it themselves, he knew. But first, first would be the transformation.

Hanji, despite being rather reclusive, had conducted a few experiments on their knew colossal titan. At forty-five metres, only a little shorter than Berthold, Erwin was huge in titan form but with permission from the Capital after Erwin pulled a few tricks out of his sleeve, they were allowed to train with him so long as it remained in the territory between Wall Maria and the newly named, Wall Arvish- a name correlated with the love of freedom. For his mission, despite the losses, Erwin had been allowed to choose the name.

It seemed, even though he brought fear amongst his noble peers, he had become respected for his solution to nearly all the problems humanity was facing and was awarded a single medal for his efforts- the Queen, Historia, was still pushing through on giving him a few more.

Next, Eren had finally been trained and developed to his full capacity in Titan form and was now able to do tasks with relative ease and communicate too when necessary, the now prominent use of sign language making everything far easier.

Levi, on the other hand, would be a new Titan. Erwin, with his current height and strength, had the capacity to break Annie's shell and capture her. Giving Levi the opportunity to take in her spinal fluid. She would unable to escape, she would be eaten before she could even think to transform.

And the final piece of the puzzle, the serum. They had one batch left when it had been sent to the labs for replication and soon, it was being produced on a large enough scale that they had spares if any stores where to be ransacked or destroyed.

And, Levi was the still the only candidate to be injected with it: no other soldiers had put themselves forward. He was the strongest and the most capable to survive. The chances of death were so slim, they believed, that it would almost be insane to not make him a shifter.

Erwin, of course, had gone against the idea at first- whilst Eren had decided for himself that the positives far outweighed the negatives, no matter his personal feelings- but after a gentle coaxing from all sides, he finally gave in. Their latest argument was his last stand.

And, a week later, everything had been approved.

The transformation was to take place somewhere in the middle of Wall Arvish's territory, where inhabitants were still next to none, and the rest of the Survey Corps would help to bring Annie's body out to the open, aided by Eren who could fight her if it came to that. His fighting style had improved and changed and he hoped if she was to free herself at the perfect time that their fight would be more equal than before. Levi had been a useful mentor.

The mission itself took ten days, simply because the journey out to their destination was so long- even from Shiganshina, the newly rebuilt city where they had built their new, fairly small, base.

When they arrived, they were all sweating. Eren slightly buzzed at the energy surrounding him whilst Erwin looked timid at the sight of Annie no more than metres from them. Levi, on the other hand, looked perfectly determined but it didn't stop his slightly trembling legs and his fearful eyes. Levi wasn't free from fear, just like the rest of them, but he was much better at controlling them and neither of his lovers were too worried about what would happen now but it was no more consoling that Levi was there trembling at his next mission.

Levi was becoming the thing he had always hated- even if, now, he realised that there was barely a foundation to hate them on. They were blind and now he could see but his instincts still hadn't quite adjusted.

He was confused.

They prepped Levi as best as the could, going through what would happen. There were still no recorder males that they could find that had occupied the female titan but they didn't doubt that it would affect anything but the appearance of his titan form. In fact, both of lovers were rather looking forward to seeing that aspect. An uncomfortable Levi made them feel all the more human.

The serum was prepared and Annie was placed in position. The signal was placed and Erwin and Eren both gave their best good-luck hugs and retreated, ready to turn into their titan forms as soon as Levi did, hoping it would bring some comfort to not be alone, looking at so many being from far away.

Erwin stayed the furthest away, his looming height pressing but Eren tried to remain as close as possible, his enlarged teeth gleaming in the sun. And, as their transformation finished, Levi's begun.

As agreed, it was Hanji who injected him before distancing herself quickly- Levi would be out of control at first- and Levi began his change.

It took less than a second. And in two, the deafening roars were being expelled from the largest titans mouth- Erwin's. Panicked eyes all shot to him until they realised just what it was that he was looking at.

Levi, who was now crushing through Annie's shell- without any help from Erwin. Levi. Oh, Levi, Levi, Levi. He really was unfortunate, wasn't he?

Erwin stood at forty-five metres. Eren stood at fifteen metres tall. Levi stood, in his pure Titan form, at four.

Soon, the screams were unending. Eren's titan made, even more, ruckus, the screeching uncomfortably high pitched why Erwin continued in his low rumble.

No one had ever heard a titan laugh before. Now they had.

Levi had finally broken through and smashed through the shell. The final transformation taking place. Both of the other titans stared in awe as he grew.

And then stopped.

Five metres.

Levi was a five-metre titan. Levi was still incredibly short- even as a giant. How unfortunate. And now, unfortunately, all too sentient. He charged. At Erwin.

He was too small to even grab his foot.

Then, with a puff of rage, latched onto Eren, gnawing at it as Eren tried to hold his laughter in, his enormous teeth clenching together uncomfortably.

Levi finally pushed himself off and through the large, humane eyes he glared. And, with the only energy he probably had, signed- 'Fuck you.' Then, as every transformation went, he passed out, his human form being revealed again.

Erwin and Eren were quick to turn back and rush to aid him, both of them looking down at fear before turning to each other. Their gaze met, worry flashing between them, but as they turned away, Eren smiled. Then his shoulders shook. He glanced back at Erwin, who couldn't keep the smile off his face either.

As their eyes met again, they couldn't hold it in. They cracked up. The human laugh so much more melodic than in their Titan forms. They keeled over, Levi's unconscious body next to them. Despite all of this, they couldn't bring themselves to worry anymore.

Levi had been more sentient that any of them had been. He would live, they knew it. And, they were right. They were still laughing when Levi opened his eyes, still too weak to move. The glare was almost painful.

They both stopped laughing.

Erwin and Eren's eyes locked again.

They couldn't help it.

They had to.

Needless to say, the next week they both got beaten so bad that they were sent to the medical-wing.

But, it was still a little glimpse of happiness before the inevitable ending. They knew that life would never return to what it was. Yet, the found themselves not minding that at all.

They had each other.

They had their fights.

They had their love.

And, most of all, they had something that made them laugh all the way through it.

word count: 2704

published: 03.11.17