You began pacing back and forth, trying your best to calm down your nerves. Your greatest fears were coming true, somehow the enemy overseas finally decided to attack on Paradis Island. This could decide your fate at any moment. It's definitely possible that all the other titan shifters were here, and they know who you are. You want to help in some way but that would risk blowing your cover.

The commotion happening from above wasn't calming you down either. For all you know, Eren could be doing something stupid and trying to put up a fight. But at the same time, he's completely outnumbered.

"Dammit, Eren! Can't have you dying on us now, I still have to give you a piece of my mind. If you die now, I'll kill you." You thought, biting onto the fingernail of your thumb.

Suddenly, you all hear footsteps quickly coming down the hall. You all looked to see Onyankopon breathing heavily, in his hand were the keys to your cells. You were surprised.

"Onyankopon." Connie spoke.

"Oi! What's going on outside!?" Jean asked. Onyankopon explained everything from the Marley ships coming down to all the titan shifters involved in the attack.

"So basically, the rest of them..." you spoke up. Onyankopon nodded and continued to explain. 

"Eren's fighting alone..." he added. You let out a frustrated breath. Of course he is! Who would have guessed!?

"He's struggling, but he's not going to last." He continued, shakily opening the lock to your cell. The lock and the keys dropped onto the ground with a loud "CLANG"

"Marley will steal the Founder! Help us! We gotta protect Eren!" He pleaded with all of you. You were starting to get pissed. No way he's coming down begging all of you to help fix the shit they're mostly to blame for!

As soon as Onyankopon opened the door, Connie stormed up front. He grabbed ahold of Onyankopon's collar, aggressively pushing him against the wall.

"Are you shitting me!? What's this about 'we'!? This is your fight!" Connie argued, you also stepped out a bit.

"He's right. Why would we help you fix up your mistake!? I thought you guys had everything under control!? That's why you locked us up in here, right!?" You added.

"Why should we even listen to you, traitor!?" Connie asked. Onyankopon grunted.

"S-sorry! But if I went against Yelena, she would've blown my head off!"

"Eh!? So, you're pretending to be nice to us while plotting to take over Paradis with your wine!? Well not this time! I'm fed up with getting betrayed all the time!" Connie snapped. For a moment, the anger flushed away. You stared at Connie with concern.

"By Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, and Eren! I'm sick of it, dammit! Why the hell would we help Eren if it means none of us can have kids!?" he cursed, holding Onyankopon even more against the wall.

You watched as Armin approached him, calmly putting his hand against Connie's arm. That was enough to snap Connie out of his rage.

"Connie. Let's hear him out." Armin spoke. And with that, Connie let him go. Onyankopon fell to the ground, wheezing heavily.

"I honestly had no idea. The wine, the euthanization plan...the volunteers didn't know!" He began.

"HUH!?" Connie was about to get mad at him again.

"He's right. Yelena told us to keep quiet. She said not to tell the volunteers." Niccolo explained.

"Good thing you have an alibi, Onyankopon. Too bad he's also piece of shit. Don't think we forgot you knowingly served that wine to the volunteers and that fiasco you caused that got Falco wrapped in that situation too!" You argued, pointing an accusing finger at Niccolo. He avoided your gaze. 

"Besides, I don't want Eldians to get euthanized! I want to build Paradis together and beat Marley side by side! That's why I threw everything away to come here!" He explained, slowly rising up.

"I gave it my all to the people of this island! And I did it because I believed this island had a future! Kids are the future! If the euthanization plan is carried out, what's the point of all our effort?!" He asked.

You all remained quiet. Absentmindedly, you rested a hand against your stomach. You don't know why but hearing those words brought back a talk you and Eren had. You were interviewing him, but he suddenly went to the topics of hearing about your dreams.

"It's kind of silly. But when everything blows over, I don't mind settling down with someone. Maybe have a kid? Probably not. I get sweaty just thinking about it. But...it'll still be a miracle to have one." Those were the words you told him. The look he gave you afterwards was an expression you couldn't describe.

Sadness? Guilt? Fear? Hope? You wondered if that was the moment Eren wanted to say something but decided against it. Looking back at that conversation now, it hurts. Hurt that Eren might have known about the euthanization plan and knew your chances of having that dream were slim.

That wasn't right. That's not fair...But even so, Eren wouldn't do that to you. He always encouraged you to follow your dreams. This made you question everything even more and you were going to get to the bottom of it.

"Believe me!" Onyankopon begged. You closed your eyes for a bit, calming yourself down. 

"...I do." You spoke out first.

"Y/N?" Jean asked, mostly surprised you believed him after your initial reaction to all of this.

"I do too." Armin added. Earning a surprised look from Connie as well.

"You once said this: 'We exist because we're wanted–including Subjects of Ymir. It's more interesting with a mix of people.' You've shown that your views basically go against Zeke's. You're that kind of person." Armin continues as he takes a step forward, offering his hand out to Onyankopon.

"On your feet, Onyankopon." And with that, he helped him up. You hummed a bit before crossing your arms, giving Onyankopon an awkward smile.

"I believe you too. But what now? If we help Eren and Zeke, it means letting the euthanization plan happen." Jean asked.

"No, we can stop the plan. But if we lose those two, we can't protect the island."

"Maybe I can use my–" You began to speak but Mikasa stopped you.

"No, out of the question."

You wanted to argue but Connie cut you off by rushing towards Onyankopon, getting sick of him just spewing things and not having a full plan to back it up. Jean held him back thankfully.

"If nothing else, show off the rumbling's might to the world." Onyankopon continued. 

"Huh!? The rumbling's might!?" Connie asked, getting more tired of everything by the second. 

You looked over at Mikasa. She hasn't said anything in a while other than to stop you from saying something foolish.

"What do you think, Mikasa? Do you want to help, Eren?" Armin asks. Mikasa remained quiet for a moment.

"I want to. But like Eren said, it's probably because I'm an Ackerman. This isn't my own will." she spoke.

"Huh?" Connie asks, completely missing some of the major context that happened prior to all of this. 

"Long story." You answered him.

"I think Eren lied and made that up." Armin tried to argue.

"But it's true that I get headaches from time to time. Why do you think it's a lie?" she asks.

"Why...? Huh? You guys honestly think Eren wants to stop Eldians from having children!?" He looked over to you.

"Y/N! You should even know that sounds nothing like something Eren would do! Didn't you tell him you–" You blushed a bit, giving him a glare.

"Hey! Shut it, will you!? Not out in the open!" You hissed. Armin put his hands on his mouth, realizing what he almost said.

"But yeah. You're right. Eren wouldn't do something like this. Which makes me think, could there be a reason why he's following through with Zeke's plan? What if he has a plan of his own and might be using Zeke as a way to go with it?" You asked.

"I highly doubt that. While I don't think it's like him, it's not that outrageous–" Jean began to say.

"It IS outrageous! This is Eren!" Armin argued.

"So why doesn't he oppose Zeke or Yelena!?" Connie asked.

"Because he doesn't have to! The Founding Titan's power is ultimately his to use! When Yelena brought up the idea to him, he had no other choice! If he refused, who knows what Yelena would've done!?" Armin continued.

"It's like Y/N said. He might have a plan of his own! If he goes along with it and convinces them that he's their ally, he can protect the island with the rumbling! Nobody would dare touch Paradis Island for 50 years!" He concluded. The silence waved heavily.

You all stood there staring at each other. Everyone is fighting their own mental battle. You were glad Armin was agreeing with your theory that Eren of playing the ally. But at the same time, it's just a theory. A nagging feeling telling you that Eren has changed and probably will go through with Zeke's plan.

No...that's not true. You felt it. The emotions that he felt when you touched him. Eren's fearful and determined for something, but he couldn't be scared to put an end to all Eldians.

"Can we leave now?" You heard Mr. Braus asks from behind. You almost forget he and his family were there.

"Sorry. Just hold on a bit longer." Niccolo apologized. You pondered more for a bit before opening your mouth.

"As much as I'm still mad at him. I still believe Eren still cares for all of us deep down. Even now, he still keeps getting himself into trouble and we always have to save him. Only this time, I'm not being dragged into his mess." You let out a dry chuckle. You were happy to get a few small smiles from your comment.

"I've been saying Eren's dangerous since we were cadets. That he's a shithead who would lead us into hell. Still, I envied that asshole for being so cool. And it pisses me off to say it, but I don't want him to die just yet."

"...!" You were surprised by this, but then your mouth grew into a teasing smirk. Your hands covering your mouth to hide it.

"Oh~? What's this? Jean complimenting his rival~? That's so sweet of you! I'm sure Eren would appreciate that once I tell him—Ack! Ow!ヽ(*。>Д<)o゜" Jean grabbed ahold of your cheeks and began to pull on them.

"You better not! This is serious, stop being immature!" He says with obvious irritation, but he wasn't trying to hurt you with his pinching and pulling. You burst out laughing.

"Ha, ha, ha, ha! Says the one pulling my cheeks! But fine–! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll stop! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o" You giggled. You pushed his hand away from your cheeks. You whined as you rubbed them.

"Asshole...(¬'‸'¬)" You called him.

"Exhibitionist." He insulted back. You just rolled your eyes.

"But you're right. Eren can't die on us yet. He still owes me his other cheek." You spoke.

"Other cheek?" Armin asked, looking at you with concern. You met his eyes and gave him a slight smirk.

"The one I haven't punched yet. (˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵)" You answered matter-of-factly. Armin blinked a couple of times before letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah. If he dies like this, I can't slug him in the face." Connie agrees. You hummed in delight. That was enough confirmation for Onyankopon.

"Let's go!" He said and you began to race up the stairs. You stayed alongside Armin and Mikasa. You looked over at them, noticing Mikasa was no longer wearing her scarf.

"If Eren's hiding his true intentions, why did he push us away? Why would Eren say that he hates me?" Mikasa asked. Armin pondered for a bit.

"Could it be...?"

"Huh?" You and Mikasa asked.

"Anyway, Eren and I have known about your headaches for a long time." He mentioned. You gave him a look.

"I guess hearing about all of this now, that kind of explains why I've seen you rub your temples Mikasa. But still, how come you guys never told me that this has always been happening? I know I couldn't talk to you all at the time, but I still would have understood..." You spoke. Mikasa and Armin gave you a sympathetic look.

"But at the same time, it's not any of my business. I guess I'm just curious as to why." 

"You're right. I guess we never told you. Sorry, this is your first time hearing about this." Armin apologized.

"But Eren probably said that to make it sound believable. He had to come up with a lie. Once this is all over, we can ask him."

"I hope you're right." You replied. Deep down, you really hoped that everything would turn out okay. But that gnawing feeling returned as soon as you tried to get your hopes up.

Author's Note: Soak in the emoticons while it lasts because the reader won't be silly as much anymore at some point.