Work Text:
[FLASHBACK]
sigh.
what a day.
(y/n) laid down on the grass, eyes staring deeply at the sky. she inhaled deeply, before aggressively exhaled.
it has been so tough.
missions that she and her squad need to go through, were so tough. there were times that she thought she couldnt do it anymore, killing people here and there where when she first signed up for this she thought the only thing she'd kill were titans.
but she just had her first human kill today,
infront of her squad.
her captain, levi told her that there was nothing she could do about it. her hands are filthy now. she need to accept it and move on.
god, how much she wished it could be that easy.
but she need to, she need to accept that.
titans weren't the only evil creatures living on the earth.
some humans are bad too, they kill people who got in their way. and in this case,
she was a bad person too.
sigh.
"what are you doing out here, its past midnight"
(y/n) looked away from the sky, away from the stars that were sparkling from the sky,
just to see another star sparkling at her left.
it was her best friend since the first day she entered the military, jean kirschtein.
how did this friendship happen? you found him being totally broken over mikasa who went away with eren and you saw connie scolded him after he wiped his hand at connie's shirt,
so you stepped out and tried to cheer him up, which you successfully failed.
but from that moment, jean started to call you his friend.
best friend, to be exact.
she slowly sat up, smiling softly at the guy beside her as she brought her knees up to her chest. the guy took a seat beside her, eyes still staring at her confusedly.
"if heichou sees you out here you'd clean for the-"
"you're here too, kirschtein. what makes any difference for both of us?"
the guy suddenly zipped his mouth close. he sighed before he looked up at the sky, staring at those sparkling stars that caught his attention.
"did you think what are we doing right now, is right?" you asked, eyes went down on the grass.
"i hope so. we're trying to get historia and that stupid suicidal maniac back. they better make it all worth it" jean said, arms fell down on his side as he used it to support himself after leaning back for a bit.
"you almost died out there" she said, making jean turned his attention from the stars,
to her.
"yeah, i better need to thank armin again then" jean nervously chuckled, knowing that he was still traumatized with what happened.
"but you know, i kinda understand what heichou said. after this, i wouldn't hesitate anymore. who wants to die in the hands of humans, by the way. its filthy." jean ranted.
but when (y/n) didnt give him a response, he smiled at her.
"if you're scared just stick with me. i'll cover it up for you"
"yeah? after what happened to you earlier?"
"i was scared, i wouldn't lie. but is there anything else we could do? i'd rather die being choked by my dinner than being shot" jean shrugged as he sat up straight.
and before he could continue his rant, the girl beside her turned and faced him.
she stared in his eyes,
so deeply that he could feel how his heart skipped a beat.
"can you promise me something?" she asked, making jean blinked his eyes for a few times.
"uh, yeah? what is it?"
(y/n) sighed softly, before she looked at the sky again.
"promise me that you'd stay alive, until its over"
"stay alive for me, will you?"
jean lost his words.
he was speechless.
for the first time in his life, someone said something like that to him.
something that made him feel like he's so meaningful to someone's life.
he looked at the girl infront of her who was staring at the sky, before his lips formed a small smile.
"o...of course i would! i know i will" jean said, making the girl smiled back.
"its good to hear that" she whispered. slowly, she stood up, wiping off the dirt from her clothes as she looked at jean who was still sitting on the grass.
"when everything's over, and when i think that the right time comes, i would love to tell you something that i had in mind for so long" she said.
and before jean could ask, she cut him off.
"make sure you stay alive if you want to hear what im going to say in the future."
[END OF FLASHBACK]
this is it.
what armin said was true after all.
it existed.
it was real.
the sea.
the big lake that contains nothing but salt water, was real. and it had nothing more to amaze each people who saw it. they were so speechless, they barely even moved for a while at the moment they saw the sea.
"HAAAAAA!" connie splashed the salt water at sasha, causing the girl to scream while covering her eyes,
levi scolded hange for holding something from the sea which he thought was poisonous,
mikasa tried to jump away from the wave,
armin picked up a seashell,
eren was staring at the lake, as if he can see the other side of it.
and jean....
"SO SALTY!!!!!" he screamed so loud, making the girl beside her covered her ears.
"shut it up, dick head! armin told you that it is salt, right? why do you have to taste it?" (y/n) looked at him as he was struggling to get ride of the taste of salt in his mouth.
"just trying to comfirm it"
(y/n) scoffed, slowly smiled as she looked at his behavior. she looked down at the wave that hit her leg, smiling at the warmth she felt from it.
"it feels good, you know" jean started speaking.
"it feels like we've discovered a big, big treasure. imagine how happy armin felt" he took a glimpse at armin who was picking up more seashells.
"yeah, it feels good." (y/n) replied, still staring at him.
the way he folded up his sleeves to his elbow, the way the colour of his shirt blended so well with his skin, the way his hair fell and covered his forehead, the way he stared at the sea, the way his face went soft when he felt the warmth from it, the way his face went from soft to shock as hell when he tasted the salt water,
she admired every detail about him.
and she wished she could scream it all out, everything that she had been keeping it to herself for so long.
"hey, (y/n)"
ah, here it comes.
"what is it"
"remember that night?" jean asked, eyes staring at his feet.
"what night?"
"the night you promised me about staying alive" jean then looked straight into her eyes, making her gulped.
"well, i kinda did stay alive. and it has been a year since the retake of wall maria. you told me that you want to tell me something when the right time has come" jean said.
"what makes you know that the time-"
"i just know it" jean looked at her, eyes bored into hers as he took a step closer.
"so, mind to tell me what is it?"
"uhhh..."
"what, you found a new friend?"
"wait-"
"or you got a boyfriend?"
"wHAT-"
"are you going to leave me for another person?"
"WAIT!" (y/n) took out her hand and placed it infront of jean's face, signing him to stop. jean who was totally confused just closed his mouth, waited for her to speak up.
as for (y/n), she moved from facing jean to the sea, inhaling the smell of the sea as the wind blew and hit her hair so softly.
"you know, when i first saw you, i really thought you're a jerk"
"you told me that everyday, (y/n)"
"shut up, kirschtein. you were a jerk and you always are" (y/n) knitted her eyebrows, making jean held up his hands, surrendering.
"a pathetic jerk who wanted nothing but an easy life, got his little heart broken on the first night in the military, and cant even save his own ass without his friends around." (y/n) continued, as jean started to bite his lip.
"for a long time i knew you as a selfish, ignorant, arrogant jerk who thought nothing and no one but only youself-"
"okay, is this a hate rant or-"
"-until i started realize that you're way much more better than that."
at this time, jean turned his head to look at her.
"as i hang out with you a lot, i realized that you're such a great leader, you're strong, you can lead anything in any situation, you're somehow soft hearted as well."
"you're a good person, much people probably dont know that about you."
jean literally stopped blinking his eyes as she said those words.
"just like you lead everyone during the retake of wall maria, you're so reliable to others, so valuable, so special..."
"....so loved"
she looked up at jean who was already staring at her, and she can see how shocked he was, how unexpected he was,
and she can see that his face started to turn red, which made her face to do the same as well.
"i think that im clowning myself. how would i feel this kind of way for a friend. especially during such crucial moments. how can i think that i want to congratulate you in a more appreciative way after each expeditions, how much i think i can comfort you the best whenever you had a breakdown, how much i think that i can tell you that you have done so well, how much i think i can run and hug you after knowing that you survived in every expeditions... who am i to think like that, right?" her face was even redder now, and she couldnt even look at jean in the eyes anymore.
she paused for a moment, enjoying how the wave softly hit her leg as she smiled a little.
"i cant believe it." she whispered.
"i cant believe that im so in love with you right now"
she looked up and stared at the sky.
"i realized that a while ago, and i still couldnt believe it" she said.
slowly, she turned to look at jean who was still speechless, giving him a big smile.
"i love you, kirschtein."
she whispered so that only him could hear her. she stared deeply into his eyes, trying to find any reactions from it. his face was still showing her an expression of shock,
and it stayed that way for a few minutes.
he didnt react, the only thing she received was a small sigh from him, and she didnt even know if it was a relief sigh or an annoyed sigh.
what if... he doesnt feel the same.
stupid her for never thought about that.
she only focused on confessing, she never had a thought about how would he react.
and now look at him.
"uh, you dont have to say yes. we can still stay as friends, you know. and... i heard that you're still head over heels for mikasa. stupid me for being the selfish one right now" she chuckled awkwardly.
damn, what if he stopped talking to her after this.
he still didnt react.
and she couldnt stand how awkward it was.
"look, if this annoys you... uhm, you can forget about what i said. lets... uh... live our life to the fullest after this! i heard that eren said something about enemies at the other side of the ocean and i think we should freak out about that...."
"....you know, just forget-"
her words were cut off.
she couldn't process what actually happen,
but the next thing she knew, her face met a neck.
and she can feel a pair of arms wrapped tightly around hers.
and this time, it was her turn to be speechless.
"j...jean-"
she tried to let go from the hug so he could look at him,
but he tighten the hug. he hugged her so tight as if she was going to disappear after that. he rested his chin on top of her head, as he tighten the hug even more.
and before (y/n) could even say a word, she felt a tear dropped on to her head.
he... he was crying?
"thank you."
that was the first thing he said.
"n...no one... i thought no one... i thought no one loved me except my mother. i knew my comrades care about me..."
"but i didnt know someone would love me that much." he whispered.
"thank you. thank you so much" jean closed his eyes as he tears fell even more.
(y/n) smiled, hugging him back as she softly inhaled his scent. finally. finally she can hug him like this.
"so please.." jean slowly pulled away from the hug, as he reached out to hold her hand.
she swore that her face was so red right now. and she could even tell that jean's face was the same as well.
"please stay alive for me as well." jean interwined their hands together, making (y/n) smiled even wider. she then reached her other hand out to wipe his tears away, before she softly removed the hair that was covering his forehead.
"i can do that, if you do the same" she said, and jean couldnt even be more happier.
he then hugged her again, kissing her head as he swung her from side to side.
"i love you too, (y/n)" he said, and the girl he was hugging chuckled.
"being so cliche, aren't we, kirschtein?"
"said the one who confessed first" he slowly pulled away, just to show her his smirk. well, there goes his cocky ass self.
"said the one who made me fall like crazy first" she rolled her eyes, and jean started laughing.
and before she could knew it, jean reached out and cupped her cheeks, before he leaned closer to her face.
"i really thought i was going to confess first, you know. but since you made the first move for that..."
she swore she couldnt feel her heart beating when she felt how his nose collided with hers, and how his breath fanned her lips.
"let me make my first move for this"
within a second, before (y/n) could savor the moment in her mind,
he closed the gap between their lips.
[AT THE SAME TIME]
"whoa" armin dropped his jaw at the moment he saw jean hugged (y/n). he probably never saw two people falling in love, and now he knew.
mikasa who literally didnt care about what happened walked towards eren who was already to leave.
"i knew they'd hook up" connie said, before he looked at sasha who literally tried her best to not scream so the two love birds not far from her can have their moment.
"i literally knew it from the start. the way she looks at him everyday really explained it. she is so in love!" sasha said with such enjoyment, as levi started to walk towards his horse.
"tch, what do they think they are, being lovey dovey in such a foreign place?" levi untied his horse from the tree, staring at the new couple infront of him.
"dont be so salty, levi! its a teenager thing! its a sign that they're growing up, dont you go through that phase-"
hange stopped talking when realization hit them.
"oh yeah, sorry"
"shut up, shitty four eyes. dont talk shit at me when you used to pick up asses for keith"
"w-what- I TOLD YOU TO STOP TALKING ABOUT THAT!"
and before hange could talk more, levi had already left.
"oh my god they're kissing!" sasha screamed.
so loud that the new couple jumped in shock.
THE END.