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The wealthy of your country were not an easy crowd. No matter how many times you performed in those upscale bars, no matter how many sets you and the band would do, they would never applaud. This night was just like the hundreds of others, and frankly, you were exhausted.
This gig in particular was at a bar you frequented. The stage was small, almost an afterthought compared to the large polished oak bar and the tens of tables scattered through the establishment. The lighting was dim everywhere except for the liquor cabinets, where a soft green light illuminated the surrounding area. Green lanterns were placed every now and then on the wall, encased in golden caging that had elaborate designs. Based on how much you made each performance, more money probably went into the decoration. But it was alright, you supposed, because every now and then the Honourable Marleyans in those signature red armbands would actually pay attention.
In fact, it was only the Eldians who ever watched your performances. On the less busy nights, the warrior team would stumble in, already slightly drunk off of cheaper booze. You didn’t know their names, but their faces would always make you remember why you chose to perform in the first place.
There was something about the Warriors that just made you feel comfortable. You could tell they despised their company, especially when the bar was crowded, but when it was just the group of them together, they seemed like a small family. They would never stay long enough after your sets for you to introduce yourself to them, but they would always leave generous tips and applaud when no one else would. Even the quietest of the group would cheer after you’d finish.
It had been an especially long time since you’d seen them, and you released a lot of tension from your shoulders when they waltzed through the door mid-set. The green lighting reflected off of their tired complexions, but they didn’t look sickly, they looked just as relieved as you. No Marleyans were at the bar that night, probably tucked away at home because of the return of the Warriors, which made the night out all the much easier for them and yourself. Even your fully Marleyan bandmates were grateful at their arrival. After all, they were pretty much the ones paying your bills.
As you sang out into the mostly empty space, they grabbed drinks from the bar, standing around it because they were refused seating at the empty tables. Your brow furrowed as the bartender gave them nasty glances, but you wouldn’t dare disrupt the song. Your band would probably get kicked out if you said something, and they would probably boot you from that as well. Instead you continued the song, maintaining eye contact with your small crowd, sending them warm smiles as they drank together, happily.
A few songs later, your set was finished, and your band went out back for a cigarette break while you prepared their sheet music. The warriors continued their goofy drinking, two of them arguing over small things, the others laughing at their antics. It warmed your heart to see them letting go like this, after all, they were constantly putting their lives on the line for the entire country. As your band took longer than anticipated, one of the drunken soldiers approached the small stage.
“Y- *hic* You are here every time we are here. Did you know that?” A blonde with a sharp undercut slurred as he approached you, a black haired girl quickly grabbing his arm to bring him back.
“Galliard, don’t talk to people when you’re drunk, you’re disrespectful.” She scolded softly, sending you a smile.
“Oh, it’s okay, don’t worry about it!” You replied, waving off her statement. “I did notice though, you guys are the only guests who actually pay attention to the band.”
“Oh, is that true?” The girl asked, still shoving the blonde behind herself.
“You’re quite the performer!” A taller blonde, much older than the others stated, pushing his round lens glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Good tunes, too.”
“I appreciate that. Did you all just return today?” You inquired, stepping off the stage and moving towards the bar. The bartender shot you a glance of disapproval as he slid a glass of water towards you, but you just smiled at him in return.
“Yeaaaaaah, we kicked ass though.” The one with the undercut continued, holding his drink in the air with a celebratory flair. The girl brought his arm down, but maintained her smile towards you.
“Well thank you for your efforts. Marley would be dust without you.” You thanked them, making sure to look each one in the eye to show the genuinity of the statement. The last one, however, the quiet and disheveled blonde in the back, kept his eyes on his drink. He looked at it as if it were a weapon pointed at him. Clearly he had something else going on, but you weren’t about to pry into that.
“(Y/N), it’s time for the last set.” Your drummer called out to you, cueing your leave. You sent the warriors a kind nod as you climbed back on stage, ready to get the evening over with and head home.
---
Usually, the middle of the night in Marley was either one hundred percent quiet or one hundred percent loud. On nights like these, when the warriors were back in town, it remained silent, everyone asleep as early as they could be. That would mean the gates between Marley and the Liberio Internment Zone had the least amount of security, the officers choosing to slack off on site and sleep or just abandon their post altogether. It didn’t matter either way, the Eldians were scared shitless of even approaching the gate. There was a tear in the metal, probably caused by rusting and neglect, that was large enough for an adult to fit through. Regardless of its size, Eldians paid it no mind. If they were seen even approaching it, the consequences could be deadly. No one would even think of sneaking out.
What the guards don’t expect, however, is for Marleyans to sneak into Liberio.
On one of those silent nights, that same night that you had just performed, the scruffy and less sociable of the warriors was walking around Liberio. He had come with the intention of seeing his mother, but the gates had closed for the night before he could leave, so he had no choice but to stay in town. His mother was fast asleep already, peaceful knowing that her son was home. But he was awake, not necessarily present, but awake. Strolling around Liberio, he attempted to relieve the pressure built up in his brain, but the drink he had at the bar earlier wasn’t doing much to help his straying thoughts. He was circling around the entrance of the zone once more before he heard the sound of wires recoiling, like a dog sneaking through a park fence. He halted his movements, on guard and sobering up. He searched through the dark corner of the fence, but it was too late at night and the street lights were too far for him to make anything out. He stalked towards the tall cage-like structure, reaching into his pocket for a lighter. As he approached just a few meters away, his arm stuck out, the sparks of the lighter illuminating the darkest corner, revealing your frozen form, paused like a deer in headlights as you stared up at him.
He was expecting a child or a cat, from the Eldian side of the fence, definitely not a Marleyan citizen caught with their leg stepping into the internment zone.
“What… what are you doing?” He whispered, gazing around to see if any guards could hear the minor commotion. Your gaze went from shock to irritation in a matter of seconds, blowing out the lighter and climbing through the rest of the hole. “Hey, you really shouldn’t- Hmph!” You covered his mouth with one hand and grabbed his arm with the other, racing into an alleyway with minimal lighting and out of sight from the guard tower.
You caught your breath as you threw him against the wall, stepping away from his shocked form to see if you had been followed or woken anyone up.
“What the-”
You stuck your finger over your own mouth after making sure the coast was clear, gesturing to the window next to him. There was the soft sound of snoring coming from the cracks in the beams, and the Warrior shut himself up. You snapped your fingers in front of him to bring his attention back to you, keeping your other hand’s index finger over your mouth. With the hand you used to snap, you gestured your index finger at him, brought your palm flat across your throat, then your index and pointer fingers to your eyes, then just the index at yourself, all while mouthing ‘you didn’t see me.’ With that, you turned sharply on your heel, full satchel on your shoulder, before darting back down the dark alleyway.
The disordered blonde stood still for a moment before his eyes twisted a bit in confusion, deciding to race down the alley to catch up with you. At the other end, he saw you across a small courtyard, running into another alley. He followed while maintaining his distance, unwilling to cause a scene. As you turned corners tens of meters ahead of him, he followed just close enough. Finally, after about fifteen minutes of chasing, he saw you slow down in front of a small, more run down home. You knocked with an interesting rhythm, and he watched as you entered once the light outside the door blinked three times. He crouched low and shuffled under the window, which was open just enough for him to decipher a few of the words spoken inside.
“Hey, Papa,” you spoke quietly, careful for no neighbors to hear. The warrior moved his ear to the wall at the statement, his eyes widening with concern. You were Eldian? How were you living outside of the internment zone? How were you working as a performer, when most Eldians had barely heard live music their entire lives?
“Ah, (Y/N), you’re safe, were you followed?”
“There weren’t any guards at the gate tonight. I ran into one of the Warriors, though. But I think he’ll keep quiet.”
“Which one?” Your father’s voice grew concerned, getting closer to the window that the warrior sat under.
“Don’t worry, Papa, it wasn’t Jeager. I wouldn’t be here if it was.”
“Good, good. Could you close this for me? I can’t quite reach the hatch,” your father asked, to which you nodded in response. The warrior panicked slightly, getting onto all fours to crawl out of view, but as you reached your arms up to close the window, you spotted a tuft of blonde hair peeking over the frame.
“Dad, go into your room and don’t come out.” You spoke very quietly, a grave tone taking over your voice. The warrior looked up at you, your glare deadly. He brought himself to his feet as you ran to the door, swinging it open to continue that glare. “If you’re going to spy on us, at least try to be sneaky.”
“I wasn’t spying, I was, uh… I was,”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever you were doing, just do it inside. You look creepy.” You stepped to the side and gestured for him to enter your father’s home. He reluctantly obeyed, slowly observing the rickety old house as he stepped on the creaking floorboards. You closed the door behind yourself and led the warrior to the kitchen before calling out for your father to return.
“You’re an Eldian?” The warrior questioned as you opened your satchel, taking out numerous fruits, vegetables, and meats, as well as a few bundles of dried herbs.
“Half Eldian, technically. My mother was Marleyan.”
“Oh…” he responded, watching as you took the vegetables to the sink.
“Is that Reiner Braun?” your father’s kind voice sounded as he approached the kitchen. The warrior turned around quickly, observing your wheelchair ridden father who was looking at him with sparkling eyes. “I haven’t seen you since you were, wow, must’ve been eleven or so!”
“General (L/N)?” He gasped, bowing in respect out of habit.
“Oh, none of that, boy. Just call me pops.”
“Really, Papa?” You sighed out with discontent as you scrubbed the dirt off of the vegetables.
“How did you, how…” the warrior, whom you now knew as Reiner, stuttered once again.
“I met (Y/N)’s mother when I was about your age. We fought alongside each other for about fifteen years before we fell in love. But the gates kept us away from each other. While she went on to be a mother, I continued to fight. I didn’t get to see her before she,”
“That’s enough, Papa. Slice these, would you?” You shoved the damp potatoes and carrots into Reiner’s arm, handing him a knife in the process. He took them without question, but was a little dumbfounded at the situation. “So, how is it that you two know each other?”
“Your father trained me to be a warrior candidate. He was wounded before we met, so he wasn’t a warrior himself.”
“That’s right, Braun. You were a right pain in the ass.” You chuckled at your father’s comment, heating a pot on the countertop and filling it with herbs and oils. “Oh, (Y/N), dear, how was work today?”
“It was fine, Papa. Not many people there, but the warriors stopped by again. Thanks for the tip, by the way,” you aimed your comment towards Reiner, recalling how he helped his drunken colleagues place some gold coins in the glass jar at the base of the stage.
“No worries, it’s always a pleasure to see you perform.” He replied politely, focusing on peeling the potatoes. “So, if you grew up in Marley, how did you get to sneaking into Liberio?” Reiner questioned further, still unclear about the whole situation.
“Well, when my mother passed, I was old enough to survive on my own. I went through her things, found papa’s address, and showed up one night. Since then, I’ve come once a month to make dinner and deliver medicine. Speaking of,” You paused your meal preparation as you went through your bag again, grabbing a small satchel of potent herbal tea. You tossed it at your dad, who caught it in mid air. “But that’s about it.”
“Oh, I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Don’t be, that was nearly a decade ago. We’ve all lost people to this war, you probably more than most.” Your father interjected, wheeling up beside Reiner and shooing him off, taking the knife from his hands. “Who taught you to slice potatoes, boy? Surely not Karina.”
“Who’s Karina?” You asked as you returned to the pot, taking the large brisket you’d brought and placing it in.
“Reiner’s mother. Speaking of, did you ever get the chance to meet your father?”
Reiner stayed silent, taking another knife to the carrots.
“(Y/N), Mr. Braun here is half Marleyan and half Eldian just like you. Small world, huh?”
“Don’t ask people hard questions, Papa, you know that that isn’t an easy topic.” You scolded your dad, but he just shrugged his shoulders, humming to himself as he finished slicing the potatoes.
“It’s fine, really. He wasn’t as kind as my mother praised, that’s all.” Reiner spoke solemnly, taking the potatoes and carrots and placing them next to you on the counter.
“Doesn’t sound fine…”
“Papa!” You rebuked again, this time taking the wooden spoon you were about to use and aiming it threateningly.
“It’s okay, really. I should probably be heading back to my mother’s anyway.”
“No, don’t mind him. Stay for dinner, you helped out anyway.” You chimed, placing the spoon back in the pot while adding the potatoes. “It should be done soon.”
“I, uh…” Reiner looked to your father, who held an expectant glare. “Sure, thank you.”
“I’ll keep an eye on this, why don’t you show Reiner around the house?”
You nodded at your father, wiping your freshly washed hands on the kitchen towel before gesturing for Reiner to follow.
Although the house was indeed dainty, it was slightly larger inside. The walls were made of old, soft birchwood, but were well maintained. Well, better than the outside at least. You led Reiner to the bathroom first in case he needed to use it before showing him to the very small dining room, as well as your father’s bedroom. You then took him to an even smaller room with a single bed and slender wardrobe. It looked untouched, but there were hand dyed sheets on the made bed and tons of memorabilia on the walls. Just above the headboard was an old brass instrument, Reiner recalled it being a saxophone.
“Is that a saxophone?” He asked, unsure due to his lack of musical expertise.
“Yep. Only one in the entirety of Liberio.” You sighed, leaning on the doorframe. Reiner got closer to it, his large boots leaving prints in the dust of the room. “Papa played it for me once, but it’s too loud to play casually.”
“That’s a shame.” Reiner commented, stepping away from it. “Is that why you became a performer?”
The thoughtful question took you by surprise, but you were glad to be having this conversation at all. You didn’t get to talk about the Eldian side of your family before, so this was a nice opportunity.
“Kind of. I had initially been interested in music because it was the farthest thing from following my mother’s footsteps. I didn’t want to die the way she did, so I took up singing lessons with the money she left me.”
“Oh, wow, that’s kind of an intense route into music.” Reiner observed, unexpecting of an answer that loaded.
“Yeah, pretty bizarre. But when I first snuck into Liberio when I was around thirteen, I saw the saxophone and really decided that that was what I wanted to spend my life doing.”
“Respectable.” Reiner added, looking at the gleam of the brass. It was clear that compared to all the war memorabilia placed around, the saxophone was the only thing being taken care of.
“Well, if I’m sharing my career path, I want to know what in the hell made you want to become a fifteen meter tall man eater.”
Reiner couldn’t help but laugh at the way you phrased that statement. It was rare he heard people outside of the Warrior Unit joke so casually about being titan shifters, and it was nice to be able to be relaxed about the topic.
“My mom thought it would let us reconnect with my father. When that didn’t work out, I really just did it for her.” He replied honestly, tugging at his red armband.
“That’s extraordinarily selfless of you.” You commented, observing the strain in his brow as he spoke his truth. “I know you probably get told this a lot, but thank you. For fighting for us.”
“Hah, I don’t fight for Marley.” He replied, a hint of venom in his voice. He immediately retracted after his statement, aware of how much trouble that could get him into.
“I meant for the Eldians. Without the warriors, we would have all been killed off. And don’t shy away from your answer, it was honest and valid. I know firsthand how selfish Marleyans are. I was raised as one.”
“Hmm,” Reiner contemplated in response, unsure of where to take the conversation from there. Was he supposed to bring up being used as a weapon? Was he supposed to dump all of his trauma onto you?
“Look, I’m sorry this conversation took such a dark turn. Let’s eat, shall we?” You mentioned, stepping back into the creaking hallway. Reiner nodded and followed you back into the kitchen where your father sat, reading a Marleyan newspaper that he’d taken from your satchel.
“Enjoyed the saxophone, huh? It’s always a party favourite.” Your dad laughed out as he cleared the table upon your return. You handed Reiner three bowls and spoons and he set them onto the kitchen table, which was just smaller than the dining table he’d seen earlier.
The three of you ate quietly, but not in silence. Reiner and your father discussed changes to the military as you watched your father socialise for the first time since you’d met him. It was like a breath of fresh air, really. Reiner was trustworthy and kind, and your father seemed to admire him with a hint of worry, as if he were another child to him. It brought a warm smile to your face as you enjoyed your stew and cleaned up afterwards. Reiner and your father continued their discussions in the dining room as you scrubbed the pot and bowls. The sky was beginning to pale, reminding you to hurry back out of Liberio. You grabbed your satchel and waltzed into the dining room, grateful to see your father’s smile once again.
“Papa, I’m afraid I have to go again. Thank you for dinner.”
“What are you thanking me for? You brought it!” He spoke matter of factly, holding his arms out. You smiled as you leaned down to hug him, your brow tightening as your arms did. “Reiner, do me a favour and make sure she gets back safe. I don’t want her getting caught.”
“Of course, general, uh, I mean-”
“You don’t have to call him pops,” you laughed, poking at your dad’s arm as he made a childish grin.
“Alright, alright, but thank you for having me, General (L/N).”
“Anytime, Reiner. Say hello to Karina for me!”
“Will do.”
You and Reiner set out into the early morning, this time walking through the alleys much slower. You both remained silent, the fullness of your stomachs making the time pass easily. As you approached the gate again, no guards in sight, you let out a sigh of relief.
“You know, you can probably get a pass to enter Liberio if you need to.” Reiner pointed out as you both reached the hole in the wires.
“What, and let the Marleyan government know that my father is Eldian? He would get sent away, Reiner. You know that.” You almost laughed at his statement, baffled by how careless it was. Based on your earlier conversations, that seemed rather out of character,
“You wouldn’t have to say that, necessarily. You could say you were visiting someone else. A friend, perhaps.”
You were about to stick your leg through the hole when he spoke, and you retracted it just so you could look at him. A thick silence washed over the two of you as you stared at him, first with a raise of one of your brows, then letting a smug smile spread across your face. Reiner looked back at you nervously, his cheeks gaining a bit of colour as he cleared his throat and broke eye contact.
“That’s only of course if you’d like to, or if you thought it was a good idea, I’m not saying you should do anything or asking you to do anyth-”
“Reiner,” you grabbed his sleeve, bringing him back to the world. “It’s a good idea. Why don’t you use that fancy armband to get me one, huh?”
“Uhm,” Reiner cleared his throat again, standing straight and looking at the ground. “Yes, I can do that.”
“Alright then, I’ll see you tonight.” You entered the whole, ducking your head under the wires and stepping through.
“Tonight?! What’s tonight?” He asked as you looked at him through the fence, the class barrier between the two of you rising once again.
“I’ll be at the bar. Don’t bring your friends this time, though?” You smiled at him one last time before racing back into the streets of Marley, diving into an alley and out of Reiner’s sight. He sighed as he turned around and made his way back to his mother’s house. He fell asleep just as the sun began to rise, the redness on his cheeks still present.
Yeah, he would see you that night. And if it were up to him, he’d probably try to see you the night after that, too.