Archive of Our Own

Standing in line with her fellow cadets, Mikasa Ackerman had the creeping feeling something was.. off. like something big was about to happen, and she wasn’t sure how she would deal with whatever was coming her way.

She wasn’t sure why exactly she felt that way, at a glance everything was normal.

Well, about as normal as it could for the kind of group the 104th group of cadets was.

Looking around, she could see her fellow cadets mingling around while keeping an eye out for their instructor. About to start their final year in the camp, most, if not all, of the cadets had gotten used to the usual routine they had to follow while here, and as such, they knew more or less how much time they had left before the morning line-up started and they had to get in their positions.

Many, Reiner and Berthold were already in their positions, ready to slide into their salute at the slightest sign of Shadis appearing, others, like Ymir and Krysta, were using the remaining minutes to talk with each other, and a few, like Sasha and Connie, were taking their time even getting into the grounds, the former even munching happily on a loaf of bread she likely stole from the pantry or somewhere else.

Overall everything looked exactly as it should, everyone was were they usually were and doing what they usually did.

So why was she feeling so anxious?

Sure, Eren had yet to arrive, despite the fact that Armin had arrived several minutes away, same with everyone else they were roomed with, but that wasn’t something new, the young man would sometimes take a few extra minutes to get some extra sleep or to make sure he had everything in order before heading out, so there was no need for her to feel so anxious about him not being there yet.

Sure, Armin had told her Eren had already been up when they all woke up and looked a little off when he saw her eyes lock on him when Eren failed to show up alongside him and the others, but had reassured her everything was okay and Eren had simply been contemplating and anxious over the final year of their training starting and the missing hours of sleep were simply taking a bit of a toll on him and that’s why he looked off.

Sure, Jean, upon hearing them talk about the “Suicidal Idiot”, had snarked something about how it had taken Eren several minutes to realize they were awake and trying to get his attention, all while muttering nonsense that none of them had managed to decipher outside of some random words that didn’t seem to have anything in common (something about a basement? And stomps? And oceans and shifting something).

Sure,Connie had joined at that moment and talked about how, upon finally noticing them, Eren stared at them like he was seeing them for the first time while at the same time looking at them as though he was having trouble realizing they were indeed themselves, like they were supposed to look different somehow.

Sure, Armin had immediately tried to reassure her everything was fine after she made him confirm their words with some usage of her “Mikasa Inquisitive Stare of Interrogation” (not to be confused with the “Mikasa Stare of Painful Death” or the “Mikasa Stare of Burning Jealousy”, they were all very different and distinctive).

That didn’t quite manage to stamp down her worry over Eren, and it certainly didn’t help the feeling of anxiety and expectation that had been plaguing her all morning long since she woke up (which she was very quickly realizing was entirely dissociated from any worry or concern about her first friend, though she still got the feeling that it involved him somehow), but at least it did stop her from storming over to the boys’ barrack to look for the missing boy.

Didn’t exactly mean she wasn’t tempted to however.

‘I should go look for him though…’, She thought to herself, looking in the direction of the barracks before glancing at the sun, from all her training she estimated she had about five minutes before Shadis arrived to start, probably less.

‘It’s not enough time’, She mused, ‘If I go now, both of us would be late and punished, even if Eren is already okay it would still take too long to return before Instructor Shadis gets here, and Eren would certainly be annoyed at me for getting myself punished for something he will insist is nothing…’

Biting her lip, Mikasa looked towards the barrack again, feeling her feet move in their direction before she, with much effort, turned away again, her mind torn between checking up her beloved and remaining where she stood, not wanting to risk making him upset so early on and after he apparently went through something that troubled him significantly during the night.

She was suddenly pulled away from her thoughts when she heard a commotion at the other side of the grounds.

Looking over, she briefly had a feeling of relief go through her when she saw the boy that had been worrying her almost all morning finally arrive.

The feeling quickly went away when she fully processed the young boy’s appearance and demeanor.

Specifically, Eren didn’t look at all like he had been preparing for morning Line-up, hair a mess, uniform looking like he had hastily thrown it on, eyes wide and wild as they scanned over all the place as if searching for something of great importance, a look of absolute determination making them almost shine under the morning sun.

(And was it her? Or did his face also look flushed?)

She took a step forward, mouth opening to call him for him, to ask him if he was okay, why did he take so long to arrive, and a thousand other question she already knew he was gonna avoid and that she probably wouldn’t even get the chance to ask, as the shadow of Shadis could already be seen rounding the corner.

Then, Eren’s eyes locked onto hers.

Mikasa froze. The sheer intensity behind those eyes she would spend so much time gazing into over the years rooting her on the spot, far greater than anything she had seen in them ever before.

She watched as he shoved Jean away, their fellow cadet, who had been trying to get Eren’s attention since he arrived, yelped as he suddenly found himself on the ground, staring wide eyed as the “Kill all Titans” kid, marched on towards Mikasa, ignoring even Armin and Reiner as he stomped toward the dark haired girl looking like she was the only thing that existed in the world right now.

When he finally reached her, Mikasa almost found herself flinching as he stopped right in front of her face almost towering over her despite the difference in their heights not being that great, staring into her dark orbs with his own green ones, glowing with an almost emerald lights as he silently studied her.

It was a weird situation for her to find herself into, but not as weird, nor as shocking as what came next.

He kissed her.

Mikasa almost didn’t know what was happening, all cognitive functions from her brain suddenly ceasing to function, only her sense of touch remained and even then it struggled to process what was happening right now.

‘Warm…’, was all she could think at the moment as her brain slowly started to sort itself out and work again, just in time for her to feel the burning in her lungs as she belatedly realized she had stopped breathing and Eren suddenly pulling away from her lips, panting about as much as she was, a single strand of saliva keeping them connected for a split second more before it snapped.

Oh, how desperately she wished she could move her body to take his lips once again, line up, instructor and fellow cadets be damned.

The two stood there, panting heavily and gazing into each other’s eyes for what felt like an eternity, completely ignoring the shocked silence that engulfed the training grounds at that moment as well as the disbelieving stares everyone present was currently sending them.

Eren was the first to recover.

“Mikasa!” He shouted, voice sounding a little breathless and strained, like he was forcing himself to say them, “I…”, he tried to continue.

For a moment, Eren looked down, his face flushing red and his eyes losing some of that determination spark that lit them up, but before Mikasa (and really anyone) could take the chance to say or do anything, Eren took a deep breath before looking back up at his childhood friend again, looking more determined than ever.

“Let’s elope!” He finally got out.

Mikasa froze, mind shattering and pulling itself together over and over as she processed what he just said.

Unknown to her, everyone in the courtyard was in a similar position, even Shadis found himself speechless as he processed what the Carla’s son had just said and the implications those words held.

“E-Elope…?”Mikasa finally got out, mind still struggling to comprehend what was happening, a million thoughts running wild in her mind, while at the same time said mind also blanked out completely.

“Yes,” Eren said, voice calmer and steadier, still staring into her eyes like they were the most precious gems in the world, “Let’s elope, you and me, away from everything, from training, from the corps, from the Titans, everything.”

The more he spoke the more Mikasa could feel her heart race, eyes watering and cheeks reddening as she listened to the man she swore herself to all those years ago.

“I… I want to spend whatever years I have of my life with you,” he continued, voice growing softer but keeping its firmness and determination, “I want to be at your side and have you at my side forever, be it living in some cabin in the middle of the forest or in a mountain, or in some cheap house in one of the districts, it doesn’t matter to me…” he paused for a bit, swallowing a little as he fought against his nerves, “I just want to have you at my side at all times.”

Unknown to everyone else, Eren’s mind was also a complete mess at this moment, millions of thoughts running around, memories? visions? and other stuff he couldn’t even begin to comprehend or even fully recall rampaging through his head as if a thousand colossal titans were running inside his head at top speed.

When he awoke that morning he had spent several minutes not knowing what to do or even feel, the… dream? he had last night left him feeling a million emotions all at once, thinking a million things, and at the same feeling and thinking nothing at all.

It had taken him all morning, and his roommates shaking him several times, just to get his head back in a position where he could actually think, and even then he still felt his head spinning, like he was a second away from falling into an abyss he would never escape from again.

Regardless of whatever that weird dream had been (for the life of him he couldn’t fully recall what he saw and heard in it, not without feeling a sense of despair and terror that left him unable to breath for minutes in time), he had, in an odd moment of clarity while his mind sorted itself out, gotten up from his bed, hair a mess, face pale, eyes wide and uniform a mess, with a single thing, or rather person, in mind.

Mikasa.

Which is how he found himself where he was now, holding his childhood friend by the shoulders after kissing her for what felt for an eternity and what he was sure he would remember as the most embarrassing kiss in his life (in his defense he was still young and with zero experience in this kind of things, so it was understandable his first kiss wouldn’t be the most… pleasant to witness, at the very least he was sure Mikasa wouldn’t really remember how messy it actually was, it was something), and telling said childhood friend to elope (elope!) with him far away.

And try as he might, the moment he grabbed even a little bit of breath and began speaking, he couldn’t stop, wouldn’t stop, didn’t want to stop.

So he did what he knew how to do best, and moved forward, face red, hands clammy and heart thumping like it was about to burst from his chest, but still, forward he went.

“I-I want to till fields with you, grow vegetables and fruits of our own, make a garden of our own, a little haven just for the two us, where we can be free together, next to each other, like we are the only two remaining people on this world”, he continued, spouting whatever came to his mind without care of how weird, dumb or corny it sounded even to himself, he just wanted her to know, for her to hear.

To hear and know just how much he wanted, needed, her and how much he loved her.

“I want to live with you, walk with you, laugh with you, rest with you s-s-s”, he paused for a moment, face burning in embarrassment as he struggled with this particular part, “sleep with you, to wake up every day and have your face be the first thing I see when I wake, I…” he swallowed, trying to down the lump that keep growing in his throat, while also doing his best to ignore the burning gazes from everyone in the courtyard that he was starting to become aware of.

With another steadying breath, he continued.

“I want to have a family with you.” he breathed out, suddenly awfully conscious of the stunned silence around them, but still he pressed on, “I want to make a family with you, one we can call our very own. One we can raise together and add to our own little haven, for however many years we have left in this world...”

His eyes lowered for a split second before refocusing on Mikasa’s eyes once more, giving himself a second to truly appreciate just how beautiful and brilliant they were despite (or maybe because of) their dark color.

“So please, let’s just go, forget everything and just live the two of us together, no fears nor worries outside of what will our next meal be, if we need new clothes, if we have enough firewood for the winter, nothing about titans or training or blades, just us two and our own little life together.” Pausing for a bit, he took one final breath before delivering his final line.

“Mikasa, I-I love you, and… and I want to be with you for the rest of my life… will you be at my side? Not as a friend, or a guardian, or a fellow soldier, but as Mikasa, my…*gulp* b-b-beloved.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

No one, not even the wind, dared make a sound as everyone stared at the pair before them.

One, the best soldier the military had seen in ages, a woman so skilled and deadly everyone was confident she could walk out of the walls with only a rusty knife and come back in one piece and a dozen titans dead behind her.

The other, an idiot that screamed about killing all titans while struggling to take out one training dummy, a stubborn, downright suicidal idiot that most people were sure would get himself killed the moment he took one step on the battlefield.

And now here, they were the latter pretty much proposing to the former in the middle of what should have been a routine line-up but was now a spectacle no one could look away from nor dare to interrupt in any way.

Mikasa stared at Eren for what felt like an eternity, eyes unblinking, face blank and lips parted slightly (and damn it all, did Eren just want to have those rosy lips against his own again).

For a moment, a horrible, terrifying moment, Eren thought he had messed up, horribly, he, in moment of mania after one weird dream had gone and all but proposed to his childhood friend, who was basically like a sister to him in front of everyone, and, oh walls, never did he think he would wish for the Colossal Titan to somehow pop up out of nowhere and eat him whole.

But just as he felt like he was gonna burst into a mess of nerves, a single sound broke through the silence in the courtyard.

*sniff*

Looking up, Eren found himself speechless as he beheld the beautiful yet heartbreaking sight of Mikasa Ackerman, strong, deadly, stoic Mikasa, crying.

Hot tears flowed from her eyes and down her rosy cheeks, small sniffles being heard as she struggled to get herself under control, but for all her skill and strength, she found herself unable to keep her emotions under control.

So she did the only things she could.

With a small cry, she threw herself at the arms of her beloved, of the man she had loved since he wrapped that scarf around her neck and head and promised to do it as many times as she wanted until their dying breath.

Eren, startled, barely managed to keep himself from falling to the floor, and before he could gather his wits, he suddenly found his face gripped in strong, yet soft hands before he was suddenly yanked towards the woman he had just poured his heart to, his mouth meeting the warmth of her own once again in an embrace that was every bit as messy as their first had been, yet, as far as Eren was concerned, it was the best kiss in his entire life.

Their liplock lasted for what felt like an eternity, the whole world seemingly disappearing around them, leaving just the two of them, holding each other desperately as if the other would disappear the moment they let their partner go, their mouths mashing against each other, tongues dancing within their maws, tasting every corner of their mouths, like they were desperate to burn the taste in their mind for the rest of time.

Alas, biology cared not for their feelings, and eventually the burning ache in their lungs as they cried for sweet oxygen became too much to bear, and the two separated, panting, red-faced, breathless and wide eyed, holding each other still like they never wanted to let go, staring at each others eyes like they wanted to get lost within the seas held within the beautiful gems their partners saw the world with.

The two stayed like that, uncaring of the world and the people around them, in that moment, the Colossal and Armored Titans could show up and trample them, that they would not care in the slightest and die happy in each other’s embrace.

After a while however, Mikasa finally found her voice again, her heart and mind calming down just enough to let her say one thing, but that one thing was the most important one she could ever utter at this moment.

“Yes.” She breathed out, and the sight of Eren’s eyes widening before softening would be seared into her mind alongside this moment when her dearest confessed to her and whisked her away into a life just for the two of them.

And for the first time in his life since he lost almost everything that fateful day, Eren felt at complete ease and peace. And, as he beheld the beautiful gems his beloved possessed, seeing the million words she wanted to say but lacked the breath to utter, Eren thought he could see the future, and with it the freedom he had so longed for for all of his life.

Gathering his wits, thoughts and breath, Eren straightened himself, and with strength he didn’t he possessed, he took his beloved (his lover, his hopefully-soon-to-be-wife and mother of his children, and Walls, did he adore the feeling of those words) on his arms, and without so much as a goodbye, took off towards the barracks, his heart screaming for him to just run off into the rising sun, but his mind, thankfully, grabbed enough of a hold over him to remind him to pick up what little belongings he and his partner had in those barracks.

(And, hey, if they could pull a Sasha and borrow some food to start their new life with, while everyone was distracted, well, all the better, no?)

Mikasa, arms wrapped around his neck and legs dangling over his arms, laughed freely (and, Sweet Walls, was that sound the most beautiful he had ever heard in his life), tightening her hold on him while he ran, bringing them to a new, brilliant and promising future.

They locked eyes for a moment, but it was enough for him to see everything she wanted to say to him.

‘Yes, I want to be with you forever, to my dying breath, I want to live with you at my side and wake up every day with you besides me, I want to knit us new clothes and make beautiful gardens and harvest all kinds of fruit and vegetables with you at my side, I want to become one with you in all ways possible, grow old with you and our wonderful children.’

‘But above all, I want to love all my life, no matter how short or long it may be and die knowing I loved you with all my heart.’

Eren found himself almost stumbling, before righting himself with a watery laugh, eyes stinging with warm tears (the same kind she had on her eyes before, he realized), and continued running, toward a new future.

Towards true freedom.

…and towards the, thankfully, deserted kitchen of course (and maybe the instructor’s office, surely Shadis had something in there they could use to celebrate their union and that he wouldn’t mind “gifting” them).

Meanwhile

Silence.

Absolute and all consuming.

A pin could drop and it would be heard all the way to Wall Maria.

Keith Shadis stared towards where Carla’s son ran off with the best damn soldier he has had in years firmly in his arms.

And despite himself, and the shitstorm he just knew was gonna happen as soon as people got over their shock, he found himself smiling.

It was small, but filled with so much happiness and relief, the kind he didn’t he would ever be able to make again, especially after he felt he had failed his promise to Carla when the young Yeager stubbornly remained in the academy despite his attempts at discouraging him.

Who would have thought? All he needed was to get the damn brat to hook up with his childhood friend to get him out. The absurdity of the situation made a genuine chuckle slip past his lips.

(He would, of course, forever deny any of that, he had a reputation to upkeep of course, and he would be damned if a pair of snot-nosed brats realizing their love for each other would ruin that).

Schooling his features into their usual scowling look, he turned towards the shell-shocked brats, intent on mitigating as much of the brewing shitstorm as he could, or at the very least delay it for as much as he could.

He wouldn’t even get the chance though, as, suddenly, Cadet Diamant marched towards her, not so secret, boyfriend, Cadet Kefka and stood before him with determination not too different from that of Cad-Ex-Cadet Yeager. And all Shadis could do was sigh as he could tell what was about to happen.

“Franz!” The young girl shouted, startling the aforementioned trainee as well as everyone else in the courtyard, “I love you! More than anything in the world! And I want to live every day of my life with you at my side until the day death does us apart, doesn’t matter if we do it as soldiers or as mere civilians, all I care is that I will wake up everyday and find myself in your arms, you understand!”

Her voice cracks a little towards the end of her speech, face so red it looks like it’s glowing, and yet she pressed on, fully intent on delivering her request at any cost.

She doesn’t get the chance however, as Cadet Kefka suddenly shoots forwards, taking Cadet Diamant’s face into his hands to deliver a searing kiss that has many gaping once more after the previous display from the last couple.

Separating with a small ‘pop’ Franz looked into the eyes of his beloved Hannah, and with an assured smile, he says:

“Yes, nothing matter to me right now as much as getting to live out the rest of my days with you at my side as my beautiful, wonderful wife”, he says, and Hannah almost swoons over his words, as it is she squeaks happily, beyond overjoyed at his words, even more so as he continues, “So let’s go my dear, let’s go and make a future of our own where we be together with no one and nothing to hold back our love.”

Hanna, this time does swoon, but only for a moment, as, in a display of strength not unlike Eren’s previously, pick up her partner into her arms, said partner blushing up a storm and squeaking embarrassedly at her actions, and without much ado, leaves to places unknown, leaving a stunned group of cadets behind them, laughing as they reveal in the joy of being officially together.

Keith Shadis looks at them go for a moment, mind, thankfully, catching up faster after having witnessed Grisha’s son’s proposal, and as such turn around towards, face blank and, to the further shock of everyone present (man, is this day full of those, huh?), asks in a non-shouting tone of voice:

“So, does anyone else feel like proposing?” He asked, because he had spent enough time with these brats to know that the first two couples aren’t the only members who held feelings for a fellow cadet.

For a moment it looks like no one else is gonna suddenly burst into a heartfelt and cheesy proposal, and Shadis allows himself a small moment of relief as he thinks they will finally be able to proceed as planned.

Of course, the world immediately decides to screw with him at that precise moment.

Cadet Hoover, suddenly stands up from where he had been sitting talking with Reiner before this entire mess started, and with determination and confidence he had never witnessed in the tall teen, he marches toward none other than Cadet Annie Leonhart, face red but determined and when he finally stands before her, he opens his mouth to finally express the feelings he had been storing within all this time:

“Annie! I-”

“No”

The word is delivered with all the calm indifference and detachment that Leonhart is well known to be capable of, freezing the poor boy and making everyone around wince in sympathy.

Berthold’s mouths opens and closes for a bit as he struggles to process his fellow trainee’s words, before finally closing it and nodding, turning around to go back to his spot next to Reiner, when he feels something grab his sleeve, turning around, he’s made witness of a sight he thought he would only ever see in his dreams.

The sight of Annie Leonhard blushing and looking shyly to the side, one of her hands gripping Berthold’s sleeve. And to further his shock, she speaks in a soft voice:

“Not here… not now at least…” she says, closing her eyes in embarrassment and refusing to look at her taller partner’s face, which is now being illuminated by a smile so big a few worry he’s gonna tear something.

The two stare there completely deaf and ignorant to everything around them, one trying to hide her embarrassment and the other trying not to burst into joyful celebration.

Looking at them, Shadis decides to simply let them be, give them their space for now and hopefully he won’t be losing more trainees today to the bewitching spells of love.

However, before he can even hope to get back on track, he catches Cadet Braun looking on in pride at his companions, before setting his face into an expression of determination, Shadis is starting to become a tad too familiar with.

Sighing, he watches as the muscular trainee walks up to Cadet Lenz, face nervous but determined, when he’s at her side, he opens his mouth to make his own proposal.

“Krysta! I-”

“No”

Braun freezes, everyone around him freezes, Berthold and Annie are pulled out of their own little world and freeze, even Shadis freezes.

Such is the magnitude of the coldness with which that single word is delivered, by the one many of the 104th could have sworn was a goddess in human form.

Krysta Lenz stares in the general direction of where the first two couples ran off in search of a new life, not even having bothered to turn to look at Reiner, her face wearing a blank, emotionless expression, accompanied by equally empty eyes, that all look so out of place on the usually kind, goddess-looking face, yet, disturbingly, at the same time, looking right at home there, as if it was always meant to be there from the start.

No one says anything for a while, until Braun straightens himself out, face serious and formal, but his eyes shining with what clearly unshed tears, and with a nod of understanding, he turn around to walk back to his usual spot, pausing for a split second, as though hoping he would run into the same luck his partner Berthold did, and he would find himself stopped by a dainty, little hand, but when no such thing happens, he continues on his way, the sun seemingly shining down on his form as he walks.

Hoover recovers first, reaching out to his friend in an attempt to cheer him up, before being stopped by Annie, who only shocks her head at him, making him stand down with a conflicted look on his face.

Ymir is the next one, and looking at the quietly sulking form of Reiner, she smirks mockingly, making a show of her stepping closer her precious Krysta, raising an arm to place it around her small shoulders, as she often does, to no doubt make her own “proposal” right there and then.

“Krysta~! I-”

“No”

Ymir freezes again, suddenly feeling like her entire body is encased in ice, staring at her beloved Krysta, who doesn’t even bother to look at her as she speaks that word, still staring to where the previous couples escaped, her expression betraying none of what she might be thinking at the moment.

Ymir stay in her position for a few minutes, each one feeling far longer than the last, before finally lowering her arm back to its place at her side and changing expression to one not too different from what Reiner did, staring blankly ahead.

A large hand suddenly rests on her shoulder. And she looks up towards the owner of said hand, fully expecting to see the mockery in it.

Instead, she’s greeted by a sympathetic look of understanding and camaraderie, and she stares at him, her mind blanking on how to react.

Before she simply puts her arm on top of Reiner’s own, her expression morphing into an expression not too different from the one Reiner wears right now, the two staring at each as a sense of brotherhood and camaraderie blooms between them.

Camaraderie that soon finds another individual to include in it, as Jean Kirstein put a hand on each of them, his expression a mirror of the one his new compatriots are wearing right now, shiny, tear-filled eyes and all.

Ymir and Reiner look at each other before looking at Jean, remembering the boy’s obvious infatuation with the Ackerman girl that had ran away in the arms of someone he constantly butted heads with, off to horizons unknown to probably not be seen again, and each placing a hand on each of his shoulders, welcoming him into these new little group that’s been formed from the ashes of their broken hearts.

Their fellow cadets shuffle uncomfortably around them, and Shadis decides to take some mercy on them and clears his throat.

“Cadets Ymir, Braun and Kirstein!” He barks, catching their attention and making their glassy eyes stare at him, “You are dismissed for the rest of the day,“ he pauses for a bit, eyeing the expressions etched in their faces and adds, “and the rest of the weekend, go back to your barracks!” He finishes, mentally making a note to make sure the stashes of alcohol are properly secured, just in case.

The trio salute him and begin their walk towards their rooms, the morning sun shining down upon them as they march as though it was guiding them as they marched away.

Looking back to the remainder of the cadets, Shadis briefly considers just moving on as planned, before dismissing the thought completely and, with a sigh, says:

“Anyone else have anything to s-” He doesn’t even get to finish, and Shadis decides at that moment to borrow a few bottles from the cellar before securing it tightly.

“YES! FINALLY” I thought I would have to spend the rest of my teenage years having to watch those two hopelessly stumble around their unspoken feelings” Cadet Arlet exclaims joyfully, looking a second away from jumping around in sheer joy, “Oh the amount of teasing material I will finally be able to use! And I even have an extra year to make even more material, oh I gotta get my book to start writing, I can already feel the ideas coming”, he said, seemingly lost in his own little words as he imagined the myriad of ways he could embarrass his friends now that they are finally together.

Several Cadets start inching away from the short blonde though, as his joyous exclamations, soon give way to mutterings and rubbing of hands that make the young boy look less like a friend looking forward to messing with his friends and more like an evil genius plotting how he will torture his victims.

Despite the uneasiness, he generates as he mutters and occasionally cackles, his outburst is the final piece needed for the rest of the cadets present to snap out of their shock and begin to mutter and gossip about the new couples and what they would be doing now, many go up to Bertold to congratulate him for confessing to the notoriously emotionally closed-off Annie, much to both of their embarrassment.

Even Krysta seems to snap from whatever trance she was in and begins clapping and celebrating the newly formed couples and their pursuit for lives together with those they loved.

(Though she also wondered why people were suddenly giving her a wide breath while looking nervously at her, same with where Reiner and Ymir were.)

Looking at the trainees as they gossip and celebrate the new couple, Shadis finally decides to let bygones be and retire to his quarters to drink the headache away, mentally cursing Eren Yeager for his impulsiveness leading to this whole mess while also congratulating him for finding a new path in his live, one hopefully away from the Titans where he could leave in peace.

Chuckling, he muttered to himself, “Carla, Grisha, your son truly is piece of work, boy will go far in life even if it’s not as a soldier, if nothing else he is probably going to give many people a massive headache”, he looked at the clear skies, letting a tired but genuine smile grace his face, “Hope you are proud of your brat you two.”