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foxcakesandstories · 6 days

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Distances in AoT

Or: Yams has no idea of geography and the relationship between distance and travel times in AOT makes no sense.

PART TWO: GEOMETRY AND PONIES

In the first part, we’ve seen how freaking huge the distances between the main districts of the Walls are. Here is a summary:

Center-Sina: 250 km

Sina-Rose: 130 km (Center-Rose: 380 km)

Rose-Maria: 100 km (Sina-Maria: 230 km; Center-Maria: 480 km)

To go from a District to the next on the same wall:

Along wall Sina: 393 km (352 if cutting in a straight line between the two)

Along wall Rose: 597 km (537 in a straight line)

Along wall Maria: 754 km (~720 in a light curve, as straight line not possible)

Here’s a summary of the shortest distances (combining radius and chords) between districts:

(I’ve only put the most frequently mentioned in canon)

Throughout canon, we see the characters moving between a handful of Districts. To the iniciated it may look like said travels are a tad too fast considering the means of transport that they use. It’s okay. The insta-travel effect has been seen in every other epic fictional world, be it the Middle Earth, Westeros or Narnia. And we’re willing to suspend our disbelief. But AoT has a crucial difference in that sense.

We’ve been told the exact distance between the walls. In kilometres, not some fictional or obscure, ancient measure unit. Suspending disbelief does not come easy when the numbers are exact.

It’s like when you’re watching a movie, and the hero has only 10 minutes to get to the bomb before it detonates, so he races through the streets of, say, Paris, and they go from the Louvre, to the Arc de Triomph, wreck havoc on a market along the Seine, rush through Montmartre, around the Eiffel Tower and skid to a halt when the car crashes in front of the Opera. And most people will be ok with that, but the few millions who live in or know Paris are like... Nope. That’s not possible. Not even with 007’s Aston Martin or the Batmobile. That makes absolutely no sense. It’s ten times worse if the hero is running.

Well, guess what, the Survey Corps do not travel in the Batmobile.

The Survey Corps travel by horse. On longer expeditions, they also have horse-drawn carts.

Now, if you fill up the tank of your BMW and pad your butt, you can drive the 480 km (road distance) from Berlin to Ansbach in about 4:40 hours without traffic. That’s not stopping for anything other than traffic lights, and using some of the best highways in the world. That’s an average of 102 km/h. With normal traffic, you could do that in 5:30 hours, averaging 87 km/h. That’s how long a badass modern car would take to go from Mitras to Shiganshina.

But, and this may come as a shock, a horse is not a car.

First and foremost, a horse cannot ride as fast as a car. As per the Publicly Available Information from canon, “The stable horses used by the Survey Corps are selectively bred (...) and travel for many hours without complaining. (...) Their top speed is between 75–80 km/h, and they can maintain a swift 35 km/h gallop. The horses are tenacious, able to maintain a fine speed of 20 km/h even when pulling a carriage.”

For one good thing in all this mess, numbers are in accordance with real horses. And I have no problem accepting that the SC horses are the cream of the crop when it comes to speed and resistance, like our fastest horses and most resistant horses combined. But horses, I repeat, are not cars.

Cars are machines. Horses are living, sentient beings. They cannot fill their stomach like a car a gas tank and run at top speed until it empties, rinse and repeat. They need food and water. They need shoes. They need bathroom stops (they can shit while walking, but they need to stop for pee). But mostly, they need rest. Horses can and do die of exhaustion. (And given that SC horses are super expensive, you don’t want to work them to death.)

A horse can maintain its maximum speed for only 3 km—4 for a race champion. That’s the maximum length of horse track races, actually. After such a sprint, they need to rest for a while. So even when dodging titans, you won’t do so at top speed – you just need to be faster than the enemy. Obviously, the slower the gallop, the longer the time it can be maintained, so sprinting at less-than-top-speed will allow to dodge more titans.

When you’re just travelling from point A to point B, then, you won’t waste the precious energy of the horse in a sprint. Those journeys would be made at a lower speed, for the faster you make the horse go, the more, longer stops it will need to rest, catch its breath, eat and drink. Likewise, if the horse is carrying weight, it will go slower and need more rest. Long distance horses can only cover 50–60 km per day—And before someone says endurance competition horses can run over 100–160 km in a day... that is not the same as 100 km per day, in the same way marathon runners don’t do 42 km per day; they do them in a day. The day of the race. After training specifically for that race. Then they rest for a few days. Horses are the same. Moreover, long distance endurance races have mandatory vet checks along the way to see that the horse is able to keep going. And if you have an expensive horse and no vet every 20 km to check it, you will take care not to push it, lest it collapses midway and the titans eat you.

So, considering SC horses are specially bred for endurance, we can safely equate them to long-distance working horses of our world; I’ll assume they’re the GOAT and can cover 60 km per day.

But wait! I hear some of you say. If they can go at 35 km/h, they can cover much more than 60 km a day! Er... no. Because they need to rest. They cannot trot at 35 km/h for 8 hours straight. They can’t even walk for that long without stopping to rest. Same as like Marathon runners never reach the same speeds as sprinters and middle-distance runners.

Please note that this numbers refer to a single horse. You can cover longer distances, or cover a given distance faster, if you change your horse for a freshly rested one at given points. This is not an instant process: the new horse will have to be tacked and you’ll have to transfer the cargo, if any, from horse A to horse B (in AoT world, they cannot text the next station to have the horse tacked when they arrive). A convoy of several horses will be slightly slower and, I repeat, if there are carts, the whole convoy will be conditioned to the slowest cart (the horse/s will be slowed by the cart in the same way a car is slowed if you attach a trailer to it). In every rest station, the horse needs to be untacked and then re-tacked before continuing, same as hikers will put down their backpacks when taking a break.

For reference, The Pony Express, the fastest horse dispatch system ever, could cover 300 km per 24-hour day (they rode day and night). They managed to cover that much that by having a huge infrastracture that allowed the rider to change horses every 16-24 km, and pass the dispatch to another rider every 75 km or so. That’s 4-7 horses every 100 km.

So either AoT horses are more magical than My Little Pony ones or Yams cannot distinguish between a horse and a Ferrari.

Guess which one I’m betting on.

Side Comment: The Ferry

Talking about this with one of my fandom friends, she mentioned her bafflement that they didn’t use the ferries that we see in the first chapters evacuating people from Shiganshina to transport themselves quickly from place to place. I thought she had a good point, so I looked into it. Thankfully for Yams though, I looked into this and it’s not really an option.

The steam engine is unknown in Paradis, so the ferries would have to be operated manually. (The publicly available info panel on the subject comes from the Lost girls OVA, so its canonicity is questionable, and it has contradictory info saying they are moved via wires along the river (as manual ferries do) but also that they are powered by the same gas as the VMG – which make little sense bc then you don’t need the wire and why not have a railway as well?). And the maximum speed a manually hauled barge can attain is not better than that of a horse. For a RL example, the fastest that horse-drawn barges travelling the Canal du Midi in the 19th century could reach was 32 hours for the 240 km ride... changing horses every 10km. Before that, it took four days. That’s 13 hours for 100 km – basically the same time it took the SC to go from Trost to Wall Maria in RtS, but without the possibility to change course if the road’s blocked or to dodge titans if they attack (and provided they had the fresh horses every 10 km, which they wouldn’t in RtS).

That said, I do think Yams totally forgot about the ferries.

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foxcakesandstories · 21 days

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A very sweet story about Levi, Christmas and the ability to forgive ❤️‍🩹

Another What If?

Hello guys!

You know, before I continue with the main story, I would like to share one more thing. There is a legend that on Christmas Eve the souls of loved ones who passed away come to visit us. My grandma alaways used to leave some food on the table for them as long as I remember. What if those ghosts visited Levi, Mikasa, Reiner, Armin, Jean, Connie, Falco and Gabi? This is how I imagine this possible meeting.

(You can also find the story in AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/52510798)

P.S. I nearly cried my eyes out

*24th of December, after the Rumbling*

"Kids, did you seriously bring THIS into the house??? " Levi stared in horror at Falco and Gabi, who were trying to get a...Christmas tree into the house. A fucking real Christmas tree. Everyone has gone crazy with this...holiday thing. Why would one bring a tree into the house?

"It's an old tradition!" Gaby replied cheerfully, putting her arm around his shoulders. "Falco had picked this one himself."

"By the way, parents said hello, they will come later.”

"Captain, let the children be happy. They need it," Yelena came into the room, shaking snow off her short blonde hair. Yeah, you're the one to talk about damn holiday.

"As if there was something to celebrate," the Captain muttered. "Don't talk about this day as if this Christmas of yours were anything more than an ordinary day that some individuals had turned into another excuse to get as drunk as shit."

"Captain, there're kids in here!"

"These two?" Levi looked skeptically at Falco and Gaby. "Those two must be familiar with a vocabulary that would make your ears curl, they just pretend to be sweet and innocent."

"Hello everyone!" several bodies wrapped in warm clothes piled into the room, among which Ackerman recognized Jean, Connie, Armin, Mikasa, Pieck, Reiner, and Annie. Even she was here. A great celebration. The cold from the bodies that had just come inside from the street felt so distinct that Levi wrinkled his nose.

"Hello, brats. Please don't tell me you believe in this whole nonsense of... Fuck-what-knows-stmas?" said the man, eyeing his charges from the one hundred and fourth. Of course, he called them that rather because of an old habit: even the once tiny Connie had managed to become taller than him, and the Survey Corps itself was now...left to live only in their memories. Like those they had lost in the war with the Titans and the rest of the world.

It's been almost a year. Almost a year had passed since that fateful day. The twenty percent of humanity that had miraculously survived had just begun to recover. Cities and towns began to be built. Political ties between the survivors began to build anew. In small steps, tentatively and timidly, but the world began to come back to life, bringing back what had been trampled under the feet of hundreds of colossal titans.

More than once, and more than twice, Levi asked himself a single question. Why? Why had Eren committed genocide after all? Did the little brat really only see this version of the future? A future in which the only option to save Paradis was to destroy all of humanity? Or did he not even try to find another way to solve the problem? Surely it must have existed! Surely there had to be a way to solve the problem, in which now his brats would not have to become ambassadors of peace, and he himself would not live in the hell knows how many kilometers from his native land with the eternal coddling of these two brats, that sometimes do not even make a step away from him. And even if every survivor tells him that, Levi will never believe that they had no choice. There was, is, and will always be choice. And it's only when you face the consequences that you can understand if your decision was the right one. And the consequences of Eren's choices are now being handled by them. And it was certainly not the right choice if it had caused billions of innocent people to suffer and de... At the thought of Hanji's memory, something stabbed at his heart painfully. After all, it was he who had agreed to make Eren the part of the Scouts after the battle for Trost. It was he who had taken responsibility for his future actions and...upbringing. And it was he who had made the grave mistakes that had led the younger Yeager to the decision to destroy all the people beyond the Walls of Paradis...

"Captain, are you with us?" Connie's voice brought him out of his reverie.

"Huh?" Levi asked, a little confused.

"Yelena said that the tree should be decorated with toys, and then we should prepare a festive table."

"Do I look like a clown to you?" Levi immediately interrupted him. "If Yelena's the one who started this bacchanal, she's the one who's going to decorate the corpse you dragged in here."

"And we don't want to do it without you," Armin said in an insistent tone. "And... And that's an order. An order from the Commander. You are my subordinate. And I'm ordering you to spend Christmas with us, decorating this stupid tree. We're not going to let you sit alone in your room while the house and table are being prepared. Who knows when else we'll all get together like this?"

"Yeah," Ackerman grimaced, blinking a healthy eye. Somewhat, though, the brat was right about one thing: he was really glad to see those naughty kids again. The surviving soldiers of his squad, Falco, Gabi... That was all he had left. A bunch of knuckleheads who gave his life the slightest bit of meaning. Ackerman shook his head, trying to push away the bad thoughts that had been on his mind too often lately.

"The titan smote me, all of this? Right up a tree?" Jean stared in surprise at the several boxes that stood at Yelena's feet. Inside were some balls of almost all colors and sizes, some huge star, something remotely resembling snowflakes, and a bunch of wires, the purpose of which only the Founding Fucking Titan knew.

"Oh, Yelena, I have to admit, you're a very thoughtful woman. Did you bring me the noose in advance so I wouldn't bother looking for something I can hang myself with?" Levi asked sarcastically, holding something that looked like a spruce branch in his hand.

"The assumption is wrong, Captain," the blonde replied. "It's called a rainstorm. It is being hung...

"Hung. Nice."

"It is not you who hangs someone with it, it is the decoration that is being hung. On this very tree."

"That is, on this Christmas of yours, not with the help of a noose a man is turned into a corpse, but the ready-made corpse of a tree is being hung with nooses. Art goes to a new level," Ackerman replied, but still hung a bright red ball on the tree, realizing that otherwise he would not be left in peace. Work began to speed up: Jean and Connie began to argue about whether to hang the bright star on top, Falco and Gabi jumped up and down around Ackerman, trying to put a bright shitty tinsel around his neck. After much resistance, the strongest warrior of mankind sighed doomfully and, to the cheers of the others, let the children do what they wanted.

"Here, Gaby, one mini-Jean to hang here, too," Connie said, handing the horse figurine to the girl. Almost everyone in the room burst out laughing as Springer hid behind a tree from the fist that was about to hit him.

"Look what we've got!" Falco pulled some red hats from the last box, handing out one to each of them.

"Oh no..."

"Oh yes..." Mikasa and Armin, smiling, put a red hat with a white brim and some stupid balloon on the tip on Levi's head.

"Either you take THIS off my head, or I'm going to strangle you both right now. Believe me, three fingers and one eye will be enough for that," Levi said in a threatening tone.

"Not for any money in the universe!"

"Resistance is futile, Levi," Reiner said. "Shit, I have to take a picture of that, or no one will believe us!"

"Bastards..." Levi replied in a threatening tone.

"You're such a sweet Santa!" Gaby looked up at Levi, wrapping her palms around her face.

"I'm still waiting for my noose," replied Levi.

"Well, it's almost done here," Jean said, looking at the tree appraisingly.

"What about someone telling any Christmas story? I wonder if there are some Christmas legends."

"A long time ago, my father once told me one," Pieck said, helping Gaby hang the figure of a funny old man with a beard in a red suit on the tree. "They say that on this night the spirits of the dead come down to visit their loved ones."

"What?" all the people of Paradis stared at the girl in surprise. Mikasa's hand froze in the air instead of hanging up another toy. An awkward silence filled the room. The girl, clearly not expecting such a reaction, lowered her head down in embarrassment, tucking a strand of messy hair behind her ear.

"After dinner, Dad and I always left food on the table for Mom, too," the brunette added.

“That's...a very beautiful legend," Connie said with a sad smile.

"Is it...is it really possible?" Mikasa asked with a trembling voice.

"How I wish I could see you one last time, Eren..."

"If...if only it were possible..."

"It's all just a legend. A fairy tale. Such a thing is impossible. The dead must be let go, moving on..."

"Why do people believe in such fairy tales? It's too cruel to give a man hope for something that can never happen..."

"I never dared tell you what I should have told you, did I?... And now you're gone forever. Just like everyone else..."

"Well, we never saw her, but then... ghosts aren't supposed to be seen, right?" The girl answered.

"It's because they're all just legends," Levi said, handing Gaby the toy that was in his hands and headed for the exit, leaning on a stick. His injured leg ached: the doctors had recommended that he sit in a wheelchair, eliminating all movement, but he'd rather die than let that happen. Stopping at the door, he turned around for a second. "Not a single idiotic holiday would bring back those who had died."

"He's right," Annie said after the door closed. Sitting down in the chair, the girl wrapped her arms around her knees. Armin carefully sat down next to her.

"We'll go after him," Gabi ran to the door, but she was stopped by Mikasa.

"Not now, Gaby. We will come for him later," she answered and left the room as well.

***

A blizzard was blowing outside, so Mikasa wrapped herself tightly in her red scarf. A few snowflakes fell on the tip of her nose. Although this residence was relatively far from the main street, her keen hearing picked up the sounds of singing. Mikasa crouched on the porch of the house.

"I miss you, Eren," she whispered, trying to push the tears away. "If it's possible, please come to me tonight. Just for one night... I don't need anything else... That night, you asked me who you were to me... Why couldn't I tell you the truth... I'm such a coward...."

"He died because of me," not expecting anyone to follow her, Ackerman's hand abruptly reached for her belt where her weapon had always been before. In response to her action, Reiner only furrowed his eyebrows and sat down next to her on the porch.

"It's cold out here," the brunette only replied, turning her gaze away. "You shouldn't be sitting out here without your warm clothes on."

"Neither should you," Brown said. "Or don't you Ackermans mind the cold?"

"We do," Mikasa said. "Did you... talk about Berthold?

"After Marcel was eaten by Ymir, he and Annie wanted to cancel the mission and return to Marlia. But I was the one who insisted we go ahead and infiltrate the Walls. Things would have been different if I had agreed to their proposal then. Maybe now Eren would still be alive instead of being... well, what he'd turned into. I could say that a thousand times. Too bad it can't rewrite the past."

"You were on a mission. And it's not your fault you were born as an Eldian and wanted your parents to be proud of you."

"I'm sorry you had to do that," Reiner said in response. Mikasa looked away. Now, noone is going to see her tears, especially Reiner. "I have to admit that even I miss that asshole sometimes. Hey, Eren, Berthold, if you can hear us, you should know that we miss you here!" He added louder, looking up at the sky.

"I don't think they can hear you," Mikasa said. There was the sound of a door opening.

"Hey, how long are you going to sit there?" It was Yelena. "It's time to make dinner, let's go to the kitchen."

After Levi, Mikasa, and Rainer had left, Yelena and Pieck decided to start cooking, and the kids went to get wood for the fireplace. Annie and Armin, and Connie and Jean were the only ones who remained in the living room.

"Jean..." Connie said. "Let's cook her some potatoes. I think she'd like it."

"Potatoes?" Jean answered. "You know...let's cook it. And lots of seafood. I remember one of Nicolo's recipes. She almost bit off my fingers back then when I asked her to share. I even have marks left."

"Are you guys with us?"

"We'll be there soon," Armin replied. Loudly discussing the paella recipe, the guys left for the kitchen. Annie continued to sit with her arm around her knees, and the Arlert threw a plaid over her shoulders.

"Do you think... Will he ever be able to forgive me? No matter how many times we agree not to remember the past or blame each other, he'll always remember," Annie said.

"You mean the captain?"

"That was his crew, wasn't it? In those woods. Trying to catch Eren, I killed all his men. I still remember... The crunch of bones, the body slamming into a tree trunk at high speed... I remember everyone now. Everyone who died by my hand..."

"Annie..."

"I had no choice," a tear rolled down the blonde's cheeks, her voice sounding as distant as if she were talking to herself. "Erwin had practically driven me to a dead end. If you'd managed to take me alive, I'd never have been able to come back."

"Now I understand why."

"He's right," Annie's voice was extremely quiet. "He hates me for a reason. There is no forgiveness for what I've done."

"Then let's go to Hell together," Armin, gathering his courage, covered the other's palm with his own. "We're all already doomed."

The girl's head rested gently on his shoulder. The fire crackled cozily in the fireplace, lulling her to sleep with its melody.

***

Slamming the door of the room shut, Levi tossed the stupid hat off his head. His leg ached in protest as he sat down in the chair, covering his face with his hands.

His eyes glazed over, his hands treacherously trembled, and something inside burned like hellfire. What's the matter with you, Ackerman? Is your age catching up with you? Why do you feel so lame? It's not like you're not used to everyone around you ending up dead. It's not like you're not used to the fact that living in isolation has always been the only defense, the only defense for everyone, even for yourself. And yet, the stubborn feelings won't go away. Maybe it's because you're just a human being? People are supposed to feel love, fear, hatred... Have you experienced all these emotions? Have you always lived with a stone in your chest, or have you hidden your true feelings under a mask of indifference? Ah, Levi, what do you think? Why did you let Erwin die? Let him rest? That's what you've been telling yourself all along. Maybe your decision was wrong then, too. It could have been completely different now. Did you let Hange die because she wanted to die too? Did she really deserve to be burned alive? They call you the strongest warrior in the world, but you didn't have the courage to tell her the truth, you didn't have the courage to stop that madwoman from dying... Why do I remember you now, Stupid Four Eyes? All of you?

"I wish the Titans ate your stupid Christmas," Levi muttered. Someone knocked. Mikasa came in.

"Captain," she said. "We're cooking dinner, come with us."

"Is there any tea?" Levi asked. The corners of the girl's lips turned upward slightly.

***

Dinner was indeed a festive affair: boiled potatoes, turkey, paella, baked cod, carrot cake, broccoli soup, meatloaf, appetizers... The table seemed to be filled to the top. A luxury that few people could afford nowadays. Falco and Gabi's parents arrived just in time for the evening. Marlians and Eldians, dining at the same table without even trying to kill each other. What the dead would have to say about that? What would it be like for the soldiers who had given their lives to defend the Walls to learn that the Walls were long gone, and that they were all now living in the very country that had been trying to destroy them? Would Erwin have supported the idea of this strange Union? The idea of working with them in the future? Perhaps they won't know that until they themselves die. At least being around those brats was much more pleasant than living side by side with Yeagerists.

***

During the night, all sounds had practically subsided. After the family dinner, the town went into hibernation. The house was large enough, so all the former scouts had decided to stay here for the night, and were probably sleeping peacefully in their rooms. Truth be told, Levi tried to sleep himself, but sleep stubbornly eluded him. His body wasn't known for its ability to fall into the eight-hour sleep that was an integral part of a normal person's life, but now it was almost a miracle to get an hour of sleep in three days. And even that sleep was constantly interrupted by visions of the past. Tonight was no exception, so having brewed a mug of strong black tea, Ackerman sat in a chair, silently observing the sleeping city. The clock on the wall beat a smooth rhythm, counting down the mercilessly running seconds.

"And when will my moment come?" he suddenly asked himself. Great, you're already talking to yourself. It won't take long to get to a mental institution.

A sharp gust of wind blew open the window. Suddenly Levi had the sensation of someone's presence in the room.

"Your time has not come yet," said a woman's voice.

The cup fell to the floor with a clatter, probably shattering into dozens of small pieces.

He... He knows that voice... Her voice...

No... No, this can't be...

It's just not possible...

A small hand gently touched his shoulder, making his whole body shiver. How is this possible? No, Levi, you're just crazy, you're imagining it, it can't be, purely physically...

The same hand gently touched his hair.

"I'm so proud of you," she was really standing right in front of him. Looking exactly the way she did before the disease that took her away....

"Mom... But how..." he whispered. The warmth of that hand, the gentle touch, the feeling of warm skin on his cheek was more than real! "Am I crazy? Did one of the dishes turn out to be poisoned and I died?"

"No," Kuchel replied. "You couldn't see it, but I always came to you. Always. After the power of the Titans left - something changed, and now we can interact."

"So, it's..." Levi immediately remembered that stupid story from Pieck. "That legend wasn't stupid at all..."

"I wish I could take all your pain away. The pain that you try to hide so hard and stubbornly. Your path has always been very difficult," a tear must have welled up in the corner of his healthy eye.

"No one ever promised it would be easy," he replied. A crippled hand clasped his mother's body tightly, realizing he wouldn't get another chance like this. "I wish we had more time together."

"And yet that time was the best one I'd ever had. My happiest day was when you came into this world. On this very night. They don't even know it's your Birthday, do they?"

At that moment, Levi realized another thing that made his heart beat frantically. So strange, because he thought that everything had died there long ago.

"Are they...are they here too?" Levi asked. As if to confirm his predictions, these words were followed by a noise in the living room. Levi immediately rushed out of the room as fast as his crippled leg would let him. Once...One more time...He wouldn't get another chance like this for sure...Why did this fucking hallway seem so long right now? His leg whined protestingly, but he ignored it. Probably not the best idea. When it was a few steps to the stairs, a sharp pain already pierced his whole body. Staggering as if he had just been grabbed by a titan, Levi collapsed to the floor and would surely have rolled down the stairs, counting all the steps with his teeth, if a strong hand hadn't grabbed him. Levi froze, breathing hard.

"And he's the one who's always telling me I am reckless," came the cheerful voice of his rescuer. Warm brown eyes sparkled merrily behind her glasses.

***

"Hey, sleepyhead," Springer only covered his head with the blanket in reply.

"Let me sleep, Jean," the man muttered. In response to the request, the blanket fell safely to the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you, horse-face?" shouted Connie, exasperated. "Go eat some oats if you're hungry, why bother me!"

Lifting the blanket, Connie was surprised to see Jean sitting on his bed, staring in shock at someone behind him.

"Connie..." he whispered in a voice full of surprise. All the curses that had been ready to come out of his mouth at Kirshtein evaporated when he saw... Sasha.

"Seems like even titans won't wake you up," she said.

"I'm completely crazy..."

"Me too..."

"Hey, take it easy, guys," Sasha carefully took a step towards Connie, who still couldn't even move in surprise.

"We are here just for a short visit today," Sasha continued. "Look at this, this place is soo messed up, just like both of you without me. How did Levi even let this happen?"

"So it's true..." Jean was the first to regain the ability to speak. "That legend about the spirits... Sasha..."

Connie, tears streaming down his cheeks, jumped off the bed and hugged his friend tightly.

"Hi, potato girl..." he whispered. "We cooked something for you... Only without you it's not so delicious....."

"I know," Sasha replied. "When you come here, we'll cook together."

"When, Sasha?"

Falco and Gaby came running into the living room, both looking like they'd just seen a ghost.

"They're here!" Falco shouted. "We just saw them... All of them... Udo, Zofia..."

"It's... " Gabi looked at Sasha with tears. "You..."

"Oh my... So you... You're just a girl..." Sasha studied the girl who had taken her life intently. "You're not even fifteen, are you?"

"I...I..." Falco looked at her friend's face with surprise, her eyes filled with regret. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Now... Now I realized a lot... If I could go back in time, I would have knocked myself on the head, I was such an asshole..."

"I was angry with you at first," Sasha moved closer to the girl. "But just like you, I realized a lot of things. I came to your town, helped kill your friends. It was normal for you to be angry with all of us. There's no way of fixing the past. But I'm glad we both realized the same thing: we're all the same people who just happen to be on different sides of the Wall."

"It's a shame we realized that after Eren had committed genocide," Jean added, his head down.

"What's done can't be undone," Sasha said. "Just try to keep an eye on each other. And now let's talk about something more pleasant, Connie, we're here for a dinner, actually..."

***

"What's all this noise," Reiner muttered as he stepped out into the corridor. "Everyone has gone to bed, who is the fucking fan of late parties ...?

"Reiner..." the man froze on the spot when he saw... Berthold, Marcel and Galliard. Quite real and alive... What's going on?

"Wh... what's going on? How..." the man fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around his head. "It's... it's..."

"This was made possible after Titans' power disappeared," Berthold explained.

"Now we'll be coming to you on every Christmas Eve."

"So don't think you'll ever get away," Galliard added.

"Reiner," Marcel helped his comrade stand up. "Don't be a fool: try to let go of the past, you can't change it. Live for all of us. Start a family. Don't miss the chance you've been given."

"Otherwise, the next time we come back, we'll kick your ass," Berthold added. "The universe needs you for a reason. Also, keep an eye on Annie. No matter how much that punk loves her, she needs you, too."

"I... I promise..."

***

Mikasa was woken up by a flash of light outside. How strange... The last time she'd seen such a light she'd only seen it when the shifter transformed. Could it be... Walking over to the window, she desperately peered out into the darkness. So far, nothing was happening. Still, her heart screamed desperately: he was here. He was here, somewhere very close by. Mikasa jumped outside in just a sweatshirt and pants, not thinking about the very real threat of catching pneumonia.

"Did you...did you really hear me?"

A few meters away from the house, by the apple tree, she noticed a figure standing alone. The figure of a man she would recognize among a million others.

"Eren!!!" Her throat choked with sudden tears. He turned his head toward her. The same turquoise-sky eyes, in which the tear had flashed, were looking at her fondly.

"Mikasa..." came a whisper. Lifting her off the ground, he pulled her against him so tightly as if those arms could hide her inside his heart for eternity...

"Eren..." Eren's light-colored shirt was soaked with her tears, but he seemed to pay no attention to it, hiding his face in her dark hair, as if it gave him a sense of... comfort.

"Why aren't you wearing a jacket? It's cold in here," he said with a note of concern in his voice. Eren covered the girl, whose head rested on his chest, with his cloak.

"You heard me..." Ackerman whispered. "You heard me... Eren, I miss you..."

"I will always hear you," Eren replied, stroking her cheek gently. "I always see you, always follow you whenever you go. Mikasa, I'm sorry. I acted like a complete asshole with you, never daring to tell you the truth. To tell you that..."

"Eren, I never could tell you either," her voice was unusually quiet. "Then, when you asked me... Who you are to me. I told you that you were my family, but I never dared to tell you that...."

"I love you," Eren suddenly blurted out. "I've always loved you. I'm just realizing it now. You were always there for me, always willing to protect me with your life, and I never appreciated it. I'm a real idiot."

"I love you too..."

The tears made the kiss a little salty, but at the same time, so long-awaited and warming. Strong hands gently stroked her shoulders, which shuddered with sobs every now and then. They held each other until their lungs began to protest, demanding air.

"I will come to you. This night, every year," Eren whispered, rubbing his nose against the dark top of her head again. "And you promise to take care of yourself and try to be happy. You hear me?"

"I'll... I'll try," Mikasa replied.

"EREN??? EREN!" Armin and Annie were standing on the porch of the house. Seeing his best friend, he rushed forward.

"Armin," whispered Eren, hugging his best friend.

"How... How is it possible... Are you the one who did all of this magic?"

"We just saw Armin's parents," said an equally shocked Annie. "And his grandfather too... And now..."

"Hi, Annie," Eren said, turning his attention to his friend's companion.

"You... How did you do that?" asked the still shocked Armin.

"The souls of the dead always came to visit relatives at Christmas Eve. Only now, after the Power of the Titans is gone, you can see us. This connection only works today. Guys... Thanks for stopping me back then. I'm glad you did it. It was necessary. I'm happy to have had you in my life. Please take care of yourselves," Eren's figure began to slowly dissolve into the air, turning into silvery dust.

"See you later, Eren," Armin whispered his farewell.

***

"Hanji..." Levi whispered, looking at the face in front of him. She smiled back, to which Levi clutched her tightly to him.

"If it isn't my bro Levi!!!" Levi only had time to notice the redhead flash before he was swept off his feet and squeezed in a tight hug.

"Isabel," the man whispered in amazement. She was as perky and smiling as she had been that fateful day. Levi hugged his friend back. "Hello there, girl..."

"Look at that old grouch," Furlan hugged his friend just as tightly. "He hasn't grown an inch since the last time I saw him."

"It's chronic and untreatable," Hanji teased, helping Levi up. "And I don't mean his height, I mean his grumpiness."

"It didn't stop him from being one of my best soldiers," Erwin's voice came out, and he, like the others, put his arm around his friend. "Hello, Captain."

"Erwin... So... So, you're all here..." Levi said in surprise.

“We never abandoned you, Captain,” came the voice of Petra. Next to her Levi saw his entire squad. Ackerman was never known for his displays of emotion, but at this moment he didn't care at all that he might look like a snotty little boy. Now, just in front of him were all people he had once lost; everyone he would like to see again; everyone with whom he wanted to spend at least one more day... And if this became possible thanks to shitty Christmas... Then this will be the best holiday of his life…

“The life never spared you, did it?” Furlan said, looking at the scars. Levi just grinned in response.

“The job has some disadvantages,” Ackerman answered, but then another attack of pain pierced his leg. Levi managed to hold back a cry, but Zoë immediately noticed how his face had turned pale and grabbed him. Erwin grabbed him from the other side.

“You’re such a stubborn old goat,” she grumbled, helping him downstairs. “Why don’t you listen to doctors and follow recommendations? You were practically forbidden to walk, why aren’t you in a wheelchair?”

“Getting Levi to calm down his spirits is the same as trying to calm a mad monkey. Not only will it not work, but it will also tear off your fingers, right, Levi?” Moblit could not restrain himself.

The team walked into the living room, where the rest of the scouts and Eldians from Marley had already gathered. Well, brat...thank you. For such a chance...Levi thought, watching how the people most dear to him chatted among themselves, sitting at the festive table. Yes, this night will be only one and very soon they will all disappear, but even these short moments revived something what had long been lying somewhere deep inside, not showing any signs of life.

“Captain,” Gunther turned to him, “Before we go, I want to ask you one thing.”

“About what?”

“Annie. She did what she was forced to do, back then in the forest. Don't hold a grudge. It won't bring you anything good.”

“That doesn’t mean I can forget what she did to you,” Ackerman answered gloomily.

“Levi,” Erwin probably heard this part of the conversation. “He is right. You always have to move forward. You can't change what happened. But you must draw conclusions and leave the past in the past. Promise me that you will do this.”

The ringing of the city's huge clock interrupted the quiets chats. Erwin looked towards the window and closed his eyes for a second.

“Well, soldiers,” he said, getting up from his seat. “Our time has come.”

Why so fast?

Hanji, who was sitting next to Levi, smiled sadly. It's now or never, coward.

“Oi, four eyes,” Levi grabbed her hand, turning her towards him. “I... I really wish we could have stayed in that forest... Perhaps even with the little brats. Our brats. ”

Hanji's hand gently touched his face and Levi closed his eye, feeling a tear roll down his cheek.

“I would be a horrible mother...”

“Well, we somehow raised this bunch of brats,” Levi tried to joke. “I can’t make it without you. Everything sucks when you are not here. ”

“I’ll come to you again. We will all come to you,” she answered in a whisper.

“Then I will have a reason to somehow survive the remaining three hundred and sixty-four days...” Levi said. Taking a deep breath, he pulled her close to him. For some reason, it always seemed to him that these lips tasted like something bitter and sour, with the smell of laboratory samples. In reality, Hanji’s lips reminded him a tender ripe peach.

“By all the saints, it took him more than ten years to gather his courage!” Moblit exclaimed, watching the kiss. “I always knew there was some chemistry between these two!”

Erwin smiled mysteriously and put his hand to his heart.

“Farewell, Levi,” he said, disappearing into thin air with the last stroke of the clock.

“I’ll wait for you,” Levi whispered as Hanji’s face gradually turned to dust in his hand. The peach scent was still on his lips. Soon only a few teens with eyes full of tears stayed around him. The room was unusually quiet, but this time the silence did not press on chests like a huge boulder.

“Next year we’ll prepare more dishes,” said Ackerman, slowly rising to his side, clutching a pair of glasses in his hand. “And... Merry Christmas, brats.”

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