It Started With Cadet Training (Reader/Levi/Erwin/Hange/Mike)

To Save the World

"I don't want to shift again. It hurts, I didn't want to. I didn't want to hurt anyone," Reiner sobs, dissolving into rambles.

You lay there quietly, holding him gently and whispering reassurances that he wouldn't be forced to do anything he didn't want to.

"You have to help them," Annie's voice cuts through the quiet moment. Turning your head, you see the blonde girl standing next to the couch. Her typically stoic expression warped into terror, with tear tracks down her face.

"Help who?" Mike asks as he picks her up to join the tangle of bodies on the couch.

"Pieck, and Zeke, and Porco. They have them in Shinishaga," she explains, resting her head on Mike's chest as she stares at the fabric of the couch.

"Does this 'Marley' person have them?" you whisper, still holding Reiner in your arms. He's calmed down more than he had before, yet he was still shaking, holding onto you for dear life.

"Marley's our home. They're bad people," Annie says, continuing to stare off into space.

"We'll save them. I promise," you reassure her, leaning forwards and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

It had been a few days since Reiner and Annie had come to see the three of you late at night. The morning after, you'd filled in Levi and Hange on what was happening. They'd been shocked, nearly worse than you'd been the day before. But they'd both understood the severity of the issue. The need to reclaim Maria as soon as possible.

Since then, you'd been learning everything you could about Marley and the outside world from them. Each time they'd stress the importance of their friends being saved, and how they're sorry for being titan shifters. You told them you loved them every time. Sure, it was horrifying finding out that three of your kids were the reason for the death of so many people, but it was also horrifying to find out how they'd been trained to be soldiers since birth. They had no choice in this life. They were kids. That was reason enough to forgive them.

During this, they'd brought Eren, Historia, and Ymir with them. It had stunned you when Eren admitted to having titan shifting abilities, and that Ymir had unknowingly eaten Marcel. But the most surprising had been Historia.

"You're the next in line for the throne?" you repeat, sitting next to Historia as she nods her head.

"I thought the royals were all killed when the church collapsed," Erwin recalls, standing next to the couch and holding Eren in his arms.

"I wasn't there. My dad tried to come to take me home, but bad people stopped him," Historia explained, the most eloquent with her words. She'd been taught young how to speak with grace, according to her.

"And you're sure?" you press, instinctively double-checking to make sure she knew what she was saying.

She nods her head confidently, Ymir holding her hand tightly.

"If Ymir hadn't been there to save me -"

"Then we wouldn't be here," Ymir finishes for her.

"You three are so very brave, just as Reiner, Annie, and Bertolt are. Thank you for telling us," you say, pulling them in for a reassuring hug. This was a lot to take in, your whole worldview cracking before your eyes.

"And they'll believe the word of children?" you asked Erwin as he paced his office nervously.

"It's this or break the law to reclaim the wall," he repeats, running through his plan in his head again.

In an hour, the military police - lead by Nile - would come to take Erwin to the King. In an hour, you may kiss your partner for the last time. In an hour, maybe overthrown. A coup wasn't your favourite plan, but it was the most likely for success. You needed the full approval of the government to reach wall Maria, and to do that, Erwin needed to explain to the King why. He needed to tell him about Marley and everything else. He needed to be believed.