Miracle

Beneath the descending sun, agonized screams and yell rang out all across the battlefield. The Survey Corps were engaged in a bloody battle, doing everything they could to rescue Eren. Commander Erwin's unflinching determination despite having his hand bitten off had galvanized the troops morale to an unprecedented level.

A certain worried figure however, had no need of that. Even if she was alone, Mikasa would have had no hesitation charging alone into the fray to rescue Eren. There was nothing she wouldn't do for him.

The girl killed another titan unlucky enough to stand in her path, and flew towards the Armored Titan as quickly as she could. The hordes of titan clinging onto Reiner had immobilized him, and he could no longer afford to use both his hands to cover Bertholdt and Eren.

Mikasa saw the opening, and was intent on taking full advantage of it.

Bertholdt panicked upon spotting her approach. "R-Reiner! Protect u-"

"MHM!" Eren, however, saw his chance. He struggled violently, as much as he could. Maintaining the center of gravity was important for operating the ODM gear, and any disruption to it would make it difficult to execute a smooth movement.

Berholdt let out a yell as he found himself swerving just slightly off course, away from the safety of Reiner's hands.

"EREN!"

That moment of delay would prove fatal. As it brought enough time for an angry Mikasa to send her blades slicing right across Berholdt's chest, who only barely escaped a fatal deep cut, managing to pull himself back slightly at the last moment.

Mikasa caught the freefalling Eren just before he hit the ground. The warmth of his skin against hers, that familiar feeling of holding him - Eren was still here. She gripped him tightly with her free hand, barely managing to only hold her tears back as she landed on a horse.

She quickly cut loose the ties and gag that bound him. "Are you alright? Eren!"

"Yeah." the boy spoke. "It's my fault again … so many people died - All because I got captured."

Mikasa pulled at the reins of the horse, causing it to break into a gallop. She then fired a blue flare, signaling the survey corps to retreat now that Eren had been recovered.

"It's not your fault. It's mine. If it wasn't for you trying to save me back then … you wouldn't have been captured." she spoke softly.

They kept the silence between them for a moment, before a familiar voice broke it.

"Mikasa! Eren! Watch out!"

The yells of Armin, who was a short distance from them, came too late. The Armored Titan was hurling titans, not willing to give up on it's prey in spite of his own precarious situation.

BOOM!!!

A titan crashed right beside the horse, sending both Eren and Mikasa flying in the air from the impact.

=====

Eren was lying on his back, and flares and screams and thumping noises were all around him. To his horror, he found a pale-looking Mikasa leaning against the trunk of a tree, barely able to move.

"Mikasa!"

"I-I'm f-fine."

The girl was clearly injured, even speaking was difficult for her.

Just as he was about to help her up, the ground beneath started shaking.

THUMP

He lifted his head to see a dreaded, ugly face staring at his direction.

It was the Smiling Titan.

There was no way Eren would ever forget that image. Memories of that fateful day began to flash across his mind, filling him with rage.

With no hesitation, he distanced himself from Mikasa and bit down once his hand at once, intent on tearing that foe of his into pieces.

But the familiar surge of strength that would usually well up on inside him never came, there was no transformation; and he found himself still standing there.

"H-how? This can't be!" Eren bit down even harder.

But nothing happened.

THUMP THUMP

"No! Please … I have … I have to become a titan! If not, this is all for nothing!"

Eren bit down even more viciously on his hand, sinking his teeth deep in and ignoring the pain. Blood splattered across his face and shirt, but no matter how much he tried, how much pain he endured, there was no change.

THUMP THUMP THUMP

"I … can't. I still can't do anything at all." Eren crumpled, slamming his fists on the ground. It was the same thing again. It had been five years since Shiganshina fell, nothing had changed.

Nothing.

He was still that weak boy, still helpless, still powerless.

"Eren."

Mikasa's gentle voice snapped him from his thoughts. The tone was exceptionally soft, unlike the one she would normally use.

He pulled himself up and met her gaze. She was calm, and her eyes bright.

"That's not true." The girl spoke, her body drawing closer to his.

He wanted to refute her, he always was able to. But yet, he couldn't. He couldn't understand why she was still looking at him in such a way. She was about to die - all because of him. Mikasa always got into trouble for his sake. Why couldn't she see that? How he wished she would just yell at him, to just blame him. He'd treated her so badly when they were children, and she had every right in the world to hate him for it. Eren had tried to treat her better since then, but still felt guilty about what happened in the past.

Yet, Mikasa had always been by his side, caring for him.

"Eren. Listen. There's something I want to tell you."

He heard her voice clearly. Amidst the havoc and destruction all around them, Mikasa's every word wasn't lost on him.

"Thank you, for always being together with me."

He saw her eyes filled with tears, but they weren't one out of pain, or rage, or grief, or resentment.

"Thank you, for teaching me how to live."

Her face inched even closer to his.

"Thank you … for wrapping this scarf on me."

A bright smile lit up Mikasa's beautiful face, as she held up the scarf in her hand.

It was only then that Eren realised - How much he mattered to her. He had his suspicions that the girl might have taken a liking to him, but wrote it off as mere fantasies of his and imaginations. He had tried to ignore it, to keep it hidden under his goal of wiping out all the titans. But now he could no longer hide it.

Yes. He was certain now, that Mikasa had feelings for him, and that he had feelings for her too.

If he made it out alive, he would no longer hide from his feelings anymore. He would find a place, a time, to give her an answer, a commitment, a promise..

"That scarf … I'll wrap it around you." He stood. "I'll wrap that scarf around you as many times as I need to."

Eren turned to face the giant titan that loomed right in front of him. "Again and again, Forever. I'll keep doing that for you."

He would kill this titan. All he could think of now was to protect Mikasa, and send this bastard to hell. With an anguished yell, he slammed a punch right into the titan's hand.

[Unlock conditions satisfied]

[Limited Coordinate powers unlocked for a fixed period]

The strange voice from the system, one that he had not heard from in a long time, began to ring in his head. While he struggled to comprehend the meaning behind what he just heard, a titan leapt over him, sinking its teeth into the Smiling Titan.

Understanding could wait. Eren recognized the opportunity. He immediately turned his back to Mikasa, signalling for her to get on his back.

"Let's get out of here. Quick!"

In a moment, he felt her body pressed against his back, and her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Eren gently held her legs that were around his waist, careful to make sure it didn't cause her pain; and left the scene piggybacking her. Inwardly, he left out a sigh of relief - Mikasa would be safe, he would do all he could to protect her.

He had spotted a group of green cloaks in the distance, and ran there as quickly as he could. But a series of loud footsteps sounded behind him, and he turned to see the ugly face of the Armored Titan.

It was that deranged mass-murderer, Reiner Braun.

Anger rushed out of him like water from a tap. That disgusting genocidal maniac wasn't satisfied with killing all those in Wall Maria, and wanted to get Mikasa too. He wasn't going to let that traitor harm her, only over his dead body.

"Stay back!" Eren clenched his fist and yelled. "You bastards. I'll kill you all!"

He wasn't expecting anything. It was supposed to be a futile attempt, a last act of defiance in the face of death. But at that moment he felt a pulse surge through his body, and the horde of titans that were eating up the Smiling Titan's corpse turned to the Armored Titan, running and swarming him.

"Eren! Mikasa!" Armin's voice called out to them amidst the chaos. "Thank goodness, you're both safe. Let's get out of here now!" He signalled for them to get on a spare horse beside him.

With Armin's help, they were able to get Mikasa on, and soon Eren had his hands on the reins. He could feel Mikasa's face pressed against his back, and her hands grasping his waist tightly. Eren gave his horse a small kick and leaned forward, causing it to gallop with Armin close beside him.

"Those titans … they're ignoring all of us and going straight for the Armored Titan. Did you do something?" Armin asked.

"I think so ... but I had no idea how it happened."

Eren was fairly certain it was due to that strange Coordinate power that the voice talked about. He remembered the system voice speaking something about it, right before the titans started taking such strange actions. At his periphery, he saw a towering titan covered in fur. "What in the world is that … ape?"

"It's most likely a titan shifter like Reiner. It appeared to our left flank with a horde of titans. Commander Erwin had designated that as the Beast Titan and sent Miche and Hange's squad to take it down." Armin gave it a glance, relief in his voice. "But they should be able to escape now - thanks to you. Every titan in the area is heading for Reiner. Given the Beast Titan's size, there's no way it can catch up to us with it's clumsy speed and movement. He probably would have to concentrate on saving his allies who are surrounded for the time being. "

He nodded, focusing on getting away from the battlefield as quick as they could, to bring Mikasa somewhere safe.

…

Meanwhile, a distance away. Beside Christa, a certain girl was retreating alongside the Survey Corps and looking on at the scene in astonishment.

"I see now … no wonder they wanted to get Eren that badly." she mumbled softly to herself and looked on at her friend riding next to her. "In this case, the walls still have a future - for me and her."

"Did you say something, Ymir?" The blonde-haired girl asked.

She shook her head.

"It's nothing."

(1.8k words+)