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[dreamsofwings]

some possible plot ideas here.

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[dreamsofwings]

[ Eren might not have all the answers himself, in the end. If asked whether he chose to stay, he'd say the same shit he always does about freedom and inevitability, contradicting himself in the same two breaths.

Maybe it really is just hell, the price he paid for the death of the world.

He would pay it again. The terrible truth has always been that he will take this over the other option, the death of everything he actually cared about. Eren weighed his love and rage against the world and the world didn't stand a chance. ]

I don't expect you to forgive me.

[ He never has. He's aware that the things he's done are unforgivable. Those people didn't want to die. Most of them didn't deserve to die.

He frowns a little.

He had never set out to save the world, or really save the island. It was about a few people, their worth to him more than anything imaginable. He didn't mean to leave them something hopeless. What had he meant to do? Well, his ability to plan ahead has never actually been all that good. Knowing the ending didn't change that too much (and clearly there was plenty he didn't know). ]

We did not. It had nothing to do with you.

[ He doesn't want Armin to share any responsibility for the horrible things he's done. But he already knows; he's heard this before.

He reaches out with both hands, one on each of his friend's cheeks, and tilts Armin's face up. Finally, after a million years where he wouldn't look anyone in the face and mean it, he meets Armin's eyes here. Finally, he is just Eren. No titan marks on his face, no distant look, no lies. They are just them, even in this strange never-ending nightmare. ]

You didn't do anything to blame yourself for. Let that go.