Eren and Mikasa stood bolt upright at the stern of the ferry. They were rooted to the spot, not sure what to feel, trying to process the rapidly unfolding events going on in front of them. Eren gripped the bannister until his knuckles went white with the tension, while Mikasa just held on to keep her balance.

They stared at what they had left behind, watching the smoke and dust rise from the ruins of the city that had been there before, swirling around the Titans; making them appear ghostly and even more monstrous, than normal. The Titans swarmed through the streets and all the while all they could do was watch.

"Eren… do you think Mum's going to be okay?" Mikasa whispered. "That Blonde guy went crazy when the gate exploded!"

Eren was silent. He couldn't move, let alone turn his head, to respond to his adoptive sister. All he could focus on was the ruined city, focusing intently on the destruction and the magic, caused by Ed no doubt. As Eren looked on, there was an awesome explosion, filled with dust, smoke and blue lightning. The tell tale signs of the Blonde Stranger, Ed. Staring intently, Eren saw at the apex of the explosion cloud, a man sail out of the top. He was long and rigid, with the faintest tip of yellow at one end, he was flying in a perfect arc straight to the top of Wall Maria. It was all too much for Eren to handle, he collapsed to his knees, his head hitting the banister.

Eren's hands flew to cover his face, partly to stop the bleeding, but mostly to hide the tears. Eren was sobbing, gasping for air, all he could think about was the one thing he didn't want to be true: If this "Ed" was fighting like a wild man, alone, then mum was dead. There could be no other explanation for it, either Ed lied and she died after they got on the ferry, or Ed saved her in time to get killed by the Titans again. Either way, the two of them had gone through all of that suffering and all of that hope, for no real reason.

Eren had no idea how long he was silent for, though when he finally spoke, it was barely more than a whisper. "If that blonde man isn't with her now, I don't think she made it, I think… I think…" Eren couldn't find it in himself to finish that thought before he started howling, the tears came hot and wet down his cheeks, he screamed like a cornered wild animal. Howling curse upon curse, at the Beasts that killed his mother, letting out all his grief and rage in a string near nonsensical roaring. FInally, when his throat was too sore to yell and scream, he turned to Mikasa. "I will kill them! All of them! The Titans will pay for what they have done to our family!"

The trip out of Wall Maria seemed never ending, Eren just shut down not noticing Mikasa's attempts to comfort or stimulate him, even as the shadow of Wall Rose began to darken the skies over the ferry; Eren sat there motionless. Mikasa stood next to him, absorbing all the details of the battle, still raging near the gate of Wall Maria and Shiganshina. She watched in awe, as Titans poured in the streets, destroying all that lay before them. Occasionally a Garrison troop would cut one down, though the numbers killed before that would happen, chilled her to the bone. In the end, Mikasa watched the battle until it faded into nothing but moving dots, flailing on the Horizon. The only thing that gave her hope of victory, before the might of Wall Rose blocked her view, was a large bolt of blue lightning and gigantic fireball. There was only one thing that could cause such magic. Mikasa closed her eyes and prayed that would drive the monsters into the darkness, from which they crawled out of.

Eren slowly revived himself, as the buildings and people of Wall Rose slowly came into view, standing up on the deck he took stock of his situation. Mikasa was next to him, staring unblinkingly at the chaos that was fading slowly from view, back in Wall Maria where Titans now roamed free. He reached out slowly and placed a hand on her shoulder, following her gaze all he could see were dust clouds, as the chaos from the fighting blew up more rubble. Making it impossible to see in any detail, what was really happening.

"Are-are you… o-ok-okay?" He asked meekly. "Come on. We're nearly at the docks, stop looking at that… I can't bear that look on your face."

Staring at Mikasa, her face was streaked with tears, despite her neutral expression. Eren shook her, bringing her out of her transfixed and hypnotised state, he proceeded to pull her away from the bow of the Ferry and towards the gangplank.

"C'mon Mikasa, let's see if we can find someone who can help us find this address? Maybe the Ferry captain?" Eren said, his voice hollow, not really sure if he wanted to step off the Ferry at all. Mikasa only grunted in response, allowing Eren to pull her towards the Ferry's central cabin. As they reached the cabin, Eren found that they were not the only ones trying to find help, as all sorts of people crowded around the door begging for any kind of help. The captain of the Ferry was a terrifying man, taller than anyone Eren had ever met. If it wasn't for the fact that he talked, wore clothes and moved with a purpose, he could have been mistaken for a Titan.

Eren and Mikasa forced their way to the front of the crowd, while the Giant man tried to manage the crowds, to clear space for the Ferry's crewmen. Pushing through the throngs of people was made all the more difficult, as people tried to force their way to the front of the crowd, in order to be the first ones to speak to the Captain. The Captain struggled to control the crowds, eventually resorting to shoving and shouting, to control the desperate refugees.

"Get back you lot! I can only help one group at a time! Get back, or I'll knock your block off!" He roared, as he forced people out of his cabin. "Groups with Mothers and Children first! Form up! Mothers with Children first!"

Slowly but surely, order was restored to the chaos on the deck, with Eren and Mikasa being actively pushed to the front of the forming queue. It didn't take long after, for the pair to be face-to-knee, with the Mountain Man. He was even more terrifying up close, Eren struggled to speak, instead meekly handing over the piece of paper with the Blonde Man's address on it.

"What my brother is asking, is 'can you help us find this address'?" Mikasa asked, her confidence returning to her voice.

The man took the paper. "I can certainly try… Whereabouts are you hoping to go? A relative's house?" He squinted at the paper, his face twisting into disgust. "You're going to his house? I'd rather live on the street!" Eren and Mikasa looked up at him pleading. "Oh all right! If you have nowhere else, I guess it's better than nothing. Listen close, I'll only say this once!" He gave the directions slowly and clearly, so the children understood, before pushing them towards the gangway and sending them on their way.

Eren and Mikasa held hands as they disembarked from the Ferry, as they reached the end of the gangplank, Mikasa took off at a run. Her sudden movement caught Eren by surprise, causing him to trip over his own feet as he struggled to keep up, he was about to ask why she took off at a sprint. That's when he saw it too, a short boy with a mess of blonde hair, running towards them.

"Armin! You're alive! Thank God!"

...

Thank God for COVID-19 or I would have forgotten all about this little project... I hope it was worth the wait.