Author's Note: WOW! Yea its been a while! I've had the absolute worst writers block and simply haven't been able to shake it. But with Season 4 approaching this year, I finally got some inspiration back. You can consider this a soft reboot of Red String of Fate

A battlefield...somehow regardless of time of day, or weather, a battlefield always looked dark. As if it was caught under an endless gray cloud, the kind that signaled a dangerous storm was approaching.

Perhaps the darkness was reflected by the devastation below the clouds. The ground was absolutely stained red, it was difficult to tell what was dirt, and what was blood. Swords and blades stuck into the ground, rifles and small guns lay abandoned near the countless bodies.

There were so many of them...it would be impossible to count them all. But they weren't just bodies of soldiers that littered the earth. It was bodies of women, children...mere civilians.

Many crows and flies have flown down to begin the long process of cleaning up the mess, though it would take years for the earth's natural abilities to swallow up the many, many skeletons.

One crow swooped down and landed on the body of a solider. It pecked at the flesh on the man's face, ripping small chunks off and swallowing them.

There were no more buildings either in what was once an impressive and advanced country. Everything had been flattened, as if God himself rained mountains upon the land to crush it down.

As a matter of fact, there was a very large being sitting off to the side. Easily over one thousand meters, nonstop smoke and steam coming off of it. It appeared to be a large skeleton, though it was unclear what animal or being it came from.

Amazingly, a single figure stood in the middle of the graveyard. He was covered in blood, though he wielded no weapon. Titan steam continued misting off of him, it was incredible he was still able to stand.

His vision was blurry and his hearing was muffled, as he saw more life approaching him. Dismounting their horses, three figures ran up to him frantically.

"EREN!" Mikasa dropped to her knees at his side, and it made him realize he actually collapsed down onto his own knees without even knowing it. Armin stood nearby, his face white with shock, while Levi seemed to be surveying the gruesome mess they were in the middle of.

Mikasa reached out to touch Eren's shoulder but instantly winced her hand back with a small gasp of pain, her hand lightly burned.

"He's still giving off titan steam..", Armin noticed, kneeling down beside Mikasa. Mikasa rubbed her burnt hand, starring at Eren with eyes full of anxiety.

"Wait...", Armin paused, he noticed Eren's titan marks were slowly vanishing with the steam. Normally they'd remain for hours after he transformed back...but they were already disappearing. He glanced over at the large skeleton carcass of the founding titan, which hadn't even come close to disintegrating. It was dead but...it wasn't really falling apart like all other titans did.

Levi walked around the nearby carnage,he glanced down seeing the body of a woman, holding her small baby tight to her chest, both of them long dead. Their flesh had been picked at quite a substantial amount by crows. The sight made Levi's stomach heave but he didn't throw up, instead giving a hard glared over at Eren.

Without warning, he cocked his gun he had been keeping on his uniform. Mikasa looked up, alarmed as Armin tensed.

Levi walked over behind Eren, who was still knelt down low on the ground. "Eren...are you proud of yourself?", he growled.

"Every single living being from Marley is dead now. Have you accomplished your mission? Will this save Paradis and ensure our survival? Or have you got more blood to spill?", he questioned.

Eren was silent for the longest moment,the only sound being the titan steam still coming off of him. "Please Captain...just...shoot me...", Eren's voice came out hoarse and numb. Mikasa's heart sunk and she stood up.

Levi suddenly aimed his gun at Eren, his finger on the trigger.

"NO!", Mikasa got in between them and grabbed the barrel of Levi's pistol. Levi struggled with her,both of them grunting and pushing each other.

"Mikasa..!", Armin froze in terror,watching the gun nervously.

"That's ENOUGH, Mikasa!", Levi managed to push Mikasa to the ground, keeping the gun firmly gripped.

"You knew this was going to be the end result! Eren Jaeger is nothing but a monster! Look around you! He killed innocent people, he created god damn genocide! Besides...he's going to die soon anyway..", Levi glared back down at Eren.

"All those soldiers died to ensure Eren's safety...because we believed he would be the one to pull us out of this mess..we lost so many comrades...all to keep this murderer alive...", Levi cringed, getting quick flashbacks of Petra, Erwin, and so many others.

Armin stood up, shaking. "Its true...we lost a lot of lives to ensure Eren's survival. And its truly...the biggest betrayal he repays that...with this", he looked all around at the dead bodies.

"But...he also did what he vowed he would do..", he added. Levi starred at Armin, while Mikasa also listened. "He vowed to destroy all the remaining titans...and he did. The only ones remaining are a few pure titan stragglers, they're being finished off by Hanji's group as we speak...he harnessed almost all of the nine titans, leaving out mine, Falco's and Annie's...", Armin looked down.

"He vowed...to bring down those walls. And he did...he released the Wall Titans, and once they crushed Marley, he disposed of them...", Armin looked beyond the large carcass of the Founding Titan, there were many other large titan carcasses decomposing much faster behind it.

"He vowed...to free humanity..", he went on. Levi frowned.

"Does this look like freedom to you Armin?!", he asked, his voice raising. "No. It doesn't. Eren couldn't free both sides of humanity, he had to make a choice. He chose to free the people he cared about. His own people. He chose to free us...", Armin answered.

"And he expects us to live with that?! All these people died...because he wanted to protect us?",Levi asked.

Eren opened his eyes, before turning back to look at Levi. His eyes were lifeless, like somehow by killing all of these people, it caused his very soul to die inside.

"You're right...", he spoke hoarsely. "All those people died...because of me..and I could never expect any of you to live with that..."

"It was my choice...but it goes beyond all of you...I chose our side in order to free Ymir Fritz...she was imprisoned for 2000 years...and the only way to free her, was to choose the side of the Eldians. By freeing her, she gave me the power of the Founding Titan...I used it and the Wall Titans to put a stop to this war...to end Marley. If I would have left a single Marley child alive, this war would have came back in the future...we would be leaving a new war to the next generation...", Eren paused before continuing.

"But still...to think it would amount to this...the sickest part...is my reward from Ymir Fritz...", he shook his head, visibly trembling. "Your reward?", Levi frowned.

"Before she moved on...she lifted the curse of Ymir...", Eren revealed. Everyone went silent, Mikasa's eyes widened while Armin quickly glanced down at his hand.

"Stand back!", he warned the others, as he stepped back several feet from them to be safe, and bit down on his hand. There was a brief moment of tension, expecting him to transform into the colossal titan...but nothing happened.

Armin froze, letting out a breath. "You didn't transform...", Mikasa was the first to speak, she was a mix of shocked and relieved.

"Annie won't transform anymore either...neither will Falco...Ymir took the powers with her, she cut their ties to this world, and lifted the curse...even after everything I did to these people...she is giving me the ability to live out a full life like a normal human...", Eren cringed.

"More the reason to kill you...", Levi stated. Mikasa froze, glaring at him, ready to defend Eren. She knew...she knew it was wrong what Eren did. It was genocide,something he could never atone for. But...she also knew, he was put in a situation where he was given no choice.

She glared, standing up. "Mikasa..?",Armin watched as Mikasa knelt down in front of Eren..and embraced him. In a protecting like hug, her head shielding Eren's from Levi's aim.

"Eren can never atone for his sins...I know he can't. He's taken too much life...he killed innocent children who didn't get a chance to even choose if they'd stay on their parents side, or join the Eldians like Gabi and Falco have...but in the end...what choice was he given?! Eren was given the burden of this mission long before he was ever born...it was set in stone...", Mikasa gripped Eren tightly as she spoke.

"Eren said it himself, he acquired memories of his father, and the previous owner of the Attack Titan had memories of myself and Armin, long before we ever existed...Eren didn't choose his fate...it was the only way humanity could be saved...", Mikasa tried to reason.

Levi frowned down at her, not putting his gun away. "Do you truly believe he had no other options than this?", he asked.

Mikasa looked down, glancing at Eren. The pain in his eyes...his regret was no lie. "I do sir...Eren did what he had to do..it was the only way any form of humanity could survive...", she answered.

"Mikasa...stop it...please...just let him kill me...I can't...live with myself after this...", Eren pleaded weakly.

Mikasa felt tears well up in her eyes as she squeezed him tight. "I won't..! Eren...I can't lose you...!", she whimpered. She had lost so much already, she couldn't bear it happening again. Her parents, Carla, Grisha, Sasha...too many people close to her have died and she couldn't do a thing to prevent it.

There was a long pause as it started to rain down on them, the air turning colder and all of the soldiers were drenched within seconds.

"I should have known the moment Eren lost his shit, that I'd have to kill both of you to end this...it can't be helped. You're an Ackerman like me...its in your genes to protect the person your imprint on...", Levi spoke coldly.

"It's not that..!", Mikasa glared up tearfully at Levi. "I've been hearing about it nonstop ever since I met Kiyomi...and I'm sick of it! I don't care about my Ackerman genetics..they have nothing to do with this! Eren...Eren's always been important to me...I've always loved him...!", she cried.

Eren's eyes widened, slightly snapping out of his numb trance...the way Mikasa said it, it was clear she wasn't talking about him as just family like she had once said before.

"Eren and I promised each other...we would have a future together after all of this was over...we never spoke about it...but it was a silent promise we both knew we kept...", she continued.

"Eren...do you remember?", Mikasa asked him, still holding him. "You promised me...you'd always and forever wrap my scarf..."

Eren felt tears well up in his eyes, the foggy memory returning to him. He finally lifted his arms weakly and returned Mikasa's embrace, choking back a small sob.

Levi starred down at them both, still not lowering his gun. "Captain..", Armin slowly approached. "What is it Armin?", Levi asked impatiently.

"Putting everything else aside...if Ymir Fritz gave Eren his lifespan back...our lifespans back..don't you think that means he's meant to live? Ymir Fritz...she ascended to the sky with the nine titans...doesn't that make her a power above us...?", Armin began to reason.

"What? So you're saying Ymir Fritz is God and she'll smite me if I shoot him?", Levi asked, sounding almost sarcastic.

"No...but I think...if you kill Eren...it could start a bad chain of events. Everything happened as it should be...its been a 2000 year prophecy...if Ymir Fritz wants Eren to live...or perhaps any power greater than her...wouldn't it be wise to just...let things go?", Armin pointed out.

Levi hesitated, not saying anything."Its over Levi...the titans are gone, and the war is over...Eldians can finally live out peace, work on repopulating the earth...there's no need to kill anymore...", Armin added.

"We can't deny the lives it costed...but its with every end of a war...lives are lost. Its tragic...and its unbearable...and its nearly impossible to move passed..but when you get down to it...Marley was our enemy. They would have never stopped the war...humanity would never recover if we continued our war with them...", Armin pointed out.

"But who's to say we were on the right side, Armin?" Levi questioned. Armin paused.

"Would humanity have recovered just the same if we were wiped out by the Marleys instead?", Levi asked. Armin looked down, swallowing hard.

"I can't say, sir...", he admitted. Levi frowned, looking down at Eren and Mikasa.

Mikasa kept her protective hold on Eren, tears in her eyes. She was holding him so tightly, Eren could feel and hear her heart beating fast...or was it his own heart? He couldn't say...he knew that he was far too weak from that transformation to move.

Levi glared, keeping his gun aimed at them, putting his finger on the trigger. Mikasa flinched and shielded Eren, shutting her eyes tight. "Captain..!", Armin cried, and there was a loud BANG.

Mikasa trembled, squeezing Eren tight...but she didn't feel any pain. She opened her eyes, Eren was unharmed. They let go of each other and both looked up at Levi, who was aiming his signal gun in the air, green smoke reaching the sky from it. His pistol was dropped to the ground, unused.

There was a moment where the three took a breath...the green smoke signal meant "Mission successful" but Levi didn't shoot Eren.

"It would be a waste to kill you...you deserve to live with the guilt of what you did...", Levi glared down at Eren, before walking away, getting back on his horse.

Mikasa held onto Eren, as Armin knelt down beside them. The rain seemed to settle, as the clouds parted and sunlight finally blanketed the battlefield. Eren's titan marks had fully vanished, and steam stopped misting off of him.

Without a word, Armin and Mikasa helped Eren to his feet and they got on their horses. Eren wrapped his arms weakly around Mikasa's waist on her horse as they started to ride. They kept far behind Levi to relieve the remaining tension, and the three friends returned to Paradis, riding into an unknown future.

Author's Note: The Eremika Fluff will commence starting Chapter 2! I wanted this to have a bit of a foundation for chapter one, to show my take on HOW a happy ending could be achieved. It is important to suspend disbelief a tiny bit for this since the point of it is a happy slice of life epilogue for our favorite ship, and the manga isn't even over yet so I can't be totally perfect consistent wise for elements of the ending. Thanks for reading!