You closed your eyes feeling his fingers brushing your face as he took the bandages off your face.

"They did said it's all healed..", he muttered as he concentrated on the bandages off your chin. You slowly fluttered open your eyes, wavering over his face. His concentrated grey eyes, his lips which he licked occasionally, his eyelashes blinking once, twice- then his eyes looked directly into yours, eyes flushing in and out of surprise, then it's just concern written all over it.

"Does it hurt?" He asked softly, eyes searching through yours. You could feel yourself shaking your head.

"Then.. why are you crying?" His soft whipers echoed around your mind, for it to register a little late. And before you could even perceive your own body, his hands are cupping your face. His thumbs stroking to wipe off the tears. This is when you realised the liquid flushing down your cheeks. The tears briming down your eyes.

You took in a shaky breath, placed your hands over his, just to remove them. Just to wrap your arms around his torso, to dig your face into the folds of his shirt. Just for him to wrap his arm around your body to keep you close to him. He glided his hands up and down your back in reassurance. You loved this about him. He didn't asked right away what's wrong. He never asked right away what was wrong. But always, always reassured you.

"I'm exhausted." You whispered into his chest, tightening your grip around him. And it felt so cruel to say it to him, to say it out loud. Because it's not only you who's exhausted. Everyone was. He was.

You've seen it. You have seen it with your own eyes now. There's a world out there. There's people out there. Real people, civilians, who have nothing to do with battles. Who have nothing to do with war.

But a war was inevitable.

War is inevitable.

He pulled you apart gently, just to wipe the tears off your cheeks, just to rest his forehead on yours. His hands, his thumbs stroking around your cheeks.
His thumbs gently going around the area, he just removed the bandages off.
Your eyes are closed, so does his. And all you could feel is his thumb stroking around in a certain way, in a curvy gesture around your cheeks.

"You always wonder about those celestial bodies don't you?" He whispered softly, his forehead still resting onto yours, his eyes still closed.

"How they might look like?" He continued, stroking his thumb in the same curvy pattern. You slightly nodded.

"Well, I know." He mumbled moving back just a little to look into your eyes.
"I know how they look.." He trailed off his eyes, wavering over your left chin. ".. they look beautiful." You blinked in surprise and in confusion.

"I would know, I would definitely know." He whispered softly, eyes stuck softly at the side of your face, thumbs still gliding the same motion.

"I absolutely know because I'm looking at it right now." He mumbled against your face, you could not feel your own body. "A moon." He looked into your eyes, "I have got myself a personal moon." He brushed his nose into yours. And then you realized what he has been saying. Then you realized what motion he's been gliding through this thumb. And your body thawed from inside. Breaking and breaking into small pieces.

A crescent moon. Your new wound. At the base of your left chin. The wound he's been referring to. The wound he's been calling a moon.

_________________________________________

Out of all the things you imagined, being in handcuffs the first thing after you meet your people was never in the list of assumption.

But this is what it is right? Surprise!

But there's more.

They injected you with something. Something which is now making you feel like you're floating. You're dizzy.

You wiggled your wrists trying to do something, say something. "Cut me some slack I just got back." You mumbled looking down at your cuffed wrists.

"Can you just shut up for a minute?" The tall brunette mumbled back uninterested. And with the speed you turned your head to him, you were sure you would have break your neck if you replay the same action. This action causing to rest your head on the wall behind. You took a little time to stop the dizziness to some extent.

"Who do you think you're talking to?!" You questioned, already fed up with everything. You haven't seen this person before, which would mean he joined the scouts the year you left Paradise.

Willy Tybur's voice was echoing all over the place as he went on with his speech and narration of the play. You were standing on the secluded part of the street with a group of stranger who was supposed to be your team but now got you all drugged up. Only if you were been more careful. Only if you didn't just blindly trusted them.

Liberio Internment Zone, was where you were. The place where all the prominent people, military masterminds, civilians were gathered around to hear Willy Tybur.

Liberio was a Marleyan city that contained an internment zone , a designated area of land for Eldians on the mainland to live in. It was the hometown of many of the Warriors as well as Grisha Yeager.

The whole backbone of Marley military is here with powerful families and ambassadors participating. This whole thing is a big deal. A real big deal. And what infuriated you was you were just here restrained and toxicated for who knows what. And you have no idea where Eren was.
Not only Eren but everyone except this uptight dude who refused to say anything.

You were standing, more like leaning against a wall, near the abandoned compounds of the side streets. Your head throbbing, with a slightest bit of physical pain because of the bruise you managed to carve into your head and arms because of this brunette and his mates trying to restrain you. You were pissed. Of course. But what is making you more angry is none of these five people are uttering a word.

You didn't wanted to do something, anything extraordinary. It would only gather attention, something you could not afford at the particular time. There's a lot of military in here, a lot of important people, and one mistake from your side might end up very bad.
But the thought to just rip off the gun off the boy's waistband was alluring to you right now. You swallowed, closing your eyes to the blurry figures floating around your eyes, listening to Tybur's words on the background. This might not end well but you have to try-

"Make sure no casualties." A voice ringed through your mind in the dizziness.

This voice. You know it. You recognize it.
You know him.

You forced open your eyes, getting hit by a wave of dizziness, nausea, physical pain all at once. You shook your head, wanting to remain in control, wanting to hear him, wanting to see him.

And the second you lifted your head, your eyes met his, bile shot up to your throat. You wanted to throw up. The looks in his eyes made you want to dissappear. You have never seen him like this. No emotion. You froze in place.

His acron shade eyes locked into yours, his jaw tightened. His hair a little longer than the last time you remember. He looked the same. Yet different. The muscle in his jaw twitched at the same time a sudden rush of dizziness hit your mind again. You shut your eyes close so tight, it hurts but it didn't do anything to wash off his face, his familiar yet unfamiliar face from your mind.

It isn't like him to look like this. Cold.
Indifferent. Inhuman.
It's not like him.
It's not like Alrik.

You swallowed, your lips trembling. You need to think straight.
Your eyes still closed, you muttered, "Alrik-" but you couldn't finish-

"..to the enemy forces of Paradise- A Declaration of War!"

Chills ran through your spines. Your mind flooded with emotions you couldn't decipher, the toxication getting through your body, numbing your body. Your limbs gave up. Your knees met the earth and the only thing you could remember was the throbbing pain before your consciousness went out.

_________________________________________

Your head feels like a huge bolder just crushed your skull. You feel like swimming in a ocean, with just water everywhere. It's just you in the middle of the ocean. Alone. Nothing in sight.
No land. No ship. No trees. No birds.
No humans. Just a single soul. You.

The sky above is blue. The same blue as the ocean. No clouds. Nothing. The sky feels like another ocean dripping down on you.

You tried moving your arms. You couldn't. They're tied.

You tried moving your legs. You couldn't. They're tied.

You're sinking. Like a pebble. Sinking down the vast ocean. You wiggled your body, trying to set yourself free of all restraints. Trying to move. But no use.

You were sinking now. Water seeping into your body. There's just water everywhere. Like the sky, another ocean, just merged into the vast ocean.

No oxygen. No oxygen. No oxygen. No oxygen. No oxygen. No oxygen. No oxygen.

Your eyes are burning. Your body feels detached. Your mind feels detached. And with one last left energy. You tried to scream.

And your eyes shot open. Stinging. You swallowed in air into your body, trembling. Your mind moving around all the places at once. You just kept breathing for what felt like eternity when you realized you were not in an ocean. No water.

You were in a room, you couldn't make a layout of. You tried moving and felt yourself restrained. Your hands tied up behind your back. You're sitting in a chair you realized. Your legs tied.

Your mind moving around thinking the ocean scenario. You were alone. Lonely. Just like in this room. Alone. No one is here. You're alone. But when you lifted your head a little, your own assumption went wrong.

There was someone in here. In here with you.

You were not alone.

_________________________________________

[Author's Note]

Hi. I'm here.
With a reminder.
You're going to be alright. Whatever is bothering you, we can get through this.
You can do it.

Stay safe.