Rose closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, and for a moment they stood suspended in the moonlight, two damaged souls finding unexpected solace in each other's arms while the fortress slept around them, unaware that tomorrow would bring either liberation or destruction.
The silence that followed was different now, no longer heavy with unspoken grief and tension, but charged with a fragile, burgeoning hope. Eren held Rose in his arms, her body trembling slightly against his, a stark contrast to the unyielding exterior she had maintained for so long. He kissed her again, a soft, lingering touch of his lips to hers, a silent promise that he was there, that she was no longer alone.
