[Like a voice promising him, "I won't be mad." Eren replayed those scenes a thousand times too. It's the only way he could remember what her voice sounded like.
[His face is held, but his eyes drift away, stare past whatever's in front of them. He feels his jaw click, mouth open again, searching for words to explain the impossible. Tears have welled up hot in his eyes, but he doesn't notice them.]
With the Founding Titan's power, I could manipulate time. Eldian bodies. And so...
[His voice isn't cold, but there's no emotion, either. He sounds like he's reading from a page in a language he's still learning.]
It all had to happen. For the Rumbling to happen, it all had to happen. And I couldn't change it. I tried, but over and over again...
[His voice breaks off with some glottal sound, and his eyes refocus. He looks at Maruki, every muscle on his face shifting into the face of someone who can't believe what they're hearing. He chews on air for another moment, and then:]
My mother. I sent that titan her way. I had to, for Bertholdt to live, so...
[His shoulders shrug, and he still has that terrible, lost looks, even as tears spill over and slip down his cheeks.]
HHHHHHHHH
familiar.
[Like a voice promising him, "I won't be mad." Eren replayed those scenes a thousand times too. It's the only way he could remember what her voice sounded like.
[His face is held, but his eyes drift away, stare past whatever's in front of them. He feels his jaw click, mouth open again, searching for words to explain the impossible. Tears have welled up hot in his eyes, but he doesn't notice them.]
With the Founding Titan's power, I could manipulate time. Eldian bodies. And so...
[His voice isn't cold, but there's no emotion, either. He sounds like he's reading from a page in a language he's still learning.]
It all had to happen. For the Rumbling to happen, it all had to happen. And I couldn't change it. I tried, but over and over again...
[His voice breaks off with some glottal sound, and his eyes refocus. He looks at Maruki, every muscle on his face shifting into the face of someone who can't believe what they're hearing. He chews on air for another moment, and then:]
My mother. I sent that titan her way. I had to, for Bertholdt to live, so...
[His shoulders shrug, and he still has that terrible, lost looks, even as tears spill over and slip down his cheeks.]
See? It is. All of it.