The truth was Levi, kneeling beside Erwin’s body days later. The Commander’s right arm was gone—torn off in the Beast Titan’s final attack. But his chest still rose and fell. Barely. Levi didn’t speak. He didn’t cry. He simply placed his own fist over his heart, held it there for three long seconds, and then extended it toward Erwin’s face. I’ll carry it. Your heart. Your dream. Even if you won’t wake up to see it.
That changed after the disastrous Shiganshina Retrieval Operation of 831. attack on titan soldier salute
Eight hundred fists answered. Many of those fists would be cold by sunset. The truth was Levi, kneeling beside Erwin’s body
Then she rotated her hand outward. Palm open. Fingers slightly spread, as if releasing something fragile into the wind. Barely
Mikasa stood apart from the others. She didn’t speak at the funeral. She waited until everyone else had left, their fading footsteps crunching on the gravel path.