tw: hurt no comfort, death, mentions of cannibalism (itâs aot yall), slight age gap (reader is 3 years younger)
a/n: mostly canon compliant but like i canât be assed to make sure itâs 100%, jaw!porco x warrior candidate!reader, i have decided that people is marley are adults (aka can marry and move out) at 16 :P
summary: At 14, you meet the love of your life. At 15, you fall for him. At 16, it all comes crashing down.
You donât talk about it.
Two weeks after you started dating, Porco brushed your hair out of your face when he thought you were asleep and whispered, âIâd die for you.â
As the top candidate to inherit the jaw titan, it wasnât surprising that Porco had introduced himself. You were around his age, 14 while he was 17. It wasnât common for warrior candidates to be so old when they inherited, but not unheard of- Zekeâd been 16 when heâd inherited the beast, and he was one of their strongest still, and Colt was set to inherit the beast at 17. It would still be years until you took up the jaws, if everything went to plan- Porco should still have eleven years, if all went well, but Marley didnât want to give up such a talented candidate as you just because you wouldnât be quite as young as the rest of the candidates.
When Porco first introduced himself as the jaw, you already knew who he was. Your class of warrior candidates had only been a few years after his, and youâd seen him hanging around the base, waiting five years for news of his brother who would never come back. An older soldier had taken pity on you and explained he was the younger brother of the current jaw (although neither of you knew that Marcel was no longer the jaw at the time), and he stuck around as a candidate.
Neither of you said that he was kept around because Marley needed someone they had leverage over to inherit the founding.
Youâd never spoken to Porco, though, when he introduced himself. It had been two years since the warriors sent to the island returned, and heâd adjusted well to the news that his brother was dead and he was the new jaw over the last few years. Youâd just been named his official successor.
âHey, kid. Iâm Porco, and I guess we should get to know each other- seeing as youâre set to eat me someday, you know.â
You laughed and introduced yourself too. Consuming Porco and inheriting the jaws was still a blessing then, a privilege to serve Marley and prove that you were a good Eldian.
Not many months later Porco finally asked you out. Pieck had been teasing him about his obvious crush whenever you werenât around for months, and heâd gotten tired of it, deciding to just let you reject him and get it over with.
He didnât expect you to grin at him and loop an arm around his shoulders.
âTook you long enough, Pock! How about coffee?â
At 15, you fell in love. At 15, Porco promised you he would die for you. And at 15, you knew that being the one to fulfill that promise was no blessing at all.
You would always talk like you had forever. Endless conversations of âsomedayâ- someday youâd move in together, get married. Someday heâd retire- you almost laughed out loud the first time he said that- and youâd follow, and youâd run off to the countryside and Marley wouldnât follow you.
Porco knew he couldnât fulfill every promise he made to you, but on your sixteenth birthday, he gave you a key with a tiny bow wrapped around it, and asked you to move in with him. Within a week, you were moved into his apartment, spending every night in the same bed and every morning making breakfast together. Most of the time Porco was deployed you would be too, but during the occasional solo mission or titan-only operation, you would spend nights cuddled up with his pillow, reminding yourself that your boyfriend is smart and strong and would never let himself die without you.
When Liberio was attacked, Zeke turned traitor, and all the rest of the warrior candidates were killed or missing, you were reminded just how dangerous your job was. Youâd signed up for this- you could die at any time, and youâd agreed to that, so why was it hitting you so hard now?
Maybe it was watching the love of your life be forced to crush a human between his jaws, watching a devil squeeze down on his head until his powerful mouth snapped shut and sealed the war hammerâs fate. Maybe it was the lifeless bodies of Udo and Zofia and countless other soldiers snuffed out. Maybe it was the way Porco trembled in your arms, telling you about listening to fighting from the bottom of a pit, helpless to do more than hear his comrades die.
You spent hours that night just holding your boyfriend, rubbing his back gently and mumbling, âshhh, itâs alright, Pock, youâre here now. Youâre here, with me, everythingâs okay.â
Minutes from the break of dawn, Porco confessed to you that feeling the floor let out under him had made him think of his brother. Heâd sat at the bottom of the pit, remembering his brotherâs memories of a moment of weightlessness being lifted to the mouth of a titan, seconds before his death.
When Porco finally fell into a fitful sleep, you called in to inform your superiors that you and Porco wouldnât be attending training that day. They didnât ask for elaboration.
Not long after, when the warriors were deployed to retake the founder once again, Porco sat next to you on the aircraft, letting you huddle into his side and whispering sweet nothings against your forehead.
âListen, honey,â he tilted your head up to look in his eyes. âThis is gonna be a tough mission. So, I wanted to make this special, but more than anything I wanna do it.â
He pulled a small box out of his pocket and opened it, letting your hand wrap around his around the box. Inside was a simple ring, a golden band with one small diamond inlaid into it.
Tears were streaming from your eyes, soaking into Porcoâs shirt where your chin rested against it. âPock, you dick,â you whined, pressing your forehead to his cheek. âDonât act like youâre leaving me. Youâre gonna be okay.â
Even as you murmured gentle affirmations to the both of you, you tugged the ring out of the box and let Porco gently guide it onto your ring finger.
Two long weeks you spent staking out with the rest of the soldiers while Porco and Pieck infiltrated the military. Your days were spent preparing weapons and plans, and your nights were spent huddled together with Reiner and Colt, all trying to catch sleep while you could instead of worrying over your people in the walls.
The attack was a blur, but it went something like this: you, Colt, and Reiner shared a final hug before you boarded the aircrafts, you dropped out and deployed your parachute, you watched Reiner transform and attack the holder of the founder, your eyes caught Porco, in titan form, go barreling into the battle. After that, when you landed and started shooting, minutes and hours started to blend together. The amount of smoke and dust in the air meant you couldnât get your eyes on Porco, which was probably for the best- you both needed to focus.
What you do remember clearly was the lightning. Hundreds of flashes across the city, some frighteningly close to you, and then hundreds of titans rising up. Marleyan soldiers dying all around you, as you sprinted across the rooftops, focusing completely on not being caught in a titanâs grip.
You registered the walls falling and releasing the titans like a faint ringing in your head- clearly something wrong, but not even close to your main concern.
Dead and dying soldiers littered the rooftops, and at one horrifying point, a mutilated and bloodied soldierâs hand caught your ankle, tripping you on the shingles.
âHelp-â the soldier managed to choke out before your free foot kicked him away. No remorse filled your mind as you scrambled up and kept running.
The ring felt like a thousand pounds. Porco was okay. He had to be. You wouldnât consider another option.
After what felt like an eternity of running and dodging titans, an Eldian soldier flew by, and you seized the chance.
âHelp! Help me!â You yelled out, waving your arms. Devil or not, nothing mattered right now except survival. You would live to see Porco another day, if it was the last thing you did.
The soldier dropped onto the rooftop several paces away from you.
âMarleyan,â he spat, clearly not pleased that youâd survived the titan attack.
âPlease, I mean you no harm! I am a subject of Ymir within the Marleyan military- all I want is to survive and find my fiancĂŠe!â
The soldierâs face softened, and he held out an arm slowly. âI can take you to the large building up there. Other survivors have gathered there, and most of the titans have been killed. I canât guarantee your safety upon arrival.â
âIâll take it,â you replied easily, moving closer to the solider slowly until he turned and let you clamber onto his back. With his mobility gear he started taking the both of you towards the building, and your eyes were drawn down the trail of wreckage of a titan fight. Your eyes snagged on a quickly evaporating jaw titan skeleton, and you forced yourself to look forward. Heâd survived. He had to. Porco was smart and strong. He had to survive.
The soldier brought you to the building before flying off again, and you started searching through the hallways. If you could find Porco, or even Pieck, everything would be okay-
You pushed open a door and the group of people inside startled and looked at you.
The young girl gasped and ran at you, jumping and nearly tackling you with an embrace. You held her up as she choked out tearless sobs.
No more than a minute later, she pulled herself back from you and started bumbling.
âHe- heâs gone, they took him, they took Falco- I donât- I donât know what to do!â
âGabi.â You set your hands on her shoulders and waited for her to look you in the eyes. âWhat happened?â
Gabi took a few steadying breaths and whimpered, âIâm sorry. I- Falco accidentally drank Zekeâs spinal fluid, and when the titans turned, he- he became one! And Colt was holding on to him and heâs gone- and he went after Reiner, he tried to take the armor, butâŚâ She trailed off and her eyes dropped to the floor. âPorco had taken a hit, and his real body was badly hurt, and he⌠he made Falco eat him instead.â Gabiâs breath hitched, but you barely heard it.
There was a ringing in your ears that you could only hear a little past. Porco was gone. He hadnât lost, but heâd ensured the jaws lived on- by sacrificing himself.
If nothing else, it was definitely a Porco way to go out- stubborn until the end.
You shook your head, blinking the fuzziness out of your eyes and forcing yourself to refocus.
âGo, Gabi. Get Falco back. If anyone but me has to inherit the jaws, he was the best candidate. Heâs strong and smart, and he deserves to live, and I know you know that too. So go bring him back for us, okay?â
âHe said he was in love with me,â Gabi mumbled as the other people in the room spurred back into motion, clearly preparing to set out in pursuit of Falco and whoever had taken him.
You chuckled wetly, holding back tears of your own. âWell, I suppose he had to say it eventually. For what itâs worth, the rest of us knew.â
Gabi flushed and shoved you lightly. âOf course you did.â
Within minutes, Gabi and one of the Eldian soldiers set off on horseback. The rest of the Eldian soldiers gave you a wide berth, sensing you were upset.
You found yourself a small empty corner with a window. Gazing at the thousands of titans passing outside, you let your mind wander back to the new information you had.
Porco was dead. It felt fake, like the kind of thing youâd have nightmares about. In fact, youâd had almost this exact nightmare several times over the past two weeks. Porco was dead and gone. Heâd promised you that heâd die for you, and youâd always thought the worst thing in the world was that youâd have to eat him, watch him die at your own hands. Now you knew it could be much worse. Porco had died away from you. You hadnât so much as touched him in two weeks, and now, with his body somewhere in Falcoâs digestion, youâd never get to again.
There wouldnât even be a body to bury. The ring on your finger was the only thing left of your fiancĂŠe. He couldâve been so much more- he couldâve been your husband, your soulmate, your forever, and instead he was gone.
The tears youâd been holding back finally spilled over your cheeks as you hugged your knees.
At fourteen, youâd met your soulmate. At fifteen, you fell in love with him. And at sixteen, you lost him forever.
Thousands of killing machines passed by the window, making straight for your home in Marley. But it didnât matter. Everything that had truly mattered to you was now gone forever.
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