[Crow's eyes flick up a little. The surprise only lasts a second before it sinks in--Eren had been the one to slip about the azure knight. His lips purse into a humbled smile as he looks back into the fire, searching for words.]

That's right...you had to.

But Eren's question makes his grip on his jacket tighten.]

I remember a gunshot and my voice. It sounded hollow...empty.

"Go finish your speech in hell." Remember that time you walked me home and I kept forgetting who you were? Where I was?

That's what kept coming back.

[He waves that off, though, as if to focus on something else.]

Then, I said something to Rean in my past life. That our times together with him and everyone else meant nothing to me. That it was all just an undercover op but it had to end.

Rean called me out on it...and I didn't voice it but--

It hurt.