Pale eyes squinted for a moment, considering the words, unsure of the meaning. When it finally clicked, the Titan's face changed drastically. It wasn't that he never smiled - he did, and often, though only in small flutters - but that it was the first real and stable smile Aoba had probably ever seen. The idea that Aoba could go home and might still return...While it had been hinted at here and there in snippets of conversations between them, Declan had deliberately not pressed the man about his circumstances more than necessary. To have confirmation that it was possible, and more importantly that Aoba would *want* to return? It was strange to think that the Guardian had never felt such relief before in his life.

And he'd *died* before, only to resurrected. One would think that was the greatest relief one could experience.

"Then you have two homes, Aoba. You will always have a place here. Maybe I can always feel like I did while out on the field these last weeks? That someday I'll come home, and it won't be empty."