A Second Chance || Attack on Titan

a tale of final goodbyes

Alrighty people, here it is! A few things before you start reading. I haven't read the manga, so I don't know how it ends besides a few spoilers (on that note, please don't spoil anything!). I also cry every time I think of season 4, so for this AU assume everything after season 3 didn't happen like it did. Eren went to Marley with the Corps permission, he did it all by the books, so he's not a war criminal, etc. I'll explain more of what exactly happened in future installs as the information starts unveiling.

For now, enjoy!

SUMMARY

It's only when the war is over, that Mikasa finally feels at peace.

It's only when the war is over, that Mikasa finally feels at peace.

There are no more titans to kill, no more armies to fight, no more threats to the ones she loves. Mikasa sits on a tree in the forest next to the Survey Corps' castle, and for the first time since she was a kid - since the fall of Shiganshina, since the murder of her parents - she feels like everything is alright.

Mikasa remembers with startling clarity the first time she met Eren - Eren, her anchor, her brother, the most important person in her world - she remembers how he took her home with him when she had nowhere else to go, and she remembers her thoughts (I will protect you, I will never let harm com to you, as you saved me, and you gave me something to live for) burning in her heart, forever a promise she never intents to break.

Her memories before that are cloudy, like a faint whisp of what was and what could have been, but everything after she met Eren is as vivid as if she had lived it yesterday.

She remembers playing with him on the fields of Wall Maria, she remembers collecting firewood with him during the mornings, she remembers them both playing with Armin on the streets of Shiganshina.

She remembers when the Collosal Titan - when Bertholdt - put a hole in the wall, bringing destruction and despair to everyone's lives. She remembers those years of living on the street, of fighting for food and learning how to use a knife so they wouldn't use one on them first, of the cold and the hunger, and the though of please, just until we're all of age to enlist, please don't take my family from me.

Mikasa remembers the pain that stabbed through her chest when she thought Eren had been eaten by a titan - she can almost feel herself crumbling to pieces just thinking about it - and she remembers the fear she felt when Eren was trialed for being a shifter. When he and Historia were kidnapped, the countless times they all fought for their lives, when her brother had all but lost hope because memories that weren't his wouldn't let him think straight.

She will never admit it, but she has Levi to thank for his brother's sanity. He's the one that brought him back to them, the one that brought him back to her. When Eren was slipping, Levi caught him, didn't let him fade away to become one more of the endless line of holders for the Attack and the Founding Titans. He's the one that got through him, that made sure Eren wasn't keeping it all bottled up, that earned his trust and was told his secrets.

Mikasa feels a little envious from time to time. Eren is her everything, and Eren's everything is someone else. But it doesn't matter. As long as he's happy, as long as he's safe, then Mikasa will stand by his side, even if she's no longer the only one Eren welcomes inside his heart.

Eren no longer needs protection - there are no more titans, no more cages, no more death and pain, only the bitter reminding of what has been lost - but Mikasa would always be there to offer it anyways. Which is why when she feels something twisting in her gut, the feeling that something is wrong burning just beneath her skin, she doesn't waste a second before she starts running.