{LEVIHAN} Always

Chapter 23: More Stories!

Armin's POV

Once we returned to the cabin, we continued talking about a lot of things. An hour must've passed by when Raven slowly crept out of the room, holding her stomach. "What's the matter, Raven?" I asked her as she pats her stomach.

"My tummy hurts..."

Levi took one glance at the clock before sighing. "Right now, it'll be time for them to eat dinner. I'm sorry, Raven, just hold on just a bit longer." Levi points to me, Mikasa, Jean, Gabi, and Falco. "Go ask them for stories while we make dinner, okay?"

Raven nods her head.

"Where's your brother?"

"Sleeping. His tummy hurts too."

"Okay. I need people to go into town and get stuff for dinner. It's late already, and I wouldn't feel right to let you guys go home right now." Hanji says. "And I need people to... distract Raven."

"What does Raven like?" I ask her.

"Stories. Tell her stories."

Jean chuckles, nodding his head. "Stories? Alright. I know some stories my mom used to tell me."

"I do as well," Mikasa then glances at me, "Armin, let's all go to their room and tell them stories. Raven, show us the way."

We all sat in her room, and I was in awe. Of course, she has to share her room with Zayne, but otherwise, it was beautiful. Raven sat on her bed, holding a stuffed animal... like a bear. Reminds me... of Eren's toys that he used to share with us.

"What's the bear's name?"

"Mobby."

"Mobby?"

She nods her head. "Mommy said that he was the name of the snake that saved Mommy when she lost her eye. But his name was too hard for me to say... he saved Mommy from the turtle... he can save me too!"

Mobby... someone who saved Hanji from a turtle? All I can think of is Moblit...

"Was his name Moblit?"

Raven nods her head. "That word is hard to say... so I call my bear Mobby! I carry Mobby around so he can save me!" She then turns her attention to Mikasa, pointing at the scar on her cheek. "What happened?"

"This?" Mikasa laughs at her scar, shaking her head. "Well... it's a long story..."

"Can I hear it?" Raven sits up, looking eagerly to Mikasa for more. "I wanna hear all the stories. I love stories!"

"But... we have other stories-."

Jean gets cut off by Raven. "I want to hear the story... Mommy said she lost her eye from fighting a giant turtle with pirates! She said the turtle turned the pirates into snakes! That's when Mobby saved Mommy after he turned into a snake!" Levi said that they say that snakes were death... "And Daddy said he lost his eye to a big, big monkey who got in trouble for throwing poop! He said that the... uh... monkey bit his fingers off! But Mommy saved him from the bad monkey!"

I couldn't help but chuckle at the stories. Stories that were based on real events, shortened to a joyful story for their daughter to enjoy. Stories of adventure... stories that hide the truth.

"How did you get your scar?" Raven scoots closer Mikasa, looking eagerly at her.

Mikasa gave a nervous laugh, nodding her head. "Okay. Well... uhh... I was fighting a bunch of... giant dolls!"

"Dolls are evil?"

"Some of them," Mikasa says with a wink, "some of them are very good, and some are very evil. Your mommy and daddy fought against these dolls as well."

"Why are they evil?"

"They... uh... stole all of our food!" Mikasa continues with the story, slowly making things up to keep Raven's interests high. "They took everyone's favorite snacks! I joined the pirates to stop the evil dolls!"

Raven giggles, "Like Mommy and Daddy!"

She nods her head, "Yes, just like them. Did you know your daddy was one of the best fighters against the evil dolls? Or your mommy was one of the people who were smarter than them."

"I didn't know!"

Mikasa nods her head as Jean elbows me. "Armin, what's going on with Mikasa? I... I have never seen her like that before... it's like she's a mother..."

"When we were kids, we used to tell stories to each other on rainy days. Of course, I told stories about journeys beyond the seas. Eren would tell stories about him being the hero. Mikasa... well, she tried to tell stories about that intrigues other people our age. A few girls asked for some stories from her... it was weird because Mikasa turned them down."

"That's... interesting."

"She would be a perfect mom."

I went back to Mikasa's story, hearing her speak with her eyes glinting. "But one day... one of my best friends got bit by one of these evil dolls... and he became one of them. He accidentally tried to grab my snacks... and one of the snack boxes made this scar on my cheek."

"Did he become a good doll?" She sounded... sad... even when she never met Eren.

Mikasa sighed, conflicted. I would be too. He tried to be a hero in the end, but some people aren't sure if his actions made him a hero or a villain. "In the end... he was..." Mikasa says with a sad smile, "he was a very good doll."

"Can I see him?"

"No..."

"Why not?"

"Because my friend... he... he turned into a bird and flew away," Mikasa says, gently running her fingers through Raven's hair. "He's not coming back."

"He sounds like a bad friend..." Raven murmurs under her breath. "If he was your best of friends, he wouldn't leave you. Would Mommy and Daddy leave me? Will they leave and never come back?"

I stepped in, seeing Mikasa stunned by Raven's words. We can't say anything bad to her... she's young, she's a child. Eren was a good friend to us... but death... it's a little hard to explain to her. "No! Raven, your mommy and daddy love you. Do you remember seeing the moon in the sky? A-And the stars?"

Raven nods her head.

"Raven, listen to me... your mommy and daddy love you to the moon and the stars... they will never leave you. Even though they may disappear for a little while, it's just for a little while. They will always come back."

Raven nods her head again, "Okay..."

"H-How about a different story?" Jean pipes in, leaning close to Raven. "Right before dinner, okay? One more story."

"Is it a sad story?"

"No, of course not!"