Mikasa stopped as she immediately recognized the room she was in, and that damn head of blonde hair sitting at the table in that simple white room. She sighed as she approached the table and sat down across from the blonde. "Ymir,"
"Mikasa" she responded with a smile, "So, you saved her?"
Mikasa took a sip of the tea cup in front of her, and rolled her eyes, "no thanks to you,"
Ymir frowned, and cleared her throat, "about that..."
"Unless you have good news, I don't want to fucking hear it." Mikasa growled, "You've done enough for the rest of eternity - just let her live whatever time she has-"
"The curse is ended," Ymir said with a cocky smile, "We figured it out about half-way through the pregnancy,"
Mikasa raised an eyebrow, and heard shuffling footsteps behind her, "We?"
"Hey,"
Mikasa froze. She knew that voice all too well. She thought she was never going to hear it again. The last time she had heard that voice, it declared that it had always hated her. Without a moment's hesitation, she turned around. And there he was. Exactly as she would hope he would be. His messy brown hair was trimmed into a neater style, and the bags were gone from under his sparkling green eyes. He was in a simple pair of jeans and a white shirt. But most importantly, he was smiling.
"Eren?" she spoke breathlessly, and as soon as their eyes met she leaped from her chair and ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. She let out a soft sob as she clung to him, her fingers clenching into his clothing while the other hand found the back of his head and laced her fingers through his hair. She could feel his arms around her, holding her tightly, with the warmth of his embrace giving her comfort and letting her know he was really there with her. She pulled back from their embrace, and moved the hand that was in his hair to his face, cupping it gently. "I- I don't understand..."
He let out a soft laugh, and a smile threatened the corners of his lips as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "You really think I would let Captain Levi lose that one chance in happiness that he has?"
"It's all thanks to him... he figured out that it was easy - a life for a life...So I... forced a sacrifice..." Ymir sighed, "You did great, Eren,"
Mikasa laughed, and pressed her nose to his, "Thank you,"
"Mikasa, I have to ask you something," Eren choked back a sob as he looked down into her eyes, and pulled her even closer to him, "are you... happy?"
"I wish you were with me," Mikasa couldn't help it. After three long years of visiting his grave and praying to the heavens to see him one day again.
"Hey," Eren cupped her face and pressed his forehead against her own. "I told you to let go of me,"
"I'm trying,"
He smiled at her. "Good," He chuckled. "Horseface is gonna make you happy," They both laughed at the nickname that they once used so many years ago.
"He will," Mikasa nodded.
"He better," Eren arched an eyebrow.
Mikasa looked up into those sparkling eyes of Emerald green that she so adored, and had for so long. "I...I should go..." she stuttered out, knowing that if she stayed any longer she would beg to never leave that place. She wanted nothing more than to stay in that moment with him forever. She quickly removed her arms from being around him, and moved a hand to her scarf. "I... I love you, Eren."
"I love you too, Mikasa." He said softly, his voice barely a whisper that only she could hear.
She turned, and started to walk away. Towards a door that she knew would send her back to the time and place she came from.
"Before you go, Mikasa..." He choked back a sob, and she could hear it in his voice, "just know that... I'm always with you,"
Mikasa awoke, feeling the warmth of her tears on her face. She sniffled, and used the sleeve of her hospital gown to wipe the wetness from her face before letting out a sob, and clutching her pillow. After a few moments of laying there, knees to her chest and tears pouring from her eyes to the now damped cloth of the pillowcase, she turned her head and looked to Jean, who was asleep on a nearby chair, "I'm sorry, Eren," she mumbled, before turning back to her pillow and sobbing again.
The afternoon came and went, all the while Levi and Anya refused to let their four precious little children out of their sight for even a moment's time. Mikasa had told them about her vision of Ymir and Eren, which brought all three of them to tears. They learned how to feed and change them from the nurses, and Nathalie had ordered that there always be a nurse outside the door - just in case. Anya had gotten to feeling better thanks to the cocktail of drugs that Nathalie had ordered, but was in and out of resting - all the while Levi took care of her, and spent as much time as he could taking turns holding each of the little ones who laid next to them in their shared bassinets. He changed them, and fed them, and burped them, and rocked them to sleep. In those moments when all four were asleep he would go back to the small hospital bed and lay next to Anya, holding her close as he head fell to his chest. He watched her breathing, and admired the soft smile on her lips.
At one point he felt himself drifting off into a light sleep, Anya asleep on his chest and the four little ones all asleep in their bassinets that he could see into from where he was laying. His eyes fluttered closed, and he let himself relax for the first time that day.
He thought back to those endless nights of pulling his hair out in his office at the Survey Corps HQ, begging whatever Gods were out there for him to one day find her against all odds. To all those expeditions, when he would watch other soldiers reunite with their loved ones - their husbands and wives and partners - and he wished that she would be there, among the crowd, waiting to greet him and take him back to a warm, comfortable home. To all the nights of doing endless paperwork and hoping that maybe among the names of new recruits he would see hers, so he could run to her and see her again. He thought back to all the nights he would look up at the stars from the rooftops and the trees, and hope that she was safe and alive and looking up at the same sky he was.
It was all worth it, he thought, to have this now. To have her there, safe and alive - wrapped up in his arms and smiling. To have those four precious little beings to love and care for and raise. To have their quaint little home, and the life that they were finally getting to build together.
Every night of crashing against the walls, every prayer, every moment of disappointment when he would hope to see her face in the crowd, every night of pouring over the names of new recruits, every night looking at the stars alone. Every hope and dream and prayer. Every moment of convincing himself she was dead, and every moment of looking for her in spite of thinking she was dead- it was all worth it.
He took a moment, and looked at those sleeping little children, content and happy, that already brought him so much joy, so much happiness. He already loved them all so, so much. His little Isabel, and Kuchel, and Furlan, and Eren. He was going to make sure they had everything. He was going to make sure they knew every day how much he loves them, and how much their mother loves them. He was going to keep them safe, and happy. He was going to give them the childhood that he and Anya were robbed of, and make sure they never wanted for anything. Those four little precious babies, they were everything to both him and Anya. All they had ever wanted was to be together, to have each other, and to start a family together - and it may have taken so, so much longer than it should have, but it was finally their reality.
He looked over to Anya, his first and only love, and smiled as he looked at that face he so adored. So long, he had gone without her - and yet, when they came back together it was like not a day had passed. Their love was just as strong, if not stronger. Their hearts were still just as purely bound to each other as ever before. He sighed, and hummed as he brought her closer to him and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, and then the very tip of her nose. They had beat all of the odds that were stacked against them, and somehow, by some miracle, ended up back together. They had been through so much, but their love was just as pure, if not moreso. Never would he let any harm come to her again. Never would he leave her side. Never would he ever let go of hope for the future with her that they had fought so hard, for so long, to see become a reality. Now that they were there, there was nothing that could make the dream of a life they made together shatter.
And finally, he could rest, and know that she was safe and their children were safe. They were all in that room, together - a family. He closed his eyes, and let the exhaustion he was feeling take hold of him as he was finally able to sleep soundly, knowing that everything was going to be okay and that everything was just as it should be.
The first two weeks they were home, Mikasa and Jean quickly moved out and into their own home not too far away. For the most part, Levi refused any visitors except for Nathalie - and by proxy, Zeke, who had come by every day to check on Anya and the children. But by the time it had been a month since giving birth, Nathalie was feeling the effects of her own pregnancy. She argued and fought every step of the way, but somehow Zeke had managed to convince her that it was time for her to take a break from work to enjoy the last few months of her pregnancy. And so, the daily check-ups quickly became daily visits to see what they were getting themselves into. And today was no different, as Nathalie and Zeke sat on the couch, watching as Anya and Levi took care of their little ones.
"I hope we don't end up looking as shitty as they do," Zeke mumbled to Nathalie, who let out a soft laugh in return,
Anya frowned, "Well good thing you're only having one then, huh?" she snarled, as she gently picked up Eren from his bassinet and began feeding him, before she sat next to Levi, who was busy feeding Furlan with eyes locked to the opposite bassinet, where their daughters were rustling awake. She took a moment to adore that soft smile on his lips as he looked down at them, and couldn't help but smile as well.
They were both overwhelmed, tired, and exhausted. Those two weeks of being home, they hadn't slept more than an hour at a time before it was time for another feeding, or changing, or some other need that those precious little ones had. They both refused to keep them in their nursery, instead opting to move the cribs into their now very cramped bedroom, so that they could hear even the slightest noise or need that one of the four would have. Meals and showers were done in haste, they hadn't had a single fleeting moment to spend to themselves, let alone to be with each other in anything more than a tangled web of exhausted limbs trying to get those precious moments of sleep and comfort that passed by much too quickly.
Yet still, they wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
Even in their restless exhaustion, they were so enthralled by those four little infants who grew more and more each day. They had developed their own personalities already - Furlan, always the first awake and trying to escape his swaddle. Eren, who already had a clear preference for Levi singing him lullabies. Isabel, quiet as a mouse and barely ever cried. And Kuchel, who slept more than the rest but managed to cry the loudest when she was awoken. And even with the crying, screaming, dirty diapers and sleepless nights, there wasn't a single day that went by without the two feeling thankful for their little family and for each other.
Nothing they did to care for their children was ever done alone. Every middle of the night feeding, every time one would cry and wake up the others, they were both there, at each other's sides, doing everything those little ones needed and more - and making sure it was all done together. Wherever Levi was, there was Anya - just as it had been when they were children, growing up together in that damp, dark, dirty hole under the capital. When she would forget to eat, he would be a step ahead and already have a meal prepared for them to eat in between taking care of those precious children. When he would forget to sleep, she would hold and comfort him until he would drift off, and do her best to manage all four so he could get some rest. And then, when she was too exhausted to go on, he would do the same for her - holding her and reassuring her until she would drift off to sleep in his arms, before he would rise to whatever task needed to be accomplished next. Both knowing that every second of stress was worth it when they would look down into those little eyes and at those little faces.
Everything they had gone through up to that point, was worth it. It was all worth it for what they had now - their home, their children, and each other.
The months flew by, with visits nearly every day from one person or another. Nathalie and Zeke's visits got less frequent the closer she got to her own due-date, and when she finally went into labor Jean and Mikasa were happy to babysit so that Anya and Levi could go be with Nathalie as she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. By the time Furlan, Eren, Kuchel, and Isabel were 6 months old, Zeke had gifted Levi a camera and shown him how to use it. It didn't take long before Levi's favorite thing to do was taking pictures of the four growing babies and Anya. Everyday and every time they did something new, or even just made a different face or smiled, Levi was there, taking a picture. Levi being such a doting father and taking constant pictures of the children was the most precious thing Anya had ever seen. That is, until he began taking pictures of her as well, running her patience thin no matter how he insisted that it was 'for when they're older'. Luckily, the children had started sleeping through the night and were able to be moved into their nursery, which meant that Anya and Levi were able to catch up on much needed sleep and time together once their little angels were out for the night.
And when they had that time together, it was just as it had always been between the two of them. They could talk, and laugh, and hold each other for hours without ever getting bored or annoyed with each other. They still held each other just as tight, and kissed just as passionately, and loved each other just as deeply - if anything, their passion and love for each other had only grown with each passing day.
For Anya, the nightmares never quite stopped, though with more and more time that went by they became less frequent. Everytime she woke up to Levi holding her close, comforting her, and reminding her it was just a nightmare, she was able to push the traumas she had gone through throughout her life further into the past and the back of her mind.
For Levi, even the coldest of days were filled with joy when he looked around at the life he had finally built - a clean, comfortable home with the only woman who had ever held his heart and his wonderful, precious children. Every moment that he could, he spent holding them, playing with them, watching them grow and learn. He could never get tired of being a husband and being a father, even though the road that led him there was riddled with pain, blood, and tears.
He found himself thankful that he didn't have all of this back when he was in the Survey Corps. Although it was hard to see his fellow soldiers go home to their wives and children while he mourned the perceived loss of Anya, He realized that now, with him being retired, he wouldn't have had to worry about if he was going to come home to them or if he would be leaving his dear Anya a widow and his precious little children fatherless. He wouldn't have had to worry about what would happen to them during his time away, and he wouldn't miss all of those precious moments with the four little brats he loved so dearly.
No, he knew it was all better this way. He could enjoy every moment to the fullest with his family. He didn't have to ever leave their sides - he was there for those midnight feedings and diaper changes, and for their first smiles and laughs. He would be able to be there for every first in their lives, and never have to miss a moment with them. He could spend his days watching over them, and helping his Anya take care of their home and their children. And how he adored taking care of things with her at his side, always waking him up with a smile and a kiss. Always at his side, doing her best to take care of him as well as those sweet little children. Every moment, together. Never growing tired of each other's presence, never looking at each other in anything but the most adoring ways, and never once leaving the other wondering how they felt.
The love they shared, and how they cherished each other, never once changed or faltered. It only grew deeper, with every sweet chaste kiss after putting down their babies for a nap, every sleepy morning waking up in each other's arms, every 'I love you' spoken, and every time they looked at their children and saw each other. They knew, for now and forever, that as long as they had each other that things would be okay, and they knew that never would anything dare take them away from each other again.