Year 852
A whole year had passed since you started working together with the volunteers. Yelena and her closest accomplices had been away to meet with a possible ally to Paradis. The Port was now fully complete, and you once again met up with them.
"Eren, I haven't seen you since you lifted our ship a whole year ago. I'm honoured to work with you", Yelena said with an outstretched arm.
"No, you won't be working together. You're lucky enough to see his face", Levi said while placing himself in front of Eren, halfway shielding him. Yelena smiled slightly.
"Plenty enough for me. Today will be a joyous day", she said while walking towards the edge of the port, facing the ocean. "The port is complete and we're welcoming our first outside visitor. From Paradis Island's sole friendly nation; Hizuru—Special Envoy, Kiyomi Azumabito". You watched as a huge ship accompanied by a smaller one, closed in on the harbour.
This was exciting; your first ever guests from an unknown nation to ever use the newly built port. You were curious as to how this visit would go and what it could mean for the future of Paradis. Having allies is important after all when the entire world is against you.
After Kiyomi Azumabito stepped onto the stone dock, you all escorted her to Trost HQ. She asked to talk to Mikasa specifically, ending with Eren, Hange, Historia and Levi, in addition to some extra guards, joining her in the room. The rest of you were not allowed inside for the time being.
"I wonder what is so secret they can't even trust us to hear it...", you said plopping down on your bed with a huff.
"I'm sure they would have us there if it were super important. Probably not something that concerns our island directly", Sasha said from where she sat in front of the vanity, combing her hair. You sighed.
"You're probably right... I'm just curious. I like to be kept up with things, it stresses me out not knowing something someone else does", you admitted. It was only natural considering your previous friends lied to your face and turned out to be humanity's enemies. Since then you've felt nervous whenever you were kept in the dark.
"Yeah, I get that. But at least we get a few moments to ourselves where we don't have any duties", she said optimistic, putting her hair up in her usual high ponytail.
"I guess so... Have you ever considered changing up your hairstyle?", you asked curious. Sasha looked at you through the mirror.
"Hmm, no not really. This just feels the most practical... You never change yours either so you're not really one to talk", she teased, ending it with sticking out her tongue for a quick second. You rolled your eyes and smiled.
"Touché". Sasha's eyes suddenly dilated, and her mouth stretched out into a wide grin.
"Can I style yours like mine?", she asked excited, turning around fully to face you. "It would be so fun, we could be like twins!", she continued reasoning, quickly making her way to your bed and pulling you up by your arms.
"Okay, okay", you laughed as she dragged you over to the vanity and forced you down on the chair. She started brushing out your hair, eventually starting to form the ponytail.
"One day I'll do this to Mikasa too", she said determined.
"I've never seen her do anything else to her hair other than that short cut. Even back in Shiganshina whenever I would see her and Eren in the streets, her hair would always be down...", you thought out loud as Sasha tugged on your hair. "Ow"
"Oops, sorry", she apologised sheepishly. "Not really used to doing it on other people... But you know what they say; beauty is pain". You laughed at the cliché quote, admiring the reflection once Sasha fastened the hair tie.
"It's actually not as bad looking on me as I thought it would be", you said, turning your head to see the up due from different angles.
"Y/N, what did you think? That you would look like Floch? Please, trust your girl a little more than that", she said putting her hands on your shoulders. You laughed, thinking about Floch's birds nest of a hair.
"Good thing he got rid of it, I don't think I could have met the sight of him one more time without losing it completely", you giggled as you got up from the chair.
"Me either, honestly", Sasha joined in you your laughter while putting on her coat. "I guess we have to get going now", she sighed. "The days off seems to get less and less... I swear it's been weeks since we didn't have some meeting to attend"
"I know how you feel". You slipped the boots onto your feet. "What I would do to get a day at the beach... But duty calls", you grabbed Sasha's hand and made your way to the vast meeting hall where all of you had been spending most of your time recently.
...
For a while you waited outside the doors to the meeting hall, some of the higher ups seeming to grow more and more impatient for each minute that passed.
"I still don't get what a nation is", you heard one of them whisper to a couple others, however his sharp tone didn't really work in favour for his attempt to keep it lowkey.
"Anyways, now we've got leverage with Hizuru!"
"What if this is a trap?"
"I suppose we should ask Yelena's opinion"
"No! That's exactly what they want!", one of them suddenly exclaimed a bit too loud.
"One thing is for certain: The sea has connected us to the world, but we're still just a child learning how to walk". You all turned to see Pixis speaking to the group of garrison officers. "We should sit quiet and hear what others have to say", he said as he walked to the door and entered the room.
As you walked towards the hall together with Sasha, Armin, Connie, Jean and Marco, you spotted Historia talking to Mikasa and Eren. You couldn't hear them, but Mikasa was slightly blushing and Eren was smiling. You stopped in shock as neither of those were normal sights as of late. It made you wonder what Historia said that could possibly prompt such an unusual reaction from the two, but you told yourself you wouldn't pry. Instead you smiled and took a mental picture of your friends, adding it to the library of fond memories you had stored inside your mind.
Marco noticed you stopping and walked back to stand by you, intertwining his fingers with yours. He followed your gaze and smiled himself. "Well, that's an unusual scene", he said so only you could hear. You nodded and looked up at him.
"Unusual, but uplifting. Makes me feel like things can go back to normal soon", you said, proceeding to walk into the room with Marco's hand still clutched in yours.
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to the day we solve this mess and Eren can finally relax for once. I swear I haven't seen him smile more than ten times during the past two years", he said with a worried look.
"I know how you feel, it makes me sad. I feel like I should help him somehow, but I really don't know where to start. I feel guilty for not being able to do anything...", you admitted as you took your seats with the rest of the officers and soldiers.
"You don't have to feel guilty about anything love, I'm sure Eren would tell you the same thing if he knew how you felt. You just continue being available, then he'll seek out help or guidance whenever he's ready", he assured you and gave your hand a gentle squeeze. "That's what I'm doing at least. I just hope he'll open up more to us soon"
"Yeah...", you sighed, watching as Eren, Mikasa, Historia and Hange took a seat at the vast table placed in the middle of the room, where Kiyomi Azumabito and her two accomplices were seated.
"It's an historic day for both our nations. Today is only possible thanks to the one who brought us together; Zeke Yeager. After meeting with him in secret, we agreed to an arrangement- under the condition we were able to meet Lady Mikasa", Kiyomi said.
"Lady?", you asked in a whisper, Marco shrugged with a confused look.
"Zeke Yeager said that if we cooperated, our nation may just helm an industry that restores it to its former glory", she smiled a close eyed smile. "And yet, he hasn't even prospected your reserves. But a resource like that in this age of modernization would be worth its weight in jewels and treasure"
You weren't exactly sure why they were so interested in meeting with Mikasa, but the way she smiled while talking about Paradis' resources and its worth made you think they were using Mikasa as an excuse to be here... You also remembered Yelena mentioning the Azumabitos are money grubbers, so you suppose it wasn't so much of a shock. As long as they are useful allies it would be worth it though.
"And? What exactly is the arrangement you have with Zeke Yeager?", Historia asked her.
"As you know, Zeke Yeager has a secret plan in mind. To achieve it, Hizuru's cooperation is needed. Here are his three points to protect Paradis with the rumbling", Kiyomi said as she pulled out a couple of papers. "The first is a test run of the rumbling to release a sample of its power and show the world its devastation. Next is Hizuru's cooperation. Your military must be strengthened until use of the rumbling isn't necessary. Lastly, the Founding Titan and a titan with royal blood must be passed down. Zeke will pass on the Beast Titan to someone of royal blood. Until their 13-year term ends, they must bear as many kids as possible". The more Kiyomi went on talking about the third point, your brows furrowed closer and closer together.
'No way in hell we'll force children to eat their families again after we just ended the cruel cycle of the Reiss family's traditions. This is absurd, we'd just be passing our problems onto our descendants to save ourselves now...'
"Very well. I will inherit the Beast Titan". Historia's statement had you abruptly turn your gaze to face her. "As long as the rumbling is tied to our survival". You looked at her with a sad expression. Once again she had to put others in front of herself, pushing away her own happiness for the sake of the people.
"Historia...", Mikasa said with a low voice, but Eren cut her off by once again slamming his hands atop the desk while getting up from his chair.
"After years of getting trampled on, now we've gotta breed like livestock?! If that's the price of getting to live, Zeke Yeager can take his plan and shove it!", he said strained, his voice becoming angrier and more intense the more he went on. "It's too dangerous to gamble on having the rumbling. We need to spend our time exploring what other options are available to us"
With this you entirely agreed with him. Hastily-made decisions could turn catastrophic in the end, solely based on the lack of information. You had to be entirely sure it would prove sufficient before even thinking about turning someone into a titan. It's an irreversible act.
~Timeskip; a few months- year 853~
The sun was shining brightly, peering down on you from above while projecting extreme heat. You were out in the middle of nowhere, standing in the scorching sun with nothing but dry earth surrounding you.
"Hey! Is this... something... they really needed us... to do?!", Connie complained exhausted between each swing with his sledge hammer to the wooden board on the ground. You had been going at it for hours already, in the process of building the railroad for the new train Paradis had obtained. You wiped your forehead with the back of your hand, feeling more exhausted and warmer than you had felt in ages. You supposed the hat and the ponytail Sasha put yours and Mikasa's hair up in helped with the heat slightly, but you still felt like your body was being fried, slowly but surely, in the ruthless sun.
"Nope! We wouldn't be doing this, but that idiot opened his mouth!", Jean answered just as exhausted, looking over at Eren wiping his face. " 'We can develop the island and our muscles at the same time'- my ass", he said with a scowl, and you snickered slightly at his words.
"We can't do much but wait for Hizuru's answer anyways", Marco sighed.
"Y/N! Code yellow!", Armin called out and you turned your head abruptly to face Armin chasing Sasha. Your eyes narrowed.
'Sasha...'
"Sasha Blouse! I know you didn't just grab that whole bucket of water to yourself!", you yelled out, immediately running after the two of them. "You always do this Sash!". You could hear her squeal frightened into the bucket as she heard you use her full name, realising you were now chasing her as well.
"Code yellow?" you could hear Eren ask the rest confused.
"Means Sasha nabbed some shared provisions all to herself", Connie answered him beat. "Y/N and Armin came up with it so they're able to quickly call out for backup if Sasha does it again". He leaned in closer as to prevent you from hearing the next part. "They made us promise to help out but-"
"I can hear you loud and clear Baldie! You guys are well aware of the code word and the issue at hand, so why not get off your lazy asses and help us!", you said between shaky breaths as the three of you sprinted past them again.
'Damn, Sasha really knows how to run when her stolen rations are in danger'
"Meh, we can't really be bothered. It's way too hot to run", Jean said, leaning against his hammer in a leisuring manner. You scowled at him as you passed them again, Sasha really just leading you around in circles, occasionally switching it up by throwing in a zigzag pattern.
As you watched Marco stay behind with the rest, you gasped dramatically.
"You as well Marco? That's truly the betrayal of the century!". Marco looked at you with a nervous smile, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly.
"Sorry Y/N, but I honestly think I'd pass out if I start running in this climate"
Sasha came to a halt once the bucket was empty, slouching down in the shadow of the stack of wooden boards with an exhausted smile. You and Armin collapsed on the ground right by her, heaving for your breaths as you knelt down in front of the bucket, desperate to see if there was any water left in it for the rest of you. Of course there wasn't...
"—Hey!", Hange's distinct yell suddenly called out, and you weakly lifted your head to see the distant silhouettes of three figures making their way towards you.
...
"Man, you're all working hard in this heat!", Hange said impressed once they arrived.
"Yeah, well, we're stuck watching this idiot", Jean said, motioning over to Eren standing beside him. Eren sent him an annoyed look.
"Unbelievable... You're all growing so damn big", Levi said looking up at Connie with a slightly offended expression. You stifled your laugh, watching Levi commenting on the boys' height. Eren, Marco, Armin and Jean had always been the same height or taller than Levi, Connie were the only one that stayed right below Levi's size. During the last couple of years the boys' height had skyrocketed, Jean and Marco both towering at a whopping 1,9 meters now...
"Is this about Hizuru?", Eren asked eagerly.
"The Azumabitos sent their reply", Moblit told him.
"And?", Eren urged them to continue with an urgent tone.
"No good. Looks like we can't turn to Hizuru...", Hange answered disappointed. You felt your heart sink, feeling quite disappointed yourself. "It seems they want to monopolize Paradis Island's resources. They won't help us trade with others... The world wants Paradis Island to be the root of all evil. It helps to unite all nations and bring stability to the world..."
"So we've got no choice but to rely in the rumbling and sacrifice Historia?", Eren asked frustrated, and you noticed him balling his hand into tight fists.
"That's right", Levi said.
"You're kidding! They decided we're devils without knowing our intentions? Why won't they consider a path of peace?", Armin exclaimed irked.
"I think... because they don't know. They fear us because they don't know what we are", Mikasa said with a thoughtful expression.
"That's right. They won't trust people whose faces they haven't seen. So let's meet them! If you don't understand something, go figure it out!". Once again Hange's encouragement did not fail. "Isn't that what we Scouts do?"
"So you mean...", you asked wide eyed.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean!", she winked at you with a smile.
...
"Make a base in Marley and infiltrate, huh?", Jean said as he leaned back against the railing of the little carriage pulled by the train. The exhausting day was coming to an end, the strong orange colour from the setting sun tinting your skin as well as the land surrounding you.
"Hange sure has a plan for everything", Sasha said excited.
"You can say that again, though never in a million years did I expect us to ever head to the one nation that hates us most of all...", you admitted.
"Well, I'll be able to chow down on real Marleyan cuisine, so I'm not complaining!", Sasha continued with bright eyes.
"Yeah? What should I bring? It would stink to get the runs", Connie said, and you looked at him with a contorted expression.
"Stomach medicine, toothbrush, a taste of home...", Sasha started listing up, extending a finger for each item she mentioned.
"Sasha, did you even hear Hange's plan?", you asked her with a giggle, and she just looked at you with confused eyes. Knowing her she probably got so excited about the chance of tasting new food she didn't even listen properly. You made a mental note to run trough it again with her once you returned back to your room.
"If the world knows that we want peace, maybe something will change", Armin said hopeful from where he controlled the train. The rest of you turned quiet.
"If only we had more time. I've only got just over five years left. We're gonna have to decide who inherits my titan soon...", Eren said and looked up at the rest of you. Every time you were reminded of the ticking clock of death just waiting inside Eren and Armin, you felt a pang of sadness in your chest. You wished there were something you could do to change their fate, but there truly was no way around it...
"I will", Mikasa eventually said.
"Not you. We still don't know what the Ackermans are. And won't it hurt any plans with Hizuru if you become a titan?", Jean argued.
"Then who will?", Mikasa asked him challenging.
"Me", Jean pointed towards himself using his thumb. "First of all, I'm way smarter than Eren. Instead of a suicidal maniac, you'll have a gifted leader who shows good judgement in all situations. In other words; me", Jean argued confident. "I hate getting an Eren hand-me-down, but who better than me?".
"Someone that amazing we don't wanna lose in 13 years", Marco said giving Jean a look.
"—moron", Connie added.
"Huh?!", Jean exclaimed.
"You should aim to be a regiment leader, Jean", Marco defended his point. "You've always been the leader type, I've always told you this. If it comes down to it, I'll inherit the titan...", he said with a sigh, but his expression was determined. You quickly shot him a look, no way in hell you'd want him to shorten his life like that.
"No, I'll do it", you offered, in a hurry to aim the attention over at your proposition rather than Marco's. He shot you the same type of look and you knew he felt the same as you. You did your best to keep your eyes on the others, knowing looking at Marco right now would break you. "I naturally adjust to new situations and tasks quickly. It makes sense", you continued pleading your case.
"Again, that is exactly the type of people we need in the Scouts for the long run", Connie said, crossing his arms. "I'll inherit Eren's titan. It works out good, right Eren?". Connie looked over at Eren and smiled. Eren looked at him with a gentle expression.
"Connie..."
"That's no good at all. You're an idiot", Sasha said intensely.
"Eh?"
"Don't 'eh' me. We can't leave such an important role up to an idiot"
"Eh?". Connie seemed genuinely surprised and confused.
"Daggone it... I'll inherit it", Sasha said reluctant, scratching her head. "I've got combat experience... I'm someone you can trust... By process of elimination, it's gotta be me", her voice became more confident as she spoke.
"You guys...", Eren said looking down.
"I dun wanna. I sure dun wanna though", Sasha said stressed, and you knew whenever she started slipping back into the dialect of her village- she was truly in distress.
"Wait, huh? Isn't that weird?", Connie asked her with raised brows.
"What?"
"Well, you know... You said an idiot's not fit for the role..."
"Hmm?", Sasha's face scrunched together in confusion.
"You're more of an idiot than I am, so you're contradicting yourself"
"Eh?"
"Eh?
You all watched the two stare each other down, and Eren took a deep breath in.
"I don't want any of you to inherit it", he then said, and you all looked over at him.
"Why not?"
"Because you're important to me. More than anyone else", Eren admitted sincere, looking down. "So, I want you to have long lives...". You could see it on his face and hear it on his voice that he found it hard to be this sincere towards you. You smiled happy, watching as a faint blush covered his cheeks. In fact, everyone was fighting the burning feeling in their faces after the emotional remark.
"Huh?! What are you turning red for?! The hell kinda mood is this?!", Jean exclaimed once he noticed Eren's reddened face.
"Sorry", Eren mumbled.
"Jean, it's the sunset. It's making our faces red", Armin said calmly with a smile to defuse the sudden tension.
"Oh. Yeah, nothing we can do about the sun I guess", Jean said fixing his hat so no one would see the blush appearing on his face, that you in fact had already taken a notice to. You rolled your eyes at your friends' incapability of showing emotions like these. You were not at all as shy about your feelings as the others all of a sudden seemed to be.
You looked over at Mikasa, noticing her exchange of looks with Eren as they both blushed at each other with gentle expressions. Your eyes widened and you quickly picked up a tiny pebble laying on the bottom of the cart. You threw it at the back of Armin's head.
"Ugh", he quietly exclaimed flabbergasted, reaching for the sore spot all while turning to look at you. As you had hoped, Armin's reaction didn't seem to have disrupted the moment Eren and Mikasa was currently having. You stared him down while subtly motioning towards the pair with your head. His eyes widened as well before a little smile creeped up on his face.
You and Armin had often times discussed the nature of Eren and Mikasa's relationship, especially whenever they would do something like this. It was both of yours' hope the two would figure it out, but they were both quite stubborn people so you weren't sure you could trust them to realise it or make any moves anytime soon.
~
"Hey Armin! Would you maybe want to cut your hair?", you asked him once you got back to HQ. He seemed surprised.
"M-my hair?"
"Yeah! I've been practising a bit trimming Jean and Marco's hair; Eren won't let me... Maybe it's time for an updated look? But it's your call", you smiled. He thought about it for a moment, grabbing a chunk of hair between his fingers.
"O-okay", he finally said. "Let's do it", an excited smile was present on his face. Thrilled, you grabbed his hand and dragged him along with you towards a common room the scouts rarely ever used for some reason. It wasn't all that big, which is probably why it wasn't the best when it came to large groups of people gathering.
"The others are going to be shocked once they see it! Let's reveal it to them in mess hall later tonight before bed!", you said excited, plopping Armin down on a chair. "I'm just going to grab the stuff I need, I'll be right back, don't go anywhere", you stretched out your arms in front of you as you backed away towards the door. Armin looked nervous but flashed you a smile.
"I'll stay, don't worry", he said sheepishly, and you ran to gather your supplies.
...
Fifteen minutes later you finally felt finished with the cut and trim. You had given him a nice undercut and the rest of the hair was significantly shorter. It complimented his face shape extremely well.
"Armin!", you said wonderstruck.
"What?", he asked you stressed, mistaking your expression for a terror-stricken one. You were quick to calm him down.
"No, no, no, it's nothing bad! You look handsome! It suits you really well!". Armin turned flustered by the compliment, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.
"You think so?"
"Uh, yeah!", you said confidently, quickly holding up a handheld mirror so he could see it for himself.
"Wow, I actually really like it! You did a good job", he said after examining it from all angles.
"Let's go show the others! I told Sasha to get them and meet us there around this time!", you pulled him up from his chair and lead him towards mess hall. There wouldn't be too many Scouts there at this time as it was late enough in the evening. You wouldn't want to embarrass Armin or anything. As you opened the vast doors and entered the room, you spotted all of your friends sitting by your usual table, waiting.
Turning around at the sound of the doors they all gaped slightly noticing Armin shyly walking beside you.
"Armin!", was all Sasha managed to say as she eyed the fresh cut.
"You guys like it?", he mustered the courage to ask them after they continued to stare at him.
"Hell yeah!"
"It suits you so well, Armin!"
"It's very nice"
"I told you so", you whispered smugly and nudged him lightly on the arm, to which he responded with a smile. You all turned around again as you heard the doors open once more.
"Oh, good! You're all here!", Hange exclaimed excited, behind her Moblit and Onyankopon were carrying something you've never seen before, Levi and Yelena walking in behind them. "There's something Yelena and Onyankopon wanted to—", she stopped. "Hey Armin, I love what you've done to your hair!", she said amazed, distracted from what she was originally saying.
"Hange...", Levi brought her back to reality.
"Oh! Right!". Armin smiled at her shyly. "As I was saying, Yelena and Onyankopon brought something fun, and I thought some of you might be intrigued by it!". Moblit and Onyankopon placed it down on a table.
"It's a gramophone. It allows you to listen to recorded music. The sound comes out of the top here, and you use these vinyl plates to play songs", Yelena explained casually, pointing at the different parts of the contraption. You all looked at it confused?
"That thing plays music? Non-live music?", you asked in disbelief.
"Yeah". Hange got a wild look on her face, inching closer to the machine, urging Moblit to ready his notebook for when Yelena would start the demonstration. You moved closer too, intently watching as Yelena gently grabbed a vinyl and placed it on a flat part of the machine. She then moved a piece that had a tiny needle at the end of it, placing it at the edge of the vinyl.
Low and behold, the sweet sound of music rung out from the top of the gramophone.
(Optional: Play more than a woman by Bee Gees)
"The needle follow these small tracks engraved into the vinyl, and voilà, music"; she explained, raising her arms up in the air in a theatrical manner.
Even the genre of music playing was something you've never heard before, the usual brass music played during festivals or ceremonies here on the island sounding simple in comparison.
As Hange continued to bombard Yelena and Onyankopon with questions, Moblit being a champ and scribbling it all down as fast as he could, you turned around with an amazed look, noticing Sasha and Connie had stood up to move along to the groove of the song in the open space in the middle of mess hall. You laughed slightly, watching them have fun together, feeling a warm hand grab yours. You looked up and meet those gentle brown eyes you love so dearly. He gave you a smile, leading you along towards the space Connie and Sasha were currently occupying.
With soft but precise movements, he pulled you in close and started swaying along to the rhythm, letting go to spin you around every now and then. You giggled as the whole experience had your stomach fill up with fluttering butterflies. Jean and Armin had also joined in eventually; even Mikasa did- well, kind of- after Sasha physically dragged her up from her chair. Other Scouts who originally just sat and observed or just walked into the room, also joined the fun after watching the thrilled expression on all of yours' faces.
Around four different songs had been played, and Marco went to dance with Sasha as she wanted someone to spin her around too, claiming Connie did it wrong. You looked over at Eren sitting quietly in his seat, just observing the scene that had unfolded. You thought about how distant he has been as of late, feeling sad realising you had watched that light in his eyes that used to be so clear- so prominent, fade with time... You wanted it back. You needed it back. Eagerly, you walked over to him.
"Wanna dance?" you asked with a smile and an outstretched hand. He looked at your hand for a moment before looking up to meet your gaze. He sighed, and shook his head slightly. You felt your hand twitch at the rejection, but refused to let it falter.
"Come on Eren. We don't have to do it for long. I just want you to loosen up a bit and enjoy yourself. You've been so tense lately...". Eren just looked at you with a gentle expression. "C'mon, it's the last thing I'll ever ask of you, okay? Come have some fun". His gentle expression softened even more, however, he still shook his head no. You sighed, letting your hand fall before giving him a sweet smile.
"Okay, I won't force you; But I'm right here if you change your mind", you nudged his shoulder playfully and he gave you a little smile and a nod in return.
The unplanned dance festivity lasted the entire evening, the open floor packed with dancing people, entertained and fascinated by this little contraption being able to play such exciting new music. Even Hange joined in, dancing with Moblit before accepting Onyankopon's offer to dance. You weren't dancing when Hange and Onyankopon did, making you able to draw the two in your sketchbook.
...
Your body felt utterly sore once your retired back to your rooms for the evening, the building of the train track followed by the dancing leaving your body in an exhausted state. You and Sasha decided to curl up in bed together- and this time, even Mikasa joined you; making it the third time all three of you had a sleepover like this together. You weren't sure what prompted her to join you, but didn't push her to give you a reason; both you and Sasha welcoming her with open arms.
Y/N's drawing:
___________________
A/N:
Here was a long chapter for ya!
Okay, definitely one of my favourite chapters up to date- it was so fun to write!
I literally wrote this and the next chapter in the course of 24 hours, and contemplated waiting to post this but I was too excited to just keep it in the drafts hahah. Just you guys wait for the next chapter tho, that one I think tops this one with ease🙌🏻
I know More Than a Woman is from the 70s/80s, but let's pretend music history doesn't exist for a second, lol. I got inspired to write the part with the gramophone after seeing that TikTok saying Jean would dance around the kitchen with you to that exact song, and immediately pictured Marco dancing to it too. And I felt it kinda fit considering the volunteers introduce the people of Paradis to a lot of new technology and inventions:)
I hope you enjoyed this light-hearted chapter! Have an amazing day!<3
Enjoy this low quality shot of Armin chasing Sasha<3
~Jen