AUTHOR'S POV:
It had been one week since Mikasa got a second chance and started living with Eren and his family.
And now, she couldn't be more happier.
Although she put up an emotionless expression most of the time, she couldn't help but smile at all the affection and care she gets by her new family again.
Carla adored her as her real daughter.
As per Eren, he got along with Mikasa well.
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Currently, it was morning.
After having breakfast, Eren was taking a nap on the couch while Mikasa was making a doll, sitting at the dinner table.
After some moments, Eren began to twist and turn in his sleep while tears started to roll down his face.
Mikasa glanced at him and slightly gasped.
She quickly went towards Eren and started shaking his shoulder. "Eren! Wake up! Eren!"
Hearing the commotion, Carla entered the room and approached them.
"Mikasa?" Carla called out. Then she glanced at Eren and approached him. "Eren?"
"Aunt Carla." Mikasa called out and turned to Carla. "Eren seems to have a nightmare."
Carla nodded and began to shake Eren's shoulder. "Eren! Wak-"
Suddenly, Eren shot opened his eyes. "Stop!" He yelled in distress while sitting up.
Carla flinched and stepped back while Mikasa grew concerned.
Eren sat there, breathing heavily while tears rolled down his face.
Carla quickly held Eren's shoulders. "Eren? Eren?"
Eren turned to Carla and his widened.
Without any warning, he quickly hugged his mother. "Mom..."
Carla hugged him back tightly, confused. "Eren? Are you ok? Did you have a nightmare?"
After a moment, Eren calm down. "I saw... a titan was... picking you up from the ground, Mom..."
Mikasa gasped. 'Did he saw the future in his nightmare or it's the memories of the past...?'
Carla keeping rubbing Eren's back. "It's ok, Eren. It was just a nightmare."
Eren too believed that it was just a nightmare.
But he couldn't help but feel like...
'...it wasn't just a nightmare...' Eren thought.
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Mikasa furrowed her eyebrows. 'There is no way I'll let Aunt Carla die this time.'
After a few moments, Eren pulled away from the hug and wiped his tears.
Silence fell upon them for some moments.
Carla smiled. "Eren, why don't you take Mikasa to your favourite spot?" She turned to Mikasa. "Mikasa, do you want to go with Eren?"
Mikasa smiled a bit and nodded.
Carla turned to Eren. "Ok Eren. You should go now."
Eren nodded and stood up.
Then, he went towards the sink and washed his face with water.
He turned to Mikasa and smiled. "Let's go, Mikasa." He went towards the door.
Mikasa nodded and followed Eren.
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Their walk towards Wall Maria was silent.
Once they were at the entrance of Wall Maria, Eren turned to Mikasa with a smile.
He pointed towards the lone tree, looking at Mikasa. "Let's race towards that tree, Mikasa." He turned around and took off running.
Mikasa smiled and ran off behind him slowly for obvious reasons.
Then she began to wonder...
'Is this the same Eren who started the Rumbling and...?' Mikasa thought. 'Was he always like that? Or something in him snapped?' She let out a sigh. 'Regardless of it, I won't let Eren do those things this time... I'd rather run away with him than letting him commit genocide...'
With many more thoughts, she arrived and stopped before the tree.
Eren had already sat up under it.
'This is where I was going to bury Eren...' Mikasa let out a sigh, looking at the tree.
"Mikasa! Why are you there?" Eren asked, looking at Mikasa. "Come here!"
Mikasa obliged.
She walked towards Eren and sat down beside him.
Silence fell upon them for some moments.
Eren turned to Mikasa. "Mikasa..."
Mikasa looked at him. "Hmm?"
"I know you you've been through a lot lately but..." Eren said. "I just don't like seeing you like this."
"Eh?" Mikasa said, confused. She lifted her scraf up a bit.
"I mean..." Eren said and let out a sigh. "I just... want you to smile and laugh. I could never imagine myself going through all of that but, well..." He looked away as he couldn't find necessary words.
Mikasa smiled and put her hand on Eren's. "You're telling me to smile more?"
Eren looked at her and smiled shyly. "Yeah... Something like that..."
Mikasa smiled brightly. "Ok Eren. I'll try to smile more from now."
"That's good." Eren said with a smile.
Silence fell upon them.
Eren looked to his right to see Campanula flowers dancing around in the wind.
He smiled and plucked one of it.
Then he turned to Mikasa and put it on her hair.
"Eh?" Mikasa said and touched the flower. "Campanula flower?" She smiled. "It's my favourite one."
"It looks good on you." Eren said and felt his heart beating faster.
Mikasa blushed. "Thank you."
Then an idea came to Eren's mind.
He took the flower off Mikasa's head.
"Eren?" Mikasa said, confused.
Eren grinned. "You want it?"
Mikasa innocently nodded.
Eren stood up. "Then take it from me!" He turned around and took off running.
Mikasa starred at him for a moment before laughing.
Then she stood up and chased Eren.
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Both of them kept running around for a few minutes, laughing and bickering.
After a few moments, Mikasa decided to end it.
So, she increased her speed.
Eren looked back and panicked. He increased his speed.
But, Mikasa caught him within a moment.
"Got you!" Mikasa said, holding Eren by his torso.
"How did... you... catch me... that easily?" Eren asked, breathing heavily.
Mikasa let go of him and shrugged her shoulders.
Eren turned to him. "You don't seem... to be tired either... You're so strong I guess."
Mikasa nodded with a smile.
Eren smiled. "Here." He put the flower on Mikasa's head again.
"Thank you." Mikasa said and turned to the tree. "Let's go there." She looked at Eren from her shoulder. "You need some rest."
Eren nodded.
Then, both of them walked towards the tree and once before it, they sat down.
Silence fell upon them for some moments.
Mikasa turned to Eren with a smile. "Thank you Eren."
Eren looked at her. "For?"
"For cheering me up." Mikasa said with a soft smile.
Eren blushed and smiled. "It's no problem..." Then a thought came to his mind. He smiled shyly. "Mikasa, I don't know if it's a good time to ask you this but... why did you say those things to me that day?"
"What things?" Mikasa asked, confused.
"The day we met, you said things like why I am going to leave you..." Eren said.
Mikasa gasped slightly. 'Ugh... How am I going to explain this...?'
Eren countinued. "...why I always go far away from you... why I said that I've always... hated you and things like that." He blushed and looked away. "And... why did you... kiss me...?"
Mikasa started to blush heavily. "Well..."
Eren looked at her with a smile. "It's ok if you don't want to answer it."
Mikasa nodded. "Well, I don't know what came over me that day that made me ramble all those things... and talking about the kiss... well..." She looked away, blushing. "That was a thank you kiss I guess."
"Oh..." Eren said and smiled shyly. "Well, you saved my life too. So, thank you, Mikasa."
Mikasa looked at him, smiling. "It's no problem, Eren. Besides, you were the one who gave me the strength to fight. So, thank you."
"I did?" Eren said, confused.
"Well, your words made me realise that..." Mikasa said. She let out a sigh and looked down. "The world is cruel..." She looked up at Eren and smiled. "But also beautiful."
Eren remained speechless, not knowing what to say. "Uh..."
After a moment of starring at eachother, Mikasa leaned forward and placed a small and soft kiss on Eren's cheek.
Eren's eyes widened. His heart began to beat faster while he blushed heavily. "Mikasa..."
Mikasa blushed and looked away. "S-Sorry..."
"Oh i-it's ok, Mikasa." Eren said, a bit embarassed.
Mikasa looked at him, smiling shyly and nodded, still blushing.
Then Eren looked at Mikasa's hand and noticed her bandaged wrist. He slowly held her hand and looked at Mikasa. "Are you hurt here?"
"Oh this." Mikasa said, looking at her wrist. "No, it's a..." She trailed off, not knowing what to say. 'I should just show it to him.'
"It's a...?" Eren said and let go her hand.
Mikasa slowly removed her bandage to reveal the Azumabito symbol in her wrist.
"What is this?" Eren asked, looking at the symbol with curiosity. He slowly traced it. "A tattoo?"
"This symbol was passed down to me from my mother." Mikasa said. "She said I should pass it on to my child."
"I see." Eren said and looked at Mikasa. "Then why are you hiding it?"
"She said to keep it a secret." Mikasa replied.
"Oh..." Eren said and glanced at her wrist. "It must be very important." He looked at her. "I'm sorry for asking."
"It's ok, Eren." Mikasa said and wrapped the bandage on her wrist again.
Silence fell upon them for some moments.
"I'm sorry for asking this but..." Eren said, looking at Mikasa. "Why do you look... different?"
Mikasa smiled a bit and looked ahead at the Wall. "My Mom once told me that people from different races and cultures used to live before the Walls were built." She looked at Eren. "My mother's side of the family were from a different race."
Eren nodded and looked at the Walls. "Before the Walls were built?"
"Yeah." Mikasa said and looked at the Walls.
"My friend Armin says that..." He pointed at the Walls. "...beyond these Walls, there exists a large body of salt water..." He looked at Mikasa. "...called 'sea'."
Mikasa smiled a bit, remembering Armin's dream of exploring ocean. "Really?"
Eren smiled. "Yeah. He is a good person. He reads a lot of books and is very intelligent too. He is the one who told me about all of these."
"I'd like to meet him." Mikasa said with a smile.
"Then we'll go visit him tomorrow." Eren said and looked back at the Walls. "Far beyond these walls, there exist stretch fiery waters, lands of ice and much more." He looked at Mikasa with a bright smile. "I'll join the Survey Corps and go beyond thes-" He stopped and his eyes widened at what he just said. "Please, don't tell anyone about my dream! Especially my Mom!"
"I can't promise that." Mikasa said, smiling.
"Oh Mikasa, please." Eren said. "My Mom will go above and beyond to stop me from joining the Survey Corps."
Mikasa giggled. "Ok Eren. I promise, I won't tell anyone."
Eren smiled. "Thank you."
Mikasa's smile dropped. "But Eren, why do you want to go to outside of the Walls? Won't there be titans over there?"
"I know. That's why I'll be joining the Survey Corps to build up necessary strength to defeat the titans." Eren said.
"But still, what if you get hurt?" Mikasa asked with worry.
Eren let out a sigh and looked at the Walls. "To be honest, I prefer to take the risk to explore the outside of the Walls than living inside these Walls."
"But why?" Mikasa asked.
Eren took a deep breath. "I used to spend every day just staring at the clouds and the sky. But then, I heard Armin's story and looked into his eyes." He smiled. "He was seeing an awesome dream." His smile dropped. "But... I had nothing. That's when I knew, I wasn't free." He looked at Mikasa. "It's like I'm trapped in a small cage in a huge world..." He furrowed his eyebrows. "...and my freedom is stolen by those logic-defining beings." He looked back at the Walls and clenched his fist. "When I realized that, I couldn't forgive them." He looked back at Mikasa.
"I see..." Mikasa said.
Eren looked back at the Walls. "On the other side of the sea is freedom..." His expression changed to monotonous. "...that's just what I believe."
Mikasa's eyes widened a bit at the similar words.
"But may be, I'm wrong..." Eren said monotonouly. "May be on the other side of the sea... are the enemies..."
"Huh?" Mikasa said.
Eren pointed at the Walls. "Hey. If we defeat all our enemies... over there... will we finally be free?"
Mikasa was just starring at Eren with a surprised expression. 'Have his memories blended together? If I remember correctly, this is what he said when we saw the sea for the first time.'
Mikasa let out a sigh and put her hand on his shoulder. "Eren...?"
Eren gasped and came back to his senses. He turned to Mikasa. "Huh?"
"Are you ok?" Mikasa's asked with concern.
Then, Eren felt a headache. "Ugh!" He held his head and squeezed his eyes shot.
"Eren?" Mikasa said with concern, holding his shoulders. "Are you having a headache again?"
"Yes..." Eren replied. "I don't know what is happening to me lately..." He took a deep breath and removed his hand. "I don't know why I said those things earlier. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's ok, Eren." Mikasa said and took her hand back.
Eren just nodded and looked ahead.
Silence fell upon them for some moments.
"Eren, can I ask you something?" Mikasa asked, looking at Eren.
Eren looked at her. "Hmm?"
"Will you still go to outside of the Walls if it'll cost the lives of thousands of innocent people?" Mikasa asked.
"What kind of question is that, Mikasa?" Eren asked, confused. "Why would innocent people be involved?"
"I... don't know." Mikasa said. "But what if if they get involved? Would you still want to be freed?"
"No..." Eren replied. "I won't want them to lose their lives and freedom." He looked at the Walls. "So, I'd prefer to lose mine instead."
'So, he wasn't always like that?' Mikasa let out a sigh. 'Then what prompted him to commit genocide?'
Eren let out a yawn and felt his eyelid getting heavier.
Mikasa looked at him and smiled. "Feeling sleepy already?"
"Yeah..." Eren replied and looked at her. "That nightmare ruined my nap." He laid down under the tree and closed his eyes. "Wake me up if it's lunch time already."
Mikasa giggled a bit. "Okay."
"Hm..." Eren said and dozed off to sleep.
Mikasa just starred at the sleeping Eren with a smile.
Slowly, she reached out and began to stroke Eren's head.
After some moments of stroking Eren's head, he started to snore lightly.
'How much I wanted Bertolt to not breach Shiganshina.' Mikasa thought with a saddened expression. 'May be we could have a normal and happy childhood if it weren't for them...' She let out a sigh and looked down at Eren, continuing to stroke his hair. 'Poor Eren. After 6 years, he's going to carry the responsibility of whole Paradis...' She looked at the Walls. 'He might blame himself for everyone's death too... I just have to keep Eren away from those thoughts...' She looked down at Eren. 'I don't know how I'm going to do it but I'll do anyhow...'
She smiled. "This time, I won't turn you down, Eren... Rather, I'll be the one to confess my feelings to you in the distance future..."
After a few minutes, Mikasa fell asleep too.
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A few hours passed by.
Mikasa slowly opened her eyes. "Ugh..." She rubbed her eyes and looked around. 'How many hours was I asleep for...?' She looked down at Eren and smiled. 'Home...' She caressed his cheek. 'I should wake him up now.'
She began to shake Eren's shoulder. "Eren, wake up! We should head home now!"
Eren groaned and slowly opened his eyes to see Mikasa.
He slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Mikasa..." He looked at her with confusion. "Since when your hair got longer?"
Mikasa's eyes widened a bit. "Huh? I always have long hair, Eren." She smiled. "You were sleeping tight enough to spout that kind of nonsense upon waking up?"
"Uh..." Eren said and yawned. "It feels like I just had a long dream..."
"Oh..." Mikasa said. 'Long dream...?'
Eren let out a sigh and stood up. "Let's head home, Mikasa. I'm hungry now."
Mikasa nodded and stood up.
Then, they headed towards their home.
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The person dreaming watched helplessly as a titan with a grin brought Hannes toward its mouth.
Then the Smiling Titan opened its mouth while Hannes was kicking his legs and struggling as they were almost between its teeth.
Then, the smiling Titan bit Hannes's lower half.
Splatters of his blood flew over in the air.
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Eren woke up with a gasped while tears were rolling down his face.
He began to breathe heavily.
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He was on the floor of his room and it was midnight.
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"Eren..." Mikasa softly called out, kneeling beside Eren. "You are crying. Did you have another nightmare?" She caressed his back.
Eren looked at her. "Mikasa..." He held his head and looked down while tears continued to roll down his face. "Why Mikasa? Why am I seeing people closer to me die in my dreams?"
Mikasa's eyes widened.
"First Mom and now that drunk Garrison soilder Hannes-san." Eren said. "Why? Are all of these going to happen? No, it can't be..."
Mikasa suddenly embraced Eren and patted his back. "Don't worry Eren. It's just a nightmare, ok? None of these will happen."
Eren hugged her back while tears continued to roll down his face.
Both of them stayed in that position for some moments.
Mikasa pulled away from the hug. "Eren, come, sleep on the bed."
"No, it's ok, Mikasa." Eren said.
"No it's not, Eren." Mikasa said. "You're having nightmares." She stood up and held Eren's hand. "Come on, Eren. Let me comfort you too."
Eren hesitantly nodded and stood up.
Both of them went to the bed and layed down, facing opposite directions.
"Don't think much about those nightmares." Mikasa said. "The more you think about them, the more they'll come."
"I know, Mikasa..." Eren quitely said.
Mikasa smiled. "Goodnight Eren."
Eren smiled. "Goodnight."
After some moments, Eren fell asleep while Mikasa was still awake.
'Are those really future memories or just the memories of the past...?' Mikasa wondered. 'It must be the latter. He doesn't remember anything from the past but gets nightmares about some particular moments. So, these are definitely not future memories.' She furrowed her eyebrows. 'There is no way I'll let those two die this time. I know when Bertolt will break Shiganshina gate. So, it'll be easier to save Aunt Carla this time.' She yawned. 'I should sleep now...' She closed her eyes.
After some moments, she felt Eren twisting and turning beside her.
Mikasa turned to Eren. "Eren?" She shook him. "Eren?"
Eren didn't wake up.
Mikasa let out a sigh and started stroking Eren's hair.
After some moments, it calmed Eren down.
Mikasa smiled as she felt Eren stopped twisting but she didn't stop stroking his head.
"Goodnight... My most beloved and my dear..."
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