Chapter 1: Prologue

"She paints her fingers with a close precision. She starts to notice empty bottles of gin; and takes a moment to assess the sin she's paid for." -Brendon Urie (P!ATD)

A new mother draped in hospital gowns cradles an infant. But not just any ordinary baby; her first ever baby. The pink blanket nearly disguised her porcelain face. Mumbles and babbles played from the child like music to the new guardian's ears. Her eyes were grey fused with violet irises. Her hair as black as midnight and her skin pale as snow from a painted landscape.

"Welcome to the world, Mikasa Ackerman. Our precious little angel!" the mother, Akane, whispered with tears of happiness escaping her eyes.

The father, Herrick Ackerman, cradled both his wife and new daughter in his muscular arms. "Don't worry, Mikasa. We may not be perfect parents, but we'll try our damnedest to keep you safe, warm and happy." he assured the babbling little girl.

"Herrick! Language!"

"Sorry, Akane. I'll watch my tongue around the little one."

The doctor and nurse quietly stepped in, admiring the newlywed couple before handing over the birth certificate and other important documents in a folder.

"Well, the tests results came back with quite healthy results." the doc insured the couple, shifting his glasses up his nose with his middle and index finger. "She's as healthy as a spring chicken, Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman. She's probably one of the happiest babies I've ever delivered in my 15 years at working in this hospital."

"Thank you, Doctor. We really appreciate your help." Akane smiled.

Mikasa dribbled noises from her tiny lips and nibbled on her mother's pearl necklace that Herrick had gotten her as a wedding gift. Her small toes peeking from the soft fabric of the pink blanket. "Aww! She's trying to talk to us!" the soft-spoken mother cooed. "What is it? Come on, you can tell us!" Herrick added, grinning. Akane then wrapped Mikasa's small form up before handing her to her husband and getting into her wheelchair to be checked out of the hospital.

As they got into the car and began their drive home, Baby Mikasa was strapped in the car seat, looking in astonishment outside her window. She "oohed" at passing cars, "awed" at the tall buildings, and gasped at the bustling citizens trying to make it to work or go to school. She wasn't even a week-old and she already started appreciating the world around her.

Herrick and Akane only giggled at her behavior.

Five Years Later…

Mikasa, now age four, was growing up seemingly like how any child would. She was physically healthy with only the occasional allergies brought on by the shifting of the seasons and only got chicken pox once. She ate right, went outside almost daily, and loved her parents to the moon and back.

However, both Akane and Herrick notice their daughter's behavior and habits. She often performed very repetitive movements such as rocking back and forth and fidgeting with her fingers. Mikasa struggled with eye contact since she was two and although she could talk, she almost never locked eyes with the person she was referring to. One day, Akane caught her banging her head against a wall because she lost her teddy bear she got as a birthday gift.

"Mikasa, stop!" the worried mother cried, picking her child up and cradling her over her chest. She shushed the little girl and cradled her, but the crying still came. "Herrick, start the car! We need to go to the hospital now! What if she has a concussion?!"

Herrick nodded and assisted his wife in placing Mikasa in the car seat booster. They put their seat belts on and drove as quick as they could to the emergency room. As soon as they got there, the doctor's took Mikasa in due to Akane yelling the receptionist after she wasn't being very cooperative. As a mother, you'd do anything to make sure your child would be okay.

The two sat in the waiting room and they started worrying more and more the longer their baby was in one of the ER rooms. "I...I didn't know what to do!" Akane started, letting a few tears waterfall down her cheeks. "I just saw her...hitting her head because she was upset. I thought she hurt herself! I feel like I failed as a mom…"

Herrick shushed his wife when she said those series of sentences. "No! This isn't your fault!" He replied, stroking his wife's long black hair and hugging her. "You did what you thought was right. I would have done the same if I was in your shoes. Mikasa loves you. She loves us both. And I'm sure she's fine."

Akane wiped away a few tears and rested her head on her husband's shoulder. After an hour and a half of waiting, the doctor, named Grisha Jaeger, emerged from the ER doors, holding a clipboard and shifting his glasses. "Well, I have both good news and bad news." he began.

The teary-eyed mother immediately stood from her seat, gathering herself for the results. "Better start with the good news."

"Well, Mikasa does not have a concussion. Just a light bruise on her head."

The couple sighed in relief, wiping away some sweat from their temples. "However, we ran some tests in the meantime. We gathered her symptoms such as lack of eye contact, fidgeting, no response to her name, and delayed speech. We believe she has aspergers syndrome or autism."

The couple didn't seem horrified, but rather curious as to how Grisha came to the conclusion that Mikasa has autism.

"It's not severe though." he continued, reading and summarizing from his clipboard. "She's still physically healthy. Autism is a neurological condition that affects human development in the brain. She'll have stiff body language, repetitive movement, and struggle with eye contact, but she's somewhere in the middle of said spectrum."

The doc then shows them a spectrum chart and he circles the middle with red Sharpie.

Akane looks at him and confidently and said, "It doesn't matter what my daughter has. She'll still be loved by her family and we'll do everything we can for her."

"Yes." Herrick continued. "She's still our little girl. Can...we see her?"

"Of course. I'll instruct my one of my nurses to bring her out. She can go home now" Grisha asked a nurse, who was in her 20's with red hair, to bring out their child. When Mikasa first saw her mommy and daddy, she made a mad dash into their embrace and trembled with all her life.

"MOMMY, DADDY! T-They...They poked me! They took a biiiiiigggg needle and...and...got me right there!" she cried, pointing at her left arm close to her shoulder.

"It's okay, love." Akane coddled. "You're fine. In fact, your just perfect. How about we go get you an ice cream and watch a movie together?" Mikasa gasped and nodded her head excitedly. "'Kay, Mommy! I-I like strawberry!"

The little girl left with her parents, jumping with anticipation for her favorite strawberry frozen treat.

About two weeks later, Akane thought Mikasa would need a friend. Someone who would play with her and watch over her, kinda like a guardian angel. It's true that Mikasa sometimes preferred to play alone, but even she was lonely from time to time. Akane dialed her best friend, Carla and waited as the phone rang for her to pick up.

"Hello?" the muffled voice from the phone spoke.

"Hello, Carla! This is Akane!"

"Akane! It's you! It's been forever since we talked! How's little Mikasa?" Carla nearly squealed.

"Mikasa's fine. Hey listen, I was wondering if you and your son, Eren, would like to come on over. The kids could have a little playdate while we catch up!"

"Oh sure! I'd love that! We'll be right over!"

"Wait...right now?" Akane giggled.

"Of course! That is, if I can get Eren more than 2 steps away from his TV. He plays so many video games, it's not even funny. He brings his 3DS to pre-school and the teacher always takes it away because he plays it in class."

Suddenly, in the background, a four year-old boy, called Eren, heard what his mother said and blushed in embarrassment. "Mom! You're embarrassing me!" he whined. "I don't always get it taken awa-" "Eren, shush! We're on our way, Akane."

Akane hung up and went back to straightening up the kitchen for the company.

Forty-five minutes later, Mikasa was arranging her plush toys from tallest to shortest in a row. She would often be seen doing this with her other toys like arranging them in an organized rainbow or by highest to lowest number. Suddenly, she heard the doorbell ring and she got up to peek from her bedroom door. A lady wearing her hair down with a scrunchie walked in with her husband, who wore glasses and slightly long hair and their brunette son who wore a Deadpool t-shirt with jacket and red scarf, khaki pants, and was heavily into his 3DS playing Pokemon.

Akane and Herrick greeted them with respect and offered them refreshments. "Good to see you, Carla! You look amazing!" she said.

"Thank you, Akane!" Carla smiled. "Eren, this is Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman. Say hello."

"Hello." Eren said flatly, trying to focus on his game. He was pretty close to catching a Jigglypuff.

Mikasa exited her room and quietly snuck behind her mommy, hiding behind her skirt and trembling shyly.

Akane only smiled at her. "Mikasa, This is Mr. and Mrs. Jaeger and their son, Eren. Don't be shy; just say hello!"

Mikasa gulped and gathered all her courage, trying to say hello. "H-Hello…" she mumbled, still struggling to make eye contact.

Carla bent down and smiled at the shy autistic girl. "It's very nice to meet you, Mikasa!" Grisha nodded and greeted her the same way. "I assume you remember me? We met a few times when you were much younger."

Mikasa only nodded and gripped her mommy's long skirt more. Eren finally looked up from his game and put it away to say hello. "Hi. Mikasa, right?"

Again, she only nodded, but when she heard how soft his voice was, she eased herself from behind the safety of her mother and fidgeted her hands. In return, Eren blushed, but still tried to engage in small talk with her. "Umm...I gotta cool Pokemon game on my 3DS. And...I can't catch a Jigglypuff. So...do you wanna play it with me?" he asked embarrassingly, but really wanted to play with her.

Mikasa looked at his tiny console and back at him. "Y-Yes. I..I want to play." she said in a singsong fashion. The two kids rushed outside and they sat on the porch, playing the game.

As they played, Eren engaged in even smaller talk with her. "So...my mom tells me you have autism. What's that?" He asked. He wasn't trying to sound ignorant. In fact, he just wanted to get to know her. Mikasa looked down at her hands and spoke. "M-My brain...develops different...i-it's hard...to talk to people. But, 's okay. Because I have my mommy and daddy to help me and...love me."

"Does it hurt?"

"N-No, silly! It's not….painful. But...I'm gonna always have it. Mommy says...it's okay to be uni...uni..unik!"

"You mean unique?"

"Yeah! N-No one's….the same!" she giggled and tagged his shoulder. "T-Tag you're it!"

Both children giggled and started to chase one another around the front yard. That is until Mikasa scraped her knee and Eren was quick on his feet to get her a band-aid. At 6:00 pm, it was time for Eren and his parents to go home.

"N-No! Don' go...I'll miss you too much…" Mikasa whimpered, fidgeting again. Eren smiled at her and placed his 3DS in her hand."You can borrow this until tomorrow afternoon." he said. "You helped me catch the Jigglypuff, maybe you can catch the Psyduck for me!"

Mikasa nodded and gave him a soft and gentle hug around his neck and watched as him and his family drove away.

From then on, their play dates were on Wednesdays and Fridays. The more time Eren and Mikasa spent with each other, the more Eren began to understand her and accept her for who she was, despite her personal challenges. He even bought her a Steven Universe Garnet plushie for her tenth birthday. And from that moment on, everything was perfect.

Then that moment ended. It was around 8:00 at night and Mikasa was fast asleep in her room, hugging said Garnet plush. Her room was way too dark at night, which made the shadows look like live frightening creatures, but she shrugged it off and drifted into a dreamless sleep. Suddenly, she heard the sound of glass breaking and doors bursting open.

Mikasa sprang out of bed to see what was the matter. She opened her door and walked down the short hallway. When she finally hid herself behind a pillar, she gasped when she saw two six foot-tall men dressed in black pointing guns at her parents.

"GIVE US EVERYTHING YOU OWN OR WE'LL SHOOT!" the one that looked like the leader yelled, cocking his AK-47 with a dead-eyed glare.

Herrick shielded Akane behind him and stood as confidently as he could. "W-What do you want from us?! Just leave us alone!" he said. But before he could do anything, the other man, who was wielding just a typical handgun, pulled the trigger and shot Herrick in the head. Mikasa gasped and started to shake more that she ever did. "D-Daddy…" she whispered.

Akane heard Mikasa's whisper and acted on impulse immediately. She grabbed the nearest sharp object, i.e. a letter opener, and went to attack both men. "MIKASA, RUN! NOW!" she shouted.

"B-But mommy...I'm scared…"

"I WANT YOU TO BE SCARED! GO NOW! CALL THE POLI-" another gunshot went off, causing Akane to drop to the floor with a bullet in her heart. Both parents were dead right in front of the frightened girl's eyes. The leader of both men saw Mikasa and approached her with a menacing sly grin.

"I wonder how much people would pay for an oriental like you…" he snickered, slapping her face to the ground. All Mikasa could do was lay there frozen and rock back and forth. He only continued to taunt her. "You stupid or something? Pathetic."

But before he could do anything else to tease her, a sudden screaming could be heard bursting through the doorway. When the leader turned back around,his partner was dead, knife in his skull. By the time he knew what was happening, he was then knocked out with a shovel.

Mikasa looked up and saw her savior to be none other than Eren Jaeger himself. He heard the gunshots from two houses down, so he figured it was Mikasa's house, but didn't want to be right. She was so happy to see him, she practically tackled him into a hug. "EREN! I-I was...so scared! M-My mommy...and daddy….they...they…" Eren could only hug her back and stroke her long black hair. "Shhh….it's okay, Mikasa. I'm here. They won't hurt you. Let's get out of here!"

As soon as the cops arrived, Mikasa was standing in the front yard of her home while Eren was getting an earful from his father. "Do you have any idea how reckless you were?! You could have been killed!" Grisha started.

"Sorry, Dad. But I won't apologize for what I did! She could have been killed too!" Eren argued.

"I understand your intentions and yes, you're very strong, but you can't just run into the battlefield like that! What would your mother think?!"

Eren's voice softened. "But...how else was I supposed to save her….?

Grisha opened his mouth to say more, but was at a loss for words. He then shifts his focus to Mikasa. "Mikasa, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Mikasa was still trembling from what happened ten minutes ago. She didn't look up, but delayed her response a little. "N-N-No. Dr. Jaeger….so...w-where do I go now…? I-It's cold...I'm tired…"

Eren felt awful for what she had witnessed. If he were in her shoes, he'd probably feel the same way; sad, cold, and alone. He finally worked up some courage, took off his red scarf, and wrapped it around her neck gently. "Don't worry; you can keep it. That'll keep you warm, right?"

Mikasa stared at Eren in surprise before looking at the red scarf that was now in her possession. She covered half her face with it, feeling quite comfortable. "I...think so.." she mumbled.

"Mikasa," Grisha stated. "Why don't you live with us? We have plenty of room for you. We'll get you everything you need."

"What?" she whimpered. "I-I don't know...w-what if I burden all of you and...and you'd have to k-kick me out…?"

"We won't." Eren interjected. "I promise. Don't think about it: just come on. We gotta go home."

Mikasa teared up, overjoyed at Eren's kindness "O-Okay...home."