Memories

Warning for character death

Eren sped through the forest, urging his horse to go faster as another scream echoed around him. Mikasa, Mikasa, was screaming. He urged his horse on again, near to tears.

The light stung as his eyes slightly as he came out of the forest. There, on the ground, was Mikasa. Armin and Jean were with her, with Captain Levi standing a little way away. Eren climbed off his horse quickly and rushed over to her, taking her hand.

"Mika. Mika, I'm here." He squeezed her hand desperately as she coughed slightly. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her face.

"Eren, you shouldn't run into fights all the time. You'll just end up hurt." Mikasa said gently, washing the blood off the side of his face down by the river.

"Quit treating me like such a baby all the time! They insulted the Scouts."

"You should pick which battle you'll enter. Ones like this you'll never win." She sighed gently, bandaging his head. "Sorry I can't make it less obvious to your mum, but at least there's no blood on your clothes."

Mikasa wasn't in the best shape. The girl worth a hundred soldiers that everyone else saw was bruised and battered with blood seeping through her uniform from injuries she'd never recover from. Eren hung his head slightly, biting back his tears.

"You're going to tell Mum aren't you?"

Mikasa shrugged, skimming a stone idly. "I won't if you don't want me to. But you should tell your parents yourself Eren."

"Like they'd react well to that." He muttered, trying to copy her and just throwing the stone in.

She guided his hands gently. "Like this. Try to get low. A flatter stone will be better for skimming."

Eren squeezed her hand again and her eyes fluttered open, searching for him. She smiled weakly when she saw him,opening her mouth to talk.

"Don't talk Mika." Eren said quickly, voice cracking. Armin and Jean moved away from him to give them some privacy. "You'll just hurt yourself."

She smiled, coughing blood up. "Isn't that my line?"

Women within Wall Sina bought expensive sticks to colour their lips red, and if they fought, they wouldn't need them. Or want them red ever again. Eren thought about this dryly as he rubbed the back of Mikasa's hand with his thumb.

"Eren," Mikasa unwrapped her scarf shakily, passing it to him. "Thank you for saving me and giving me a reason to fight."

Mikasa leaned against Eren as his father took them both to Shinganshina. She was almost icy to the touch and Eren carefully rubbed her shoulder.

"Eren?"

"Yes Mikasa?"

"Thank you for saving me." She said softly.

"Thank you for saving me too." He smiled at her in the most reassuring way he could.

"I'll always save you Mikasa. And I'll wrap this scarf around you as many times as you need me to." Eren said through his tears, the hand he was holding going limp.

Eren hugged Mikasa to him, crying into her shoulder. Crying for both of their lost childhoods. Crying for all the times he pushed her away and she stubbornly came back. Crying because she was too young to die. Crying because once again, he couldn't save someone he loved.

"She's in a better place now." Levi said, sitting down next to Eren. "And don't beat yourself up about it. I can see in your eyes you blame yourself. A titan killed her. Not you. She knows you care about her. Are you going to let her death be meaningless?"

Eren let her go gently and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. He sat up and put her scarf on, saluting her body once more before he left, wiping away his tears.

Mikasa Ackerman. Aged 16. Died in battle.May her memory live on in those whose lives she saved.

I don't own AoT.