This is a request a friend asked me for a writing meme of mini-fics in tumblr; it was supposed to be a mini-fic, but in the end I wrote a long one-shot, so I had to simplify the other one…

This is the complete story.

(OneShot; post-series in the Outside World) The night they decided to take a walk and leave the camp, Eren and Mikasa started being hunted by a group of monstrous creatures similar to bats, and both had to hide in a subterranean cave only Mikasa knew. There, both would be about lose into darkness, but they would find a warm comfort on each other; a warmth they hadn't felt before.

When Eren saw the savagely quartered corpse of that deer on the snowy blanket of the floor of that forest, he went back running to the place Mikasa was waiting for him. Accidentally, Eren had touched the corpse, so he'd his right hand stained of blood and not a long time after he started hearing growls and hasty movements approaching to him, as if those movements were wingbeats.

The true hunt started when Eren arrived where Mikasa was, because at the same time he arrived, those creatures pounced on them of a sudden way and they finally could see the true appearance of the creatures had hunted Eren moments ago: those were the most horrible and bigger bats they could've ever seen on their lifetimes; the legs were longer than the normal bats used to have and the claws looked frightening because every claw had the form of the hooks perfectly sharpened, and so the prominent claws which stick out from their wings did, which wings were much bigger than eagle's wings.

Totally, there were four bats, though two were smaller. Eren supposed the smallest bats were litters which were learning to hunt from their parents, but that didn't dismiss those two bats were as frightening as the other two; the face of those creatures made they didn't seem any other animal existent, but truly monsters. Eren remembered when he was younger, in one afternoon he visited Armin, he caught a depth book from his library which was called "fauna", and had the damn curiosity to take a look the part of "bats". In the end he got a trauma because the portraits of the bats he saw on that book were way terrifying than the bats her mother sometimes found at home, though he only saw them few times on his lifetime and the tiny creatures escaped hurriedly once his mother shooed them away with the brush.

None of those bats attacked, but screeched loudly and searched a way to scape.

Mikasa grabbed his hand and started going deeper in that forest, searching with the look the cave she only knew. She run with all the speed her legs let her run, and Eren, behind her, tried to run as fast as she did, but it wouldn't be the enough to run away from those creatures, even more if the snow made it harder, to escape. Mikasa knew they must find that cave to hide until those odd bats stopped taking their eyes off them.

"Over here, Eren!", she exclaimed.

His trembling became noticeable while they went deep into the forest more and more, because it was completely dark because the light of the full moon didn't arrive where they were and who knows what would appear from such an impenetrable darkness. Even so, Mikasa feared of the dark more than Eren did, because in the darkness of the night and in her subconscious her fears appeared to torment her, which fears didn't use to be presents in the day.

But in the night.

"Where are we going?", Eren asked, in gasps, "we're getting away from the camp!"

"We have to distract them, and I'm taking you to a safe place I know"

There was a time the growls of those creatures became distant, but Mikasa knew those bats were above their heads. Fortunately, she could descry the cave where they would hide from those creatures, and surely where they would shelter until the new day came.

Eren, more anxious than before, was about to ask Mikasa where they were going again, but he said nothing when he saw the cave.

"There!", Mikasa exclaimed as he expected, pointing at the hole opened on the floor covered by a depth snowy blanket. There, it wasn't as colder as outside, but they would feel cold still though there wasn't another way than stay at the cave until those bloodthirsty creatures stopped hunting them and left.

In the act, they slid in the snowy blanket which covered the floor of the forest and entered on the cave. Eren received great impacts on the fall, but it wasn't enough to break his bones. When he sat up and raised his head, noticed the cave was bigger than it seemed at the beginning: it was a subterranean cave.

Mikasa had entered before than him. He noticed about that because before he could call her name at not seeing her, Mikasa abruptly had covered his mouth in a hand and forced him to sit down in the floor.

He wanted to know how Mikasa knew that cave, but before he could ask to her, she simply whispered: "In one of the breaks, I left the camp to take a walk and it started to rain. A bit far from the camp I found this cave, and decided to stay here until it stopped raining"

After Mikasa said those words, both stayed there, silently, waiting the growls became more distant; those bats didn't leave, and Eren started wondering if they would leave the cave alive, feeling at the same time a deep anxiety in his chest. Assured they would take a short walk, Eren and Mikasa had left their weapons at their tents, and in the months they were travelling over the Outside World, Eren had had problems to transform himself into a titan, because of unknown reasons.

I knew it…, Eren thought, complaining of how amazed they were when entered to that snowy forest illuminated with the pale light of the full moon, a cold yet beautiful and peaceful forest, I knew it was a bad idea!

But there was no way to go back; they just had to stay there and wait for a better luck. Eren closed his eyes, and just for a while he stopped hearing the wingbeats and the growls, to hear only Mikasa's breathing. Somehow, her breathing could calm Eren down, maybe because it made him feel he wasn't alone, but Mikasa would be there until that nightmare ended. No matter what, Eren knew she would be there whatever it was their ending.

Suddenly, he listened nothing more than his own heartbeat and felt his skin covered by a thin film of sweat. Eren started wondering about what would happen from back then, if they survived to it; he also had many "why" he hardly could find an answer, about all the bad things they had to live until back then, the many things they had to do…

About why the Outside World was so cruel and dangerous, once they finally could leave those damn walls and titans would never threaten the humanity anymore, anymore…

Since they won the war, and since they could leave the Inside World, Eren wanted to believe the war was finally over and they hadn't to fight anymore. Though this, few days after the victory, Armin went back to the Inside World with a dying Mikasa; he'd told him they had went deep into an abandoned city, not so far away from the walls, and Armin was scared at first but after he hadn't got any about Mikasa in a long time, he decided to enter to the city.

And he left the city with a great-injured Mikasa.

Right then, Eren felt the devastation more than the moment saw her on the hospital fighting between life and death. But it was the first of many times he could see how dangerous the Outside World was, but he denied it because of his headstrongness and sometimes hurt his friends for it.

He'd seen soldiers dying and injured soldiers recovering on their tents of great wounds that disturbed whoever saw them, and sometimes the road of the Scouting Legion was affected because of some creatures attacked soldiers, which creatures were bigger than they had to be, also more terrifying and aggressive.

The Outside World wasn't dangerous only because the creatures habited in it, but also the earthquakes, grand storms which afterwards would be called "hurricanes", and the great cold in the nights which would make the nights even lethal.

That was such a dangerous world, and his dreams broke slowly but by a heartrending way. What would be the humanity now, at knowing after the war which lasted centuries would be replaced by other one? Would Eren watch more soldiers die, and this time would he watch his friends leaving him by a brutal way? Would he continue fighting without transform himself into a titan because of unknown reasons, and being more useless than ever?

Would he spend his entire life inside the walls, and only leaving the walls for fighting in a non-return war?

There was nothing that could bring him back from his sorrow now, neither the beautiful landscapes nor the marvellous and pacific creatures they once saw, or the soft wind caressing Mikasa's hair.

Eren was fading himself into black; in a black where the despair and the fear buried him alive.

"What if… All we did isn't worthy now?", Eren asked when his sorrow finally let him talk, which hoarse voice broke a deep silence.

Then, Mikasa looked at him, not really grateful of her eyes already got used to see through the darkness, because they found with the glance of a terrified Eren. Those creatures had gone a while ago, so she only could hear their breathings, and after she surely could hear his voice, this time sad also for an unknown reason.

She didn't expect that question; she didn't expect she would see him upset in that expedition though. Since they won the war, Mikasa thought she would never hear again those words from Eren; wining that war had been a great goal Eren could achieve, maybe the greatest goal… Why was he doing such a question now?

"What's the matter, Eren?", she said in a whisper.

"I've been thinking about it since the first time we went out from the walls", he said, trembling, "I wanted to think the war was already over and we could explore the Outside World, but only bad things happened"

"No, Eren…", she replied as she remembered the grand landscapes they saw those last months, with peaceful and calm creatures, "We saw many good things as well, we knew many marvellous places that-…"

Eren couldn't take it anymore. Now is Mikasa pretending to be so blind when she'd been thinking the same than him since the beginning?

"We've lost soldiers since we started this expedition, and what can you tell me about their wounds?!", Eren was raising his voice, but somehow it seemed he didn't cared about it, "They didn't seem persons! And they came with us assured they would go back home and talk their children about the Outside World! What will be about their children?! Can you tell me what?!"

There was much pain and fear in his look, fear at a future with a new war, with new broken dreams, with new dead soldiers… Mikasa couldn't help but hold his hand while Eren said all the words that he wanted to say for a long time ago, but he refused the reality and those words because he was too headstrong to accept it. The tears came a while after, and Mikasa tried all her best to don't cry and comfort him with a long embrace, while she gave him all the comfort she could give back then. That reality hurt her too.

She tried to calm him down with whispers, but Mikasa found it really complicated. His arms embraced her body tightly, and she couldn't breathe at all, but she had to comfort him because she never had seen him so devastated, so sad, so lost into darkness…

Mikasa found really hard at taking the role of "his tourniquet".

"I shouted you too harshly because I was too proud to accept the truth… I was such an idiot!" Those words were the words she definitely wanted to hear from him. At refusing reality, Eren used to reply in a harshly way to everyone, and even if Mikasa was beside him and supported him, sometimes she felt like… Hurt.

Mikasa simply couldn't continue whispering, and those "it will be fine" didn't worked anymore. Her trembling voice couldn't be heard; it was supposed she had to make him feel better, to comfort him and save him from the darkness. She couldn't cry even if her eyes hurt so much.

"I'm sorry…", he sobbed, once he'd calmed down with her whisperings, "you didn't deserve my stupidities…"

On her cheek slid only a solitary tear.

"It's Okay…", Mikasa said finally, with a trembling voice, trying to don't embrace him so tight though Eren did it still, "We have to be quiet if we don't want they come back and find us, so please… Calm down, Ok?"

Eren tried all his best to calm down, but the tears fell uncontrolledly until a while after, when his sobs stopped and he just stayed there still, embracing her and seeking comfort in the warmth of her body. Mikasa didn't refuse anything, but let him get all the comfort he needed to be again the Eren she knew.

After it would be time to sleep, and they would use their capes to wrap both up warm from the cold of the night. It has been already seven years since they slept together, and things were distinct than before: both had grown up and their friendship somehow had changed to become in a bond, an unbreakable bond that united both youth the last years.

They also found attractive to each other; nothing was the same than before. When his eyes got used to darkness, Eren could admire perfectly her beauty, a peaceful and sleepy beauty that made him feel an odd yet warm feeling in his chest. On the little while she had her eyes opened, Mikasa could admire the handsome he was, and felt just like him, but she was already used to feel like that, and she knew the reason.

But Eren didn't know why he felt like that and what it really was, and that feeling disturbed him.

"I'm cold…", she finally whispered, after to spend a long time fidgety.

At first he hesitated, but didn't take too much time in embrace her as tightly as he didn't want she escaped from him, yet shyly and with slow movements. He was really embarrassed about what he was doing, but he knew there wasn't another way to heat her even if they were already covered by their capes; if he didn't want to lose Mikasa through a hypothermia or frostbite, they had to heat each other with their corporal heat.

Eren didn't want to lose her.

Though this, Mikasa didn't fall asleep. Since she awoke in the hospital days after she'd lived that accident in that abandoned city, Mikasa had nightmares almost every night, and since the expedition started, Mikasa had terrifying nightmares and her screams always woke up to Sasha and Historia, who shared the same tent than her. Mikasa would start to don't sleep any wink because she didn't want to disturb their sleep hours, but stayed laid down in her sleeping bag until the new day came, completely awoke and always alert. Though all this, they eventually noticed about it.

Both girls once told Eren about her nightmares and her new behaviour, though Mikasa had asked them she didn't want nobody knew about it but only the two girls. What would have Mikasa seen in that city in ruins?

It wasn't a long time after Eren decided to break the silence with a question he'd had in mind since he knew about her nightmares:

"You should sleep some"

"I'm not sleepy at all…", she lied.

"Is it about you aren't sleepy, or about you don't want to sleep anymore because of your nightmares?"

It had been the last thing Mikasa wanted Eren noticed about.

"Who…?"

"Sasha and Historia told me you always had nightmares that made you scream", he said before she could make the question, "and since we met, I've never heard you scream in nightmares; I only heard you complaining or replying in whispers"

Eren remembered the words Mikasa told him before, on her trying in recover all those dreams he thought they had broken and there wasn't any way to recover them. Knowing the place which was origin of her worst nightmares, Eren said, firmly:

"I don't know what you'd seen or listened in that city. I don't even know if there's a way to make your fears disappear completely, but…", he stopped to take a deep sight, and continued: "I want you to know I'm here with you, and nothing will happen when you close your eyes. So, please… Sleep already, at least for this night"

After those words there was only silence. Even if it was a little while, the silence and tension divided them was unbearable, and Eren couldn't help but watching how some tears slid from her eyes, and feeling a part of his heart breaking.

"It was a creature… A creatures with human eyes…", she whispered, while her trembling started being noticeable, "I don't know what the Hell it was… I hadn't seen it before, it was… Slender, wrinkled and dark… And seemed quite insane…"

"Okay. It's Okay, Mikasa", Eren said before she could fade into the black he was about to fade a while ago, "don't remember about it anymore, just forget everything for this night", Eren said, as he dried the tears of her cheeks with his hand. "I'm on watch tonight, you just rest"

"Yes…"

Mikasa found herself again wrapped in his arms; firstly she felt the same insecurity than every time she closed her eyes to sleep, assured she would find again reflexed on the eyes of that creature, but after Mikasa felt as if Eren could protect her that night, as if in his arms nothing bad could happen to her.

It was time to close her eyes, to fall asleep in a type of warmth she'd missed too much for her sleeping and she only could enjoy when she was younger.

All would be fine, at least that night.