Disclaimer - Not mine.
On the day after titans fell, Mikasa stared into Hanji's quiet eyes after five minutes in the meeting room. Surrounding them were five Survey Corps soldiers - Eren, Jean, Sasha, and Moblit. They each refused to look at her.
Commander Ackerman was nowhere to be found.
"Mikasa, do you have anything to say?"
Mikasa watched Eren in the corner of the room. He looked away. "I will do what is necessary, if it means keeping the peace."
Hanji reached over to hold Mikasa's clasped hands. She was close enough for her voice to not reach the others behind her. "I went to the council today. I tried undoing it, but they won't let me. They're eager to get things started with this. He did too Mikasa. It's hard for him to accept this."
"You mean Eren?"
The older woman blinked. "No. Levi."
Mikasa never thought of marriage.
She never thought of what dress she might wear, or what flowers she'd use to style her hair. She never imagined the man she'd marry as most girls did.
She didn't even expect to be married.
But, she never thought Eren wouldn't fight for her.
Why would she be disappointed he didn't fight for her?
The corridors of the Survey Corps headquarters loomed ahead. Mikasa spent her second day after the titans, wasting the entire time in bed. She let her mind work. After Hanji spoke to her, everyone either sent her a look of pity or tried inviting her to a get together at a pub. She refused them all, and let Eren continue to avoid her.
"Going somewhere?"
Mikasa stopped. She'd been so out of it that she failed to spot Eren when she passed his room. After long years being by his side, Eren grew from a gutsy, loud mouthed little boy with the red scarf she inherited, to a somber eyed drunk.
She made no mention of Eren's drinking habits after Armin died in battle. She tried stopping him, but could never erase the trauma Eren faced when he witnessed Armin's fall.
He was the only one who saw it happen. On the day Armin died, she remembered holding his arms in his bedroom when he simply said Armin fell into a pit of titans.
Mikasa blinked, "I wanted to find something to eat."
Eren stepped back into in room, holding it open for her to come in. "Come inside."
"Eren, not now…"
He laughed. "You're going to be a married woman. I just wanted to talk to you...after what happened."
When Mikasa entered, she found Eren's room almost empty. The home icons he kept - pictures of she, him and Armin along with his father's entire collection of books that Armin begged him to keep because he couldn't fit all into his room, were stacked in large brown chests.
The fall of the titans brought forth waves of readjustment, a great change she wasn't sure she could handle. A law passed. Many civilians protested against it, but even the Military police agreed that it needed to happen. All Survey Corps members were given permanent retirement with an additional fund for any business venture they wanted to start.
Hanji already spoke of travel beyond the walls to scout for information on Armin's discovery of the oceans, and many Survey Corps members and other soldiers were ready to follow her. Mikasa watched Eren pat one of his chest and push it towards her.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" she asked.
Eren smiled. "I have a drinking problem. This may help me out. All Armin ever wanted was to travel and see the world. I have to do this for him."
Mikasa's tongue swelled and her chest ached. She watched the what Eren sent to her and studied it's silver lock. She remembered her mother's face and the way her body faltered when she died in front of her.
Eren saw the look on her face and turned away. "All dad's books are in the chest. You used to help him make medicines so this should keep you occupied."
"...you're leaving me."
She listened to him take in a breath. "I have to do this, Mikasa. You need to find your own path. I need to get mine."
Mikasa chose her words carefully.
"I'm being forced to marry your commander, Eren, and you tell me that I need to find my own path?"
He didn't say anything when she waited and then stepped back out of his room.
She took the chest with her.
Her wedding day happened on a Sunday in a small shed. She wore a simple white dress. Her veil trailed three feet behind. All Survey Corps members attended. Eren was nowhere to be found, even though he would travel out with Hanji in the next few days.
A priest arrived early morning for the small occasion. No grooms or bridesmaids were needed. Mikasa felt cold eyes assess her. He, like the others, gave her a forlorn look. A woman her age, at twenty years old should be marrying the love of her life after serving for so long. But even after she's been used and spent, the government demanded one last request - to wed Humanity's Strongest soldiers, and conceive what hopefully would be children like them.
After all, they weren't sure if another titan would come back one day.
"Do you, Corporal Mikasa Ackerman, take Commander Levi Ackerman as your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"
Air gushed inside the church, fluttering her hair. She looked up to find him staring back. She couldn't tell what he thought. His hands were surprisingly warm despite his stoic expression. She let her gaze flicker towards the priest's dark ones. "I do."
The priest cleared his throat. He turned to her husband to be. "And do you, Commander Levi Ackerman, take Corporal Mikasa Ackerman as your lawfully wedded wife?"
Levi stayed silent, then spoke, "Yes. Get on with it."
"This is a traditional wedding, Commander. Practice patience."
Mikasa zoned out of the men's light bickering. Her superior's hands tightened hers, but she was too out of it to notice. Her senses failed noting the men calming down until the priest gently tapped her shoulder.
"Hm?"
He smiled, "I just announced you husband and wife."
Mikasa blinked, not getting the message. Levi tugged her forward until her chest pressed against his. "He just said we're married."
"Oh. I'm sorry-"
The room thickened in a cloud of invisible smoke. Slowly, the attendants of the wedding faded. Mikasa didn't know how to describe what happened, except that what she thought she had known dissipated. Eren's young face faded, and all that she noticed but not remembered, flooded back. She could see Hanji's face again, and how she told her that it wasn't Eren who tried to stop the marriage, but her superior.
A simple press of the lips, shocked the audience, but Mikasa could only think about his hands cradling her back and how his lips took her in a soft kiss. There were three kisses she could compare his to - a man she failed to remember, Jean's for a brief moment, and Eren's sloppy drunken kisses during the few times he slept with her.
Her commander's felt like the soft petals of a rose, of warm mornings in the empty cafeteria, eating a loaf of bread with tea as she looked out of the castle onto the meadows. It also felt, like tasting a drop of wine in an empty flask, wet and tart at the same time.
Levi pulled back.
In the short moments she took to recover, the priest silently closed his bible and announced the marriage, complete.
"I'll write to you, but it may take a while. The post service needs to map out new territory."
Three days later, Mikasa watched Eren pack his remaining luggage in the cart.
The sun toasted the back of her neck. They stood on the outskirts outside of Wall Maria without a care in the world. Not too long ago, it was forbidden. Mikasa wore a light tunic over pants with his red scarf. Her bangs began touching her shoulders. She needed to cut them. Eren stepped forward to put his hands on her shoulders.
Since she received the news about her marriage, she never once saw he or the Levi speak. They kept their distance. "That's fine. When will you return?"
Eren frowned. "The first time is for a month, the next ones will be longer. Hanji's gotten more sponsors for our expedition, so the Survey Corps may still be in business for a little while. Only not for killing titans."
"I see."
He never asked her how her three days as a wife had been. Mikasa thought of the light earthen scent she associated herself with since moving into Wall Sina. The era of no titans brought forth a bursting move to start businesses. Commander Ackerman's house sat perched on a hill along with newly remodeled homes.
On the first night she moved in, he simply took her to an empty bedroom and told her to rest. They never did anything the first night, or the others. Mikasa found herself draining in her own thoughts. Her husband stayed out of the house. She had no idea where he'd go. Her neighbors rarely slipped out, but when they did, they knocked on her door and would quiver when they see her. She forgot that while she fought outside on the fields, others from within the walls knew her name.
"I'll bring you gifts. Don't worry."
Why didn't you come, she wanted to ask.
But soon, Eren got on his horse and found his place in the formation. The silver and blue crest shone on his back. The First Exploration was a historical event, marking the first time humanity could roam freely beyond the walls. Civilians from Wall Sina, Rose and Maria stood around the formation. They cheered and threw roses in their direction. Eren and the rest waved, basking in the glow of glory.
Mikasa felt a sudden loss, watching Eren smile brightly at the crowd. She imagined herself on a horse, running off with Eren in the distance. But she watched him go until the bright crest glistened.
Someone touched her shoulder.
Mikasa looked left to find Jean sending her a quiet look. He wore no uniform, only a shirt over a part of pants. Sometimes she wondered why she felt relieved anytime Jean sent her that look. It was a look of comfort, the one that told her what she felt should not be buried.
"He'll come back, Mikasa."
"Why haven't you both started?"
"I didn't know we had spies around here in the neighborhood," Mikasa leaned against her door. Levi's voice muffled out. "What does me fucking her have to do with you? We weren't given a deadline to conceive. We'll do it on our own terms."
"This is not a request. It is an order, Commander Ackerman," the stranger replied. "Our job is to make sure all arranged marriages fulfill their ends of the bargain, and at this rate, you will run out of time."
"Like I said, I don't need you to understand that. It's been a week, the least you all should do is understand that people like us wouldn't need to follow your orders."
"Just because you are Humanity's Strongest doesn't mean you are above the law-"
Mikasa heard her superior stand. "I could have killed all of you in that courtroom and avoided it. I could have killed your king and roamed the fields on my own. But I'm not a troublemaker, and I'd leave deciding on when to have my own child alone to me, Arnold."
Silence followed. Mikasa waited until Arnold stood. He murmured something before ambling out of their home. The door shut behind him, and soon, she listened to a great sigh.
Eren left her. She crouched to sit on the floor. He left her here, in a small neighborhood infested with strangers and spies. Spies who want to assure she conceived as soon as possible. Her cheeks burned as tears slid down.
Eren.
"Ackerman." She kept her arms around her drawn up legs. She heard the man pace outside. "We need to talk. I'm not leaving unless we do."
Mikasa wiped her face with both palms and slid up to open the door. She stepped back to let the short man inside.
"Close the door."
She did. Mikasa knew he spotted her distress. The chest Eren gave her stood in a corner. She had yet to open it. Levi found a lone seat and gestured for her to sit on the bed.
"I've gotten my horses ready."
She blinked, "What?"
Levi scowled. "For you to accompany Eren and the others the next time they are here. They will back next month to sneak you out, but that would mean you not being able to return to the walls. You've sacrificed so much to be stuck here. It makes no sense for you to be left behind."
"...what about you?"
"I'll survive. I'm going underground."
Mikasa blinked. Levi clasped his hands. He kept a straight expression but Mikasa could tell that he looked uncomfortable. She shifted. "I've seen people from underground. It's not a good place to live."
"Following you to the fields won't do good for me. I've seen what I need to see, and though I have some energy, I'm still getting old...and it wouldn't look good if someone spotted us alongside Hanji, given the sponsors she's been getting."
She looked away.
"I'll put them off as long as I can. When Hanji and the rest return, you'll be ready to go off with them-"
"I will do it."
Levi frowned. "What?"
Mikasa forced her hands to stop shaking. She gazed into the gray eyes of her superior, remembering that avoiding a cruel world did no one good. "They only want a child. I will give them one...if you are willing to cooperate."
The older man still kept silent, but spoke, "You will give me a child."
Remembering Eren's smile, she looked away, "I've seen what I need to see. When we have the child, we will part ways-"
"You won't keep it away from me."
"Never," she quickly said.
Then she quieted.
Slowly, she studied Levi's gaze, which widened the more he spoke.
She's seen looks like his before, over the years they fought together side by side in combat. Never did she sit to stare back and wonder what his silence looks meant. At that moment, it occurred to Mikasa that the man she fought under, one she called commander and someone twice her age, may want her as a wife.
She's been with enough men to know what that type of stare meant.
Levi scowled. "We'll schedule for you to leave the walls in a month. Understood?"
Mikasa didn't question his sudden change of mind. She sat there, bewildered when the man walked out, reaching the door.
He stopped to look back. "You've been obsessed with that kid for too long. Spend some time waking up."
She didn't flinch at the shattering force of the door closing.
End Note - A five chapter multishot. Stay tuned for the next. Oh, and I'm pretending I don't know they're are related.