Linked Through and Throughout

We've all heard of the traditional arranged marriage. One where the bridge and groom are set up by someone, possibly their parents, a professional matchmaker, or maybe even a friend. And we all know how in most cases, the bride and groom would usually have never met before, or would have met at least once, right?

And we've all heard of how these turn out. In some cases, it tends to be a perfect, or near perfect marriage where the two people fall in love straight away or over time, and they stay together. In other cases, it doesn't work out and so the couple break up, but they may maintain a healthy relationship, especially if they had had a child, and so they need to make sure it feels loved.

Of course, an arranged marriage doesn't always have to be like that.

"Eren Yeager!" A sweet yet commanding voice, a motherly one if you will, called from the front door to their house. "I told you we'd be leaving in an hour, and it's been nearly twice that!"

Upstairs in his room, a young man (though he was a boy at heart, for the most part at least) was struggling to prepare himself. "I'll be down in just a second, mom!"

Back downstairs, the mother of the Yeager household responded. "Don't you shout at me mister! These are old friends of your father and I that you're going to meet today, so you must be on your best behaviour!"

A hand reached out and rested itself on the woman's shoulder. "Carla, dear, you mustn't fret about such things."

"But Grisha we can't have Eren mess this up. We both agree that he'd be the perfect husband for their daughter." Carla whined, checking her phone for the time, clearly unimpressed by her son's incompetence.

Grisha let out a hearty chuckle. "Yes, I know we did, but you must remember this is his marriage here and not ours, so of course it won't go as smoothly as thought." He then coughed. "Besides, I already told Andrew and Lisa not to expect us to arrive on time. I'm sure Eren is just nervous about meeting his future wife for the first time, so just give him a little longer, okay?" After his wife gave in to his reasoning, the man kissed his wife on the cheek, and went to wait by the car.

Still upstairs, and still fiddling with his tie, Eren called for assistance. "Mikasa, can you come give me a hand with this?"

A young raven-haired woman, around the same age as Eren, walked into his room, wearing a fancy, yet not too fancy, red dress that had a slight floral pattern to it. Slowly, she made her way over to her brother, and took the bowtie from his hands. "Oh, Eren…my foolish brother. When will you learn to do this on your own?"

Eren grunted, brushing his long hair away from his face. "I'm trying, but it just doesn't seem to work for me! I swear I've been cursed by someone."

Mikasa shook her head and giggled, toying with the bowtie instead of doing it up like she had been requested. "Now tell me, Eren, how do I look?" Taking a step back, she presented herself to her brother.

The brunette Yeager boy gave his sister a quick look over, and then sighed. "You know I'm the one getting married, right?" He recognized the dress as one she had bought not too long ago, one just for special occasions.

Giving a questioning look at her brother, the Ackerman looked at her reflection in the mirror, because damn if she didn't think she looked fine. "Oh? And what's that supposed to mean? You trying to say I look better than you do?" She moved back in front of Eren and got back to tying his bowtie. "I suppose we already knew that, though."

Slightly flustered, the emerald-eyed boy turned his head to look at the clock on the wall. "S-shut up! Stop messing with me Mikasa, I don't wanna keep mom waiting any longer."

Not long after, the two children made their way downstairs and out the door.

"Sorry mom," Eren apologised. "I just wanted to make sure I looked good for this."

Seeing the genuine look in his eyes, the brown-eyed woman decided she couldn't stay mad at her son. "Oh, alright Eren…I just don't want you to mess this up."

"Me neither" He replied. And he really didn't want to miss this opportunity. Eren was in his late 20's, and while that didn't make him old, his chance of finding someone was lessening by the day. He was never good with girls, and sometimes his attitude would scare people off, so that didn't help. There's also the fact that living in a small town like Shiganshina meant there wasn't as big of a dating pool as say, Trost.

Another reason why Eren didn't want to mess it up was because he had put his full faith into his parents. Though once rebellious as a child, Eren had learnt to respect his parents, and trusted them with everything, so one day he had approached them and asked if they had any friends who had a daughter looking to marry.

Approaching him from behind, Mikasa carefully pinched his ears, showing to Carla that they had gained a red tinge. Sighing, Carla spoke again. "You couldn't tie your bowtie, could you? Honestly, Eren, I don't know why you're dressing yourself up so much! I mean, even if you do agree to marry the woman you're meeting today, the wedding won't be for a while."

"Y-yeah, I know! But you and dad said I have to make a good first impression, and so I wanna do that! I just thought I should look nice is all…" Eren gave his reasoning, walking towards the car as he did so.

Figuring that Eren was likely feeling nervous, the Yeager woman decided to forgive him. After all, they didn't need any negative feelings on a day such as this one. She then made her way to their car, and the family set off to their destination, a small town by the name of Liberio.

For almost the entirety of the journey, Eren felt his nerves racking up, and would constantly be tapping his feet to Mikasa's annoyance. Having had enough of it, and in an attempt to comfort him, Mikasa placed her hand on his knee.

"Hey, Eren? You alright?"

The brunette turned to face his sister. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, why?" She pointed down at his legs. "Oh, was I doing that thing again?"

Nodding, the black-eyed woman removed her hand. "So, everything okay?"

Eren let out breath. "Eh, I suppose so. It's just that mom and dad haven't told me anything about her, so I don't know what to expect."

"Ah," Now she could see where he was coming from. "why'd you do that?"

He shrugged. "I dunno…I guess I thought that the less I knew the more fun it would be, and since I'd have less to expect then maybe I could get along with her easier."

"Oh, right, yeah. Don't you think that was kinda dumb though? I mean because of that, now you're all nervous, and knowing you, you're going to mess this up" Mikasa questioned her brother, knowing that she was right.

Eren let out a small burst of anger. "NO! I won't!" Gaining a puzzled look from his mother and father in the rear-view mirror, he took a moment to calm himself down.

"Is everything alright back there, sweetie?" Carla asked, concerned for her son.

Observing the passing scenery, which Eren found quite soothing, he apologized. "Yeah, mom. Sorry, I didn't mean to shout."

"It's alright, Eren. I Understand if you're feeling nervous or excited." Carla turned back to face the road, but not before giving a warm smile to Eren, helping to calm his nerves.

After he had apologized to his parents, Eren tried to ask something of his sister. "Unless…do you know anything about her, Mikasa?"

The young woman shook her head. "Nope."

"What? So, why'd you say that stuff?"

She giggled "Just messing with ya. Besides, even if I did, you did say that you didn't want to know anything about her before meeting her, sooo…" Mikasa drifted off.

Groaning, Eren took out his phone and went onto one of his social media profiles to see if he could find the profiles of his parent's friends through their profiles, and then consequently find out anything he could about their daughter. This was to no avail, however, as he didn't seem to be getting any signal, and so couldn't use the internet. This meant that all Eren had to go off about his possible future wife was that her last name is Leonhart, her parents are called Andrew and Lisa, and she was single. Instead of dwelling over this, the boy just loaded up a game and started playing that as a means of distraction from his current dilemma.

Soon enough, they arrived at the Leonhart's home, located in the outskirts of Liberio. Their house was fairly large, and was possibly even bigger than the Yeager household, but that didn't matter. All that mattered right now was Eren being prepared to meet the girl his parents had chosen for him to marry.

The four of them exited the vehicle and made their way to the front door. Ringing the doorbell, Grisha coughed to gain his son's attention. "Now Eren, we've said this before, but you must be on your best behaviour. We don't want you to make a fool of yourself in front of our friends, or in front of their daughter either, do we? Just take it easy, be yourself and I'm sure it'll be fine." Agreeing, Eren calmed himself down, and mentally prepared himself for this moment. It came quicker than he thought it would, but of course it would happen sometime.

All of a sudden, the door flew open, and stood in front of the Yeager family were two adults. One, a middle-aged man who was relatively short, using a cane to hold himself up, and had dark, combed back hair. The other, a middle-aged woman, a tad bit taller than the man with pale blonde hair that went down past her neck. Presumably these were Andrew and Lisa Leonhart, the friends of his parents.

Andrew was the first to speak, his voice sounding deep, yet kind. "Ah, Grisha, Carla! It's so nice to see you after so long!"

Reaching his hand out, Grisha responded. "Andrew! Lisa! You're both certainly looking healthy!" Andrew took hold of Grisha's hand and shook it. "How have you been since we last met?"

"Oh, we've been just swell. Business hasn't exactly been booming, but aside from that, we're alright. How about you?" the Leonhart man queried.

Carla was the one to answer. "We've been quite fine, thank you. We really must do this more often, shouldn't we?"

"Yes, we really should. With enough hope, after today we shall be seeing more of each other." Lisa returned. She too had a sweet voice, a slightly lighter one that his mothers, though.

Almost forgetting to introduce them, Grisha turned to his children. "Where are my manners? Andrew, Lisa, I'd like for you to meet our children. This is our daughter, Mikasa." she presented her hand, first to Andrew and then to Lisa, shaking their hands. They took note of the fact that her grip was firm and quite strong, reminding them of how Grisha had mentioned she was quite adept at fighting and self-defence. Maybe she could also get along with their daughter?

"And this is our son, Eren, the one we've been telling you about."

Eren too stuck his hand out, also shaking the hands of the two adults. "I-it's nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Leonhart!"

Andrew gave a hearty chuckle. "There's no need for the formalities. Please, call us Andrew and Lisa."

Lisa spoke. "And it's nice to meet you too. From what we've heard you're very respectable, and quite smart, so I hope you can get along with our daughter."

"Um, yeah I hope so too! Is…is she around right now?" The young man asked, his excitement building up, peeking past the Leonhart's to see if their daughter was currently visible.

Once more, Lisa responded. "Yes, Annie will be either in her room or in the back garden. I'll fetch her in just a second. Why don't you four come on through into our lounge and make yourself at home in the meantime?"

That was the first time Eren had been told her name, so he let that information slide into place in his mind. 'Annie Leonhart…huh. That's a pretty name. I wonder if she looks just as pretty?' His cheeks flushed a little at that thought.

Making their way into the Leonhart household, Mikasa gained her brother's attention. "So, Eren, you ready?" Her voice had a clear layer of concern, something that she always had for her brother, ever since being brought into the Yeager family.

Trying (and failing) to act like it was nothing, Eren answered. "Yeah, I think I am. I can't wait to meet her." And that was true. His excitement was rising by the second. It wouldn't be long now before he would finally come face to face with Annie Leonhart, the possible woman of his dreams.

Sitting in the living room, with Mikasa by his side, Eren's eyes shifted around the room, taking in the décor. His parents had long since entered conversation with their long-time friends and would continue to converse for some time. He first came across what seemed to be a collection of family photos, the first of which was taken a considerable amount of time ago, as Andrew and Lisa Leonhart looked a fair bit younger than they do today, and they had a baby with them, which Eren assumed was Annie. Next was a photo taken at a nursery school, presumably Annie's first day. In said photo she looked to be around 2 years old, and alongside her were both parents. Annie was stood hiding behind her father's leg, but you could just about make out a smile. Both parents had gleeful looks, obviously thrilled that their daughter was starting school.

There were a few more photos visible from Eren's position. Some just of Annie, some of her with one parent, some with both. There was, however, something strange. At one point there was a mysterious lack of photos, as if a portion of the Leonhart's life together had been skipped. Strange…Anyway, there was a range of more photos scattered around the room, but they weren't visible from Eren's position. Perhaps they were of happier times?

Soon enough, Eren grew tired of just staring at photos, and so his mind moved to wondering what Annie looked like nowadays. None of the photos that Eren had looked at seemed that recent, so for all he knew this woman could look nothing like she did as a child.

"Lisa?" Eren asked, trying to gain her attention.

The blonde woman paused her lengthy conversation with Carla and turned to face Eren. "Yes, Eren?"

Eren started fumbling with his fingers but calmed himself at the last second. "So, when do I get to meet your daughter?" Grisha and Andrew stopped their conversation hearing that.

Lisa mentally slapped herself, completely forgetting the whole purpose of the Yeager family's visit to their home. "Oh, goodness! Please, forgive me Eren, I was having too much fun catching up with your mother. I'll fetch her right now!"

Just before she could go to fetch her daughter, Mikasa interjected. "There's no need to apologize Mrs Leonhart. We understand that it has been some time since you last met, so don't worry about it. Right, Eren?" She whispered that last bit under her breath, and sneakily elbowed her brother.

Giving another warm smile, Lisa thanked Mikasa for her understanding. "It's nice to see you two have been raised so well. And please Mikasa, call me Lisa. Anyway, I'll go get Annie, so you can meet her. I think she may be a bit nervous about today too, so you're in the same boat."

Oh boy…the time was nearly here. Eren knew why he was nervous, but he didn't know why he was this nervous. It didn't even feel like he was the right kind of nervous, it just felt off. It felt more like he was also meeting someone he hadn't seen in ages, and not the nervous you would get when meeting someone important for the first time. How peculiar…

Not long after, Lisa returned, this time with a figure following a short distance behind her. Walking through the threshold between the corridor and the lounge, she announced her arrival. "Yeagers, I'd like for you to meet our pride and joy, Annie." She moved to the side to allow her daughter's entry.

Immediately, Eren stood up ready to introduce himself. He cleared his throat. "H-hey, I'm Eren it's nice to-" suddenly, his eyes shot wide open, and he carried a look of surprise.

Cautiously the figure walked in, and Eren looked over the woman in front of him, as if searching for something. She was around a foot shorter than he was, but the height didn't matter. Her hair was the same pale blonde as her mothers, but instead of wearing down like her mother, she wore it tied back, with some of it draping over her face. She also had these blue eyes that were of an indescribable beauty and that looked like they held a secret to them. How could he put this? In high school there was this girl called Historia who was regarded among her fellow students as the prettiest girl in school. Annie, however, was in Eren's opinion even prettier than her.

This wasn't love at first sight, was it? No, that was ridiculous...

Unlike Eren who was dressed up in a suit and the smartest shoes he owned, Annie was wearing what were probably her everyday clothes, a white hoodie, a pair of jeans and a pair of boots. Meaning, Eren was overdressed for the occasion, but it was too late to change that.

Offering a nearly silent "Hey" in return, Annie looked up at Eren, and found herself also in shock. Her eyes too shot open, and the puzzled looks on both their faces confused everyone else.

"Eren?"

"Annie?"

The two elder men called out, quickly exchanging a glance at the other to see if they knew what was happening.

Eren couldn't get any words out, and right as that happened his mind was attacked with an influx of memories. These memories, however, weren't his, and yet they were? They couldn't have been his though, because everything was different from his life. The year, the place. Everything. It was like Eren had been peering into alternate universes, and in these memories, there was one constant: He and Annie had always ended up together. One memory…or alternate universe…or whatever these were had the two of them in medieval times, coming from opposing lands but nevertheless falling for each other. Another memory was of the two of them meeting in a café, and after many attempts at flirting (from both sides), going on a date. Another had them being animals instead of humans, in which Annie saved Eren from predators, and so Eren tried to do his best to repay the favour.

Out of all these memories, there was none more familiar than the last he inspected. In this final memory, Eren lived confined within a set of colossal walls, and attacking these walls were giant humanoid creatures known as titans, the only way of defeating them being through the use of this weird type of gear that would swing you around. In this world, Eren had the ability to transform himself into one of those monsters, and Annie did too, but where was she? Eren could recall Annie being from across the ocean, and she also lived within the walls, but she wasn't above roaming free like Eren or his friends. Instead, she was confined within a cell, with what looked like the shards of a crystal scattered around her.

Why was that memory so familiar?

All of a sudden, Annie gasped, and a tear rolled out of her eye, but before anybody could see it, she turned to leave the room. "I'll be outside."

Feeling uneasy, Andrew got up from his chair. "Annie? Are you okay?"

However, before he could get an answer, his daughter walked out, and Eren started to follow.

"Where are you going?" Mikasa asked, nearly grabbing her brother's arm, but he had moved at the last second.

Turning to face Lisa, Eren queried "May I be excused? I'd like to talk to Annie in private."

She mulled it over, but then decided that perhaps this would allow for Eren and Annie to get to know each other, and so they could in fact marry. "Uh, sure, Eren. Just please don't do anything to harm Annie."

"I'd never do anything to hurt a friend." He promised, which did sound strange as he had never actually met Annie before today, but he left it and went to go find her.

As he made his way through the house, Eren thought over those memories that had attacked his mind. There was no logical answer, and this left him feeling confused, but it seemed wrong to discuss this with anyone but Annie.

Wait…would she understand him? Or would this make Eren seem like a mad man and scare Annie off? Then again, she had a similar look in her eye to Eren, so maybe she could understand…ah to hell with it. Eren wanted answers, so he opened the back door and walked out.

At the back of the garden was a smallish oak tree, and under it sat Annie. Cautiously, Eren approached Annie, though he was unsure of how to proceed, or even start talking about this problem.

He walked up to Annie, and saw how she looked distressed, almost confirming his theory that she experienced the same thing as he did. "Hey, Annie?"

"What?" She replied, before looking up, noticing it was the guy from earlier. "Oh…Eren, is it?" He nodded. "What do you want?"

Eren scratched the back of his head. "I just wanted to see if you were alright, and I guess I want to get to know you? Also…there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Huh…" Annie thought. 'Is he thinking what I am?' Despite the fact that Eren was a stranger to her, and she knew very little about him, Annie decided to pursue this conversation. "So, what did you want to ask?"

'Alright then, guess we're skipping straight to it then' He sat down next to Annie, leaving enough space for it not to be uncomfortable. "Have…have we met before?"

Annie's eyes widened once more in surprise. "Wha-…what did you say?"

'Crap, should I not have said that?' Eren waited a moment, seeing if Annie was about to tell him off for asking what he did, but she didn't. "Sorry. You probably think I'm weird, don't you?"

She shook her head. "No. Well aside from the fact that you're wearing a suit to my house, I don't. You're not a massive creep, are you?"

Eren nearly fell backwards hearing that. "What? No! I mean, I don't think I am. Am I?"

The blonde woman let out a small giggle, which in Eren's opinion was cute. "I dunno." She shrugged. "I've never met you before, so I'm yet to have an opinion on you."

Completely disregarding the fact that his original intention for following Annie was to ask about the memories, Eren thought it would be a good idea to continue this conversation.

Even though they had just met, Eren would agree that Annie seemed like someone who it would be pretty fun to talk to. Or that at the very least she gave off a calm and soothing vibe.

"Hey, so, um, Annie? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Eren wasn't exactly sure if he was going to cross the line with what he had in mind, but it had been on his mind, so he asked it anyway. "How come you're still single?"

Annie looked at Eren with a dumbfounded expression, amazed at his stupidity. Shaking her head, she let out a deep sigh. "Oh god...my parents are setting me up with someone who doesn't even know how to talk to girls." When Eren tried to reply, all he could do was stumble over his words, trying to say something about how he did know how to, leaving Annie to giggle again.

"Look, I'm sorry if I shouldn't have said that. I was just wondering...I mean you're...you know…" He apologized, leaving what he was saying ambiguous.

The blonde shifted slightly closer to Eren, and nudged him, teasingly. "Oh? What am I?"

Eren's cheeks gained a rosy hue as he began to explain. "Well...I, uhh...you're…"

"Come on, Eren, spit it out already."

"YOU'RE REALLY PRETTY!" He exclaimed. "I-I mean I think you're pretty, at least, and you seem like a nice person and… I dunno… I just thought you would've been asked out at least a few times before."

Temporarily losing her composure, Annie scooted back away from Eren. After a moment, she responded. "Contrary to what you might think, most people prefer not to approach me, and so to them I seem…hostile."

"Huh…I don't see that. I wonder why they'd think that?"

"No," Annie took a breath. "I understand it. I'm not the most easy-going person, but I suppose that's just how I am."

"Oh. Maybe they just need to take a moment and try to get to know you? At least, I hope that I can get to do that." Eren pondered on why Annie apparently wasn't popular. He didn't know anything about her, and yet he was curious about her wellbeing, which puzzled Annie, but perhaps Eren was just the curious type?

The two young adults found themselves lost in conversation for a short while, trying to find out more about each other while not prying too much into their personal lives. It was actually quite enjoyable for the both of them, and before they knew it, they were talking like they had already known each other for some time.

It wasn't longer, however, before Eren remembered his original reason for going to talk to Annie, which he had attempted to learn about earlier, but their talk lead them to a different path. They had already been outside for a short while, and they would need to return indoors soon, so as to not raise any suspicion or concern, so Eren just came out and asked his question.

"Annie…I…I could've sworn I saw you crying earlier…is everything okay?"

"What?" She looked at him, not knowing he had spotted the tear. "Yeah, maybe…I think so. It doesn't matter, so don't worry about it."

'Huh' Eren took in her answer for consideration, and then pushed it to the side, seeing as he had something else on his mind. "You didn't answer my question from earlier."

"I didn't? Oh, sorry. What was it?" Annie apologised, though she knew she was the reason the conversation got off track.

"We haven't met before, have we?"

Despite having heard the question a few minutes prior, it still caught her off guard. Annie knew that she had never met Eren before today, and yet he felt so…familiar. "I don't think we have? Otherwise, what would be the point of our parents setting us up?"

He nodded. "Yeah, you're right. But, at the same time it-" He was cut off.

"It feels like we have?" Eren nodded once more. "No, I get what you're saying. There's no way though, right? We're from different parts of the country, and even though our parents are old friends, they had fallen out of touch, and so they never had a chance to introduce us."

Eren agreed with Annie's points. He then looked at the time on his phone and sighed. "Maybe we should just leave it for another time. We've been out here long enough, so I think we should be heading in."

Annie too didn't see the purpose in wasting much time on such a matter, so she shrugged it off.

The Yeager boy stood up first, offering his hand to the Leonhart girl. The blonde gingerly placed her hand in his, accepting his assistance, when suddenly, the two felt a spark between them, and once more, those memories from earlier came flooding in.

Annie quickly pulled herself up, and then stepped back away from Eren, shocked at the returning feeling.

The young adults stared directly at each other, realising that the other had in fact felt it too.

Silence passed for a moment or two, before Annie spoke up. "H-hey, Eren?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something I want to try. You don't mind if that suit gets dirty, do you?" Before he could begin to form a response, Annie had raised her fists, and then charged towards Eren, an exhilarating feeling pulsing throughout her body.

One second, Eren was stood, watching Annie run towards him, and the next he was lying flat on his back, being straddled by the very woman who had flipped him into such a position.

The brunette blinked, unsure of what exactly had just happened. Regaining his breath, he could only look into the eyes of his attacker. "Wha…what just happened? Why did you do that?"

The blonde smirked, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. "I was testing you."

"Testing me?" She hummed in confirmation. "Did…did I pass?"

"Just about." Was her response, though in reality there was no test. If anything, she was testing a theory, and seeing if Eren had any capability as a fighter. The one from her memories did, after all.

"So, why'd you do it then?" Eren asked, somehow comfortable with his (literal) dream girl being sat on top of him.

Annie looked into his oh so innocent eyes and decided on her next action. "Because," She started to lean down. "I wanted to see if I should do this."

Eren, puzzled by her response, tried to open his mouth and question her further, but before he could get even a sound out, Annie's lips gently fell upon his, capturing them in a sweet and tender kiss.

Immediately, another spark was felt between the two. This time, a much larger one. One as if to say their minds and bodies had connected.

The two young adults had only recently met, but it was like they were already completely in sync. They kissed as if this was their millionth time doing so, they opened their mouths, allowing entry of each's tongues, but not to fight for dominance, instead to search for something that had been missing from their lives.

With each passing second, more and more sparks were felt. And with each passing second, the two adults only grew more and more attracted to the other. And with each passing moment, the kisses turned wilder and wilder.

And…