This was inspired by a dream I had months ago and it's the first fic I write directly in English. Thanks to momtaku for proofreading it!

It's also my contribution for Eremika Fluff Week 2016 Day 4: Caring

The Peach Thief

When Mikasa Ackerman saw the peach tree in the sunset, her lips stretched in a sweet and peckish smile. If she took some of the big ones, she could eat one on the way home and then her mother could make some jelly and also a cake. She hoped for a cake as her fingers grabbed the fence. She started to climb it so she could get into the backyard of the neighbors.

She looked around once she landed and hid behind a small storehouse, from where she could pick the tender, fallen peaches and keep them inside her apron's pocket.

The amount of fruit weighed so much that Mikasa felt how the tie of her white apron tensed around her waist, it even hurt a little.

She glanced a last time at the windows of her neighbors' house and, carefully, she jumped over the fence again. Two peaches fell from their hiding place, so she bent down to quickly pick them up.

"Oi! What are you doing?" a boy asked. He sounded angry.

"I-I…" her face turned red as she watched the green-eyed boy approach her. She had seen him a few times playing with a blond boy.

Eren was glaring at Mikasa when he suddenly pointed her apron.

"Are these from my tree?" he took one of the peaches, "You got into my yard and stole them, right?"

The girl didn't know what to say. He was right and she was ashamed for being caught, even though she was hungry.

They weren't even friends. She and her mother moved to the town about a month ago. The kids already had their groups and she wasn't sure about what to do or to tell them to start a friendship.

"Can't you speak? Did mice eat your tongue, you thief?"

He was so intimidating. Mikasa's eyes started to sting. "I-I'm sorry… I…"

"You're sorry just because I caught you, but would you be sorry if I didn't? Nah, I don't think so." Eren snapped as he brusquely started to take every fruit out of her apron's pocket, "I'm going to tell my mom, so she can tell yours," he said. Mikasa couldn't move.

Eren's light eyes scrutinized by her dark, teary ones.

"Unless you're a family of thieves… Now I remember, some kids were saying that you and your mom looked weird. It might has been because of this." The boy said as he showed her the last tender peach he took away from her.

"Eren, is everything okay?"

He turned to his mother and Mikasa was finally able to take a step back. She glanced at the woman that has just arrived.

"Oh, hello there!" Carla greeted, but quickly realized that the child was crying, "What's wrong, dear? Can I-?"

But the girl ran away. She ran as fast as she could while she cried and only wanted to reach her home to hide there.

Carla frowned, "What have you done to that girl, Eren? Why was she crying?"

The boy's eyes widened, was she blaming him?! "I caught her stealing from us! She's a thief!" he snapped as he showed her mother all the peaches that were in the ground at the wrong side of the fence.

"Eren," her voice was soft as she took her son's hand, "We can't judge her actions so easily. What if she does not have enough to eat at her house and she's just hungry?"

Eren blinked a few times.

"I… I never even thought about that," he recognized, feeling guilty, "I only was angry because she went into our backyard and stole our peaches. I think she could have asked first and there would have been no problem in sharing fruit with her if she was… well, starving or something."

"It's fine," Carla smiled at him and pressed his hand, "I think I know what we can do to mend things up, do you want to learn about my plan?"

The boy nodded.

Armin helped him to look for the peach thief house the next morning. After asking to the most meddlesome adults and kids from the neighborhood, they found out that the girl and her mother rented a room from an old lady, whose tiny house near the riverbank was almost in ruins.

Eren knocked the door. It smelt like mildew.

A wrinkled woman with grey hair opened the door and looked at him with certain annoyance when he greeted her, but she greeted him back anyways.

"So, I'm looking for a black haired girl about this size," the boy said as he gestured with his hand.

"I could tell you that she's a bit taller than you, not shorter," the old lady corrected him.

Eren made a funny face, "Well, I'm not sure about that, but I've been told that she lives here and I need to talk to her. Please."

The old lady asked him to wait there. A few minutes passed before he saw the girl he had been looking for being gently pushed out of the house by the woman, who whispered something to her in the ear and then closed the door.

The pale girl was staring at the ground.

"What did she tell you?" Eren asked, curious.

"She wanted me to go play outside," because I looked sad, "but you just came to accuse me with my mom, didn't you?" she said, looking up a bit, "Mom's not here."

Eren sighed and brushed a hand through his hair.

"No, I… I actually came to apologize," Mikasa's eyes widened as he kept talking, "I'm sorry for being so rude yesterday. The next time you're hungry just ask me to give you some peaches, okay?"

She opened her mouth even though she didn't know what to say.

"It seems mice ate your tongue again," the brown haired boy said with an awkward smile as he saw her eyes shine.

Mikasa nodded shyly, "I'll ask you next time," she said in a low voice.

His mom told him to not be so judgy and impulsive, and he stayed quiet even though he felt the urge to ask the girl about her mom. Where was she? For example, or does she – or the old lady – feed her at all? But it wasn't the moment to ask about that. Eren had to be nice.

He felt he wanted to be nice to this girl.

"My mom told me to invite you to-," Crap, Eren, you didn't have to say that part "No! I want you to come to my house to eat something my mom is cooking. Come!"

To the girl's surprise, the boy held her by the hand and started to run. Mikasa clung to his hand as he guided her to the place she swore she'll never put a foot again, so she didn't have to see those angry green eyes look at her disapprovingly once again.

But now the boy looked back at her with gentle eyes and a cute dorky smile as they both ran between people that yelled at them to watch out.

Mikasa's heartbeat increased its rhythm and she thought it was because of the race.

Eren's eyes widened when he saw the peach thief smile at him for the very first time.

One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession—Sophocles