A/N: The beginning of this chapter skirts rather closely to canon, unfortunately, due to… well, you can read it yourself and figure it out.
o.o.o.o.o
Maybe Neji was onto something with that fate obsession of his.
Mikasa woke up to that thought, woke up outside the kidnappers' headquarters, and the first thing she noticed was that there was a thick, heavy men's coat covering her to keep her warm. She sat up slowly, tugging the coat around to lay the right way, and closer around her body.
"You're awake."
Her head snapped to the side, hand already reaching for weapons that she had never carried in this life.
Mikasa stopped, seeing bright green eyes that brought back unknown memories of pink hair and devastating strength. It also brought back the much more recent memory of having been saved.
Never again.
"…yes." She turned away from those eyes, once again tugging the coat closer around herself. It was cold.
"You're Mikasa, right?" The boy continued to talk. "I'm Eren Jaeger. I told you before, but you didn't really seem to hear me, so…"
He held out a hand to her, as though to shake.
She blinked at him, and then looked past him, into the house, at the military police, ignoring the hand.
"What…"
"You don't remember?" Eren's eyes, when she turned back to look at him, were wide and a little worried.
The memories, of her parents, her parents, not Sasuke's, dying, and the subsequent murder she had committed along with the two at Eren's hands…
She shuddered and nodded. "I remember."
"Do you want me to go get my dad?" Eren asked, probably trying to be helpful. "I mean, he knew your parents, so he can probably—"
Her hand snapped out and caught his wrist, too quick for the eyes to follow. "Don't go."
Eren looked down at her, and then slowly nodded. "Alright."
They sat in silence for several more seconds, ignoring the noise from inside the house, where Grisha and the military police were still talking.
"Why did you come?"
"…They were trash." Eren answered after a short while. "They weren't fit to be called human, and if I hadn't come, the military police would have been too late."
She heard the unspoken words: Because it was the right thing to do.
Footsteps approached from behind, and a man came around to stand before her, conspicuously civilian. He crouched down and looked her in the eyes. "Hello, Mikasa. Do you recognize me? I visited many times when you were younger."
No, she didn't, but she could guess. "Doctor Jaeger." Mikasa didn't know what else to say, but… "How… how do I get home from here?"
The doctor's eyes widened, entering a sort of denial-filled confusion, as though he didn't want to understand the true meaning behind her words.
The Sasuke memories had stilled, offering no comparison, no history to base this interaction off of.
"I'm cold," the memories didn't like that; they wanted her to be stoic, not admit to weakness, whispering never again, but she ignored them. "I have nowhere else to go."
No, the memories continued to whisper, because she could remember living alone, being alone, in a house that had death around every corner, an abandoned compound filled with the lost souls searching for revenge on the one that had slain them.
Revenge had been much swifter this time.
Mikasa blinked as she was dragged out of memories that weren't hers, but were, as red fabric covered half her vision. Her gaze caught green eyes, and she didn't know what it was that she saw in them, just that it was far too familiar.
"There. That's yours, now." Eren finished wrapping the scarf around her. "Is that warm enough?"
She reached up to grasp the cloth, and then nodded silently.
Sasuke-kun, are you okay? You look a little cold.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she looked back up at Eren, and then at Grisha.
"Mikasa, why don't you come live with us?" The doctor suggested, his eyes kind. "You wouldn't be a bother, and I'm sure your parents… well, I was a friend of theirs, so I think they would have approved. You've had it rough," more than you know, doctor, the memories whispered, "and what you need is rest."
Memories of living alone after the massacre, of years in the midst of deserted houses, of a final light in the darkness after Wave, of—
"Hey, what's wrong?" Eren put a hand on her shoulder, yanking her back out of the memories. "C'mon, let's go home." A pause, almost dramatic, but not quite, and he continued, "Our home."
She looked into those too-familiar eyes, and saw things she didn't, couldn't, shouldn't—
"I will always love you, otouto."
"I'll bring you back, Sasuke!"
Mikasa looked out from those eyes, and saw in Eren one word.
Brother.
He would care. He had already proved that he would die for her sake, when he barely knew her. He had seen her kill, and he accepted her anyway. He was already pulling her into his family without question, and—
Itachi.
Naruto.
She nodded, taking his hand, even as tears began to stream down her face.
Aniki will always be Itachi, but…
Eren can be onii-chan.
o.o.o.o.o
A/N: Short, but I prefer to let my chapters grow after the first few. I like having hard-hitting, fast prologues and early chapters, and then let the story grow beyond them.
And in case you didn't catch it, Mikasa hasn't fully integrated Sasuke's memories yet. They're still some other part of her that she's trying to ignore, and she needs a little time for them to truly feel like they're hers. As a result, her reactions are still extremely close to canon, since she herself has barely changed… yet.
Ja ne,
Phoenix
