Chapter 3: Mikasa's new family

So to whoever has actually read this far…thank you! It means a lot to me, since this is emotionally hard to write! The hardest part so far has to be towards the end of chapter 2. Well, anyway, thanks guys, and please enjoy the chapter!

The next day, Armin had gone to Mikasa's door again, but this time she left a note on the front door.

'Armin –I'm really busy right now, so I might not be home all the time for the next week or two. Don't worry, I've been cooking on my own, so you don't have to worry about any of that. I'm making some big decisions right now, and need time to think. I have a lot to tell you, but I'd like to do that in person. I hope you understand. Please don't worry about me. –Mikasa'

That quite surprised Armin. What was she doing that could possibly keep her away from home a lot? Also, what could she possibly want to tell him? And she had a lot to think about? Like what?

All the worst case scenarios were going to his head, but he wouldn't think like that. She sounded pretty good, actually better than normal, so it's probably something good going on.

So he waited, and after about a week, he went to check on her. She wasn't home again, so he waited a little longer.

He came back once more after two weeks, and what he found was a new note. He was getting a little more concerned now.

'Armin –I know that there's a huge chance that you're able to read this because you came back to check on me. But would you gather everyone, and take bring them here? I have something very important to show you –Mikasa.'

Armin was relieved that he finally was going to know what's going on, but extremely curious about the gathering thing. This seemed like it would be something really big, and lately Mikasa had been unpredictable.

Nothing could've prepared him for this surprise though.

He got Sasha, Connie, Levi, Hanji, and Jean to all come. Armin knocked, and they heard a 'Just a minute!' on the other side of the door. They also heard a lot of other strange things.

"Where'd Ashtei go, bubba?" a female voice said on the other side of the door.

"Mom~! Ashtei disappeared again!" a male voice said.

"Okay, just a minute, she's probably in the basement again. You two stay right there. Ashtei, they're here!" Mikasa's voice could be heard yelling into some other room.

"Alright, she's coming u- Azabell! That's for after dinner! Okay guys, now don't go anywhere. Their coming in. Are you alright with that Ashtei? Okay good."

Mikasa opened the door, her silky, still very short hair flowing around her face. Two things surprised Armin and everyone else about her, though. First…

She was smiling. Not a very big, full on smile, but a little smile. It had to be the best thing Armin had seen all day. Well, until he got to see the inside of her house, but still.

The second most surprising thing was the fact that she wasn't wearing her scarf, which made everyone very, very, surprised. Mikasa had done it before, sure, but the thing was, since Eren passed away, she had a hard time getting it out of her sight without tears filling her eyes. It was something that gave her strength to keep going.

"Mikasa…you're smiling!" Armin exclaimed.

"Yeah! And where's your scarf?!" Sasha asked.

"What was all those voices? Who's in there?" Jean asked.

"Um…well…here's the thing…" Mikasa began. They all quieted down to here her.

"I have done a lot of thinking these last few months, and I've been quite depressed…but that's when I came to a decision, and it was all my choice, but please don't freak out…" Mikasa stepped aside.

Standing behind her, was a little girl with a purple dress, her beautiful red hair put into pigtails, and her eyes so sparkly blue it was just like the ocean.

Holding her hand was a boy with messy dark brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a green and blue shirt.

Next to him was a girl with short black hair, beautiful forest green eyes, a light red dress, a notebook in arms, and most shocking of all, an old maroon scarf wrapped carefully around her neck and face, and covered most of the bottom side of her face, but what did show was all blushing pink.

"Mikasa…what is this…?" Armin asked.

"This is my daughter Azabell Juana Ackerman. She's five years old," Mikasa said, gesturing to the red head.

"This is my son Zackary Ackerman. He's eight years old," she said gesturing to the brunette.

"This is my daughter Ashtei Ackerman. She's eleven years old, and doesn't speak. She knows how to talk, and can understand. She uses her notebook to communicate," Mikasa said, looking fondly at the black haired girl.

"D…daughters? S…son?" Jean said in surprise.

"Wait…wait…just one second…wh-a-at?!" Connie said, wide eyed.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT! So you…you…adopted kids?!" Sasha exclaimed, looking in a mix of shock and excitement.

"Mikasa…when did you decide you wanted…?" Armin trailed off, but with a smile forming on his face.

"They…they…THEY ARE SO CUTE!" Hanji exclaimed, running right up to them, and squealing like a little girl.

"So…you got noisy brats of your own now, huh?" Levi said, but his mouth uplifted just a little. Not a smile…but moved just a little.

Ashtei slid behind Mikasa's legs, and peeked out just a sminch to see everyone.

Sasha saw Azabell sneak a pastry while Mikasa was busy talking to Armin, and Sasha poked her. Azabell looked not sure what to do or say, but then Sasha whispered, "I wanna have one too!"

Jean was having a hard time processing what was going on. He was so shocked, more shocked than the rest, especially the fact that the person he had a crush on for years, had just adopted kids.

Suddenly, he got a snapped out of his thoughts when little paper wad hit his chest. It fell to the ground, and he kneeled down and picked it up.

He unwrickled it, and it said, "My name is Ashtei. What's yours?"

Jean turned and looked at the 11 year old, hiding right behind Mikasa.

"You're talking to…me?" Jean asked. Ashtei nodded shyly.

"I'm…I'm Jean," Jean said. Ashtei wrote quickly in her notebook.

"Will you be my friend?"

Jean couldn't help himself. He smiled ever so slightly, and nodded his head in reply.

Mikasa quickly realized that Azabell, Sasha, and Connie had disappeared.

"Armin, will you watch the kids here? I have to go find Azabell…" Mikasa said. Armin smiled, and nodded. Mikasa and Armin had been talking for a few minutes now, and Armin actually didn't think that this was crazy, or weird. It was actually good for her to get so much new family at once. Armin definitely knew that she had already grown incredibly fond of them, especially if she was strong enough to give one her scarf.

Zackary ran up to Armin, and tugged his shirt. Armin looked down and smiled at him.

"Hey mister! Why do you have a book?"

"I carry one around a lot, just in case I need one. Oh, and you can call me Armin."

"Okay then, Armin! Can you…um…read to me?" he asked, and Armin nodded. Zackary's face light up in excitement.

"I actually brought a book of fairytales, which I guess was a good call, huh?" Armin said, sitting onto a chair and opening the book.

After, Mikasa came walking back in, dragging Sasha, Connie, and Azabell right in tow.

"They ate practically everything they could grab…" Mikasa said, sighing. That's when Hanji walked over and smiled.

"Hello!" Azabell said.

Hanji knelt down, patted Azabell's head, and said with the biggest smile, "Well, I would let her if it meant I got to see that smile again!"

Azabell giggled.

Meanwhile, Jean and Ashtei had been talking. Jean had already taken a liking to Ashtei. She was quiet, but really sweet. Right now, Ashtei was trying to choose a favorite color. Apparently, she had never thought about it before. What Ashtei chose, was brown.

Levi had just been sitting on the sidelines, watching, when Azabell ran up to him.

"Hey there!"

"What do you want, brat?" Levi asked.

"How old are you? Old right? You look old. Anyway, you're short! Really short for your age," she said.

Levi raised his eyebrow at her.

"Also, you have weird hair! Why are the sides shorter than the rest?" Azabell asked. Levi didn't answer.

"Azabell! Azabell! Next time I come we should plan out how to break into that one locked cupboard!" Sasha whispered the last part so quietly, Mikasa couldn't even tell what she said.

"Maybe we could get Connie to help!" Azabell exclaimed. That's when she hugged them both.

Mikasa stood back and looked at everyone. Hanji was trying to convince Levi to talk to them, Jean, and Ashtei talking in the corner of the room, Azabell in a group hug with Sasha and Connie, and Armin reading stories to Zackary.

Mikasa smiled.

'Eren…look at how big my family is…I got three kids! You would love them…I miss you Eren. I don't think that feeling will ever truly go away. But…I'm a mom. I have a family that loves me. I'm starting again, Eren…for the second time in my life I'm having a new family. And I'm not afraid this time…You're what's pushing me forward. Thank you. I'll never let them all down. I promise.'