The chapters get longer, I hope I didnt outdone myself... On the lighter note, I seem to be getting follows and faves a lot more. Thank you for looking forward to this story.
Chapter 3: Those who are left behind
"I'll always love you,
I will always protect you,
Be your shield and your fortress
Just stay by my side
Be with me...
Forever"
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He dreams about it again, people tearing them apart. Why does he dream about it over and over? Aren't they supposed to leave everything behind? For better, for worse, he promised by the abandoned church atop the hill. To love her forever till death do them part.
They both lie curled up in their sides. Annie just right infront of him as he spoons her delicate frame. He hugs her sleeping form near him, casually running his free hand from her shoulder to her hip. He always loved her curves and when she slightly squirms from the discomforts of pregnancy, he rubs her swollen stomach affectionately.
He likes it when he runs his hands through her baby bump. All his fears seemed so small compared to the small baby growing inside her, possibly getting stronger as the days go by. He fantasizes, how such a small growing creature, like him and her, could erase all the fears that dwell inside his mind. Finally they could start anew. When all of the controversies they've have left behind have died down, then maybe they can move back to the village and out of seclusion.
He tells Annie that when the baby grows and starts schooling they could start somewhere inside the village. Annie smiles at his idea, and he wonders if she agrees to his proposal or not. He wants her to live a normal life just like the things he experienced in his childhood. Even though he wasn't the real child of his parents, he never felt like an outsider in his family.
Whereas for Annie...
Her mother died when she was a baby. She died protecting her infant daughter from the humans. So little is known about the incident, but she recalls that by the time her father came to save the both of them it was too late.
"It was never too late," Eren could recall himself telling her. "You are alive and that's what matters,"
Annie knew deep down that he was right. Her father says that she reminded him so much of her late mother that it just hurts to look at her without feeling so much guilt. Maybe she was really supposed to live and fight. All her life, she spent her days training to be a warrior: perfecting skill after skill, almost killing herself in the process, but the results are worth it. If she hadn't finished at the top of her class she wouldn't be assigned to infiltrate the walls and maybe she wouldn't have met Eren.
In the morning, when she wakes up, she finds Eren's hand resting lightly on her stomach. She slides her hands into his and entwines theirs in a sleepy manner. She's currently entering the fourth month and the baby's growing fast. Unlike human pregnancies, Titan shifters develop faster, hence only seven months in the waiting. She could already feel the baby stirring wildly within her that it created so much excitement and anticipation in her mind. She wonders if Eren could notice the recent development.
Its odd, at least for her, how can a person live in complete serenity, and just resign into doing things they love and be with the one they love. The past months seemed like a fleeting dream in her mind. No nightmares ever infiltrated her days with him. She thinks that these peace would last forever, afterall, when the baby reaches the right age, maybe she would have to agree to settle within the village and give her child the normal life. A kind of life denied to her.
She turns around only to meet his sleeping face. However she sees streaks of dried tears in his cheeks. She hates it when his anxiety attacks him. She knows that while she experiences dreams of bliss, he on the other hand, experiences the nightmares that never haunted her. She wants him to share those snippets of dreams with her, but in the end he just shrugs it off saying it is only his anxieties attacking him. She traces the trails of his befallen tears with her slender fingers and watches him as he takes light inhales and exhales... his sounds barely audible as he sleeps in light quiet snores. She moves closer to him and plants a kiss on his forehead.
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He goes for a hunt in the woods alone that one fine day. Annie would have to take care of herself at home and rest. As the pregnancy progresses, she is having difficulty in moving around by herself.
"Its just uncomfortable you know," she would tell him. "But its just the way it is, the baby could kick and move all day round but I'm not going to die from this anyway," she says light heartedly.
Apparently, he has been so slow to notice that titan shifter's pregnancy develop a bit faster than humans, however the discomfort of the fetus moving around constantly and draining nutrients from its mother makes it more difficult.
"Just take care of yourself anyway," he says "Dont do anything strenous,"
"I will," she smiles "Though, I cant sit around and do nothing, this whole pregnancy thing is making me feel like a girl... no, a damsel in distress."
she snorts at her last remark and he chuckles.
"Nature is trying to put us back in our places," he says.
"Shut up Jaeger," she says "I bet you cant even catch a wild boar in your hunt today"
"Well on the contrary MRS. Jaeger..." he steps in and closes the gap between them, she backs up until she could feel the wall pressing her back. Eren entraps her, his palms firmly planting itself on the wooden dead end. Their breaths audible to eachother's ears. He presses his lips against hers and then seeks entrance to her mouth, deepening the kiss as their tongues go in a wild dance. Their passions consuming them. Annie could feel her cheeks reddening from the sudden heat of the moment. Eren is spontaneous, knowing when to attack her in her mindless teasing. When did this guy start to become like this? She always wonders, but for now she couldn't think straight, Eren's mouth leaves hers and plants wild kisses along her jawline then to her clavicle. He goes back up to her pulse point in her neck, and gently kisses her in her favourite spot. She closes her eyes to savour the moment and then wraps her arms around his neck to bring him closer. He hugs her waist in return, their bodies pressing together. He whispers in her ears "I win don't I? I can make you weak just by doing this,"
Whatever, she inwardly rolls her eyes but admits that he is right, at least in her mind. She surrenders and just hugs him tighter. Then he abruptly pulls away as he feels a kick in his abdomen. He stops. "Did, did the baby just kick?"
She smiles at him and guides his hands towards that spot in her stomach. His grin grows wide as he could feel series of light flutter kicks against his hand.
"I guess, the baby wins." his wife says.
He grins at the memory his mind replays over and over during the course of his hunt. Luck is on his side when he spots a fat wild boar on his path. He positions himself, readying his weapon, a riffle. He lowers himself to the ground hoping not to be noticed by his game. As he is ready to pull the trigger, a loud resonating thump is heard through the woods.
Eren agitatedly looks up, the familiar thumping of its feet in the soft ground has caused a stir within the environment. He looks back and finds that his game has gone into hiding. He curses under his breath, he thinks of Annie, and he wants to go back to her as soon as possible. However, five fourteen-meter high titans are already in his line of vision.
He adjusted the straps in his body, his eyes burning in anticipation of slicing titan flesh. His personal vendetta against those big mindless giants are returning to his mind, like igniting the familiar candle of hatred. They deserve no mercy. He remembers the time he and Annie slayed a whole army of titans so many, that the titans seemed to have avoided the clearing of their little home. Annie's titan killing feats are ruthless, clean and evenly matched with his sister, who holds the highest rank in the military academy.
He swings effortlessly through the trees, then high enough to reach the nape of his kill. He relishes the moment as he swings his blade deep to the core of titan flesh, severing tendons and muscles till it reaches deep enough that it hinders titan regenerabilty.
Steam oozes out as his first kill's dead weight drops to the grass beneath him. He looks as he is suspended high in the air, his skills in using the 3-Dimensional Maneuver Gear hasn't rusted yet, despite of not using it in months.
Another one comes in line of vision, and he welcomes the fight. The next one is an abberant, walking then sprinting its way awkwardly towards him. He uses his ropes and then hooks himself to the height of the tree beside him, taking a good angle to strategically cut the deviant by its nape. He remembers Annie's voice in his head,Don't let them see you, a good angle is everything, always outsmart the titans. Be the predator and not the prey.
He successfully hooks his ropes to the titan's shoulders, and lunges forward as the contraption retracts. For the second time today, he severs the titan's nape even before it could even react. He jumps just it time before the titan's body falls to the ground in dead weight.
He does the same to the third and fourth that comes his way... Steam bellows beneath him as the dead mass of humanoid bodies stack up one after the other. However in killing the fourth one, he loses his footing as he lands on a weak branch, throwing him ungracefully into the thin air, and straight into the palm of the fifth titan that came along.
His heart skips a beat. Being in the palms of a titan is suicide, unless he could cut himself free. The fifth one raises him into eye level, almost crushing Eren's body in its grasp. Eren curses as he sees that his dual swords have fallen to the grass beneath him. This possibly couldn't be his end. He couldn't just be killed by this fucking titan. He still has to catch some food and go home to Annie... His Annie who patiently awaits for his return.
I can't die yet.
"AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!" He screams his rage infront of the titan.
You can't kill me.
And then, as fast as it happens, the titan's arm severs away from its body. Eren looks up as he falls with the Titan's severed hand plunging into the ground.
What the fuck just happened?
The titan slumps forward, its nape, already cut deeply into its death. Eren realizes that somebody had just saved his life. And when the large mass of meat falls, and the steam evaporates, his savior is revealed: A statuesque woman with shoulder length black hair. She wears the signature uniform of the recon corps and a read scarf with hangs loosely from her neck. Her black beady eyes pierces through the steam and directly into his. He instantly recognizes his sister.
"Mikasa,"
She runs towards him and pulls him a tight hug. He hugs back, but not as tight. Then he realizes that his sister cries in his arms. He looks at her and wipes her tears with her scarf. She tries to calm herself from her sudden outburst, her emotions getting the best of her.
"Lets go back Eren!" She exclaims "Come back with me to the walls and prove your innocence,"
"What?" He looks at her, a bit confused "What are you saying?"
"The government may be angry at you, but I know you are innocent, you have done nothing," she explains "Come back with me,"
"Mikasa..." He mutters "I can't"
"Why?" She asks in surprise "What do you mean you can't? Just prove your innocence, and say that you just wanted to see what lies beyond the walls, they will pardon you, then we'll live like the way it was before,"
"I can't do that Mikasa,"
"Then, is it true?" Her fist clenches into balls "Tell me the truth Eren... What made you leave me... Leave us? Leave your sworn alliance to humanity? Tell me..."
"I fell in love." he answers.
"Annie?"
"Yes,"
A long pause engulfs the two siblings as one struggles for the right words to say.
"Tell me, what happened. Were... Were you the one who helped her escape prison?"
He nods.
She remains silent. Deep down, she couldn't help but think that her brother has officially turned into a traitor against humanity. In her core he betrayed her, and she can't tell him because he looks happy. He looks happy and she has spent her miserable months looking forward to this day, saving him and go back to the walls and return to the life they once knew. Why must he always go away from her?
She drops her gaze to the ground, avoiding her brother's. Her hands are still circled in fists, what does she believe in now? She tried to protect him after all this time... But he... She thought, she believed that he would never be a fool and turn into the enemy.
He places a hand on her shoulder "Live your life Mikasa..." Then he adjusts and fixes the scarf around her neck. "Im not your little brother or your child, so don't worry about me,"
Sureley, you'll understand one day.
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She follows him in silence. She should have come back to camp like she promised him, yet she is here, following him silently deep into the woods without his knowledge. She notices that he takes the long way home, in which if a normal citizen would follow him, they would get lost for sure. She stops when he reaches the clearing. She notices the small house at the base of a gigantic tree, with a small farm in front and a lake behind it. A surreal place away from everything.
She watches how he would shower Annie with kisses the moment she opens the door. She notices the smiles they give each other and the laughs they both share. She has created her life around him, that she doesn't know what to do once he goes and lives his own life.
She leaves the happy couple behind and goes back to her camp not far way from the walls. She receives the usual stares of the people, assuming that she still hasn't found her brother yet. Everybody tells her to give up her search, apparently, they had mixed feelings wether Eren was even worth her time. Now she knows the truth that everybody is trying to tell her, her brother has become a traitor in their eyes.
Her thoughts are all mixed up, her cold demeanor makes everyone avoid her. She walks back and forth in silence, that even her childhood friend Armin, never even bothered to talk to her.
She skips dinner and heads straight up the roof deck, in complete silence. She stays at the observatory which overlooks the evening sky and the dense forrest that lies far ahead. She stares.
"I think you found your answer," a deep male voice says from behind her. Her head snaps back at the sudden intrusion, recognizing that it came from their team Captain Levi.
His cold gray eyes looked directly at her black ones, piercing every information that happened during her day away from camp.
"I bet you want to laugh at how pathetic I am now," she says bitterly.
"Everybody knows what a fool your brother is," he says, hands crossed in his chest. "You maybe a smart girl, but this time, you let your own personal bias affect your judgement."
"I..." she stammers, her mind debates whether she should tell him or not. Flashes of what happened earlier ran through her mind like broken fragments of a film.
"You don't have to force yourself Ackerman," he finally says disrupting the long silence that transpired between them. "Sooner or later, they would both be found, and justice would be served right,"
"By what justice?"
"I wonder, what kind of justice awaits their fate, but I am pretty sure, it wouldn't be very appealing,"
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"The meal is delicious!" he exclaims as he takes a bite from his meal. "But, must it be always tomato?"
"The baby likes tomato," she says "you can never argue with that,"
She prepares him geese meat in tomato sauce, and since her pregnancy, most meals in the house are prepared with tomato. Tomato paste, tomato sandwiches, tomato toppings... Etc.
"So," she raises an eyebrow "you brought home some dead chickens."
"I told you they were wild geese not chickens,"
"Then, where is the wild boar?" she teases him.
"It ran away,"
"because...?"
"I killed the titans..."
"Oooh... how many did you kill?"
"four,"
She laughs "You are such a girl Eren!"
"I almost go eaten,"
"No fucking way!" her eyes getting bigger at his story "How did you get out?"
"Somebody saved me," he pauses "Mikasa,"
Annie slumps back to her chair with a slight frown in her face, with the excitement going down, she rubs her sore stomach. "Then...?"
"She asks me to prove my innocence back in the walls so I'll be pardoned."
Her frown is replaced with a smile "Now, that's interesting,"
"But you know I can't, because I'm living a new life here with you," He takes her hand in his across the table. "I'm not going anywhere Annie,"
She blushes at his statement and tries to look away, but Eren could see that she is not succeeding in attempting to hide her smile.
Then she looks back at him "But, what if she tells anyone that she saw you?"
"I have faith that she wouldn't" he reasures her. "By the way, you said you have something to show me..."
"Oh... that one," she says standing up from the table and getting something by the clothestrunk. A small half knitted sweater was in her hands. "Look..."
He takes the small knitted sweater in his hands and examines it "wow, I must say you are doing a good job here..."
"Be proud of me, Mr. Jaeger, its for Mr. Jaeger's baby afterall." She says this in a proud manner as if mimicking an announcer's voice over the podium.
"Mr. Jaeger is proud of MRS. Jaeger's work." he says equally matching her voice. The two of them laugh at their little play. "Oh Holy walls of Sina! I thought I sounded like my dad!"
"Not bad Eren..." she chuckles. Then she takes his hand and lets him touch the part of her stomach in which the baby kicks. He smiles and she sighs.
"I... I feel excited Annie,"
"Yeah..." she says dreamily "Me too... who knew that such things like this, could happen."
"I wonder how it would look like? A girl or a boy?"
"I don't really care whether its a girl or a boy, as long as it fills this house with another joy, then I could finally see how life really should be..."
How life really should be... peace, love and joy... he has seen so much horror and despair, and he doesn't want to see more of it. He watches he wife stand up and place the dishes on the sink. As the days go by, he notices her feminine side more and more and it makes him fall in love with her over and over again. It leaves him addicted, and it gets better.
He hugs her from behind, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair. He gently takes hold of her chin and tilts it towards him. He whispers her name like a prayer, and kisses her.
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Hatred, Jealousy, Anger. These emotions can destroy a healthy mind. The sense of betrayal from the person she has been loyal to the whole of her life. Mikasa tries to hold herself, shut off from the world in the dark corner of her room. Nobody would ever understand these feelings.
She could hear people knock at her door, hoping that she would answer, but she doesn't. She thinks of her brother and how selfish he could be.
She thinks of the time they met as children, she was taken hostage by three armed men, until the demon's spawn appeared. A goblin of 6 meters. A titan with illuminating green eyes rescued her as he killed three men by tearing their limbs apart. Blood splattered in her line of vision, lots and lots of blood... pools of blood.
She screams, but only in her mind. A little girl of eight faced with what she knows a titan. She fears for her life, thinking that it might eat her alive after the men who captured her. She tries to run away, but she didn't or rather legs couldn't, she is paralyzed in her fear, she cant even move to save her own life.
But then, her father came and rescued her and the titan who saved her life fled and ran away. Her father, Grisha Jaeger, was a doctor. He was not her biogical father but she is her mother's biological child out of wedlock. He believes in fairness and justice. He thinks that Titan Shifters should be treated as equals rather than a minority of people.
He carries his adopted daughter in his back and proceeds to follow the titan that just came by. He thinks that a titan that would come and save his daughter seemed a little peculiar to him. Mikasa would remember how tight she clung at his back, but oddly felt safe. The winter weather seemed to be breaking them but their spirits didn't falter.
After moments of searching, Mikasa didnt see the anymore of the goblin-like titan. However, in their search they found a boy unconscious in the snow. He is wrapped in some gooey substance like meat, slowly evaporating from his tattered clothing. Her father says that they would bring him home and find for his parents.
She silently watches him, in the room of their log cabin, when the boy her age opened his eyes, teal-green eyes stared at her black ones.
"Oh so you are awake," Mikasa heard her father say behind her.
The boy let out a big gasp, his eyes wide in fear and agitation. Mikasa watched as he jumped out of the bed and headed towards the bedroom door, but even before he could do so, her father was able to grab him and keep him still.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" he boy with green eyes exclaimed.
Mikasa watched in fright and wondered what her father would answer him. She watched the boy squirm away from her father's tight grasp, grunting loudly as he tried to get away.
Then her father released him abruptly, throwing him off balance and sent him flying to the wall. He steps towards the boy's slump form and towers over him. He throws back the earlier question at him. "Who. are. you?"
The boy takes his head between his hands and starts a temper tantrum. He shouts: "I DO NOT KNOW! I DO NOT KNOW!"
"Answer me young man." Grisha demanded but the boy just got worse.
"dad-" Mikasa tried to interrupt but she falls short of words.
"Mikasa, do you know who he is?" The older man said. "He will be your brother, he is your brother."
"NO! NO! NO!" the little boy shouts agressively.
"Behave, Eren." Grisha says as he hugs the boy tightly in his arms. Mikasa watches as the little boy squirms violently then later falls limp in her father's arms. She watches him retract a syringe and throws it aside. she jumps in fright... Confused at what is happening around her. Her father turns to her and says "From now on Mikasa, this boy will be your brother. His name is Eren. Take care of him, he is a little special than the rest of us. You owe him your life for he saved yours..."
Eren indeed was special. Even though she could do things better than him. There is something different from him. He heals faster than her, he survives when those accidents could kill him. And growing up along side him, he was happy... they were happy as brother and sister together with their mother and father. Until some years ago, the goblin-like titan appeared before her very eyes again. Its teal-green eyes looking directly at her, piercing her as if he'll eat her. Its scary! Its scary to think that this was the boy she called brother.
"Mikasa-!"
A voice interrupts her from her reverie.
Eyes snapping back open, was she dreaming of the past? The room is so dark, rather she is in the dark. Ever since Eren left her... Why did she feel so empty, like she was living with no purpose at all? Is this what she is? An empty shell only good at combat? The red scarf that hung around her neck, that was the only comfort she had. 'I believed in him... I believed that he would come back'
A hand tapped her lightly in the shoulder. She realizes now that she isn't alone like what she initially believed.
"Something is bothering you Mikasa," Armin says as he sat beside her in her dark corner.
"Eren..." She manages to say, hot tears streaming from her cheeks. With her father missing and her mother dead, Eren was the only one she could call family. But even now... He is slowly fading away from her. Even after she vowed to herself that she would dedicate her life towards him. "How could I get him back?"
"He ran away in his own accord Mikasa." Her friend tells her quietly. "You must accept the fact that he is already declared as one of the state's enemies."
She doesn't respond.
"He is on the hunt now... Together with the other Titan Shifter Annie Leonhardt." He pauses then continues "If they are found, they would be subjected to torture and then executed. You know how many titan shifters are already killed."
"Couldn't they lift the sentence?" She says abruptly. "Well, at least for Eren,"
"Either, lifetime imprisonment or banishment, who knows?"
"How about the girl?"
"With the scale of her crimes, she could never be pardoned. The punishment that awaits her is even more than Eren's if ever."
"As long Eren is safe," she says pointing out every word. "As long as he is safe, I don't really care about the girl," goddamit! The tears are flowing again, is this what you call desperation?
Armin watches his friend in silence, Mikasa has suffered enough when Eren left. He knows that at this moment, she is breaking, confused with her feelings whether to save Eren or leave him in his own demise. But in the end, he knows that she would always choose the former, saving Eren has always been her top priority ever since their childhood days. She mutters something incomprehensible, but she repeats what she said through her tears:
"I saw'em... I ... Saw... Them. I saw them together... By the clearing in the woods... I saw them together."
She tells him everything she saw, she tells him everything that was in her heart. She finally confesses.
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