Thursday, November 28th.

The last time it had been Thursday on November the 28th, it was Thanksgiving day and it rained. Hard. It poured. It was odd and unseasonable that it should rain so late into the year. It had been an unbearably hot summer and the rest of the year had been fairly warm, but Eren hadn't expected the rain that day. It was fitting, he thought. Raining on the anniversary of his mother's death. Almost ironic, even, not to mention horrendously cliche.

He didn't celebrate Thanksgiving that year. He wouldn't celebrate it this year either. Thanksgiving had been and always would be a difficult event from the time his mother died and onward, but when it fell on the actual anniversary of her death, he couldn't handle it. He never would be able to handle it.

Eren remembered how much Carla had loved this day. She had been so warm and happy and loving when she was alive. The holiday always brought her family closer together (save Grisha, as always), and that was one thing she could never ignore or pass up.

This particular Thursday, November 28th, Thanksgiving Day, it did not rain. Eren almost missed it. It could've been comforting, in a way. The familiarity of it and the nice smell that it washed the earth in would've made sense to him; it would've felt more normal and right.

All he had to do all day was sit in his thoughts. It was better, he decided, to take Armin and Mikasa up on their offer of coming to keep him company that day. They had been there since before noon and while he did appreciate their presence, he was afraid that he was not good company at all.

"Eren?" Armin's vague voice drifted in through the haze. "Eeeereeeennnn?"

"Huh? What? Sorry, I was zoned out," Eren responded, scrubbing his eyes harshly with the heels of his hands.

Armin smiled softy and shook his head. "I asked when you were going to see your mother today."

Eren thought for a minute. "I dunno. Whenever Levi wants to take us I guess."

"Mm. If you need any company, I can always come."

"Okay. Thanks."

"No problem. Mikasa's going too, right?"

"Oh," Eren leaned his head back and blinked. "I think so. I hadn't thought to ask her. Mikasa?"

Mikasa heard their calls from the kitchen where she was making a peanut butter sandwitch. She manuvered through the tiny breakfast nook beside the kitchen and into the living room where the boys were sat on the couch. "Yeah?"

"Are you coming to see mom today?"

She stilled for a split second, her eyes going cold at the thought. "Uh huh," she nodded and turned on her heel to get back to making her food.

Armin's phone buzzed in his pocket as she left. He checked the screen and groaned when his grandfather's face popped up on it. "Hello?" he greeted, pressing the phone to his ear. "What?... I'm with Eren and Mikasa though... Oh. Okay... Alright. Will you pick me up then?... Okay, thank you. Bye." He hung up the phone with a sour expression and put it back in his pocket. "Hey, my grandpa says I have to get back home and eat dinner with him. He'll be here in a couple minutes to take me home."

Eren's face went from flat to confused. "It's like, 2:45."

Armin shrugged. "Yeah, but we have to make it and stuff. Plus, old people eat dinner at ridiculous hours."

"Fair enough," Eren conceeded.

They didn't talk much in the remaining few minutes they had left, but the time went by quickly nonetheless. Armin left with a quick, "I'll see you guys later," and Mikasa and Eren only made a harmonized, "bye."

They sat on the couch for a little while. Mikasa flipped on the TV and they both mindlessly watched a hyper-observant man pretend to be a psychic for a few minutes until Eren abrupty stood and mechanically procured some sort of snack food that he didn't even like from the kitchen.

Mikasa took one look at the bag of kale chips and stated matter-of-factly, "Eren, you're acting weird today."

Eren scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Aside from the obvious, what's wrong?"

He pursed his lips and cast his gaze downward in the silence that followed. When it became apparent that Mikasa wouldn't accept his silence as an answer, he sighed heavily and spoke, "It's just... I mean, this is always a hard day, but I've just been in a daze all day. I mean, I could've-" He sucked in a sharp breath to cut himself up as his eyes snapped up to meat Mikasa's, fear radiating from them.

"You could've what?" she queried.

He reached forward to put the kale chips on the coffee table and then sighed again as he slumped over the arm of the couch. She watched him as he did and turned in her seat to face him, knees brought up to her chest and chin resting on her knees.

"I could've joined her by now. If I had been smart enough to get it done right, anyways. I didn't want to make it today. I didn't want to have to worry about today."

Mikasa stayed silent as she let herself absorb his words. She swallowed the lump in her throat and took another moment to prepare herself for the words that were about to come out of her mouth. "You can't just do that, Eren."

It was deathly quiet.

Eren broke the quietness with an uneloquent, "huh?"

"You can't just leave like that. Please, please don't say that. She was my mom too and I know that this is sad- I know it's the worst thing that's ever happened to you, but please, don't say things like that. Not today. I need you here today. I lost my parents, I lost mom, I don't want to have to even think about losing you. Being split up is bad enough, but not having you at all? I wouldn't be able to bear it."

"Mikasa-" Eren started.

"Sorry. I'm sorry, I know you're not okay, but I need to be selfish right now, okay? I need this. Is that okay?"

Eren reached out and took her hand from where it rested on her knee. "Yeah. I'm sorry too. I'll try not to talk like that."

She smiled a little and squeezed his hand. Nothing more was said for a few minutes. Nothing needed to be said.

Levi emerged from his room less than an hour later and they left shortly after. The cemetery was bland and dry as the bones that rested within. Levi hung back at the entrance to give Mikasa and Eren the time they needed to spend with their mother alone. Together, the two of them took the path they knew so well to her.

They were both completely silent as they knelt on the ground in front of the charcoal gravestone. A moment or so passed before either of them spoke.

"Hi, mom." It was Eren who broke the silence. "Me and Mikasa are here to see you."

Mikasa reached out and grabbed Eren's hand, squeezing it hard to keep herself from crying. "H-hi," she choked out, "It's been way too long since I've been to see you."

"Yeah, me too. It's been a couple weeks now, I think." There was another passive silence before Eren resumed speaking, "It's been six years, mom. I miss you. We both miss you... I wish I could see you."

There was a choked sob from a few feet away from him. He looked over to Mikasa just as she reached up with her free hand to wipe at her eyes. Eren gave her hand another firm squeeze and scooted closer to her.

If he was being honest with himself, he was really surprised that he wasn't crying too. It wasn't that he wasn't sad- hell, he was struggling to think straight the pain was so overwhelming. He didn't really know what it was. Maybe it was him always feeling everything or nothing. Maybe he was just feeling absolutely everything right now. Maybe he was feeling nothing. Maybe he was completely out of tears, having cried so many in the past months. He didn't know.

All he knew was that there was a strange calmness that had settled over his mind and in his limbs that guided him as if he were on autopilot. It allowed his words to just spill out and tumble around in his mouth. He didn't really understand or know what he was saying, but he said it anyway without thinking of anything at all.

"Mom, it's been about a week since I tried to see you again. Not come to visit you here, but actually see you. To join you."

Mikasa's breath hitched next to him and she turned wide, dark eyes on him. The tears that had been threatening to spill over her cheeks for several minutes finally had their freedom and cascaded down her face. Her voice cracked as she spoke, "Eren?" It wasn't a question of what he was talking about. It was asking him to reassure her that he was still there. He nodded at her and showed her a small, soft smile. She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry," she said, "Can I get out of earshot before you talk about this?"

"Oh," Eren breathed, angry with himself for letting himself slip back into this topic. Of course he would make this day out of all days completely about him. Like always. "No, Mikasa. It's okay, I won't talk about it anymore. Sorry. I said I wasn't going to talk about it today. It just kind of... slipped out."

He shrugged and she scooted closer to hug him and rested her chin on his shoulder. He closed his eyes, grateful for the warmth and human contact. They stopped for a moment to just sit like that in the quiet air.

"Mom, I miss you so much," Mikasa's voice wavered as she said this. "I wish you were here. I wish that we were all a family again. I wish you could see how strong we're trying to be. How hard we're working. I love you so much. I miss you even more. I'll come back soon." She stood, wiped at her nose and eyes, and dusted off her jeans. "I'm going to go back now. Are you going to be here much longer, Eren?"

Eren blinked himself out of the glassy state he had been in listening to her talk. "Hm? Oh, no. I'll just be a couple minutes."

She nodded and gave his hand a final squeeze before walking towards the front of the cemetery.

Eren sighed and settled into his new solitary aura. "Mom?" he began quietly, "It's okay, I'll see you soon. I know I'll do it this time. I'll see you soon. I'll be with you again. It's gonna be like it used to be. Just give me a little bit of time. I love you, mom. Just wait a little while. I'll come visit you again before I go to see you. Bye, mom."

He walked away towards Mikasa and Levi with his head feeling much clearer and the rest of him feeling oddly lighter. A serene expression stayed on his features while they drove in silence back to the apartment. Neither his guardian nor his sister asked him about it. He thanked them inwardly and stayed in his fantasy of joining his mother for the rest of the day.


A/N: I seriously need to apologize for my loose grasp of how public school works. The only public schools and private schools I ever went to were very unorthodox and I've been home schooled for the rest of my life u_u Either way, I did my best and I hope you enjoy, regardless of the horrid inaccuracies.