"You're being released into the custody of a guardian," the officer tells Annie.

She hasn't been booked, so that's good. Her hand resting over her stomach, Annie rises from her chair and stumbles out, It's dark out again, and she assumes the others have all gone home. There's still no trace of Zeke, or Zackley.

Annie rounds the corner to find Petra, Erwin, Hange, and Levi leaning against a wall.

"Oh good. They really weren't lying when they said five minutes!" Hange exclaims.

"We're still waiting on two," grouses Levi.

"I'm your temporary guardian," Petra tells her. "Although you'll be staying in the dorm."

"Did they call my dad?" Annie asks.

Petra nods. Annie's stomach flips. "Is there a bathroom?"

"Right through there." Hange points, and Annie dashes to it, making it just in time to vomit.

A hand grasps her shoulders, and her hair. Petra. She doesn't say anything until Annie finishes, wiping her mouth on toilet paper.

"How far along are you?" Petra inquires.

"Ten weeks." Annie frowns. Soon to be eleven. The nausea has to end soon then, right?

"Have you thought about seeing a doctor?"

"I went to the clinic in town." Annie pries herself up to wash her hands. "I want to keep the baby."

"Okay," Petra agrees.

"You're not going to try to convince me that's a stupid idea?" Annie asks.

"No." Petra shrugs.

Annie starts to cry. "I want to finish school, too. I want to have it all, and I know I can't—especially now—"

"We'll help you," Petra says. "I know—I know Armin's grandfather's aware, now, Annie, and he's not exactly thrilled, but he's not angry either. He's willing to help the two of you out. I'm sure Pixis will be willing to help you graduate."

"I can't pay to keep going here."

"Your scholarship is still valid."

"It is?" Annie blinks.

"Armin looked into the rules." Petra smiles. "Even if Zeke gave it to you under guise of working for him, you haven't violated any terms. Besides the school rules, but with Ymir's case already as an example, you should be fine."

Annie gapes. She needs to tell Armin—idiot, he already knows—it feels too good to be true. And his grandfather doesn't hate me?

Anything good has felt unreal to Annie, for so long, but this—this is real. Armin's real, their baby is real, Petra's looking at her with mercy instead of hatred, and her friends—even Eren—still care about her. It's all real, a living dream.

She remembers something Mikasa said once, that Annie scorned at the time. The world is cruel, but the world is also beautiful.

Annie always thought the world was cruel. She didn't know it was beautiful, too. But maybe now…

Annie emerges to find Reiner and Bertolt standing with their shoulders slumped. Her heart catches in her throat. But what about them? "Are they—"

"They're coming back to school," Erwin interrupts. "For the time being, Reiner will be staying at Moblit's place, and Bertolt at mine."

Bertolt shakes his head, as if amazed. Reiner wipes at his eyes.

"You okay?" Erwin asks.

Reiner shakes his head. "Why are you being so generous? We don't deserve it. I especially don't. I'm insane."

"Don't call yourself that," Hange snaps. "You may have a mental illness. You are not a bad person because of that."

Bertolt hesitates, and Annie narrows her eyes at him. Do it.

Bertolt puts his hand on Reiner's shoulder. "We'll be okay?" he offers, more a guess than a certainty.

Reiner almost smiles. "We'll try."

The three of them climb into the very back of a van, and Annie can still see Bertolt wondering, worrying. She sits in between them, crushed basically. Oh, for goodness sake. "What do you have to lose?" she mutters to Bertolt.

"What?" He turns to her. Annie slides her eyes in Reiner's direction.

Bertolt's face flushes.

"What?" Reiner turns to them.

"Are you really doubting that Reiner's in love with you?" Annie asks point blank, albeit in a lowered voice as the adults get in. Levi insists on driving, pushing Hange out of the driver's seat.

Reiner looks stricken, more terrified than when he confessed. Sweat dampens Bertolt's forehead. "Annie—"

Reiner squeezes his eyes shut, and there's an admission if Annie ever saw one.

Bertolt's jaw drops. He glances at the front seats, where Petra and Hange sit chatting. Levi starts to drive, and Bertolt reaches out to take Reiner's hand.

The way Reiner looks at Bertolt—his eyes shining, his mouth slightly open and his cheeks beaming—it's the way Armin looks at her.

Good thing we're in the car with adults right now, Annie decides. Or they'd be making out even with her sitting in-between. "Remember Gunthur's lessons, guys," she says, her voice barely audible. "Or you'll end up like me."

"Um, no, Annie, we won't," Reiner points out.

"Get your hands off my lap," Annie grumbles.

"Zeke and Zackley have both been apprehended," Erwin announces.

Relief washes through Armin. It's been two weeks, and maybe now all the extra security can finally die down. Annie wilts.

"They've both been indicted on drug related charges, and Zeke's been additionally charged with first-degree murder."

Eren lowers his face. Mikasa watches him carefully, scarf covering her mouth.

"You okay?" Armin asks when Erwin dismisses their group into the hallway. The three of them linger behind the others.

"I thought I'd feel happier," Eren grumbles. "But…" His voice trails off.

Armin puts his hand on Eren's shoulder. "He'll have to answer for what he did to your father."

"Yeah, but where are Dad's answers?" Eren demands. "Those are the ones I want—maybe more than I want answers from Zeke."

"Maybe your mom will have some?"

"I'm not going to bother her with that. If she ever fully wakes up."

What will our child think of us? Armin wonders. Annie's already expressed anxiety about telling him or her about making and dealing drugs for Zeke. Will they think we're bad people? Use it against us someday?

Probably to the latter, at some point. They won't lie, though. And Annie loves their baby already. She'll be a wonderful mother, even if not perfect. But Annie will get to decide when and how to tell them, because she matters more than any stupid timeline Armin might try to come up with.

"Armin?" calls Reiner, appearing at the end of the hallway. He nods at Eren, at Mikasa. "Annie's dad tried to call her."

Armin swears.

"Why can't he just leave her alone?" Eren complains. "I'd like to take my fist to his face. And your dad's, too, Reiner."

Armin bites back a groan. I guess it's supportive? For Eren anyways?

Reiner nods, shrinking back against the wall again.

No one's afraid of you, Reiner, Armin thinks. He wants the boy to know that.

"Hey, I'm really happy for you and Bertl, though," Eren adds, his fist grazing Reiner's shoulder. "It's about time."

Reiner's eyebrows surge up to his hairline as his eyes run back and forth between Eren and Mikasa. "Hm."

"See you," Armin says quickly, darting down the hall. They all follow.

He finds Annie standing outside. It's sunny today, and warm. Sasha and Connie sit cross-legged on the grass, tossing almonds into their mouths. Ymir laughs as Historia braids her hair on a green bench, and Jean and Marco—now reinstated—sit near them, fervently discussing the arrests. Hitch and Marlowe lie on their stomachs under the oak tree to the left of the bench, watching something on Marlowe's tablet. Reiner heads over to Bertolt to lie down next to him on the grass, in dangerous proximity to the tossing almonds but in the sunshine. Mikasa pulls out Jane Eyre and drags Eren over to sit and read near the two boys, although Eren draws out his phone.

"Hey."

Annie holds out her phone. "He's out on bail. Petra told me."

Armin scowls. "He won't bother you. Levi promised, and my grandfather might be old, but he'll keep you safe over the summer."

"Armin, I'm disappointed, but that doesn't extend to Annie or your child," Grandpa told him.

"I can't believe he's so supportive," Annie muses. "I thought he'd call me a skank who seduced you or something."

"You kind of did." Armin winks. "But I was willing."

She shoves him as they stroll over to the rock wall. They settle on the grass, backs pressed against it. Armin's hand rests on Annie's stomach. In a few more weeks, a month or so, they'll be able to feel their baby move.

"I almost want to talk to him, you know."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah. But… with boundaries in place. Where he can't yell at me." Annie sniffs. "It's confusing."

Armin thinks of Eren and the revelation about his father. "It is. He's… complicated."

"If I call him back," Annie says. "Will you stay with me?"

Armin meets her eyes, still ice blue and yet without that cold sheen he saw at the beginning of the year. She looks free. He kisses her nose. "Yes."

"Stop. You're too cute," Annie grouses. "Okay. Here goes nothing."

"Connie!" yells Jean as Connie pelts almonds at Jean and Marco.

"Catch, catch!" Sasha chants.

"It's me," Annie says into her phone, gulping. Armin presses his cheek against hers. I'm here.

His mind can help people. So can his heart.

I never was useless.

"Twelve weeks… fine. The nausea's gotten better… Yeah, he's good to me." Annie's voice cracks. "No, Dad, I don't hate you."

"Look at that!" shrieks Historia.

"What?" Eren tosses his backpack down in art class. Petra's making them all draw self-portraits.

"Your hand, Petra!" Historia exclaims, rushing up to her. "Ooh, can I see? Ymir, come look!"

"Can we all see?" calls Sasha.

Petra holds up her hand, a flush in her cheeks and her eyes bright. A diamond shines from her left ring finger, set in silver. Or platinum. Eren can't tell them apart.

"Congratulations!" Marco cries.

"You and Oruo?" asks Jean.

"He bit his tongue, didn't he," mutters Reiner. Eren snorts.

Mikasa even grins. Eren glances over at her. He needs to ask her to prom. Armin's asked Annie, Reiner asked Bertolt, Jean and Marco, Sasha and Connie, Ymir and Historia, Marlowe and Hitch, Hannah and Franz, and Mina and Thomas Wager—"just as friends" Mina clarified.

But how to phrase it? Eren wonders.

"Next year, Levi and Hange should get engaged," Historia sighs.

"Eh, what?" Levi's voice cuts through.

Historia blanches. Ymir grabs her hand.

"Never mind," Levi groans. "Congratulations, Petra. I'm afraid I'm going to have to steal Jaeger and Ackerman from your class, though."

"What's going on?" Eren demands, stuffing his notepad back into his bag. Armin mouths at him to text. He hurries into the hallway, Mikasa on his heels. Zeke? Zackley?

"Your mom's really waking up," Levi informs him. "Hannes is already there."

What? Eren doesn't know what to say. "How awake?"

"Awake, awake," Levi says. "I said at the beginning of the year that we'd make sure you'd get there if she woke up. So we're going." He pulls out his car keys—er, Hange's car keys.

"Eren," breathes Mikasa. Her eyes glow.

"We'll see. Maybe it's another false alarm," Eren says. His heart thumps. Blood surges to his skull. I can't, I won't believe it until I see it—hope's cruel, too cruel.

"Yeah, because I would pull you out of class for a false alarm." Levi shakes his head. "C'mon."

This isn't happening. Eren watches Mikasa pull out her phone, text Armin, Annie, all of their friends, but he can't.

"This is why you only have one friend," Dad once scolded him, when he said he would be nice to Mikasa if she were nice to him.

I have a lot of friends now. Some of who haven't been very nice to me.

There's so much Mom missed. So much to tell her—and what if she's not fully there? What if she's never fully there? Lingering in the possibility that she might wake up and be fine, or having it crushed forever if she passed, might be more merciful for him.

Because he wants his mom back, and it scares him how much he wants her.

Eren beckons for Mikasa to take the front seat. He curls up in the back, and both Levi and Mikasa stay quiet.

Please, he thinks, prays. Please. He doesn't want his only living family to be Zeke.

What about Mikasa?

Eren cringes. Zeke's never been your only family.

She's his family. But not his sister.

He loves her.

His sneakers squeak on the floor when they arrive at the hospital. Levi's face is solemn. Eren hesitates, and then reaches out to grasp Mikasa's hand. She looks to him, her lips hovering open, that red scarf he gave her hanging from her neck.

I love you so much. And he's sucked at showing it.

The door is open, as per usual. Eren draws to a halt.

"Eren?" Levi asks.

He feels like he could vomit. His face burns. What if—what if—

A voice. Drier, weaker, but familiar.

"Mom!"

Eren barges through the room, Mikasa right behind him. Hannes leaps to his feet and there she is—her hair thin, limp, and with a weak smile on her face but no breathing tube, and her eyes—they focus on him. So many faces—Zeke's, Armin's, Annie's—swarm Eren's mind—the pathetic kidnapping attempt, Jean, the fact that he loves Mikasa—it's all there, but so is she. Painfully thin, bruised and struggling, but still with her heart beating and with the kindness she always, always showed gleaming in the twitch of her mouth.

"Eren," she rasps, and he collapses.

"Don't knock the IV line!" shouts Hannes, and Eren tries to straighten himself out, but he's clinging to her and she's whispering his name and she's here, awake.

"I love you," he sobs to her. "Mom."

So much to tell her, Eren thinks as he withdraws. Her shaking fingers trace his face. She doesn't need to know everything yet, though.

Because they have time.

Right now, we have time.

All she needs to focus on is getting well.

"Mikasa," Mom ekes out, and Mikasa leans over, kissing her cheek. Tears run down her face. Even Levi blinks rapidly.

"I missed you," Eren chokes out. "How—how are you feeling?"

"Better," she whispers. "Glad that—you're okay."

"I'm good," Eren assures her. "Really."

She manages a smile, and Eren remembers how his mother always told him he was special, that he was amazing, simply for existing, for being him, for being Eren.

She would have thought Zeke was amazing too.

But for now, she just sees Eren and Mikasa, and she loves them both, and Eren can only cry because, right now, he feels whole.

"Don't worry," Levi says when they leave the hospital to find pouring rain. "No tornado warnings this time." He heads off to talk to the valet about getting the car.

"Are you okay?" Mikasa inquires, worried that Eren might want to stay.

He nods. "She's going to get better." The hope in his tone—it's what attracts Mikasa to Eren. His hope, his refusal to ever give up, and finally it's actually working out, it's being fulfilled, and she's so relieved. Carla is a saint, and Mikasa wants her back. She's got a long way to go through rehabilitation, but there's hope.

They haven't told her much yet, only that Grisha died and they caught the culprit. Zeke's identity, as well as the whole debacle at Wall Academy, isn't relevant yet.

"And she wants us to go back to school," Eren says. "And I want to."

"Good." Mikasa nods.

"After all, I don't want to miss prom," he adds.

Mikasa glances at him, studying his jawline, his green eyes. Rain pours down in front of them as they stay under the awning. "Are you going?"

"So are you," he says. "With me. I mean, if you want to. I mean—"

Her hope's alive, too. Mikasa can't squelch the grin on her face. "I'll go with you."

Eren nods. "Eh, Mikasa?"

"Hm?" She tugs her scarf over her mouth.

"You could have told me, you know."

Told you what? Her face burns, because she knows exactly what. And what are you trying to tell me? Now, she's afraid to hope.

"I just—I mean, I thought, and I still think—you have a lot of opportunities. I mean, Jean's happily taken now, but I would have beaten him up anyways, so."

Mikasa adjusts her scarf, the wool scratching her fingertips. "I don't want anyone else." Her pulse quickens, and sweat pricks her forehead. It's really too warm for the scarf. "I love you."

Eren's eyes widen, but he's not angry, or sad. His lips art in a grin. "Well, good, 'cause I love you."

Is this really happening? Eren steps closer, his gaze steady in meeting hers. He reaches out and tugs her scarf down.

He parts her lips with his own, and Mikasa kisses him back, opening her mouth, tasting him. His hands grip her waist, the back of her head. His fingers stroke her hair, and she holds him, too, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

I've always loved you.

She pulls back and knows she doesn't have to say it.

"Ahem," Levi says, clearing his throat. "Car's here. Also, Eren, has Mikasa told you we're related?"

His eyes widen.

"Distantly," Mikasa retorts.

"It counts." Levi points at Eren. "Don't mess with her."

"I won't," he insists.

Mikasa's phone buzzes. A snapchat from Sasha, with her, Connie, Ymir, Historia, Jean, Marco, Reiner, Bertolt, Armin, Annie, Marlowe and Hitch all grinning and holding up spoons. Ice cream party when y'all get back! To celebrate.

Mikasa laughs softly, showing the text to Eren.

He smiles.

Levi turns the key in the ignition, and the car accelerates heading for the hills and for Wall Academy, and for the place Mikasa finally wants to call home.

Thank you for reading! I had a ton of fun writing this story, and I've sincerely appreciated all reviews and follows/favorites-thank you all so much! There may be an epilogue next Tuesday, but if I do publish it, it'll come across as a bit crack, so consider yourself forewarned.