"Do you know who he left as his successor?" Alex asked quietly, after giving the children a moment.
"Shitty Four-eyes," Levi said, not looking at anything. His expression may not have given away anything, but his voice betrayed him. You could hear the sorrow in his voice. He walked over to his family and picked up Gabriel. "We need to go." Eren nodded and stood up with Ava in his arms. Eren nodded his goodbye to Alex. They quietly left the building and went back to their own headquarters.
When they got back it was silent. The usual laughter or fighting was gone, and replaced with mournful silence. When they walked into the building, everyone turned to them, their eyes all asking the same question. They were all wondering what was going to happen next.
No one spoke, there was nothing to say. No one had the answers. No one moved. Eren stayed close to the twins and Levi, taking comfort in being close to his family.
"Heichou," Eren said later that night. Everyone had retreated to their own room, and the twins were asleep.
"You haven't called me that for years," Levi said. Eren laid against Levi, and Levi wrapped his arms around Eren. "You're my husband, you don't need to ever call me that."
"I know," Eren said. "But you weren't responding to anything else. I've been trying to talk to you but it's like you haven't heard me."
"I'm sorry," Levi said. "I've just been thinking."
"About?" Eren asked, looking up.
"Erwin, and the first time I met him," Levi said. "When we first met I was just a thug in the underground. He even threatened to kill my friends to get me to join. But I was already planning to join just so I could get close to him. So I could kill him. But that threat gave me the means to join with no questions asked."
"You tried to kill Erwin?" Eren asked shocked.
"Yeah. The reward was a life in Wall Sina. And I had every intention to do so. It would be a complete change from where I was," Levi said. "But he knew about my plan. He himself talked me out of it. He gave me a different life than I had imagined, and a life of not being confined in the walls. Since then I always thought that if I failed to kill him, so would everything else." Eren put his face against Levi chest.
"No one is invincible," Eren said.
"I know," Levi said. He sighed and pulled Eren closer. "I'm scared that one day, I'll lose you to the titans."
"I'm a Titan," Eren said. "I think that day happened when I was able to become one of them. Plus, I have been ate already." He was trying to lighten the mood. But he knew that wouldn't work.
"Not the same," Levi said.
"I know," Eren said. "We just have to live each day, and be happy. We have to move forward, and live to the fullest. If I were to die right now, I'd be happy. I have a wonderful husband, and two beautiful children. Nothing could be better. I believe that's how we should live. Day by day. Laugh by laugh."
"I guess," Levi said morosely. Eren looked up at him and Levi kissed him. "Go to sleep, Shitty Brat."
"I love you," Eren said, putting his head on Levi's chest again, closing his eyes.
"I love you, too," Levi said.
oOoOo
It took a while before anyone was able to smile again. But eventually, smiles returned to the scouting legion.
Three years had passed and the twins were now nine. Hanji had done well in taking over in the position as Commander. But no one had forgotten Erwin and all the things he had done.
Everyone sat around the table talking after dinner. Ava and Gabriel stood in the hallway nervously.
"Dad? Daddy?" Ava asked.
Eren and Levi turned around in their seat to look at their children.
"What is it?" Levi asked.
"Can we talk to you?" Gabriel asked.
Levi glanced over at Eren. Eren looked at Levi and together they stood up, Eren shrugging his shoulders. They followed the twins back to Gabriel's room. Levi and Eren sat on the bed and Ava and Gabriel stood in front of them.
"Av, Gabe, is everything okay?" Eren asked.
"We wanted to know if we could join the Scouting Legion when we are old enough," Gabriel asked.
Levi and Eren looked over at each other.
"Training starts tomorrow," Eren said after a moment of silence.
"What?" Ava asked confused.
"We thought that you might want to join," Levi explained. "So we though of a way to train you. By the time you are fifteen you will be close to our level. You will be able to skip formal military training. Hanji has even agreed to it. Even Zacklay has."
"Why? How?" Gabriel asked. "Doesn't everyone have to go through formal military training?"
"I didn't," Levi said. "We will train you slowly through the years. When you are fifteen you will be brought into the scouts with that trainee corps. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir," the twins shouted and saluted. Eren laughed and stood up. He walked to his kids and ruffled their hair.
"Bright and early tomorrow morning," Eren said. "Don't be late." The twins nodded and Eren and Levi left the room. They went back to the others.
"What was that about?" Mikasa asked what everyone else was thinking.
"In six years we will have two more Scouting members," Levi said.
"The twins want to join?" Jean asked. "Do they know how dangerous it is?"
"They know perfectly well," Levi said, giving Jean a pointed look. "They remember Erwin. They know what happened."
"Yet they still want to join?" Armin asked.
"They're like me. Even if they aren't biological, they are like me," Eren said. "Before I knew the horrors of the titans I just wanted to join so I could see what was beyond the wall. But after my mother was killed by them I wanted to join even more to fight them. I think part of their decision was made because of what happened to Erwin. I think they want to fight and push back."
"Is that why we don't have grandparents?" Ava asked.
"Because the titans ate them?" Gabriel asked.
"No. There are three different reasons why you don't have grandparents," Levi said. "Do you want to know why?" Both the twins nodded their head eagerly.
"Even if one of them is really bad?" Eren asked. Again, they nodded. They each ran to one of their dads and climbed into their laps.
"Are you sure you want to do this, Eren?" Mikasa asked. Eren shrugged his shoulders.
"We will just give them a crash course," Eren said. "No many details."
"Have it your way," Mikasa said.
"Well, as you heard, My mom was eaten by a Titan." Eren restated.
"What about your dad?" Gabriel asked.
"My dad is a different story," Eren said. Eren glanced at Levi, and Levi nodded. "My dad wasn't very nice to me. He actually tried to kill me. So, to help save me, Uncle Erwin killed him."
"Did he really try to kill you?" Ava asked. Eren nodded. He scooted Ava back and pulled up his shirt, where the proof was. On his chest were the scars from all the bullet wounds. Ava reached out and touched them.
"He almost did die too," Levi said. "But we got lucky, and Hanji saved him." The twins looked away from their daddy and towards the commander.
"Thank you for saving our daddy!" They said. Hanji smiled and nodded.
"What about your parents, dad?" Gabriel asked. Levi glanced at Mikasa.
"I know more," Mikasa said. "Do you want me to do it?" Levi nodded. Over the years Mikasa had learned to accept Levi as her brother. They even acted like it when they were not on duty.
"What do you mean, Auntie?" Ava asked.
"When your Dad and my parents died, he wasn't home," Mikasa said. "But what happened was when I was your age, these bad men came into my home. They killed our parents and took me."
"What happened to the people that took you?" Gabriel asked. The rest of the squad was also listening to Mikasa's story. They didn't know what happened, except for Armin, but they wanted to.
Mikasa and Eren looked at each other. The gave each other an 'oh shit' look. Neither of them had expected that question. Or even thought that this question would arise.
"Um, well, um," Mikasa said.
"Just tell them," Levi said.
"Your daddy killed two of them, and I killed one," Mikasa said. "It was the only way to save me."
Everyone turned and looked at Eren with wide eyes.
"So, uh, yeah," Eren said quickly. "That's why you have no grandparents."
"Alright," Levi said. "Time for bed you two. You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow."
"Okay!" The twins said. They both gave each of their dads a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Night daddy! Night dad!" Ava said.
"Night daddies!" Gabriel said.
"Night!" The two dads called out. The twins ran off to their rooms, excited for the training.
When the twins were in their room Levi and Eren's squad turned to Eren.
"You killed two men when you were nine?" Jean asked. Eren shrugged.
"I wanted to save her," Eren said simply, not sure of what else to say.
"If he didn't I was going to be sold," Mikasa said.
"Did you have a crush on her?" Connie teased.
"One, I hadn't even met her yet," Eren said. "And two, that's an obvious no. Right family though, just the wrong person." Hanji laughed.
"Why didn't they react to you saying that you weren't the biological parents?" Sasha asked.
"Because we told them a while ago," Levi said.
"We told them that two boys can't have kids of their own," Eren said.
"How did they react?" Armin asked.
"They asked why we would be with each other if we couldn't have kids," Levi said. "Then we told them that it was because that we loved each other so much. And that if we were meant to have kids it would happen. And it did."
"What they said next was probably the sweetest thing I have ever heard," Eren said.
"What was it?" Mikasa asked.
"They told us that they were happy that they were with us," Eren said. "Because they got two dads, and two is better than one."
"Except for when it comes to titans," Jean said.
"Way to ruin it, Horseface," Eren said.
"Want to take this outside?" Jean asked.
"Want the chores to yourself for a month?" Eren asked. Jean huffed and leaned back. Eren loved that he was a higher rank than Jean. It meant that he could order Jean around and Jean couldn't do anything about it.
"Alright, Eren, we should go to bed if we want to be awake when teaching them," Levi said. Eren nodded and they stood up. "Night."
"Night everyone," Eren said.
"Night," everyone said.
"We're not really going to sleep, are we?" Eren asked once they got in the room.
"Depends on what's on your mind," Levi said. He knew exactly what Eren was thinking.
Eren pulled him onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Levi's waist, starting to kiss him.
A/N: Hey guys. I am so sorry about the long absence. Life had gotten pretty hectic for me. But it has calmed down enough for me to get this chapter done. I should be getting free time more often now. And again, I am so sorry for being gone as long as I was.
I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter. And thank you for staying with me. Have a wonderful day and happy reading.