Everyone turned around at the sound of Eren's voice, not believing what they were hearing.

"Eren?" Mikasa asked. Eren smiled at her and she ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Oh my god!" Eren chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Mikasa.

Everyone else, except Levi, Ava, and Gabriel, were instantly next to Eren. They each hugged him individually. Even Jean. When everyone was done Levi walked up behind Eren and wrapped his arms around his waist. Levi rested his chin on Eren's shoulder and closed his eyes. Eren placed his hands on Levi's, and touched their heads together. Neither of them believing that they were with one another.

"Did you guys know?" Mikasa asked astounded.

"Of fucking course," Levi said without opening his eyes. "If we didn't I would have been the first one to Eren. Plus, Ava dropped the hint."

"How is this even possible?" Hanji asked confused and amazed. A familiar glint in her eye. "When we left, there was so much blood. It would have been a miracle if there was any left in your body."

"And your heart wasn't beating," Armin imputed.

"It must have been," Eren said. "Dead is dead. There's no healing if there's no life."

"I guess it's possible that your heart was beating, but so weakly we couldn't hear it," Hanji said thoughtfully.

"How did you get back?" Connie asked. That was the question that they all wanted to know. Eren had no horse and no three dimensional maneuver gear. They were all curious as to how he got back. Levi tugged Eren towards the table. Levi sat down pulling Eren into his lap. Levi buried his face into Eren's back, trying to leave no space between them. He took a deep breath and Eren's scent filled his nose. A reminder that yes, he was actually here. He was still afraid that any moment, Eren would just disappear.

"I walked," Eren said. "I got lucky and two of my swords were still good. There were times where I had to hide for a while for a group of titans to pass. But I got back by walking. There was really no other choice. I didn't want to change into my titan form because I figured that would draw too much attention towards myself."

"You aren't mad that they left you?" Marcus asked. He figured that if had somehow survived but his comrades had left him, he would be upset.

"No," Eren said without hesitation. "If it's the safety of the group versus bring back a body, it's a clear choice. In the Scouts, you always go with the safety of everyone still alive." To everyone else, that was the obvious answer as well. Eren figured the young scout had a lot of learning to do if he was going to survive in this world.

"Maybe now that your back, Levi will return to his normal self," Mikasa said. Eren turned and looked at Levi. Levi looked up at Eren, pouting that he ruined the comfortable position.

"You didn't try to take your life did you?" Eren asked concerned.

"No," Levi said. "I no longer just had myself to look after." Eren nodded. He leaned his head down and kissed Levi, grateful that he had changed his thoughts.

"We did lock him in the cells though," Hanji said. "He threw a plate at my head." Eren broke the kiss and looked at Levi, cocking his head, humor present on his face.

"Next to your head," Levi corrected. "If it was at your head, it would have hit your head." Eren laughed at Levi's comment. And somehow knew that his statement was true.

For the remainder of the day everyone stayed sitting around the table. Each telling about the month that they had endured. Throughout the day, Levi and Eren never separated from each other. They didn't want to.

Finally it was time to go to bed. Levi and Eren walked down the hallway hand-in-hand to their room. When Levi opened the door Eren expected to see slight changes to the room. But everything was the way that Eren remembered it.

"Do you know how scared I was that I was going to get back here and find out you killed yourself?" Eren asked quietly, after the door had been shut.

"I had the twins to think about," Levi said.

Eren climbed into the bed and pulled Levi on top of him, to where Levi was straddling his hips. He wrapped his arms around Levi's waist and kissed him.

"I still remember a promise you made me, that you haven't fulfilled yet," Eren said.

"Which one?" Levi asked confused.

"This one was from about seventeen years ago," Eren said. "You have never shown me a real smile."

"How the hell do you remember that?" Levi asked, vaguely remembering that promise. But only because Eren reminded him of it. "And plus you have seen me smile plenty of times."

"No, those don't count," Eren said. "With those your lips barely moved. Those only count as smiles because it's you we're talking about."

"Fine," Levi said. He took a deep breathe and looked at Eren. He tried to think of something that would be a cause for a real smile. Thoughts tore through his brain. Their wedding day, the day they got together, the first time they had sex, when they decided to keep the twins, the moment he saw Eren alive and walking towards the wall. All these memories flooded his brain, causing him to remember all the truly happy moment in his life, all mainly involving the boy he was currently sitting on. He took a breath and then gave Eren the real smile that he had been waiting so long to see. In response Eren flashed a smile of his own.

"I like it. Actually, I love it," Eren said. Levi leaned down and kissed Eren. He was going to show Eren just how much he missed him.

"I love you," Levi whispered, his voice laced with lust.

"I love you, too," Eren replied, his voice matching Levi's.

The next morning Levi and Eren were woken up by two teens climbing into their bed. The twins laid in between their fathers, just like they did when they were little. Eren opened an eye and wrapped an arm around Ava, and Levi did the same with Gabriel. Levi and Eren looked at each other, making eye contact. Then they started tickling their kids.

"Vatti!" Ava laughed. She curled up in an attempt at trying to protect her sides.

"Nice try," Gabriel said. He let out a laugh as Levi glared at him, flustered that his son was no longer ticklish. Eren stopped tickling Ava, and started laughing himself.

"Why'd you do that?" Ava asked in a mock pouting tone.

"Seriously? You don't remeber?" Eren asked. He groaned when she shook her head. "We did this every time you climbed into bed with us." Ava thought for a moment trying to remember. Suddenly Gabriel and Ava sat up and pounced on Eren.

"We made a big breakfast as a welcome home," Ava said, giving up on trying to remember on being tickled.

"Everyone helped," Gabriel said.

"Okay, give Levi and I a moment and we will be out there," Eren said. The twins nodded and got off the bed. When the exited the room Eren turned to Levi. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as realization struck him. "Wait a moment, did Horseface give me a hug yesterday?" Levi cocked his head to the side.

"Well I'll be damned," Levi said. "Maybe he's sick?"

"Maybe," Eren said. He leaned over and kissed Levi. Levi pulled Eren close to him. "I cannot tell you how much I missed this. How much I missed you." Levi opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted.

"Dads!" Gabriel's voice rang out. Levi sighed.

"Guess they're waiting for us," Levi said. They got out of bed and changed into their clothing. Eren stopped with his hand on the door.

"You realize," Eren started. "That Hanji is going to make jokes right?" Levi groaned knowing that he was right. They probably wouldn't be out there for two seconds before she said something. They walked out to everyone and saw the breakfast that was prepared. Eren tried to hide the drool that was coming out at the sight of the food.

"Did you guys do a lot of catching up last night?" Hanji asked. "If you know what I mean?"

"Told you," Eren said, walking towards the table.

The news of Eren's return spread quickly throughout the Scouting Legion. Many had even come by to see if the rumors were true, and to welcome him back. It took two months before everything had returned to normal.

Eren and Levi laid in their bed one morning, doing nothing. Just content to lay with each other, and to hold each other in their arms. Levi's hands were running through Eren's hair while Eren traced small circles on Levi's chest.

"Levi," Eren said.

"Hm?"

"The twins' birthday is in a few days," Eren stated.

"Do you know when mine is?" Levi asked.

"Yup," Eren said. "I know when everyone's is that is in this squad. Including Hanji's." Hanji may not be a actual member of their squad, but she was over enough to be counted. Sometimes, they believed that she spent more time with them than with her own squad.

"Figures you can remember everyone else's but not your own," Levi said, shaking his head. Eren shrugged. "Anyways. What should we do for them?"

"I don't know," Eren said. "I was hoping you would know." A knock sounded on their door, interrupting their train of thought.

"Come in," Levi said.

The twins came in to see Levi's arms wrapped around Eren. They crawled onto Eren's side of the bed and sat down.

"Morning you two," Eren said lifting his head to look at the twins.

"Good morning," they both said.

"We wanted to talk to you about our birthday," Gabriel said.

"We don't want anything big," Ava said. "Just a day where we get to spend the day with the both of you."

"Yeah. All day long," Gabriel said. "We haven't had a day with you guys since we were little."

"That's all you want?" Levi asked. The twins nodded.

"Then I think that is completely possible," Eren said. The twins smiled brightly.

"Thank you!" They both cried out, hugging both fathers. They got off the bed and ran out of the room.

"We could take them to that old castle," Eren suggested. "You and I could go clean and set something up. Take them there the night before, so that way when their birthday starts, it will truly be a day alone with us." Levi kissed Eren's head.

"Good idea," Levi said. "We will leave Mikasa in charge and I'll get Hanji in on this." Eren nodded. They got up and got ready for the day and went out to everyone. And luckily, Hanji was already there.

"Hanji," Levi said. "I need to speak with you." Hanji got up and followed Levi back, slighlty confused. Everyone looked at Eren confused and Eren waved his hand, dismissing any questions they might have.

"Everything okay?" Hanji asked.

"Yes. But Eren and I need your help with something," Levi said. "The twins' birthday is in a few days. Eren and I plan to go to the castle and set something up and clean. Can you do something like what Erwin did the night before Eren I got married? We don't want them to know we are planning something."

"Can do," Hanji said. "And I'm guessing the sooner the better?" Levi nodded.

"Thanks, four-eyes," Levi said.

"That's commander four-eyes to you," Hanji joked.

"Shitty Four-eyes," Levi corrected. Hanji laughed.

"Just leave everything to me," Hanji said. They walked back to everyone and sat down. After an hour Hanji stood up.

"Leaving?" Mikasa asked.

"Yeah, I have errands to run," Hanji said. "I am the commander you know. I'll be back later." Hanji left and the conversation resumed.

Two hours later Hanji was back. She burst through the door with a frantic look on her face. She was out of breath, her glasses weren't sitting right on her face, and her hair was starting to fall out of her hairband.

"Levi! Eren!" Hanji shouted almost hysterical. "3DMG and horses. Now!"

Everyone stood up and moved quickly to go get their things.

"Just Levi and and Eren," Hanji clarified quickly. Levi and Eren ran to get their things. "Special orders for just the squad leaders." Levi and Eren were back out in a moment. Levi pointed to Mikasa.

"You're in charge," Levi shouted while moving.

"Av, Gabe, listen to your aunt," Eren said. "We will be back."

They followed Hanji outside, and everyone listened to the sound of their horses leaving. Everyone looked around at each other wondering what would have been so important for just the squad leaders.

"Thanks, Hanji," Eren said. "Excellent performance."

"No problem," Hanji said smiling. "Have fun."

"Just remember," Levi said. "You can't go back there until we do so you don't blow everything."

"I know, I know," Hanji said waving her hand. Hanji broke off and Eren and Levi headed towards the castle.

"Looks exactly the same," Eren said once they came to a stop outside the castle.

"More dirty," Levi observed. Eren laughed at the typical Levi observation. They put their horses in the stable an headed into the main building. They quickly cleaned off an area and shrugged off their jackets, placing them on the newly cleaned area. "You know the drill, Brat." Eren smiled and went to where he first cleaned.

Levi went to a room and threw the window open. He turned around assessed the room. He looked for the dirtiest place in the room, walked to it, and started cleaning. They worked slowly. They wanted to make sure that it was cleaned perfectly. At the end of the day, they only had a third of the castle cleaned. They were slow, but the areas they had cleaned looked perfect.

"Good thing we have two more days," Eren said.

"Don't we have three?" Levi asked. "The twins' birthday is in four days."

"Yes. but I want to be there the whole day, the day before," Eren said. "I don't want them to be worried about their birthday."

"Understandable," Levi said.

"So where are we gonna sleep?" Eren asked looking around. He was almost positive that they haven't cleaned an actual sleeping room yet.

"You're in the basement," Levi said with a serious face and without hesitation. Eren pouted and looked at Levi. Levi pulled Eren towards him and wrapped his arms around him. "Kidding."

"Better be," Eren said.

"I cleaned a room for us," Levi said.

"Good, wait," Eren said, a sudden realization hitting him. "We forgot food." Levi groaned and put his face in Eren's neck.

"We were so focused on getting out we forgot fucking food," Levi said.

"Boys!" Hanji's voice called echoed throughout the castle. Eren and Levi both groaned. Levi let Eren out of the embrace. Eren grabbed Levi's hand and they walked to where they knew Hanji would be. When they saw her she held up a basket. "I didn't see any food on you when you left. So I figured I'd be nice and bring you some."

"I love you," Eren said taking the basket from her. She laughed with her hands on her hips.

"This place is starting to look nice," Hanji observed.

"There's still a lot of cleaning to do," Levi said. Hanji nodded in agreement.

"Well, I just came to drop off the food," Hanji said. "Night. See you in a few days."

"Night," Eren said with a mouthful of bread.

"Stuffed that in there pretty easily didn't you, Eren?" Hanji asked playfully. Eren narrowed his eyes and flipped her off.

"Night," Levi said. Hanji exited the castle laughing.

Eren and Levi looked through the food that Hanji brought. It was enough to get them through the next two days. They sat down at the table as ate in comfortable silence. Eren looked around at the familiar yet old sight.

"It's different," Eren said sadly. Levi nodded. He knew exactly what Eren meant and he was thinking it too. They were used the tables being empty, but not used to all the seats being empty.

They stayed up for a while longer. They talked and walked through the castle remembering old memories. They even went down into the basement. Eren walked into the cell that was his room for a while. Levi followed him in and looked around. He saw something on the wall and got confused.

"KTA?" Levi asked. "Did you scratch that in?" Eren laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, it uh," Eren said. "It means kill them all."

"Really?" Levi asked, raising his eyebrows. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"

"I was fifteen," Eren defended himself.

"Let's go upstairs," Levi said pulling Eren close. "We have a whole castle and we are alone."

"I wonder how we will ever pass the time," Eren said playfully.

"Maybe we can start by you putting something other than bread in your mouth?" Levi said wiggling his eyebrows.

Eren laughed and led Levi upstairs. Once upstairs Levi took the lead and lead Eren to the one room that he cleaned for them to sleep in. But they both knew that sleeping wasn't the foremost thing that they would be doing.

They spent the next two days cleaning. When the castle was cleaned they set up a surprise for the twins. And in the basket Hanji brought, included everything needed to make a cake. She had truly thought out the holes that they had missed. The sun was setting before they finally headed back to headquarters.

"Dads!" Ava said. She jumped out if her seat and threw her arms around Eren and Levi's neck.

"What was so urgent?" Mikasa asked.

"Assessments," Levi said.

"We were being tested. They wanted to make sure everyone was still fit enough to carry the title of squad leader," Eren explained.

"How'd everyone do?" Armin asked. He was genuinely curious to see if anyone had failed.

"Everyone passed," Levi said.

"We were worried that you guys wouldn't make it back in time for our birthday," Gabriel said.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Eren said, ruffling Gabe's hair.

The next day Eren and Levi packed a bag for the short trip. They were planning to leave a little after noon and wanted to get everything ready for their departure. Eren walked out to the others, who were currently having breakfast, and asking the twins what they wanted for their birthday.

"Gabe, Av," Eren said, halfway interrupting their conversation.

"Yes, Vatti?" Gabriel asked.

"Go pack a bag," Eren said. "We are leaving at noon." The twins gave their father a confused look, but obeyed him without question.

"Where you guys going?" Mikasa asked.

"Can't tell you, yet," Eren said. "But we will be back the day after tomorrow."

"Okay?" Jean said. "Why can't you tell us?"

"It's a surprise for the twins," Levi said coming out of the hallway. "There's a chance they'll hear and then it won't be a surprise. You guys know the rules. Break anything, clean it up. And I swear to god, if I come back and this place is trash, each of you will handle the chores on your own for a month. Understood?"

"Understood."

Levi and Eren spent the rest of the morning preparing for their trip. This time they remembered to pack food for everyone. Around noon they said their goodbyes and started on their way towards the castle.

"What's this about, dads?" Gabriel asked.

"Well, you two said you wanted to spend a full day with us," Levi said.

"So we are leaving a day early, and returning a day later so that way you actually get a full day alone with us," Eren said.

"This is the best!" Ava exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

"Though, there is a catch," Eren said.

"What?" Gabriel asked.

"When we get closer, you're going to have to cover your eyes," Levi said.

"Okay," the twins agreed.

When they got closer Eren and Levi stopped. They jumped off their horses and each tied a piece of cloth around Ava's and Gabriel's eyes. They continued the rest of the way silently, the twins nervous and excited for what awaited them. When they got there Eren and Levi helped their kids off their horses. They walked a few feet before positioning the twins to where they were facing the castle.

"Are you ready?" Eren asked. Both of the twins nodded, too excited to speak. Eren and Levi pulled off the blindfolds and they heard a gasp escape from their kids.

A/N: Cute parent-kid moments throughout this chapter. Also some Levi Eren fluff. I really hope you guys enjoyed this fanfiction because I have really enjoyed writing it. And there is, sadly, only one more chapter left to edit and post. I am hoping to get this final chapter out soon.

Enjoy your day/night. You are all amazing.