Pairing: Eren/Mikasa

Setting: Current arc; After they save Eren (God help me if they ever do)

Rating: K

Words: 2309

Notes: I do love writing from Armin's perspective; I always feel like he'd see anything and everything that others, including Eren and Mikasa, are blind to. I always see him as such a driving force pushing those two together that of course he'd see them as soul mates. I wrote a lot from his mind so I hope it comes across okay because I don't exactly think like him myself but I really enjoyed writing this one because I have so much love for Armin Arlert.

Tomorrow through Sunday I'm going to be in Florida so I'm gonna try my best to bring my laptop to update in the mornings or whenever I can (My mom's used to me writing fanfiction she'll just be like wow Lyssa you haven't changed at all lmao). If you follow (or know it, its the same username as it is here ^^) my tumblr though, the posts are all queued so they'll update there on time if they don't show up here!

October 8th – Soul Mate

Armin couldn't remember the last time he had actually sat down to read a book; not that he had the luxury of bringing books along as they fought. He was beyond thrilled when he found a room in the house they were staying in that had one book still sitting on the table. Once he finished the cleaning the room and Levi let them do what they wanted while he and Hanji congregated in another room, Armin went back to grab the book and sit down in the lone armchair in the room. He cracked open the old book, dust flying around him, and start to read over the first page.

It was some kind of fiction book from what Armin could tell; he generally preferred nonfiction where he'd learn something but this was better than nothing. It was a romance it looked, as Armin flipped through the opening chapter, a girl looking for her soul mate whom she knew without a doubt had to be out there waiting for her.

Armin chuckled as he read. He could imagine why this book would be appealing to someone; everyone had a desire that there was someone out there made just for them, it was a common human emotion. Granted, he figured it might be a little less common these days when people were too busy focused on surviving than finding their true love; even more so to the people in the military who were tasked with the job of saving humanity any way they could.

He looked up from the book, his eyes staring off into the room. Was that normal? To put aside perfectly normal feelings to bear the weight of the world? He supposed not to most to, but to them it was all they ever knew being in the military since they were twelve years old.

Armin shook his head, trying to go back to read his book. He didn't need to be reminded of all the things himself and his friends had missed out on by joining the military and then joining the Scouting Legion. He tried to go through, reading about the girl who set out on an adventure unbeknownst to her family to find the man she knew who was out there for her, but one word just kept jumping out at him every time the female protagonist spoke it.

"Soul mate," he read aloud, his voice echoing against the empty walls. It was a strange concept, that there was one person out there in the world just made for another person and Armin wasn't even sure if he bought it. Within their walls there was a strict population control, at least where he was from most families weren't even allowed to have more than once child; how could there be someone for everyone when everyone wasn't even allowed to live?

Armin tried to shrug it off closing the book in his lap to avoid seeing the word anymore, but it wouldn't leave his mind. It was a very romantic image, of course, people holding on to the desperate hope there was love out there just for them but that's all it was, an image. He never really was romantically driven, never quite feeling that drive for anyone he met in his admittedly short life as of yet. He did have more important things on his mind; in the years where love and attraction should be flourishing, he was trying not to get killed by not only titans but humans now too.

It never bothered him. After all this was the choice he made, he gave up both his childhood, teenage years, and beyond for this world, and it wasn't something he regretted so he wasn't sure why the idea of a soul mate refused to leave his mind. Maybe it was because it was a happy thought, an escape from the reality of this dark world he was in. It wasn't like he thought he had a soul mate, not in the romantic regard at least; he had his friends, his friends he would always be with but not some woman or man waiting for him out there, no, that wasn't for him. Maybe that's because soul mates weren't for everyone, maybe there were a select few people who were blessed to have their other half so to speak in this world and in many other worlds. He figured the term soul mate didn't mean just for one world, "soul" makes it bonded for this world and all the others their souls would find throughout the years; a soul mate being people who find each other in every world they live.

It was comforting knowing that a person would always be with you through all lifetimes but Armin still wasn't sure how he felt about it. The whole concept of it was left up too much to thought, to dreams, to hope and was not really set in logic at all, and that put him off to the idea. He did know someone who would probably believe it though, Eren being the dreamer to Armin's intelligence.

Armin nearly dropped the book on the floor; he had to scramble to snatch it back up before the sound alerted anyone he was in here.

Of course, no wonder it was lingering on his mind so much. Armin always had a prime example right in front of him. If Eren and Mikasa weren't soul mates than soul mates was a thing that didn't exist in this world. Armin should've known the moment he met Mikasa when they were nine. Eren wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with, Armin was pretty sure he really was the only friend Eren ever had so when Eren brought over Mikasa, this shy little girl, Armin nearly fell over in shock. Eren never told Armin exactly what had happened for Mikasa to come live with the Jaegers, but if was enough for Eren and Mikasa to form a bond Armin couldn't even begin to touch. There was something else there from the moment Armin saw them together, and it was something that never went away.

Armin was never upset or jealous over the type of bond they had; they never left Armin out or made him feel unloved so it never bothered him. He also knew it was something they both needed in their lives, Mikasa especially. Eren could think all he wanted that Mikasa was so much better than him, that she always babied him, that she always saved him but Mikasa was the one that needed Eren; more than Armin ever thought Eren could know.

Armin watched them grow up, watched them join the military, and watched them fight constantly. It was borderline painful just because only Armin seemed to be the one who understood just how much they were misunderstanding each other. Mikasa wanted to keep Eren safe, keep him close with her and she did that by trying to protect him the only ways she knew how. Eren took that as she didn't think he was good enough, that he needed to be babied and he resented her for it because Armin knew all Eren wanted to do was to protect her, to keep her safe instead of the other way around.

It was a vicious circle they lived in because neither of them would talk about it. Even through that, even through all the pain he knew Eren caused Mikasa, when they though he was dead, Armin knew it would be Mikasa who would take it the hardest because she lost the person she loved most in the world and Armin had to be the one to tell her. Even through all the frustration and inadequacy Eren felt towards Mikasa, no one would ever be able to convince Armin that it wasn't completely intentional Eren was there in is titan form to make sure nothing would happen to her in that moment.

They were both fiercely protective of each other, though Mikasa showed it more often than Eren, that didn't mean he didn't feel it as well. Anyone would've been able to tell at the trial, the guilt in eyes when he realized he was the one to hurt Mikasa, the way he lashed out at anyone who tried to call her a monster, who tried to take her away to give her the same fate as him. Armin had to grab a hold of Mikasa just to make sure she didn't go after Levi when he started to hit Eren; something Armin knew he was doing for his sake because Mikasa could've easily tossed him away.

That was also the place Armin learned more of the details of what happened that night with them when they met. It didn't change how he felt about either of them; in all honestly it just shed more light on their relationship. While the court didn't specify, Armin knew that had to be the night they met, meaning they, at age nine, had killed grown men to protect one another. No wonder they were always so close; it's a pretty tight forming bond at an early age but now Armin had to wonder if that was the way it was always meant to be, if that bond had been there long before that night.

It was still there, always following them around; wherever Eren went, Mikasa followed. Armin couldn't remember a time he had seen her so broken than on that wall after Eren got kidnapped. Not only had Armin been worried about Eren, but he was also heartbroken for Mikasa to see her like that.

Armin noticed a change in them, even before the plan to let Historia and Eren get "captured" came into play leaving Eren missing for days and days. There wasn't that same tension that was normally between them, that constant misunderstanding every time one of them opened their mouth. Neither of them talked to Armin about it, and he knew better than to ask but he had a good idea of when it happened. It was seeing Eren carry Mikasa away on his horse, the way he hunched over her apologizing when she was hurt, the way Eren didn't even flinch when Jean tried to bait him about Jean being the one to save Mikasa; it was very clear something happened out in the fields to make even Eren not get snippy when Mikasa tried to help him. In fact, it was Eren who was being much more openly protective of her.

It was nice to see, making Armin breathe a sigh of relief. It was never easy when those two fought and it seemed like they finally worked something out to the point where Mikasa wasn't freaking out all the time that Eren was missing, at least not the way she used to. Armin still saw the sadness in her eyes, the loneness without him that she was worried when they had no idea where Eren was; she was just better at hiding it from everyone else. Armin wondered if Eren would react much better if their tables were ever turned. He snorted at the thought; Eren would probably take it much worse than Mikasa did.

The door creaked open, nearly giving Armin a heart attack and jolting him out of his thoughts.

"There you are," Sasha breathed, her face poking through the doorway. "We've been looking for you. Though I suppose it's a lot easier to disappear in a place this big. What were you doing?"

Armin held up the book that was still in his lap. "Reading for once."

"Oh," Sasha seemed like she was trying to be interested but didn't really care much for reading like her did. "What's it about?"

Armin stood up to his feet, leaving the book on the chair. "Soul mates." He walked over to the door and held it open as he followed her out into the hallway.

"I didn't know you liked mushy stuff like that." Sasha elbowed him in the ribs with a grin on her face.

"Everyone likes mushy stuff sometimes," he shrugged. "Is dinner ready?"

Sasha nodded. "I was tasked to get you, Mikasa, and Eren and Connie had to get Historia, Levi, and Hanji."

"Where's Eren and Mikasa then?"

Sasha looked sheepishly away as they walked down the hall towards the stairs. "Well, I found them, but I didn't really have the heart to wake them up." She nodded towards a door not too far from where they were. "Maybe you can, you've known them longer."

Armin rolled his eyes but he slowly opened the door Sasha had been referring to. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised; it only been about a day since they rescued Eren off that stone alter and brought him and Historia back to safety, nearly losing all their lives in the process. It only was about a day since Mikasa learned she had more family, and they weren't particularly nice if Levi's "father" was anything to go on. So really it shouldn't have surprised him to see Eren laying on his side with one arm draped over Mikasa's waist, her body curled up against his. Her head was pressed to his chest, with his chin resting against the top of her head; she had one hand over his waist, up against his back and the other on his chest. Both were sound asleep, and peacefully for once judging by the looks on their faces.

Armin would never have the heart to wake them either.

"I think that's what they're," Sasha whispered as she looked in next to Armin.

He glanced over at her. "They are what?"

"Soul mates."

He felt a smile pulling at his lips; well, at least he wasn't the only one who saw it. "Yeah, I think so too."