Present Day

Eren was so excited he could barely stand it, wiggling around in his car seat to the point that his mother thought he was going to dislodge himself from it. Carla sighed, looking up into the rearview mirror.

"Eren, calm down," she said. "We'll be there in a minute. I promise Levi's house isn't going anywhere."

"But mom, I caaaaan't," he whined. "I want to see what kind of house he has! Do you think it'll be a big one?"

"I guess we'll see," Carla replied, turning back to look at the road. "But remember, you have to be on your best behavior, otherwise his mom won't let you come over for anymore play dates."

"I know, I know, I promise I'll be good!"

She laughed. She supposed she couldn't be too surprised that her son was acting like he had ants in his pants. This was his first playdate ever with his best friend from preschool, and he had been going on and on all week about all the fun things they were going to do together. It was different, he said, than the things they would do in school, because at home they could do different kinds of fun things.

But Carla had to admit, as much of a bundle of energy as Eren was, sometimes her son worried her. She loved him to death, she really did, but sometimes he said and did odd things, and had ever since he was old enough to speak. He had told her about dreams he had had, dreams about walking on a path of light before he woke up in her arms. Sometimes he would go around pointing at things, like a fork or a table, or even a very old gramophone they had in the basement and say, "I remember that, I know what that is."

She mostly just chalked it up to him being a child, and a very imaginative one at that. One of his favorite things to do was finger paint on big white or black pieces of paper and make different patterns, pictures they hung up in his room. He liked drawing his family too, and of course all of his art pieces were hung on the fridge. She had had a passion for art as well when she had been younger, so perhaps he had gotten this from her. Secretly she hoped he kept going with this passion, and she would encourage him if he did so.

However, what really surprised and even worried her a bit was the first time Eren had met his new friend, Levi.

It had been on the first day of preschool. Of course Eren, not being afraid of anything, or at least he insisted he wasn't, charged right in, practically knocking other students out of the way. Carla, who hung out to make sure he behaved himself and was settling in okay, was about ready to leave, but then stopped when Eren's eyes locked on to another one of the students.

It was another boy, smaller than he was, dark hair, but he was definitely a cute little thing. As if sensing that Eren was looking at him, he looked up from the toys he was playing with, and froze, his impassive stare turning into a shocked, open expression of surprise, and Carla could swear she heard him gasp. And then, to her astonishment, the two boys ran towards each other and hugged tightly, as if they were old friends that hadn't seen each other in years.

The other students ignored them, assuming that they were in fact friends that were seeing each other again in school, but Carla knew for a fact that Eren had never met this boy. What was even more surprising that he started crying as the two of them hugged.

"Where have you been, Doll?" Eren was saying.

And, to Carla's astonishment, the other little boy replied quietly, "I was on the hill waiting for you, Aurora. But you know, the path for an invert is never easy, so it took me a while to find you."

Then, they snapped out of it, Eren reverting back to his normal self, speaking like a little boy again. He began calling the other boy by his name, that somehow he just knew, and in the other boy began calling Eren by his name too. It was all so bizarre, so surreal, that she thought she just imagined it.

When they finally pulled into Levi's driveway, they had barely come to stop before he was trying to unbuckle his car seat. Carla had to quickly put the car in park before she was moving around to the back seat, saying, "Hold on you, calm down, I'm coming."

She unbuckled him and helped him out of his seat, telling him to stay by her while she got his things out of the car. He had brought some toys with him that he thought Levi might enjoy in a backpack, of which she handed to him and he slung on his back.

Once the car doors were shut, they went up to the door and rang the doorbell, Eren still wiggling by her side. Thankfully they didn't have to wait very long for the door to be answered. Levi was the one who opened the door, probably already knowing who it was, and when he saw Eren a huge smile spread his cheeks. Eren let himself right in, running into the house with his mother calling after him to take off his shoes.

That was when Levi's mother appeared in the door, smiling and shaking Carla's hand. They had met each other a couple times already at school events knowing that their kids were friends, and had made a point to introduce themselves to the other. Kuchel was a very pretty lady, and it was easy to see where Levi got his looks from.

She was invited in, and she and Kuchel stood by the doorway, talking for a bit while the boys set about spreading their toys all over the living room rug, which was right by the entryway. Levi was running to his room and coming back with all sorts of stuffed animals.

Many of them, Carla noticed, were white dogs.

"You like dogs?" Eren gasped, "Me too!"

He pulled a couple of little white dogs with pointed ears out of his bag. He picked up one in particular, telling him, "This one's my favorite. His name is Malcolm."

"This one's mine," Levi said as he picked up one dog that was almost as big as him, and clearly had been very well loved by how well-worn it was. "His name is Prince Charming! I love fairytales."

Kuchel snorted to Carla, "I can't tell you how many times he's watched Sleeping Beauty over and over again. I think I know the dialogue as well as he does."

"Eren likes them too," she answered. "He likes Snow White, and good heavens if I have to hear 'Someday My Prince Will Come' one more time…"

"Well, we can be happy they enjoy them now, because someday they'll grow up and then deny they ever like fairytales."

Just then, something caught Eren's eye that made him stop playing for a moment. His mother followed his gaze up to the area over the fireplace, where some very old looking objects lay. Carla couldn't see them very well from where she was, but soon Kuchel explained, "Did you want to see those Eren? They're very old, from the late 1800s. They belonged to my great great grandma Mikasa, and they have a very interesting story behind them I'll have to tell you someday."

She walked over to the fireplace and picked them up, before kneeling down and holding them out so that Eren could hold them. Carla reminded him to be very careful with them, as they were fragile.

However, she did not expect the odd trance that seemed to overcome her boy.

He handled the watch and then the rings with care, both of which had to be made with pure silver and gold respectively. And looking at them, Levi added over his shoulder, "Those are mine."

Eren said, "I know. I gave them to you."

Kuchel corrected her boy, "Sweetie, remember those used to be great great grandma Mikasa's. Her brother had them made to give to his sweetheart."

Levi agreed, "Yeah, that was me."

Humoring him, she said, "That was you?"

"Yup," he replied without any hesitation. "Eren gave me the watch on my birthday."

"There's something written in it," Eren added.

Levi's mom looked at Carla, a bit surprised. Carla said, "Well, is there something written in there?"

"Yes," she said. "But he didn't open it. How does he…?"

Then Eren moved onto the rings, and Levi said, "You kept them safe."

That was when Eren put one of them over his head, and put the other around Levi's neck. When they stared at each other, it was like something was passing between them, something the two women couldn't see. Eren had to hold back a shiver of horror as he gazed at Levi's face.

"Well then, why did you agree to get married and give up what you love? So that I could remain in your home with you. I would argue I'm not worth that either. So we're either both worth it or neither of us are."

"But that doesn't even compare to"-

"Eren. Shut up."

His hand touched Levi's awkwardly, the images flashing across his mind's eye. Where were they even coming from?

"Well, don't worry. It'll go by like that. And when you get out, we'll be waiting for you. Me, Prince, and Hanji. All of our other friends too. We'll find somewhere else to have our meetups with them, and by that time, construction on our house will have started. Until it's done, we can move out and hide somewhere else. I'm done pretending to be what my father wants. We'll go and hide, and while we're there, I'll start painting again, and we're getting your book published. We'll find a way past this. If this experience has taught me anything, it's that life is too short. It's time we started living for ourselves and doing what we want."

Why did he suddenly have the urge to cry? Why was Levi crying in his head? Why was he crying? And why was his mind telling him that this was his last memory he had of Levi? But…that Levi looked so different. Older, dressed differently, and talking about things that he didn't understand. It was more than a little frightening, but he couldn't stop it.

"God Eren, don't leave me….I mean, I know we don't have a choice, but…I'm scared."

And then, just as quickly, he snapped out of it again, blinking a couple times and taking his ring off. He took Levi's off too, and stood up, holding all the objects with a grave sense of duty to take care of him that someone his age should not possess. He began heading towards the fireplace, just now noticing the painting that hung above it. A painting of two boys walking on a path of light. He pointed at it with one hand.

"Aurora Dolls," he said. "I made that."

Kuchel looked taken aback once more, but again played along. "You did, did you?"

Eren nodded solemnly. He then began to point to different things in the painting, explaining the significance of each object, things Kuchel had never been able to figure out the meaning to. "I love the circus, and I lived on the beach in a house with hearts in it. That's Levi's book he wrote…it was about giants. I drew the pictures in it."

Their two moms were staring at them in astonishment, wondering where he was getting this from. Eventually Carla asked, "Sweetie, did you have a dream like this? You've never been to the beach or…"

He shrugged. "I just know."

Then, he heard Levi say behind him, "Thank you for the house."

And for some reason, that again seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in, because Eren was giggling, putting the objects in his hands down on the carpet and saying, "So where's your room?"

And Levi was laughing too, picking up some of his toys and leading his friend back into the house, both of their footsteps loud and pounding on the floor. That left Carla and Kuchel in the living room, not knowing what to think.

It was Kuchel who eventually broke the silence, going over to pick up the watch and rings, saying, "So I'm guessing Eren has odd dreams too?"

"Wait…does Levi get them too then?" Carla asked.

Kuchel nodded. "Oh yeah, ever since he was two, I think. Once of the first things he ever said to me was 'where's Aurora?' and I had no idea what he meant. Then I heard he called Eren 'Aurora' in class. I thought he was just referring to Aurora in Sleeping Beauty but…"

She shook her head. "Sometimes he speaks like a grown man about things he shouldn't know about. He's asked me where his dog was too, saying he was a little white one, and that he missed him. And of course these rings and this watch," she held them up a bit for Carla to see, "they were heirlooms of Mikasa's that her brother passed onto her after he died, and Levi said that they were his." She looked up at the painting. "But he's never said anything about that painting before."

That was when Carla noticed something smaller that sat on the fireplace, right underneath the painting. It was a sepia and white photograph of two men, one sitting in the other's lap. Kuchel must have noticed her looking at it, because she went to retrieve it, putting the rings and watch back on the fireplace and showing it to Carla.

"That's my great great uncle Eren," she explained, "the one sitting on the couch. He and Mikasa weren't related by blood. She was adopted into the family, I think. But the person on his lap is Levi Ackerman, his lover. You might have seen his book around somewhere. I have an original copy that I guess Eren owned. And all those things belonged to Levi and Eren…Eren painted that piece right before he died, or so the story in my family goes. He um, he killed himself in 1920 because Levi passed away before him in jail. He was jailed for being gay…and I suppose Eren just couldn't stand being apart from him. It's a tragic story, but one my family has passed down at Mikasa's request so we never forget what they went through. And actually…Levi does look a bit like him. I mean, I could see him looking like that someday."

"Yeah…Eren too," Carla agreed. It was almost eerie, the resemblance. That Eren in the picture could easily be her boy in twenty years, but only time would tell. She then noticed the rings on their chests, and said, "So are those the rings you have on your fireplace?"

"Yes," Kuchel said. "Eren had them made for Levi. But I've never told Levi any of this, and obviously you didn't know this. That's why I find it so strange that our kids know these things."

Carla thought about it for a minute, and then suggested, "Well, do you believe in reincarnation?"

"I…I suppose," Kuchel answered hesitantly. "I mean, there's so many belief systems in the world that it's difficult to know what's true. But now that you mention it…"

"Maybe our kids are saying they remember these things because they really do remember them," the other woman said. "That's why they knew each other's names when they saw each other for the first time without being told. I did show Levi this picture and told him who it was and he said 'no mom that's me.' And maybe…maybe that is him."

"It's a nice thought," Carla said. "Like they're getting a second chance at their love because when they tried the first time, the world just wasn't ready for it."

Then, the black haired woman laughed a bit, When Carla looked at her in confusion, explaining, "Sorry. It's just, I've never been able to share these thoughts with anyone, and I've had them in my head for a long time. I just didn't want to sound crazy. So it's nice to hear that someone believes me."

"I hear you there," Carla replied, also with a bit of a relieved laugh. "I've always thought Eren was strange, and wanted to think maybe this is just part of him playing a game. But I was getting worried when he told me he remembered crawling in a coffin and sleeping next to a dead body. Like, I brought him to a therapist, but she said there was nothing wrong with him and she also thought he was just playing a really elaborate game. But if these are memories of a past life…"

"I suppose it's not the most outlandish explanation," Kuchel agreed. "The world is made up of strange stuff, and there have been other supposed cases of reincarnation. So who knows. We'll just have to keep watching them as they grow up and see what happens."

With that, Carla declared, "Well, I suppose I should get out of your hair. If you need anything, call me, I'll be at home all day."

"I think we'll be okay," Kuchel said. "We're just going to have lunch and go to the park. Let them get their energy out running around so that when he comes home he'll sleep for you."

Carla laughed. "Well thank you, I appreciate it."

Kuchel showed her out, and they bid goodbye to one another. Once the door was closed behind her, she found herself looking at the photo in her hands again. As far as she knew, the Levi and Eren in the picture's parents had never met, Levi's parents having passed away long before he and Eren had met each other. So, perhaps her meeting Eren's mom had some meaning too. Had these two wished their parents could meet each other?

She sighed, placing the picture back on the fireplace, and then straightened up the rings and the watch. She had always just thought of these as old heirlooms that had spent their fair share of time in the attic and basement. Kuchel had only taken them out because her son insisted they stay out where he could always see them after he came across them in the basement with her one day. The painting though…she looked up at it. It was a very pretty painting, but one she had never understood the meaning to. And then Eren had just rattled it off like that, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Kuchel shook her head. Reincarnation or not, these two boys sure were strange.

With one last look at the painting, she turned on her heel, heading into the kitchen to make some lunch for everyone. And when she left the room, a beam of sunlight snuck through the window and highlighted the little phrase that sat in the corner of the painting, written in white paint.

I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream.

Eren Jaeger

1920

000

After lunch, Kuchel was shepherding the kids out of the car and urging them to go get all of their energy out on the jungle gym that sat enticingly just ahead of them. They took off running as soon as their feet hit the pavement, running and screeching like wild animals, practically leaping at the equipment and hanging on.

"Be careful you two!" she called out. "I don't want to be sending Eren home with any broken bones."

But they hardly seemed to be listening to her, off in their own world already, playing their own games. She heard Levi say something like, "Pretend we're saving puppies from the bad guys! They're all little white puppies and they're trapped!"

Levi sure was obsessed with little white dogs, Westies in particular. She had no idea how he had even heard of Westies. He did watch quite a few animal shows, so maybe he had heard of them there, but ever since then he was adamant that he wanted one. From the way Eren was talking on the way over in the car, he wanted one too. Maybe that was something the previous Eren and Levi had been passionate about? She had gone to lay flowers on the grave of her great great uncle Eren, the grave he shared with Levi, and always noticed a smaller gravestone sitting next to it that she always assumed belonged to a dog based on the epitaph that have been carved into it. Was it possible that that dog had been a Westie? She had also been to that beach house Eren mentioned before, many times. It was their family's vacation home, and she had heard rumors that even more dogs were buried by the house. But who knew, really. Even things she thought were facts about her relatives could just all be embellished stories. But everyone liked a good embellished story about their ancestors, so she wasn't complaining.

She let the boys play for a while, listening to their games while she texted a bit on her phone. However, it wasn't long before they were encouraging her to get up and come join them. And of course, she couldn't refuse them, sliding down the slide and swinging on the swings. It was a nice time on a very nice day.

But just as she was about to tell them that it was time to pack up for the day, her son broke away from them, wandering away from the park towards the edge of it, something clearly having caught his eye. She called his name when she noticed he wasn't with them, but he wasn't listening. And soon enough, Eren ran after him, trying to tell him too that it was time to go home. However, when he caught up to Levi, he froze as well, and became transfixed by whatever they were staring at.

"What is going on over here?" Kuchel wanted to know, finally going over to them when it was clear that calling their names wasn't going to work. When she got close enough, she saw that Eren and Levi were staring down a tiny path in the woods, mostly overgrown by weeds and brush. But when they saw it, their eyes lit up, and they looked at each other before taking off down the path, leaving her to call after them, "Hold on you two! Come back here, I don't want anyone getting lost! You don't know what's down there, and I don't know if we're allowed in here!"

"Come on mom!" Levi called back. "It's okay, we know the way! There's a hill up ahead!"

A hill? How did he know for sure though, he had never…and then she wondered if this was another thing having to do with his supposed past life. She could explain away the other things as dreams and games, she supposed. But if they got to the end of this path and there was in fact a hill, she thought she might lose it, and at the same time have no choice but to believe that the two boys were in fact a product of reincarnation.

Besides, she supposed there was only one way to find out if they were right.

So, Kuchel followed them as closely as she could, nervously looking around to make sure they weren't going to get in trouble. No one seemed to be following them, and as she picked her way through all the thick foliage, she wondered how anything could lie at the end of this path, if it could even be called a path. It was clear no one had walked through here in a very long time, if anyone ever had. But the boys seemed to know exactly where they were going as they walked along surely, as if they had walked through her dozens of times.

Who was she kidding? They probably had.

"There's the creek!" Eren called out. "It's still there!"

"We'll have to go swimming there sometime," Levi said. "Can we mom?"

Kuchel replied, "We'll see." But honestly at the moment, she had no idea what to think.

At least the walk was peaceful. There were birds chirping, and squirrels skittering about. She heard nature like she had never heard it before in this little untouched piece of nature. There was light streaming through the trees as well, the branches of which connected, forming almost a canopy for them to walk down.

It was like passing into another, magical world, walking down here.

And when they reached the end of the path, of course Kuchel was no longer surprised to see a hill rising up in front of them, covered in golden grass, with a little tree sitting on top of it. The tree looked old and tired, few leaves covering its branches despite the fact that it was nearing summertime. She wondered how long it had been there. But when the boys saw the hill, all bets were off. They raced up it, Levi making it first while he waited for Eren to catch up.

When he finally came up to stand beside him, she saw Levi pull him into a tight hug, and swore she heard him say, "See? I waited for you, and you found me here, after all this time."

Eren laughed and replied, "I did! Thanks for waiting, Doll."

It took a bit, but Kuchel finally caught up to them, standing next to them. When she took in the breathtaking patchwork view of farmland spreading out below her, she wondered if the previous Eren and Levi had a view like this. She could see them probably coming up here to be alone, to be themselves away from the prying eyes of their judgmental world. Did they have picnics up here? Make love here, perhaps? Did they just sit and enjoy the view?

Maybe the boys would remember as they got older.

"See, isn't it pretty up here?" Levi asked excitedly, the color high on his round cheeks. "And I just knew it was here! Both of us did! We used to come here all the time!"

"I'm sure you did," she answered, smiling down at her boy. She pulled him closer, resting her hand on his head and ruffling his hair. Levi kept an arm around Eren's shoulders while Eren did the same for him. The three of them gazed at the scenery, taking it in, the little boys' eyes full of nostalgia. Then, Kuchel added, "And I hope you get to come here all the time again."

As she looked at them, she could see them growing up together, going through school and becoming closer and closer. She could see their feelings deepening for each other into something more than friendship, could see them entering high school and confessing shyly to one another, sharing an awkward kiss perhaps. Going to their first dance, to college, and then getting their first jobs. Then perhaps, one of them would pop the question, and they would be on their way to getting married (again), and then starting a long and happy life together. She could see her son and Eren waking up every morning with fondness in their eyes for each other, surrounded by all the little white dogs that they wanted. Most of all, she could see them living the lives that the previous owners of their souls never got to live, but most certainly deserved to. She just hoped that they would grasp this second chance with two hands and not let it go. She hoped that they would grasp onto each other now that they had found each other again and not let go. She hoped they would live their new lives to the fullest and take every chance at happiness that came their way, because she was sure her great great grandmother would have wanted that for them.

Kuchel watched as they grasped each other's hands and began dancing in an odd little circle, singing a song that they had heard many times from Levi's favorite movie no doubt, but one that she was now sure their predecessors must have sung many times to each other as well.

"I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream…"