Note: new a/n to say that yes, this is what I thought/wish would have happened, but this was started before chapter 138-139 came out (so I've thrown canon completely out the window) but this is primarily a fluff piece that I didn't want to give up on just because it wasn't canon.
Plus, I just wanted Auntie Mikasa and Uncle Armin too. I've seen a lot of hatred directed towards Mikasa and Armin from the EH fanbase and I'm establishing right now (if this story doesn't make it clear enough) that I want no part in it and I won't participate in it. EH is still my OTP but I have loved the dynamic of EMA since day one and that won't change.
Please keep any hate directed at Mikasa or Armin out of my comments section. Character bashing is one thing I won't abide. Rant about the ending all you want though. No one is obligated to like the conclusion to a story and I do love hearing people's thoughts. Critical discussion is welcome!
When Historia's child is born, there's no doubt whose child she is. She has Historia's eyes, big and blue and vulnerable, and her mother's delicate, but not breakable, features.
But Mikasa also sees Eren in the unruly mop of dark hair and in the sharp little chin. She sees it in the intensity that burns in those eyes when Ymir is concentrating especially hard.
The similarity is striking enough that it causes a small pang in Mikasa's heart.
Of course, Historia has stuck by her story that her baby's father is the farmer, but Mikasa has spent too long by Eren's side to be fooled.
(The resemblance only becomes all the more striking as Ymir grows older.)
She understands why the lie has to exist. Eren has done… many things wrong.
This is their way of protecting their daughter, of preventing her from becoming the scapegoat of her father's sins.
That's something that Mikasa would never allow. Her fingers automatically trail down to her hip, though no gear hangs there currently.
She relaxes her fingers and watches as Ymir toddles happily to Armin's open arms. He scoops her up in his arms and cuddles her to his chest.
She responds with glee, laughing and throwing her arms around his neck.
"You've gotten so big!" Armin crows, tossing her up in the air.
Ymir shrieks, pinwheeling her arms, but Armin catches her, spinning her around before depositing her safely back on the ground.
Does he know? Mikasa can't help but wonder as she observes the two of them. In the time since Eren's death, she and Armin have drifted apart.
Armin has his life with Annie now and she… she's still working to overcome her demons.
A small, ugly part of her is jealous of him, of his apparent ability to put the past behind him. He's well on his way to moving on, forging a life with Annie.
Though maybe it isn't fair of her to assume he's moving on.
The scars of losing Eren, of what he did for them and to them… those scars will never leave any of them.
While she and Jean had tried to make it work, it had been clear that a part of her heart
He's with Pieck now.
Mikasa tries to be happy for both of them.
Her thoughts return to Armin.
She's never communicated her own conclusions with Armin. She has no idea if he's guessed the relationship between their best friend and the child he's now entertaining.
It's hard to imagine that he hasn't.
He knew Eren as well as she did and he was always good at picking up on the little things that no one else did.
She can't imagine that he hasn't figured it out.
Armin straightens and notices her lurking. His expression brightens. "Mikasa!"
She steps forward hesitantly and Ymir spins on her heel.
"Mikasa!" she squeals, toddling forward on her small legs.
Mikasa stoops, opening her arms in time for Ymir to topple against her chest. She wraps her arms around the toddler.
Warmth blooms in her heart and spreads outward when Ymir throws her arms around her neck and squeezes, pressing her chubby cheek against Mikasa's own.
"Happy birthday, Ymir," she says softly.
"Thank you!" Ymir squeezes harder, before releasing her with a sharp gasp. "Did I squeeze you hard? Mommy says…"
Mikasa places a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiles. "No, you didn't."
Armin crouches beside them. "How old are you, Ymir?" he asks, changing the subject quickly. It isn't difficult to get her thinking about something else.
Ymir has to stop and think, counting out the numbers on her finger, before announcing, "Four!" She holds up four fingers, showing them to Armin. "I'm four!"
"Wow!" Armin marvels, staring at her in awe.
"Ymir!"
Armin and Mikasa straighten immediately as Historia approaches, accompanied by two guards. Her floor-length dress is simple, but elegant and she holds herself regally, golden blonde hair braided and hanging down her back.
"Armin," Mikasa whispers, inching closer to Armin when Ymir runs off to hug her mother. She isn't sure what to say, but that doesn't seem to stop either of them.
"It's good to see you." He takes the opportunity to embrace her without further word while Ymir is occupied with her mother.
Mikasa holds him tight, taking a moment to appreciate that it's him. That she didn't lose him too. It's been far too long for either of them.
She shouldn't have stayed away.
"Thank you both for coming." Historia greets them both with a smile when they pull apart, her daughter held tenderly in her arms. "I can't tell you how happy Ymir is to see you both. As am I, of course." She turns to address her guards. "If I might ask for some privacy…" They exchange glances, bow without a word, and depart from her side.
"It's an honor." Armin is the one to answer once they've gone, even as he and Mikasa both dip into a bow.
"Please," Historia beams at them both, "let's forego the formalities. I get enough of all of that in court. It's rather… stifling." She sighs.
Ymir squirms and Historia obliges her, setting her on the ground.
"Ymir, can you run to Uwe? I'd like to have some private words with my friends and it's past time for your reading lesson anyways."
Ymir looks from her mother to Mikasa and Armin, before she nods obediently and takes the hand of one of the guards, allowing them to guide her from the room.
A moment of silence passes between them, before a grin spreads across Historia's face and she glides forward, taking them both arm in arm.
Armin gasps softly, surprised, but Historia doesn't pay him any mind, squeezing them happily before releasing them and standing back, blushing slightly.
"It's so good to see you both."
"You too," Armin responds, though he seems a little flustered.
"How are you both? How is Annie?"
"She's doing well, thank you."
"And you, Mikasa?"
Mikasa dips her chin. "I'm well."
"I'm glad to hear it!" Historia beams, though it seems to Mikasa as though she is forcing it.
There's something heavier on Historia's mind. It's evident in the set of her shoulders, in the way she carries herself, and in the way she tries too hard to be cheerful.
"Historia…" Armin is the one who speaks, tone gentle. "Ymir is… She's Eren, isn't she?"
And Mikasa watches in two beats as Historia's face loses some of its light.
She doesn't deny it. "I was wondering if either of you knew," she says softly.
"She looks like him," Armin confirms.
Mikasa swallows painfully. "When?"
Armin cringes. "Mikasa…"
Her throat feels tight and she blushes, turning her eyes away in shame.
She knows it's not an appropriate question- she knows- but somehow the question slipped out regardless because there's a part of her that will never stop hurting.
"I'm sorry."
Historia's eyes widen fractionally, but she doesn't take offense. "It's alright," she says. She turns, stepping to one of the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city and wraps her arms around herself. "It was shortly after my coronation that we admitted our feelings to each other."
A wistful look passes over her face, before it's exchanged for one of sorrow. "We were both so selfish," she admits. "But it wasn't just about keeping me from inheriting the Beast Titan. Ymir was our promise to each other. He was going to make a better world."
Mikasa thinks of all the bloodshed that followed that promise and inhales sharply.
"I didn't agree with his plan, but… he told me to trust him. Told me that it would all work out in the end. So I trusted him."
"He never intended to go along with Zeke's plan," Armin says quietly.
"No," Historia whispers.
Something clenches in Mikasa's chest.
Eren had done it all to protect the island. To protect them.
He had become the scapegoat the world needed to put their hatred of Eldians behind them.
And Mikasa, by slaying him, had ensured that his plan worked.
They were island devils no longer, but the hatred the world had harbored for them still hadn't dissipated.
She feels sick enough to vomit.
"Mommy!"
Ymir comes running back, apparently having found a way to evade her tutor.
Given what Mikasa knows of Uwe, a short, heavy-set man, that doesn't seem too hard to believe.
Historia turns. "Ymir?"
The little girl collides with her mother, wrapping her arms around her legs and grinning up at her. "I sneaked out."
From somewhere down the hall come the dismayed shouts of Ymir's harried tutor.
"It's alright!" Historia calls, taking her daughter's hand. "She's here!"
"Your majesty…" Uwe comes trotting back, huffing and puffing and shame-faced. "I'm sorry, she got away from me."
Historia sighs. "She's getting rather good at that, isn't she?"
Uwe's face turns beet red. "Yes, well…"
Ymir presses her face against her mother's skirt. "I don't want to learn," she grouches.
Mikasa presses a hand to her mouth to hide her smile, even as her stomach still churns.
"Ymir…" Armin crouches down and she peeps at him suspiciously. "Do you want to see the ocean with me?"
Some of the suspicion fades from her eyes. "Yeah…"
"Okay, well… you gotta do your lessons then, okay?"
Mikasa's chest tightens as she watches them.
The world might still hate them, but they'll keep fighting to end it all.
They'll keep fighting for their right to exist.
And Eren's daughter?
She'll grow up in a world where she can really, truly be free.
Mikasa will make sure of it.
Note: My girl Historia deserved better than being shafted to be the bride of an npc. I said what I said.
Also, I'm sorry, but I tried so hard and for so long to love Eren/Mikasa, but they are adopted siblings and that's too close to incest for my liking. (You can argue all you want that they're not really related, so it's not really incest, but insinuating that adopted family is not really family is still kind of insulting.) Regardless of how you feel, I just explained my own misgivings on eremika and they won't change.