black sugar

"Historia…"

The deep tone curled her name in a familiar way, and she felt a pleasant warmth on her face.

She watched a little girl dance in the meadow, barefoot in the verdant grasses. The sky arched wide overhead in a blue so clear it burned their eyes to look at it. Every so often the child stopped, picking daisies and honeysuckles for the flower crown dangling from her chubby fingers. Sunlight glinted off her golden baby curls. Giggling, voice so high and clear – singing a song of summer. Eyes grey as a stormy sea…

"Historia."

Suddenly the ground gave out from beneath her and sent her tumbling, falling through the dreamscape.

Historia woke with a start. Her eyes flew open and there, in silvers and blues of moonlight she found Eren looming over her. His weight braced on one arm, pressing down the mattress next to her shoulder. Crimson shifter marks flared out beneath his eyes and across his cheekbones like the stripes of some wild beast. They were alone in her bedroom and she could hear muffled voices and footsteps emanating through the floorboards from the kitchen below. Their soldiers.

Commander Forester's voice lifted clear above the rest. "To our future prince," he said, and the loyal recruits answered with laughter and cheers.

"Eren," she whispered.

His thumb passed gently over her lips and her eyes fluttered, overwhelmed by the sudden touch. "Yeah."

Historia squeezed his wrist, testing the firmness of flesh and bone. His pulse beat steady beneath her fingertips.

"They said you were arrested…" she whispered. Her throat grew tight, tighter as she struggled to sit up, her body unwieldy. He sat back a little, helping her up. "I feared the worst…that they might -"

Eren's fingers threaded gently through her hair. "They're finished," he promised. "We'll be the only power that remains soon."

"Eren…," Historia began, the relief so palatable she could choke on it. She shook her head, sniffing, her eyes stinging. They had wanted to give his titan to someone else. Give it… like they were passing along a pocket watch. After all he had done for Paradis…

He wiped the pads of his thumbs across her cheeks and then his lips found hers in a soft, pliant caress. Historia melted into Eren's heat, finding his skin bare beneath the dark mantle. With a gentle shift of her lips, she invited him onward. Eren reached blindly, arms winding around her thickened waist to haul her closer and then he stopped. He paused for a breath, their face but an inch apart and his gaze dropped.

"Look at you," he said warmly, and Historia blushed. He smoothed the soft linen nightgown over the hard curve of her belly.

"Wow…," Eren said, voice curiously quiet. "I heard only after I boarded the airship. I…" he hesitated a moment, swallowing thickly. "Has it been difficult?"

Historia shook her head. "I don't regret a moment," she said bravely. She laid her palm over the back of Eren's hand, fingers cradled between his hard knuckles. With a soft press she guided him to the most active spot and then there was a roll of movement. The baby kicked.

Eren drew a sharp breath and in a voice worn soft by tenderness and wonder he said, "She's strong."

Historia smiled, tilting her head to the side, watching him. Her beloved shifted his hand, searching, willing to feel it again. Thick lashes shielded his eyes, but his mouth trembled.

"Will she have to be strong, Eren?"

Eren lifted his gaze, silver eyes gleaming and shook his head slowly. "She'll be free to be whatever she wants to be," he said. He swallowed. "I won't leave this mess for her to clean up."

Historia bit her lip.

Beyond their shores the world reviled them as devils. Knowing Eren's plan, that he would not waiver, there was some truth to that. Historia eased her fingers through the dark inky strands at the nape of his neck and drew her lover close and pressed her forehead to his. A devil poised to scorch the earth. And still, still...

"I don't care if you make the entire world your enemy," she said solemnly. "I will always be your ally."

Eren pulled her in then, enveloping her in warm affection, his kiss a desperate display of gratitude that quickly escalated beyond such innocence. Sliding a hand up her thigh, slender fingers slipping beneath the hem of her nightgown, Eren pushed the pristine fabric over her golden head and he did not recoil when he laid his eyes on her changed figure. He palmed her swollen breasts, nipples dark and tingling beneath his tongue, teeth scrapping greedy with each hungry kiss and Historia moaned in her lover's arms.

Oh, how she had longed for him and yet she answered Eren's ardor with tenderness. She slowly stripped him of the long, hooded mantle, and wrapped her arms around his naked shoulders, grounding herself in the warmth of his flesh, the strength of his frame. I'm here, I'll always be here she tried to convey with every tender touch. Each kiss a wordless supplication…

Her hands drifted down to his fastenings and she found him ready. Helped him wriggle his hips free of the fabric and then she settled more firmly across his lap. His height negated now, unborn child cradled between them, Eren gazed up at her with an expression so raw that she wondered how anyone could ever misread him.

"You keep saving me," he said, unvarnished as always. She took him then, rewarding him on the softest of gasps, bodies coming together, contrary, and complimentary and above all, aligned. Always aligned. Surrounded and tethered, Eren held her, hand curving to the arch of her lower back they moved together. Always together. Her arms around him, she stared into the storm of his sea-grey eyes as she kissed him. Her knight. Her crimson arrow. Tender now. Careful now.

"Even if every living thing hates you…" she whispered as their lips parted. She traced his primal marks with reverent fingertips as she swiveled her hips and he rocked against her. It felt good. So good, so right. Tears rolled down her own cheeks. "I'll still love you. I'll always love you."

Eren's eyes flooded and slipped closed then, his head tipping forward. He buried his face in the crook of her neck. Hot breath buffeted against her skin.

"Historia…" he managed, all but choking on her name.

"Please, Eren," she sighed.

His breathing came in shuddering pulls, and when he did not respond, Historia froze at the peak of an upstroke. She fisted the mass of hair gathered at the back of his skull and pulled his head back and stared into his face, bright eyes glazed with unshed tears. He tried to kiss her, to hide.

"Come back to me," she pressed. "To us. Promise me."

She had him like a fly in amber. Eren swallowed and nodded. "I won't stop fighting."

Historia smiled through her own tears. She sank down again, pressing her forehead to his. Eren rolled his hips in a slow, steady rhythm. His arms wrapped tight around her. She rode him, so close they shared breath, willing to share every memory and burden, even as the pleasure built so heavy it brought tears to her eyes.

She wiped the sweaty strands away from his forehead and kissed those lips she knew so well. They arranged themselves to sleep. His head on her breast, body curled around her protectively.

"I want to know everything," he said softly. "All the stuff I missed."

As Historia pulled her fingers through his hair, she told him, about the first subtle hints in the exhaustion. The strange things that suddenly made her ill and onset of bizarre cravings; briny pickled beets or the frozen treat the Marleyan chef made - together. Names the children or staff suggested. Eren listened intently. He too, had stories to tell. How his mother used to sing to him when he fought sleep and the little fables she used to tell while she hung the laundry. How she always knew when he lied and suffered none of his excuses. His hand drew slow, smooth circles across the firm ripeness of her all the while.

"I wish I could have met her," Historia said. She wondered if Carla Jaeger would have approved of her daughter in law.

"She would have loved you," Eren said. "This will probably sound weird but… you remind me of her."

She woke, hours later, alone. The stars in the sky had not yet faded into one and Eren's side of the bed was again empty and cool to the touch. The house stood quiet and in that peaceful silence, Historia suddenly realized that it all would end as it had started.

Historia pulled herself from the bed, the floorboards cool beneath her bare feet, and got dressed. Wrapped herself in her favorite woven shawl and gingerly made her way down the steps to the kitchen. The door whined on its iron hinges and she stepped out on the front porch.

Carefully, she eased herself into the oak rocking chair and looked out over the land. The rolling hills were shrouded in mist, verdant grasses muted in the weak light of dawn. A gentle breeze stirred the air, carrying soft scents of pollen, a dream of spring and in the trees the birds tested their high lilting voices.

This would be all that remained.

The sky slowly grew hemmed in pale pink and faded to soft silver grey toward the atmosphere. She thought of her lover's eyes. Their baby kicked, safe and sheltered and Historia cradled the life there. Soon, she knew, her own battle would be upon her.