Shingeki no Kyojin is owned by Hajime Isayama.
Major Manga Spoilers! Be warned.
Chapter 9: Interlude
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The conversation with Ymir Fritz - if it could really be called that, played over in Eren's head through the night and lingered even when he slept after. He had actually been a bit curious as to why she had not shown herself sooner after his first intimate act with Frieda and he had started to think the first Shifter had gotten bored of giving him that teasing smile.
But what she had said about his Titan being one to fight against standards, to keep pushing forward; he was a long way from understanding Ymir Fritz and why she did what she did all those years ago, but from what he could tell, she almost seemed proud to have created a titan like that. But one thing he did know for sure, she would be back again, probably every time until this was all over. She may not always speak, but she would still watch things develop as she had done before.
He still thought over what she had said, even as he started to wake up fully. He felt a few crusties near his eyes but when he went to wipe them away, he felt his arm being held tight. Blinking hard, he was able to see that Frieda had latched herself onto his arm and seemed determined not to let go. Her dark hair was spread out around her pillow, her mouth slightly open and he could feel one of her legs draped across his own.
But while Frieda held an iron grip on one arm, his other was completely free. The spot on his other side was completely empty with only a slight crumple of the sheets to show that one other person had been there.
His eyes were still a bit clouded and the sunlight coming in from the window didn't exactly help. But sitting in front of the mirror, fixing her hair was Historia.
She must have seen his reflection in the mirror as she stopped what she was doing to turn and face him. "Good morning."
"Yeah, morning to you too," Eren sleepily said back. "Sleep well?"
"I could ask you that," she said. "I know how it feels to be locked in her iron grip."
"And you didn't bother to wake her up too?" he liked Frieda, but he liked being able to move his arm too.
"No. The both of you seemed like you could benefit from sleeping in. When she wakes, I'm thinking of visiting the orphanage again today, maybe get her set up as a helping hand there if she wants."
Eren thought back to the conversation he had with Frieda previously. "Yeah. Something tells me she won't be opposed to that. As long as you visit her every chance you get."
"Mmh," Historia softly laughed. "It seems a bit of a reversal from when I was a child. I'll be the one going to visit her." She went over to her wardrobe to pick out an appropriate attire for going out to the country. "Would you like to join us?"
"Yeah, sure." Eren tried to slip his arm free but it was no use. A sleeping Frieda would sooner have him lose his arm and grow a new one before she let go. "Would you like to wake her up?"
"I suppose," Historia said but she made no move to do anything just yet.
"Let me guess, you're savoring the sight?" Eren guessed, seeing the look on Historia's face.
"You're not wrong," she admitted. "But can you really blame me? Just look at how peaceful she looks when she's asleep."
As much as the circulation was being cut off in his arm, Eren had to admit that Historia had a point.
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Once Frieda had woken and Eren regained feeling in his arm they made their way to the orphanage that had been established in Wall Rose territory. Naturally, as soon as any of the children there saw Historia approaching, they ran out to come and greet her.
"Queen Historia!" they shouted.
"Queen Historia, I made another flower crown!"
"Queen, a family came by today."
"Miss. Queen, have you come to play?"
"Do you have any stories for us?"
They were kind of like one giant swarm of kids, but Historia hardly seemed to mind them at all. "It's nice to see you all again," she patted all of their heads. "There will be plenty of time to spend with all of you, but I have to get my friend set up in the farm house first." She was talking about Frieda and since the farm house was used to house all the kids there, she would also be getting her room there where she would run it while Historia was away. "She'll be living here too and helping out so make sure you do what she says."
a chorus of "Yes, Queen," and nods followed.
"Good. Now, Frieda, want to come with me and we'll set you up in one of the rooms."
"Of course." Frieda smiled at the kids. "I look forward to spending time with you all. I believe I have a multitude of stories that you will enjoy." Some of their eyes lit up at that notion.
"In the meantime, Eren, why don't you entertain them until we're all set up?" Historia asked.
Eren gave her a look that could be read as: You planned this, didn't you?
She smiled at him innocently.
"Yeah, I'm fine with that," Eren relented. He still remembered being a kid himself and spending time with Armin and hearing all kinds of stories from that book of his. He also remembered being a brat and understanding now that he had been way over the line when he yelled at his mother. "You two go on ahead. I'm fine here."
Historia gave him a look that said: If you think you can handle it.
Frieda gave a smile and a parting wave as she followed her younger sister. The two hadn't even disappeared into the house fully before he was bombarded with a bunch of questions.
"Does that lady really have stories for us?"
"Well, yeah," Eren said thinking of how Frieda still remembers past memories of the world.
"Does the Queen like the flower crown I made her?"
"She held onto it so, yeah."
"Do you know how to play games?"
"Why wouldn't I?" all kids games were practically the same anyway, right?
"Are you dating the Queen?" that question earned some giggles.
"...Yeah." It was true, but it was the wrong answer. After he said that, it opened up a whole new can of questions, mostly from the little girls.
"Are you two going to be married?"
"One day, but-,"
"When?"
"That's... up to her.
"Do you want a flower crown too?"
"If you want to make one, I'll-,
"Would that make you King?"
"Uh, yeah, one day. But-,"
"Have you and the Queen kissed?" that got a lot of giggling. They had done more than kiss, but he'd be damned if he would ever tell them that.
"That's a gross question!" one of the boys rolled his eyes.
"No," Eren agreed with the boy, "it is a gross question."
Then the girl who had been making the flower crowns asked probably the most normal question so far, "How did you meet?"
"I first met her in the training regiment when she-,"
"The Queen was in the army?!" that seemed to surprise a lot of them.
"Yeah," Eren said. "Didn't she ever mention that?" they all shook their heads. "Well that's where I knew her from but that was before she was Queen." Not really a lie, just that she was going under a different name back then.
"So... does that mean you have stories about being in the army?" one of the boys asked hopefully. It reminded him of how he used to look at the Survey Corps whenever they returned and passed through Shighansina.
"Some, I guess. But I don't know if Historia would want me to be telling them." If she hadn't mentioned anything about it to them before, she probably had a reason.
"Please!" they started whining.
"We already know all the fairy tales, this is a new one!"
"How'd the Queen become Queen? She never told us."
"Did you help take back the one wall?"
These questions, what is it with these kids? But he couldn't get mad because he knew all too well what they were feeling. Their curiosity had been peaked and there was no cure for that other than to hear an answer. Sometimes the answer wasn't always refreshing; the basement had given them an even bigger threat to worry about.
"Why don't I just tell you about the time bandits showed up when we were training in the woods?" that got their attention. "Alright. It happened back when we were still cadets..."
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"I can see you're having fun," Historia's voice called to him as he laid back on the grass.
"I can see you took your time," Eren jokingly said back.
She had been gone long enough to set Frieda up in the farm house and in that time Eren had recited the bandit story to them and after one of the kids wanted to play a game which involved a lot of running and a lot of hiding. He lost track of how long they had been at it, but he just took a break and let them go about it themselves.
"They're a handful, aren't they?" Historia sat down next to him. "But at this rate, they'll tire themselves out before they have to take a nap. That leaves them energized for their chores after."
"If you say so," Eren watched as they ran around. "So what did the two of you talk about in there? You were gone way too long for just getting her all set up."
"Not much, actually," Historia admitted. "I promised to visit her as often as I could in my free time and told her to not be a stranger for visiting as well. I may have also said something about stopping in the Sina market to get some things to decorate her room to liven it up. But other than that we just watched you handle the kids."
"So you saw the pestering?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't want to help me out a little. They may be kids, but they ask a lot of questions."
"Part of it was revenge for not helping me when Frieda started her method of tickling last night."
"You looked like you enjoyed it."
"I didn't"
"Uh-huh." Eren didn't believe her in the slightest. "So what was the other reason?"
"Giving you experience."
"Are you talking about stamina for at night? If you are you really need to get your mind out of the gutter."
"I'm talking about how to handle kids." Historia gave him a look. "You haven't forgotten about that little tidbit, have you?"
"Of course I haven't," Eren told her. "I know that at one point it'll lead to kids eventually, but- hold on. You- you're not, expecting, are you?"
Her face instantly went red. "What?! No!. Eren, you're the son of a doctor, you know there's medication to prevent it. I at least want to be married before anything like that happens and I'm sure every other girl does as well."
"Oh, good to know then." Eren let out a breath of relief. "For a moment I thought you asking me to come out here had been a way to break that kind of news."
"No, not today, but I'll keep that idea in mind for the future."
"By the way, one of the girls asked me this but, when did you want your wedding to be?" he kind of felt bad for not thinking of any of this stuff sooner.
"Oh, well, maybe the summer or fall in a year, year and a half maybe," Historia didn't sound too sure of it herself.
"Why so long a wait?" Eren knew that things like a wedding took time, but a year or longer seemed excessive. They were already close friends now and she was all for their union leading to a polyamorous one, so why the wait?
"Well, as much as I do love being with you and the other girls as well, I don't want to feel as though we rushed it. We're still young, and I still feel there's more than what we have now. Being intimate... that's one aspect, but time like this, a time for just relaxing and getting to talk, I don't want to feel like we skipped out over moments like this."
Eren propped himself up a bit higher on his elbows. "You know, I think you're probably right."
"I know, but please continue your thought."
"That time I spent with Sasha and her dad, visiting Petra and filling her in-,"
"Filling her in with information?" Historia asked with a smile.
"What else?" Eren asked, playing along. "Moments like that, actually being able to spend time with you all... I would like that too." He knew Marley posed a threat beyond the sea and would have tobe dealt with, but moments like this were a reminder of why it was so important to fight for.
"Glad to see we're on the same page then," Historia said as they watched the kids continue to run around. "And by waiting, it gives you additional time to find the 3 other lucky ladies and get to know them a bit better as well. Better they know you as an unmarried man before, it helps with first impressions."
"And your mind is right back to the gutter."
"You'll thank me later," was all she said.
"I could thank you now," Eren told her moving a bit closer to where she sat.
Her eyes widened a bit before she adopted a teasing smile. "Right here in the open with innocent children watching, now whose mind is in the gutter?"
"Still yours," Eren said stopping before his forehead touched hers. "I meant just taking some time to walk around, maybe the market in Mitras."
She thought it over. "We do both have our civilian outfits on and we have hoods. As long as no one looks at our faces, we should be good. You might even find something for Mikasa or Annie."
Eren nodded. "Speaking of which, after that, I should probably get back to headquarters."
"Ah, cutting the date short I see," Historia said teasingly.
"I can make it up to you."
"Oh?" Historia cocked her head.
Seeing the invitation, Eren closed the short distance between them, his lips meeting with hers as they savored the moment together.
"Ah, um..." hearing the voice, they separated and turned to see one of the girls standing behind them with a blush across her face. Both of their faces heated as well. "I uh... made you both another set of flower crowns." Needless to say, they both accepted.
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As expected of the capitals market, there was a lot of activity going around. The shops and vendors here charged nearly triple what Eren was used to seeing in Shighansina or even in Wall Rose. He and Historia had brought money with them, but that didn't make the prices any less expensive. He would be wrong to think they would get free stuff if Historia pulled her hood down. As much as Historia was beloved, no one gave things away for free.
"Just stick close to me," Historia called to him as they maneuvered their way through the crowd.
"I plan to. I'd be easy to lose someone like you here."
"Let me guess, my height?"
"No." Yes. "Because I wouldn't be able to see your hair with your hood up."
"You're very convincing. You can buy me a nice pastry to say sorry."
"Yeah, fair enough."
"Oh! Look!"Historia was pointing to a flower show and hanging in a pot were a few blue flowers.
Eren's mind went to static for a moment before regaining control. "Hey, didn't your sister mention those? The ones that can make..."
"That they are."
"And they just have them for sale? What if kids got them or something?"
"That flower is pretty common and I doubt any child would know how to brew it for an extensive duration. Let's buy it for Frieda."
"If it's so common, let's just go out and pick it, no need to spend your money."
"Your money," Historia reminded him. "My height joke, remember?"
"Oh yeah!" Eren playfully smacked his head. "I must have problems with my short-term memory."
"Ha ha."
The inside of the shop had just about every type of plant and flower that grew inside the walls, some of which didn't grow within Wall Sina which explained why the price was so high.
"Looking for something?" the shopkeeper, an older woman asked as she walked over to them.
"Hello," Historia greeted. "I just saw the blue flower outside and was looking to buy some of them from you if they were for sale."
"Oh yes, everything you see out there is for sale. Not many people are interested in those, they are a bit common. I have some lovely blue tulips in the back if you wanted to see them."
She was trying to get them to buy more expensive. "That is kind of you to offer, but I really adore the ones out front." Historia saved him the money.
"Well I suppose they do bring out your eyes," the shopkeeper said. They still had their hoods up, but Historia's eyes were visible.
"Oh they're not for me, they're for my sister. She moved out to Wall Rose and wanted something to decorate with."
"Ah, I see. It's been so long since I've been out to Wall Rose. All my children have grown and left my home and my husband and I thought about adopting. Did you know that an orphanage was just built out there?"
"Really?" Historia feigned ignorance.
"Courtesy of the Queen. Such a young one too and engaged as well."
"Oh yes, to the soldier who can turn into a titan," Historia continued to feign ignorance.
"Yes, Yeager is his name. He made a mess of Stohess District from what I heard." No need to remind me. "But he also sealed the hole in Trost and Maria so he clearly knows what he's doing." Well that helped.
"You sound like you support the idea," Historia noticed.
"Hm? Oh, far be it from me to judge. The Queen may be young, but my parents were her age when they married. Most of the people support the union. I can't say much about the nobles however."
"What about them?" Eren asked, remembering Levi's words from before about the impact this could have. "Most of them were carted off to prison after the false King was removed." A few were still around, but they had cast their lot in with the military.
"I just hear what the customers say and what they say are mainly rumors. But a lot of surviving nobles aren't happy about it. They have no choice but to support the military and probably feel that they or their sons should have been the one betrothed to our Queen. They'll probably still send their sons or letters over to try and sway her mind. Who knows, she just might."
"That would be a dark day," Historia said, not agreeing with that last part at all and didn't try to hide it. "Thank you for the latest gossip and the flowers as well."
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"Well my wallet is lighter now," Eren carried their purchase through the streets. "So I guess you should be on the lookout for soliciting nobles then."
"I'm still getting letters asking me to reconsider," Historia told him. "Those letters find their way into the fire."
"What about the others then?"
"The nobles themselves?" Historia asked.
"No, letters congratulating you," Eren clarified. "I mean that lady did say most common people were in support."
"Oh, I get those too. Some are clearly just out of courtesy and obligation but others are more heartfelt and sincere. Many of them congratulate you as well. I have them stored away if you wanted to read some of them sometime. Just as a heads up, some are quite envious of you."
"So how envious will they be when you make that past decree basic knowledge?"
"Oh, I can only imagine. But first, I would really like to visit that pastry shop."
"Now you sound like Sasha."
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And speaking of Sasha...
"Hey, Sasha, what are you doing?" Connie asked as he watched his friend stirring something in a pot.
"Cooking," she said with a piece of bread in her mouth.
"Yeah, I feel stupid for asking that," Connie palmed his forehead.
"What are you gorging yourself on now, Potato Girl?" Jean asked from where he was sitting at a nearby table.
"Hey! I'll have you know this is also for Eren, not just me."
"Since when did you share?" Jean asked.
"Since Eren and I-," Sasha caught herself before she could say more.
"Since you and Eren what?" Jean pressed, feeling a bit suspicious of the brunette's behavior.
"Since Eren and I... discovered a mutual love for cooking!" Sasha came up with.
"Cooking, really? I have to admit, that suicidal bastard has matured lately, but even he doesn't have a love for cooking for you to share with him."
"Oh yes he does!" Sasha defended. "He was telling me all about the dishes his mother used to make and I agreed to help recreate them so her memory might live on." As abrasive as Jean could be, Sasha knew he would speak out about someone's dead mother. She tasted what she was cooking. "Hm. Needs garlic." She scuried off to raid the pantry.
"Well, makes sense to me," Connie seemed satisfied with the answer, but Jean still looked suspicious.
"Yeah, it would to you." He pulled Connie to sit next to him and they could talk quietly. "You can't tell me something weird isn't going on here."
"Sasha just told us-,"
"Yeah, but what about Mikasa and how she's been acting?"
"You still on about Mikasa?"
"You know she's been acting off too," Jean said. "When we all heard Eren was getting married to Historia, did she set out to go and rampage?"
"No."
"Now Annie is back, eats in the same room as all of us and she and Mikasa haven't fought or argued once."
"Do you want them to?"
Jean shook his head. "What do the both of them have in common?"
"Uh, they're girls and we'll never understand them?" Connie guessed.
"No. It's Eren. He's closest with them and now Sasha is acting weird too."
"So you think they're doing something for Eren?"
"I don't know," Jean admitted. "But I do know that Sasha knows. You can get her to spill the beans, right?"
"I can, but she'd just eat them, but I'll see what I can do."
Sasha hummed to herself later that day as she made a mental checklist of every ingredient she would need to further her masterpiece of culinary art.
"Hey, Sasha!" Connie called to her as he ran over. "You got a second?"
"Sure Connie, what is it?"
"You're close with Mikasa, has she been acting weird or strange lately?" Connie asked.
"You sound like Jean, and no, not really. Why are you asking?"
"Oh, you know, just something I noticed."
"That Jean noticed?" Sasha added.
"Hm. Oh, yeah, him too. But don't you think it's weird her and Annie haven't fought once? Or that Mikasa hasen't tried anything?"
"Pfft!" Sasha almost laughed. "Well of course Mikasa almost tried something. I talked her out of it but she was close to going after Annie after she learned that-!" oh crap! I almost about to say when she learned her and Eren were intimate! "Uh, when she learned that Annie took some of her bread when she wasn't looking." Please buy that lame excuse!
"Wow. Annie must have had a death wish."
Yes! Go Sasha!
"But isn't it also weird that she hasn't freaked out over Eren, you know, being engaged to Historia and all?" Connie then asked.
Crap!
"Uh... who says she hasn't?" Sasha asked.
Connie's eyes widened. "Hold on, you mean to tell me, Mikasa is going to try and kill Historia?!"
What?
"Oh man! So this calm silence is actually murderous intent?" Connie asked in bewilderment. "She could strike at any minute. Captain Levi can handle her, can't he?"
"Connie, she isn't going to kill anyone!" Sasha grabbed him by the shoulders.
"But you just said-,"
"Yeah, I know what I said, even I don't know alright."
"So, you don't know anything about what's going on?" Connie seemed relieved.
"I only know what I know, but I do know Mikasa isn't about to go crazy or anything."
"Whew!" Connie wiped invisible sweat from his brow. "That's a relief."
"Yeah," Sasha laughed along. "Even if she were about to lose it, a few hours alone with Eren would have her feeling just right again."
Connie laughed. "Yeah, that would- uh, Sasha, why would you say it like that?"
Sasha's face fell instantly. "Uh..." Crap.
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"Glad to see you're back, Eren," Armin greeted him at the headquarters stable. "Captin Levi said as soon as you got back we would be cleaning here so I figured I'd meet you here."
"Thanks," Eren told his childhood friend as he grabbed a brush and started on some of the horseshoes. "You know, I kinda missed this."
"Cleaning stables?" Armin smiled. "Just when I think I understand you, you go and say something like that."
"No. Not that," Eren said with a small smile. "Us hanging out."
"Yeah, I haven't really got to talk to you lately. I don't even think I said congratulations yet."
"Oh, you don't have to do that," Eren told him. He knew Armin long enough for some things to be unspoken.
"Really?" Armin said. "Well I should still congratulate Historia at least. She seems to have it figured out."
"Figured what out?"
"How to quell whatever Mikasa was going to do. But I imagine she asked for your help too."
"Armin, what are you-wait, do you, do you know?" Eren nearly dropped the brush he was holding. He knew Armin was smart, but had he worked it all out so quick? "Did Annie say anything to you about it?" Annie also trusted his friend he knew.
"Oh, Annie's involved too," Armin smiled a bit. "That I didn't know. But, I only have a very vague idea. Someone, and I'm going to guess our new ruler has set up some sort of proposition for you and a few other girls as well." He raised an eyebrow. "Am I wrong?"
Eren sghed. "No. You're not wrong. How'd you figure it out?"
"I see the way Mikasa looks at you," Armin told him. "It used to be filled with longing. Now, it's like she's more whole and that's only when she looks at you. Something happened between you two and I think I know, but that really isn't any of my business. I don't Mikasa getting hurt in... whatever this is, but I trust you Eren and if you trust Historia and Annie for whatever purpose, I can only hope you'll tell me when you're ready."
"Armin, I'm glad you're looking out for Mikasa, and she did agree with all of this so you know." He saw Armin relax a little. "And, if I'm going to tell anyone about what's going on, I'll tell you, just, not here. A stable is not where I want to have this conversation."
His friend nodded. "Thank you Eren. Oh, by the way, Annie did tell me something to tell you."
"Yeah, what's that?"
"She said something about a coin toss and that she was next. Mean anything to you?"
"She's being her cryptic self again."
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Yeah, no lemon this chapter, bit of a break (and not because I still haven't decided on the2 other girls other than Pieck). But the poll was very neck and neck from last chapter with Annie only winning by 1. See you next time!