Chapter 2

The forest was crying.

So was Grisha.

His glasses fogged and his vision blurred, but he kept going, not even sparing a second to wipe it off. He balanced Eren on his back, the little body not stirring in his deep sleep, a heavy sort of reality that rested on Grisha's conscience. Steam was still coming out from his son's spine, but the warmth wasn't comforting in this cold and lonely night. It screamed, the beast within.

Yet, Grisha kept walking.

He didn't mean to kill his beloved son, he confessed to nothing. There was an old book in the Royal Library, cramped in the highest shelf where no one but him even bothered to look. But he was the trusted scholar of kings, and his thirst for knowledge was unquenchable. So Grisha looked, and remembered, and burned it to ashes. There was something about knowledge that was blinding. His fingers numbly brewed the serum, the last of its kind, and poured it into a syringe.

That evening, he allowed Eren to eat as many cookies as he wanted given to him by his grandparents and dragged him to the forest. To play, he said. To have fun, he lied.

It happened so quick, the clap of thunder, the roar, and then it was silent.

He didn't mean to turn his son into this monster, he confessed again, still to nothing. He didn't have a choice. Or maybe he did, but he didn't know it yet. Titans might be gone, the Walls served as a reminder for that, but the humans that carried them didn't. It continued, the cycle of humans gaining the power of the Titans. There were nine, reduced to fewer, then even less than that. The Attack Titan was a lost one, hadn't been awakened in someone in decades, and Grisha knew the future that awaited them if the government ever found out about it.

He was doing what was best for this world, to save its people, to eliminate the practice of living weapons. He confessed again, now slowly turning to reason. His Eren was kind, and he would use this power for good. Yes, that was it. Grisha was doing the right thing.

His son's heartbeat was strong against his back, but he didn't feel it, because even if he hadn't really killed him, he sealed his son's fate all the same.

The journey was not over. Home was a long way off.

The orphanage was modest, with white brick walls and a fenced garden. The Reiss family symbol stood proud on the stone name board next to the gate. Mikasa gripped her bags tighter, heart hammering with sparks of jitters. The scarf around her neck felt stifling.

"Oh! You must be the new girl!"

A tall brunette girl appeared from the barn's door, holding a basket full of… potatoes? Since when were potatoes in season in Shiganshina?

Mikasa gulped before approaching her. Levi had only dropped her off, gave a brief instruction, and rushed back to the station where he would be deployed next. It didn't matter, they had already said their goodbyes days before, and they weren't the ones to linger on sentimentality either.

"Yes. Do… Uhm, do you live here?"

"All my life. My name's Sasha! These are the potatoes I just got from Orvud, look how juicy and plum they look, I can't wait to steam them. Do you like potatoes?"

"… I like them in stews."

"Perfect! And your name is, Ms. Potato Stew?"

"Mikasa."

"Hi, Mika!"

Sasha beamed and dragged her to the guest area slash office part of the orphanage. A beautiful woman greeted them. Petra Ral, if she recalled Levi's words correctly. She was the representative who ran the orphanage and also taught the younger children basic education.

"Thank you for bringing the potatoes, Sasha," Ms. Ral chuckled. "And you must be Mikasa Ackerman? Welcome to our house! Your brother already filled in your paperwork, so you can settle in right away!"

"No way, you have a brother? Living, biological brother? And hold up, your last name is Ackerman? As in the Ackerman?" Sasha bombarded.

"…yeah."

"Sasha!" Mrs. Ral gently scolded the wide-eyed girl. "Sorry, Mikasa. We're just excited to have another girl in the house. Come, let me show you to your room."

Mikasa blinked and followed the two. Sasha still glanced at her oddly.

"My brother is in the army. That's why I'm here," she whispered, hoping it would satisfy Sasha's curiosity. "Are you familiar with the Ackermans? I… I don't go to the city often, is there a rumour about us or something?"

"Aside from creating the best soldiers in the military's history and being super gorgeous, which you absolutely are, then nothing. I guess it's an honour to meet one. I like you already!"

Mikasa smiled, eyes crinkling for the first time in months, "That wasn't entirely true, but… thank you."

Sasha ran to hug her. "People don't come here for the best reasons, and it isn't really a home, but I hope you can find another family with us."

Mikasa returned the gesture. "I hope so too."

"I spy with my little eye… something… round and shiny."

"Don't tell me it's the sun."

"Shut up, Hisu. What are you even doing here?" Sasha replied back, rolling back to the grass.

"Well, this is my family's orphanage," Historia shoved another chocolate bar into her friend's mouth and dusted her dress. She was wearing a blue one today, the colour reflecting the beautiful sky where a bunch of thirteen years old were lying, enjoying the summer breeze, and playing around. As much as the royal protocol allowed them, obviously, the queen's handmaidens had emphasized countless times after taking in the messy appearances of the queen's friends.

"You should thank her, Sasha, she brought us the tomatoes."

"Thank you, Mika, I know you're the most sensible one here."

Mikasa hummed in response and continued braiding her hair to the side, the length finally reaching her midsection after a year of growing them out. She wasn't even sure she was going to keep them or not, it was starting to get in the way of doing chores around the house. Maybe she'd ask Levi to cut it for her when he visited next month. Sasha was already out of the question with anything neat and tidy.

"So, something round and shiny."

"No idea."

Sasha pouted, "It's Connie! His bald hair! Look, he's walking to us."

Mikasa and Historia rolled their eyes. "Things, Sasha. Not a person."

Connie, the farmer boy from the Springer Ranch a few miles west from the orphanage, tipped his hat forward. "Ladies, Your Majesty."

The girls waved their hellos.

"Anything new?"

"Historia's going to visit Langose next month."

"Fuck, that's amazing. I thought you already rejected their prince."

"I did, but they're nice enough to host me. I'll try and bring back some of the silks they're so famous for. Speaking of suitors, I heard our lovely Mikasa just rejected another unfortunate city boy."

"Yeah, Jean," Connie snickered. "A good lad. Plans to enroll in the army like me next year."

"I couldn't believe it when she told me that, Hisu. Is this like, what, the third rejection from this month alone? Mika, we need to snag some boy before the autumn festival. That pretty face of yours needs to be in the company of a handsome boy. And Jean is great!"

"I'm not interested, Sasha. We're thirteen. We're not supposed to date anybody yet."

"Whatever. You're just planning to be an old spinster."

"I am not. And if you're so worried about not getting a partner for the festival, just ask Niccolo. I'm pretty sure he's dying to ask you."

Sasha blushed and smacked Mikasa's arm.

Historia took the short pause to lean over to Mikasa. "Say, Mika, I just heard from one of the ministers. Is it true about your brother and Commander Smith?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Some cadets, uhm how do I say this, they kind of heard your brother and the Commander—"

"Oh my god, Historia. She did not need to hear about her brother having—"

"Shut up!"

Mikasa sent a thankful glance to Connie, face heating up and fingers nervously twirling the grass blades.

"Okay, you get it. I know it's because of their bond, isn't it? The Ackerman bond?"

Mikasa nodded, not knowing what to answer to that question. She'd certainly give Levi a piece of her mind when he visited.

"What is this bond, anyway? There's so much secrecy going around it," Sasha said.

All three pairs of eyes fixated on her.

"It's… Uhm…" Mikasa stuttered, the words forming in her head but unable to escape her lips. Truth to be told, she didn't even understand the phenomenon completely, her parents always said to tell her when she was older, and Levi was too straightforward sometimes that he missed the whole point when explaining it to her.

"Is it like the concept of soulmates in romantic novels?"

"Not really…? It doesn't really have to be a romantic relationship between the Ackerman and their bonded partners. A strong connection between two platonic friends can do. It's all about the balance of trust and acceptance, to put it simply. But well, the majority does involve some romance in the bond, but it is not an absolute thing."

"That's very amazing, Mika. Is everyone in your family bonded already?"

"My parents were actually in an arranged marriage, but they managed to bond over the course of the years. My brother did so with Erwin a few years back. There isn't any age limit or expectation, so some of my cousins are and some aren't yet."

"And you?"

Mikasa shouldn't be too surprised when they asked her that, it was bound to happen anyway. "I have."

Historia's eyes gleamed. "Do we know him? You never mentioned anything about a particular boy, or a girl, before you came to this house. Where—"

"He's dead."

The silence stretched.

"He was my childhood friend. He passed away a few months before I came here," Mikasa repeated, her voice betraying none of her emotions.

Her friends in turn voiced out their apologies and condolences, embarrassed that they weren't sensitive enough, and brought out the painful topic for their beloved friend, but Mikasa brushed them off with a small smile.

They didn't continue playing after that.

A week passed after that awkward situation, and Sasha found herself in the presence of Mikasa's dead bonded friend because although he was considered dead in Mikasa's eyes, he was very much alive in others.

It started out as a normal day for both girls. Being two of the older kids, they woke up just after daybreak to prepare breakfast and draw baths for the younger ones. Petra was already in the living room, writing letters and dealing with some documents. Her ink-stained fingers waved them hello.

As usual, Sasha went to the kitchen and Mikasa to the small farm area behind the house to collect eggs and milk.

Mikasa rubbed her sleepy eyes and yawned, the night had been quite restless due to the storm and constant thundershowers, and occasionally she had to comfort the frightened younger girls sleeping in the adjacent room.

Her eyes must be still hazy because she could swear she just saw Armin next to the barn door. Armin, who was supposedly in a boarding school in another country and who hadn't reply to her letters since a year ago.

Yet there he was. Taller, but still scrawny and blonde and smiling widely at her.

"Mikasa!"

He tackled her, and if it was another day, she would've blocked him but today she let herself fell to the ground in a mess of limbs and giggles.

"A-Armin?! I thought you're locked somewhere in a boarding school!"

"God, there's so much I want to tell you."

"Then tell me now!" Mikasa poked his side.

Armin watched her with a tender gaze, but there was a hint of heartache on it. Like he wasn't supposed to be here, laughing with her.

"I can't, Mika. I… I'm just so happy to see you again."

"What happened, Armin? You never reply to my letters, and I can't contact you in any way since—"

Armin crushed her in a hug, his head buried into her shoulders, and he cried.

"This is happy tears, I swear. I just, I didn't know if I could see you again, but here am I and there's so much I need to say but I can't—"

"Deep breathes, Armin. Slowly," she patted his back.

Armin faced her and sighed. "I didn't go to a boarding school. I lied. When I arrived in Mitras—Mikasa, my grandfather was already dead. The system took me in, and I lived in this military encampment for a few months before I met… before I met Eren."

"What?"

"I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but you deserve to know. The monster inside Eren, I have it too. They gave it to me, trying to create living weapons, but Eren set us free."

Weak little Armin, nameless and penniless, was the perfect candidate for the Titan serum program. The Colossal Titan was a difficult power to acquire, and even more difficult to adapt to its host's body, but they still tried it on him. Another failed experiment, another body bag, or so they thought.

But Armin survived, miraculously. Nobody knew how this puny boy with watery eyes and quivering lips did it. It might be because of his intelligence, but they didn't think it mattered to the Colossal, or maybe because he just had a really strong will. They gave him an extra ration that night to thank him for his service.

The next to survive the secret military program was a quiet girl named Annie Leonhart. Armin didn't doubt her success at all, but he pitied her nonetheless. A life of violence awaited her. He tried befriending her, rejected and ignored many times at first, but after Armin stole a pie for her from the officer's canteen, he received the first of many smiles from Annie.

Annie came to them after being sold by her father, and so they bonded over their loss of family and hatred toward the government. Annie's roommate wasn't so lucky either, although she did commit a crime that landed her here. Pieck Finger, sarcastic but genuine. She was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and due to her good athletic abilities, the police handed her over to the program. She received the Cart Titan after Annie did.

The last member of their 'team' was a bulky boy whose laughter echoed throughout the whole base, Reiner Braun. Unlike all of them, he volunteered for the program. He came from a military background, with all the men in his family before him serving in the army to eradicate the Titan threat decades ago. He joined because he wanted glory, and also to find and murder his father that abandoned him and his mother.

They made quite a team, Armin thought. Their friendship wasn't as strong as the one with Eren and Mikasa, but he got to do with what he had. So, Armin planned. He swore he would get Annie and Pieck, and even Reiner if he wanted to, out from this inhumane situation. The solution came just a few weeks after his transformation in the form of Eren Yeager.

They weren't exposed to the news much, but even he knew something was wrong when Eren barged in with dark eyes and familiar marks under his eyes. He killed all the guards and scientists and approached them. Annie stood in front of Armin, ready to defend him from the monster that just gave birth to the chaos outside.

"Are you going to kill us to eliminate the threats against you?" Pieck asked.

"Why would I do that?" Eren looked at Armin. "You all are my equals."

Join me, he had said. Join me and fight because they didn't have any other choices but to. Pieck was the first one to step to the other side after asking him if she'd be allowed to visit her ailing father. Eren nodded and even gave her a large sum of money he stole from the palace to help. Reiner was next, impressed by Eren's power and ambition, and he figured out he could seek glory in protecting his homeland from threats. Not Titans this time, but humans. The difference wasn't important.

Armin, as Eren had expected, was last.

"Why?" that was the only word he asked his friend.

"To protect this island. To protect you and Mikasa."

Armin had understood after that. For Mikasa, that was always the biggest reason for Eren, nothing else matters, including his own morality.

Annie offered her hand to him, and they both walked to Eren, their new future.

Mikasa sensed Eren's presence before she even saw him.

"Is he here?" Mikasa whispered.

"I think he followed me here," Armin replied. "I'm sorry, Mika. I didn't tell him I found out your location, but I think he knew."

Sasha gaped at her when she stepped inside the house. She pointed at something in the kitchen and mouthed, we're going to die. Mikasa assured her with a simple nod and signed her the warning to prepare for emergency.

The other girl hastily went upstairs to pack the girls' bags, the instruction taught to them by Petra in cases of disasters or attacks.

Mikasa inhaled, and her life paused, because walking out from the kitchen laughing with two girls was Eren Yeager himself.

"Is the ocean really that big?" Tanya asked.

"Oh, yes. You have to see the way Armin screamed when we first saw it."

"Take us there, Eren!" The girls bounced on their toes.

Eren ruffled their hair. He was always so good with children. "You have to ask Ms. Petra first. And your big sister Mikasa."

Marie noticed her. "Oh! Mika, can we please go to the beach someday? Please, please, please!"

Mikasa didn't return his gaze. "I don't think we can, Marie, Tanya. Winter is nearing. Now, go fetch the others to eat breakfast, or Sasha will finish it all."

The girls squealed and ran outside.

Once upon a time, there were two young souls named Eren and Mikasa who made a promise to each other, in their favourite spot by the oak tree. The sky bore witness to their interlocking words, and they bask in the warmth of a forever made alive.

But endings were never as clean or climacteric as stories made them out to be. Before they knew it, the pages had run out. Before they knew it, that promise turned into a bind. A claimant to a bond that she must endure as her bloodline commanded.

You don't have to fight alone, you don't need to have all the answers, she'd said once to him, at the beginning of the end for them.

Let me in, Eren.

But pleas were for the weak, and wasn't Eren the one who told her to be strong?

Across the room, the answer was written. He didn't need to have all the answers, and neither did she. He left her. He hurt her.

Mikasa lifted her head and straightened her spine. She was a protector, and now she needed to protect herself. Then, she looked at him, at Eren Yeager, the monster, the boy who held the other end of her bond, the one she had loved even before knowing what love was.

She turned her back at him and walked away.

The dance continued.

Leaning closer to his warmth, Mikasa brushed her lips against his neck, hands sweeping off the strands that escaped his bun. Eren grabbed her hand and kissed the palm, a quiver ran through both. They had never done this before, the intimacy that went beyond physical proximity, but also through the stretch of their hearts.

He inhaled the faint scent of flowers and rain on her, so inherently Mikasa, with her innocent touches and quiet sighs. A tranquil soul, he used to call her that. Eren slid his hands down the hem of her—his—shirt, roaming the smooth plain of her thighs, past her hips, and over her breasts.

Mikasa gasped his name, feeling his callused fingers all over her skin, the barrier of fabric seemed non-existent.

"Can I…?"

She nodded, because after all, they were already far too gone in this pit of madness and passion.

Eren assaulted her neck again with a muffled grunt, mouth open as he left a wet trail downwards to her collarbone, where he bit and sucked. Mikasa winced at his rough treatment of her sensitive skin, a slight twinge settled deep on her stomach, but she still tilted her head to the side. While still adjusting to the rising pleasure, her eyes suddenly snapped open as Eren squeezed her left breast.

"Eren!"

"So perfect," he growled. "Mine."

He lifted the other one, flicking the throbbing nipple repeatedly, making it hardened against the shirt. Eren finally lost his patience, and yanked it up, tossing the shirt somewhere, his lips clamping down on one pink nipple.

"W-wait… I—"

She squirmed under him, but Eren didn't heed and continued to gnaw on the fleshy mounds. His body felt hot as if the entire room were burning. Mikasa was otherworldly, writhing with unexplored pleasure under him, her skin silky and warm to the touch. Without even thinking it through, Eren gave in to temptation as his fingers traced down to her panties. Her cries accompanied the rubbing of his fingers on the wet patch of the thin cloth, and his mouth jolted away from her breast.

"Eren, wait—Ah!"

The beast side of him howled inside, wanting to feel more, to dominate, "Spread your legs, Mika."

"W-what?"

Slow in her dazed state, Mikasa didn't realize what happened until her thighs were forcefully parted, feet planted on the bed. He laid completely on top of her, two puzzle pieces resting perfectly as if they belonged there with each other all along. Eren smacked a wet kiss on her forehead as he rolled his hips on her. Both moaned, and she shifted to ease her own aching arousal.

Eren hastily removed his own shirt and shoved his tongue into her welcoming mouth again. She outlined the chiselled muscles of his torso, sensing the erratic beating of his heartbeat and she smiled that she wasn't the only one feeling nervous about all of this.

"What's so funny…?" he mumbled.

"Nothing. Your heart's pounding."

"Well, sorry for being so impatient to take you."

Mikasa blushed.

He moved downwards after that, seemingly pleased with the marks he left on her neck and breasts, tongue licking down her navel briefly before cupping her heated sex with one hand. Mikasa jerked against his slow rubbing, trying to bury the whimpers escaping her lips.

Eren frowned. He'd told Mikasa before that the underground basement had thick walls, but she didn't seem to believe that.

He craved for her cute little sounds.

Not wasting any more time, he pulled down the flimsy material of her soaked panties, smirking at her shriek, and caressed the opening with one finger.

He was rewarded with a scream. Eren tested the wetness, and she was soaking and scorching, and in his mind, the beast pranced around urging him to fuck her already with his cock. Feeling she was ready enough, Eren slipped his middle finger, to the second knuckle, inside her pussy. Her tightness was overwhelming, and he groaned.

"S-stop, I can't—" she mewled, the walls of her untouched pussy shuddering around his finger. Liquid trickled down her thigh, the wet friction nearly her undoing.

He looked up at her. "You can, Mika. You're going to take my fingers, alright?"

She trashed her head to the side, biting her hand to reduce the sounds, but Eren wasn't having it anymore and thrust two fingers deep. Her eyes bulged, tears cascading down her cheek.

Beautiful, he thought.

Mikasa felt the curl of his fingers flicking that spot inside her. It scissored back and forth until the whole length was inside her. She felt so utterly full and blissed. More liquid sloshed from her as Eren fastened the pace, thumb circling around her clit, the shy nub fluttering gently.

"Ah, Eren!"

Her eyes shot open, back arching sinuously, when she felt Eren licked her slit in one long, torturous stroke. Her hips bucked against his mouth, panting into the pillow heavily. Unconsciously, Mikasa spread her legs wider, her pussy growing wetter with each hungry lap of his teeth and tongue. He gripped her thigh, Mikasa was sure it was going to form bruises, and locked her into place as he ate her out. Parting the soft folds with two fingers, he plunged his tongue inside. He suckled the clit, at the same time pushing another finger inside, and pumped it steadily.

Mikasa closed her eyes, pleasure spiking dangerously, and it felt so wrong yet so good and she wanted him to stop because he was a monster but he was Eren, and, and, and—

A strangled moan escaped her lips, and when he pinched her clit, she burst. The coils loosened, but it only left her wanting more. Darkened orbs watched silently as Eren licked the aftermath of her first ever orgasm and released her thighs.

She was weakened and pliant after that, Eren realized, hair creating a halo on the pillow and body flushed. He would die a thousand times if it were to see her like this, completely absorbed in pleasure, completely his to take.

"Good girl. So good for me," he said.

He took off the rest of his clothes, a sly smile blooming on his face when Mikasa's eyes zeroed to his cock. It was already pulsating, heavy with the need to invade her pussy.

Mikasa briefly glanced at it, then back to his face, eyes brimming with a tad of fear.

"It will be alright. Come here," he assured her.

He guided her hand to his thick shaft. He swallowed hard when Mikasa's small fingers curled around his cock, feeling her palming the throbbing veins. Cum already spilled a little from the head, but he needed more lube for her undoubtedly painful first time.

Eren inserted his fingers again inside her pussy, earning another whine, and gathered her fluids in his palm. He smeared it all over her outer folds and his own cock, hoping it would suffice to lessen the resistance.

"Eren…?"

He kissed her wetly, then propped one leg on his shoulder, the other circling his waist, the position widening her tight passage.

Mikasa whimpered at the feel of his engorged tip rubbing on her clit. She was still swollen from the last orgasm, and when he pushed slowly, the muscle resisted the penetration. She cried out, stalling him from moving, but he continued to push forward, demanding her flesh to yield to his.

Mikasa thought of herself as quiet, and the choked scream from her throat sounded unfamiliar to her ears. He was huge, a moment of alarm that she would tear, and the stretching didn't stop as her virgin walls tried to accommodate his girth. It was unbearable, a kind of pain she never felt before. The grinding inside was uncomfortable, but it was laced with jolts of tingling sensation.

"So tight," Eren grumbled between clenched teeth. He thrust deeper, basking in the burning wetness of Mikasa. He reached her end, but his mind was too blinded by satisfaction, and he drove even deeper until they were connected to the hilt, his cum splashing into her cervix.

Time seemed to flow in a different space as Mikasa adjusted to his penetration. Her mouth was agape, soft cries coming out, legs shaking on their holds.

He fucked her through her second orgasm, their combined cum dampening the sheets, but he couldn't stop. He wouldn't stop. He grew rougher, a hand behind her ass to lift her towards his thrusts. The sound of him hammering into her with squelching noises echoed in the cold night.

Mikasa clung to him, sobbing and gasping and so, so exhausted. "Eren," she shivered.

Eren fought against his own climax and flipped her to her knees.

"Wha—"

"I'm not done with you."

Her pussy contracted around his cock when he took her again from behind. He gritted his teeth, bangs dripping with sweat as he pounded her again and again, memorizing the amazing feeling of his love so close as humanely possible to him. Her cries and pleas spurred him to go faster, chasing that one big explosion. All semblance of control was gone, her juices dribbling heavily with every push.

Mikasa collapsed to the bed when the third orgasm hit her, and really, he should be proud of his stamina for holding on this long. Maybe this was another benefit of being a Shifter.

Her eyes met him when Eren leaned back to the headboard, bringing their chest together and twisting her so she straddled him. He could see the silent begging behind her grey orbs, but he was a selfish, selfish man.

It was his turn, and the savage need of claiming her once and for all was boiling deep in his guts. Eren hooked his legs around her, arms capturing hers behind her back to stabilize her body as he drove upwards hard and fast. He pounded into her abused pussy, feeling it until the mouth of her womb, clenching him with her last strength. Mikasa whispered his name brokenly to his ears, body limp for him to handle as he liked.

"You take my cock so well, Mika. Such a beautiful and good girl," he panted.

He continued for another few minutes, shoulders hunched, before his climax slammed into him unexpectedly. A harsh cry ripped from inside, the monster finally satisfied. He remained inside her for a long time, both catching their breath, and he filled her to overflowing. Splashes of his cum dripped down their thigh, and his hold finally slackened.

Mikasa fell sideways, trembling and eyes closed, and Eren took a good look at her. Disheveled hair, red and purple bruises adorning her lovely neck, nipples pulled tautly, and finally the mess between her legs.

His. All his.