Fic Title: Until the Sun Dies
Summary: Believing her father's concerns as a black family living in the secluded mountains of Wall Maria to be simple paranoia, a young girl sets on her own to discover the world and what it truly holds. Only to find after encountering another secluded family, the Ackermans, that maybe his concerns weren't so unfounded in the terrifying yet beautiful reality they live in. Befriending their daughter, a fellow survivor in what it means to be the last of their kind, Akunna finds her path leading to the horrors of the Fall of Maria and the 103rd Cadet Corps.
Pen Name: TheQuintessentialFicWriter
Cover Art by: pngdraws on Twitter

Chapter 19

"Is that for me?" Akunna eyed the tray in Christa's hands curiously. Of course it's for me, why else would she bring it here? The morning had been stressful to say the least. She'd woken up to the sound of gunshots and feeling of blood splattering against her face, panting slowing into deep breaths when she realized it was all a dream of yesterday's events. The nurse's arrival didn't leave any room for talking with a worried Mikasa who'd woken up at the stirring.

The nurse didn't even look surprised to see the two of them attempting to scramble into a position where it looked like Mikasa had just stopped by for an early visit. "Miss Ackerman, I'm only giving you a free pass because you were concerned about your comrade. However, please refrain from sneaking into the med building when you've been instructed to sleep in your dorms." Mikasa's bedhead was combed out immediately after, flusteredly. "Thanks!" The glare of Ymir, Christa's constant brunette companion, however, didn't escape Akunna's peripheral vision. Cute girls bringing me breakfast would be more appreciated without their angry girlfriend in the background though.

Christa nodded expectantly, "I wanted to say thank you for before when you..." The blonde trailed off wondering if she should bring up the specifics before finally deciding not to. "You didn't have to. So I just wanted to do something nice for you."

Ymir looked at Christa with narrowed eyes, "you never bring me breakfast in bed."

"We always get up to go get breakfast together in the first place." Christa sniped back.

Akunna waved a hand nonchalantly, "don't let that bother you, comrades help each other out when it's necessary." She glanced over at Mikasa who looked back with an unreadable look. "Of course, it all could've gone horribly wrong... but let's just be happy about the fact that we're all okay. Don't beat yourself up either, all of that could've happened to anyone on the first watch and we were all pretty tired." Maybe if I took first watch in the first place this could've been avoided. But Mr. Ackerman would probably tell her not to focus on what she didn't decide doing and to focus instead on the now. "Next time this joint training happens in your third year, everyone will be a lot more prepared."

"I'm definitely hoping so." Christa beamed with a relieve expression. She really is like a doll was a thought that crossed Akunna's thoughts more than once looking at her. If she's the most popular girl here, I honestly wouldn't be surprised. "I should let you eat in peace now." Christa said, passing the tray over and Akunna accepted with welcoming hands. "If I'd known you were here already I would've brought something for you too, Mikasa."

Mikasa shook her head in reassurance, "thank you for bringing something in general."

"Besides, we can always share if she's too lazy to make the painfully long journey to the commissary." Akunna snickered at her own comment. "Thanks again for the food, Christa."

"You're welcome." The blonde nodded a final time, leaving with Ymir at her side.

"She's really pretty." Akunna dipped her bread into her soup, vaguely hearing the two girls conversation as they grew more and more distant. "She reminds me of those dolls you had as a kid with the blonde yarn for hair. Glad she has the personality to go with the looks, there's way too many people in these Walls that are the exact opposite."

"If that's the sort of person you're interested in." The dark haired girl commented with a shrug.

Akunna raised an eyebrow at Mikasa's disgruntled expression, "I never said that." Mikasa shrugged in response, a pale hand reaching for the scarf that had slipped off in her sleep and patting down the fabric aimlessly. Akunna looked at her soup, her appetite already shot. "You should go eat breakfast."

"Not hungry."

Akunna sighed. It's time to get this out of the way then. Shuffling some, Akunna placed her bowl aside on the nightstand beside her and turned to face Mikasa properly. "Alright, let's talk to each other about yesterday. I wanna know what's on your mind." Akunna thought over her next words carefully though they weighed heavy on her. "Even the bad stuff. Especially the bad stuff."

A silence fell over them and for once, it wasn't comfortable. There were too many words unsaid after the events that transpired with the thieves. A part of Akunna suspected there were probably unsaid words between them from even before then, judging from the look of discomfort on Mikasa's face. Come to think of it, I don't think we've really ever had fights before. Not a real one, at least. There was a distinct difference between two little kids arguing about the classification of dandelions and the air that was between them now. Until the Fall, life had been simple after they went to live with the Jaegers and Arlerts. They agreed on most things and the things they didn't never warranted a spat. This is so awkward right now. Mikasa's face reflected what she was thinking.

"Just let me hear it." Akunna gestured her hands toward herself, bracing herself mentally for whatever would come out of Mikasa's mouth. "You've got a problem, I wanna hear what it is. Even if I don't like it."

After a moment of hesitation, Mikasa nodded, relenting. "You... you always make decisions for us, not with us." Mikasa paused, exploring her own words. "I don't like it. You'd give up your food even if we didn't want it, you put distance between us, and you lied to me. When I told you I was worried and wanted you to slow down and work together, you lied and said you would and then you signed up for the military and went away." Akunna glanced away, rubbing her thumb against her index and middle fingers. There were lingering resentments. Mikasa's fingers tightened their grip on the scarf. "You only go on what you think is best for everyone but you never talk to anyone about it first. I don't like any of it. I want you to see me as your equal but-"

"I do see you as my equal." Akunna argued.

Mikasa looked at her sharply, "you never treat me like one. None of that is treating me like one." Akunna couldn't argue with the assessment the more she thought about it, frown deepening. "I thought that if I came here and trained, you'd finally see me as someone you wanted to make decisions with. But even when I'm here and we're together again, it still feels like you're distant." Mikasa looked at her like she was searching Akunna's eyes for answers she'd never been given. "

Akunna didn't answer right away, biting her lip. "I didn't know that's how you felt." She muttered, clutching her knee. "I wanted to make a better life for all of us even if I had to do it myself. I felt like it had to be by myself because Gramps was leaving everything to me." She still remembered the day he left clearly, speaking of necessary sacrifices and how he'd die if it meant they could have more food to eat. "I wanted to be like him, doing everything for you guys even if it hurt me too. I really did think about what you said before but... my recruiter said the same thing. If I could get into the Military Police and get everyone to the interior, it would be worth it even if I had to leave for three years." Even if she was stuck in a path she didn't want and even if there was that risk she'd be susceptible to the human trafficking. "It was all supposed to be a necessary sacrifice. If I stopped and did something else, I'd be going against what Gramps wanted." Or what she believed he meant. Akunna shrugged but she wasn't entirely sure what she was shrugging for. "If I did what he wanted then everything would work out and we'd be happy. You'd be happy."

There was niggling feeling in her throat as she recalled. "Or... or not. If anything, everything I did just made you more and more unhappy and then I left."

"I was happy before." Mikasa confirmed quietly. "Not with the situation or where we were but, I was happy because you were there with me when it was happening. I didn't have to go through it alone. It was enough. When you told me you'd finally settle down and depend on me to help you, I thought it meant I was enough for you too."

"And then I left." Akunna grumbled.

Mikasa kept quiet, her silence enough of a reply.

"What do I do then, huh?" Akunna's words were more bitter than she wanted them to be. "What if I did leave this behind? I became a soldier so you wouldn't have to. I still became a soldier knowing that I couldn't stop Eren and Armin from becoming one either because they're setting their sights so high." Akunna sighed heavily, leaning back against the bed frame. "Say we left military school together, where would we go in the end? If we go back to Trost, we'd be back in storage units again." Finding work would be as arduous as it was the first time they were there. Dirty looks from people thinking she was a dirty refugee, refusal to hire just because she was a refugee. "The mountains again?" She asked sarcastically.

We talked about that when we were kids and about how that definitely wouldn't work out. She recalled several years ago on Mikasa's birthday where they discussed hypothetically running away together to the outskirts of Shinganshina and trying again. They never boarded the boat but Akunna was sure that even if they had, they would've been forced to turn back at some point.

Mikasa mulled the question over silently and Akunna drew randomly lines on the blanket. "We could," the dark-haired girl pulled Akunna's attention out of her activity, a pale hand landing atop her own. Mikasa's smile was small, her eyes warm. "it's different this time, we're not helpless. We could start over again. We were happy there."

Akunna's heart clenched, "yeah, we were." She whispered, thinking back to the few weeks they'd shared before their lives were nearly destroyed by three men. If Eren hadn't showed up when he did... Akunna squeezed Mikasa's hand and Mikasa squeezed back. "We'd have to seriously start over from scratch." Akunna entertained the thought. "They don't just have homes ready-made in the boonies. We'd have to build it ourselves."

"We're strong enough to do it."

"And we'd need some money to start, we'd have to work a little first to get supplies like an ax, temporary housing like tents."

"We can steal some axes and tents from the storage here." Mikasa answered matter-of-factly.

Akunna snorted, feeling her lips curl upwards despite herself. "Well then how would we make money afterwards then?"

"We..." Mikasa trailed off, letting her mind wander. "We take a rifle and some of the bullets from here too, you can hunt again and sell furs." Mikasa answered at last, Akunna couldn't stop the genuine laughter that erupted from her. Since when was Mikasa such an advocate for theft? "I'll start two gardens, one for us and one to sell in markets when we have to go into town. But while they're growing, I'll do seamstress work and sell things in town and do tailoring." Mikasa continued as if she'd been thinking about this very subject for a long time. "We could even take horses from here and ride them far away and when we get somewhere we like, we can sell them and have some money to start."

Akunna chuckled, imagining them sneaking into the stables and actually managing to sneak off with horses in the dead off not. "We ride west towards Springvale, there's mountains over there. No rifle though, I'll take a bow and some arrows. We can actually keep those after firing them and it wouldn't scare off the prey in the area as easily as gun shots." And throughout this daily life, they could focus on chopping the wood they need to build a sizable cottage for the both of them. It would be simple work, maybe even terrible work. Adept as they could be, neither of them were carpenters. "Maybe we could even have some hens so we have fresh eggs everyday. Are we gonna have to steal those too or are we gonna wait until we have enough money saved up to buy some?" Akunna wiggled her eyebrows and Mikasa chuckled lightly.

"We can buy the hens." Mikasa conceded and Akunna nudged her playfully. "That would be a lot better than the capital."

Akunna nodded, looking at their hands. A juxtaposition between light and dark, warm and cold. "Yeah it would be. That's the kind of life I want."

Mikasa's expression was far off from where the two of them sat in the medical building of the 104th training facility "I want it too."

"You really think we'll be ready in a year?"

"If it's us, I know we can."

Akunna humored herself enough to consider it. Her and Mikasa waiting until everyone was asleep and enacting the grand master plan to start a new life akin to one of the happier periods of their life. We go to the supply storage, we take a spare tent, a couple of axes, and leave a note for Armin and Eren to know what we're doing. The horses would likely have to be stolen if they went through with this sort of plan. We'd really be thieves at that point. Springvale would be the best place since it's so far away from here, they might not think we'd go here. Going to a district would be bad since those places are heavily monitored by soldiers. Slowly build something for ourselves, give or take two or three months. We could definitely do it if it's just us. Yet there was still that looming sense of doubt. "But we shouldn't. If we did that, we'd be on the run and we'd have to avoid basically every major district out there for stealing military property."

That isn't the sort of life either of them wanted, or deserved. "If we take off, we should do it the right way and just quit and head back to Trost." It wouldn't be perfect, there was no guarantee that either of them would get a job at the rate they would like, but there was a chance things could be different now. "It's been a while since we left, things could be different. Maybe it's better." Maybe it isn't. A part of her whispered. Akunna elected to ignore it. It was scary but there was a chance, that was something to consider. Mikasa looked just as thoughtful but Akunna could see the tinge of hope in her eyes. "What if we do that instead? We... suck it up with whatever we have to do in the reclaimed lands, get jobs, and let's get an apartment. This way we can see Armin and Eren whenever they're in town and we don't have to avoid every place."

The expression on Mikasa's face could only be described as elated. Pure, unadulterated elation. Akunna noted that somewhere along the line of their conversation, her upset had turned into something softer and warmer. Yes, they were making the right choice. How could it be wrong when she felt this warm and Mikasa's eyes were full of light. "It doesn't matter where as long as we're together, right?" Akunna recalled the words Mrs. Ackerman said long ago that Mikasa mentioned plenty of times herself. "Let's go home." Akunna reflected on her most recent words and chuffed sheepishly. "Or go make a home. I guess that makes more sense, huh?"

Mikasa nodded slowly, smile growing wider, "let's go home."

Home.

Wherever that was, Akunna thought as she twined their her left hand together with Mikasa's right.

Akunna sighed in relief, like the weight of the world had finally fallen off her back. Or maybe it was more like it felt like there was finally someone else there to pick up some of the weight. It's the second one. There were homes they had they'd never be able to go back to, but they could make a new one.

Author's Note

**Heads up: No new chapter next Saturday on the 31st**

Bingewatching Infinity Train was therapy and feels I wasn't expecting, definitely a new favorite of mine I'll be rewatching in the future. And Inazuma has been just as much fun as I expected it to be.

The direction of this chapter was one I really struggled with in the drafts with deciding between Akunna and Mikasa quitting the cadets or Akunna deciding that instead of the MPs she'd join the Scouts. I decided to go with the former due to the events of the previous chapter and Aku feeling especially lost about her goals and her own wants and deciding to call it quits. As to whether or not that is a decision that will be permanent... only time will tell. I wonder if the events of the chapter certainly surprised you guys.

Aku and Mikasa finally have a proper talk and make a decision together instead of Aku going off on her own with what she believes is the best solution. It only took 19 chapters for someone to complain but better late than never. But the biggest bomb of all is that this decision has them leaving the Cadet Corps and back to Trost to aim for a peaceful life, something the both of them have always wanted. Of course, life is gonna be sending them a lot more plot twists in this story so let's see how long the civilian life lasts for them. I do wish in the series that Mikasa voiced her concerns, worries, etc. with those around her more (particularly Eren), but she's so empathetic and compassionate she'll follow them for as long as possible.

Also major shoutout to Christa quipping with Ymir at times, like when she stopped Ymir from hounding Sasha about the way she decided to speak when around others not from her hometown. And shoutout for the amount of times I kept almost writing Historia smdh.

Song(s) I Bopped To For the Chapter: That Would Be Enough (Hamilton Soundtrack)

Responses

KrimsonWraith: Yeah honestly that was such a good point as far as Akunna potentially talking to Mikasa about it since Mikasa would tell her not to worry about it and frame it as he was an enemy. This is definitely something Aku will be struggling with for a while no matter how much she'll try to forget. Writing her internal conflicts is going to be interesting.

Titanlovrr: I'm glad the two of them finally got to have their talk too since I definitely didn't want to leave that unresolved but I didn't want Chadwick to be used to service another pairing. They had their talk and things ended on a bad note. As for graduating UwU that isn't exactly happening but light hint, Akunna and Mikasa's attempt to leave the military behind completely won't have the payoff they're looking for.