"Don't even think about taking another step!" Eren cried out as he brought his sword to the throat of the unconscious body of Bertholdt.
There was a man riding atop the cart titan. On his command, the monster stopped just a few metres away from Eren.
"If it means keeping him out of your hands" the young shifter exclaimed "I'll kill him!"
It was only now that Eren noticed the man was emitting steam. He must've been a shifter, presumably, the beast.
"Are you Eren Yeager…?" The old warrior asked with eyes wide open.
"You…" the boy suddenly pieced all the things together "you must be Zeke…"
"That's right" his half-brother responded "Dina must've told you everything…"
Upon that, Eren's face twisted in anger, and he brought his blade even closer to Bertholdt's neck.
"No need for any sudden moves" Zeke said slowly "I just want to say something…"
The meeting with his brother was to be expected, however the young shifter never wondered if talking was a possibility. He was actually anxious to hear what the blonde warrior had to say.
"I know what you're going through" the man exclaimed "we were both victims of Grisha and Dina..."
"They've brainwashed you…"
'You were wrong' Eren thought as he rushed over to his son 'I was always like this.'
The young father was spending family time with little Armin Reiss. Currently, they were at Historia's farm, and they were all occupying a small cottage, just a few paces away from the orphanage.
"Your dad's here" Eren exclaimed as he propped his boy up and put him into a hug.
Young Armin had fallen over and now was crying. Ever since he learned to stand and walk on two feet, he would just try running everywhere. That seemed to prove quite difficult for a toddler who wasn't even one year old.
"E-reh…" the boy exclaimed while Eren brushed the tears off his face.
"It's dad" the young father corrected with a smile as he held little Armin up "you're definitely spending too much time with aunt Mikasa…"
As he carried his son over to the cottage, he could see that Historia was waiting for them at the door.
"Come on guys!" She happily exclaimed waving at them "I made some tea!"
When they were finally inside, Eren watched as Historia was feeding their baby. It was really amazing how fast little Armin was growing. It was only a few months ago that he started eating solid foods and now he had the greatest appetite out of the family of three.
These past months were very intense. The scouts managed to produce most of the serum they needed, and they were already looking for an opportunity to test it. More importantly, thanks to the radio technology and help of the volunteers, the forces of Paradis managed to take over a few Marleyan recon ships while taking all of the enemy soldiers into custody.
The port was nearly finished, and they were expecting the Hizuru delegation any day. Of course, Eren already had a rough idea of what would come to be, but still wasn't sure if everything would happen the same way he saw it. And so, like everybody else, he was looking forward to the meeting with foreign diplomats.
In the span of nearly a year, the volunteers managed to achieve quite a lot. New technology has been spread on the island, helping both the army and the common population. Especially, the new repetitive firearms were being mass produced and the research division already added the weapon into the standard kit. Eren wasn't the greatest fan of the new guns, but nevertheless, still visited the shooting range with Mikasa quite often.
After dinner, little Armin got all sleepy. Upon that, the young father took the kid into his arms and carried him over to the bed. After tucking him in, Historia sang their baby a soft lullaby. As the quiet tune ran around the room, Eren watched over the beautiful scene. This was his family, the very reason he was going to do the worst thing imaginable.
"He's asleep" the young mother stated as she looked at Eren.
The two sat on a small couch inside the living room. Having a kid was a tiring lifestyle, but every happy smile, each laugh the child would give them were more precious than any treasure known to men.
"So" Historia started "did you tell them already?"
"Not yet" he responded "not until those two are gone from the island…"
The blonde sighed at that. Their plans were extremely convoluted, since Eren could only see glimpses of the future. Though, no matter how difficult any of those appeared to be, Historia would always trust and support her beloved.
"If you say so" she exclaimed "you should include Marlowe, too."
The young shifter turned to look at his queen.
"Why him in particular?" He asked.
"He's a lot like you" the royal blonde explained "you need someone like him. Someone who will be your voice among the people…"
That seemed like a great idea. In fact, Eren didn't know why he never thought of that earlier.
"Thank you" he said as he unexpectedly kissed her on the cheek "I'll do it."
The queen blushed at the sudden show of affection. She raised her hand to the place that's been kissed.
"You know" she started after a moment of hesitation "it's been some time since we've done something together…"
"Like what?" The young man asked obliviously.
"Like" she slowly said as she mounted his lap and put her hands on his shoulders "just the two of us…"
"Oh…"
Eren always enjoyed his alone time with Historia, though the two didn't manage to have it nearly as often as he wished they would. Her responsibilities as queen, his duties as a soldier and them raising a child proved to be quite time consuming. Nevertheless, whenever the two would get the proper occasion, they enjoyed it to its fullest.
As the steamy atmosphere subsided, Eren laid down on the bed. To his right, his beloved was resting, still breathing quite heavily from the activity the two were losing themselves in, not that long ago.
Suddenly, a cry erupted from little Armin's room.
The couple looked themselves in the eyes for about a second.
"I'll take care of it" Eren exclaimed as he raised himself up.
It was neither the most convenient, nor luxurious kind of life. Even though, the small family was happy, and the young shifter swore he would never swap this for anything else in the world.
Or at least, that was what he would tell himself for now…
