A/N- Hello everyone and sorry for the wait. Now I know I said I would work on the side stories and I did in fact start writing it but as luck would have it, the internet was a bit on the fritz that night and the app wouldn't upload the chapter, meaning I have to re-write it…again…

…

Yah, I'm starting to think this story is cursed or something.

Anyway, until I can rewrite it, I'm going to replace it with a previously cut scene that was already written out but I had forgotten even existed. I would like to say through, that the side stories will always be second to the main one and if I can't balance them out then I will drop it in favor of this one.

Anyway, the first of the side stories should be up now and here's chapter twenty two. Happy reading everyone.

Wings of Freedom

Chapter 22

Pain and darkness.

Those infuriatingly familiar sensations were all Mikasa's mind could register for a moment before the darkness mercifully overtook the pain.

But then as the darkness receded, another pain become apparent to her. Not the same burning and agonizing pain that made her pass out but more of an ache in her mind like her skull was stuffed passed it's capacity to hold her brain.

Mikasa groaned as he squeezed her eyes shut against the pain what happened? she thought but that only seamed to make her headache worse as it felt like something was trying to force it's way into her head in response. Mikasa was still groggy and confused but on an instinctive levels that had been drilled into her by Roy and fostered by the girl's natural aptitude for combat, she recognized this ache as feeing similar to the mental attacks Roy had used on her during training and she managed to beat it back to a more manageable dull ache.

Mikasa sighed in relief as she finally was able to get her senses about her and opened her eyes to find she was laying on her bed and covered by her blankets "ugh…what happened?" she muttered as she reached up to grab her aching head.

Mikasa quickly noticed a weight on her chest and stomach though and upon feeling a sharp pain there through her sheets, propped herself up with a scowl, ready to tear whatever was stabbing into her to shreds.

Mikasa froze up immediately though as she saw two baby Dragons on her, starring each other down with arched backs and growling at each other.

Mikasa's jaw promptly dislocated it's self as she stared wide eyed at the two. Then she felt her odd migraine return and suddenly she remembered everything. She remembered looking back at the two hatchlings and stretching her hands out to them before pain exploded up both her arms and burned it's way into her spine.

Mikasa blinked herself back to reality and pulled her jaw back into place before looking down and slowly turning her palms over to see two silver marks.

Mikasa just sat there and stared for a moment as she processed everything I…I'm really… she trailed off with a blank stare before a chocked sound escaped her throat, prompting the two hatchlings to stop growling at each other and look at Mikasa.

Mikasa then broke out into an uncharacteristic but overjoyed laughter as her lips curled into a smile. The laughter quickly died down but her smile didn't so much as flicker as she looked to the two baby Dragons.

Her Dragons.

Said Dragons then gave happy roars as they pounced at Mikasa's head and clung to her and her laughing resumed full force and continued as the two Dragons suddenly growled at each other again and began fighting for space closest to Mikasa.

Mikasa suddenly realized that this was the cause of her migraine, as the two fought for dominance within her mind and she winced a little "ok take it ease, you're giving me a headache" she said, reaching up and separating them from each other and the two Dragons actually seamed to almost pout in response as they retreated from her mind enough that her head stopped hurting and Mikasa gave a relived sigh before smiling again and looking at the Dragons with amazement.

She was still having trouble believing it. Just when she had given up hope of an egg hatching for her, she got two figures she thought sarcastically as she started stroking the black hatchlings back and chuckled when the gray one pouted in response and Mikasa scratching him under his chin, which quickly made him feel better and his eyes rolled up a little as he leaned into the scratching with a purr.

Mikasa chuckled at the two as they relished in the affection "glad to see you're awake" a voice called and Mikasa looked up to see Scarlett poking her head though the curtain of vines that separated her, still bare, room from the rest of the tree.

Mikasa then heard rapid footsteps quickly getting louder before Eren with his hair blown back as if he'd been running into the wind for hours, burst in "Mikasa!" he said with a wide smile "ow!" the smile quickly turned into a wince of pain though as Scarlett waked him over the head with her tail "didn't your mother tech you not to barge into a females cave unannounced?" the Dragon scolded him with a hint of amusement.

Laughter erupting from behind Eren, along with the thumping of an adult Dragon's footsteps, announced the others' arrival as Thalia poked her head in as well, fallowed by Roy and Armin, with his green hatchling on his head "hay, glad to see you're up" Armin said with a smile as Mikasa sat up and her Dragons moved to her lap "how are you feeling?" Roy asked and Mikasa rubbed her head "aside from a slight headache from these two fighting over me, I'm feeling pretty good" she answered but then paused for a moment as she fell deep in though "actually, I feel different…like someone took gloves off my hands for the first time in years" she amended with a confused look.

Roy rubbed his chin and hummed in thought "well that's…interesting…" he trailed off, not really sure what to make of that, he would have to inquire about it further, but that could wait for now.

Eren then came up next to Mikasa "well I'm just glad you're up and feeling better. You kinda had us a little worried there for a while" he said and Mikasa looked at him with concern "why's that?…and how did your hair get like that?" she asked with curiosity towards the end as she took in Eren's windblown appearance and noticed that Eren was shivering and swaying ever so slightly.

Eren began rubbing his neck a little sheepishly "well, you've been out for a lot longer then we were and we were starting to worry so Scarlett took me out to fly some more and get our minds off it and…we kinda got a bit carried away…" Eren paused to shiver a little "turns out it also get's really cold up there and the air gets pretty thin, so I'm still a bit dizzy" he finished with a sheepish grin.

Mikasa chuckled a little in response as she looked Eren over but her attitude cooled a little "wait, how long WAS I out for?" She asked and Roy gave a heavy sigh "half a day" he answered and Mikasa looked at him with surprise "what?…but Eren and Armin weren't out for that long" she said but then looked back down to her Dragons "is it because I bonded with two of them" she asked as the hatchling looked up at her with those huge eyes of their's.

Roy and Thalia both grimaced a little at that "most likely…" he trailed off a little as he considered bringing up the issue with them, but in light of all the stress they had been under up to this point, he decided to hold off for the time being.

Thalia gave Roy a disapproving glance in response "I know and I'll bring it up latter today, but first let's at least give Mikasa some time to adjust" Roy silently replied and Thalia gave reluctant huff of agreement.

Armin noticed the expressions of the older Rider and Dragon but brushed it aside for the time being as he approached Mikasa's bed and his own hatchling hopped down to sniff and examine the new and slightly smaller hatchlings. The black one of which seamed interested in Armin's Dragon but ultimately was the more aloof of the two new hatchlings and gave a yawn before laying dawn to nap. The gray one on the other hand, growled protectively in front of Mikasa and it arched it's back while lifting it's heavy wings.

Everyone chuckled at the baby Dragons as Mikasa began scratching under the gray hatchling's chin, causing it to abruptly stop growling in favor of purring as it's eyes lulled back and the hatchling leaned into it before it's legs gave out and the hatchling rolled onto it's side so Mikasa could scratch it's belly.

This elicited more chuckling and cooing from everyone "so what are they anyway?" Armin asked and Mikasa looked up at him with confusion for a moment before she realized he was talking about their genders and she looked back at the Dragons as she focused on their link, which prompted them both to look at her. It was a little disorienting at first, trying to distinguish between the two of them but it became surprisingly easy once she got over the initial vertigo "well, I think they're both male" she answered.

Roy chuckled a little as he approached the bed himself and took a knee to be level with the Dragons "I still can't get over the fact that you bonded with two of them, though that might explain why they waited so long to hatch" he started, earning their attention "how so" Eren asked and Thalia gave a thoughtful hum "even when in our eggs, we Dragons are somewhat aware of what transpires around us, so they were most likely waiting to see which would hatch first but the both of them were too stubborn and they ended up waiting till the very last minuet when nether could wait any longer" she explained and Roy nodded at their surprised stares "aye, that's one theory. One that's backed up by the other thing I can't believe about it being these two in particular" he said.

The kids all stared at Roy expectantly "what about them?" Scarlett asked and Roy smirked "these two Dragons are siblings if I remember correctly" he answered and the kids blinked with surprise before looking down at the hatchlings "wow, talk about things lining up. It almost feels like fate" Armin commented but Roy only chuckled some more "oh it gets better. From what we can see, I'd say the black one is a Swiftwing while the gray one is a Steelwing" Roy explained to which Eren arched an eyebrow "what's so special about them being a Swiftwing and a Steelwing?" He asked and Roy stood up and crossed his arms "they're complete opposites is what" he said before gesturing to the two hatchlings "Swiftwings are the fastest of all Dragons while Steelwings are the slowest, but unlike all other Dragons, they can make use of their own wings as additional weapons, since they're so heavy and armored" Roy explained.

Armin hummed as he looked the Dragons over "so speed and strength" he summarized as he watched his own Dragon try sniffing at the gray hatchling, only from him to bat at the green Dragon's snout and Armin's Dragon crouched down and got ready to pounce in response and the next thing they knew, the two hatchlings were fighting playfully with each other and everyone laughed at them before their tumble inevitably spilled over to the black hatchling who was still trying to nap and he pounced at them in retaliation, which only resulted in him getting sucked into the little spar.

The three Dragon's nearly fell off the bed but Armin managed to catch his while Mikasa grabbed both of her's, who still wanted to keep batting at each other and she had to hold them apart, laughing the whole way as their happiness leaked over to her.

Armin laughed at them along with everyone else but he then grew a thoughtful expression as he looked down at his own Dragon "hay Roy, have you managed to figure out what type of Dragon he is yet? I know he didn't have any noticeable features aside from his horns before…" Armin asked and Roy hummed as he looked the Dragon over "aye, we initially thought that might be his trait but they haven't grown extremely since then, although his scales seam to be getting rougher and more dull…" Roy trailed of in thought as he observed Armin's Dragon, who's scales had indeed hardened substantially and the already duller shade of his scales had become darker, essentially becoming the opposite of Scarlett, becoming more earthy then metallic "it's very possible that he may be a Stonescales" Roy theorized.

Thalia gave an amused hum at what was becoming a common look of curiosity and inquisitiveness among the children "Stonescales are essentially the same as Brightscales but in reverse. Their scales are much stronger then usual and they tend to be less vain then other Dragons" Thalia explained before they could asked.

Roy scoffed lightly and playfully at Thalia's words though "yah, as un-vain as a Dragon can be that is" he muttered and received a light growl and a face full of smoke from Thalia's nostrils for his trouble.

The kids all laughed in response to the two. Mikasa then kicked her legs off the side of the bed and stretched as she got ready to get up. Mikasa was nearly knocked off the bead though, as her Dragons races to be the first to hop up on her shoulders. Eren managed to catcher Mikasa before she fell and she took a moment to get her bearings before looking to the two hatchlings. The black one on her left shoulder and the grey one on her right. Both of them were growling lightly at each other as they pressed up close to Mikasa's head.

Mikasa just sat there for a second as her eyes darted between the two with a somewhat stunned expression. Her shock soon turned to exasperation though as she realized this was probably going to be happening a lot.

Meanwhile, Armin was doing his best not to snicker at the sight now you know how Eren feels when you try to get his attention he thought as his own Dragon climbed back up on his head and they made their way out of Mikasa's room.

A/N - I ended up cutting the chapter in half again on account of the long wait. I'm sorry again for the really screwed up schedule and I'll try to do better.