Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki No Kyojin, nor the image. They belong to Isayama Hajime.
Author's Note: Hello! We're now on Day 3! Yay! I think this is my best entry so far, so I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This is a sequel to "The Red String of Fate, Part 2" and it takes place five years after "A New Beginning". You don't necessarily have to read "A New Beginning" to get the gist of this story, but I recommend you read "The Red String of Fate" parts 1 and 2, since they are heavily related.
Now, I want to thank everyone who has been reading this series here and on Tumblr, and my most sincere thanks to xoskyla for reviewing every single chapter! Thank you so much! Your reviews made my day!
Okay guys, that's all for now! See you tomorrow!
Title: The Red String of Fate, Part 3
Prompt: Soul mate
Summary: Eren retells his daughter a story Mikasa once told him.
"Daddy, tell me a story!" Five-year-old Carla Jaeger whined at her father.
Eren Jaeger sighed. "No, Carla, it's too late. Go to sleep now." He said with the best authoritative tone he could muster, but his daughter pouted in a way that reminded Eren too much of himself, and shook her little fists. "No, daddy, I want to hear a story!"
When Carla was in this kind of mood, there was no person on earth that could make her change her mind, not even Uncle Levi. Resigned, the father scratched his head and asked, "What kind of story do you wanna hear?"
Carla smiled brightly, in a way too similar to her mother, and said, "One that I haven't heard before!"
Eren thought for a moment, trying to recall Carla's usual bedtime stories. "What about when daddy killed all the titans?" He grinned at his daughter.
Carla just rolled her eyes. "That's the one you tell me always. And by the way, mommy forbade you to tell it again." She said, crossing her tiny arms.
"Fine, what about Snow White?"
"Heard it already."
"Cinderella?"
"That's boring."
"Oh, I know! What about the story of the ocean!" Eren exclaimed, recalling that Carla used to like that book.
"That's from Uncle Armin's book. Besides, I've already heard it tons of times. And daddy, we've already been to the ocean. I want something new!" She said, exasperated.
"Fine, let me think about it…"
Eren thought for a few moments, his brain going back and forth between all the stories that he knew, until he remembered a certain one his wife had told him when they were still teenagers. "Do you wanna hear the story of The Red String of Fate?"
Carla's face lit up immediately and screamed "Yes!" with glee.
Eren smiled too. "Okay, here it goes…" But then he remembered how the story originally went, and decided to change it. That was a shitty story, I can do way better.
"Once upon a time there lived a boy who was very sad." The young father said, adopting a soft tone of voice.
"Why was he sad?" Carla asked curiously, instantly getting herself immersed in the story.
"Because, despite having a loving mother and father, he didn't have many friends, no one in his village wanted to play with him."
Carla gasped. "But why didn't anyone want to play with him? Was he ugly?" She asked.
Eren laughed and shook his head. "No, it was because he had a bad temper. He often got into many fights because of it."
"Oh, poor boy! He must have felt very bad." Carla said, hugging her pillow to herself.
"It wasn't so bad, since he at least had a friend called Ar… Armand! Yeah, that's right, Armand!" Eren said, hoping his daughter hadn't caught on his slip of tongue.
"Armand and the boy called…"
"Jean!" Carla said.
"What?" Eren asked, disgusted with the name choice.
"Jean, like Uncle Jean. That's his name, right?" Carla innocently asked.
"No way, our hero had a much better name than Jean. Jean's a lame name, kid, don't let your Uncle Horse Face fool you into thinking is great." Eren exclaimed in such a funny way that Carla giggled.
"Okay, whatever you say, daddy."
"Anyway, the boy called Erin…"
"Really dad? Erin, like you?" Carla raised her dark eyebrows, not at all impressed.
"No, it's Erin not Eren, they're clearly different. Anyway, since it's my story the boy's called Erin, and that's that. As I was saying before being rudely interrupted," Carla stuck her tongue out, "Armand and Erin liked to meet the people who visited their village, because, just like you, they liked listening to stories about the world. One day, they came upon an old man reading a big, thick book. The kids asked the old man what book he was reading, and the old man told them: 'This is the book of marriage records. I only need to use one of the red strings in my bag to tie a man's pinky to a woman's. Once they are tied together, they are sure to become husband and wife.'
"The boys were amazed with this information and asked the old man if they too would find their future wives. In response, the old man said 'Yes, you are already united to them, and one day you will find them.'
"Armand was happy with the response, but not Erin. He didn't believe he would one day just find his future wife or that if he did, it would be because of the old man's red string. The old man, realizing the boy was skeptic, grabbed his pinky and said, 'Then, you will be able to see your own red string and the girl on the other end. Use this information wisely.' With that, the old man left, leaving the boys to contemplate his words."
"Wow, did Erin find his wife?" Carla asked, amazed at the story.
Feeling quite contented he had managed to entertain his daughter, Eren tried to keep the suspense going. "Oh, I don't know, perhaps."
"Daddy!"
"Fine, fine. So Erin tried to look for his future wife around the village, but his string was so long that he couldn't fine the end to it. He then thought that it might be because his wife didn't live in the village. This frustrated the boy to no end, but thinking that either his wife would eventually move to the village or he would leave, he waited for it to happen.
"One day, a year later, Erin's father decided to take him on a business trip to a neighboring village to visit a client. He wanted Erin to try and make new friends in the village. When they arrived to the client's house, the man told them that his daughter Miranda had been kidnapped by some thieves for her beauty. Feeling a hunch, Erin started running, following his long red string, ignoring his father's calls.
"Eventually he came across a wood cabin in the middle of the forest, and he could see that the string continued going inside of the cabin. Carefully, he opened the door and found that no one was there save for a bulge on the floor. Approaching it, Erin did not only find out it was the girl that had been kidnapped, but that also the end of Erin's red string was tied to the girl's pinky.
"He helped her up and asked her, 'Are you Miranda?' She nodded. 'I'm Erin, I'm here to help you.' He said, and together they left the forest. The kidnappers, fortunately, had been already apprehended, so they didn't have any difficulty returning to the village. Years later, as the old man had said, Erin and Miranda got married, but Erin liked to think it was because of the bond that tied them rather than the red string. The End."
Carla was in awe. Not even in a million years did she think her father could tell her such a beautiful story. "So daddy, were Erin and Miranda soul mates?" She asked.
"Yeah, you could say that. But, though they were destined to meet each other, I think they chose to be soul mates. And choosing someone, Carla, is what makes them your soul mate." Eren said, patting his little girl's head.
"Like you and mommy!" Carla exclaimed.
"Yeah, like me and mommy…" Eren whispered, suddenly overcome with emotions, because, after all those years of suffering, Mikasa and he finally got to be together, and even managed to have a beautiful daughter. There was no doubt that Mikasa was, in fact, his soul mate.
He leaned in and kissed Carla's chubby cheek. "I love you, Carla."
"Love you too, daddy!" She said, kissing the tip of Eren's nose.
"Sweet dreams, baby!"
"Night, daddy!"
Eren blew out the candle and walked towards the door. He lingered there for a moment, looking at his daughter, and then left. When he arrived to his bedroom, he found that his wife was already in bed, just waiting for him.
"What took you so long?" Mikasa asked her husband.
"I was just telling Carla a story." He simply said.
"Which one?"
"Ours."
