Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki No Kyojin, nor the image. They belong to Isayama Hajime.
Author's Note: I'm so so sorry for taking so long with the last three prompts! But I was very busy with college, and parties! Thankfully, now I have a little bit of free time, so hopefully I'll be updating the last two prompts this week.
Thank you guys so much for reading, reviewing, following and putting this fic in your favorites! You rock!
See ya later!
Title: Starry Night
Prompt: Childhood
Summary: Eren shows Mikasa the stars for the first time.
It was no mystery that young Eren Jaeger was obsessed with all things related to nature and the world outside the walls. He was enamored with the idea of leaving the walls and seeing for himself the lands of sand, the ocean, and all those amazing things described in Armin's book. The truth was he couldn't wait to grow up and go outside, but he was still only nine years old, he still had to wait for a while. However, even if he couldn't yet see all those places his heart longed for, there was something else he could observe: the stars.
The stars were also featured in Armin's book. His best friend's book mentioned stars, constellations, planets, meteors, and other celestial bodies that were in a place called the space. The truth was Eren didn't fully comprehend the long explanations the book gave of whatever the hell the space was, and what stars were made of, but he did like to watch them at night. He learned by heart the position of all the constellations with their names, and liked to keep track of them. He knew that there were stars only visible in certain times of the year, so he continuously searched for them. In the time he had learned about stars, he had just gone but two weeks without watching them. And it was because of a certain event that had happened.
Tonight, though, was the night in which he would get back to stargazing, and this time he had another partner besides Armin.
"You're gonna love it, I promise!" Eren exclaimed as he pulled Mikasa towards the front of the house.
Mikasa Ackerman had started trying to adjust to her new environment after being taken in by the Jaegers. The last two weeks had been hard on her, but the Jaegers were nice people, and Eren seldom left her alone. Though she noticed he was an impatient boy, he had waited for her to mourn for a while before taking her out on adventures. Mikasa was ever grateful for all the things the boy had done for her, from saving her that night to doing little things for her during the subsequent days. Her heart swelled when she thought about him and his attempts to make her happy. In turn, she tried to humor him, and hear his stories. So, she let him pull her out of the house without his parents' knowledge, and sat next to him, though the night was cold.
"What are we doing here, Eren?" She asked with her soft voice after some time had passed.
"We're watching the stars, of course!" By the way he had spoken it, Mikasa had the feeling that this was an activity he did often before she arrived.
"Why?"
"What do you mean by 'why', Mikasa? Isn't it obvious? Stars are magnificent!"
And they were indeed. Sparkling up there in the sky like dew drops in the light of day or like silver. She let her eyes lingered on each one, and couldn't help but wonder if she had ever truly seen them. Eren soon broke the silence by telling her all the things he knew about the stars. Even though Mikasa didn't understand most things he said, she listened to him nonetheless, smiling at appropriate moments. She loved the way Eren's face would light up whenever he explained her something, and in turn, watching him happy made her happy as well.
At some point, Eren turned quiet and the two children took the time to keep admiring the scenery. They remained silent for a few minutes, taking in the vast glory of the stars above them, when Mikasa started speaking.
"My parents…" she whispered, fidgeting with her fingers, "we used to watch the stars together, and my mother used to tell me stories about them…"
Eren listened patiently, for Mikasa very rarely mentioned her parents, and when she did she tried hard not to cry in front of him.
"What were they about?" He prompted her.
"There was one about a rabbit in the moon…" Mikasa said, and Eren turned to look at the moon.
"A rabbit?"
"Yes, mother said that if you look carefully you can see the form of a rabbit in the moon…"
Mikasa trailed, motioning towards the moon. Eren squinted and grinned with mirth when he saw the figure. "I see it! It's over there, Mikasa! I didn't know that!" He said excitedly, causing Mikasa to give him a small smile. "Do you know more stories?"
"Well, there is one…"
"About?"
"Ammm… two lovers…" Mikasa whispered while using her scarf to hide her red cheeks.
"Oh. Go on."
"The king of the sky had a beautiful daughter who wove clothes by the bank of the sky river. Though she was happy that her father loved her clothes, she feared she would never meet someone and fall in love if she never stopped working. To make her happy, her father arranged her a meeting with a cow herder who lived on the other side of the river bank. They met and they instantly fell in love. They were soon married."
"What a cute story!"
"It doesn't end there."
"No?"
"No, you see, once they were married, the princess stopped weaving his father clothes, and the herder let his cows stray all over heaven. In anger, the sky king separated the two lovers across the river bank and forgave them to meet."
"That sucks! The king was such an asshole!"
"He wasn't such a bad guy, though. When the princess pleaded him to be able to see her lover again, he told her she could meet him once a year if she finished all her weaving. So, on the seventh day of the seventh month of every year the princess and the herder reunite."
"I liked the story."
"Really?"
"Yeah, very much."
"Hey Mikasa, let's watch the stars every night."
"Yeah, let's do it."
Authors Note cont'd: The story of "The Rabbit in the Moon" can be found in Eastern Asian stories as well as in Mesoamerican mythology. The other story is Tanabata, and of course neither belongs to me.
