Disclaimer:I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan nor its characters.
Jean sighed as he stood up wanting to get a drink, "Fine, I'm sorry, wait here I want to get a drink." He spoke, however just as he was about to leave, he tripped over something, losing his balance as he tried to grab hold of whatever was around, to no avail. And then, he accidentally grabbed Mikasa's sleeve, pulling her down to the ground, having pinned her down. "Ah! I'm sorry—are you—"Before Jean could finish his sentence or before Mikasa could react, they both felt the atmosphere suddenly tensed.
A familiar tension—or rather, presence that Mikasa knew. She tilted her head to the side where she felt his aura. "Eren…?" She called out to the brunette, who wasn't all smiles when he saw the position Mikasa was in.
His protective side grew and grew, so did his anger as he stomped towards Jean in rage, "What the fuck do youthink you're doing horse-face?" He growled.
The brunette approached Jean before his hands reached out, before ruthlessly grabbing his collar tightly, then pinning him violently against the wall with aggression, as his infuriated eyes fixated on him—eying him as if he were his prey. "What the hell were you doing to her? Why the fuck would you take advantage of her?" Eren snapped. His tone seemed… oddly calm, but the fact that his grip tightened on his collar begged to differ. He was so close to suffocating Jean who was attempting to struggle free from his grasp.
"It was an accident you fucking idiot!" Jean cursed as he managed to free himself from his grip, and was about to throw a punch at him—but the brunette's reflexes was too fast, Jean had forgotten how much the brunette had improved in such combat within these years.
Eren managed to block his punch, and was about to swing one of his own with his clenched fist of fury, until Armin stopped him, for now. "Eren. You're getting too much attention, settle this outside as humanely and as calmly as pos—"
"What do you mean?! He was about to…" His eyes glanced towards the raven, who was helped up by Annie. Mikasa seemed fine, physically at least. She didn't seem hurt, and she didn't look… uncomfortable. Meaning, Jean most likely hadn't touched her in places where the raven wouldn't be too happy about. That managed to soothe Eren's rage a little, he then unclenched his fist while taking deep breaths.
"I'm fine, Eren." Mikasa finally spoke, wearing a small frown on her face. "But…" Eren spoke, but was cut off by the raven. "We need to talk. Privately." Mikasa murmured as she stood up.
The brunette took a quick glance of his surroundings, Armin was right, he had drawn too much attention to them, to Mikasa. He could hear whispers, whispers of which that at least involved Mikasa's blindness. He was so agitated, why did they have to talk about Mikasa's blindness? Sure, she was a powerful soldier who had the Ackerman blood running in her veins, worth as much as a thousand men in the battlefield—that title was, however, taken away from her cruelly, along with her vision. But when all that was taken away from her, was gossip honestly necessary?
Eren shot a glare at the crowd, as if he were to say, 'another word about her, and another war would be coming'. That was enough to cause the crowd to silence, before they dispersed one by one. After all, who would want to pick a fight, against a monster?
"Eren." Mikasa called out again, except her voice was firmer this time. And before she could've said anything else, the brunette gripped her hand tightly, before leading her to a secluded area to have a talk.
"I can't believe that you made me do that!" Jean groaned, shooting the blonde a little annoyed look.
"It had to be done, otherwise those two would live the remaining of their lives with regret. They need to have an actual conversation, and because of that, there was a need for a trigger." Armin sighed. "Thank you for cooperating, but pinning her was seriously unnecessary, all I asked was to say some flirtatious words to her, so that Eren would drag her out to talk or something."
"That was an accident!" Jean grumbled as he stretched his arms a little.
"You seriously have no leftover feelings for her?" Annie cut in, as her crystal eyes fixated firmly on Jean, who only let out a sigh. "I don't know, honestly… but." Jean spoke as he glanced out the window, being in deep thought. "I just want her to be happy, and if that shitty asshole can do that, then…it is fine." Jean shrugged.
The two other blondes only heaved a sigh, "Let's just hope that the conversation that they're about to have isn't going to be another one filled with lies and secrets." Armin groaned which jean nodded in agreement quickly, "Yeah because if that happens, I'm not going to be a punching bag again."
"Trust me, they are going to have more than just a conversation about each other's truth." Annie spoke, as the two males looked at her, confused. Yet, she remained silent as she drank the whiskey she had brought along, taking a casual sip out of the glass as her crystal orbs focused towards the direction where the two had flee.
'Those two, they're really lucky to have one another.'
"What do you want to talk about?" The brunette asked as he looked down to the ground.
They were outside, away from the noise which the party caused. It was chilly, but the two were too immersed into their own emotions to take any notice of such things. "You're still caught up in your emotions for me, aren't you?" Mikasa asked, her tone softening.
Eren remained silent. He was scared to answer, he didn't want to be shut off again, that feeling was too painful for him to handle anymore. "Eren?" Mikasa called out again, her tone softer than ever, her singular word evoking several memories from the brunette.
Thinking about it now, Eren's name was often called out by Mikasa—most of which was when the raven would be chasing after him, or they were in a dangerous situation. But there were times, when she'd call out his name in happiness, in a joyful relief. Those were the moments that really… made him a little happier, even if he didn't know.
Eren had to admit though, he was probably a little too harsh to Mikasa back then. Always telling her to back off and such, since she always 'irritated' him. When really, he was just sick and tired of her always, always protecting him when he wanted to protect her as well— and yet failed to do so. He wasn't irritated at her, but rather at his own failure— that he was unable to protect her. He regretted his actions so much, the anger he probably took out on her subconsciously— he regretted it so much. Though thankfully, he knew there were some trivial moments too, where he was able to display his concern for her, his care for her… in one way or another.
And now, when the world finally gave him a chance to protect her— it was done in the cruellest way possible.
"How can I not?" Eren chuckled a little, as he looked up, and deeply into the raven's obsidian orbs. They were a little foggy and dull due to her blindness, but… he saw a little life in there. And he was thankful, that at least… she had a little fight in her, to live. "Mikasa, no matter what you say, I'll never get rid of these feelings that I have for you. You can't make me."
"But why…?" The raven asked quietly. The brunette paid a little more attention to her tone rather than words, she sounded pained, sorrowful… and so much more. But he decided to remain quiet, he wanted to hear all her words, before acting.
"I don't understand… why love someone like me, a blind person? You can love someone else…" Mikasa mumbled, on the verge of crying. "I can't be there for you when you need help anymore… I wasn't even able to stop the fight that you were about to have with jean. Because I couldn't even see what was happening… all I see is darkness. I can't… anymore." Mikasa sniffed, as tears started flowing out. But the brunette did nothing, he knew she had more to say—and he was right.
"And… you have less than 3 years left, you know how painful separation is. And being in love… won't it worsen the feeling?" She sniffed, as even more tears fell. "Won't you be more pained…? And it's already bad enough that… I won't be able to, you know, see you at your last moments." She spoke, as her body started to tremble.
"How do you feel, Mikasa?" Eren asked gently, as he took a step forward towards the raven.
"I feel scared. So scared. I'm scared to fall deeper in love with you than I already am. Each day, the fact that you'll be gone so soon haunts me, it terrifies me." Mikasa cried softly, as the brunette embraced her tightly. "And?" the brunette pressed. "And… I'm scared that I'll end up being your burden. I don't want to be anyone's burden." She cried even more as she gripped his shirt from behind tightly, so tightly.
"But?" he continued.
"But despite this fears, I'm still so in love with you. I hate it… I hate it… Make it stop!" She screeched as she sobbed even more. "I hate the fact that I enjoy your warmth, I hate the fact that everything had to be this way. Why can't everything just be normal for once? Why can't the world let us be happy? I hate it… I want to love you… I want to be able to be there for you like how a normal human would…" She spoke, taking deep heavy breaths to calm herself down— yet to no avail.
"Mikasa. You're already here for me. You've done so much for me, even if you don't notice… and 'normal human'? Like I'm any 'normal human'." Eren spoke, chuckling a little in hope to lighten the mood. He pulled Mikasa away for a little, as his hand rested on her cheek, ever so lovingly. "Close your eyes." He instructed softly.
Mikasa was a little confused by his sudden instructions, and asked, "I can't see, what's the differ—"
"Just do it." Eren spoke calmly, as the raven did as he said, seeming puzzled.
"Now, take a deep breath and… dump your worries aside for now. Feel the gentle breeze, the air, listen to the calming sounds of the wind." Eren spoke softly. Once he noticed Mikasa's expression turning into a calm one, he continued, "What do you really… want, Mikasa?"
Mikasa continued inhaling and exhaling the fresh air, as she proceeded to go into deep thought of the brunette's words. Surprisingly, closing her already blinded eyes had an effect, it felt as if she were shutting off from this cruel world. Feeling the chilly breeze blow past her felt… 'Free', if that were to make sense.
This peace… she missed this peace.
She longed for it.
"I want happiness…" She spoke finally, although hesitantly. After all, was it rally alright? For her to want such… impossible things at this point.
"Okay… now take another deep breath.' The brunette instructed, the raven doing so. "What do you… envision? What do you see?" He asked softly.
"I… see… both of us… living together…having our own family together… growing old together… laughing together… smiling together…I see happiness." She mumbled, as tears started to fall from her eyes, without her knowing. They were full of sorrow, because she knew… that sight would never happen in reality. And at the thought of that, her body started shivering, as she collapsed to her knees— thankfully, Eren managed to have caught her slightly, lessening the impact on her knees.
"What do you want?" He asked again, as he kneeled along with her.
"I want…" She took a deep breath, to collect her thoughts once more. "I want to be with you… I want to… treasure you before you…b-before you—"
Before she could've completed her sentence, Eren embraced her once more. "You don't have to say it." He reassured, his own emerald orbs starting to soak a little, as the raven rested her chin on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry." She apologised. "For lying before… that I don't love you. I was just so scared... I-I…"
"It's fine…" He reassured once more, as he held her closely.
"What now? What… are we now?" She asked after a moment of silence, her tone sounding so fragile—like her heart.
"What do you want us to be…?" He asked as the raven pulled away from him slightly. "I want to be your lover." Mikasa said firmly. "I want to spend time with you… before you have to go."
"That goes the same for me." He smiled warmly, and then noticed Mikasa leaning into him— and he showed no hesitance to do the same. And just like that, their lips locked with one another, Eren's arms wrapping around her waist closely, the raven doing the same, as their lips continued to press against one another, ever so passionately, lovingly and fiercely. Both of them never knew sharing a kiss like this would… cause their hearts to palpitate so fast, would just… …
'Her lips are softer than I thought…'
'His lips are so… gentle.'
'I love her.'
'I love him.'
…I wish this could last a little longer…maybe forever.
"Arlert."
The blonde turned to see Levi, and before he could say a thing, Levi continued, "Have you seen that brat?"
"Eren? He's outside but—" Before he could continue, Levi was already rushing off to the exit— until the blonde got a firm grip of Levi's arm, which definitely caught the retired captain off guard.
"Wait, what's going on?" He asked—or rather, demanded for an answer, never seeing his captain in such a rush before.
Levi took a deep breath, "I suppose you deserve to know. The higher-ups, they plan to send Eren and a select few on a… risky mission at the underground district."
"M-Mission? Risky? The war's over! And he only has less than 3 years left, cut him some slack!" Armin frowned, quite shocked Levi would've agreed to such a thing. Though, once Levi's eyes narrowed in such an… odd manner, full of reluctance, it was then did the blonde knew that this was out of his control.
"Someone wants to start the whole titan fiasco again, and they want Eren and a select few to check it out. I do not have the power or authority to argue with them. And if I dare defy them, Eren would have to face much worse." Levi spoke before he snatched his arm back, clicking his tongue in agitation as he turned and started walking off.
"One last thing. Does Mikasa have to go..?"
Levi halted in his steps, biting his lip in frustration. Not because of the blonde, but rather because of the fact that he wasn't able to prevent this vexatious situation from happening.
"…she doesn't have a choice." He spoke, with clenched fists as he continued walking, refusing to even glance back as he spoke such grim words.
Author's Notes: Hope this was okay. Please Leave a Review!