Pairing: Eren/Mikasa
Setting: Post series in a happy world
Words: 2983
Rating: K
Notes: This is what happens when my OTP hasn't been together in almost a year. I am forced to write sappy crap like this which also holds the record for the longest of the month. Whatever. It's so cute I wanna die. I just want a reunion dammit. Also, this won't be the last holiday fic for them! I have my Secret Santa on Christmas Day and a New Year's one too :3
Day 21 – I'll Be Home for Christmas
I'll Be Home For Christmas
Mikasa really should've expected it on Christmas morning of all things, but when the small hands started grabbing at her blanket, she still thought it was just a bit too early.
"Mama!" Another few tugs on the blanket. "Mama, wake u-up! It's Christmas!" This time Carla decided to just jump up on the bed, throwing her body on to Mikasa. "Ma-ma! C'mon!"
"Okay, okay," Mikasa said yawned, rolling over as Carla started to pull at the sleeve of Mikasa's shirt. "Good morning to you too."
The four year old reached up to press a kiss against Mikasa's cheek. "Merry Christmas!"
"Merry Christmas to you too, sweetheart." She pushed herself up in her bed, her daughter latching onto her into a hug. Mikasa leaned over to kiss the top of her head before tapping her on the back. "Okay, let's go. Your Uncle should be here soon too."
Carla jumped out of the bed, rushing to the bedroom door. She was nearly jumping with excitement, a wide grin on her face and Mikasa only saw how much she looked like Eren. It was the eyes, the smile, the face, the hair; she was the splitting image of her father. The thought alone made Mikasa's heart ache, but she still put on a smile.
She pulled back her blanket before Carla came back over to start begging her again. Mikasa's feet hit the wooden floor of the small Military complex apartment as she followed Carla into the living room where the small but decorated tree stood up against the wall. The tree looked the same as yesterday but the presents that were under tree, those were put there by Mikasa and Armin after Carla had gone to bed.
The effect worked well judging by the way Carla was staring at the gifts with wide eyes. "Mama, look!" she said, tugging on Mikasa's sleep pants.
"Yeah, I see it," Mikasa said with a smile, patting Carla on the back. "You want to open them or you want to wait for Uncle Armin?"
She shook her head. "No, no, the presents!"
"I know I see them, Carla. It's Christmas, remember?"
Carla tugged on Mikasa again, this time looking up with her bright eyes and wide grin. "The presents! Daddy, must've brought them! He said he would! He has to be back!"
Mikasa felt her heart drop into her stomach as she looked at her daughter's more than elated face. It was hard enough before the holidays; Eren was gone for months now with no word back on how the mission was and that really was bad enough. Knowing that she had to break her little girl's heart on Christmas? There wasn't much that hurt more.
"Carla," she said, kneeling down in front of the girl. "Daddy's not home yet. I know he said-"
"Mama, no," Carla laughed. "The presents! Daddy had to have brought them with him."
Mikasa took a hold of Carla's small hands. "Me and your Uncle put them out last night to surprise you." As if it was hard enough to say, watching the excitement fade from Carla's eyes was even worse. "Daddy's not home yet."
"No!" Carla cried, trying to pull away as her own tears starting to fill her eyes. "That's not true! He said….he said he would…" It was too late though, the tears already started to roll down her cheeks, sobs falling from her mouth and the presents long forgotten.
Mikasa pulled Carla into a hug, her head falling onto Mikasa's shoulder as the cries wouldn't stop. She tried to tell Eren not to promise that he'd be home in time just in case he got held up, but sometimes it was impossible to tell him anything and he went and said it anyway. She couldn't bear to be mad at him though, not when she'd give anything just to see him. She also couldn't bear to see Carla so upset on a day where she should be happy; none of it seemed fair. Yet, they were very aware of the consequences of having a family while they were still in the military from day one. Mikasa just didn't know it could ever hurt so much.
"I mi-miss Daddy," Carla cried between coughs and sobs.
"I know," Mikasa rubbed Carla's back trying to calm her down. "I do too."
"I take it the presents weren't a hit?"
Mikasa hadn't even heard Armin come in over Carla's crying. "It's not exactly that," Mikasa said, adjusting to hold onto Carla and lift her up in her arms so Mikasa could face Armin. Carla buried her face into Mikasa's neck, the cries lightly muffled now.
Armin looked more confused than anything, probably wondering why the room wasn't a mess of wrapping paper and boxes by now.
"She thought Eren was back because of the presents," Mikasa explained, rubbing Carla's back and trying to comfort her as best she could.
With a sigh, Armin took a seat on a nearby armchair. "He was supposed to be back by now. I made the strategy so he would be back by now."
Mikasa's heart clenched. "Do you think…?"
"No." Armin's voice was so firm it surprised her. "You know he'd do anything to come back here. He might have gotten lost, but he's coming home."
Mikasa nodded and took a seat on the couch next to Armin. Carla seemed to stop sobbing at least, but the sniffling noises told Mikasa she was still crying.
"It's not dangerous anymore, Mikasa," Armin said in a softer tone. "We don't have to live in fear that a delay means what your mind wants to think it means."
She nodded trying to focus on that thought, like she had been for the past month. The titans were gone; Eren made sure of it. He went out on a mapping mission, not to fight, not to risk his life, just to explore. It was the reason she agreed to stay in the military; Eren and Armin wanted to explore this world that was now open to them and Mikasa wouldn't have wanted to go on without them. At least here they were given housing and income without having to start all over, something that came in handy when Mikasa found out she was pregnant.
Eren had wanted to take this one alone because it was a long one and he didn't want to leave Carla alone for so long, but it just seemed like he was leaving them all alone.
"Hey, Carla," Armin said. "Don't you want to open any of your presents?"
She shook her head as she looked over to Armin, head still resting against Mikasa.
"No? Not curious at all what's in there?"
"No," she said, her voice a little raspy. "Don't wanna." At least she stopped crying.
"No? Ah, well, guess I'm just gonna have to give them to Levi then. I'm sure he'll enjoy the presents."
Carla's head shot up. "No!"
Armin started to laugh, and Mikasa knew what he was doing, something she was grateful for. "Well, that settles that. How about we go across the base and get some breakfast? Does that sound good?"
Carla nodded, reaching up to rub her eyes.
"Alright, let's get dressed then." Mikasa kissed Carla's forehead before putting her feet on the ground and watching her run off to her room. Mikasa looked back over to Armin who was sitting back in the chair again. "Thank you."
He waved her off with a smile. "Don't worry about it. I understand, I miss him too."
Mikasa pushed herself up to her feet and headed in her own room to get changed. She technically had the day off but she still put on the old uniform she had been wearing since she was twelve years old and grabbed one of the long jackets off the back of her door before she went into the living room. Carla was already dressed and wearing her own jacket, a smaller one that was made just for her, with Armin helping her blow her nose and dry her eyes.
Mikasa leaned over to wrap the red scarf that she had worn so often around Carla's neck to keep her warm out in the cold winter weather as Armin tugged his jacket on over his uniform. Mikasa took a hold of Carla's hand before stepping out into the hallway of the building, Armin locking the door behind them.
"Do you think they'll have lots of food?" Carla asked, trying to take big steps to keep up.
"I have no doubt," Armin said, pulling on his gloves that he must've had in his pocket. "Lots and lots of food."
Carla cheered, swinging her hand with Mikasa's back and forth. Carla seemed to be okay now that she had something to look forward to, but Mikasa knew the day might have a few more meltdowns; she wasn't sure if one of them would be hers. It would be the first Christmas since she was nine years old that Eren wasn't there.
She felt a hand on her shoulder as Armin walked beside her.
By the time they made it outside, the sun was high above their heads but it didn't stop the cold chill. Mikasa had to pull her jacket a little tighter around her to keep out the bitter air. "You okay down there?" she asked, but Carla was just fine, stomping her boots against the patches of snow.
A few others were out either making their way down to the dining hall or heading back; those who noticed Mikasa and Armin gave them salutes of respect before continuing on their way. Really all Mikasa wanted to do was get inside again; sure, it was a pretty short walk but not when the wind started to blow.
"Mama, look," Carla said, pointing over to the gate. "There's people."
Mikasa glanced over to the main gate and sure enough it was opening up, people and wagons coming in. "Maybe it's some supplies," she said, having to pull Carla a little bit to get her walking again. "Or families coming to visit their loved ones on the base."
Carla looked up at her. "What if it's Daddy?"
Mikasa wasn't sure she could take the look of disappointment in her daughter's eyes again. "Carla," she started, trying to explain that sometimes things don't always work out the way you want them to but Carla seemed to have other ideas.
She pulled her hand away from Mikasa's and started to dart across the courtyard, her small boots leaving footprints in the snow.
"Carla! Come back here right now," Mikasa called after her but her four year old was apparently not in a listening mood.
Armin cupped his hands around his mouth and tried to call her name too but Carla wasn't having it so Mikasa took off after her. Carla would learn quite easily having two parents and aunts and uncles in the military wasn't all that wonderful; even four year old speed wasn't too fast for Mikasa.
"If you think you're gonna have sweets for breakfast than you can think again, little girl," she said, grabbing a hold of Carla's waist and pulling her back. The group was getting closer and all they needed was for Carla to spook the horses and cause more havoc.
"No!" she whined, trying to squirm away. "No, Mama its Daddy!"
Mikasa was getting exasperated now. "Carla, for that last time your father isn't here. Let's just go eat."
Carla whined loudly again and Mikasa was about to just pick her up and carry her back to where Armin was waiting but something made Mikasa stop. She looked up to see how close the group entering the compound had gotten and that's when she got distracted. Mikasa knew that walk, she knew that stride; she couldn't bring herself to look up further though. She was imagining it, she knew she was.
Before she knew it, Carla wiggled out of her hands and had started taking off towards the group again. "Daddy!" she cried and Mikasa wanted to tell her to just stop it already, to stop building hope up in the both of them but someone else caught her before Mikasa could.
Eren had fallen to his knees, catching Carla before she could get any farther and she jumped into his arms. His arms and thick jacket encased her, his face pressed up against hers as he hugged her. His hair was longer but that was about the only difference; he was still Eren, just like the last time Mikasa saw him. He wasn't hurt, he wasn't sick, he was here. He was actually here.
Carla started to laugh as he pressed a series of quick kisses against her face, her cheek, her hair, anywhere he could reach.
Mikasa didn't even know she was crying until she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. Those eyes she loved so much looked up at her and she had to cover a hand over her mouth to hide her own cries.
Eren stood up, shifting Carla in his arms to be able to keep her close but Mikasa could only remember the first time he wore that uniform; he was twelve and the same height as her, and just as skinny as Armin was. He was twenty three now, and taller than her, and he had to get a new uniform to fit over his chest, his broader shoulders, his arms but he was still the same Eren. She missed him so much.
"Hey," he said when he stopped in front of her, that familiar smile on his face; Carla was resting her head against him, a fist grabbing a hold of his jacket like she was never gonna let go.
"Hi," Mikasa answered though it was a little choked.
Eren reached a hand out to brush some tears off her cheek and that was enough. She threw herself at him, much like Carla had, wrapping her arms around him and shamelessly burying her face into his shoulder. He was warm, that warmth which only Eren brought and suddenly the cold didn't seem so bad, suddenly nothing was so bad anymore.
She felt his arm wrap around her waist, pulling her into him, his lips pressing a kiss against her temple. Carla was chattering on about something, probably something Christmas related and Eren was making the appropriate responses but when Mikasa looked up at him, he was looking back down at her. She wasn't sure which one of them moved first but all she knew was she was kissing him and everything just seemed right again; Eren was home and just in time.
Carla made some half exited, half whiney noise probably because the attention was off of her and Mikasa felt Eren smile against her lips before breaking away.
"Did you already open your presents?" Eren asked, adjusting Carla against him.
She shook her head.
"No?" Eren looked down to Mikasa looking for more of an explanation.
"It was a little bit of a rough morning. We were missing someone very much," Mikasa said, reaching out to brush some of Carla's fallen bangs out of her face. "But its better now, isn't it?"
Carla nodded her head. "I told you Daddy would be back."
"You did." Mikasa looked up to see Eren's bright eyes watching her. "I'm glad you were." She was sure no matter how old they were those eyes would always make her melt.
"Where were you guys headed so early?" Eren asked, poking Carla a few times in the side until she was laughing.
"Breakfast with…" Mikasa quickly turned her head to where Armin had been waiting but he had also made his way over, standing off to the side with his arms across his chest and a grin on his lips.
"Hey, buddy," Eren called, holding his arm out to him. "Come join the party, I missed you too."
"I'm glad you made it back before the day was over," Armin said, putting his own arm around Eren to give him a hug. "Did everything go okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, everything was fine. It went a little unexpected but we can meet about it later and I'll give you a report."
Armin waved him off. "It can wait till tomorrow, no worries. I'm just glad you're home."
Eren pressed another kiss against Carla's cheek causing her to laugh in glee. "Me too. Thanks for looking out for my girls, Armin." He put his arm around Mikasa again as she rested her head against his shoulder.
"Any time. They're my family too I know you'd do the same for me."
Eren arched an eyebrow at him. "Are you trying to tell me something? I wasn't gone that long."
Armin shoved him with his shoulder making Eren laugh, and it was music to Mikasa's ears. She missed him so much; she missed this.
"Do you guys still want to go eat or do you want to open presents first?" Eren asked.
"Presents!" Carla cheered.
"Presents it is." Eren bounced Carla in his arms as he started to walk across the courtyard.
Mikasa took his hand as they walked, Armin following along the other side.
"Do you need to get anything settled with your squad before you go?" Mikasa asked, not really wanting him to go but knowing he still had duties to do.
He shook his head. "I have someone taking care of it. I told them the moment we got back I already had things to do." He gave her hand a squeeze.
"I knew you'd make it home, Daddy," Carla said, resting her head against his shoulder again.
"Of course I would. I promised didn't I?"
"Yeah," Carla giggled.
Mikasa should've known better too, she thought with a smile. After all, when had Eren ever broken a promise?