Pairing: Eren/Mikasa

Setting: Chapter 67; I'm just so happy they are together again somewhere different okay

Words: 2010

Rating: K

March 31st - Family

The town they were trying to protect from Rod Reiss' impending trampling or worse was rather small. It was something Eren noticed as they walked through the streets, following Erwin to a place where they'd rest for a few hours before they needed to protect the wall. Eren was so exhausted he was pretty sure he could just fall asleep on any part of the street but he kept putting one foot in front of the other trying to make it to a bed before he passed out.

He probably should've been looking where he was walking though, because a bump into his legs nearly knocked him over. Eren caught his footing and glanced down, feeling Armin and Mikasa stop behind him as well.

"Oww," a small child who was on his back laying ground whined. "That hurt."

It didn't take Eren too long to connect what hit his legs to the little boy in front of him. "Hey, I'm sorry about that." Eren reached down to hold his hand out to the boy to help him back to his feet.

The kid just blinked up at Eren, like he was confused about what was going on.

Eren was suddenly very aware he had no idea how to talk to little kids, and this one looked no older than five years old. Did he need to help him up? Say something else? Did the kid even hear him?

The boy jumped up to his feet without Eren's help but he kept his wide eyes on Eren. "You're in the military aren't you?"

Eren dropped his hand but he stayed hunched over closer to the boy's level. "Ah yeah, I am…we are."

"Wow," the boy spoke. "That's so cool." Even in the just the moonlight, Eren could see the boy's messy dark hair, wide green eyes and toothy grin; he had to be a resident of the town they were trying to protect.

"Yeah, it is pretty cool," Eren answered, an unfamiliar type of smile pulling at his lips. He felt a warm presence crouch down next to him on the road, Mikasa's black hair blowing lightly in the night breeze.

"What're you doing out so late?" she asked, her expressions lighter than Eren had seen it in a long while.

The boy got a look on his face that Eren instantly understood, mainly because he had given it to countless people when he was a kid. "You snuck out to go find something and were rushing back so your mom didn't come check on you and find you missing, huh?"

The kid looked truly amazed now. "How'd you know!"

"I used to do it all the time too." Eren had never really paid too much attention to kids in towns they went through, since that really was the only time they saw families, but the looks of excitement and adoration in this boy's face warmed Eren's heart in a way he didn't think anything ever had before.

"Except he had friends to follow after him and make sure nothing bad happened," Mikasa said, in a soft tone, a gentle one that Eren hadn't really heard from her before. "So why don't you head back home so your mom doesn't worry about you, okay?"

The boy nodded and gave them a hearty wave. "Thanks for not telling my mom," he said. "You guys're cool."

Eren reached forward the ruffle the kid's hair just like Eren remembered Hannes doing to him when was that age. "Go straight on home, okay?"

The boy nodded again and took off between them, but not without one last big grin and wave.

Eren straightened up, watching the kid run down a dark alleyway. It wasn't until Armin gave a small laugh that Eren realized they had probably fallen far behind. He started to hurry after Erwin's blond head that was off in the distance down the road.

"He reminded me of you," Armin said as he walked behind Eren and Mikasa. "Down to that mischievous look you always gave when you were up to something."

Eren snorted; well, it was the truth. He glanced over to Mikasa who was holding her scarf up over her lips. She was the one who surprised him in that situation. Sure, he knew she could be gentle because he saw it first hand when it came to him but her tone, her smile, the way it just seemed so natural for her to crouch down and talk to that child, that's what had surprised him. She was the top solider in their class and a person not to be trifled with, but the way she looked at that boy it made Eren wonder…is that what she really wanted?

"There isn't enough room for all of us in one place," Erwin said, clearly not noticing three of his soldiers lagged behind for a bit. "We'll need to split up. Half in there," he gestured towards the building on their left. "And half on the right. We'll alert you when we need to take action."

Eren followed the rest of his squad into the building on the right, ready to pass out on the closest bed available. There were a few beds to each room so he followed Armin, Jean and Connie into a room that had three beds in it before turning to wave to Mikasa, Historia, and Sasha still walking down the hall. He barely had the energy to say goodnight to the others in the room before throwing himself on the bed, his head hitting the pillow. Eren expected sleep to come the moment he closed his eyes but it didn't, all he could see was that little boy out in the streets.

Eren was glad the kid was clearly pretty happy with his life; he hadn't said anything when Eren mentioned having a mother so he assumed the boy still lived with his family which was better than a lot of kids in this world. That wasn't what was bothering him though; it was still the way Mikasa had reacted to the child. She looked…she looked just…happy.

She was normally content, yeah, and he saw her pretty relieved since they got outta the cave but when was the last time he saw her genuinely happy like that? It felt like ages. He was pretty sure he had the answer to his question and honestly it made sense; Mikasa had always wanted a family of her own. He was sure she wanted to have children of her own. How could he not be when she reacted towards that little boy like she did?

Honestly, he could see it. He could easily see Mikasa dressed in her casual clothes sitting on the porch of a small house in the country, holding a little baby lovingly in her arms as Mikasa spoke softly to her; Eren wasn't quite sure why but he knew it was a girl. There was also a toddler sitting by her feet, playing with some wooden toys. The look on Mikasa's face was stunning; she was smiling, like really smiling and was so happy, just free to be sitting there in her home with her children. Even Eren picturing the scene in his head had to smile to see her so happy.

The boy who was sitting at her feet looked up towards Mikasa, saying something that Eren couldn't really make out but the kid was adorable. He had darker hair and a wide grin, but he didn't really look too much like Mikasa; not that he had to, she had to have a kid with someone after all.

A jab went through his chest that made his eyes snap open, staring up at the ceiling. Yeah, she would've had to have a family with someone; he wasn't quite sure why that thought made his chest ache so much. Eren only ever wanted the best for her, and if she wanted a home and a family hen he wanted that for her too.

Is that what he wanted too?

The thought surprised him honestly. It wasn't anything he had given much thought to. All his life he wanted to join the Scouting Legion and he never thought about what would come after, what would come after finishing off the Titans.

If they all survived this mess…did he want to have a family too?

Eren hesitantly closed his eyes again, the scene with Mikasa sitting on the porch with her children popping up in his mind again. Everything looked the same, including the little boy on the porch but Eren took a closer look this time. The hair was the same, the big grin was the same but the eyes stood out more and the sight filled his chest with an unusual warm feeling; they were Eren's eyes.

The boy jumped up to his feet, running down the steps of the porch and down the front path but Mikasa didn't look too concerned as she watched after him. Eren followed the boy who ran straight into the arms of a man Eren knew in his head to be the father. The man stood up, taking the laughing boy with him so that Eren could get a better look; there was a jolt through his body mixed with that warmth in his chest again when he recognized the man to be himself. He looked older, yeah, his hair longer and his body taller, his shoulders broader but it was himself.

He made his way up the porch steps till he was sitting on the bench next to Mikasa, adjusting the boy so he was sitting on Eren's lap. She turned to look at him and say something but before she could Eren had leaned in to kiss her, one hand reaching up to her cheek to hold her face close to his.

Eren almost felt his cheeks heating up as he watched the scene in his head, but his body felt so light he couldn't bring himself to make the scene stop. It wasn't like it wasn't something he hadn't seen in dreams before, just ones he never told anyone before.

Mikasa said something to him when he pulled away but Eren couldn't quite tell what it was, just that she still had that gentle tone. The boy had leaned his head against Eren as his hands tugged on Eren's shirt for attention and the baby made some gurgling noises but ones Eren could recognize as happy noises. He put one hand on his son's back and the other reached out to his daughter's little hand that was grabbing for him, her feet kicking under the bindings Mikasa had her wrapped up in.

The warmth had spread from Eren's chest to his body, making him feel almost like he was floating as the scene played out in his head. Yeah, that, he liked that; to have little ones who depended on him, who loved him and who he loved just like his parents had loved him. This was different though; there were no Titans to take Eren away from his children in this world, nothing that would rip him away from Mikasa, from their family. He could take care of her like he always wanted to, and he could give his kids all the love both his parents and Mikasa's parents never got to continue doing.

As his mind started to drift off to sleep finally, images of that small house surrounded by gardens still in his head, Eren realized he did want a family. Not just any family though, he wanted it with the one girl who had always stayed by his side, the one he wanted to make happy so that her soft smile would come back, that she'd talk in that sweet gentle tone again. He'd make sure he'd live, and he'd make sure she did too so that he could love her how she deserves, so he could give her the home and family she always longed for. The one Eren longed for now too.