Chapter 14: The Blood Test

"Waaaahhhh!" Mikasa cried in Ai's arms. "Mama! I was so scared!"

"It's ok Mika-Chan, I'm here now." Ai tried to say lovingly but struggled to hold back her own tears.

The moment Eren reached Zekes house and Mikasa saw Ai, she immediately jumped out of Eren's arms and ran straight for her okassan. She sobbed into Ai's chest as Ai held her daughter protectively and lovingly, trying to cheer her up and make her feel safe.

Eren stood near his car, sitting back on it with his arms crossed as he watched his wife and daughter cry in each other's arms. Eren wasn't much good at comforting his children when they were sad. Even still, he stood protectively over his wife and daughter, keeping his senses attuned to his surroundings in case there was an attack.

"That poor little girl." Yuki said sadly.

"Yea, it's a shame she had to go through that." Mem-Cho nodded.

"Don't worry, if she's Eren's kid I know she'll be strong." Armin tried to stay positive.

"Right... your best friend from another world..." Mem-Cho tried to say.

"If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it." Akane said as she checked over her notes.

When Armin explained his whole origin, that being that he was reborn from another world, Akane took notes down. She was so fascinated about the idea of meeting a kind of alien in a way. Though Armin told them no details of his own world.

"Akane?" The group heard.

Akane turned to see her old acting rival, Arima Kana, standing next to Eren's family.

"Kana." Akane glared at her old rival.

"I heard you stared in a reality TV show recently, how is that?" Kana said in a sweet yet passive aggressive voice.

"Oh, I don't imagine it can be as exciting as being an idol." Akane said in a similar voice. "I hope it doesn't make your acting skills rusty."

"I don't think I'd be able to compete with you when you're selling your life on TV." Kana said. "Good for you."

"What's with you two?" Eren asked as he moved towards the group.

"Nothing!"

Kana, Mem-Cho, and Yuki stood straight as if they were at attention, standing shoulder to shoulder with each other, hoping not to offend the criminal and literal monster in front of them. Eren sighed and face palmed, glad that Akane girl was the only one to just step back from him instead of being over dramatic.

"You know how to make an impression." Armin chuckled.

"Believe it or not, that reaction is pretty common." Eren said. "Most people in Japan treat me that way."

"Despite everything you've done?" Armin asked.

"This is not a country that even likes foreigners as citizens, even less so for giving second chances." Eren shrugged.

"Well, don't be too hard on the girls." Armin tried to defend. "They're good people, just a little scared."

"Right... helpless and defenseless girls, crippled with fear." Eren shook his head, remembering how Annie always played that card. Unlike Annie though, this was true. These girls weren't Soldiers or Warriers. Just normal peasant girls by his standards.

Eren walked over to his family with Armin, who were all speaking with Zeke outside his front door. Kawachi was with them as well, picked up from school.

"Kana knows?" Eren asked Aqua.

"We kind of had to explain it to her." Aqua said. "Reiner pulled the super healing trick you did to convince her."

"It's still hurt." Reiner said.

"You've had worse Reiner." Eren said.

"Most of those by you." Reiner shot back.

"Ok you two, back off." Armin said, mediating the conversation.

"He's not wrong." Zeke chuckled.

There was tension in the air as Reiner looked at Zeke, someone who as far as he considered, was a traitor. While Reiner didn't have the patriotism he pretended to have for Marley anymore, Zeke still was an enemy and a threat the last time he saw him.

"It is good to see you again Reiner." Zeke said honestly.

"I can't exactly say the same War Chief." Reiner said.

"War Chief?" Kana asked.

"He was the Commander of our unit, the Warrior Unit." Reiner said.

"Yea, people who turn into those monster things." Ruby added.

"I know I turned against Marley in the final days but trust me when I say I still cared for all of you. Pieck, Falco-"

"Don't mention his name!" Reiner yelled out. "You killed Colt! And because of what you did, Galliard sacrificed himself to save Falco! So don't you dare mention his name!"

There was a tense standoff after Reiner's outburst. Ruby looked sadly at Reiner, not entirely sure what exactly happened between Zeke and Reiner. She could kind of guess. Zeke was Reiner's old boss, who betrayed them, and apparently that lead to the death of some of Reiner's friends. Judging by Reiner's scowl, it was clear that he hated Zeke.

"How about we head inside." Armin tried to calm everyone down.

"Excellent idea." Zeke agreed.

The Edians, the Hoshino family, and their guests all walked into the relatively small two floor house. It was a simple home with a couch, computer, and a counter for foods and drinks. Aqua noted that Zeke didn't have a TV which wasn't surprising since TVs didn't interest Eren either.

"Make yourselves at home while I get my kit ready." He said.

"Kit?" Ai turned to her husband as she held Mikasa in her arms.

"He wants to run blood tests, to confirm something." Eren said.

"What tests?" Ruby asked.

"Eldians has a very special chemical in their blood, something only they possess." Zeke said. "By coming into contact with a special chemical, it allows us to determine if someone is of Eldian blood or not."

"He wants to confirm if Mikasa and Kawachi are truly Eldians." Eren said.

"I see." Ai said, concerned.

Despite the fact that Kawachi says how awesome it would be to turn into a monster, Ai would never want her children to have that power. Plus, whoever these people are chasing Eren, these Marleyans, she was concerned that Kawachi and Mikasa would be targeted.

Zeke prepared a kit of syringes and small pieces of paper on the table, a kit he brought from his work.

"It's annoying, but I needed to get extra needles." Zeke said. "This world has an aversion to reusing needles."

"Of course, you can get diseases." Akane said.

"I know, it's still annoying." Zeke sighed. "Before anything, we'll need a control."

"Comtrol?" Ai asked.

"A non-Eldian to ensure there's no issues, if you wouldn't mind." Zeke asked Ai.

"S-sure." Ai said as she gently sat Mikasa down, who was still sniffing from her fear earlier.

Zeke took a needle and stabbed Ai in the arm after using a rubber band to help constrict her arm slightly. He drew a small amount of blood into the syringe and took it out. Ai winced in pain from the blood draw but didn't make any noises.

After that, Zeke took the syringe and dipped a bit of her blood onto a piece of paper. After a moment, nothing happened.

"What is that?" Ruby asked.

"It's a paper with special chemicals that can detect Eldian blood." Zeke said. "It reacts in the contact of the blood and allows us to determine who is and is not an Eldian." He said.

"Isn't that unethical?" Ruby asked. Zeke gave a small snort in laughter when she said that.

"By this worlds standard, yes." Zeke said.

"Why is it ok in your world?" Ai asked.

"Well-" Zeke began.

"Zeke." Eren warned.

Zeke looked at Eren and saw that Eren shook his head. Ai, the kids, and Armin's friends looked at Eren in confusion, wondering why he didn't want anyone to talk about his home. Eren seemed concerned about something.

Ai noticed that Eren always shied away from specific topics from his home. He only ever revealed information that was necessary but shied away from others. She wondered why.

"Well, predictably no reaction." Zeke said, looking at the paper while trying to change the subject. "Now for Eren, Kawachi, Mikasa, and the Shifters." He said.

"How does this work?" Ruby asked.

"Technically, you could say I invented this kit, since it was never made in this world." Zeke chuckled at his own joke. "Basically, the paper has a chemical soaked into it that reacts to Eldian blood by turning green. If it turns green, you're Eldian. If not, then you're not Eldian."

"Interesting." Armin said. "I never knew that's how the blood tests worked."

"You never got tested?" Ruby asked Armin.

"Everyone in the walls were Eldian, so we had no need. It was only beyond the walls that it mattered." Armin explained.

"Why?" Ruby asked.

"Eldians can turn into giant monsters." Zeke said. "Why wouldn't the world be afraid?"

The group stopped and thought for a moment. That was a very fair point.

"Get on with the test." Eren said.

Zeke nodded and let Eren sit down. Eren showed no visible signs of pain when his blood was drawn, already used to pain. Kawachi winced and grunted, trying so hard not to show any signs of pain but failing. Mikasa though...

"I don't want to get a needle!" Mikasa yelled out.

"Kid, it's important that-" Zeke tried to say.

"No!" She yelled. "I don't want to get a needle!"

Mikasa ran over to her okaasan and hopped into her arms. Ai held Mikasa and tried to sooth the terrified girl, trying to be as calm and gentle as possible.

"She's been through a rough night Zeke." Eren said. "Kawachi should be enough proof. If he's an Eldian, so is Mikasa."

"Very true." Zeke said. "Well, now I'll need Armin and Reiner."

Armin and Reiner reacted the same as Eren, no visible signs of pain at all. Zeke took all the blood and dripped some of the on a piece of paper each. They then waited for a reaction.

"So... all of your people can turn into monsters at will?" Kana asked Zeke.

"No, only those who possess the nine." Zeke said.

"What is that exactly?" Ai asked. They explained the unique abilities of each one, but that was it.

Zeke glanced at Eren, trying to see if Eren was ok with him revealing at least that. Eren nodded, seeing that it was no issue revealing some of how the powers worked.

"In order for an Eldian to turn into a Titan, they need to be injected with Titan spinal fluid and they turn into a pure Titan." Zeke explained.

"A Pure Titan?" Aqua asked.

"A Titan who is mindless and eats humans." Zeke said.

"Like a fifteen meter zombie?" Ruby asked.

"That's an accurate description." Zeke said. "However, the nine can transform at will and maintain their intelligence." Zeke explained.

"How do you get to be one of the nine?" Ai asked.

"It's just luck." Eren said.

"Luck?" Ai asked.

"Yes." Eren said. "That's all."

Ai could tell there was more to it, but Eren seemed worried about something. Ai let it go for Eren's sake.

"The powers of the Titans is what lead to Eldia ruling for two thousand years." Zeke said. "Until one hundred years ago when they were driven to the island of Paradis and isolated themselves behind their walls."

"And that's where you were born." Ai said to Eren.

"Yes." Eren nodded.

"Well... this is interesting." Zeke said as his atention shifted to the papers.

"What?" Eren asked.

"Predictably, Eren and Kawachi are Eldians." He said. "But, it seems Armin and Reiner are not."

"What!?" The shifters exclaimed.

"How is that possible?" Eren asked.

"Yea, I know for a fact that I can shift. How can I not be Eldian?" Reiner asked.

"I shifted an hour ago, I should be an Eldian." Armin said.

"That's an excellent question." Zeke said. "I have a theory."

"What is it?" Eren asked.

Zeke stood up and got his laptop. He brought it over to the counter and opened it to give everyone a view of the screen. On the screen, was a PowerPoint that Zeke made for the group.

"You see, I rented this house because of a unique thing that happened." Zeke said.

"What's so special about it?" Eren asked.

"About sixteen years ago, satellites over Japan recorded an odd signal that originated from this house." Zeke said. "The data was ruled as a glitch in the system, but when I read about it in a paper, I did some digging."

"What did you find?" Eren asked.

"Check the date." Zeke said.

Everyone looked at the date and saw that it happened sixteen years ago.

"Ai, do you recognize the date?" Zeke asked.

"Yes, it was a day before Aqua and Ruby were born." Ai said.

"The information is dated using UMT time, if you convert it to Japanese time, it would be shortly after midnight." Zeke explained.

"The exact moment Ruby and I were born." Aqua said. "And coincidentally, the moment Reiner and Armin were born as well."

Aqua, Ruby, and even Eren and Reiner got concerned. They were the only ones who knew Aqua and Ruby were reborn. They didn't want Ai to learn the truth. It would make Ai sad and possibly destroy their family dynamic with the awkwardness.

Aqua also didn't want Ai to ever know she bathed, breast fed, and cared for someone who was mentally thirty at the time. Especially since Ai was sixteen when that all happened.

"How does that matter?" Ai asked, concerned for her children.

"Who knows." Zeke said with a shrug. Zeke didn't know Aqua and Ruby were reborn, so Eren wasn't concerned with him revealing anything.

"I mean, what does Ruby and Aqua have to do with this? They aren't from your world or something." Ai said.

"Definitely not." Aqua said, which was actually the truth.

"Yea, we didn't come from papa's world." Ruby agreed, since it wasn't a lie they knew Ai wouldn't detect anything off.

"It could be a coincidence." Zeke shrugged, though he knew it wasn't. He just needed to placate the mother.

"So, us Shifters somehow were reborn here at the exact same time, from an energy signal at this house?" Armin clarified.

"Yes." Zeke said. "However, there was a second signal. Recognize the date?" Zeke asked, showing another product.

"It's a day before I met Eren." Ai said.

"You remember the date?" Eren asked.

"Of course, I also remember that you took my ID." Ai pouted.

"It fell and I returned it to you." Eren crossed his arms.

"Focus." Armin said. "What's significant about this second date?" He asked Zeke.

"It's the day Eren and I arrived." Zeke said.

"Yes." Eren nodded.

"Which means, there were two events." Reiner said. "One where the shifters were reborn, and another where they came body and soul."

"Exactly." Zeke said. "I don't know why it's different though. Eren and I should have theoretically been reborn as well, but we didn't. Maybe it had to do with us being in the paths when Levi killed me."

Eren's eyes widened.

"Levi killed you?" Armin asked. "I thought it was the Cart Titan with that cannon."

"Huh?" Zeke asked. "What do you mean?" Zeke said.

"Zeke." Eren warned.

Zeke looked at Eren in confusion, unsure of what he was missing. Reiner and Armin were confused as well, not sure what Eren was hiding.

"Zeke, you and I died before we could make contact, remember?" Eren stressed.

Zeke raised his eyebrow but seemed to have recognized Eren's not to subtle attempt to change the narrative.

"I guess you're right." Zeke played along. "So, I guess you and Reiner died during that time as well." Zeke assumed.

"I don't remember dying, but I guess." Armin shrugged.

Armin and Reiner weren't stupid. They knew the brothers were hiding something. Something that apparently terrified Eren. They knew, but now wasn't the time to press for the truth.

"I think I see a pattern here." Zeke wondered to himself.

Eren caught on as well. Zeke and Eren were connected to the Founder through the paths, while Reiner and Armin were just shifters. Meaning, that whatever force dragged them to this world, differed depending on their connection to the paths.

"Maybe, you two did make contact and that caused something." Armin theorized. "None of us saw it happen."

"Possibly." Eren shrugged, letting Armin come to his own conclusions.

"Which would explain why you two are different, you both were connected to the founder." Armin said.

Eren knew Armin was smart, and he was terrified if Armin already knew the truth. If Armin did learn the truth just now, he was hiding it.

"So... what's the founder?" Ai asked.

"Eren possessed not only the Attack Titan, but the Founder as well. His powers let him control other Titans." Zeke said.

"So, can't you just stop that masked Titan?" Aqua asked Eren.

"I need to be in contact with a Titan of royal blood." Eren said. "Only royals could use it."

"Like me, but it's not so simple." Zeke said. "We don't know the rules yet. Things are different, and I have two equally terrifying ideas."

"What's that?" Eren asked.

"Either something happened when we made contact," Zeke said, intentionally keeping to the cover story. "Where the powers basically broke and now happens randomly. Which is why non-Eldians, like Armin and Reiners new body can use it. Maybe their memories transferred as well to their new infant bodies with the powers."

"Or?" Eren asked.

"There's something controlling it." Zeke said.

Eren crossed his arms. That was a scary thought. Another Ymir like figure, or maybe some kind of actual god. Who knew. The source of life from his world was never intelligent. It was an animal, doing what animals do, survive. Without Ymir to guide it, it was just an animal.

Something here is potentially responsible for this. Either Ymir, or something from this world.

"What makes you think someone is controlling it?" Reiner asked.

"Just a theory." Zeke shrugged. Only Eren and Zeke knew about Ymir, and Eren didn't want to explain it or risk exposing the rumbling. "But I doubt that we all ended up here by pure accident."

"Either way, there's nothing we can do about it right now." Eren said.

"We should consider testing to see if you can still use the Founders power." Armin said.

"Or if the Founder is even still in me." Eren said.

"We'll need to wait before we can test it." Zeke said. "I'd rather not destroy this house; I'm renting it and I'd like to get my security deposit back."

"Fair enough." Eren shrugged.

So far, all they had were questions with no way to get more answers.

"For now, we'll keep an eye out for the Jaws." Eren said.

"How are we going to protect ourselves?" Ai asked. "We can't do anything against monsters like that."

"I can help keep you all safe." Armin said. "The Colossal is powerful, so he'll think twice about attacking."

"Reiner's working with us, maybe he can as we-" Ruby tried to say.

"No." Eren said.

"Papa." Ruby tried to argue.

"Right before Reiner came here, him and the Jaws were allied. I'm not risking anything." Eren said.

"Eren, I told you that I'm not interested in fighting here." Reiner said.

"And if the Jaws-" Eren began.

"Galliard." Reiner growled.

"The Jaws, decides to try and convince you?" Eren accused.

"I am not interested in bringing our war to this world." Reiner said. "I just want it to end. I'm done with the fighting, especially since I can live in this world with dignity."

"And if the Jaws approaches you?" Eren asked.

"I'll talk to Galliard. I doubt I can convince him to leave you alone, but I can at least keep him away from your family." Reiner said. "I'm not taking a side in this fight."

"See?" Ruby said.

Eren sighed in frustration, knowing that Reiner was right in that he could protect his family. The Jaws would struggle against the Armor.

"If anything happens to my family Reiner-"

"I won't let that happen Eren. I promise." Reiner said.

Eren relented. He didn't have the luxury of turning away potential allied Shifters, especially with the possibility of the other Marleyan Warriors being out there.

"What do we do about them?" Eren asked, motioning his head towards the girls.

"Us!?" Mem-Cho, Yuki, and Kana went right to attention again.

"W-we weren't paying attention!" Mem-Cho lied.

"Yup, not at all!" Kana tried to lie as well.

"Please don't make us disappear!" Yuki begged.

Akane was worried as well, but she stayed quiet, able to figure that Eren wasn't as bad as the media portrayed him.

"We should make them disap- ow!" Eren exclaimed when Ai smacked him in the back of the head.

"They're already scared enough Eren, don't joke." Ai said.

Eren chuckled slightly, hoping to get some payback from the girls who acted so scared around him.

"I'll escort them all home." Armin said. "We don't want to involve them."

"Agreed." Zeke said.

"But you girls need to promise not to tell anyone." Armin said.

"No problem." Akane nodded.

"So, what? We just go back home and forget about what we saw and heard?" Mem-Cho asked.

"For now." Armin said.

"My family will stay here for the night." Eren said.

"I have two guest rooms but there's only futons and blankets." Zeke said.

"That's fine." Eren said. "Ruby, Aqua, Mikasa, and Kawachi. Bed." Eren ordered.

The kids nodded and went upstairs to prepare for bed.

"I'll head home and stop by the studio tomorrow." Reiner said.

"That'll be a good idea." Ai said.

Everyone prepared to leave and Eren excused himself so he could get some space. He felt on edge and needed to calm down. He felt exhausted and terrified after what happened, watching his daughter scream in fear of her life and crying in a way he never saw before from her.

Eren felt his phone vibrate and looked at it. It was from Miyuki.

"Miyuki." Eren said, picking it up.

"Hey Senpai... eto, how are you?" He asked.

"Good, why?" Eren asked.

"Well, eto, the director needs to speak to you tomorrow." Miyuki said.

"About what?" Eren asked.

"Well, he needs you to stand before a closed session with the Diet." Miyuki said.

The National Diet, the governing body of Japan. They were a collection of politicians who voted on policies, both foreign and domestic, and functionally controlled Japan. It was unique by Eren's standards, since he was either used to a monarchy or a military dictatorship.

"Why?" Eren asked, concerned.

"The director said he'll tell you tomorrow." Miyuki said. "However, it's about that monster brawl that happened at a mall."

Did the director know?

"What about it?" Eren asked.

"I mean... haven't you seen the media? They're freaking out about it." Miyuki said. "One of them was the same one that attacked us in China."

Eren twitched his eyebrow, hoping Miyuki didn't phrase it like "The monster attacked us" on the official report. Eren was nowhere near Miyuki when that happened.

"Everyone is in a frenzy. The Government is trying to answer questions, but no one knows what's going on."

"I'll be there." Eren said.

"Ok." Miyuki said. "Tell the family I said hi." Miyuki said.

"I will." Eren said as he hung up.

Eren placed his phone down and struggled to control his breathing. The director clearly suspected something and if Eren was being called before the Diet, that could be an issue. Since it's a closed doors meeting, whatever will be discussed will not be released to the public.

All because of those damned Warriors. Everything in his life was fine until the Jaws decided to attack him. And not only that, but he's also leveraging the criminal underworld against Eren and nearly killed his daughter.

"Hehehehe." Eren chuckled through ragged breaths.

His chuckling started to pick up slightly, thinking about his daughter and how terrified she was. Imagining the terrible scenario of what would have happened if Eren wasn't fast enough. What if in the struggle, Eren accidentily crushed her in his hand. What if he opened his hand and-

"Eren?" Ai asked as she stepped into the room.

"What is it?" Eren asked, keeping his back to her as he leaned on a table.

"I heard you laughing, and I was wondering what was so funny." Ai asked, a bit put off by Eren's behavior.

"Just remembered something funny." He waved her concerns off.

Eren knew how off putting his laughter was. He knew it was a weird quirk of his that most people didn't understand. Even Connie thought Eren was happy about Sasha's death once. He didn't want his family to get the wrong idea.

Ai walked behind Eren and gently put her hand on his shoulder to help calm him down.

"I'm here, you know I am." Ai said. "If there's something on your-"

Ai was cut off as Eren spun around and wrapped her in his arms. She felt like she was almost crushed as her face was buried in his chest but remained still. Ai gently wrapped her arms around her husband's waist, letting him know she was here.

Eren started to chuckle. A pained, forced chuckle that made Ai feel very uncomfortable. She never heard him laugh like that, but she knew this wasn't a laugh of happiness. This was a laugh of anger and pain.

"I almost lost her." Eren said to Ai.

"I know." Ai said.

"I'll kill him." Eren said angrily. "I'll find that damned Jaws and tear him to pieces. I'll devou-"

"Eren!" Ai yelled, breaking Eren out of his episode.

Eren broke from the hug and looked down at Ai. Ai noticed that he was on the verge of tears and it broke her heart. Never once did she see Eren sad. Never once did she ever see him this close to shedding a tear. But now, he looked angry and hateful.

She had to remind herself why he was so vulnerable right now. Their daughter was nearly killed. Ai had a hard time processing it, but Eren was there with her. He blamed himself for being the reason she was in danger, he was the one who protected her, and he's the one who saw her almost die.

Ai needed to be strong for Eren right now. Strong so he can have some level of support after what he went through.

"It's ok Eren." Ai cupped his cheek and he leaned his head into her touch. "She's fine. And we're all fine. You did good, and I know that you will always protect us. But please, you have to calm down."

Eren closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of his wife's palm on his cheek. Just letting himself calm down and relax.

"So please, just relax darin. Just let yourself relax and that way tomorrow we can think of what to do next. I promise, I will be here for you." Ai soothed.

"Ok." Eren said.

"M-mama... papa." Mikasa called as she walked into the room where Eren and Ai were.

"Mika-Chan, you need to sleep." Ai said gently, turning to her daughter.

"C-can I sleep with you?" She asked in a small voice.

"Mika-Chan, you're a big girl, and big girls-" Ai stopped when she saw Mikasa's sad face.

Mikasa was clearly still terrified from the events earlier. She was scared and right now very sensitive. She wasn't pulling a cute act for attention, she was genuinely scared and didn't want to be alone right now.

"Sure Mika-Chan. You can sleep with us tonight." Ai relented.

There was a time to be strict as a parent to teach your children independence and a time to let them be vulnerable around you. This was a time that Ai needed to let Mikasa be vulnerable around her.

"Come here." Ai opened her arms so Mikasa can go into her embrace.

Ai's legs and back screamed as she lifted the nine year old again today. Mikasa was getting too heavy to carry all the time, but right now, Ai didn't care. She needed to ensure that her daughter felt loved and safe.

Ai walked with Eren to the guest room for them. It was a spacious room with a Futon rolled out for them. Ai gently laid down with Mikasa in her arms. Eren laid down next to her, sandwiching Mikasa protectively between them.

Mikasa sniffled a little bit, still terrified of the events earlier. Eren felt that familiar anger swell up in his chest. A feeling of nearly losing her to the Jaws and his desire to kill the Jaws.

Ai notices Mikasa's fear and does what she can to cheer her up.

"Chu." Ai exaggerates the sound as she kisses Mikasa on the nose.

Mikasa giggled a bit at the gesture.

"Chu." Mikasa kissed Ai's nose.

"Chu." Ai kissed back, making Mikasa scrunch up her face in a playful pout.

"Chu!" Mikasa pushes forward.

Bonk!

"Itai!" Ai groaned as Mikasa's forehead accidentally collides with hers.

"Are you two done?" Eren said.

"Yes, it's time for bed Mika-Chan, before you get too excited." Ai giggled.

"Ok mama." Mikasa giggled too, her earlier fears put to rest for the moment.

Mikasa snuggled further into Ai's embrace, burying her head in her okaasan's chest. Ai wrapped her arms protectively around Mikasa as she held her close.

Eren understood how his children felt about them. Anytime they were sad or scared and need comfort, they all went to Ai. Even now, Mikasa preferred to be held by her okaasan instead of Eren.

However, when it came to physical protection and when they were afraid, they always went to Eren. Which of course made sense. Eren was never very good at comforting his children, at least not in the same way that Ai was able to. He'd hold them protectively if they were in danger and always defend them, but Ai was so much better at showing them love than he was.

After a few moments, Mikasa's breathing slowed down to the point that there were long pauses between breaths, indicating that she fell into a deep sleep.

Eren reached his hand out and gently played with Mikasa's hair, trying to remind himself that she was ok and still alive. She looked so peaceful as she slept in Ai's arms. He wants nothing more than to protect her and the rest of his family.

"Eren." Ai whispered.

"Hm?" Eren asked.

"I won't pretend like I know anything of war." Ai began, making Eren raise his eyebrow. "I don't even watch war movies. So, I know nothing about it."

"What's this about?" Eren whispered.

"You kept a lot of secrets with Zeke earlier." She said. "I just... I did research years ago, and I heard how sometimes Soldiers feel guilty because they did bad things to survive or because they were ordered to."

"Ok?" Eren questioned.

Ai reached over and cupped her husbands cheek.

"I just want you to know, that if you were forced to do something bad, either to survive or because you were ordered, I promise I'll listen and understand." She said.

Eren turned his head, so he wasn't looking at her. Ai felt her heart break at his silence. She knew something bad happened to him, and she wanted to know so she could share that burden with him. She wanted so badly to help him and take that pain away. But he refused to share it with her.

Ai's words were expected from a woman who loved her husband, but Eren knew that it wouldn't go that way. Eren wasn't ordered to enact the Rumbling. Just the opposite, he led a coup in order to do it.

Sure, Eren could say he was forced to since the world declared war on Eldia and wanted to destroy them. But Eren knew that still wasn't a good enough excuse. There were so many ways they could have won the war without the full Rumbling. A small-scale Rumbling to wipe out the Global Military Alliance would have been more than enough.

Even then, was it right to kill billions to save less than a million? Even if they were his people and his friends. Any normal person may look at that and say it wasn't justified.

Eren still wasn't sure why exactly he chose to do the full Rumbling. Maybe he wanted to make the empty world he dreamed of as a kid. Maybe he did it to save his islands and his friends. Maybe he did it to save Ymir.

But the more Eren thought about it, the more he realized that he did it, because it was always meant to happen. He saw his future and he tried to fight it. But the day he saved that refugee kid in that alleyway in Marley was the moment he realized that he was a slave to a destiny of his own making.

Ai could never understand. She'd see a monster that committed the greatest crime in his world. A man who crushed millions, if not billions, of innocent mothers and children like the pair in this Futon.

No, Ai must never know. No one can know. As far as they're concerned, Eren failed the Rumbling when that brat shot his head off. That was the story, and it was clear Zeke would follow. How he remembered when the others didn't was a mystery, but it didn't matter to Eren.

"Go to sleep Ai." Eren said.

"Ok..." She whispered sadly.

Even as Ai fell asleep, Eren couldn't help but stay awake. His mind in overdrive and his senses attuned for the area around him. Prepared for anything. His hand near his mouth, ready at any moment to do a partial transformation in case he needed to protect Ai and Mikasa.

Eventually, the exhaustion got to him, and he fell asleep.

This was a fun one to write.

Obviously, a lot of theories and set ups for next chapter lol. Time will tell where it all leads.

As always, hope you guys enjoy.