Before the Departure

Inside the huge tavern.

A feast had begun for all the Survey Corps Members.

They savored their sumptuous meal at a leisurely pace, relishing the vibrant, new tastes. Eren in particular was enjoying the velvety smoothness of the mashed potatoes, the snap of the chips, the tender juiciness of the chicken, and the soft, buttery goodness of the rolls.

For many of them, this could be the last ever meal. Because they would soon be departing for Shiganshina under the cover of darkness. 

There was no telling whether any of them would return.

"Eren, you should eat more."

Opposite him, Mikasa could no longer resist the impulse to express her affection. She scooped up a spoonful of mashed potatoes and guided it towards his mouth.

He accepted it, savoring every bite. But just as he finished.

"Here, Eren."

He finished it.

"Eat some more …"

He ate.

"You're still hungry."

He wasn't. But he took another bite.

"You're too skinny. You need to eat more …"

He disagreed. But never mind.

And so the back and forth lasted until Mikasa's plate was clear of food. Eren couldn't say no, seeing how Mikasa couldn't keep a smile off her face. Since it made her happy, he was fine with it.

Besides, it felt good once in a while to be served. How nice it would be if she could do that more often. But Eren immediately chided himself for the thought, that would be very disrespectful to get her to do so.

Little did the Eren know, however, that the girl would have jumped on the chance like a religious zealot and do so much more if he only opened his mouth to ask.

"I`ll go get some more food."

Mikasa rose from her chair, her chair scraping loudly against the wooden floor as she excused herself. Excitement sparkled in her eye as she left in haste. The girl clearly could not wait to continue feeding him.

A few moments later, an unexpected guest was sitting opposite of him. 

"Hello, Eren."

"Queen His-"

"Called me Christa. Please."

Eren composed himself. He didn't have many opportunities to interact with Historia, so he wouldn't consider themselves exactly close. 

"What is someone of your stature doing here?"

"To encourage and show my appreciation to all of you, this is the least I could do. I`m staying behind in the palace while the rest of you are leaving - Natalie and even Ymir too. When I told her I was determined to do my best for humanity, Ymir said she would support me in whatever way she could." Historia brought her cup to her lips and took a sip. 

"Thanks, I guess. You have it tough too, I'd imagine you have challenges of your own. To be honest, you're doing a great job so far. I read in the newspapers about your initiative to help the citizens in the underground to get to the surface. Looking out for the outcasts of the society … It's a very noble thing to do." 

"It's difficult. To provide housing, stable jobs, and lands. The economy within the walls is already tethering on the brink of recession as a result of the fall of Wall Maria. We're already taxing the Aristocracy extremely heavily and can't afford to continue much longer." she replied, giving a weary smile.

"I see." Eren avoided eye contact. "Also regarding your father … I`m sorry that it had to turn out this way."

"You don't have to apologize. For the survival of humanity within these walls. It couldn't be helped. At least he's alive - that's a positive way to look at it." She took another sip of her drink. 

" Shiganshina … we'll definitely retake it along with Wall Maria, don't give up. Keep moving forward. It's the same for me too. " he lifted his cup. "Cheers."

Historia chuckled and did the same. 

The conversation shifted to less serious matters, reminiscing about their silly punishments and days as trainees under the monstrous Keith Shadis.

Hearing the stories made Eren breathe a sigh of relief - thank goodness he graduated early from the camp with Mikasa. One could only imagine the hellish training they had to go through if they went through the full program.

 After enjoying a few more sips of their drink, the girl looked sheepishly around.

"Did you see Armin?"

"Hmm, I think he's over there at the corner chatting with Jean and Connie." Eren pointed in a direction where three figures were laughing, a tinge of redness on their cheeks - they were clearly drunk.

"And .. um. I was wondering if I could …" Historia finished her drink, her fingers twiddling with each other.

"She wants your signature." Ymir appeared out of nowhere with a smirk and placed her arm around Historia. "She's been a big fan of Armin, and especially you even more so ever since she witnessed what both of you did at Trost. Flash Blade Eren."

"Huh? Oh sure …"

When he was done signing, Historia snatched the paper and quill on the table and bolted for the hills, nearly tripping over her own shoelaces in the process. Ymir followed close behind after her.

"Eren. Care to explain what is going on?"

He turned to see a smiling Mikasa, but Eren's senses were telling him this smile was a murderous one. 

Cute. She was jealous. 

He'd had to be dense as a rock if he didn't know how the girl felt towards him, after all that happened recently. 

"I was signing autographs for a fangirl. Just so you know, I`m pretty popular." He said deadpan, noticing that the ominous aura around Mikasa was reaching genocidal levels; he continued "I don't mind doing a special one for you if you'd ask."

"Really?" The girl's eyes lit up like a child that had seen candy.

Eren nodded. Then motioned for her to follow him as they headed out to somewhere quiet. The music and noises slowly faded away as they soon found themselves sitting side by side on a flight of stairs in an empty street, staring up at the stars; cool breeze blowing against his skin.

"Well. I was thinking of giving you an autograph without using ink you see."

"How is that supposed to work?"

Eren lifted his index finger and mustered his courage. 

"With this of course. I'll trace the outline." 

He took one of Mikasa's hands, bringing his finger closer to her palm.

"Wait."

The girl broke free and gently grabbed Eren's hand, then pulled it close to her chest.

"I'd rather you do it here …"

Eren gulped and nodded. So she wanted it to be on where the heart was …

… that was also where her well-curved mound was as well.

Now that he thought about it, was it just him, or that Mikasa was wearing clothes that were tighter and tighter? Eren swore that those were never that voluptuous. There was no way it had gotten that big within just a few months. 

Either way, the girl had gotten quite bold with her request. He was clearly getting taken advantage of … right?

He resisted the urge to cope a feel, and instead gently pressed a finger on the small hill so enticingly displaying its curves beneath Mikasa's uniform, tracing the outline of a letter 'E' in the shape of the bird. At one point, he accidentally brushed the side of a small stiff round protrusion. The action seemed to cause a tingle of electricity to shoot through Mikasa, causing her to let out a soft moan. 

Mikasa's weak spot - and he knew the girl wasn't wearing a bra when he saw the shade of pink beneath the white fabric…

The flashbacks of what happened when they shared a room back in Mitras briefly surfaced. He felt his cheeks flush at the thought.

Shelving the embarrassing memories aside, he continued the hard work. After what seemed like an eternity. It was done.

"Hope you liked it."

Mikasa nodded, unable to hide the warm rosy glow that had spread across her face.

The two of them continued to lie on the stairs, side by side, their eyes captivated by the shimmering jewels above in the sky.

"Eren. Have you ever thought about how you would want to live your life when this is all over?" Mikasa said.

He continued to look at the stars speckled across the sky.

Life within the walls had always been on a knife's edge. His future? He never thought about it. All that he had wanted was to kill every single titan and avenge his mom.

"I don't know … but maybe somewhere far away. A nice, cozy house with my family where we're living in peace and quiet. I`ll spend my days chopping wood, catching huge fishes and cooking delicious meals, all while basking in the chirping of the birds. That would be a nice change of pace. " 

"F-family … family … " Mikasa muttered to herself, her cheeks turning as red as her scarf. 

Eren swore he heard her whisper something about 'kids' as well, the girl seemed to be completely lost in her imagination.

He couldn't help but wonder if such a day would ever come, as another gust of cool air brushed against his face.

For now, they had a battle ahead of them.