Attack On Titan: Goodbyes

Eren's POV

But...

Just as I started to fucking enjoy it a bit...

Life once again showed how big of a bitch it is, guys—a total bitch. Let me just fast-forward through the next couple of months and give you the highlights. they're not great. By the end of it, all I could say was, "Eh?"

Two weeks after Erika….

Mikasa, dressed in her usual clothes, sat comfortably beside me. Well, comfortably is an understatement—her hand slickly slid down my pants and found its way to… you know what.

"Mika…" I stammered, frozen in place as she gently squeezed it gazing up at me with those big, bulging eyes, lips parted slightly like she was about to deliver a proclamation that could shake my very soul.

"Ereh…" she murmured, her voice dripping with an unsettling mix of innocence and determination. "I… I want more tiny Erens. One isn't enough…"

I stared at her, utterly dumbfounded, as she leaned in closer, her lips brushing against my cheek in a way that made me involuntarily shiver.

"Ereh… Erika's lonely too," she whispered, her voice a mix of seduction and sadness that'd always captivate me in ways I could never explain," Let's have another baby... I won't force Ereh... if Ereh doesn't want to... But... but I'd love to have more children with you..."

My heart stopped. My soul left my body. My jaw hit the metaphorical floor as my eyes widened in absolute disbelief.

"Eh?"

One month after Erika….

Mikasa stood in front of me, her hands gripping the edge of the sink as she swayed slightly, her face pale.

"Ereh… I'm… I'm not feeling well," she murmured, a hand resting on her stomach.

"My head hurts a bit… My… My… Belgh!" She suddenly puked and I clutched her supporting her.

"My heart feel's heavy too.... I'm hungry... Babe.. Ereh? What's wrong?"

Fuck.... not... not again.. I blinked at her, connecting dots I really didn't want to connect, while behind me Erika's cries echoed through the air.

"Eh?"

One month and one week after Erika….

The doctor smiled warmly, patting my shoulders while Mikasa squeezed my arm with an excitement that made me sweat.

"Congratulations, Mister Yeager. It looks like you're going to be a father again… And by the looks of it, you're going to have twins."

Two.... Two more....?

My ears rang. My vision blurred. My life flashed before my eyes. While Erika chuckled behind me, her tiny fist connecting with my cheek.

Before I could process this world-altering announcement, Mikasa grabbed my arm tighter, her face glowing with joy.

"EREHHHHHH! My Ereh… We're going to be parents… again! Erika-chan, you're gonna be a sister!"

I opened my mouth, but all that came out was, "Eh?"

One month and three weeks after Erika….

Town

All my ears caught were gossips of the women stalking as my hand wrapped around her waist keeping her close.

"Oh, that poor girl… Her husband must be really rough with her at night."

"Wait... She's already pregnant... again…"

"Yeah, I think he keeps her pinned against the wall all the time…"

"How cruel… She looks so frail…"

"Oh that poor thing... Should we report him?"

Mikasa, the queen of dramatics, leaned closer to me, her hand on her stomach, her face flushed as if she'd just stepped out of a romance novel.

"Ereh…" she said, loud enough for everyone to hear ,"You should learn some self control…"

My jaw dropped as I felt the judgmental glares of half the town boring into my skull.

"Eh?"

Two months after Erika…

The showdown of the century was happening in our living room. Erika, our beloved, sweet, innocent daughter, was on the verge of uttering her first word. Even though she was only two months old, I think it was due to her Ackerman blood.

Mikasa knelt beside her, her voice dripping with gentle encouragement. "Say Mama, Erika. C'mon, sweetie, Mama. Your favorite person…"

I immediately intervened, sitting on the other side of Erika, my hands clasped together in prayer. "Oi, no way. Erika, say Papa. I've been the one cleaning your diapers, rocking you to sleep, and dealing with your ear-piercing cries while your Mama lounges around pretending to be a queen. Say Papa."

Erika looked between us, her little mouth forming tiny shapes. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a blade. And then it happened.

"Mama…"

Mikasa's face lit up with triumph as she turned to me, grinning like she'd just won the lottery. "Haha! I won, Ereh!"

I slumped against the wall, defeated.

"Eh?"

Now tell me y'all wasn't that enough to make me start my villan arc?

Sure it was....

But... there's one thing I can say about all this: I've never felt so alive, so at peace—so happy. I've traveled through infinite worlds, glimpsed infinite futures, and in a handful of them, Mikasa and I somehow ended up together.

But in every single one, there was always a thread of regret—a gnawing ache I carried to my grave. I was too consumed by duty, by war, by the weight of a soldier's burden that I was unable to give her the life she deserved.

Yet here, in this fleeting moment, I've broken free of that cursed loop. This time, when my end comes, I won't leave her in solitude. She'll have them—our children, the pieces of us that will outlive me, that will never abandon her. A family.

It's a small consolation for all the times I've failed her in those other lives. But somehow, it feels like everything.

And I know this happiness isn't eternal. By the time I die, I will no doubt awaken in another world, another endless cycle of life and death, stripped of these memories, destined to face my punishment all over again. This fragile, beautiful life with her will slip through my fingers like sand, as if it never existed.

But just for now—just for now—I'll let myself savor this. Her laughter, her smile, the warmth of her presence next to me. The way she glows when she cradles our daughter. The way her teasing words pierce through my every defense.

It's all I'll ever ask for. This fleeting happiness is enough to carry me through eternity, even if it's only for this one precious moment.