Amaranth

Chapter 41: Morning Glory

The next week or two passed a little too quickly for Mikasa's liking. The previous weekend, she and Hange had gone out to another restaurant where they prepared her for Thanksgiving that coming week.

Mikasa had asked Carla about going and, as Annie predicted, Carla encouraged her whole-heartedly to go. As Thanksgiving grew nearer, Mikasa began to panic. She was popping her pills almost everyday to keep herself from having a meltdown, and even then, she was still a little unstable.

Annie told her repeatedly that if it was causing her this much stress, she shouldn't go, but Mikasa was determined. She'd always wondered about her biological family since she was old enough to think outside of just her household. Now that the opportunity presented itself, how could she avoid it?

"Would you be willing to come with me?" Mikasa asked after Annie had calmed her down from another one of her breakdowns. Mikasa was laying on Annie's stomach while the blonde played with her shoulder-length hair.

"My dad and I never do anything for Thanksgiving anyway," Annie shrugged.

"I don't know how they feel about the LGBTQ," Mikasa added, "If stuff gets bad, we can leave."

"Okay," Annie agreed in a soft voice, "I'll go."

The morning of Thanksgiving, Annie and Mikasa woke up in Mikasa's room. It was thanksgiving break, so the two had been going back and forth between Annie's and Mikasa's house. Since they were going to Mikasa's grandparents together, they decided to just wait at Mikasa's.

The Monday she told Levi she'd go for sure, he said he'd pick her up around 10 in the morning. It was an hour drive, despite still being in Shiganshina, and Thanksgiving there usually started around twelve. He claimed it was 'good to show up early'.

Now that Mikasa had Annie, she felt a lot calmer about going. She also knew Hange would be there, married to Levi and all, so if things went south, she also had the option of talking to them.

"Here," Annie said as they were preparing to go, shaking Mikasa's pills in her hand.

Mikasa groaned while accepting one of the pills. She didn't like taking them as often as she was, but in her most recent visit with her therapist, they suggested she take one before going to the Thanksgiving gathering. Mikasa told them all about her stress surrounding it, and that had been their solution.

After she took her pill, she collected a pie Carla insisted she bring with her and put it by the door. The two girls slipped their shoes on just as the doorbell rang. Mikasa opened it to see Hange and Levi. She hugged Hange, who hugged back fiercely, before sharing a small, awkward smile with Levi.

Carla rushed to the door to greet the new people at the door. "Oh, I know you," Carla said while looking at Levi, "You're a teacher at the school?"

"That would be me," he deadpanned, obviously not happy with his job.

"It's nice to see you," he said while shaking his hand.

"You're Mikasa's uncle as well, right?" Carla asked curiously.

"Correct," Levi confirmed matter-of-factly.

"Then, who might you be?" Carla asked, turning her attention to Hange.

"This is my spouse, Hange," he answered for them as Hange offered her hand for Carla to shake.

"I'm also Mikasa's boss at the bookstore," Hange added.

"Wow, what a small world," Carla laughed.

"That's what I said!" Mikasa added with a laugh.

"I'm guessing you're here to take these two?" Carla asked.