Solitude where we are least alone

Epilogue: Part Two

As Historia laid eyes upon this child, the truth of it became obvious. It was no coincidence that the child had black raven hair and a dead look on his face. What stood out the most were his emerald green eyes. Historia felt bile rising in her throat. How would she tell Mikasa what happened... what happened to the father of her son.

"Hey, who are you? Why are you at our house?" The child asked innocently. As he pointed at the blonde.

"She is one of Mommy's friends from when she was a soldier. Be polite, Eren." She scolded the boy.

Eren. Of course she would name the child that. The most beautiful name she could think of. Historia thought to herself, as she forced a smile to her face. "Hi there! I'm a friend of your mommy and daddy!" Historia said, in the cutesy voice she would use with the children of the orphanage.

"Who is it?" A familiar voice called from another room.

"Daddy!" The boy cried as Jean entered the room.

Jean stopped dead in his tracks. "Historia... it's... been a while." I smiled back at him. "It has."

"Historia, can we please talk to you in private." Jean asked, looking over at the child. "Eren, why don't you go play in the other room." He then looked over to me, motioning for me to follow him. He lead us to a small room with a few seats and a coffee table. "I- ummm... am not very good with these types of conversations, so I'll go play with the boy while you too talk." He said, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"That's fine. I was mainly here to talk to Mikasa anyways." Historia replied.

Jean flinched at the comment. "As blunt as always aren't you." He said nervously laughing as he walked away. I turned to Mikasa. "Eren is the father." I said, getting right to the point.

Mikasa looked unfazed by this, as if she was expecting it. "Yes." She said as she looked the other woman in the eyes.

"The child doesn't know that Jean is not the father." Historia said.

"No, he doesn't. Though I'm sure Jean knows. We haven't really talked about it since we got married." Mikasa replied.

"I see." Was all Historia said. She was somewhat surprised to find that Jean was with Mikasa when she saw it, but she did her best to hide her reaction.

"Is Eren coming?" Mikasa asked. Historia noted that the way her eyes twinkled when she talked about him was still there, albeit less present.

This was it. The part she had been dreading. She remembered back to the battle of Trost, when Armin had told Mikasa that Eren had been supposedly killed. Mikasa tried to hide her personal feeling by leading us into battle, though practically abandoning the group, going on a killing spree, only to wind up out of gas. "Mikasa, I'm so sorry..." was all she got out before Mikasa's expression began to change. It took a long time to realise exactly how Mikasa displayed emotion, but Historia had known her for plenty long.

"I... see." She said. "That means Annie too?" I nodded in response. Historia knew how she felt. Even though Mikasa tried to hide it, she was secretly hoping that somehow, some way, Eren would beat the curse of Yumir.

"Mikasa, I know what you are doing. I was in Trost with you. You don't have to hide it and suffer by yourself. I'm right here. It's okay to be sad. I feel like a part of me died." She says, tears filling her eyes.

Mikasa began letting her defence down too, allowing small tears to stream down her face. As the seconds passed, the tears became bigger and bigger. Mikasa threw herself on Historia, burrowing her face into Historia's chest as tears began to soak her blouse. Mikasa was letting out wailing sobs similar to those she had when she found Eren was alive, but this time, they were pure and utter grief. Historia put her hand on Mikasa's head and rubbed it. "I know. I know. It's okay. Everything is okay. I'm here." She whispered into Mikasa's ear. Then she got even closer. "You still loved him, didn't you." Mikasa moved her head up and down, keeping her face stuffed into Historia. "Mm-hmm." She sniffled.

"It's okay, everything is okay now." Historia said, kissing the back of her head gently. "Im here now with you."

About 30 minutes and a box of tissues later, Mikasa had managed to reduce her sobs to a small whimper.  Still holding onto Historia like an anchor to reality, she finally lifted her head. "Was he happy?" She asked.

"Yes. He was surrounded by people who cared about him even to his final days. Historia held back from telling Mikasa that it wasn't the curse that led to his death, or at least not his. It was sure to be a shock for Mikasa if she was to ever find out that Eren had died from his lack of will to live without his wife, over the curse of Ymir.

A/N:  should I do one more chapter of the epilogue or just leave it like this?