Against The Tide

Chapter Ten: Paths

A/N: So you'll notice this chapter will have a few strange time skips in it, that is because I felt writing the entire final battle up would be WAY too redundant and take far too long. Pretty much nothing changes in terms of the final battle in this AU except for two character deaths that end up not occurring...it will be explained within the chapter! So that is why this chapter is going to focus strictly on the Paths, changing the dialogue in terms of when Eren spoke to Armin and Mikasa. This will also be the final chapter of Arc One: Cabin, with the next Arc being called "Shiganshina"

That night, things had been peaceful and quiet at the cabin. Mikasa was sound asleep, her body still recuperating from such an intense labor and delivery. While she slept, Armin was tending to the baby. There was a warm crackling fire in the fireplace, and a hot kettle full of tea was set on the counter, some steam slithered out of its opening. The snow had remained on the ground, but some of it had started to melt, indicating the weather would remain at least somewhat decent before winter fully hit.

Armin remained leaned over the bassinet, gently rocking it as Carla slept peacefully bundled up on her little pink blanket. He welcomed this peace with open arms, relieved to finally be able to breathe, and not feel so constricted in this cabin. He didn't realize how small the cabin had become when it was filled with such tension, and he hadn't remembered when he last was able to enjoy such a peaceful moment. He quietly leaned his head down, placing a gentle kiss on Carla's cheek, smiling softly as her little head naturally leaned closer to him.

"Goodnight little one... give mama an easy night won't you?" He whispered softly to her as he straightened up, turning his glance towards Mikasa, smiling as he studied her peacefully sleeping features.

"I'm glad you're okay Armin. You gave us all quite the scare.. again." Hange chimed in quietly as she leaned against the doorway, nodding softly to Armin.

"Next time don't take so long." Hange continued, allowing a playful smirk to dance on her lips.

"Trust me.. it wasn't from lack of trying," Armin responded in a whisper, turning to face her as he smiled softly. It felt nice to be able to pick the fun out of each other once again...

"I'll chew your ass out tomorrow. For now, you should rest. I don't doubt that you must be exhausted after all of this." Hange requested, nodding softly to him as she smirked again before she looked over to Mikasa.

"She's been needing you, Armin. More than I think you could ever understand." Hange stated softly, before slowly making her exit as she shot him one final smile, before making her way to her cabin.

Armin blinked softly at her words, turning his glance towards Mikasa. He walked to the side of the bed, carefully moving to brush her long bangs out of her face, caressing her cheek softly. He then moved to wipe the exhaustion from his own eyes, before carefully crawling into bed beside her. His arm naturally moved to lay across her chest, embracing her protectively as his head rested on her shoulder. Sleep weighed heavy on his eyelids, and soon enough.. he felt himself drifting off into a deep slumber.

A good two weeks went by with little incident. And the peace was beyond welcomed for Armin, Mikasa, and even Hange. Their days went by like a beautiful dream, no titans, no war, no dangers...and no Eren. At this point, Mikasa was back on her feet and even getting some of her muscles back already. She had been working out, wanting to be in decent shape in case she had to be ready for anything. Because even though this area was safe, Mikasa knew anything could happen. She knew Floch had escaped and was likely still alive, and she knew there was a chance they hadn't seen the last of Eren. It became a creeping reality for the young mother...that something was going to happen...and she would have to fight Eren. It wasn't something she wanted...but her gut told her something big was on the horizon, she just didn't know what.