Mourning Songs

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Mikasa was shaking. She ran her hands down the back of the man she just killed. Fingers shyly rubbed the handle of the knife. She looked into the eyes of the boy under the man, the boy who had just saved her life, and she his. Questions of "who are you" and "what should we do?" died at her lips. She barely noticed when he voiced cracked the silence.

"Leave the knife. We'll get it back later." A small thud of the body being shifted and then hands on her back, startling her into standing. "You should leave," He urged, punctuating it with a gesture of his arm. Mikasa nodded slowly and stumbled towards the door. Her heart was racing, she just killed a man. Her mother and father were dead, where was she to go? What was she to do? She only stopped when she reached the door and realized the boy wasn't behind her."

Slim fingers drummed against the door before she turned, "Why aren't you coming?"

"I have to put their souls to rest."

This startled Mikasa a bit. A bit was actually an understatement, she expected something along the lines of hiding the bodies, not some outdated religious practice.

"Singing won't do anything. They're dead. My Dad told me that's only done by fanati-"

"Well your Dad's full of shit. " he interrupted and looked at Mikasa, waiting for her to walk out. When she made no moves to leave, he sighed, "Fine. Just don't interrupt me."

The boy stood up straight, and squared his shoulders. He took a deep breath and started singing. It was magical, his angry (almost demented) demeanor suddenly turned soft, almost sad. A chillingly beautiful voice filled the room and bounced off the walls. He sang in a language Mikasa didn't recognize, but she felt she understood what it meant. The song covered her like a veil, swaying her back and forth. A syllable was drawn out, his voice cracking mournfully. Emotion filled Mikasa, she knew he wasn't mourning their death, rather he was singing for the loss of their humanity. Hope was behind his words, she finally understood. He was hoping that their souls would move on; rebirth themselves into something better, and mourning that they couldn't in this life. Mikasa didn't realize she was crying until the song was over and a peaceful silence filled the room.

Quiet footsteps made her way towards her as the boy pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to her. "Lets get going." Mikasa nodded, fully understanding why he sang. She wished her father was alive to hear it, to understand that no these songs were beautiful and and... Mikasa started crying again when she realized her father probably did hear it. She wished she could go to her house and sing it to him herself. She wished that she never had to hear that song. And that night, when Eren and Carla softly sang for her parents, she wished that her soul would be sung to when she died.