Remembering You

Bleeding Hearts

"What's wrong, Eirian?" Eren crouched down and turned towards the small dark-haired boy who sat on the ground prodding the dirt with a stick.

"I don't like my name..."

"Why not? I like it."

"The other kids say it's girly."

Eren understood what it felt like to get picked on. Well more specifically, he knew what it was like to see his best friend get bullied. Children could often be cruel and without realizing what it did to the person at the butt end of their joke. As a child, Eren had constantly stepped in to save Armin from getting bullied due to the blonde's bookishness and delicate features, and oftentimes they would both emerge with numerous bruises.

"Have you told your papa about it?"

"No..." The boy shook his head, poking a hole in the ground. "And he's always busy."

"Hmm..." Eren hated seeing Eirian like that. He had grown attached to the dark-haired boy over the course of half a dozen visits. Due to his promise to play with Eirian and his growing fondness for the five-year-old, he had begun joining Mikasa on her Sunday trips, once even going over to the teashop by himself to play with the boy. It turned out the arrangement was beneficial for both sides, since it also helped free up Levi's afternoon so he could buy groceries and supplies. "Want me to ask him?"

There was a small shrug as the boy continued to draw things on the ground. Eren hated seeing the bright-eyed boy upset. It might have been to satisfy his own curiosity, but he, too, wondered where the name 'Eirian' had come from. It definitely was not a common name.

"Hey Eirian, did you know that some of my best friends have girly names as well?" The boy shot him a confused glance and Eren smiled warmly at Levi's son.

After being around Armin and Hange for so long, he had been exposed to various things such as how names could be used for both females and males. One all-too somber night after remembering all those who had fallen in battle, Hange had suggested discussing the origin of their names. It had lightened the depressing mood and in the process, they had a time of shared laughter as they poked fun at one another. No one knew where Hange had come from, but they all took a crack at teasing Connie when it came to light that it was both a male and female name. It was the same with Sasha whose name could go either way. Eren had teased Jean that although he was supposed to be considered a 'gift from God', his face looked way more like a gift from a horse.

"Yeah, two of my friends – Connie and Sasha – have names that are both boy and girl names. Connie is a boy and Sasha is a girl, but both their names are applicable to boys and girls." The comment seemed to lighten Eirian's mood as he stared at Eren, rapt with attention. "And then I have a friend, Jean, who looks like a horse."

"Really? A horse?"

"Yeah, he has this big long face and his eyes are really far apart." Narrowing his face and making goofy eyes, Eren tried demonstrating what it looked like, but it was difficult. In his mind, Jean looked far too much like a horse to be human. However, it worked as Eirian let out a small burst of laughter.

"You look funny, Eren!"

"Hey, I'm trying to show you what by horse-faced friend looks like." The brunet attempted to feign righteous indignation, but it was difficult. "So don't be worried about your name, okay?"

"Okay." The boy returned to drawing shapes on the ground, as though deep in thought. "Are your friends tall, Eren?"

"Mmm... maybe? What do you mean by that?"

"Some people say that papa is short." Eirian stopped making abstract lines in the dirt and glanced up at him. It was unnerving seeing those blue-green eyes he was so used to seeing in the mirror stare back at him. "Is that true?"