He Lies Within the Sea (eremika)

Epilogue

The doctor's on land couldn't understand what had taken Mikasa like that. She was in a mysterious coma, her arms and several ribs broken, her upper half of her body bruised from what her mother told them was a car accident. Her legs were strangely fine, perfectly functional without so much as a scratch or bruise. They said it seemed like a miracle that she wasn't completely broken as her upper half of her body had been, but they didn't know when- or if- she would wake from her coma.

Eren visited everyday. He stayed at her house because he didn't want to be in the sea after what happened. In the end, Annie's use of mind powers had rendered her into a state of such weakness that she, too, was likely as good as dead. Varan was said to have been killed, and the King still reigned the sea, but things were a mess. Eren, however, didn't care about any of that.

All he cared about was Mikasa. He sent word to his family, and he continued to go by her side in the hospital everyday. Her mother wouldn't tell him what happened, however. All she said was that it was Varan and anything more kept her quiet. Part of him wondered if it had been her fault, the way she looked horribly guilty each time she sat by her daughter's bedside. Maybe it was, but there was no point in blaming her or anything. She wouldn't intentionally have gotten Mikasa hurt, and it was their reckless plan to return to the sea that had caused this.

Eren, too, felt a bit guilty. Maybe they should have left the sea in chaos, but the thought made him shake his head. His family lived there. So many innocents. As much as he cared for Mikasa- as much as his heart tightened to see her lying there in a coma- he couldn't wish that they hadn't stopped something from happening.

Soon, the next school year came, and Eren was forced back into the same grade. He missed almost an entire half of the year, after all, with no explanation. The effort that it took him to drag himself to that place was far too much. He would rush over to the hospital right after school got out and wait.

It'd been months, and she remained in that coma. The doctors had finally asked her mother if it was best to take her off life support, but her mother wouldn't do it. No matter how expensive, she refused to let her daughter go. Eren was grateful for that. If she had let them remove the life support, he wouldn't be able to forgive her- or himself.

But today, as winter was approaching once more and the air felt bitter with its chill, Eren knew she wouldn't wake yet again. His mind dragged him towards the hospital, but there was sorrow at the thought. Instead, he wandered over to the house where he'd been staying- each day awkward alongside her parents. He paused by the lighthouse, staring up at the thing.

The cold brought him inside. He was used to it, but the more time he spent on land made him feel more human, like he wouldn't shift into a mermaid if he returned to the sea because it'd been too long. In fact, his mother even dared to go to land to check up on him, but after speaking to Mikasa's mother, her worries were eased and she returned to the sea- although she wasn't happy that he wasn't stopping by.

He carefully climbed the lighthouse stairs and saw the small, cozy area that her father had set up in the place. There was a couch crammed in with everything, and feeling as though he hadn't slept in months, Eren settled on it and fell asleep.

When he woke up, there was a blackened figure hovering over him. He couldn't make out the face because it was looking out of the lighthouse windows, and as his eyes blurred and cleared up, he stared up and froze.

A gasp that escaped his lips pulled the figure's attention, and he locked eyes with Mikasa, her hair having grown long from the months in a coma. She looked exhausted standing there, her hands on the table to keep herself steady. For a long moment, Eren wondered if she was seeing a ghost, and his chest sunk.

But Mikasa's lips spread into a smile. "They don't know I walked out," she said with an odd laugh. Eren sat up on the couch then, unable to fathom what was happening.

"You- walked out of the hospital?" he wondered, slowly standing from the couch. They were so close in the cramped lighthouse room, but he didn't step back to give her any space. With only inches between them, their conversation continued.

She shook her head. "They wanted to keep me longer, but I'm eighteen now I guess. I made them let me leave. I'll go back later. I feel like I'm going to fall."

"Then why did you leave?" he asked, concern flaring up within him.

"Because I needed to know if you were alright. The last I saw you, you sent me off so you could fight Annie."

A sharp laugh escaped him. "I've been by your side everyday."

"I know," she said. "They told me."

"Then why did you not wait?"

"You weren't showing up when you normally should have. So I had to see for myself."

"Mikasa- don't... don't ever scare me like that again."

Another smile, and she leaned in a little closer. "I'm afraid I'll have to scare you once more."

His brows furrowed, but she moved forward and shifted her hands to his shoulders, using his body to steady herself as her lips eased forward and pressed against his. A warm surrounded him, flooding his body with soft feelings as though he were melting. Her hands squeezed tight onto his shoulders like she was going to fall, but her lips continued to press hard against his as though she'd been waiting to do that for months.

When she pulled back, they both gasped for air.

"That was supposed to scare me?" he asked.

She blinked. "It didn't?"

"No," Eren said with a laugh. "I've been holding back from doing the same thing for a long time now."

"Then stop holding back. You didn't meet another girl while I was in a coma, did you?"

"No. I've been staying at the hospital, school, or your house for this entire time. I think I've killed my social life without explaining why to anyone I used to talk to."

"Then, there's just me?"

"Just you."

Her smile spread across her lips, her face lightening up with a beauty that glowed stronger than usual. He couldn't hold back then, and he leaned forward and kissed her again.

When they pulled away, she breathed, "Maybe we should go back to the hospital."

Eren laughed. "Maybe so. You can't even stand."

"It's because my heart won't stop fluttering."

"And you just woke up from a coma."

"That too."

and they lived happily ever after and stuff.


THE END.