All She Is (an SNK Fanfiction)

A Little Something

Sasha was pissed at the day.

"First, Captain Levi made me mop the floors for not being on time to the morning drill! Do you even know how dirty the floor is in the mess hall?"

"No." responded Eren, trying to tune her out. He idly wondered why she had chosen him to vent her frustrations to.

"It's like people throw food on the ground on purpose! Then I went to eat and they told me they were out of food! I saw the bins behind the counter, they could've given me something!"

"Mhmm"

Sasha was oblivious to the fact that her rant was falling on deaf ears.

"And... " she sighed, her anger suddenly replaced by sadness. "And Mikasa has been avoiding me."

Eren was suddenly alert, matters pertaining to his adopted sister interested him. "She's avoiding you? Why? Did you have a bad fight or something?"

"I don't even know, that's the worst part!" She searched her head for any time when she could've angered Mikasa. What did I do?

"Well, tell me what's been happening, at least. She never talks about your relationship, not to me anyway."

Sasha wasn't surprised. While Mikasa seemed like a completely different person around her, her attitude towards others was unchanged.

Slowly, Sasha told Eren everything.

It had started when Sasha was trudging through the marketplace. She was hot and annoyed after having to run all morning, shooting glares at strangers as they passed her. She spotted Mikasa struggling with several packages, and called out to her. Her mood was instantly changed, Mikasa always had that effect on her.

Mikasa looked up, startled, and then quickly lowered her head and changed direction. Sasha was confused. She heard me, why did she run away? Maybe she's busy?

She decided not to dwell on it.

But, just a few hours later, it happened again. She knocked on the door to their shared room after finding it locked.

"Mika, are you in there?"

She heard a bump, then several objects clattering to the floor. Mikasa cursed loudly.

"Umm! Just a second! I'm... getting dressed!"

Her footsteps padded around the room, and there was the sound of drawers closing. What the hell?

Sasha narrowed her eyes in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

"Getting dressed? Mikasa, that's ridiculous, I've seen you naked several times!"

After waiting somewhat patiently for another minute, Sasha decided to peek under the door. She got down on her knees and put her cheek to the ground just in time to see Mikasa's bare feet move to the door. She was still in her awkward position when Mikasa threw open the door, breathless.

"I was just-... What are you doing?"

Sasha stood up with as much dignity as she could muster. "What were you doing?"

"I was... working on something."

"Can I see it?"

"You can't."

"How am I supposed to come in here to sleep?"

"Maybe you could find somewhere else for tonight?"

Sasha was hurt and irritated. "Maybe I should." she said with finality before turning and leaving to beg someone to share their bed with her.

Since then, they hadn't spoken much. At first, Sasha was angry with Mikasa, but now she just wanted to have her back. The days before the incident had been hard, but not being able to go to Mikasa when things were troubling her was even worse.

Plus, Ymir kicks in her sleep.

"Now I don't know what to do, whatever the reason was for avoiding me in the first place, I probably just made it worse."

Eren stretched his back, having sat wordlessly in the same position during Sasha's tale. "I don't know, Sasha."

Sasha was disappointed, having expected Eren to provide some wisdom or advice to help her. "Oh..."

"But, if there's one thing I know about Mikasa, it's that she doesn't do things without reason. You should probably just wait for her to explain."

Sasha blinked. I never thought Eren Jaeger would be the one to suggest not doing anything.

Eren stood. "In any case, I have to go. Good luck, Sasha."

Sasha sat alone for a while. She considered what he had said... and decided not to heed his advice. She rose up with a new determination in her heart. She'll march right up to Mikasa and ask her what was going on! Yeah! I'll figure this out right now!

Ready to face Mikasa and prepared for any answer she received, Sasha strode boldly into the hall. Not knowing anything is worse than knowing something bad.

Sasha turned the corner into hall where their room was. She stopped in front of the door to ready herself. She was still nervous, despite her determination to do what she had come to do.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Mikasa stood in the doorway just a few inches in front of her, looking surprised. Sasha opened her mouth to speak, but no words came to her. All the wind had been taken out of her sails upon seeing Mikasa so close and so quickly.

"Good! You're here. Wow. This is perfect, actually. Come in!"

Sasha was taken aback by Mikasa's excitement. She couldn't say a word as she was ushered to the bed and was sat down. Mikasa stood in front of her, beside a large object underneath their blanket, a makeshift tarp.

"Okay, sorry you had to wait, but I'm finished with what I was working on the other day."

Finally, Sasha found a word. "What?"

"Look, I know you've had a rough time lately, and I hate seeing you like that, so I thought I'd make you a little something."

Again, Sasha demonstrated her impressive vocabulary. "What?"

Mikasa ignored her lack of words. "Sorry I had to keep it secret for so long, but I think you'll appreciate this."

With that, Mikasa drew the blanket off of her hidden gift.

Revealed now was an easel and canvas, on which was a painting. Sasha stared in awe at it. It was a beautifully done painting of... her.

She was surrounded by dark colors, but had a halo of bright colors around her, as if she was glowing. She was facing towards the left edge of the canvas, as though the viewer was standing to the side of her. Sasha took in every detail of the image, the swirls of color, the, way she was made to look almost angelic... the half-eaten potato in her right hand?

Mikasa shyly began to explain. "I found out that I have a knack for painting... and I wanted to paint you, so I did. This is what you looked like when I first saw you, exactly how I remember it."

"Mikasa, I..."

She went on. "See, I've always thought about how it was amazing that we ever met. We could've been in different cities, or one of us could've died before that day in training, or we might have simply never seen each other. But we did, and I'll always remember that moment as the moment when... " she blushed, "when I met the love of my life."

Sasha's heart melted. She understood now why Mikasa had been avoiding her, something like this had taken a lot of time and materials. That's why she was in the market that day.

It felt like the weight of the last several weeks had been lifted from her, replaced by her renewed love for Mikasa. She felt tears come to her eyes. "Mikasa, I can't begin to tell you how much this means to me."

She pulled her into a tight hug, silently vowing to never let go.

Mikasa seemed pleased. "I'm glad you love it so much."

Sasha shook her head, "No, it's not the  painting that I love, it's you, Mikasa."

That night, they slept beside each other, hands entwined.