His Promise [Riren/Ereri Fanfic]

Chapter 11: Nightmares

"Good morning Sunshine! I see you finally remembered my number."

Eren rolled his eyes and gave a good natured snort. He hurried across the quad toward the student union ready to be inside out of the chilly autumn air. Over night, Paradis county had shifted from Indian summer to brisk fall.

"Hi mom! I know Mikasa has told you how busy I've been with pledging. This has been the most grueling experience of my life. Still...I'm sorry I didn't call sooner. I miss you..."

Eren could hear the clatter and clank of kitchen utensils in the background. Unbidden, an image of his mom popped into his mind, her long black hair clipped and cascading down her back with flour smudges on her cheeks and her bright yellow apron tied around her waist.

"Oh sweetie, I'm just giving you a hard time. Soooooo, how's it going? I might have heard there's a boy..."

"Mom!"

"Is he handsome? Of course he is. You have to send me pictures-"

"There's no-"

"Even if you really like him, make sure you don't sleep with him too soon, you don't want him to think you're easy."

Eren skidded to a halt, scandalized and tried his best not to grind his teeth. Mikasa would pay for this! She couldn't possibly have known about him and Levi. Nobody knew...they were so careful. Which meant his sister was getting revenge for him showing everyone her brownie smeared face. Remembering the photo brought him back to the purpose of the phone call.

"Hey mom forget all that, listen. You know that photo you sent me? Behind me on the fridge was a drawing...do you know the one I mean, with the two people standing in front of a shield?"

"Remember it? How could I forget! That was just one of many. I probably still have some of them. You and the Captain went on all kinds of adventures. Until we brought Mikasa home he was practically your only friend."

"Wait, wait, wait...he was a real person?"

"Oh sweetie, of course not! He was your imaginary friend. Remember dad's colleague Doctor Abrams? He explained it to us at the time. This 'Captain' person was someone your mind invented as a coping mechanism for your night terrors."

Eren had no recollection of any of this...

"Night terrors...?"

"It was awful. It started when you were about 3 years old. You would wake up screaming and shaking in the middle of the night and cling to me for dear life. Sometimes you would be covered in blood from biting your hands or lips to stifle the screams.

[Eren looked down at his left hand, to the crescent shaped scar between his thumb and pointer finger. He had had it for as long as he could remember...]

None of us slept through the night for six months. One morning, gosh I remember it like it was yesterday, you actually slept through the night. I had no idea what I would find in your room. I was honestly terrified that you might have died in your sleep. At breakfast that morning you looked at me with your solemn little face and said, 'Mama, everything will be alright from now on, the Captain will protect me.' I figured he was some sort of superhero you had seen on tv. You talked about him all the time- what he liked and disliked, things like that. You told me you were a scout and he was the Captain. You drew that logo of yours everywhere. You had quite the imagination, Eren. And you know what? You never had another night terror. Slept like a rock."

"Wow...that's...wow. Crazy."

A small stream of memories trickled through Eren's mind. His mom getting him to eat vegetables by telling him that he needed to be strong to go on a mission with the Captain, pasting a picture of the feather shield over his bed to remind him to be brave in the dark...His mom sighed.

"You're not having nightmares again, are you?"

"No, no. Well, I mean, I did have one, but it couldn't have been the same..."

"Trees. You always talked about trees. You could never remember the nightmares once you woke up, but sometimes you would scream about trees and monsters. Monsters as tall as trees."

Eren's mind stuttered to a halt. Could he really be having the same nightmare he had as a child? Could Levi's tattoo had brought up some long buried trauma from his own childhood? Too many questions.

"Huh. Weird. Thanks for the talk mom, but actually I have to go now."

"Oh, good bye sweetie! Don't exhaust yourself too much with all this Fraternity business."

"I'm fine mom, don't worry."

"Its my job to worry."

"I know. I love you mom. I miss you a lot."

"I love you too, Eren."

"Oh, mom?"

"Eh?"

"I did meet someone and he is really handsome. Gotta go, bye!"

>click<