Work Text:
The fire burns freely, flames flickering high as the surviving members of the 104th laugh and cheer and dance. The Titans were defeated, Annie had broken free of the crystal and with her help Eren and the others rescued Ymir, defeated Zeke and Hanji had even cured the Titan shifters of their 13 year lifeline.
Armin was sitting in the sand, watching the waves crash against the sand. He was a little away from the festivities surrounding the bonfire, the heat had been getting to him, it totally wasn't the fact that Eren had been laughing and chatting with Petra. He ignored the pull in his chest as he looks over his shoulder, Eren and Petra leaning into one another discussing walls knows what. He sighed.
"And why are you sulking back here shorty?"
Armin jumps at the familiar voice, Ymir drops down next to him, sitting back on her hands. Armin would be lying to say he want relieved when they found the tall girl alive, sure she wasn't the nicest of people but he saw the good in her and well, the pure smile on Historia's face when they found the boisterous girl warmed Armin's heart, also the fact that Historia practically launched herself at Ymir.
"I just needed to catch some air"
"Mmhmm and it has nothing to do with Jaeger getting all cozy with little red over there huh?"
Armin choked on his own breath.
"What? Why would you- I mean-"
"You think I'm blind Arlert?"
"No I-uh"
"Everyone can see it shorty, apart from Jaeger apparently"
Armin blushed, cheeks turning a dark shade of red, he thought he had been subtle. Though he did notice Ymir throwing him smirks back in training when Eren would touch him, she knew this whole time. Panic started to rush through him when he realizes what she had fully said, everyone can see it? Surely he would have noticed if anyone else knew. He started thinking of those who might know.
Historia? No, she's usually to busy staring at Ymir, Maybe it-
"Calm down there Lovebird, nothing to worry about, everyone's rooting for you"
Some how Armin blushed harder, Everyone knew!?
"I don't know what to say" Ymir smirked
"Well, you go up to him, declare your love and whisk him off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Not that hard blondie"
Armin's eyes drew to Eren as she talked, He was still talking to Petra though they weren't as close as they were minutes ago. Ymir sighed
"Alright listen up Armin, Your scared aren't you? Afraid that Jaeger over there doesn't return your feelings for him right? Well you got nothing to worry about, he's just as fallen for you as you are for him"
The blond haired boy froze at that, Eren returns his feelings? No there is no way. He's into girls, he's into Petra! Right?
"I don't think so Ymir"
"I know so bookworm, he's been practically undressing you with his eyes this whole time. Hell maybe you'll finally get lucky tonight, you look like you need to get laid"
Armin was quickly creating a new shade of red
"The fuck are you two talking about?" Annie's voice makes Armin jump, why is everyone sneaking up on me? Annie drops down in the space between Ymir and Armin, drink in her hand as her slightly glazed eyes glance out to the beach before looking between the other two.
"The hard on Jaeger has for little Armin here" Ymir didn't even flinch at Annie's arrival, she must have heard her coming.
"Don't boyfriends usually do have that for each other?"
"We aren't dating" the look of surprise on Annie's face almost made Armin laugh if it wasn't for what she was surprised about, she looked to Ymir who only nodded in confirmation that the boy wasn't lying.
"But you two look like you want to eat each other alive and in the fun way" Armin was beginning to think the duo where on a mission to see just how deep a shade of red they could make Armin blush, he was getting quite the temptation to call over Mikasa and Historia.
"Exactly what I told him but he thinks Jaegers not interested" Annie actually laughed at that.
"Not interested? He's more interested in you then short and moody is in cleaning" Armin wasn't sure about that, Levi really loved his cleaning "besides, now is a good as time as any to tell him, no more titans no more constant danger. He'll be looking for something to do and play your cards right and it'll be you"
Annie was clearly drunker then he thought, Ymir cackled at that and pat Annie's shoulder as she laughed. The fact Annie didn't react to the contact told him she was definitely drunker then he initially presumed.
"See Arlert? even Annie can see he wants you so stop being a little bitch and confess to him" Annie smirked at him before it registered what Ymir had said and the girls snapped back around.
"The fuck is that suppose to mean?"
"Well you spent the last several years desperately pinning after Mikasa and-"
"Just because I didn't throw myself at her on the first day doesn't mean I was desperately pinning after her"
"And what is that su-" Ymir was cut off by the presence of another blonde girl, though this one was quite smaller then Annie. Historia drunkenly crawled between the small space between Annie and Ymir and had it been any one else they mightn't have fit, but Historia's height or lack thereof enabled her to crawl through.
"Ymir" the girl slurred lovingly, gaze turning to the tall women to her side. She slurred the girls name again and started climbing into her lap. Ymir smiled softly at her small love, a smile the smaller girl eagerly returned on a brighter scale thanks to the alcohol, it appears Historia was an affectionate drunk.
"How much have you had to drink?" Ymir asks, Armin is thankful for the distraction so he can finally let his face cool down, Historia simply smiles wider and wraps her arms around Ymir's neck and resting her face in the crook of her neck.
"My Ymir" she mumbles against the warm skin, Armin ignores the shiver it causes through Ymir "My Ymir" Historia was facing Annie now, scowling at the taller blond. Historia was also apparently a jealous drunk. Annie's eyes widen before she turns back to Armin, attention drawn back to him from the two other girls.
"See, that could be you and Eren but you be sulking" The temptation to call for Mikasa got a lot more tempting.
"Ha! good one, but seriously Armin you should tell him. Just because the titans are gone doesn't mean we won't be in danger again" Ymir returned to the chat, Historia having moved from Ymir's right side to her left "Life's too short to hold in things like this, you never know when might be the last time you see him again" Ymir's words where soft and genuine and the look she gave Historia broke his heart. They were almost too late.
"You getting all sentimental cause you where almost titan chow?" Armin didn't miss the way Historia tensed at that, Arms tightening around Ymir as Ymir's own hand started rubbing soothing circles on the smaller girls back obviously sensing the distress in the other girl. She glared daggers at Annie for that.
"Woops"
"Anyway, you should still go tell Eren"
"Tell me what?" Armin jumped again at the third voice and person to sneak up him tonight and then froze still, heart dropping into his stomach. How much had he heard? Eren takes up the empty space next to Armin, crossing his legs and letting his hand sift through the soft sand, eyes on Armin.
"Welp I think it's about time me and Historia go to bed, come on darlin" Ymir stands, Historia still in her arms and turns around but not before giving Armin a wink.
"I'm going to go find Mikasa, you two enjoy yourselves now" Armin was now completely alone with the boy who held his affections. Armin tried to calm his harshly beating heart as Eren turned his smile and pretty eyes solely on Armin.
Maybe it was the pep talk, maybe it was the relief from finally winning the war or maybe it was just that Armin wasn't as scared as he always thought he was. But he found himself taking a deep breath and saying calmly.
"ERENIMINLOVEWITHYOU"
Ok maybe not so calmly.
Eren blinked.
Then Eren kissed him.
Petra grinned when she saw the two boys kiss, glad that Eren finally got the boy he wanted. She almost sighed to herself though, why did she always fall for the complicated ones. She wondered if she should give it a shot too, Eren was brave enough after all.
"Petra"
Petra jumps and whirls around on the log she's sitting on, almost losing her balance as the alcohol protests the fast movement.
"Yes Captain Levi?"
"Who cleaned the barracks? The entire place is spotless top to bottom,mom quite impressed." A warmth spreads through her chest as she hears this knowing who cleaned the barracks.
"Me sir, I thought it would be a pleasant surprise" Levi gives her a look, before smiling softly at her in a way that has her heart melting on the spot. He then takes the spot previously left by Eren before looking out at the other party goers.
"I am very glad you survived this war Petra"
"I'm glad you survived too sir"
"You can call me Levi, Petra, the wars over"
"Ok Levi"
Levi turned to her then, a soft look in his eyes as he watched her and Petra couldn't run away from him. And in that moment Petra knew things would work out the way they where suppose to as he smiles softly at her.
Annie dropped down next to the dark haired girl who had been a major benefactor in her switching sides, the girl didn't turn her head at her presence choosing merely to continue looking out at the dark horizon.
"Looks like your boys finally got their shit together, win a bit of prompting by yours truly of course... And freckles of course but meh"
Mikasa finally turned her head from the horizon, looking at Annie questioningly before the blonde tilted her head in the direction of the boys currently in a passionate make out session. Mikasa smiled.
"I'm glad they have finally admitted it, it was quite painful how oblivious the two were."
"I know right? I actually thought they were dating"
The corner of her lips twitch up at Annie's statement before her eyes return to the horizon, Annie's joining hers. As the noise of the party goers begins to die down, Annie is unable to stop a breach of thoughts cascading into her mind. She was once the enemy, she broke Mikasa's heart, she almost killed her friends, she killed Marco.
Annie knew in her heart that if she could go back, she'd stop it all. She'd confront Bertolt and Reiner at the training camp and end it all right then and there. She'd-...
"What's going on inside your head?" Annie is shaken out of her trance by Mikasa's voice, who once again has stopped looking at the horizon and now has her attention on Annie, eyes flashing with concern and a frown on her face.
"Just wishing I could go back in time and stop the others" she said, no point in lying about it Mikasa would see through it. Realization shows on Mikasa's face before it softens, she places her hand on Annie's shoulder.
"You've made up for everything you've done Annie, you helped us beat the Titans, you saved thousands of lives. Maybe some won't forgive you for your actions, but I will."
The smile Mikasa's gives her is so soft Annie can't help but kiss it. Yeah, she thinks, she'd stop it all for this kiss.
Ymir enters her room, tiny blonde still lying in her arms and finding Ymir's hair to be very interesting as she fiddles her hands through it. Ymir walks over the the bed in the back off the room planning to place the girl onto it, but said girl catches wind off her plan and instead wraps her arms and legs tightly around Ymir.
"No"
"Historia you have to rest"
"No"
Ymir pulls at the girl who has the vice grip of someone three times her size, she manages to detache Historia's legs much to the protest of the tiny blonde and then eventually her arms but as she goes to place the blonde down once again she finds herself ending up on her back on the bed, the tiny blonde on top of her grinning victoriously.
"No, we are going to have some fun"
"Not while your drunk we aren't"
"Ymir"
"Historia" the blonde girl pouts, before another grin makes its way onto her face, she captures Ymir's wrists with her own tiny hands.
"Now you have to have fun" Ymir rolls her eyes before smirking at the blonde on top of her, slowly leaning up till her lips skirt across the girls cheek causing her eyes to flutter, then across the girls lips so lightly Historia whines before Ymir kisses her with everything she has. When she detaches her lips from the blondes seconds later the girl is more dazed then when she stumbled into Ymir's lap before she simply melts on the spot. Ymir decides is is the time as she casually sits up disrupting the false power the blonde thought she had and places the girl into the bed.
Historia's hand shoots out however, catching her wrist and pulling her back down as she began to pull away from the blonde.
"Cuddle me"
"Babe I'm just going to get chang-.."
"Cuddle me now, Queens orders"
Ymir sighs before complying, already having planned to join the drunk girl in bed after she got changed. Historia wraps herself around Ymir the second she's in the bed, vice like grip returning to hold the former Titan close to her.
"I'm never letting you go"
"Ok babe"
"I love you, Ymir"
Ymir smiles softly, she went through the closest thing to living hell in her Titan form for decades on end after a already shitty life of betrayal and deceit. But in the end she ended up in Historia's arms and that made it all worth it.
"I love you too, Historia"