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The first time Armin sees Mikasa, he is reminded of a book he had read a long time ago.
The book was about a clan of people that once lived near the ocean, far into the east. Some of its pages had drawings of men and women wearing long robes with floor-length sleeves. Kimonos, he recalls. They had hair ornaments with intricate designs made to look like animals called “dragons” (Armin had never seen a dragon before, but they seemed like frightening creatures, and he was glad there weren’t any inside the walls).
But what Armin remembers the most was the tale of a boy from far away that went on a journey to discover the rest of the world, only to stumble upon the Clan by the Sea.
The people of the Clan were awed by his uncanny appearance. His eyes were the color of the ocean and his hair was kissed by the sun. Stranger still were the stories he told of distant kingdoms, of crowded cities, and of men that looked like him.
News of his arrival quickly spread and soon reached the ears of the royal family. The king and queen summoned the golden-haired boy to their great halls. In exchange for his tales (which would be recorded by the greatest scribes of the land), he would be granted food, shelter, and safe passage.
On his last day with the Clan by the Sea, as the boy told stories to the king and queen, he was met with the most breathtaking sight he had ever laid eyes on. Her onyx eyes were almost as dark as her jet-black hair, contrasting beautifully with her porcelain skin. She wore a floor-length robe of red silk that made her look like a rose. Her face had no expression, but there was a light in her eyes that could soften the hardest of hearts. The king introduced her to him as his daughter, the crown princess.
He fell in love with her at once.
However, the tale comes to an abrupt end. There were no more tales written of the golden-haired wanderer and princess with onyx eyes.
Armin never liked unfinished stories, so when he found something hidden between the book’s pages one day, he was ecstatic. It was a loose piece of paper with a drawing that appeared to have been colored with a mix of paint and water. At the center was a girl dressed in a red kimono sitting under a pink-and-white-leaved tree, and right beside her was a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, gently placing a purple blossom behind her ear. It took him only seconds to figure out that it was a painting of the Clan princess and the boy from the far-off land.
A day after Eren introduces him to Mikasa, Armin wakes up early, eager to give his new friend the painting from his book. He runs off to the Jaeger household expecting everyone to still be asleep, so he is a bit surprised when he sees the girl already sitting alone on the steps by the front door.
“Hello, Mikasa!”
The young girl quickly turns her head towards the direction of his voice, eyes slightly wide. Armin doesn’t realize he is still running until he tries to stop and almost ends up crashing on the steps.
“Hello.”
Mikasa’s voice is soft, almost inaudible. She subconsciously brings her scarf up to her nose as she looks at the boy in front of her. She is startled when he takes one of her hands and places a piece of paper on it.
“Here! This is for you,” he says enthusiastically.
Mikasa looks down at the drawing and stares. She stares for quite a while. His smile falters.
Maybe she doesn’t like it, he thinks.
“I, uh…” He doesn’t know what to say. His excitement from earlier had been replaced by nervousness. He usually thinks about all the possible outcomes of his actions, but this time, he didn’t. He just really wanted to give her the drawing.
“I-I think you look just like her, Mikasa,” he says sheepishly, pointing at the girl in the red kimono. Mikasa continues to stare.
Feeling a little dejected, he is about to turn around and leave when he hears the girl’s voice. His cheeks begin to feel warm and he is unable to suppress the grin from spreading across his face.
‘Thank you, Armin.”
It is the first time he sees her smile.
He decides to stay for a while, maybe until Eren wakes up, and tells Mikasa the story of how a curious wanderer from a far-off land fell in love with a princess that lived near the ocean.
Mikasa sits on the dewy grass with her back against a tree, her scarf hanging loosely from her neck as she watches the sun rise to welcome a new day. It is something she has done every morning since humanity had won the war against the titans. She closes her eyes, feeling the cool morning breeze caress her skin, letting her now-long hair flow freely with the wind. She looks back on all the countless deaths and seemingly-endless battles that led to their victory. It was the price that had to be paid for the tranquility she now enjoys.
She relishes in these mornings, always looking forward to waking up at the first crack of dawn. Because as much as she loves being surrounded by the people she had grown to love over the years, Mikasa still finds pleasure in being alone.
The raven-haired girl is brought out of her reverie when she hears someone approaching. She doesn’t open her eyes because she already knows who it is. The figure stops and she suddenly feels a familiar pair of hands gently touching her hair.
“Armin.”
She slowly opens her eyes and sees him kneeling right in front of her. He doesn’t respond though, his blue eyes focused on whatever it is he is doing to her hair. She is confused but keeps quiet.
Mikasa can’t help but admire her best friend’s features. He’s become quite handsome, she admits to herself. She takes a breath as she notices the closeness in their proximity, hoping the years of keeping a stoic expression don’t fail her now.
A few seconds later, she catches what seems to be satisfaction brushing across the young man’s face. He drops his arms to his sides and smiles triumphantly, admiring his work.
“There,” he says with a huge grin.
“What—“
Mikasa brings her hand up to her hair and feels soft petals tucked behind her ear. She looks at him questioningly and his eyes finally meet hers.
“You’re even more beautiful than her.”
Armin’s expression softens. In place of a grin, his lips are graced with a smile that Mikasa has never seen before. It is a smile filled with hope, peace, longing, and… love.
She shakes the thought away.
“Who?” she asks.
Armin takes out a folded piece of paper from his vest.
“The princess,” he says quietly.
The confused expression on Mikasa’s face changes to one of surprise and nostalgia. She carefully takes the age-worn paper from her friend’s hand and unfolds it ever so gently.
“I… I thought I’d lost this.”
“I found it after one of our missions. I just forgot to give it back, I guess.” He chuckles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
Armin looks at Mikasa as she stares at the drawing of the princess in the red kimono and the golden-haired wanderer. She stares at it like she once did when Armin first gave it to her all those years ago.
And then he sees it.
“Thank you, Armin,” she says but he doesn’t hear.
He is stricken by the realization of how beautiful she actually is. His heartbeat quickens. There is an unfamiliar warmth spreading through his chest. They stare into each other’s eyes, blue against gray. The air around them is filled with anticipation and unspoken words, their faces tinged with pink.
“Mikasa, I—“
Armin is interrupted by the sound of near and hurried footsteps. The two give each other a knowing look at the sound of Eren shouting their names.
“Hey, Armin! Mikasa!”
Mikasa quickly folds the drawing and hides it inside her cardigan. Armin shifts his position and sits to her right.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” he says, a little out of breath. “What are you two doing out here?”
“Armin was just telling me a story.”
Eren notices Mikasa’s rare smile and tries to remember when he had last seen it. He raises his eyebrow and looks to Armin for an answer. The blonde’s eyes widen and he feels the warmth rising to his cheeks.
“Oh? About what?”
Mikasa is the one to answer again. “About a boy from a faraway land that fell in love with a princess…”
“I didn’t know you were into those kinds of stories, Armin,” Eren says incredulously, plopping down to Mikasa’s left.
“I read everything, you know!” Armin retorts, his face (if it was even possible) becoming redder. In just two seconds, the trio are laughing their heads off, none of them really knowing why.
As their laughter dies, a comfortable silence falls upon them. Eren is the first to break it after a while.
“So…” Eren starts, “what did happen to the boy and the princess?”
Armin chuckles. He knew his best friend liked to pretend that he wasn’t interested in romance, but, in reality, the dark-haired boy actually has a soft spot for it.
When Armin opens his mouth to tell Eren about the story’s abrupt ending (or lack thereof), Mikasa begins to speak.
“The princess…” she says slowly, secretly taking Armin’s hand into her own,
“She fell in love the boy, too.”
“Typical.” Eren snorts, trying to keep the smirk off his face, completely aware of the blushes on his two friends’ cheeks.