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The fresh scent of the impending spring perfumed the late March evening as an elderly Mikasa Ackerman sat quietly on her back porch with her wife, Annie.
In the distance, a young brunet boy - scarcely 10-years-old - tinkered around at the bottom of a lush garden, picking flowers and watering some vegetable crops with a small can.
"Jean and Marco should be here soon, don't you think, darling?" the once ebony-haired woman quietly asked her formerly blonde wife.
Time had been the greatest eraser to the beautiful palette of youth, save for the dark grey irises that met icy blue ones over a shared smile.
"I'd hope so, dear; Levi's dinnertime is approaching," came the reply from Mrs. Leonhardt-Ackerman, whose very birthday was the cause of celebration.
Just then, there came the sound of voices from the front of the cottage. The two women could not help their smiles as they heard the familiar ruckus of their loved ones entering the home, tugging at their heartstrings with spindly webs of nostalgia.
"Mum? Mama? We're here - and we've brought along some special guests!"
Their only child, Mr. Eren Ackerman - a tall man in his early 40s with dark brown hair, vivid sapphire eyes and a hooked nose worthy of his Leonhart heritage - was the first to arrive on the wooden porch, armed with a large bouquet of roses.
"Happy 70th birthday, Mama!" Eren cheered as he handed the bouquet to Annie, bending down to kiss his mother's cheek before greeting Mikasa, his Mum.
The occupants of the porch smiled fondly as their other family members joined them, armed with different gifts for the birthday celebrant.
Jean and Marco Kirstein entered alongside their daughter, Sasha Kirstein-Ackerman, followed by her firstborn son, 15-year-old Erwin Ackerman.
As Sasha greeted her mothers-in-law and Erwin hugged his grandmothers, wishing his Grandma a happy birthday, Jean and Marco pulled up seats next to their lifelong friends.
Just then, little Levi came running up the steps to tug at his brother's sleeve, calling excitedly, "Come see, come see! There are two birdies with a nest on the ground and one of them looks JUST like Great-Uncle Armin's grey bird! With the same green eyes and brown tips on its wings!"
The Ackerman boys had always been quite fond of birds, especially the grey jaeger bird that had been their Great-Uncle Armin's for all of their lives.
The bird had been referred to by the same name as their Dad - Eren! It had been a funny but very intelligent bird that would play board games with them and even hide-and-seek and so, when it had disappeared with Great-Uncle Armin two years before, the brothers had been very sad.
The boys, followed by their parents and grandparents, made their way back to a secluded corner of the garden where lay two Arctic jaegers sitting peacefully atop a rustic nest amongst the weeds.
The darker bird flapped its wings and chirped in a greeting as its paler mate gave a happy call, hopping to its feet as eight pairs of eyes stared in scrutiny.
The family responded in varying degrees of joy and surprise as both jaegers moved aside to reveal two shiny eggs of a lovely dark olive shade, scattered with dark brown splotches.
"Oh Jean, they did decide to make their nest nearby!" Marco exclaimed, voice as youthfully innocent as his younger grandson's, despite his old age.
The young boys watched on in curiosity as their Granny Mikasa extended her palms out, drawing the birds to her chest in a tender embrace after they each hopped onto one of her hands.
Eren and Sasha led their sons indoors under the premise of setting the candles on their Grandma Annie's birthday cake, leaving the four old friends behind to have a private moment.
Annie slipped an arm around Mikasa's waist as Jean and Marco completed the small huddled circle with the two birds in Mikasa's arms at the centre.
"Welcome home, my boys," Mikasa whispered fondly, allowing a stray tear to escape down her cheek.
Annie smiled at some of her oldest friends and wife before murmuring, "What a lovely birthday this has turned out to be. Come on now, though, let's go in from the cold - we can bring them some berries from my cake afterwards."
Jean took Marco's hand after the birds had fluttered back to their nest, turning to follow Mikasa and Annie back to the cottage as he joyfully added, "Just wait 'till Connie and the others see them!"
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If anyone at the village school ever asked little Levi Ackerman about his favourite animal, he would tell them that it was the Arctic jaeger.
If he liked the person enough, he would invite them over to see the four peculiarly brilliant jaeger birds that lived in his grandmothers' garden. They would sing, interact with humans, and even play games!
If one was lucky enough to be invited to dinner or simply managed to peer into the back garden of Annie and Mikasa Ackerman, they would be delighted with the sight of genuine interspecies companionship and love.
For, without fail, as the Ackerman and Kirstein families sat down together for dinner each evening, four arctic jaegers would join them at the table, chirping and hopping as the family chatted and laughed into the night.
