Work Text:
‘It’s her fault! The girl’s to blame! We’re only guilty in believing her!’
Those words have been ringing in her head throughout the middle of the night. Ymir tries tossing and turning to shake them out of her head, but they just keep going.
"I am Ymir! The king's blood runs through me!"
She never wanted to hear those words again. Now she feels a slight tear build up, the most horrific moments flows back to her.
"No, please. IT'S NOT RIGHT!"
----
With a sudden flash of a yellow light, Ymir gasps in horror; finding herself back in her quiet bedroom. The tan skinned woman can feel her heart thumping in her chest, her breathing is heavy, and sweat dripping onto her pillow. She silently looks to her side, only to find her new fiancé sleeping soundly - with such a tender smile on her lips. Ymir is surprise that she didn't detect the tossing and turning that usually tells her that something was wrong.
Ymir wants to wake her up, or even shift closer to hold her in her arms, but she immediately rejects the idea. It's like 2 o' clock at night; an experience like this is better to talk about in the morning. Ymir turns over on her back, facing up to the ceiling, but is shamefully afraid to go back to sleep only to wake up back on the Paradis walls over sixty year ago.
~~~
It's now coming up to lunchtime, Historia is preparing some nice, healthy sandwiches along with her own lemonade; all while her daughter is brushing her favorite doll's golden hair in her mom's rocking chair. Both seem very happy, especially since Historia's and Ymir's wedding is just around the corner, they always find themselves talking about it non-stop; with only a few more preparations to be made left. It's definitely going to be the highlight of the month with everyone on the island of Paradis.
If only Ymir can be just as joyful as them in this moment, but with those memories being on her mind since that night she can't seem to focus on anything else. What's worse is that her fiancé is so very excited of finally marrying her true love, how can she dare ruin such a moment by talking about such tragic events? Or maybe it's more than just the tragic past that's bothering her... it could be something else. Before Ymir can think further, Historia calls her daughter over to the table with a plate of sandwiches.
"Frieda, lunch is ready." She calls sweetly.
"Coming Mommy." Frieda calls back, putting down the brush but carrying her doll with her.
The toddler princess hurries over and struggles to sit onto a chair, when Historia lifts her up Frieda immediately reaches for one of her sandwiches. Ymir couldn't help but giggle at the little one's appetite; always scarfing down her meal so she can have seconds. she's kinda like a titan in a way, but more adorable and in a tiny package. Historia notices her reaction.
"It's about time I see you smile today." She mentions with a smile. Ymir realizes and looks around at her drink, steadily picking it and taking a big sip. "I... thought I heard a gasp from you last night. Did you had a nightmare?"
The freckled woman almost either spit out or chokes on her lemonade; how was she able to hear that while she was deep in her sleep? Oh well, it can't really be helped now.
"I... don't want to talk about it." Ymir mumbles.
Historia places down the jug of lemonade. "Come on, we've been over this before. You know you can tell me about anything."
There was no point in hiding this anymore. Ymir has been keeping her secret past inside of her for years, and despite how close she was with Historia ever since they met, she never wanted her to know about such truths and pains that led her to being on Paradis. Well, back then she had no idea about the civilizations outside the walls or people are actually titans, but even if she were to just explain how people viewed her in the past it would just make her all the more worried about her. Maybe that's what been bothering her this morning, being wedded to a queen would allow people to be treated in such way again, and maybe not allow her to...
"Ymir!"
Oh. She's been zoning out just there. Ymir takes a deep breath and pushes her bangs out of her eyes, she shifts her chair over so she can directly look at her fiancé. Frieda is too busy eating while trying to feed her dolly a bite or two, so she didn't take any notice; not yet at least.
"Historia." Ymir starts, gently holding her hand in her's. "You know I love you, right?" Historia gives an 'Obviously' nod. "And I'm very happy that after all this time, we can finally get married and live a much more joyful life. It means the world to me. But... I remember that you are now the queen; which means that duties, responsibilities and whatever else royalty does are going to have to come first, and people will be adoring you and treating you with high respect. You may be use to that by now..."
"Not entirely." Historia interrupted. "But go on."
"I never thought I would tell you this but... for a time, I was once treated like royalty myself."
The blonde hair woman's eyes stretch wide open from hearing that sentence. The little one also picks up on the word 'royalty' as well. She spins over on her chair, cudding her dolly while releasing one arm to point at her new mommy.
"Ymeer is a queen too?"
"Not exactly, kid." Ymir scratches the side of her neck. "I was more of part of a cult. This dude took me off the streets of Marley and named me after the founder Ymir Fritz. He then rambled on to people about how I have the king's blood in my veins and that immortality will be there's blah blah blah. I may have gotten everything I wanted, but it was all an act just to get that guy rich. On that day when we were found out, I still kept with the lie in hoping it would save the necks of the followers, but it didn't end as I thought it would. We were all taken to Paradis and well... now you know how I came to be here."
Ymir sighs, letting go of Historia's hand, she feels so frustrated about herself, from both her past actions in Marley and for not telling Historia about all of this sooner. There is a pause for a moment, before Historia spoke up. "So... that's what I saw when I read your letter."
"Huh?" Ymir looks up in minor shock.
"N-No. It's not important right now. So you're afraid that if we get married, it would just be your experience of the worship cult all over again?"
She can't go back now. Ymir answers with a slow nod in shame. Before she knew it, Historia pulls her in for hug; starting to rub her back very softly. The freckled woman is surprised at first, but gives in and hugs her fiancé back. Frieda leaps of her chair and runs over to the embracing women to join in as well, Historia lightly chuckles and picks her up into her lap and Frieda squirms over to pat Ymir on her leg, which brings a smile on Ymir's face - 'why is this little girl so precious?' she thought to herself.
"Ymir, you should know by now that things like that don't work around here anymore. Not since I've been crowned that is. Everything I do is to make sure that people all over Paradis are happy and live much better lives than when there were titans, especially children around Frieda's age, if there feeling down or scared I have to help them. But it's all still a mess when people around the world still us as dangerous, so it will be a big help if you can ally with me. You don't have to be queen, we can just be a family, one that is there for one another no matter what. Are you okay with that?"
"Ymir shrugs her shoulders. "Thanks. Means a lot to hear you say that, and sure I can help in some way, but I don't know how."
"It's fine. We'll get through it together, isn't that right?"
"Yay! We're a family now!" Frieda cheers with a bright smile. Historia and Ymir both laugh about their daughter's optimism, they place her back onto the floor till Historia whispers something into her ear. She nods and runs over to other side of the room.
With confusion and curiosity on Ymir's face, she looks over Historia's shoulder to see what Frieda is grabbing onto with her tiny hands. It's a basket identical to the one they brought on their proposal picnic, Historia takes it from Frieda and carefully places it on the table. Slowly she brings out a small, vanilla iced cake, covered with white icing and has a small rose on the top. In a second, Ymir just remembered what day it is today. She smirks at herself for being so forgetful.
"Happy Birthday, Mom!" Frieda cheers again, hugging her new mom's leg."
"Yes, happy birthday." Historia said smiling cheerfully. "Sorry that we couldn't get anything else done for you. The wedding planning was just taking up most of our time."
But Ymir just shakes her head and this time she brings Historia in for another hug, along with Frieda of course. This brings a smile to all of their faces.
"Don't worry about it. You two are all the birthday gifts I need."