#masters of the gentle snark. soulmates.

[wellcollapse]

3x01 // 7x01 (insp. x)

[londone-fog]

Friday, Never Hesitate- Reddie Soulmate AU

AO3 Link

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

The next day, his mother told him to swallow a new pill. Oblong, slightly pink in color. It was bitter on his tongue, and he didn’t like it. The back pain went away after a couple of days.

But his Mama told him to keep taking them.

He didn’t want to upset her.

Chapter Seven (Final Chapter)- Sunday

Eddie shook the water out of his hair, closing his umbrella as he walked into his building. He loved Portland, but the rain was a bit out of control. He dug around in his coat pocket in search of his keys, fingers accidentally brushing against the small box in his pocket. His breath hitched.

As the elevator rose slowly to his floor, he nervously turned the ring on his finger.

The day Richie proposed was probably the best day of Eddie’s life so far. He was in the process of earning his master’s degree in psychology, and he’d come home feeling completely drained from classes and work. He’d walked into his and Richie’s shared apartment and flopped dramatically on the couch, burrowing his face into the cushions.

“I’m gonna guess your day wasn’t stressful at all, Spaghetti Head.”

Eddie mumbled back a sharp comment, but it was lost in the cushions. He felt the couch dip as Richie took a seat next to his prone form, placing a gentle hand on his back.

“Seriously though, rough day?” he asked, voice completely genuine. Eddie turned his head so his mouth was no longer covered.

“I guess so, mostly just long. Why do I want to be a therapist again? I can just barely get my own life together.” He could tell Richie was smiling, and he chuckled a bit to himself. “But I’m home now, so that’s significantly better.”

But Richie was silent. The kind of silent that meant he was thinking really hard. The kind that worried Eddie to no end. He turned over on the couch, sliding up a bit so his back rested against the arm.

“What’re you thinking about? I can practically hear gears turning.”

Richie lifted his eyes to meet Eddie’s, something like nervousness shimmering in them. The light shone through his irises, turning the dark brown nearly a blondish amber. It was one of the most beautiful things Eddie had ever seen in his nearly 23 years of life.

“I, uh, had a better plan for this, but fuck it. I’m just gonna do it.” He took a deep breath, then slowly slid off the couch so he was kneeling on just one knee. He pulled something from his pocket, turning it over in his hands as he spoke.

“Eds, we’ve known each other since we were seven. I knew from the moment I laid my eyes on you that you were something special. And you’ve proven me right everyday since. And while it was terrible that your soulmark didn’t show for so long, I think I knew anyway. I knew that you had me, and I could only hope I had you in turn.” He finally lifted the object in his hands, holding it between his pointer finger and thumb. It was a ring. A silver circle that glinted hopefully in the light. “I know that this means nearly nothing compared to all of the other milestones we’ve had. And we’re soulmates, so we’re pretty much common-law married anyway. You’ve already made me the happiest man on the entire planet. No, the entire universe.” He swallowed, gently sliding the ring onto Eddie’s finger.

“What’d ya say, Eds?”

Eddie stared down at his hand, a smile sneaking its way onto his face. He leaned his face close to Richie’s, smug smirk firmly in place.

“You’re wrong.”

“What the fuck do you mean?” Richie’s face bloomed in shock and slight offense. Eddie slid his hand around the back of his neck, pressing their noses together.

“You can’t be the happiest man in the universe, because I already am.”

Eddie remembered that day, nearly two months before, with great fondness. He thought of it clearly as the numbers on the elevator blinked to his floor.

Today was Richie’s birthday. Eddie wanted so badly to make today special. He’d made plans to have Ben and Bev over for dinner, and of course the box in his pocket. It contained, of course, a ring. Very similar to Eddie’s own, with LOVER engraved on the inside band.

He walked into the apartment. Richie sat on the couch sifting through their mail, sock feet resting on the coffee table.

“Got anything good there?” Eddie asked, hanging up his coat and setting his keys on the table by the door. He carefully extracted the ring box from his pocket, making sure to hide it from Richie’s view.

“Mostly junk. A card from Stan. Power bill.”

“What does Stan say?”

“Just a happy birthday from him and his wife. They’re too damn perfect for each other, I swear.”

“I think that’s sort of the point.” He slides next to his fiancé, resting his cheek against his shoulder. “Happy birthday, love. How was your day?”

“Better now that you’re here,” Richie replied, snuggling closer and setting the mail down. He kissed Eddie sweetly on the lips, short but meaningful.

“Do you want me to give you your present before Ben and Bev get here?”

“Striptease?” Richie asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“No asshole. You wish.” He turns and pulls the ring out of its box, and opens Richie’s hand, placing it on his palm.

“I had been seriously considering proposing to you, but you beat me to it. And I had wanted to get you this ring. And now that we are engaged, I felt it sort of odd that only I had a ring. So I bought you the ring as a birthday present.” He sucked in a nervous breath as he watched Richie run his finger across the engraving. He slipped it on his finger and grabbed Eddie’s face, planting several kisses on his cheeks and forehead.

“I love it. Does this mean that I’m the best lover ever then?”

Eddie scoffed, pecking him on the lips.

“You’re my lover, and that’s all I care about.”

-

Ben and Bev come over around 6:30, all joy and well wishes. They help with the last dregs of dinner preparation, setting the table and finally sitting down.

“So how’s work going, Rich?” Bev asked, digging into her pasta.

“Pretty good. They mentioned letting me do some more stuff around the station. Being in charge of song choice some nights.”

“That’s great. I’m sure you’ll be fantastic at it.” Ben said. He glances over at Bev, but she doesn’t notice. A ring glimmers on her left ring finger.

Her and Ben were to be married later this summer, and they’d been engaged longer than Richie and Eddie. Nearly a year and a half.

“How’s the wedding planning coming?” Asked Eddie.

“Well, we think we finally found a location. It’s kinda far.” Said Bev, drawing circles on the table top with the top of her finger.

“Oh? Location wedding, very original. What location might I ask?” Richie jested.

Ben and Bev looked at each other, sharing an odd look. Ben finally sighed and took her hand in his.

“We were wanting to have the wedding back in Derry.”

The table went silent. Neither of the four had been back to Derry since they left after high school. Eddie hadn’t spoken to his mother, and Richie and his parents had never been close. Neither of them particularly wished to go back to the small town.

“Why Derry?” Eddie asked.

“Well, it was the place where it all happened. It’s where we met. Where we all met. Why not come full circle.” Bev continued to draw circles on the table, eyes downcast with nervousness.

Richie slapped his palm against the table, causing everyone to jump.

“Bevvy, I think that is a great idea. Get the gang all together in the place where it all started right?” She and Ben both nodded. “Then I’m completely on board. What about you Eds?”

All eyes turned to Eddie, who sat shock still. The prospect of going back to Derry made Eddie’s skin crawl. Back to It’s lair, back to broken arms and missing soulmarks and misery. And his mother. What about his mother? He hasn’t spoken to her since the day he left for Portland. But then he looked up and saw his friends, hands clasped and eyes wide. Pleading. His resolve crumbled.

“I think it’s a great idea guys. We’ll be there.”

He hooked his pinky through Richie’s under the table, squeezing. Hoping to convey his anxiety.

-

Richie was already in bed once Eddie got out of the shower. He had his glasses resting on his nose, book in his hands. Eddie couldn’t help but smile at his soulmate, in a position of rare quiet. He rubbed his thumb against the smooth band on his finger as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Richie Tozier, is that a book I see?”

“Scared I’ll become smarter than you, Eddie Spaghetti?” he snarked, not looking up from the pages. Eddie just grinned wider before flopping down on the bed and snuggling up to Richie’s side.

“What’re you reading?”

“Couldn’t tell you. I just keep thinking about you.” He set his book back down on the bedside table and flicked out the light. He wraps his long arms around Eddie and pulls him closer. “You seemed upset at dinner. What’s up love?”

Eddie shrugged.

“I dunno. Just going back to Derry. The whole concept scares me. Everything with It. And remembering not having you. It’s just bad memories. And my mom.” A moment of silent understanding passed between them.

“She doesn’t have to know you’re there. You don’t have to speak to her.”

“I dunno Rich, I sort of want to? I mean, I’m engaged now. I feel like that’s something she should know.”

“You give her too much credit.”

“I know I do. But she’s still my mom. What she did was fucked up, but she did it because she was misguided. I learned about something in class the other day that I think applies to her.”

“What’s that?”

“Münchausen syndrome by proxy. It’s a mental disorder where you convince someone, typically a child, that they’re sick in order to maintain control over them.”

“Sounds fucked up.”

“It is. I can see why she had it though. I mean, her soulmate died.”

Richie hums in agreement, rubbing a hand over Eddie’s soulmark under his shirt. Eddie pressed his nose up against the underside of Richie’s chin, placing gentle kisses there.

“So, you gonna talk to her?” Richie mumbled.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Alright, then I’ll take you.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

-

Eddie stood in front of his old house, fiddling with his hands and turning his ring over and over. Richie had dropped him off about 5 minutes ago, and he hadn’t taken a step since.

Ben and Bev’s wedding was in a two days, and all of the original losers were in town. Mike had stayed in Derry with his soulmate. Stan and his wife came up from Texas. Bill came up from New York. They’d all eaten dinner together last night, reminiscing and sharing stories from the last time they all saw each other.

But today, Eddie stood terrified in front of a building he never thought he’d reenter. He finally, slowly, started taking steps toward the door. He raised his fist, gently tapping on the wood.

It took about 30 seconds for Sonia Kaspbrak to open the door. She looked nearly the same, with more grey hair and deep set wrinkles.

“Hey mom.”

“Can I help you with something?” she asked, face void of any emotion. Eddie wet his lips and continued turning his ring.

“Can I come in? I, uh, have a lot to discuss with you.”

She blinked, but stepped aside to let him in. He mumbled a thanks, taking a tentative seat on the edge of the couch. His mother took a seat in her recliner, flicking off the television. They sat in silence for a long moment.

“What are you doing here, Edward?” his mother finally asked.

“Ben and Beverly- my friends from when I was a kid- are getting married this week. Richie and I traveled here with them for the wedding.”

She hummed.

“You still with Richie?”

“Of course I am. He’s my soulmate, Ma.”

“I haven’t even seen your soulmark. Unless you’ve been lying about having one.”

“Why would I lie about that?” he asked quietly.

“Well, go on. Let me see it then.”

With a bubble of humiliation rising in his stomach, Eddie slowly pulled his shirt over his head. He heard his mother slowly stand, gently touching his soulmark with her cold fingertips.

“Well I’ll be damned,” she whispered. Eddie quickly pulled his shirt back on.

“Did you think I’ve been lying to you all this time,” he asked, hurt curling in his chest.

“I don’t know, you rebelled. How was I supposed to know how far you’d go? Lying about having a soulmate isn’t too extreme a conclusion to draw.”

“You think me stopping my medicine was rebelling? It was either hurting me or doing nothing. I would never lie about Richie.”

Sonia simply shrugged. Eddie sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“We’re getting married, Ma. Richie asked me to marry him, and I said yes.”

She froze.

“You’re too young, Eddie. You can’t be getting married.”

Eddie set his jaw, exhaling through his nose.

“I’m 24 now, I am not too young. And even if I was, it’s none of your business anymore. That’s not why I’m here.”

“Then why are you here? To yell at me? You already did that when you were 17.”

“No, I’m not.” He sits back down on the couch. “I’m here because you need help. Do you know what I’m going to school for?” She shook her head. “I’m getting my masters in psychology so I can become a therapist. And I’ve learned that you have a mental disease called Munchausen disease by proxy.”

“That’s sounds absolutely ridiculous.”

“Does it? Because what you do with MDBP is you convince people they’re sick so you can control them. Typically a child. Sound familiar?”

His mother gapes for a moment, before brandishing a finger.

“Now, you listen here-“

“No Mom, you listen. You need professional help. Because I’m going to tell you now, this will be the last time you see me if you don’t do something. Like I said when I graduated, I want to at least try to have a healthy relationship with my only living parent. But only if you do this one thing for me, because this is the only thing you could give me that’d I’d actually need.”

They were deathly silent. Eddie forced his palms flat against his knees so he wouldn’t fidget.

“You’re really serious, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“You’ve changed.”

“That’s what happens when you grow up.”

More silence.

“You know I’m proud right? I always have been. But I feel anger too.”

“Because I left.”

She nods, staring down into her lap.

“After your father, I hated everything. And I only had you. But I knew you’d leave me. So when your mark started coming in, I panicked. I couldn’t deal with you leaving.”

“I know that now. That’s why I want you to get help. Please.” He walks over and gently takes her hand in his. “Please, Mama.”

He watched as tears slowly began to fill her eyes, brown just like his. She nods.

“Thank you, Mom.”

A car horn honks outside, and they both turned to see Richie sitting in a car by the curb. He looks at Eddie and taps his watch. “I have to go. Wedding stuff y'know.” She nods, letting go of Eddie’s hand. “Richie’s a lucky man.”Eddie laughs to himself. “Funny, I think the same thing about myself everyday.”And with that, he walked out of his old home and into the waiting arms of his new one. And he knew he’d never feel alone again. 

Taglist: @anniewdoodles

[moricatlibrary]

“Red String of Fate” (YumiHisu)

In a world in which one can find their soul mate through a red string of fate, Christa Lens confronts hers for the identity of her soulmate...

A short YumiHisu drabble (goes along with the same AU I made for this short eremin drabble)

cuz I really wanted to get to know these girls better<3 I apologize up front if I get anyone out of character here, I don’t know Ymir and Historia as well as I know Eren and Armin but I did my best and I still think it turned out cute so here is this blurb, enjoy if you can^^<333

In this world, everyone is well aware of one phenomenon which is simply a coming-of-age right of passage: the red string of fate that leads to one’s soul mate. When one closes their eyes, the glowing red string appears against the black matte of nothingness. Titan paths might still be a mystery to these Eldian children yet, but at least one metaphysical, extradimensional path is common knowledge among the humans in this world and is as mundane as a sneeze or a sunrise...

"THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP! I thought my heart was gonna burst right out of my chest! It was really terrifying by this point!" Hannah exclaimed, enthralling the various soldier girls in training at her lunch table, though more than loudly enough to disturb the neighboring tables too...

Ymir listened on with a sardonic look on her face, pursing her lips in amusement for what she deemed a hopeless little sap's story.

"So I finally stopped where the string ended, burst open my eyes, and THERE HE WAS!!!! FRANZ KEFKA!!! My soulmate, right there in front of me, with his eyes closed, and his cheeks blushing, like a cute little lamb!!! And he said 'Are you my soulmate?' in the most precious little voice, I thought I was going to die! And I screamed 'It's me, Hannah!' and we embraced, and live happily ever after, the end!"

The miscellaneous girls at the table unanimously swooned, with even Mikasa letting out a shy, hidden sigh in Eren's direction at the thought of meeting her soul mate like that... 

'Christa' normally would've 'aw'd the loudest, but just felt too conflicted, in all honesty...

Mina, on the other hand, felt empowered and inspired. "What a story! Can you imagine opening your eyes to find a handsome guy like Franz standing right there in front of you, waiting for you to embrace him?! Talk about a dream come true! Eh, Christa?"

The angelic blonde girl's eyes widened and with a hard swallow, she finally found her voice and character again. "I-it is a lovely thought..."

"Well, I rather don't care what some red string says. I wouldn't mate with anyone who doesn't know how to serve up perfectly saturated pork ribs." Sasha interrupted before taking a ravenous bite of her dry bread.

"You never know, Sasha!" Hannah replied. "I never dreamed Franz would be the one for me and yet there he was! And here I am happier than I've ever been!"

"Pfft-- low standards, much..." Ymir snarked, receiving an annoyed growl from Christa under her breath.

Too giddy to mind Ymir’s rudeness today, Hannah ventured on. "Well, who would you want then, Sasha?"

"The cook's son. He knows how to make perfectly steamed bratwurst. Nothing could be better than a man with a butcher's apron!" She proclaimed sweetly with a hearty swallow. "Hey, what about you, Christa?"

"U-uhm-- I don't know..." she blushed, and quickly dodged the question. "What about you, Mikasa?"

Now Mikasa was blushing.

"Oh, please." Mina interrupted. "We all know who she wants, but who do you want? You're easily the most desired girl in the whole unit! Which lucky guy do you have your eyes on for being at the end of your string?"

"Umm... I don't know, really, I think everyone here is really nice! I guess if I had to choose, ummm..."

She looked up and received a meek glare from Mikasa to choose literally anybody but Eren and finally settled on... "R-Reiner? He's easily the most reliable and sweet, and I'd say we have a lot in common."

"PAHAH--" Ymir chortled. "AHAH-- You definitely have a lot in common, babe!"

"B-but I trust omniscient fate to leave me the right person at the end of my string! S-so I'll be happy with whoever I get. What about you, Ymir?"

"Nah, I don't care who's at the end of my string, I already know who I want." The freckled girl purred as she drew the little crystal eyed girl into her arm.

Mikasa let out an annoyed hum at Ymir's gross disposition, prompting eyerolls from Annie... Meanwhile, Franz finally walked in with a big bouquet of flowers for Hannah.

"Franz!!!"

"Ah, mein schatz!!!" the tall man cried and ran to hug his girlfriend to the exaggerated sound of Eren gagging from his own table. "Were you telling everyone how we met? I told all the guys this morning during our uniform drills!" he said, with his voice suddenly dropping into a mumble. "They were all quite jealous, honestly."

"Oh, I hope they all find someone who makes them as happy as we are!"

Annie had heard more than enough and took herself back outside to the training grounds while their mushy storytelling continued, not catching Bertholdt's ever watchful eyes on her. 

"You know, I think I actually knew right from the start I wanted to be with you..." Franz continued, prompting a fearful thought from Christa, who was still smooshed in Ymir's musky arms. "I couldn't explain it, maybe it was the way you said 'good morning' to me like I was your childhood friend instead of just a shy soldier you hadn't even met yet, but right away I felt in my heart that I wanted to hold you tight."

"Ohhhh, Franzzzz!" Hannah swooned, (not even noticing Sasha steal the bread from her tray). The pair began to kiss shamelessly, to the sound of Mina's 'aw'ing, Eren's gagging, and Ymir's scoffing.

"Tch. Straight people." The freckled masculine girl then took a swig of her water, while her little blonde crush stared off into space...

Being all alone in the woods was the only and closest way Christa could ever come to just being herself... To the sounds of the birds chirping in the blue sky above her while she rested on a log, she did her best to think straight with all her suffocating filters clouding her mind... What to do?

She slumped to the ground and sprawled out with her back over the log, staring with empty eyes at the clouds above. She was actually not interested in a single boy she'd ever crossed paths with... It didn't matter how handsome or how sweet or desirable he was; she just very simply was not interested in the slightest. This was about all she knew thus far, rather afraid to question herself any further lest she stumble upon something forbidden to nice girls like the good and righteous Christa Lens... but all that talk of Hannah meeting Franz was making her sweat...

Franz knew from their first meeting that they should be together? How could something so complicated as finding a mate for life be so simple? Christa couldn't even stomach coming into contact with half the men in their camp. And yet Franz knew where his heartstring would lead him just after saying hi to her! And what made that so scary to her, was that, of all people, she felt something very similar when she first met Ymir...

"Christa!" A golden voice chimed, breaking the silence of the forest as its master sprinted into the clearing where Christa had hidden.

She rose up to find a breathy Armin Arlert coming her way, and easily relaxed. "Hi, Armin. Do you need something?" She asked, sitting up in the "proper" and dainty way of a lady.

Armin stopped before the log, hunched over and gasping for breath while he gave her a big handful of decorated envelopes and papers. "Love letters... for you..."

Christa took them with a less saccharine smile than usual.

"Most of them are from Ymir and Reiner, as always, but the rest are from Dak, Samuel, Thomas..."

Christa's smile became rather somber... She wanted to just let the letters fall to the ground, but seeing as someone was watching her she set them neatly to the side.

"You must get so many that it's exhausting, huh?" Armin huffed with a smile, trying not to complain about how sick he was of being the designated messenger for the ‘Christa suitors club’ by every straight guy in the camp. "It's okay if you don't wanna read them. No one would blame you for growing weary of it."

"Hmm..." she sighed. And decided to confide a little in Armin, who was the only boy in the camp she really trusted... "Armin? Do you like girls?"

"Ah-- I guess... Well, what do you mean?"

"Well, you're in love with Eren, right?--"

"SHHHHHHH!!!!!!" he seethed in a panic. Ymir and Christa had analyzed this truth out of him long ago, and though Armin felt like he could honestly trust them at this point, it was still something he treated with utmost urgency with them, even in this forest where he knew they couldn't be heard. Realizing he'd shushed the goddess of the 104th training unit, however, he blushed and tried to recollect himself. "S-sorry... I tend to only consider him when it comes to my potential soul mate but... Even so, I really don't have an interest in girls."

"Oh..." Christa's eyes darted to the side in thought.

"Why?"

Her glassy eyes looked back into his deep ones... "Armin, can I confide in you?"

"O-of course. That's only fair, heh."

"...When you look at girls, you feel nothing. But what do you feel when you look at boys?"

"I feel... intrigued? Amused? Fascinated? Not so much for anyone versus him but... if I didn't know him then I'd say a pretty decent range of those feelings."

"I see... Sometimes... I-- feel that way about girls..."

Armin's eyes widened. "Oh..."

"Is that wrong?"

The male blond let out a gentle chuckle and took a seat on the log beside her. "No, not at all. It's okay if you like girls. I'm sorry they're not the ones sending you all these annoying love letters now."

"It's alright..." She gave him a truly genuine smile, and moved on to the next scary question on her mind. "Armin... How did you feel when you first met Eren?"

Armin's gaze wandered to the grass as a warm smile appeared over his lovelorn face for the nostalgia coming back to him. "I felt my like my heart would never stop beating. I found someone who understood me and gave me a reason to smile. I thought... it would be grand if I could be with him all the time... Why?"

She gulped. That was exactly how Ymir made her feel on the day they met... And just as Franz described meeting Hannah. She closed her eyes for a moment to see her red string's glow throbbing the more she thought about it. "...Do you know who your soul mate is?"

"No... I don't wanna know..."

"But what if it's Eren?"

"And what if it's not?..." He concluded with a tense smile in his lips creasing his nervous cheeks. "Do you know who yours is?"

"..."

"Understood. Well... Whoever it is, I guarantee you they'll adore you. You're far too wonderful to go unloved." he promised as he stood up. "So if you ever do decide to follow that red string, I just... hope it's someone you can love right back... I'll see you later. I think Ymir wants to send you some flowers or something."

Christa feigned a smile and nodded. "Thanks, Armin. Bye."

Armin waved and strolled back out of the forest, leaving Christa there alone with her thoughts once more.

She closed her eyes to watch the red string glowing and dancing in its ethereal way, debating whether or not she should follow it and let destiny dictate how she lived her life...

The next day at lunch Christa strolled into the dining hall with a look of distress and took a deep breath... "Everyone?! I have an announcement!"

Seeing as Christa's sweet little voice was too low to be heard over the murmuring crowd, Ymir took a deep breath of her own and belted, "OI, EVERYBODY SHUT UP!!! MY CHRISTA IS SPEAKING!!!"

All the soldiers then turned their attention to the little blonde girl in the sunny doorway to hear what she had to say, minus Eren who simply continued eating with his back to her direction...

"Uh... You... You're all very sweet and dear but... you can all stop sending me love letters now! Last night, I followed my red string to my soul mate!"

Ymir perked up at that and listened on with widened eyes...

"...So from this day forth, I hereby swear myself to... Reiner Braun!"

"Haaaaa?" Reiner bellowed in surprise, a bright blush flushing over his cheeks.

Ymir couldn't speak... She sat frozen, unreadable, and never even minding the cadets staring at her...

Whilst Armin frowned sadly for Christa from his seat in front of him, Eren turned around, raising an angry eyebrow at the popular blonde...

"More tea, my sweet?" Reiner asked politely.

"Oh, yes please! This is so lovely. I'm quite lucky to have found you, Reiner." Christa beamed in her cloying way while Reiner poured her some more tea.

The pair sat together at the picnic table outside, just beside the main training grounds where students were chatting amongst themselves during the AP maneuvering exams taking place at the climbing grounds. But rather unsurprisingly, Ymir was nowhere to be found...

While Armin and Mikasa were discussing the exam, Eren glared at the blond couple sitting pretty at the table...

"It really is, and I'm sorry to cut lunch so short, but-- I hope you'll forgive me, this was such short notice, after all, and Bertholdt really needs my help with his AP exam..." the tall powerhouse of a man apologized.

Christa pretended she wasn't relieved. "Oh, I'm so sorry to see you go! But I hope the test goes well! Tell him I said good luck!"

"Sure thing! Have a good afternoon, my lady." and off to his buddy he went.

Christa let out a shaky breath, picking up her tea with jittery hands to take a nervous sip while she tried to ignore the empty ache inside her chest... She closed her eyes, not really minding her red string, though its glow had gone very dim in its ghostly dance... She didn't want to look up or at anyone... not even when she heard angry footsteps approaching her.

"Oi. You." the guttural voice vibrated through the air and into Christa's reluctant ears.

She opened her eyes to find Eren Yeager, blocking the sunlight as he towered over her with furrowed eyebrows and a frown. "Ah. Yes?"

"I don't know what you're trying to pull here with Reiner, but it looks to me like you're just using him..."

"I-- What a cruel thing to accuse me of..." she whimpered, her big crystal eyes becoming glossy and wet by sheer flawless habit...

"Oh, don't even... You and I both know this is just for show. And I don't know what your deal is or why you'd wanna do this, but hurting someone as true as Reiner like this would be a cruel thing to do." the raven haired boy scolded calmly. "So if nothing's keeping you from dating who you actually want to date, I think you should get out of this and set things right."

She looked into those stone cold grey eyes with her own, concealing the storm in her heart for not knowing what to do at all... "Why would you think so little of me, Eren? Reiner is my soul mate. This is what's meant to be. I like him a lot. I mean to make him very happy..."

"Cut the crap, would you? You and I both know you're into Ymir! I don't know why the hell your string would send you to Reiner, or why you'd want to lie about it, but it seems to me that there's a fluke in here somewhere. So do the decent thing and drop the fakery."

Christa's somber eyes looked desperately into his while her lips formed a slight, odd smile. "Eren, do you know I think you're very lucky?"

He raised a fuzzy eyebrow. "Hä?"

"You're free..."

His confused eyebrow furrowed. "Whatever that means... Free or not though, I wouldn't pretend to be something I'm not to hurt the people I care about. That's truly cruel, and not the way of a proper soldier."

Christa pursed her lips. "I'll be glad to see you open your eyes... I don't mean to hurt anyone. How long do I have to hurt though?..."

Eren's face finally unscrunched and he sighed, taking a seat on the other side of the bench. "You shouldn't have to. Everyone has the right to be free. You know, romance is a waste of time, in my opinion. And I dunno what's hurting you when everyone seems to love you for whatever that get up of yours is, but if you wanna be happy, I'd start by being honest with yourself. And then with Ymir. Armin and I agree there: Honesty is the best place to start. Because truth is the key to freedom."

"Ironic that you say that..." She muttered wistfully, still with that odd smile. "Say. How do you feel about Armin?"

Eren froze and blushed. "What do you mean?"

"You two seem as close as Ymir and I are. Don't you like him? What's stopping you?"

"--I don't have to take this." he grumbled, standing up from the bench with his face re-scrunched and now reddened. "Just fix this thing with Reiner and get right!"

Christa stared down at the table while Eren marched away and thought for a long time on what to do... Armin may have approved, and Eren may have approved, and Ymir clearly would've approved, but the world had always told her that it was improper for a lady to be with another woman... ergo, the red string of all-chaste fate would never lead her to Ymir... Had she actually followed her string instead of lying about it, she was sure it would've lead to someone like Reiner anyway. But Eren was right. Whoever it did lead to sure as hell wasn't gonna make her happy if it weren't Ymir... So what was she to do? She was stuck...

Christa broke up with Reiner by dinner time and wandered the campgrounds alone for the rest of the night... Reiner was heartbroken but Bertholdt was happy enough to let Reiner literally cry on his shoulder while he stared at Annie ignoring the gossip. Eren gave Christa a nod of approval and empathy, along with Armin... but even without the guilt, she still felt awful... And though Christa had been avoiding her anyway, according to Sasha, Ymir was apparently still nowhere to be found for the rest of the day...

The tiny blonde's glassy eyes welled up with genuine tears for the first time in many ages as she strolled in the starlight... Not that Christa herself was aware of that. Very little made sense to her anymore for how trapped in her identity she was, but when Ymir was around, frustrating as she might be, everything just felt... real. "Honesty..." echoed Eren's words in her mumbling mouth. "If only it were that simple for me... Nobody loves Historia..."

For one night only, Christa Lens decided to be Historia Reiss, if only to be honest with herself for a few short moments… She took a seat on the log by the lonely camp fire, slouching and carelessly watching as her red string halted its motions and dimmed its glow to near nothingness behind her eyelids… Historia Reiss didn’t really care how she hurt Reiner. Reiner had been bothering her with endless love letters for far too long for that. Historia Reiss wished Armin would wise up and make himself useful instead of just tagging along with his suicidal crush to his death. Historia Reiss thought Eren was a complete idiot and that freedom to speak that he took for granted was fleeting with his moronic death wish. Historia Reiss thought men were about as interesting as the bowl of cabbage soup they served for lunch. Historia Reiss thought women were beautiful, endlessly intriguing creatures. Historia Reiss didn’t really care either way what happened in the war. Historia Reiss wanted to kill herself to be free of the world’s rejection and expectations of her. Historia Reiss thought Ymir was the most incredible person she’d ever met… with her beady eyes wide open to how the world worked and her fierce smirk endlessly mocking every single idiot she came across, and her voice shouting it openly. Ymir was alive inside and burning with a fire to live life. Historia envied that so...

"I guess there is simply no happiness for some people..." she mumbled in the fire's direction as she stared into it, hypnotized by the orange and yellow flames flickering into the smoky night air. "Ymir... Where are you?..."

"Right here, min pus."

The sudden sound of Ymir's croaky low voice shooting through the silence like a bolt of lightning sent Historia into the air as she jumped out of her seat on the log. She turned around, clutching at her heart, still as Historia Reiss and thus very honest. "YMIR, YOU SCARED ME TO DEATH!!!"

Ymir, to Historia's blushing surprise, had her eyes closed and a sparkly, albeit villainous, grin on her face. "I followed my red string all afternoon! And it lead me right to you! You tricky little kitten, you're not straight for Reiner! Fate says you should be with me!" She raved happily, and made a motion with her arms as though she were dropping the rest of her string on the ground before opening them wide. "If you're done pretending to be gooey goddess of the whiny dicks in this camp, you can just walk right into these arms! Ready and waiting for ya, babe!"

Historia broke into a sweat, trying to find the right reaction amidst her conflicting feelings and remained silent...

"...Eh? What's the hold up? The all-powerful God or whatever you wanna believe in says you and I are meant to be, so what's keeping you there?"

"...You're a rude girl with a horrible personality, Ymir." came the blonde's monotonous response as she stared into Ymir's fierce beady eyes.

"...Uh huh?"

"You're incredibly overbearing and indescribably obnoxious."

"Got me there..."  the freckled girl replied, with her smile and arms relaxing a little.

"You’re careless, and mean, and self-serving, and invasive, and unkempt and you have the face of a classic hag."

"Wow... Pretty bold to be that honest when your soul mate is revealed of all times." Ymir's arms and smile drooped a little more while her face blushed... "So?"

"You're a painfully, painfully, honest woman to be around..."

"...So?"

Historia sighed... and let out a smile. "I love you."

"Eh?--" Before Ymir had a moment to think, Historia's arms were suddenly wrapped tightly around her neck while her soft pink lips kissed her rough rosewood ones... As Historia pulled away to look at her, now held close in Ymir's warm tawny arms, Ymir was almost speechless. "Y-- Don't-- you want to check your string to see if I'm really your soul mate?"

Historia grinned angelically, despite the sinfulness that Christa would project on this. Ymir was here and everything was clear again. Everything was real, honest, and true... Everything felt okay. And she was genuinely happy. It was only like this when Ymir was around, and Historia finally, finally, decided she wanted to keep it that way. "Nope. I already know who I want to be with. So screw it all."

And suddenly Ymir was pulled down to Christa's lips again.

Though Historia decided not to look at her string, it always glowed and throbbed when Ymir was around and it glowed brightest when Ymir was happy. Whether she knew Ymir was her soulmate or not didn't matter in the slightest to her anymore. The rest of the world may have controlled Christa Lens, but Historia Reiss chose her own soulmate. And choosing to forge her own path into Ymir's arms was a choice Historia Reiss never ever regretted...

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