100 Prompts: Advice

A/N: bc seriously honestly sometimes I wonder how Mikasa would react if Eren was actually sweet towards her. Also I apologize if my understanding of military leave/discharge is incorrect. Although I can't stand inaccuracies, I just couldn't figure it out heh. Anyway enjoy! Review! I love to hear what you think.

Mother Knows Best

For as long as Mikasa could remember, there was one piece of advice her mother used to tell her all the time. It was quite obscure, for she was young, and she never quite understood before why her mom emphasized it so much.

But whenever she would see some cheesy commercial for a film where a man wore a confident smile and knew exactly what to say, Mrs. Ackerman would brush her daughter's hair out of her face and made sure she knew: "watch out for the smooth talkers."

Or perhaps it was a corny children's fairytale book, or a charming young musician on the streets with a fancy lute and the voice of an angel. Regardless, Mikasa indeed grew up believing the romantic fellows were the real chumps.

And when she asked why as she got older, she learned it was: "because they've had experience talking to too many girls. They know exactly what to say, and how to say it to get you wrapped around their finger. It's always the awkward, nervous ones that are the most sincere."

"I've had many suitors when I was a teenager," young Mikasa wondered why her mom was even telling her this as a child. "Many of them were such corny 'Prince Charmings' who were so experienced with sweeping me off of my feet. Well, let me tell you something, dear: they were always only after one thing."

When eight-year-old Mikasa asked what it was, her mother just gave her a look, "I'll tell you when you're older."

"What about dad?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, your father was so awkward, I almost felt sorry for him!" the woman chuckled.

"Thanks, dear," her father responds sarcastically.

"But look at him, he loves me with all his heart. And he only ever said it when he truly meant it, not when he just wanted something from me." her mother finished, giving her husband a kiss on the forehead. Mikasa smiled happily.

Alas, Mrs. Ackerman never got to tell Mikasa what it was that those smooth-talking men were after. But after joining the military and being exposed to a bunch of hormonal teenagers, she got the idea.

Eleven years later, the world was once again kind to the idea of settling down and having a family. Mikasa sat in the mess hall at the ripe age of 19, and the memory of her mother's advice had crossed her mind when Jean stood in front of her- shoulders hunched, cheeks tinged pink, and words sitting on the tip of his tongue.

"Uh hi," Jean told her ungracefully.

"Hey."

"So, um, can I have a word with you?"

"Sure, what's up?" He looked like he was ready to eat his own ass.

He shifted uncomfortably. "I have to tell you something." She nodded slowly. "I should tell you something."

"Okay, shoot," she turned to give him her undivided attention, and if anything it probably just made him even more nervous. She watched him, concerned. Maybe it was Armin or Eren related. So she was surprised when he said, a little too quickly:

"Well, I uhh…" he started clumsily, "…I-I think you fight well. I mean, I'm sure you already know that. You could be better though, but I mean, there's always room to improve, even if you're really smart and skilled."

"You wanted to criticize my fighting?" she looked at him funny.

"No, no!" he began to panic, waving his hands in front of him as she tried not to laugh at the distressed man before her.

"Go on," she urged.

"Ugh okay, um- I really like you, Mikasa. When I first met you I, I don't know, I just...you're so pretty, and so dedicated and, ugh, I probably look really stupid to you right now."

Mikasa smiled and almost felt sorry for the kid. He was way past stumbling over his words.

"Thank you," she suppressed a giggle, and he choked a little at how adorable she sounded. The sound of Mikasa Ackerman laughing was not a very common phenomenon after all. "And no, you don't look stupid."

"O-oh, okay, uh," he tried to continue, his words spilling out faster than he intended. "I hope it's not weird or anything- not that it should be. Awkward maybe. I mean, I'm feeling pretty awkward...fuck."

"Jean," she laughed. "Relax. What is it?"

The young man took a deep breath and began slowly, "But...I think we've known each other for such a long time, and we've been through thick and thin together. I've seen you at your worst, and what I felt for you from the start hasn't gone away." Jean's ears were heating up so much, he felt like his hair would catch on fire any minute now. He suddenly realized that his hands were just awkwardly at his side and he started tapping one foot on the ground in sheer apprehension.

"I think...I love you." he finished, refusing to look her in the eye. Mikasa smiled softly, but her lack of enthusiasm had given him an unsettling feeling.

"That's sweet, Jean."

He sighed, "But?"

Her smile faltered, "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't love anyone like that," she gestured for him to sit across from her at the table, since he seemed like he was about to pass out after that whole speech. "It's never been something I bothered with. Relationships, I mean. It's just...not me."

He looked at her, seeing right through the lies. "Not you huh?"

"Yeah," she, but she was able to maintain eye contact. "I don't think I would be the best person to want to pursue a romantic relationship with."

"Even after the war is over?" he asked her, and it was her turn to avoid eye contact. "Even after there's nothing else that's holding you back besides yourself?"

"Don't assume things, Jean." she warned, and the man sighed in defeat.

"Then don't lie to me," he told her softly, "you love Jeager."

"What?" She seemed more surprised than anything. "He's not- I'm...he's family." She blushed, and it reminded them both of when she was a teenager who was completely in denial.

"Cut the bullshit, Mikasa, you've been saying that since we were 15 and everyone knows it." She looked at him warningly, afraid to tell him not to talk to her like that despite being correct. It was hard for her to say anything when she had backed herself into a corner.

He sighed again, guilt washing over him as he observed her conflicted countenance. "Look, I just wanted you to know, okay? It was awkward and scary as hell, but in case you wonder if you're ever enough, I...I think you are."

"I'm sorry…"

"Nah don't be. Jeager is a lucky idiot." The soldier laughed. "At least now I have the closure to move on."

"Hm," she hummed in response. "Thank you."

"Thank you?" he scoffed, "for what?"

Mikasa ran a stressed hand through her hair, unable to clarify. "Thanks for understanding."

"No problem," Jean stood up, giving her small wave as he walked off. "Take care, Mikasa."

It wasn't very long after the war ended that Mikasa decided she might want to do something else with her life. As much as Armin was their third musketeer, he already had, without hesitation, decided there was more to his own story than remaining in the military just because his best friends did.

They were given two weeks of military leave after the war was officially over, to relax and decide if they still wanted to remain employed by the military. So for two agonizing weeks, the young soldier was torn between staying for him, and leaving to start new somewhere else.

She started her two weeks with Armin back in the Shiganshina district, helping him get settled into a new house. Then her second week was spent with Eren at a beach house. Though the former didn't exactly help her case, since he insisted she should definitely go find her happiness somewhere else.

Despite the fact that Mikasa decided that Armin was right, the decision was still up in the air, and she just refused to grab it. Even after picking up her papers for military discharge, she was still full of hesitation. She sat in her rented room, a stack of papers in her lap staring back up at her.

"Hey," he walks in without knocking.

"Hi."

"So you're not staying," he tells her, eyeing the papers labeled 'discharge' on her lap, though it was more of a question. She remained silent, but he understood. "I'm not going to make you stay. Hell, I didn't even tell you to join in the first place."

"Ah, yeah yeah, I know."

"No, I didn't mean it in a bad way," he told her gently, and it was new. She had expected him to finish his sentence by berating her yet again about how she had fucked herself over and irritated him endlessly by following him into the military.

"If you want to go," he looked her in the eye and she stumbled over her heart. "I'm not going to stop you."

"Hm. So how was Stohess?" she changed the subject. While Mikasa was with Armin, Eren started his two weeks in the inner wall, as Historia had requested he stay for awhile to celebrate and be honored.

"Mmm, boring," he answered, sitting himself at the edge of her bed and laying down, hands supporting his head like a pillow. "It was a whole week of listening to a bunch of stuck up aristocrats telling me that I did a great job."

"What was wrong with that?"

"I don't know," he sighed and scooted himself up so that he was beside her, and started fidgeting with the end of her scarf. "The war had just ended, and everything was still so fresh. It was too soon, I guess. Maybe it would have been nice to have that week just to myself to think about everything we've been through."

"I understand," she stroked his hair and he leaned into her touch. Mikasa smiled at his reaction to her act of physical contact. "We never really got the time to grieve properly."

"Exactly, that's why I came here after." Eren agreed as his eyelids began to feel heavy. "Oh, and I had to dress up and everything."

Mikasa laughed. "Didn't you like all the attention?"

"Yeah, it was nice I suppose. But I never did what I did for the recognition."

"So what did you do it for, then?" she already knew the answer: vengeance, spitefulness, pure hatred. But maybe somewhere along the line his answer might have changed.

"For mom, duh."

"Oh." she responded, "And for humanity?"

"I mean, humanity fucking hated me for a hot minute, so..." he trailed off. She laughed softly and he looked up at her with a smile. "I also did it for you."

The young woman felt her heart stutter. "For me?"

"Yeah. Well I mean, not at first, when I was an angry 15-year-old idiot with a one track mind," the shifter laughed. He shifted so that he laid his head on her lap and she welcomed him naturally. "But after a while, I guess my motives changed or whatever. I saw how I almost lost you and Armin and I realized, what am I really fighting for? What was I really fighting to keep safe?"

"Did you figure it out?"

"Of course." he looked up at her. "I thought a lot about how you were always there for me when we were apart. So I vowed to fight to keep us both alive, so that we can have a happy ending too. I didn't really want to tell you back then because I didn't need you throwing yourself in harm's way for me any more than you already did. But you were a big reason I kept fighting, Mikasa. Especially after it got really hard to want to keep going. Because I love you."

She smiled, "I love you too."

He sat up and suddenly she felt how close he was to her. "No, I mean...I love you." He lifted her chin so that she was looking at him, and he almost laughed at how adorable she was. He had never quite seen the notorious and self-assured Mikasa look so vulnerable and flustered.

He looked down at her lips.

"I love you, Mikasa," he repeated and amusement filled him from head to toe when he realized he probably broke her. "Thank you for being there for me since the beginning. And...you know, now that it's all over, the only thing that seems right is to spend the rest of my life with you."

Mikasa's heart simultaneously slowed down and sped up, as the realization of his confession slowly caught on. She only seemed to understand what was going on when he leaned down and gently pressed his lips onto hers, hoping she would meet him halfway.

It was strange, Mikasa thought, as she replayed both memories in her head side by side. Jean, who had supposedly been infatuated with her since the beginning, had done exactly what her mother had told her was sincere and honest. Meanwhile, Eren's smooth, flawless declaration of his love for her had her thinking.

So when she clumsily pulled back and let an awkward question slip through her lips, they both found themselves confused and quite shocked.

"...What?"

It took him a minute to process her question, due to how ridiculous it just seemed to him.

Mikasa appeared to tense up nervously. She felt awkward and embarrassed enough to ask once, she really didn't want to ask again. So she took a deep breath and repeated herself, "Have you been with other girls?"

Eren seemed to get it this time, but it still seemed so absurd. "Mikasa, we grew up together, don't you think you would have known? What kind of question is this?"

"My...my mom used to tell me when I was younger: that if someone confessed to me so flawlessly and smoothly it's probably because he's had lots of experience with other girls. You know, like he knows what to say and how to say it so I'll give him what he wants."

"I see," Eren pulled back, both amused and also a little bewildered.

The dark-haired girl continued, "And if he's all awkward it's probably because he's sincere and hasn't had much experience trying to get into bed with many women."

"Ah," he nodded in understanding, and kept his gaze on her.

"You just seemed so sure of yourself; Jean looked like he was about to explode when he told me he loved me too."

He let it all sink in and waited a moment before telling her, "Well no, I've never been involved with anyone. It was never the right time and I never really cared for that crap before."

"And you do now?"

"Yeah," he answered without hesitation, his soft but intense gaze was making her melt. "I do."

"Stop looking at me like that," she turned away, blushing, "it's weird."

"You're the one asking weird questions," he chuckled, moving some hair behind her ear.

He thought it was cute how awkward she was being about this whole thing. "I'm not experienced with talking to girls, Mikasa. I'm just comfortable around you." He settled into her lap again and played with her hair. "You feel like home to me. There's no need for all the butterflies in my stomach, sweaty palms, foot stuck in my mouth crap. In fact, it's the opposite, I feel more relaxed around you, and that's how I know I love you."

"Okay," she blushed immensely at her lame answer.

But before Eren could make fun of her for it, his eyes shot open as he realized something, "Also, what do you mean Jean told you he loves you?!"