Day 5.5: Surprised Gift (another take).

A/N: I couldn't decide which to use, so I used both c: And, I apologise if that last chapter wasn't very satisfying, in terms of everything from the writing and fluff. I hope this will suffice (I personally prefer this one anway).

Disclaimer: I don't own SnK, nor its characters ;A;

As the only child of her small, happy family of three, Mikasa had always been a little princess to her parents. Not that she minded.

Mikasa was often given gifts, and was actually quite spoiled. But she, being so young, so naive, didn't give a care in the world with her happy family and abundance of gifts from all around. She was fine being in her little, safe bubble, satisfied with her view of the world.

But on that fateful day when she was nine, the bubble popped, and she got only a small taste of the cruel, real world.

Screams, blood, death. It all happened so quickly. So quickly, that in a matter of seconds, everything she loved was taken from her, and she was frozen, suddenly cold with her mother and father's warm loving hearts no longer beating.

All hope was gone, drained from her as her blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. Forget the presents and gifts, the people she loved the most, her loving parents, died, right in front of her eyes, and she couldn't move.

And as she was about to close her eyes in defeat, the old wooden door creaked open and a young boy, who she would later learn was Eren Jaeger, with a determined fire in his eyes, mercilessly killed the two men, and cut her free from the ropes around her wrists.

"It's over now..."

'Is it?'

"You're gonna be okay..."

'Am I?'

For brief second, Mikasa allowed herself to believe this, allowed herself to believe that everything will miraculously 'work out' like in all the fairytales she'd read. But it was only a second, and she wasn't in a fairytale in anyway.

In a matter of seconds, this new hope she'd found, was now struggling to breathe as a third man had come to choke him to death. The raven haired girl was frozen once more, but through broken fits of gags, Eren managed to make one thing clear to Mikasa: fight.

'You can't win without fighting!'

'Fight!'

His words rang in her ears like a mantra, as she, with shaky hands, picked up the bloodied knife, and stabbed the man, ultimately killing him.

It all happened in a blur. First Eren was saving her, then she was saving him. But in the end, they both ended up with a pair of bloody hands.

-x-

Soon, Doctor Jaeger and the police arrived.

As the police took care of business inside the cabin, Doctor Jaeger dealt with the two children.

"You can't just throw your life away like that, Eren!" scolded the doctor, grabbing Eren by the shoulders. "You could've died! You were so lucky!"

"But I wanted to save her as soon as possible..." mumbled the young brunet, avoiding his father's eyes.

'It's because of me...' thought Mikasa, as she in front of them, feeling all sorts of guilty. '...again...'

She sighed, drawing immediate attention to herself.

"Doctor Jaeger..." she began, as her eyes stared into space, remembering the image of her beloved home, one she couldn't return to.

"...I'm cold..." she whispered, just loud enough for them to hear, as she began trembling. "I have nowhere...Nowhere left to go..."

'I want to go home.'

She clasped her hands together, in attempt to warm them up. It didn't work.

'I want to go home.'

The image of her precious home faded away from her eyes, and she was hit by reality, hard.

'But I can't.'

The young girl could feel herself slowly shut everything out and only allowed feelings of sadness and misery take over, chilling her to the bone.

Cold, she was so cold. And suddenly, she was warm.

A scarf, Eren's scarf, was wrapped around her, giving her the warmth and comfort she needed.

"Is it warm enough?" The green eyed boy asked, looking her straight in the eye.

Mikasa's pale cheeks heated up, giving off light pink glow. "It's warm..." she whispered, her soft voice slightly quaking.

"C'mon," Eren said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. Her hands were so cold, but in his, they were so warm. "Let's go home."

"Our home."

And it was at that point wherein she broke into sobs, fresh tears spilling, as she used one hand to wipe her eyes, and the other, the one he held, to squeeze back, telling him, 'Okay' and, 'Thank you'.

Mikasa had gotten gifts before, many in fact. But nothing could ever compare the gifts she received that day.

The gift of warmth, of comfort, of spirit.

The gift of somewhere, someone to return to.

Eren Jaeger gave her a gift she would forever remember, and forever cherish.

A home.