AN: Happy 10th day of Ficmas! For my Christmas gift to my readers, I have a 3-shot SNK fic set in a WW1 AU. This first chapter is based on the Christmas Truce of 1914, which took place all along the Western Front (Westfront in German). Footnotes and translations are listed at the bottom.

Enjoy and let me know what you think! :)

24. December 1914

On the German side of the Westfront

Eren Jäger wanted nothing more than to be out of the trenches and home for Christmas. He'd believed the Kaiser when he'd claimed they would all be home before the leaves had fallen from the trees. But now the leaves were long since gone, and all that remained was a blanket of snow lining the ground.

He'd heard rumors from across the Front that men from both sides had been exchanging greetings, carols, and promises of a truce the following day, but he had yet to see it anywhere near him. All around him was snow and silence. He leaned back against the wall, preparing to doze off while the men weren't set on killing each other.

And that's when it happened.

A melody he couldn't quite make out drifted across from No-Man's Land. Eren's eyes shot open. The whispers from before that he had blocked out crashed back in his ears, but along with them the melody rang clear. It was Stille Nacht, his favourite. But something was off. The words…they weren't right.

A crunching to his right alerted him of someone's arrival. "Hey, Jäger, sounds like damn Tommy (1) got the words all wrong." Eren didn't even bother to look and see who it was; he already knew. Reiner Braun was tall and blond, grew up in the same small town just outside of Leipzig as he did, and – despite being in these damn trenches as long as Eren had – was still the happy-go-lucky guy the brunet had grown up with.

More voices joined the melody on the other side.

"Yeah, we're thinking of teaching them the words." It was Connie, a younger boy from München, who spoke this time. Apparently, while Eren was distracted listening to the song, others had joined him and Braun.

It took a second, but the words finally sunk in. "You're talking about…a truce?"

"Don't go getting your trousers in a knot, it's just a song. We'll wait till there done with the first verse, then we'll step in, alright?"

Eren nodded, and everyone went silent until the song faded out.

Reiner smiled and raised his hands like a conductor. "Eins, zwei, drei…"

And then they all sang.

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,

Alles schläft; einsam wacht

Nur das traute hochheilige Paar.

Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar,

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh! (2)

They had barely stopped singing when a third verse began in another language Eren didn't understand. He cocked his head, trying to hear if it was different from the first verse or the same, when Reiner slugged his shoulder.

"What's that for?" He demanded, but the other simply pointed.

One of their men was crawling out of the trench. Eren vaguely recognized him as one of the new men from Berlin, Franz something.

"Vollidiot," Reiner muttered. Eren agreed. Connie was already halfway up to joining him.

Eren snatched his friend's legs and dragged him back down.

"What's your problem?" The nearly bald boy demanded.

"Are you fucked in the head?" Reiner hissed in response. "It's suicide out there. They're trying to bribe us with songs and the holidays, then they'll blow us to Kingdom Come!"

"You heard it too, the talk of truces for Christmas! They're not going to shoot us!"

"Don't be stupid."

Connie turned to Eren for help. "Come on, Jäger, you were just talking about how much you wanted a truce a few hours ago."

The brunet shot the larger blond a glance. Reiner was looking at him to stop Connie's insanity. He dropped his eyes and licked his lips nervously. "I did say that."

"Eren…" The other whispered in disbelief, while Connie's face lit up in excitement.

"So let's get out there and celebrate then! I'm dying to see a real Tommy close up."

A new voice piped in. "But I heard they're just laid out there in wait till we all get out there, then they strike. Boom! Shoot us all straight in the head." It was Tomas Wagner this time.

"Yeah? And who's feeding you that load of shit?" Connie demanded.

"Adolf told me."

"Who the fuck is Adolf?" (3)

"He's a runner who tells me what's going on all along the Front."

"Well Adolf can shove it up his –"

"Connie." Reiner finally interrupted.

"What? He has no proof. Just some hearsay from some guy down the line –!"

"He has a point though. We don't know if those guys are tricking us into going out or not. It's safer to just wait. Right, Eren? Back me up here."

But Eren was no longer paying attention to them. He was too busy staring at the walls of the trench, where all the rest of the men in their squad had already crawled most of the way out. If the English or the French wanted to take them out, they were more than able to now. Rather than return to the argument between his friends, the brunet pushed off the wall and started scrambling up the ground to join them.

"Verdammt! Eren! Get back down here before you're killed!"

His head was now barely above the side, and he could see snow all around, his fellow soldiers walking slowly across no-man's land, where the men on the other side were doing the same. He crawled the rest of the way out, but stayed crouched.

"Eren!" Connie was already climbing towards him, and the brunet offered his hand to help.

"If they're going to kill me, then so be it. I'm probably going to die either way." And with that, he pulled Connie the rest of the way out, the two of them now completely standing at their full height. There was a muttered curse, some rustling, and Eren didn't need to look to know Reiner had joined them.

"If I'm killed tonight, my ghost will be back to haunt you Jäger." Reiner promised.

The brunet just laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go make some new friends, shall we?"

Both sides were approaching each other at a snail's pace. Some of the Englishmen had their hands raised in a defensive position, as if to show they were unarmed, while others were holding bottles in front of them like a shield. Eren realised too late that they were intended as presents, which he had none. He frantically searched his pockets, but all he came across was some chocolate. Then he realised; the others probably hadn't tasted German chocolate before, and everyone knew it was the best chocolate in the world. This could be his gift.

"Parlez-vous français?" A short man called to them, a bottle clutched in his right hand.

Eren frowned. He'd thought all these men were English, but this sounded like the language he'd heard all across the land on the long march here. He turned to Connie, who was better educated than both he and Reiner in other languages. "Is he speaking French?" He whispered. Connie nodded. "Well, quick. How do I respond?"

He missed the glance and the smile between his two friends, listening only to Connie's response. "Tell him: 'ma mere est tellement petite, que sa tête pue des pieds'."

Eren frowned, trying to concentrate on the words. "Ok slower. Mah?"

Connie nodded, trying his best to keep his giggles down. "Ma mere est…"

"Mah mere ist!"

"…tellement petite…"

"Tellement patit!"

"…queue sa tête pue…"

"Kay saw tay pü!"

"…des pieds."

"Des Peeds!"

As soon as Eren finished, both Connie and Reiner erupted into giggles, collapsing on the ground in mirth. "What?" He demanded. "What did I say?" Both of them were too far gone to respond.

"You told me that your mother is so short, her head smells of feet." Eren spun around to see the French soldier standing there, bottle in hand, giving him a curious look.

"You speak German?"

"Noch ein bisschen." The man held the bottle out as an offering. "I would ask if you speak English, but if it's half as bad as your French, I think I'd rather not hear it. Drink?"

Eren dug through his pockets again, cursing himself for not having the chocolate in hand. When he finally found it, he handed it to the man in exchange for the bottle. It was still closed, but the label read Champagne, and so he grabbed his pocketknife to pull out the cork. "Sorry. I don't speak anything besides German."

"I think your friends made that abundantly clear." He motioned his hand. "Shall we leave them to their fun?" The two of them wandered over to a mound which seemed devoid of any bodies or laughing Germans.

Once they were seated, and Eren had gotten to work on the cork, he decided to ask the first question. "My name's Eren. You?"

"Levi." The man in question took a bite of the chocolate bar handed to him just as Eren pulled the cork out of the bottle.

"You say you only speak a little German, but it's very impressive. Where did you learn?" He took a sip of the drink, letting the bubbles and alcohol clear out his throat of nerves before offering it to Levi. The short Frenchman took it and drank without responding, then offered it back.

Eren was starting to feel a bit awkward in the exchange. Why did the man bother coming all the way out of the trenches and over to Eren if he just wanted to drink in silence?

"That was quite impressive," Levi spoke as soon as Eren gave up hope in ever befriending him. He looked at the man questioningly. "The rendition of douce nuit." Eren was still confused. "Stille Nacht."

"Ah." Eren finally understood. "Yeah. You sung it in French, then?"

"Of course. The words are different, but the meaning is the same." He took another bite of the chocolate. "This is wonderful, where did you get it?"

"The chocolate? It was just in our rations. You like it?" Levi shot him a look which clearly said 'of course I like it' which, rather than deter him, caused Eren to smile widely. "German chocolate is the best in the whole world."

Levi snorted at him, but took another bite all the same. "Of course you would say that."

"It's true!"

"Where are you from then?" The man asked, deftly changing the subject.

Eren swallowed his next drink of champagne, not having expected a new question so early. "Uh, Leipzig."

Levi raised his eyebrow. "Are you unsure?"

"No, of course not," Eren flushed, "it's just a small town kind of near Leipzig, but not even all the people here know its name, so I just kinda say Leipzig…" He trailed off, flustered for no reason. "What about you?" He finally mustered.

Once again, the man ignored him. He was impossible to have a conversation with. Eren was starting to think he'd be better off finding a new Frenchman to talk to. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the other cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for acting so uncivil. It's just, this…" He gestured around them. "Doesn't make sense to me. I don't see the point in making friends with someone I'll have to kill tomorrow."

He certainly had a point. "Well, not tomorrow hopefully. Tomorrow's Christmas."

Levi snorted, finishing the last bite of chocolate. "That was excellent chocolate." The man could win an award at changing the subject when things got uncomfortable.

"If you think that's good, you should try some of the stuff Connie brought from home. It was literally the best chocolate I've ever had in my life."

"Connie?" Levi questioned as Eren belatedly remembered the man had no idea who was fighting on the German side.

"Yeah. He's the bald one who told me what to say in French. He's from München, and he's always talking about how much better everything is down there. Don't let him believe it. I mean the chocolate was really good, but I'm sure everything else sucks." He took a large swig of champagne once he'd finished talking.

"Have you never been there?" The short man asked, finally putting effort into their conversation.

Eren took another small sip before responding. "No. This is the farthest from home I've ever been, actually. I used to just work on the farm with my mom and sister and occasionally go into the city. Leipzig, I mean."

Levi nodded. "I remember. You have a sister?"

"Yeah. Adopted. I think she's from somewhere in China or something, so I don't know how she got to Germany…But Mutti adopted her, and we've been brother and sister since." He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his wallet, showing Levi a picture of the three of them. "That one there is my mom, and the one next to me is Mikasa. My sister." He pointed them out as he said their names. He put it away and turned to Levi again. "What about you? Any family?"

The Frenchman gave a barely perceivable frown, indicating Eren's question was a bad one, before shaking his head. "I barely knew my own mother before she passed. I never knew my father."

"My dad was pretty useless when he was there," Eren sympathised.

They fell into silence again – only broken by the occasional fizz of champagne being poured down their throats. It gave Eren a chance to look around the area between the trenches. It was amazing how different it looked compared to any other day. Men from both sides were mingling – most sitting and talking like him and Levi – sharing food and gifts with each other. It was a welcome relief from the constant gunshots and screams of fighting and death.

Levi seemed to notice the same thing. "This is so much more peaceful than normal." Eren nodded, not sure the shorter man was looking for a response. "Christmas is truly a magical time."

"My mom used to tell us that anything could happen on Christmas." He sighed. "But I really thought we'd be home by now. I thought the war would've already ended."

Levi took a large drink from the bottle. It was nearly half empty now. "Didn't we all, kid. Didn't we all."

Eren continued, ignoring the fact he'd just been called a kid by someone fighting on the other side. "It's pretty unfair of them to make us fight a war on Christmas anyway. Especially when they said it would last six months tops."

"Don't think about it too much. The people at the top don't care about what happens to us pawns on the bottom. We're as replaceable as a handkerchief to them."

Eren grabbed the champagne from Levi, chugging it. The short man was right, of course. Talking about war when you were a soldier on the front line was stupid. Talking about it with your enemy was probably worse. This time it was he who looked for a topic change. "Shame the Olympics were cancelled, huh?" It was a lame conversation change, but he needed something to take them away from war. Unfortunately for the half-buzzed German, this topic just brought them right back around.

"Well, given the circumstances I wouldn't expect any different."

He was grasping at straws. For some reason, Eren didn't want to have to go find a new Frenchman to talk to. There was no guarantee any of the others could even speak German. And he liked Levi. Even if the man hardly said a word. Something about his presence made Eren feel at ease.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" He blurted after several moments of silent thinking.

A flash of shock, fear and something else the young German couldn't quite catch flew across the other's face before it returned to its unemotional mask. "No. And I don't suppose you do; you're such a brat."

"Hey! I'm not a brat!"

"Hmm…" A smirk played on Levi's lips. "If it looks like a brat, sounds like a brat, and talks like a brat…"

"You just met me! That's not fair!"

"Mother, adopted sister, never been further from home than Leipzig," Levi ticked off on his fingers one by one. "Shall I continue?"

"You don't make any sense," Eren grumbled, returning to his drink.

He saw Levi's smirk widen out of the corner of his eye. The German blushed – probably because caused by how much he'd had to drink and definitely not because of the almost-smile on the shorter man's face – and decided it was best he didn't respond. The two of them sat in amicable silence, occasionally passing the bottle back and forth between them until the champagne ran out.

He didn't even notice how long they'd been sitting there until the faint traces of sunlight rose over the horizon. "Jäger!" Reinier's voice rang out, breaking Eren from the daze he'd fallen in. He turned his head and saw the blond waving from him across the field. "The Captain needs us!"

He turned to Levi and found the shorter man staring back at him. "I have to go."

The older man nodded. "The truce is bound to end eventually. It's best both sides gather their dead before then."

They stood simultaneously. Eren still held the now empty bottle in his hand. He offered it to Levi after neither of them had moved. The older man shook his head. "Keep it. As a souvenir."

"Yeah…" Eren cleared his throat. "I guess I'll…uh…see you around then." Levi raised his eyebrows but didn't respond. He took that as his cue to leave. With a half-hearted wave he walked back toward Reinier and Connie, where they were already dragging a body off the field. It didn't register until a few hours later that he would probably never see the Frenchman again.

Footnotes and Translations:

(1) Tommy: The German's name for British soldiers

(2) German lyrics to Silent Night

(3) Yes, this Adolf is Hitler. He was a runner on the Western Front during WW1 and strongly opposed a Christmas Truce.

German:

Vollidiot: Complete idiot

Verdammt: bloody/blasted/infernal or I like to think of it as GODDAMMIT

noch ein bisshen: just a little

French:

Parlez-vous français?: Do you speak French?