Note: Thanks everyone for being so patient, I know I haven't updated in a while! I had to re-read my story because I (unfortunately) didn't remember where I had left off. I write things on a whim.

Thank you all for the kind reviews, the PMs, and of course, your patience! I hope this chapter will be a treat!

Mr. and Mrs. Ackerman
By: plushie

Chapter 6: Living in Compromise

Over the next week, Mikasa grudgingly had to admit to herself that her relationship with Levi had improved. Levi had placed her under what he called house arrest, and during the week of confinement within her home, Mikasa busied herself with household work when she wasn't busy with proposals. She had reacquainted herself with quaint chores like laundry, cleaning, and she resumed cooking, much to Levi's comfort.

"You seem better off now. Happier," Armin mentioned from where he was situated at the dining table. He and his team had just returned from their expedition, and he was sharing his findings.

The mission had been, as Mikasa anticipated, a success. Not only had they extracted valuable sea salt, but they had gained knowledge on the vast varieties of fish in the oceans, the plant life there, and even brought back a crateful of lobster, which had always been considered a delicacy. Mikasa never had an appetite for seafood; however, she couldn't help but wonder if Levi would enjoy such a meal. Ultimately, Mikasa decided to keep a lobster in the refrigerator.

Mikasa absently nodded at Armin's observation. In her hand she clutched a cloth, and had been polishing the surface of the kitchen counter. "I think it's the time at home. It's...relaxing."

"Levi always spoiled you," Armin chuckled softly, his pen poised above the notebook before him. He set it down. "You should say hi to Eren. He came with me on the mission, but he's home now."

Mikasa frowned at this. "I'd prefer not to, Armin."

"Are you still mad?"

"No. I'm following my orders to work from home."

"I can send him to visit?"

"That's unnecessary."

Armin bit the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "You know, based on how things have been going, I'm sure Levi wouldn't mind you leaving the house for a bit. How are your injuries?"

Mikasa shot him a stubborn glare. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Yeah, I mean, of course you are. You're Mikasa."

"I would like to help train soldiers," Mikasa spoke tonelessly. "But Levi keeps giving me office tasks. I've requested to work with Hange, at least to train with the titan shifters and go on expeditions again. Commander Levi insists it's better to be to stay in the town."

"Has your memory returned?"

She grimaced, eyes cast downwards. "No. I fear it won't."

Armin hummed. "Either way, it seems you have adjusted to your lifestyle, haven't you?"

"...I guess."

"That's all Levi wants, probably." Armin gave her a reassuring smile before returning to his report.

"I was curious about our bloodline."

Levi regarded his stoic wife from where she stood in the doorway of the home office. She donned another silk nightdress, this one happened to be blue. He had not noticed her standing there, which was unusual. But, being Mikasa, one would need to evolve into a higher species before her presence could be detected early.

Levi leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes. "Come in."

Mikasa did not hesitate. She entered the office, closing the large oak door firmly shut behind her. She took deliberately slow steps towards the chair opposite of the desk, sitting down silently in front of him. Her expression was void, yet attentive.

Levi stood suddenly, striding towards the wall of shelves. His eyes scanned horizontally, before finally he reached to remove one book. He made his way back behind his desk, setting down the book and revealing its contents.

The Ackerman Clan.

"Where did you find this?" Mikasa's brow crinkled earnestly, leaning forward slightly to examine the print on the cover. "I have never heard of such a document before."

"The Ackermans existed before the walls, so obviously, we had to wait until we could venture out to find such a thing," Levi explained. He opened the book, leafing through the pages. There was one page that had been neatly marked by a folded corner. He pointed out a segment to her: "...a distinctive moment of awakening. Does that sound familiar to you? I once explained it as knowing exactly what needs to be done."

Mikasa eyed him with distrust, but faintly nodded. "Yes. I know what you mean."

"We're known for our fighting prowess, and we were a family kept close to the crown for this reason. We are the last known members of this bloodline, so us getting married to continue it was... encouraged." He seemed to be choosing his words carefully, and his eyes expressed a rare hint of amusement.

Mikasa all but glared at him, a frown twitching at the corners of her mouth. "Is that why we're married? To save our bloodline?"

At this, Levi scoffed. "How many times do I have to reiterate the same shit to you?"

Mikasa said nothing, knowing well that it had been three or four times she'd questioned their marriage. Instead, she reached towards the book, thumbing through the pages. "I'm interested in this book."

"You've read it already," Levi said blithely.

"Clearly," Mikasa began darkly. "I don't remember it."

Levi took the book from her, slamming it shut. He placed a hand on it, eyes daring her to make a move. Mikasa did nothing, hands balling into fists as she met his intense stare with one of her own.

"We should have more conversations," Levi stated blandly. "We should talk about this. What do you want to know?"

A pause. "Are there... other clans?"

Levi snorted. "Obviously."

"Anyone like us?"

"Our skills in battle are unique to our clan. There aren't any known clans that are similar to us in that sense."

"...I see."

"There seems to be something else you want to ask me."

"We wanted to have children," Mikasa stated expressionlessly, eyes challenging him.

Levi appeared equally dispassionate: "So?"

"Is this why?"

Levi rolled his eyes, "You just asked me that."

Mikasa cleared her throat. "I need to know where my duties lie."

"I'm not going to force myself on you. You made it perfectly fucking clear you don't even want me to touch you. I doubt you'd have sex with me."

Mikasa paled. Levi emitted something akin to a laugh.

"I bet you're regretting asking."

The mortification grew on Mikasa's face, and she found that she could not help the blood that rushed to her face. "I just—it means that we've had that sort of... relationship."

Now Levi was amused. He smirked at her. "Of course."

She inwardly berated herself for the flush that was apparent on her face, but also they were husband and wife. Of course Levi of all people wouldn't overlook that those activities would be, to say the least, appropriate.

"What did I like about you?"

Levi glowered at her. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

He withheld a suffering sigh, languidly running his fingers through his hair. "I don't fucking know. I never explicitly asked shit like that, and it's not like you'd volunteer that information."

She exhaled, wondering why she continued to bother asking about her past self. The Mikasa that willingly married Levi, the one that fell in love with Levi, wanted to have kids with Levi, even though, in her opinion, it seemed she was too young to have children. It must have been a consequence of choosing to be with a man that was that much older.

It seemed that she would never be back to "normal".

She had deflected the subject by inviting him to come down for dinner. She had not begun cooking anything, though she figured that it would not take long for her to make pasta. He watched as she effortlessly combined heavy cream, a blend of grated cheese, and garlic into a pan, mixing it until the sauce thickened.

"Do you want chicken in your pasta?"

Levi nodded, eyes never leaving as she chopped mushrooms and chicken to add to the sauce. "You cook the same as you did before you bumped your head."

Mikasa shot a look at him over her shoulder, brows furrowing. "I've always known how to cook."

Levi said nothing, watching as she combined the sauce with the boiled noodles. She wordlessly served him his portion, and sat across from him with a plate of her own. He watched as she began to eat—apparently, she had been hungry.

Halfway through her meal, she set down her cutlery, and dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. Her teal eyes searched for his. Though he wanted to ignore her, he ceased his eating, looking towards her impatiently.

"What, Mikasa?"

"I want to train again. With titan-shifters," she declared boldly, eyes narrowed. "I'm tired of being treated like a cripple."

Levi frowned disapprovingly. "Are you fucking kidding. It has nothing to do with you being crippled, I don't want you to be a disruption. Like last time."

Mikasa twitched at the slight, but remained resolute. "I won't. I'm ready to face Eren. And Annie."

Levi examined her features. Suddenly, he leaned back to take a sip of his tea. Once he set his cup down, he said: "Fine. I give you permission to return to the field, but I get to sleep in my room again."

Mikasa blanched. "Excuse me?"

Levi emitted a snort. "What? Look, I don't want your ass back on the field yet. I think it's too soon. But since you keep fucking annoying me with all these questions about who you were and what we are, I'll let you do the shit you usually would do. But that includes," a complacent look crossed his features, "Sharing a bed with me."

Mikasa's fists clenched on the table, fixing him with the most withering glare she could muster.

But she considered his words. Marriage, amongst other things, was a compromise.

She couldn't stand another day confined to the house.

"Fine."

And they continued dinner. After they had both finished eating, Mikasa had begun to clean, only to be interrupted by Levi, who insisted that he had to do the cleaning.

Mikasa had purposefully busied herself with anything she could find left over in the office from this morning's proposals. She sat behind the desk, clad in silk lavender pajamas (that night, she chose pajamas consisting of a buttoned long-sleeve shirt and pants), and read the same proposal for the third time that evening. Mikasa was unashamed of her evasive techniques, and around midnight, it seemed that Levi had grown frustrated.

"So you're just not going to sleep?" Levi snapped from where he stood in the doorway, eyes narrowed at her balefully.

Mikasa shot him a stern look. "I'm working."

"Bullshit. I hardly sleep as it is and I'm fucking tired, you're coming to bed now, or you're home another week."

Mikasa glowered, but slowly rose from where she sat, circling the desk and shoving him slightly as she passed him.

Levi had insisted on sleeping on the left side. He had dubbed it 'his side'. Mikasa had been too livid to comment on this, merely yanking the comforter back and curling up on what was supposedly 'her side' of the bed. She faced her back to him, clutching the comforter to her chin indignantly.

She heard Levi chuckle softly next to her. "You're being a brat. Again."

She said nothing, mutely contorting into a tighter ball to take up as little space on the mattress as possible.

When the light was extinguished and all that could be heard was Levi's soft breathing, Mikasa found it impossible to sustain consciousness, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Mikasa had overslept. She was relieved that Levi was no longer next to her, though she groped at the side table for the clock in the darkness of the bedroom. Levi had not bothered drawing the curtains.

It was 11:05 in the afternoon.

Mikasa clenched her teeth, setting the clock forcefully back on the table before yanking off the sheets. She dressed and washed up quickly before darting out of the house, straight towards the Survey Corps headquarters. When she reached the commander's office, she brazenly barged in, eyeing her husband with contempt, bristling with anger.

"You didn't wake me up."

Levi eyed her blankly, setting down his pen neatly next to the papers he was signing. "So?"

"So I'm late."

"Being late only matters if your commanding officer cares that you're late, which I don't." He paused, shooting her a smug look, "And you looked so peaceful, I didn't want to bother you."

She wondered what the consequences of hitting the commander were. "I'm going to Hange. Where did you put my maneuver gear."

He flicked his head towards the direction of the closet. She shot him one last scathing look before marching in the direction of the gesture, throwing open the closet doors and producing the equipment she needed. As she adjusted the fastenings around her waist, he mentioned, "Hange's just doing a checkup today. So there won't be much combat training."

Mikasa did not acknowledge this information, simply loading her blades and departing from the office.

"So the tight ass finally let you out, hey?" Hange jested, setting down her clipboard to greet Mikasa, who had just stumbled into a lab just on the ledge of the ravine where the groans of the titans were audible. "They're a rowdy bunch, aren't hey?"

Mikasa did not respond, eyes shifting about the room. Pictures of the titan's anatomy were mounted on the stone walls, as well as diagrams depicting the transformation that occurs when humans shift. Every diagram was labeled and detailed. Mikasa's expression remained vacant as she took a few steps towards another large picture that classified every titan, including titan shifters.

"It seems you've learned much in the past few years," Mikasa stated evenly. She turned to Hange. "Where is Eren?"

Hange seemed disappointed that Mikasa gave her no opportunity to share her research, though Mikasa wasn't much for small talk. "He's upstairs. Him and Annie were put out, we're taking blood today."

Mikasa wordlessly turned from the older woman, finding stairs at the corner of the room that spiraled upwards. The next floor was a hallway with many rooms. Only one door was open, and Mikasa entered. Upon her entrance, she immediately noticed that both Annie and Eren were there, each on their own twin bed with tubes sticking out of their arms, their blood dripping into vials next to them. Mikasa slowly stepped forward, looming over Eren's form.

"Mikasa."

The dark-haired woman looked up, eyes narrowing at Annie, who had began detaching the needles from her arm and sitting up. Her features were strong, and she was regarding Mikasa with heavy-lidded eyes. She looked cautious.

"Annie. Should you be conscious?"

Annie looked at the two full vials of blood, then nodded, "When the drugs wear off I don't bother giving more blood."

"You seem eager to help Hange with her research."

Annie shifted so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, still wary of Mikasa, "I owe it to her to be as helpful as I can."

Mikasa's gaze trailed back to Eren, and then back to Annie, "Have I upset him?"

Annie scoffed softly, her own blue eyes resting on Eren's still unconscious form. "Nah. He thinks highly of you. He'd probably be glad you're here right now."

Teal eyes observed as Eren's blood dripped into the first vial. The second one had no blood in it. "He seems to have started after you."

"He woke up late. Hasn't been getting much sleep."

Mikasa absently wondered if they lived together and if Eren shared a bed with this woman. Most of all, she wondered how Eren was so able to forgive Annie after everything that had happened, after all the destruction she had caused. Trust had never been one of Mikasa's virtues.

Eren had managed to put trust back into Annie. More than that, Annie had regained Eren's trust, somehow. Reckless as Eren was, Mikasa trusted his judgment.

Mikasa sighed, a weight lifted off her shoulders as she absently touched Eren's brown hair.

She said nothing to Annie, who was speechless as Mikasa began towards the door. Before leaving, however, she paused.

"Take care of him for me."

End Chapter 6