It's struck me that Attack on Titan is just... way too depressing. So, my mission in this story is to make AOT just a bit happier. Eren isn't going to be an edgy weirdo for three fourths of the story, he's eventually going to end up in a relationship with, well, someone, and if we make it that far, he won't turn into a genocidal maniac and kill tons of civilians in Liberio. The Curse of Ymir also isn't going to be a thing, so Eren doesn't die when he's only twenty-six. He also won't need to shit on Mikasa and Armin to keep them from mourning his death.

845 - Shiganshina District

Eren

"Be careful kids! I don't want you getting in any more fights, alright?"

A woman with brown hair called out to two children, one young boy with messy brown hair, and one young girl with short, black hair.

"Yes, mom. We'll be back in a few minutes, won't we, Mikasa?"

The young boy, Eren Yeager, nodded his head towards the young girl, Mikasa Ackerman. She nodded in return, and the pair ran out into the streets towards the market with their baskets and a few coins. Once they reached the market, they were greeted by Hannes, one of the soldier who usually hung out in the market and drank till he couldn't see straight anymore.

"Hey, kiddies. I don't want to see anymore fights between you and those kids. Or else I might have to actually step in this time!" Hannes and his two friends laughed, as Eren shook his head and walked up to one of the food stalls with Mikasa trailing right behind him.

"Hey, sir, we'd like three loafs of bread, please," Eren rummaged his pockets before pulling out the necessary amount of coin. The shopkeep nodded, and turned around to grab the loafs before placing them in his and Mikasa's baskets. He took the coin, and stashed it away, while Eren and Mikasa started walking off back home. On their way, they stumbled across their third friend, Armin, who, like always, was getting beat up by bullies trying to take away his food.

"What're you gonna do, little kid?" the tallest bully punched Armin in the gut, eliciting a cough from the young blonde. Eren furrowed his brow, before shouting, "Hey, stop that!" Mikasa attempted to hold him back, but once he started running off to fight the bullies, she decided it was best to just follow him. The pair ran towards the trio of bullies, who smirked at seeing Eren, but widened their eyes at seeing Mikasa. Eren punched on in the face as he was stunned, but quickly took a kick to the leg and a punch to the face. Mikasa jumped in, and soon after, the bullies ran away.

"Eren. What did your mother just tell us?" Mikasa helped Eren to his feet with a concerned look on her face. "Don't worry about me, go check on Armin," he pushed her away, much to Mikasa's chagrin, "Besides, what do you want me to do? Let Armin get beat up?" Mikasa shook her head and walked over to help up Armin, who was dealing with a few bruises. "Thanks, guys. you didn't have to do that." Armin held his arm and started walking towards Eren's house alongside Eren and Mikasa. "Don't worry about it, I've got your back. Even if mom's gonna give me an earful for it."

The trio ran along towards Eren's house, before arriving. Carla opened the door, only to see a bruised Armin and scuffed up Eren. She shouted, "Eren! What did I tell you about getting into fights?!" Eren rolled his eyes, "Mom, Armin was getting hurt, I was just protecting him!" Mikasa tapped Armin on the shoulder, "It's best if we get out of here, they're going to go on for a while." Armin nodded, and the pair walked away from the bickering Yeager family while laughing. "Thank's again, Mikasa. If only I could fight like you, maybe I wouldn't get picked on so much." Mikasa shook her head with a smile, "Like Eren said, don't worry about it. We're here for you, that's what friends are for, right?"

They sat against a nearby tree, and waited until Eren walked towards them with a grim look on his face. "How'd it go?"

"Not well, Mika, I hate how she's so controlling and never listens to me."

"Meh, she cares about you still."

"Duh, but I wish she wouldn't get all up in arms over everything I do. You too, Mikasa, you shouldn't be so worried about me all of the time."

Armin sighed, "Here we go again."

"I'm only doing it for your well being, Eren."

"Well, I can take care of myself."

"Mhm, is that why you get beat up every other day?"

"Not every other day."

"Often, then."

"Whatever."

The bickering continued until it was silenced by a large noise coming from the wall separating Shiganshina from annihilation. The trio stared at a large smokescreen covering a section of the wall with confusion, which quickly turned to shock, as a massive titan emerged. It stared over the large town within the walls, before swining it's leg back, and kicking a section of the wall flying through the skies, one piece impacting Eren's now destroyed house. As soon as it appeared, another crash was heard, as an Armored Titan crashed through the wall. Soon, the Colossus Titan vanished, as did the Armored Titan.

"What the, hell...?"

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin were paralyzed by shock and fear, and hardly even registered the fact that Eren's home was just destroyed. Eren snapped out of it, and ran back to his house with tears in his eyes, along with his two friends. He shifted through the debris along with Mikasa and Armin, his mouth still gaping in shock, before he came upon his mother, trapped beneath a large, wooden board.

"Mom?! Mikasa! Help me!"

Eren desperately tried to lift the board up along with Mikasa, but they didn't have the strength to do it before Armin shouted, "Eren! Mikasa! In front of you!"

They glanced towards Armin before staring face-to-face with a large figure, a Titan. Captivated again by fear, nobody moved, until Carla started screaming at the three children to run away. "I'm not leaving you here, mom!" Eren clawed again at the board, as Mikasa desperately tried to drag him away from the approaching Titan. Eren wiped away tears an vainly tried on last time, before Hannes, the soldier from earlier, rushed past him. He pulled out his swords, but froze in fear, before shifting backwards. His hands shook, before the Titan reached down towards Carla, and grabbed her. Hannes dropped his swords, before grabbing Eren and Mikasa, and running away from the house. "We've gotta get out of here!" Eren screamed as tears flowed down his face, grasping the air with his left hand while watching as the Titan dropped his mother into her gaping jaws.

Hannes and the trio of children continued running away from Eren's now destroyed house, with Eren stunned into silence by his mother's death, Mikasa deathly quiet, and Armin shaking from fear. Armin looked up at Hannes, who was breathing hard from carrying Eren, "Mister H-Hannes? What were those, t-things?", Armin asked, his voice shaking. "Titans, but I, I've got no clue how they breached the wall. Save the questions for later, kid." Armin nodded, and continued following Hannes until they reached the gate connecting Shiganshina to Wall Rose. Refugees hurriedly fleeing from the advancing Titans shuffled through the gate, as soldiers of the Garrison rushed them through while fending off stray Titans. Hannes pushed Mikasa and Armin into the crowd, urging them to get on the other side of the wall, and let Eren down. Mikasa and Armin pulled him along while Hannes stayed back to fight alongside the remaining Garrison force.

Wall Rose

Eren, still distraught over the recent loss of his mother, was hardly able to render the shock of the day's events. He, along with Mikasa and Armin, shuffled mindlessly through Wall Rose, away from the terror wreaking havoc in Shiganshina. Mikasa shakily patted Eren, and pointed towards a shocked looking Grisha Yeager.

"Eren?! Where's your mother?"

"S-she-" Eren fought back tears, "She got grabbed, b-by, a Titan."

Grisha winced at the news, and started breathing faster, before collecting himself. He told Mikasa and Armin to go on ahead, and when Keith Shadis started to walk towards Eren in an attempt to console him, Grisha held out a hand.

"Keith, I'd like it if you stayed out of this. I need to talk to my son, alone."

Keith dumbly nodded, before going back to helping the refugees through Wall Rose. Grisha led Eren, who didn't know what was going on, to a forest. Grisha gulped, before kneeling down to face Eren. "Eren, I-, I need to ask you a favor," Grisha clenched his teeth, before pulling out a small box, "Once this is over, I need you to find our home, and use this key to unlock the basement to discover my secrets."

Eren looked confused with tears still in the corners of his eyes, "D-dad? What are you talking about?"

Grisha forces Eren to take the key, and opens the box, revealing a syringe. He grabs Eren's forearm, and prepares to inject the substance into Eren. "Dad, what are you doing?!"

"Our memories will teach you how to use this power, my son. Good luck."

Eren's eyes grew wide with fright, until he blacked out.

Some Time Later

Eren's ears rung as his vision slowly came back to him. He stared up at a blurry image of Keith Shadis, who seemed to be saying his name. He moved his hands weakly, and glanced at each to try and regain his bearings. "Eren?! Are you awake yet?" Keith was shaking him now. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Where am I, what happened?" Eren's memories began flooding back to him, and he winced as he remembered the scene of his mother dying before his own eyes. "I don't know, kid, your dad brought you out here, then you didn't come back for half an hour. I got worried, came over here, and there you were, laying on the floor. Don't ask about Grisha, he's gone. I don't know where he went." Eren took a moment to run over Keith's words. A simple, "Why?", was all he managed to get out. Commander Keith shrugged, before helping Eren to his feet. The two began walking back to the gate separating Shiganshina and the rest of Wall Rose.

Eren and Commander Keith eventually reached the gate, to find Mikasa and Armin still waiting. Mikasa rushed over, and enveloped Eren in an embrace. "What happened? Be and Armin thought something might've happened, where were you?" Eren dumbly replied, "I, I don't know." Mikasa let go, and led Eren to sit with her and Armin.

Unbeknownst to them, three figures posing as refugees were seated nearby. One was a young girl with blonde hair, one was a tall, young boy, with short, black hair, and finally, one was a young boy with short, blonde hair. Two looked somber, the girl and the taller boy, but not for the same reasons as everyone else.