Overwhelming Emotions

Genre: Drama Romance AU Reincarnation

Rating: T

Pairing: (mainly) Rivaille x Eren

Summary: Being woven in his dreams and memories, Rivaille was at a loss. The second encounter with a certain boy made it even much worse than he thought it would be, especially when the boy is reaching his hands out to him again.

Disclaimer:

I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin, but this fanfiction is mine.

© AsakuraHannah on fanfiction net

Chapter 1 : Childhood Memory

A seven year old boy with blond hair and blue eyes bit his lips when he looked up hopelessly. His voice cracked when he started to sob, blue eyes staring at the yellow balloon wedged on the branch far above him. He wiped his cheeks which were stained with tears with his small hand and crouched down helplessly, sobbing alone in the small park near his house.

"Armin!" The boy whose name was called shot his head up when he heard a familiar voice approaching him. His blurry vision saw both of his best friends running towards his direction, looking worried. The boy with green eyes and dark brown hair was running along with his sister, the girl's dark eyes staring towards his direction in worry. Her long black hair fluttered as she ran, following her brother closely.

"Eren!" Armin called out between his tears, looking up at the boy who tried to catch his breath.

"Are you alright? That bruise…I knew it! Where are they?!" Eren was already on rage before his sister pushed him off, sending him tumbles a few steps forward.

"Mikasa!"

"Forget about them for now. They are gone anyway. Armin, can you stand?" Mikasa offered her hand and Armin gave a nod.

"I… can stand on my own… but…" Slowly but surely, the blond boy stood up. Eren followed the shorter boy's blue eyes, staring up at the balloon on the branch. Mikasa gave a sigh, brushing her bangs away from her eyes.

"I will do it!" Eren said cheerfully. Armin gaped at him for a moment, but he quickly pulled his shirt when Eren started to climb up the tree.

"Eren, it's dangerous!" Armin shouted, weakly pulling the shirt, making Eren hiss at him.

"Don't worry about it! Don't pull my shirt, Armin! Remember what that boy said? We got Freedom Wings on our back that can make us fly!" Armin slowly let go, watching his best friend climbing up the tree with his small hands and feet.

"Eren, you better come down now, it's dangerous! What if those wings never existed? What if he lied?" Mikasa couldn't help but getting worried as she watched her brother climbing up higher and higher.

"Don't worry, I'm almost there!" he said calmly and brought his body up when his hand reached the lower branch. He adjusted his height for a moment and started crawling to get the balloon. Eren reached out for the thread of the balloon when the branch started to shake. Even with his small body, there's no way that the small branch could handle the weight of a seven year old child. Mikasa and Armin gasped when the branch made a loud cracking sound.

"Eren! Get back, now!" Armin shouted in worried just in time when Eren grasped the balloon.

"I got it!" Eren exclaimed, but to his friends' dismay, the branch gave out, making the brunet boy fall along with it. Mikasa closed her eyes in fear and Armin was shouting when the gravity pulled down Eren back to earth. Armin clenched his eyes shut at what time he saw Eren's head almost hit the ground.

Eren's eyes widened at his sudden fall. He let out a shriek, readying himself to painfully land on the ground. He clenched the balloon tightly, hoping that it would make him fly. As his head fell first before the rest of his body, he saw a black haired boy much bigger than him underneath, looking up at him in worry. Eren knew him… he was the one telling him about all those wings. All those stories about war and freedom… he had listened to him intently.

"Watch out!" Eren shouted and closed his eyes tightly, readying for what was coming.

"Ouch!" He groaned when his head met the marble floor painfully, his body was wrapped with a blanket like a cocoon. His green eyes opened several times and realizing that he was dreaming, he must have been tossing and turning in his sleep. Eren rubbed the back of his head which already formed a lump; he gave a sigh of relief. What a dream. He thought he was falling down for real. Eren slowly sat up and untangled himself from the blanket. His eyes glanced at the clock on his nightstand, realizing that he woke up two hours earlier than usual. He tossed the blanket on the bed and yawned loudly as he stretched his limbs. If his adoptive sister was not having her student council meeting today, he would have beaten the record of waking up earlier than her. Eren turned around to the wardrobe, pulling his brown blazer and long-sleeved white shirt to start getting ready for his first lesson before going to the bathroom.

Humming nonchalantly, the brunet walked downstairs with his bag swung on his shoulder. He eyed the steps carefully; indeed, waking up early for once in a while was not a bad idea after all. His eyes immediately looked over the small white board hanging on the wall. He scanned a few notes from his father and Mikasa. Mikasa wrote about the chores for Eren to clean the house later as she went to her part-time job after school. She also wrote that she'd gone early for student council meeting. His father had gone early at dawn to the hospital as usual and wouldn't be back until past midnight. Eren picked up the marker and pressed it to his chin for a moment, thinking, before uncapping the marker.

'Stay healthy, dad. Don't get too tired.' He re-capped the marker and put it back in its place. Realizing that he still had time before walking out to school, his smile grew and he quickly picked up the phone to call his best friend to walk together. After promising Armin that they would meet in the park near his house, Eren quickly made some toast for breakfast.

Once he was ready to go, Eren scrambled on his feet, tying his shoelaces while munching on his bread. He opened the door before stopping for a moment and turned around towards the photo hanging on the wall.

"I'm going." He whispered to his mom's photo which only smiled back at him in silence. Eren then closed his door shut and locked it.

"Armin!" Eren called out to him with an almost sloppy grin. The blond raised his head from the book he was reading. His best friend was holding his bag with his other hand and the book on his right hand, reading while waiting for him. He was always earlier than the due time of a promise, being the attentive person that he was. Armin pulled the book down and smiled at him in return.

"Morning, Eren. It's unusual for you to be up this early." Armin noted while putting his book into his bag when Eren stood before him.

"Yes, I had a strange dream of falling down from a tree. Something about freedom wings… weird isn't it?" That made Armin blinked at him.

"I see… It must be a childhood memory." Armin smiled when Eren only looked at him confused.

"Really? I remember in that dream you were crying over a balloon. How come I don't remember that?" Eren gave a chuckle when Armin only smiled at him.

"I remember that, and I'm sure Mikasa also remembers." Armin chuckled back at the taller boy whose frown went deeper.

'Am I forgetting something?' He let the thought go when Armin started talking about the world and strange places he discovered from the monthly magazine he bought the other day. Eren was sure that his friend's dream would be fulfilled one day to travel around the world. Together they walked to school laughing and chatting.

TBC

Yay~ My first RiRen ff for Shingeki no Kyojin! XD

Tell me what you think for this prologue =P I will try my best to go on and make this much better. By each chp ;D