Chapter Text
Five Years Later
The home that Eren and Levi built by the sea stands vacant and empty, weathered by the elements and the years of harsh salt air that blows in from somewhere beyond that infinite expanse of blue-green water that it has overlooked since the last nail was pounded into its walls nearly five years ago.
No one is there to warm the wooden shack’s only room with dinner cooking over a crackling fire, and no more do the sounds of song and laughter and lovemaking echo off its four drafty walls. There is nothing now but the lonely sound of endless waves.
It stands alone by the shore as a silent monument to the two who defied all odds and found freedom and joy in a world of captivity and despair, a symbol of hope and undeniable proof of the power of love.
That tiny home may be vacant, but it is not abandoned. Not at all. It is simply waiting. Waiting, patiently as always, for the two who built it to cross its threshold and warm its single room with their tangled bodies and heated breaths.
And, on this day, its wait comes to an end with the slam of a rickety door, and it knows that it has become a home once again.
——
The pair are running, sprinting, two sets of feet pounding the floor, four legs moving as fast as they can, desperate to reach the light they can see just meters away at the end of the hall; an open door, their escape route. Their pursuers are gaining on them, shrieking and shouting, loud voices bouncing off the walls, shrill and high and piercing their ringing ears. They have no time to spare to look behind them, but the slap of determined footsteps is coming closer and closer and they know they are seconds from being caught if they can't make it through that door and lock their pursuers inside. Just as the two are about finally reach freedom, a figure appears in front of the door, blocking the light with his massive form, stopping them dead in their tracks.
Both the prey and the hunters freeze at the sound of his displeased voice and dare not approach the towering frame of the man whose serious glare pins them in place.
“Hey! What did I tell you about running in the house?!”
“Sorry, papa,” they all mumble in unison, apologetic and ashamed.
“Don’t let me catch you doing it again,” the man warns, stepping aside to allow the pack to pass. “Take it outside.”
“Okay!” The voices chime again in unison, their little feet resuming their previous pace as they rush past him to resume the hunt.
A smile warms Eren’s face as he watches the kids chase each other around the yard, and though his arms are crossed and his warning was firm, he isn’t the least bit angry. How could he be angry when there are strong arms wrapping around his waist and Levi’s soft chuckling shaking his frame?
“Little terrors,” Levi mutters, his words muffled by the shoulder he presses his lips to before resting his head against it, turning to face forward so he can join his husband in watching their children playing outside of their new home.
——
They built this home with their own hands like they did their first, but the similarities end there. For one, this house is many times larger than the shack on the hill, and it was not constructed with their hands alone.
This time they had help. Lots of it.