A Warriors Fight

Chapter 2: A Warriors Mission

Eren is three years old when Zeke is first sent away on a month-long mission.

Carla prepares herself for a month of tears along with screaming. But Eren is surprisingly calm. He waves goodbye to Zeke and goes back to playing with his toys, without once calling for "Zee."

Grandpa teases him by asking, "Don't you miss your big brother?"

"Zee said don't cry and be good," Eren tells him matter-of-factly.

Surprisingly each time they bring Zeke's name up, Eren doesn't seemed phased by bring up Zeke, that it doesn't make him cry or scream or beg for Zeke to come back which surprises Carla a lot.

Eren does not show any sign of distress that Zeke is gone until Zeke returns. Then it's as if he suddenly realized that Zeke hasn't been by his side this entire time.

Eren's eyes go wide at the sight of his brother. His lips tremble, he slowly reaches for his brother.

The gates haven't opened yet, so Carla makes sure to hold onto him in case he bolts forward for his brother on the other side. It's only then that she realizes something important. They focused so much on how Eren would miss Zeke that they forgot to notice how much Zeke would end up missing Eren.

At the sight of his little brother, Zeke bolts the minute the gates of the interment zone are open. He makes a run for Eren. Carla dares to argue that Zeke probably broke a record to reach his little brother and hold him tightly.

Then and only then, Eren lets out small sounds that sound suspiciously a lot like he's crying.

"What took you, Zee?" Eren sobs.

Carla decides to be a decent human today and not tease her sons about it.

There's always a line of injured at the general hospital whenever the Warrior Division returns from a mission. The longer the mission lasts, the longer the line is. Officially, they are called soldiers of the Eldian Volunteer Army. Everyone else in the interment zone calls them low lives and criminals that are a step away from being sent to Heaven.

Zeke says that they're not that, though.

"They're a big proponent of what we as the Warrior Division do. Without their help and support, the missions would take twice as long."

"Then I'll make sure to thank them," she says.

Zeke beams. He's such a sweet kid. Carla worries that his kindness will be taken advantage of.

"Zee," Eren says, pulling on his brother's hand for attention. "I help, too."

Zeke laughs and picks Eren up in his arms. "Yup! You're the most helpful!"

They're so cute like this. Carla hopes that the next mission won't be for a long time.