The party was cheerful around him, but even though it was partly dedicated to him, he didn´t feel special. He had achieved a great post as a doctor and the rich guys in the city had thrown a party, partly to him. Everywhere he turned he saw unfamiliar faces, they all congratulated him and as soon as they spoke they finished and lost interest, then wandered off into the party.
All the men and women were dressed in fine coats and dresses. The dresses were all different colors and reached their feet, all strapless and the sparkling jewelry hanging from thin necks made the entire woman look alike. All selfishly wasting their money in dresses and hair and makeup. Of course, not all were like that, but he found it strange all the people had one thing in common.
They all wore masks. Some covering the eyes, some half the face and some all of it, but they were all unrecognizable. He didn´t find anything funny in not letting people know who you are, but he felt happy looking at the amused faces on the man and woman he passed. Clearly enjoying this party.
But he wasn´t.
The only thing he really could enjoy was the big ballroom they were in. The golden chandelier showing off its light and the round ceiling that made the room look even bigger. He admired the decorations and the golden stairs that circled to the second floor. The light music played as he heard the conversations throughout the room talking about how incredibly intelligent the man who invented the camera made it and how they were going to have of the firsts pictures taken.
Armin was delighted. Having full appreciation at Eren who somehow convinced a friend of his that new the inventor to bring a camera and snap a picture of theirs. A few of the people scrambled to a position, with him in the middle, to take the picture taken. It took a few moments but the camera was soon spun into place and accommodated for the big picture.
Armin faked a smile and when the big flash came he felt blind, but not for the bright light that came from the flash, but for the woman slowly making her way down the golden stairs. She seemed to draw attention from a lot of the people because I could see heads turning in her direction as she slowly made her way.
She looked different from the rest. She was wearing a golden knee-length tassel dress and long chunky chain earrings, a golden Venetian lace headband adorning her tied-up blonde hair. She had a matching lace mask, her bored pale blue eyes looking over them and small pink lips joined in a straight line.
The petite woman almost seemed to be looking straight at him with her piercing eyes and Armin knew she had seen that gaze before. The way she walked and how her eyes didn´t slip from the same emotion looked awfully familiar to him. He didn´t remember her walking to him.
"Are you going to offer me a dance or do I have to sway on my own?" she asked him plainly, the voice now completing the familiarity aura she had near him. He knew this woman from somewhere but he didn´t quite catch where. He took her hand in his and they walked slowly to the middle of the room where other pairs were also positioning themselves to dance. It was a medium pace and as they danced, one of her delicate hand in his and the other in his shoulder, his hand on her side, he couldn´t stop looking into her eyes, trying to figure out where he knew her from, why she looked so familiar.
"I know you" he said as he gave her a spin and extended their hands to one side, their chests pressed together. "But I don´t remember where from"
"But I remember you" she said, an amused tone in her voice as she leaned back and he leaned in their hand above them "I remember your voice," he almost drops her to the ground but manages to pull her up and give her another spin before ending in the starting position again. A tiny smirk plays on her lips "Arlert"
"Who are you?" he insists, swaying across the ballroom, their bodies moving in harmony. "What´s your name? I know you but…I can´t remember"
"But I remember yours, Armin" he turns her around, one hand still in hers and the other in her side. "I remember when I left and you let me go" He is on the edge of remembering but something doesn´t let him. He knows what happened, he just can´t grip the memory. "I remember there was no other choice"
She raised her chin a little "See if this makes you remember…" she whispered in a deathly tone "Traitor" Immediately something clicked in his mind.
"Annie?" he whispered in disbelief. Remembering how she met her, who she was, what she had done. He spins her around again and now her hands are on his shoulders.
"I remember when we met"
"You were wanted" he says, still shocked "80,000 dollars for turning you in dead"
He spun her again and leaned in, her head craning back as her back grazed the floor. After a second she jerked her head back in a swift movement, her eyes daring "it was 87,000" she remarked. Armin pulled her back up and their faces were inches apart. "And 100,000 alive" she shook her head "you just barely passed unnoticed"
"I was scared when I found you" Armin admits, his own voice cold now. "I hid you because you were pitiful"
He spins her a few times and they go back to swaying "I remember when you said you loved me" her eyes looked a little sad. "But you didn´t mean it" her voice was cold and plain.
"I did" he said clearly, his voice just a little higher. "I meant it"
"And then I had to leave" she ignored his words as she continued re-telling their oh-so-sad love story. "It was hard for me to leave. I hardly wanted to"
"I didn´t want you to either" Armin puts in, trying to change her story.
"But you didn´t come after me" her eyes were the same blue he remembered.
"I waited for you" his voice turned softer "I did"
"But I never came back" she let out a huff "You forgot about me"
"It´s been seven years" Armin continued "I didn´t recognize you, but I knew you looked familiar. Way too familiar"
"I finally came back" she was favoring her left leg in their dance, but only slightly.
"It has been too long" her voice was shockingly sweet.
"Now you have a life" she didn´t stop. "You are an honored doctor and a noble man"
"And you´re still a criminal" he added. The contrast between them was unbelievable.
"And I have to leave again" No.
"How can I let you?" I can´t.
"I have to stay on the run"
"You´re killing me" Slowly.
"I will only cause you trouble if I stay" Of course not.
She stands higher and whispers in his ear, holding the back of his head with one hand. She still loves me, Armin thinks. He´s sure of it. Otherwise she wouldn´t be there, dancing with him like old friends.
"I wish I didn´t have to go" she whispers softly.
"Annie" Don´t go.
"I just wish we could run away" she says even more softly, her lips brushing his ear.
She gets as near as their lips graze each other and then whispered again "at midnight" he felt something slip into his pocket "I´m sorry" Her eyes were filled with genuine sadness and hurt.
He closed his eyes for a second, just one second. But when he opened his eyes again she was gone, like she had never been standing there with him, but he felt the little weight in his pocket, the warm feeling of her body close to his. He missed her so badly and when Armin had finally got to see her, she just disappeared and left him standing there alone, his mind stopping and his heart racing. He stumbled from the crowd and sat in one of the chairs. He took out the little paper from his pocket- no, it was an envelope –and turned it in his hands. His mind screamed dangerous, but his heart pleaded for the feeling of protecting her and the taste of her lips again. He opened the tiny envelope and in it was just a tiny object. He was surprised when he saw it, he hadn´t seen it in so much time his heart just leaped from his chest and almost broke.
He remembered so well.
"Hey!" he called out under the heavy rain. Her body was slumped against an alleys wall and she seemed to be freezing. He shook her shoulder and when she woke up she backed away a little "why are you out here in the rain?" he had asked her, and she just took out a gun and pointed it straight at his forehead, but he wasn´t scared.
"I´m not going to hurt you" she stared at him, the eyes of someone determined, and didn´t even flinch "I can help you" he saw the trace of danger in her eyes and she shook her head.
She said flatly "Why don´t I just kill you?"
"I don´t believe in death," he took the barrel in his hand and pushed it to his forehead "If you want to then go ahead"
She seemed to be reconsidering for a second and after the agonizing silence she finally said "Annie Leonhardt. Most wanted criminal in more than ten countries, a bounty of 80,000 dollars dead and ten 10,000 alive" she had a challenging stare "I have escaped the most guarded prison and destroyed the reputation of the richest of men with a single hand, robbed banks with the flick of a finger, killed innocents with a single breathe" she let out a huff "why don´t I just kill you?"
Armin did recognize her name. She had her records soaked in blood and her life full of scars. Her dad forced her to learn all the techniques and her mother committed suicide, then she and her father disappeared on different tracks and she has been living on the run, killing and stealing, since then. "Why don´t you?" was all he said. Right there she knew she had lost.
He traced his fingers over the small token he had given to her, the small connection that could just slip from his fingers and get lost forever. He didn´t even know she had kept it all these years…He turned the silver ring in between his fingers feeling the tiny chinks along it. He remembered when he had gave it to her, the memory coming back at last.
It had been Christmas eve and she was sitting by his small living room, drawing a sketch of something Armin didn´t recognize. He sat down beside her and held a little box in front of her. "Merry Christmas, Annie" he said softly but the blonde girl only stared at the little box and back to him, a blank expression on her delicate features. She gave a little sigh and stood up, sitting in the chair behind of them.
"I don´t believe in God Armin" she said as she turned to a new page on her sketchbook. "I´m an Atheist"
"I know" Armin said matter-of-factly and turned around a little to face her "I don´t believe in him either"
Annie looked from her sketchbook at him and frowned "I thought you said-"
"I don´t believe in God" he repeated "I believe in what he represents. Happiness, faith, sincerity, love."
She smiled as he said the last word and then shook her head lightly "this world is full of cruelty and stupidity" she said, not angrily but with a tone that suggested she was right "People are more interested in material things than the lives of their friends and family" her eyes looked sad "Not even a parent would chose his child over a million dollars"
"I believe that small acts of love can change a person" Armin said as he looked up at her, her fragile hands moving across the page rapidly "I wanted to show you how much I care about you with a small token" he placed the box in her lap and she looked down at it.
She sighed and set the pencil down, replacing it by the silver laced box, her eyes examining it closely. Annie pulled at the small ribbon and opened the little box, the thin silver ring seemed to be screaming her name.
"Why…?" she almost whispered as he slid the ring in her fourth finger, it fitted perfectly.
"It represents you" he explained "you look small and fragile on the outside, serious all the time, pretending you don´t care. But you really are a criminal on the run, brave and strong, forged and molded by cruel hands that didn´t care creating a beautiful broken girl"
Annie went silent for a few seconds and when she spoke her voice was tiny. "How can you say those things?" she asked him poorly, her eyes on her lap. "How can you be so kind? Even to the greatest criminal, you show love. How can you not have given me in?"
Armin felt guilty; he held Annie´s delicate hands in his own, heating them up. "Like I said," he started, his voice soothing "I believe that small acts of genuine love can change a person, can make a better one" he looks up at her pale blue eyes, and she meets his gaze. "Even the most frozen heart can beat again with some love. If it returns the feelings it´s already fixed. Even if you find it incapable of loving and being loved, it will beat according to your feelings" he explains softly to her and she smiles. A shy, soft smile only to show appreciation and contempt.
And it was beautiful.
And she was beautiful.
"Annie" he said softly.
"Yeah?" her voice was so innocent; it was impressive the girl before him had killed so much people.
"I love you"
"You can´t" she answered, her voice was still soft, she wasn´t angry or surprised "You know you can´t"
"I still do" Armin said.
"I still think you´re beautiful" he mutters under his breath, making his way out of the ballroom.
/div
p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:
justify;text-indent:35.4pt" /p