A/N: This story had been initially published under another account. Due to complications (aka someone IRL stumbled onto that account); these stories have been moved to this account.

Sorry for the inconvenience. ;A;

The Cry of Paradise

by razzentino

Prologue

"Look for the girl with the broken smile"

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin, nor the cover image. Full credits go to their respective owners, Hajime Isayama and trixdraws.

Ymir frowned as she impatiently listened to the repetitive beeps. C'mon, Krista, pick up.

Her eyebrows shot up as Krista's muffled ringtone echoed from somewhere within their apartment. Pacing down the hallway, Ymir peeked past the door and into the living room.

Huddled on the couch, was a small figure completely hidden by a blanket.

"Krista?"

The figure shifted sleepily and a head popped out from under the sheet, blonde hair dishevelled. Krista reached for her mobile before putting her ear against the receiver. "Yes?" she mumbled, pressing her palm against her mouth to suppress a yawn.

Ymir bit her bottom lip to stifle a laugh at the adorable sight. "Did I wake you?"

"Um," Krista looked around groggily, trying to regain her bearings. She looked up, and noticed her roommate making herself comfortable on the opposite couch, smiling down on her in amusement.

"Mornin'," Ymir greeted softly, resting her chin against her knuckles.

Krista blinked and stared at her phone in slight puzzlement. "Oh," she mumbled to herself. She blinked again, and gave a sweet, sleepy smile. "Good morning."

Ymir felt herself fall in love all over again. She watched as Krista sat up and rubbed her eyes, clearly still sleepy. "What time−" she yawned, "−is it?"

It was almost noon, but Ymir didn't have the heart to tell the truth. "Still early," she lied. "You weren't in bed, and I couldn't find you, so I thought you went out."

"I was going to surprise you with breakfast," she explained softly, "But I accidentally fell asleep."

Ymir just chuckled, her expression a mixture of mirth and complete adoration. Lately, Krista had been handling emergency night shifts at the hospital, and it was evident that they were starting to take a toll on her. She probably got back around five in the morning, exhausted… And yet, she wanted to make her breakfast.

Krista pulled the sheet back and patted the couch. "Sleep with me?"

Ymir internally winced. She had fallen for Krista since god knows when, yet the blonde still remained oblivious, despite her constant oh-so-painfully-obvious flirts. Sleeping together, however, was quite a normal occurrence, as the both of them had known each other for years and were constantly attached to the hip of one another.

Resigning to a small sigh, Ymir slipped under the sheet. Oh, why not.

Krista immediately huddled against Ymir's chest, her eyes fluttering shut as a happy and peaceful smile graced her lips.

"G'night," Ymir whispered.

A small giggle escaped Krista's lips as she settled comfortably between Ymir's arms. "Good morning, Ymir."

"Ugh," Ymir groaned, rubbing her temples to ease the throbbing. "I don't remember drinking…" She pushed herself to sit upright, dazedly blinking as she did a quick scan of surroundings. She immediately recognized the living room of the apartment she shared with Krista.

Sensing a presence behind her, she craned her head and was greeted by an incredulous Annie.

Russet brown eyes narrowed. "What are you−"

Ymir's sentence was cut off abruptly when Annie grabbed her arm, bent over and promptly flipped the brunette over her shoulder. Despite the difference in size, it had effectively knocked the wind out of Ymir as she sailed through the air and crashed to the ground on her back, gasping. Annie dug her knee into Ymir's chest, with one hand tightly grabbing her collar while the other was raised into a poised fist.

Completely bewildered, with her head spinning more violently than before, it took a while for Ymir to comprehend why she had just watched the world turn upside down. Once she connected the dots, she wasn't very happy. "What. The. Fuck," Ymir muttered before bellowing, "Was that for?!"

"… You're alive," Annie breathed.

"No thanks to you," Ymir grumbled. "Now get the hell off me before I flip you."

Annie lowered her raised fist. "What are you doing here?" the blonde questioned in a hushed tone, her grip on Ymir's collar slackening. Her ice blue eyes were wide in… shock?

Ymir raised an eyebrow. "I live here. What's your excuse?"

This was the first time Ymir saw Annie without her usual emotionless and stoic façade. The surprises didn't end there, however. Annie grabbed Ymir's chin roughly; jerking her head left and right as guarded ice blue eyes studied her intently.

"Ow!" Ymir jolted. "What is wrong with you!"

"I must be stressed," Annie mumbled under her breath. "This isn't possible…"

"Um… no. Look, woman, I've got no idea what you're on about…" Ymir replied, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. She pushed herself up with her elbows, and lightly shoved Annie off her stomach. "But can you tell me what you're doing in my home− let go of me already!" Ymir snapped, whacking Annie's wrist away with the back of her hand.

Annie just stared.

"What!"

"I'm stressed," Annie said flatly.

Ymir sighed irritably and huffed, "Can you start making sense?"

Annie sat down cross-legged at the opposite of Ymir, exhaling heavily.

"…"

"…"

"Well?"

"…"

"Any day, now."

The blonde had faraway look in her eyes as she stared past Ymir's shoulder with a blank expression. "… You died," Annie stated in a low voice.

Rolling her eyes, Ymir huffed irritably. "I thought we agreed to start making sense?"

Annie shook her head. "Five months ago."

"Uhh, no I didn't."

"I saw you."

She raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Die." Ymir finished, which sounded more like an incredulous statement than a question.

"Yes."

"... You're wasting my time," Ymir growled. "Get out."

"Car accident," Annie mumbled softly, staring at her hands. "You were with Krista."

Ymir leapt up instantly at the mention of Krista's name, suddenly recalling that she hadn't seen Krista since she awoke. "Where's Krista?"

Ice blue eyes studied her sudden action warily. "Calm down. Krista's at her therapy session."

"Therapy?" Ymir almost screeched.

"She's been traumatized ever since the accident," Annie explained. "She's coping better than before at least."

Ymir gritted her teeth. "Okay, that's sick. Joke's gone too far now."

"You still think I'm joking?" Annie asked, her expression as serious as ever, showing no signs of wavering.

"You better be," Ymir mumbled under her breath, scanning her environment once more. She realized that she hadn't noticed several details due to her previous state of disorientation−how the photo frames were taken down, how the vase of Krista's favourite flowers was gone (they were wilting anyway), how there were a couple boxes stacked in the corner…

Ymir's brows knitted in confusion. "… What's with the boxes?"

"I was helping Krista move."

Twisting around abruptly, she roughly grabbed Annie by her collar. "Explain. Now."

Annie seemed unaffected by Ymir's aggression as she simply answered, "She couldn't continue living here after her fiancée died."

Ymir's blood ran cold. "… Fiancee?!"

"Yes," Annie said simply, still staring at Ymir intently. "You."

"…"

"…"

"… You're shitting me," Ymir said slowly.

Annie's expression was impassive, and showed no signs of shitting or whatsoever. She just looked... tired. "I shit you not."

Silence.

Ymir tousled her hair in annoyance, exhaling sharply. "Look," she said gruffly, refusing to meet Annie's eyes. "I don't know how you found out my feelings for Krista, but I'd appreciate it if you didn't mock me."

Annie remained silent for a while. "You don't remember being engaged to Krista?"

"I was never engaged to Krista," Ymir growled. "Hell, we've never even dated! We're just friends!"

Another beat of silence. Annie peered at the brunette curiously. "But... didn't you just admit you love her?"

At this, Ymir faltered. "So w-what?" she stumbled, mentally cursing herself for stuttering. Quickly recovering her snarky attitude, Ymir was about to shoot back a snide reply but was effectively silenced by the quiet footsteps approaching the door.

"I'm back," a soft, ever familiar voice called out.

"Krista," Annie murmured, shooting a worried glance at the door which was pushed open, revealing Krista wearing a pair of dark shades.

Ymir watched Krista stumble past the door hesitantly.

"No," Ymir breathed; dread rapidly growing in the pit of her stomach.

Krista turned towards the direction of Ymir's voice curiously, showing no signs of surprise at the sight of the brunette. "So, What's for lunch today, Annie?"

Ever so carefully, Ymir strode towards Krista. She reached out tentatively, her palms suddenly sweaty; and gently tugged Krista's shades off.

Hauntingly blank cerulean eyes stared straight past her.

"Annie? What's wrong?" Krista asked, now concerned after feeling her shades being pulled off tenderly. She had noticed how Annie's voice had sounded different, but she had initially dismissed it. She reached out clumsily to catch the hand that had pulled off her shades. Her eyebrows shot up when she realized that the hand within her hold was much larger and calloused than Annie's−

Krista took an unsteady step backwards. They had a guest? Why hadn't Annie told her beforehand? Was Annie even here? "Who are you?" she asked politely, offering a small smile.

Ymir felt as if she had just been stabbed as she stared into Krista's hollow eyes in horror.

No…

Her gaze travelled down to the long white cane in Krista's other hand−

Ymir could feel the bile rising up her throat. She wanted to throw up right then and there. Annie's words echoed, almost mockingly: Car accident… Therapy… Traumatized… Swallowing the lump in her throat, she managed to croak, "What… happened…?"

Krista's head snapped towards the direction of Ymir's voice.

"Y…mir?" she whispered hoarsely, her voice breaking at the end.