Always
It had been a long time since Annie had created that crystal around herself. Too long for anyone to remember the exact timing, especially with everything that's happened since then. Far too long, in the opinions of some, given that due to her curse, she didn't have that many years left in this world. And of course, because she was sent from the mainland, by the Marleyans some years ago, nobody knew the exact amount of time left either.
Some wanted to leave her be, so that her clock could run out and so she would die, while some wanted to get her out and torture her, then kill her. Others wanted to at least get Annie out of the crystal, get some information, and then lock her away, therefore removing a titan power from the side of the Marleyans, at least until she died. The remaining few, however, looked at the situation from a strategic standpoint, envisioning a future which included using (not convincing, using) the Leonhart girl to fight against their opposition.
There was one boy, one very important to the Eldians, whose opinion hadn't yet been taken. The boy being Eren Yeager. A Cadet from the 104th Training Corps, who moved onto the Survey Corps, and the current holder of both the Attack and Founding titans. He was left out of the original questioning for the very reason that he was left out of the thought process behind the identity of the Female titan. Eren was very rash, constantly making irrational decisions, and acting based on his feelings, rarely thinking before doing.
Well…I say that he was left out, but that makes it sound like he had some sort of a choice. Eren was intentionally not told for one other reason. His relationship to Annie. People remembered how he was one of the only people who got close to the blonde during their training years, and how he reacted once told that the Female titan was really Annie Leonhart. They also remembered how he was unable to transform once Annie had, and how once he had, he obviously wasn't able to concentrate, even letting Annie crystalize herself. Then, there was the fact that whenever Annie was mentioned, or whenever he thought about her, Eren grew depressed, which would affect his performance.
Bringing all these factors together, one would expect the outrage that came from him, when Eren was finally told of the people's intentions with Annie Leonhart, or rather, found out from an accidental slip in conversation from someone else.
"WHAT?!" The green-eyed boy slammed his hands down onto the table. "C-come on! You gotta be messing with me, right? You're not gonna do that to Annie! You can't!"
The other members of the room, being Levi and Hange, sighed at his aggression. "See?" Hange looked down towards Levi, to hear what he was saying. "This is why I made sure the brat wouldn't get a chance to look at the girl in her crystal. I knew he would do something like this."
Oh, that's right. Eren hadn't been allowed access to Annie's crystal. None of the 104th had, only the higher ups, but still, Eren didn't even have a chance to see it after his final fight with Annie in Stohess, due to his collapsing soon after. No matter how much hope, or care for things, Eren had lost over the years, and no matter how much he went through, or was going through, a part of the brunette boy always thought of Annie and her wellbeing. So, the fact that he hadn't had permission to visit his crystallised former mentor yet got to him.
"Eren," Levi continued speaking. "calm down. We've all been through a lot these past few years, and still are going through a lot. Our focus as of late has turned to the Marleyans, and the ships that they send to scout us out. You know that, and so you should know that we haven't had a lot of time to think about what to do with the Female titan-"
"Annie" Eren cut his Captain off, correcting him with a slight gravelly voice. "Her name is Annie."
The Ackerman sighed again. "Yes, Annie, whatever. Anyway, this is the best course of action we can think of. Getting her out of the crystal, taking any information we can, and then making her fight her own people, possibly from the inside. It makes the most sense. You want to beat the Marleyans, right?"
The titan shifter huffed. "W-well…y-yeah. I do, but come on! There's gotta be another way! One that doesn't involve forcing Annie to fight. She was already forced to fight by those evil bastards, so us doing it as well isn't fair. If anything, it'll make the rest of the world think even less of us, and so we will have more enemies!"
"Eren," This time it was Hange, the current Commander of the Survey Corps, who spoke up. "at this point, it's all about strategy. Creating the thunder spears, tricking Bertolt Hoover so that you could immobilize him, creating the titan guillotine. All that and more. It's all about strategy. We've already lost enough to the outside world, so it's time we fought back."
Eren's mood dropped, and a few seconds passed while he looked through the scattered mess of his brain for a response. There had to be a better way, right? Forcing Annie to fight like that wasn't the way of the Eldians within the walls. Sure, she is the Female titan, and had caused much destruction and chaos. From leading the titans to Shiganshina, to killing many members of the Survey Corps during Eren's first expedition, to all that happened in Stohess. Dammit, why did Annie have to be a titan? Why her?
'Wait a minute…' Something finally clicked in Eren's mind. 'Titans! That's exactly it! There's gotta be a way for me to get through to her with my powers, and then talk to her!'
Just as Hange and Levi were about to walk out the room, Eren managed to catch their attention. "Hey, wait! I thought of something!"
Levi smirked. "You? Thinking of something? That's a new one." Eren pouted.
"Come on Levi, this is no time for jokes. What is it Eren?" Hange asked, ruffling Levi's hair to annoy him.
"What if we used the coordinate?" Eren spit out the basis for his idea.
"Hmm?" Hange was intrigued.
Levi, after quickly fixing his hair, started paying attention to his subordinate. "The hell are you on about you damn brat?"
The Shiganshina boy coughed and cleared his throat, ready to elaborate. "Of course, I have no way of knowing if it'll work or not, but what if I used my powers? I know that it sounds dumb, and maybe I'm just saying this just so that I'll get a chance to see Annie, but I think it could work."
"Use your powers how, exactly?" Hange wanted to hear more on this.
"Well we know that every living being is connected through the paths at the coordinate, titans most of all, right?" The two adults nodded. "And we know that whenever I come into contact with someone with royal blood, my abilities activate for a short while. For example, when I touched my dad's first wife's titan, I could direct titans towards her, and then towards Reiner and Bertolt. And then, whenever I touched Historia I was able to access certain memories. So, knowing this, if I came into contact with Historia for a few seconds, then maybe I could get through to Annie through the crystal? Something like that? I dunno, I'm probably being stupid." Eren finished his explanation, himself ready to leave the room at this point.
Levi thought about Eren's idea, and decided that it was too risky, and would probably be a waste of time. "Yeah, you are. Come on, let's get out of-"
"Actually," Hange cut him off. "it's not that bad of an idea. I have a couple of questions though."
Eren, surprised that Hange approved of his idea, expecting it to instead be rejected, waited for the first question.
"You say that you want to use your power that comes with having the Founding titan, but how can you be sure that it will work this time? There have been occasions in the past where we practiced with it and nothing worked." Hange gave the first question.
Seconds passed as the teenager thought of a response. 'I still haven't told them that for me to use my powers fully I need Historia to become a titan so that I can touch her. I can't tell them that, though. We can't turn Historia into a titan as well. It's too much after Armin.' Eren finally spoke "I-…As I said, I don't know if it will work. I could just be saying all this to get a chance to see Annie, but if it does work, then it'll be worth it. Using the coordinate would probably be the only way to get Annie out, or at least to get through to her, and it'll be easy and quick to do."
"Hmm…" Hange took in Eren's answer to the first question, now for the other one. "And why exactly do you think that you getting through to Annie will work? Why are you bargaining on this?"
Eren took a deep breath, wishing for this idea of his to work, so that they could finally put an end to the horrors of the world, end all this endless war and terrorizing. "I have reason to believe that Annie was forced into doing what she did, and that she didn't want to do any of it. Of course, I have no way of proving it, but from what we've learnt through my memories of my dad and Eren Kruger, and Armin's rare flashes of memory from Bertolt, we can see that the way things are going over there is clearly as inhumane as what we've experienced."
Hange crossed her arms. "So, what's your point?"
The candlelight in the room flickered, for only a second, but, just like Eren's will, stood strong. "My point is that over our years in the 104th, I was one of the only people who interacted with Annie on a regular basis, but me more so than others. We trained together, so I think that we created some sort of a bond. If I'm able to talk to Annie, then I'm sure I can convince her that it's safe to come out, and offer her the chance to take down the system put in place over in Marley, revealing the truth to the Eldians in the camps there, and give them the freedom they deserve. It's a risk, and given that none of us knew Annie as well as we thought we did, she may deceive us again, but…I want to give it a shot. If anyone can make this work, I'm sure I can!" And that was Eren done.
"And how will you use her to take them down?"
Eren blinked, guessing that Hange was still a bit more leaning towards the using side. "I won't use Annie. If all goes well, she'll help us out of her own free will. I know we have a plan for me to infiltrate the Marleyans, but I'm thinking of including Annie in the plan, bringing her along with me. She'll know her way around and so will be very helpful. Plus, this will give us a chance to reunite Annie with her father, and see if either of them have any connections that could help."
Moments passed, and some wind from an open window blew through. Eventually, after soaking in the information and Eren's plan, Hange made her decision. "Okay."
"What?" asked Levi.
"Let's do it. I mean, it's not that bad of a plan." Hange responded, standing up and preparing to leave the room.
Eren's spirits were lifted hearing that. "Really?"
"Yeah," the one-eyed Commander answered. "it's pretty well thought through, and if it works, would be better for us. Okay, we'll make you a script of what to say if you get through, and we'll arrange for Historia to meet us. This will all have to be kept private though, at least for now. Got it?"
Levi huffed. "Sure, whatever."
"Yes Commander! Thank you." Eren replied with a nod, glad that Hange had agreed with his idea.
The three then left the room to retire to their quarters, Eren going one way, Hange and Levi the other. Just as they split off, Levi whispered something to his friend and superior. "Kid's totally crushing on the girl."
Though Hange took no notice of Levi's whisper, instead focusing on trying to formulate the script in her mind as she walked, Eren did hear something. "What was that Captain?"
Levi gave no response, so Eren just chalked it up as him just hearing things, and turned to continue walking off.
'Just a little longer, then I'll finally be able to see you, Annie...'
Half a week had passed, enough time to create the script, and more than enough for Eren to become entirely confident with his own idea of confronting Annie after all these years.
As it turned out, being Queen of the walls was more time consuming than previously thought, and so Historia Reiss, One of Eren's friends formerly from the 104th, hadn't arrived until late at night to play her part in the risky release of the traitor from Marley.
"Ahem." The petite blonde ruler cleared her throat, gaining Eren's attention, himself spinning around to greet Historia.
The sudden noise made Eren jump from his thoughts. "Ah! H-Historia, I mean, your Highness!"
Historia stifled a giggle. "Eren, please, I've told you before…" she shook her head. "We're friends, there's no need for the formalities."
"Sorry, Historia. You're…uh… looking as elegant as ever." The titan shifter apologized.
"Thank you, Eren. If I can be honest, you're looking more hopeful than usual. Is it because of…?" The young ruler drifted off, tilting her head in direction of the cell in which the crystalized shifter was kept.
The brunette's eyes follow Historia's. "Y-yeah. I…I just want to be right about this. This feels like something that needs to be done. If all goes well, and we do get Annie out of there, I guess you'll be helping us hide her until we are prepared to move on?" Historia nodded. "I just don't know how I'll reveal this to the others though. Keeping it a secret has already hard enough, I know that much."
"So, you're sure you want to do this?"
Eren nodded in answer. "More than anything."
The former Survey Corps member's hands rose up in front of her body. The boy took them in his own, clearing his thoughts to allow himself to feel the paths, and the coordinate, running through his body, the contact with royal blood amplifying this.
"I trust you'll contact me as soon as possible?" The girl queried, receiving yet another nod from Eren. Historia gave a warm smile, and Eren's face became decorated with a half grin in return. "Then I wish you luck."
And with that, Historia parted ways with Eren, heading back to the surface to inform her guards that her part was done, so that she may be escorted back to the Capital.
"Eren," Hange started, handing over the sheet of paper containing the script she had worked on whenever she had free time. "you all prepared?"
Eren took the paper, giving it a quick read-through. "Yeah. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Well if you need anything, Levi and I will be stood just down the corridor." Hange walked off to join Levi, but not before informing Eren of the fact.
Taking a few deep breaths, the teen turned and slowly made his way into the cell, not looking up from the paper. And a few more breaths were taken, before Eren had arrived, standing a good few feet from the glistening crystal, not yet looking up.
The edges of the paper became crinkled in his hands. For some reason, his heart started to beat slightly faster. It was the nerves, right? 'Come on…I can do this…it's just Annie...All I need to do is read this and I'll be done…Even if it doesn't work, it was worth giving it a go.'
Gradually, moving at a speed like that of the long hand on a clock, Eren looked up and over Annie, taking in every detail he could, and matching it to the last memories he had of her. Of course, Annie was still dressed in her Military Police uniform, and her usual hoodie, but it looked like she had grown out of them just by a bit, which answered the question of whether there was any hollow space inside or not.
Eren found it hard to bring himself to look further upwards. 'It's just her face. I can't let this chance go to waste, Historia's already left.' Each time he attempted to look, his chest tightened. So Eren closed his eyes, and let his head shoot up, before slowly re-opening them.
A sudden, and in his opinion unexplained, warmth rushed through his body, a light pink dusting across his cheeks. There she was. After all this time, the Yeager boy was finally presented with Annie Leonhart. Even though she looked somewhat malnourished, which made sense due to being supposedly comatose, Annie still looked…well…like Annie. Her clear, pale skin was as healthy as ever. Her eyes, closed, but if you looked close enough you could just about make out some dry tear marks, which Eren assumed was from when defeated during their fight. Annie's lips were curved into a sort of frown mixed with a blank slate.
All in all, this Annie was the same Annie that Eren remembered from the days of the past. Well, aside from her height, and her hair. Now that Eren took a second look, his attention was drawn to the hair. It wasn't tied at the back, and her fringe wasn't draping over her face. Instead, it was all loose, and longer, and slightly wilder, going down past her shoulders. Eren had never seen Annie with her hair down, which made it something amazing to look at, like her rare smiles that Eren had only managed to see a few times. It was pretty, though…no…Annie was pretty. Beautiful even. Truly captivating to look at, and since she was in this state, Eren had a chance to admire each of her mesmerizing details without the risk of being teased or hit.
'These thoughts…Why am I looking at Annie like this? Why am I even thinking about her like this? I can't feel this way about her…I mean it's Annie…not her' Eren was confused at why he had all these thoughts, when he had never had them in the past. Or, at least nowhere near to this extent. 'GAH…I'm wasting time thinking about it. That's irrelevant.' He shook his head frantically to try and remove all the thoughts, before clearing his mind and looking down at the paper, still in hand.
Eren cleared his throat, and just as he started to speak, felt a small spark in his body, which he assumed was the coordinate connecting him to Annie. He looked back down at the script. "Annie Leonhart, I don't know if you can hear me, but I am here on behalf of the Survey Corps, and after careful consideration, we have decided to allow for your release from the confines your created around yourself. No charges will be pressed, and you will be made to fight for our side against those who sent you on this mission, being the Marleyans across the sea. This is a mission that will take much time and effort, but is worth it for our survival and…"
Eren stopped reading the script to look up for a moment, and seeing Annie filled Eren with doubt about the script Hange had created. "No…This is wrong…I can't read from this and hope you know what I mean…It won't work." He tore the script up and threw the pieces to the floor.
Outside the cell and down the hall, Hange and Levi were listening to every word out of Eren's mouth, making sure he was following Hange's exact wording. Hange then heard Eren's doubt, and the tearing of paper. "What's he doing? He's going off script…Levi, come on!" Hange stood up and was about to walk towards the cell containing Annie's crystal and Eren, when Levi stopped her.
"Four eyes, wait." Commanded the Ackerman.
Hange turned to face Levi. "But Eren's not following what I said! The whole plan may go down in flames if Eren says something wrong!"
Levi sighed. "Just trust me on this."
"But-" The taller of the two tried to argue back, but was cut off again.
"You know how he feels about her."
Hange went wide-eyed. "A-about who?" She tilted her head in the direction of the cell. "Her?" Levi nodded in response. "You mean Eren…?"
"Yeah, I thought it was pretty obvious."
"Oh…" Hange now realised that her short friend was correct. If you took time to think about it, Eren was always different when it came to Annie. "So…what are you gonna do if Eren gets Annie out?"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Levi queried.
Hange took a short breath. "Well, you know…since Annie killed your old squad…"
Levi understood where Hange was going with this. "Nothing."
"Nothing?"
Levi nodded again. "Why should I do anything? The girl was forced to do it by the Marleyans, and you know we aren't supposed to let our emotions get in the way of things, especially not since Erwin."
A few slightly uncomfortable seconds passed, feeling longer than they really were. Eventually, Hange spoke up. "Do you miss her? Or still think about her?"
Levi looked up. "You mean Petra?" Hange nodded. "I do. But not just her, all of them. The old squad, Erwin, Farlan, Isabel and even Kenny. Everyone. You?"
"Yeah. Moblit was one hell of an assistant, and my old squad was amazing. They'll forever be in our hearts and memories." Replied the brunette Commander. Said Commander then noticed how the mood had dropped to something depressing, so she took the initiative. "Come on, let's go get a drink."
"Hm? What about the two of them?" asked the raven-haired man, though he wasn't declining the offer.
"Eh, Eren's a smart kid, and is more than capable of handling anything that happens. They'll be fine." The adults then walked off in search of a drink, entrusting Eren to carry out his idea.
Eren gulped, trying to look into his heart and find what it really was he wanted to say, and it was harder than it should have been. All he had to do was speak, yet nothing would come out. He took a step forward towards Annie, and opened his mouth once more. "Annie…I don't care anymore…I don't care who it is that sent you here, and I don't care what you've done…I just want you to come out! Who even gives a damn about how many people you killed, or how much destruction you've caused! These past few years, we've all lost so god damn much that what you did doesn't even compare! Just get out already!"
The constant rise of anger over that speech shocked Eren, because he didn't feel any anger or hatred towards Annie, he never did. Uncertainty, sure, but those things, no.
Eren looked at his feet, unable to bring himself to look at Annie due to his disappointment in himself. "No…I-I'm sorry for shouting at you just then. I didn't mean it." He apologized.
With a tad bit of caution, Eren took the remaining steps forward to remove the gap between Annie and himself, slowly looking up and placing his right hand on the crystal, partially covering the face of the other titan shifter. This time, he felt a larger spark inside of him, as if to say he was now connected to Annie through the paths. "Annie…I'm sorry…I just don't want you to waste however many years you have left because of the curse."
'How do I put this?' Eren was troubled over how to continue. If he said anything wrong, then the whole plan could fail, but failure was not an option. "During our time together, I don't know how you came to think of me, but I thought of you as my friend. I enjoyed the time we spent sparring together. It was…special, to me, and I still cherish those memories." Eren took a second to make sure he knew where he was going with this. "I really don't care about how many lives you took, in fact I forgave you some time ago, but I don't think you should let yourself waste away in this prison. It's not right…it's not what you want…you want to go home, don't you?"
Eren rubbed his forehead with his left hand, keeping his right placed against the crystal casing. "I guess…I guess what I'm trying to say is…" Eren took a final breath, before finishing his plea. "Annie…Finally, I understand. Your reason to fight…" He paused. "I understand you."
Moments passed, and nothing happened. No reaction from Annie, or the crystal. 'I guess it didn't work…I should go report to Hange and Levi.'
Just as Eren was about to turn away, he heard a crack from the crystal, and noticed how fresh tears started to appear from Annie's closed eyes. Suddenly, the crystal became covered with cracks, and as it began to shatter, a bright light came from it, so Eren took a quick step back and shielded his eyes from the light. The wires and pieces of wood holding the female titan all fell to the floor in a mess among the pieces of crystal. Then, Annie fell to her knees, sobbing, and tears streaming down her face.
"Annie!" Eren shouted, as he, in one swift movement, rushed forward to catch Annie, doing so by wrapping his left arm around her shoulders, and placing his right hand against the back of Annie's head, holding it against his shoulder.
Annie wrapped her arms around Eren, clutching onto the back of his shirt as much as she could in her weakened state. "I'm sorry…" The blonde cried out in a weak and wavy voice, unable to bring herself to open her eyes and look at the boy who still cared for her, despite not thinking that she deserved any of it. Even if Annie did open her eyes, it would be hard to see through all the tears anyway.
Eren began to gently stroke Annie's head, whispering into her ear. "It's alright…Shhh..."
"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" Annie continued to cry, her tears dampening Eren's shirt, and her voice cracking up.
"Shh…Don't talk, Annie…There's no need to be afraid…I've got you…" Eren kept on whispering in a calm and soothing voice, not liking seeing Annie in the state she's in.
All of a sudden, Annie lost the strength in her arms, and fell down, sluggishly slumping against Eren's stomach, her arms draping behind him. "Ah!"
"Hey! I've got you, don't worry about it Annie…I'm still here…" Eren continued to stroke his fingers through her hair, noting how soft it felt, even after all this time. Annie's hair, or rather, Annie, really was pretty. That was something Eren was sure of, and nothing could change his mind about that.
Eren then decided to get the two of them more comfortable, as he wasn't sure how much longer this would go on for, so he carefully picked Annie up and placed her into his lap, leaning against his chest, and scooted back across the floor until he was sat against the wall.
For the next 20 minutes or so, Annie kept on crying out against Eren, her eyes still closed, until her tears dried out. The whole time, Eren softly caressed Annie's back, whispering sweet nothings to her in the hopes of calming her down. Eventually, Annie succumbed to the lack of energy from being in the crystalized state all that time, and fell asleep, curled against Eren. After a few minutes, Eren realised that Annie had fallen asleep, and so after wiping Annie's cheeks of the remaining few tears, fell asleep, holding Annie close.
The next morning, Annie woke up in a confused manner, not yet remembering the details of the night before. 'Wha-?' The blue-eyed girl slowly opened her eyes, readjusting them to the brightness of the world. All her senses gradually came back to her. 'Why am I out of the crystal? W-what am I leaning on?' Gradually all of last night came back to her. 'Eren?'
Cautiously, Annie lifted her head up, so her crystal blue eyes met with the emerald green ones of Eren, and she lifted her hand up to his face, and placed it against his cheek, checking if he was really there. "E-" she coughed. "Eren?"
"Mhm. I'm here, Annie." He replied in a soft tone.
Annie didn't say anything back, just letting herself get used to being out of the crystal after all that time, and still thinking back through the night before. After a few moments, she spoke again. "Your hairs gotten longer…"
Eren gave a small chuckle, and took some of Annie's hair in his hand, presenting it to her. "Yours too. That's what happens when so much time passes."
Annie's hand dropped back down. 'That's right…I've been in there for so long…Why did I let myself do that?' She chastised herself, and once again the floodgates opened, tears starting to pour out of her eyes.
"Annie?" Eren asked, concerned.
The girl in question gave no response, instead choosing to clutch onto Eren's shirt once more, and then started hitting her head against his chest. 'Why did I do that? I'm such an idiot! I should have just trusted Eren that day…he would have figured out what to do…he could have helped me!' Then her sobs grew louder. "I'm sorry! I'm such an idiot, Eren!" she continued to chastise herself, this time out loud, before constantly repeating "I'm stupid! I'm so stupid! Stupid…stupid…stupid…stupid!"
"Hey! Hey! Annie, stop it! You're not stupid! Don't say that!" Eren tried to stop Annie from saying such negative things about herself, but she paid no attention.
"Stupid…stupid…stupid…stupid…" Annie continued, still bashing her head against Eren.
The male titan shifter grew tired of Annie's self-aimed insults. "Dammit Annie! You're not an idiot! You're one of the smartest people I know. It's no wonder they chose you to be the Female titan, and sent you here! You've taught me so much! And you're one of the strongest people I know! Not to mention, the prettiest!"
Annie ignored those words, but could have sworn she heard something about her being pretty? 'Wha-? What did he say?' thought Annie, still crying and chastising herself.
Because Annie was being so stubborn, Eren decided to shut up her up the only way that made sense to him at that moment in time, and so placed a finger under Annie's chin, lifting it to be in line with his, and gently brushed his lips against her own.
At that moment, Annie stopped torturing herself, and instead her eyes widened at the momentary feel of contact from Eren's lips against hers. "Y-You-!" Her cheeks grew a deep blush, and Annie found herself stuttering. "Y-You…W-w-why d-d-di-…. W-what are y-you-?"
Annie was stopped by Eren placing a finger over her lips. "Annie, just listen for a moment. You can do that, right?" Annie nodded, cheeks still red, and Eren removed his finger. "Good." Eren took a breath through his nose, letting a warm smile decorate his face to comfort Annie. "You're not an idiot Annie. I told you already, you're one of the smartest people I know. There's no need to blame yourself for anything that you did back then…it wasn't your fault. None of the blame is on you, only the people who made you do this." Eren paused for a moment, and sighed, gazing down into Annie's eyes and noting how vulnerable she looked. "I don't know if you heard what I said yesterday, so I'll say it again. I forgive you."
Annie, surprised, spoke again. "Y-you do?"
Eren nodded. "Yeah, I forgave you a long time ago. I'll always forgive you, no matter what."
"E-even after everything I did? Even after how I hurt you." The petite blonde asked again, but happy that Eren was saying this to her. It was exactly what she needed.
"Mhm. I did say no matter what." He replied.
Annie, still not convinced, thought she should be, asked again. "Y-you sure you'll always forgive me?"
Eren grinned, and once more pressed his lips against Annie's, and this time she responded to it, finding herself lost against the feel of Eren's lips. After a few seconds, they detached themselves from each other, and Annie wrapped her arms around Eren torso, and Eren wrapped his around Annie.
"Always."