Day 1 - First time

The first time they interacted was on the third day of training. At least, he considered it to be interaction. Eren spent extra time working on the skills necessary for 3DMG training. He knew he'd have to become great with the device to be able to kill titans. He hung from cables, a nervous Armin helping him out. Mikasa stood nearby, talking him through how to become more stable. He nodded at her, listening. Thinking he had it all figured out, he looked up at the horizon.

He spotted a girl with tied up blonde hair and a white hoodie crossing the training grounds. It took him a second before the name "Annie" came to mind.

"Hey Annie!" Eren called out. She looked over, bored. Eren couldn't see Mikasa's face, but when the blonde turned away, he was sure it was bad.

"Stay away from her, Eren," Mikasa said, looking back at him. "She won't do you any good." He groaned, flipped back, and sighed when his head didn't hit the hard ground below.

The first time they actually talked was a year and a half into training. During routine 3DMG training, one of the cable launchers in Annie's gear malfunctioned, not firing. When she tried to fire the second one, it misfired, the point sticking out and a nasty grind of metal reaching her ears.

Closing her eyes, Annie expected the worst. She know she has failed, both as a soldier and a warrior. Before she could feel the bittersweet impact, she was caught. Arms wrapped around her as they moved through the air. Opening her eyes, Annie was met by brown hair, just long enough for the wind to manipulate it. Her savior landed on a large branch and set her down.

"Jaeger. Where's your girlfriend?"

Eren gave her a confused look. "Why does everyone keep saying I have a girlfriend?" She rubbed her face.

"If you're really this dumb, you'll be titan food for sure." Annie removed her hand. "I'm talking about Ackerman."

"Oh, her." Eren ruffled his hair, laughing at himself. "Shadis has her off in another part of the course." He sighed. "I, uh, had to ask him for that. She'd kill me if she knew."

Annie patted his back. "Nice to see you have a backbone, Jaeger. You going to help me out or leave me here?"

"There's no right answer, isn't there."

The first time Eren beat Annie sparring was three weeks before graduation. He had purposefully been losing to her, trying to lower her guard. It was slowly working, tearing it down bit by bit. She was glaring at him as if he had told her that he'd follow her into the Military Police.

"Are you sure you want to keep doing this, Jaeger?" Eren nodded, ignoring the fact she hadn't used his last name in almost a year. She brought up her arms and he emulated it. She smirked and then charged. He watched, waiting. She threw a punch and he dodged to the side, grabbing it with his left hand. Pulling so that her chest turned towards him, his other hand latched onto the far shoulder as he brought his left leg around to take out her knee.

Annie let out a shocked yelp as she collapsed onto her shoulders. Eren laughed, taking a step back. The trainees nearby turned at the shout. The training ground became quiet.

"Good job, Eren," Annie said, uncurling herself. "Let's see if you can do something like that without me beating your ass for an hour." He smiled, lip cracking, and brought his arms up once more.

Standing on the roof of the Trost HQ, Annie watched as a person emerged from the mysterious titan. She ignored the desire to glance at Reiner and Bertolt. They all knew that there wouldn't be an appearance by the Armored Titan today. Reiner followed after Mikasa, helping her to bring the new shifter up to them. Her eyes widened. She already knew Eren had to be the Coordinate and was sure that her comrades knew the same thing.

I look forward to our first fight as titans, Eren. I'm sure you'll make me proud.