Summary:

Bertholdt decides to write a letter to Annie and share everything what happened on the Banquet organised for the graduates who chose the Scouting Legion, held after Trost.

He is quite a talker. In writing.

A FUNfiction of two chapters which includes: mild pairings (I'm not going to spoil them for you, but don't hate, they really are there just for fun!), everyone dancing with everyone, drunkennes, Bertholdt's comments and the characters having fun for once!

There's an Easter Egg too, and I'm not going to reveal it just yet ;)

In the second chapter (coming soon) Ymir's letter to Annie on the same subject.

Thanks for checking it out!

A.N.:

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no kyojin or Attack on titan. I just borrowed the characters, I'm not making money with this!

ATTENTION!

- Maybe I don't spell the names right. Sorry for that. They are comfortable like this to me.

- I'm not a native English speaker, so sorry for mistakes. I also use the UK spelling and the US spelling at the same time :D Sorry for that, and other typos, repetitions or punctuation errors. I don't have beta, I just spell checked it. Feel free to message me, so I can fix things like this. Thank you for reading this, and my story. Enjoy!

Letters to Annie

Chapter One: Bertholdt

Dear Annie,

I hope you're all right. You didn't write me back, or your letter got lost – to be honest, I don't know for certain if you're going to get mine (or even what I've sent before), the post can be so crazy sometimes. Jean said that the last time his letter didn't arrive home, and when he finally went to furlough, his mother was insufferable for days. I'm not sure if that's the case, for she's a very kind lady... Maybe a bit overprotective.

The others think you just don't want to write me back- I told them they are wrong. I know you don't have much time, duties and all. Strange, I always thought we'll have less spare time in the Scouting Legion than you in the Military Police, but now I see it's the other way around. Anyway, if you get my letter, just write me a line or two back.

I know you told me not to write only in case of an extraordinary event. Well, I'm sure this is something which we can consider just that.

I'm talking about the banquet of course. It just got to its end an hour ago, but I simply can't sleep, so I thought why not share the events of the night with you, while the memories are still fresh.

I know you'll have a similar fête with your comrades too, in the Capital. It surely will be fun, I heard rumors that it will be held in a large ball room. Ours was in the castle of the headquarters. I enjoyed it very much. Despite some awkward situations, it was nice and what's more: action-packed (just wait for the details).

When squad leader Hanji told us that the banquet – which, as you know, was originally intended to be after the day when the events of Trost happened - will indeed be held, there were all sorts of reactions. There were people who were indignants (saying it was disrespectful this shortly after the fall of our comrades), and people who were neutral, appreciative or even enthusiastic. As for me, I see this as a positive thing – we all needed to relax a bit after all the horrors we've been through. Squad leader Hanji told us that it would be unfair to withhold the right of the freshly graduated soldiers to spend the last entirely carefree night having fun before facing our duties as fully employed military personnel. She told us that all three branches of the military will celebrate separately, unlike the years before- I think that's because of Trost, too.

We were obligated to wear formal clothes for the night. The girls got all excited hearing this (except maybe Mikasa and Ymir), but they were crestfallen when they heard that they could only choose from formal clothes used by the graduates from the past years – it's a tradition apparently. So a fitting was arranged a couple of days ago, where the girls got to try on a simple black dress and the boys a black tuxedo (not in the same room of course, haha). It was a real shame that the clothes were used before, but the group who organised the event were considerate enough to choose the best quality possible, and they brought them here in a carriage from the capital. Actually, that group was the Special Operations Squad, the four soldiers working under Lance Corporal Levi – funny, don't you think? We even joked about it, that apparently, the banquet is a special operation.

The largest tuxedo wasn't big enough for me (who would've thought), it was really uncomfortable, so I was a little concerned about what exactly I'm going to wear, but squad leader Mike saved the day. He is taller than me (well, that's saying something), and he had an extra tuxedo, which he lent to me. Very nice of him, don't you think? This way, my attire was the best quality amongst the graduates. Being extremely tall isn't that bad after all…

The others didn't have any problems concerning the size of their clothes, but Ymir were fuming a bit about that it's obligatory for her to wear a dress…

Well, the big day finally arrived – most of the girls were thrilled. Us, boys were more on the nervous side (especially after we heard that at least one dance is expected from us). The exact place of the banquet was the old ballroom of the castle. When we arrived with the boys, we thought we were lost. I've only been there once before, and I tried to get out of there as fast as I could, as it was dark, dirty, and full of cobwebs. But yesterday… I mean today… just… wow! You should've seen it.

Firstly, somehow it has become larger and brighter. Everything, including the tall windows were all polished „real right"-clean, as it was whispered around (or something like that, I haven't heard it well). Imagine cleanliness like you could eat off the floor (I'm sure Sasha would've done it, if she would drop the food – haha, that's never going to happen), which was some kind of even stone, and it was shining so bright you could see your own reflection! The chandeliers (five big up the ceiling and several small ones on the walls) were dusted, and the candles were replaced in them, all new. When you looked up, it was like the sky at night, sprinkled with stars… and the decoration! I thought that there would be no decoration, as the Scouting Legion is always short on money – but these guys have done it! At first, we couldn't figure out what were those white drapes hung around the room in various formations (for example twisted or knotted together), then we found out that those were plain bed sheets! I'm telling you, it looked fantastic! The Special Operations Squad has done their job pretty well.

So, we arrived and saw the girls next to the great entrance in one group. They were so pretty in their dresses that our jaws dropped! They looked surprised too. I guess we weren't looking bad ourselves. It almost got awkward because nobody spoke, but then Sasha burst out laughing and pointed at Connie. I didn't catch what she said, but he got red and shot back immediately. You know them; they started bickering, and so the tension finally broke, and we mingled with the girls. Now, we could see that other soldiers (team leaders and members of the squads) were also in the room with us, talking in groups or walking in and out from time to time. The men were wearing similar tuxedos like ours (maybe a little better quality, well, not better than mine), but the women were dressed in robes of different styles and colors. We also glimpsed musicians farther away, tuning up their instruments. I recognised a few tools, for example the violin and the piano – but I don't know the other ones' names.

There were also long tables pushed to the sides of the walls for food, but the meal wasn't on them yet.

Not long later we arrived, the squad leaders and the Commander joined us, all looking very elegant. Commander Erwin Smith asked for attention, and made a short speech. First, he thanked us for our valor and self-devotion in Trost, then he asked for a minute of silence to commemorate the people lost in the battle. After that, he encouraged putting our full trust in each other, for it was an essential part in the life of a Scouting Legion member. He advised to let the bonds of friendship and camaraderie grew stronger between us, and wished a great evening. He saluted and the whole room saluted back, then he waved to the musicians who started playing a slow, pleasant song.

Then, the real fun begun.

Waiters and waitresses appeared (I'm pretty sure they weren't soldiers), and brought the food in, placed on servers. Sasha shrieked and almost managed to yank out one of the plates from the hand of a blond waitress, but the girl was quite fierce too, and Connie was there to help her, so they won over Sasha, and all the meal was placed on the table securely.

I wasn't hungry, but there was nothing else to do, so I went to eat with the others anyway. There were little sandwiches and colorful drinks all around, and honestly, it was quite appetizing. I was with Reiner, Jean and Connie while eating, and glanced around to see what were the others up to. Sasha was filling her mouth with sandwiches, not far from Ymir and Christa, Eren was with Mikasa and Armin (how surprising). Our superiors and veterans were talking in large groups or by two, not really paying attention to us. Connie was in the middle of telling a joke, when I noticed Keith Shadis approaching our group and I nudged Reiner. He followed my gaze and then, noticing the officer, smirked and just as I thought, he didn't warn Jean and Connie, who were standing with there backs to the man. Our ex-head instructor arrived like a cannonade, with his large hands landing on Connie's shoulders, hard. He almost fainted right there! Reiner roared with laughter and Jean snickered with him nervously. It was quite funny, really. I have a feeling that Connie is still afraid of him a little bit. Shadis was okay, though. He congratulated us for our graduation and shook hands with all four of us, before praising our bravery in Trost. Actually, several soldiers came to us during the night to do the same, and not only our instructors, but people I've never talked before. It was really strange. After a bit of a small talk, Shadis went over to the group of Ymir, Christa and Sasha. Latter was still busy eating, but glimpsing Shadis, she blushed deep at once… because… you know how they are. The instructor said something to her, grinning, which made Ymir smirk and Christa giggle. I didn't watch them any longer, for there was a change in the music, and a bunch of appreciative murmurs from the middle of the room, so everybody looked over there to see what was going on.

As it turned out, the Commander decided to break the emptiness of the dancing floor and asked Squad Leader Hanji for a dance, who accepted with a huge smile. They walked to the middle of the hall, and started to dance breezily. This must have been a good impulse to people because soon enough, couples started to join them, for example Shadis with that fair-haired woman from Mike Zacharius's squad; or the redhead girl from the Special Operations Squad with her dark-haired squadmate. From the graduates, Reiner was the first to make a move. He glanced towards Christa, and he started to move towards her, but Ymir noticed him and glared, so he pretended he wanted to ask Sasha (who finally stopped eating). The two went farther on the dance floor, and started moving. It was surprising, really, because Reiner was pretty good, and Sasha wasn't clumsy at all (as I've expected).

I wasn't thinking about asking anybody, and while I was sure that Jean and Connie wanted to invite someone, Sasha was already dancing and Mikasa wasn't looking like she would like to dance. At all.

There were several people like her, who preferred to stay away from the dance floor; me for one, Eren, Armin, that sandy blond-haired guy from the Special Operations Squad (you know, the one with that awesome solo kill count) and the Lance Corporal (speaking of kill counts). The two latter were standing together in the opposite end of the room, talking, with drinks in their hands. Jean found out that that was the table with the alcoholic drinks, and that we were in fact allowed to drink, so he and Connie went straight there. I didn't drink alcohol- you surely know the reason. Maybe that's why I'm almost the only one awake now… and one of the few who will remember this night wholly.

So I was standing there alone, watching the others. It was quite fun though- when the music changed, the pairs split up and found another partner. This way, I could witness the Commander dancing with the redhead girl and the fair-haired woman (I was amazed, really, because I didn't know he could dance so well. He is not much shorter than me after all, but he used so graceful movements I could never even dream about); squad leader Hanji swinging around with her assistant (It seemed she was into dancing very much), Connie rocking with Sasha (looking utterly ridiculous), Christa finally accepting Reiner's request (I guess Ymir was in the bathroom at that time), and three members of the Levi Squad in every possible pairing- even man with man.

If it came to a slow song, everyone got off the dance floor to get a drink, eat or talk a little, but when the fast speed music was back on, they were back again.

I finally saw squad leader Mike joining the fun, dancing with the lady officers, and asking graduates too- but the blush on the girls faces was nothing compared to that when the Commander invited them. Sasha got asked by Keith Shadis (they were pretty good), and Connie danced with the blond waitress I was talking about before.

I had a good time, talking to Reiner and the others if they came to the table, watching other people not keen on dancing, like the famous trio joined by Jean; or the Lance Corporal and the high kill count guy.

Armin was the first who asked Mikasa, and she accepted, but I saw her glancing at Eren before they walked away. Jean sauntered off to the table with alcoholic drinks, clearly angry with himself, and Eren came to me, then asked to join him, saying he will need a bit of a booze to endure this night. He seemed to feel really awkward in this situation, and even more lost without his friends.

At the table, there was us, the non-dancer group; joined by the redhead girl who was busy bickering with that guy- I swear I know his name… but you just can't possibly know how to pronounce it… oh well. When we arrived, Ymir and Christa were just walking away, Ymir finally gathering up enough courage to ask Christa to dance with her (I guess seeing that blond guy dancing with the dark-haired one encouraged them). Jean wasn't so lucky when Mikasa came back with Armin. It was really entertaining to see the internal struggle in his head, but when he finally moved towards her, the Commander appeared with squad leader Hanji (she was slightly out of breath), coming from their second dance, and offered his hand to our top one. Mikasa actually blushed like the other girls. Interesting. I thought she only had one crush…

Well, they were off, and Jean seemed like he lost his faith in humanity. Again. It was the blond waitress who came to his rescue (who defeated Sasha with the assistance of Connie at the beginning of the banquet), taking him by the hand to the dance floor, not even asking if he wanted to, but I suspect it didn't matter to Kirschtein anymore.

The only ones staying at the table where the Lance Corporal, Reiner, Armin, Eren the fair-haired woman, and me, because the guy whose name will stay unknown for me forever asked the redhead girl to dance with such a deep blush I've never seen on a man before.

I talked a bit with the boys, trying to avoid standing next to the Lance Corporal; I respect him very much, so I am always careful not to irritate him with my height. Then, something happened which made me forget about this intent right away, as it was the most unexpected thing ever.

Hanji Zoe arrived with her dancing partner squad leader Mike (who disappeared immediately with the other woman at the table), and flew right into the Lance Corporal's arms, demanding a dance in a whining voice (I guess she wasn't thirsty at that point). Humanitys strongest simply entangled himself from her arms, spun her around three times with elegant moves, then flung her right into the arms of the closest person… who was me. I'm glad I didn't hold my drink anymore because that would be even more awkward. The titan lover clung onto me, and while she was a bit drunk, her coordination was still pretty good, and before I could say a word, she dragged me to the dance floor, and started dancing. So, I danced with someone at the banquet after all, even if I didn't want to. The air in the middle of the room was much warmer than at the table. I feared that I will start to sweat, but surprisingly, it didn't happen. My body decided to be nice to me for once, haha. Actually, I quite enjoyed the dance, for I didn't need to do much, as the squad leader was the one who led. She talked to me through the whole time, but I didn't really hear anything, as she tended to speak to my chest. What I did catch, was something like this: „can't believe you're so young" and „you're really tall, aren't you?"

When the song was over, I tried to go back to the others, but she didn't let me, so we danced two more times, before I could break away. I have to say she is a pretty good dancer.

At the table, everybody was wearing a stunned expression, except Mikasa (I guess she arrived back finally from her numerous dances with the Commander) and Ymir. Lance Corporal Levi wasn't there. I asked what happened which made them look up, but everyone was reluctant to tell me. Eren even asked Mikasa to dance with him to avoid answering (making her blush so hard, you never would've imagined). Ymir shrugged and engaged in a conversation with Christa, the blond waitress grabbed Armin, and they went off too, and Jean seemed to decide to drown in his drink, rather than clue me in. Finally, Reiner told me, but it was so unbelievable I needed to ask back twice. Apparently, while I was dancing, I missed the greatest happening of the day (what of the day, the year!).

The Lance Corporal, as Reiner told me, when the Commander came back with Mikasa, launched forward at once, put his arms around his superior's neck, pulled him down and kissed him on the mouth passionately. The other man blushed (I honestly don't know, what's in the air today), then cleared his throat, and told Humanity's strongest that he think he had enough drink, and guided him out of the room. Reiner said the kiss was very hot. I'm just really disappointed that I didn't see it. Well, the Commander didn't come back after that, and Reiner has a theory about that too…

There were fewer and fewer couples dancing, and fewer and fewer drinks on the table (the food was already gone). The people were getting drunker, and louder, and the laughing was practically constant.

Connie and Sasha were nowhere to be found, Jean was dancing with the waitress again, our favourite trio came back to the table, and the officers were all dancing. It seemed people finally got over the certain display of affection seen before.

The only people who weren't completely wasted then were me, Reiner, Armin, Mikasa, Ymir and Christa (these two went off to find Sasha and Connie), and some of our superiors. Mikasa and Armin were occupied by keeping Eren standing straight, so there wasn't any interesting happening, only when Jean came back and started mocking Eren for not being able to bear alcohol (he didn't realize that he himself was swaying a bit and his speech was slurring). Our little titan shifter didn't find it funny, tore himself away from his two friends and jumped on Jean, knocking him off his legs. I think he tried to use that move you shoved him, but instead, he just bumped into him, resulting in both of them falling and tangling in each other on the floor. You would've liked to see this collision, I'm sure of that! After laughing our heart out, we helped them up, and that was when squad leader Mike announced that it's time to end the night for the graduates (that time, Connie, Sasha, Ymir and Christa joined us again). I suspect he saw Eren and Jean's encounter, and decided to do prevention if there's more to come.

So, we went back to our quarters, supporting our wasted comrades after thanking the organisers (who were quite drunk themselves), and saying goodbye to everyone (Jean and the blond waitress exchanged a very passionate goodbye).

So, that's it. Wow, I wrote quite a lot, didn't I? Well there was a lot to write about, haha.

The banquet, as you can see, was a mixture of fun, awkward and unexpected moments. I wish you could've been here, though, I think you would've enjoyed it, even if you'd say you didn't. Actually, there was quite a few people who were mentioning you during the night, like the officers when they congratulated us. They told us they appreciated your eminent skills very much. Christa, Eren and Armin asked me about you too, how are you and how's the Military Police working out for you. I told them that you are okay, and you have a lot of stuff to do (I hope you don't mind me answering without asking, I just didn't want them to be worried). Reiner misses you, I'm sure, because he talks about you from time to time. I miss you, too, Annie.

I hope your banquet will be at least as much fun as ours was. It is definitely worth going. Just don't stress, enjoy yourself and dance!

Write me back, if you have the time for it! Reiner sends his regards.

See you soon,

Bertholdt

P.S.: Oh, I almost forgot. Ymir told me she wants to write to you too about the banquet. She said you may be interested in a „girl's point of view". I don't know for sure what does that mean, but I guessed it wouldn't harm anyone so I gave her your contact.

End of Chapter One

To be continued

Letters to Annie

1 july 2014

A.N. :

Aww, thanks for reading it! I hope you liked it. Kudos, Reviews, Comments would mean a lot to me, constructive criticism is highly welcomed!

Sorry if it was boring / dumb or something or if the characters were to OOC. This was just a silly thing that came to my head wholly.

Let me know if you found the Easter Egg. ;)

I'll put this fic up on Ffnet, too.

You can ask me to write prompts, and if I have enough inspiration and time, I will do them :)

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Message me, if you'd like :) Have a good day / night!