So this is my first Aruani story. i actually wrote this a while ago but only now uploaded it. Ha... This was basically inspired by my teacher once asking if we liked the sunrise or sunset better. And it made me think and BAM this fic was born. Its also supposed to be romance but it's really not. It could be seen as friendship I guess. Also, its not really angst, but nothing else really fit...so. Also, Annie is a bit OOc. Hopefully not too much.

This kinda diverges from canon, but only slightly.

-LtD

Disclaimer: I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin.

"It's pretty, huh?

Annie glanced down at the boy who had spoken to her. She was slightly surprised he was there at the girls' cabin, but she didn't question it. Maybe he saw her sitting upon the roof and he was wondering why, but she really doubted that. Armin was smart enough to figure out on his own. More likely, he just wanted to talk to her before they'd eventually have to report for the day. He was social like that.

The flaxen haired girl looked back towards the sky. It had beautiful hues of yellow and orange bleeding into the light blue of dawn. It wasn't often that she got to see the sight. "I guess it is."

Armin smiled, apparently pleased by her response. He looked around, his eyes eventually landing upon the railing and pillars. He walked over and shook it. He then proceeded to hook his arm around one pillar and grab it with the other. He stepped up to the railing, one foot at a time. He stood there for a few seconds, wobbling around, almost falling, but Annie expected that. Armin wasn't exactly the most physically adept.

Truth be told, she wished he was. Armin was smart. Probably the smartest person she had met in training. He was unmatched in that field. However, that alone would not get him into the top ten. It didn't seem like his goal, but she had been hoping that he would improve. He didn't even have to be half as strong as herself to balance out. But improvement never came.

Annie jumped slightly, startled, when Armin lightly tapped her shoulder. He was sitting next to her now, legs off the side. "Do you always watch the sunrise?"

"No," she told him. "Most days I hardly wake up early enough."

Armin turned to face her with an amused look on his face. "Really? I've always imagined as you as the early riser." Annie kept quiet. Armin didn't know her sleeping patterns. She would be surprised (and a little unsettled) if he had. But his statement, as lighthearted as it was, held weight. He didn't know her. She didn't know him. Did he always wake up this early? It wouldn't surprise her. It wasn't as if she thought it was odd for him to be clueless about something so trivial. It was foolish, but she almost expected him to know.

At that moment, she decided she wanted to know more about him (and oddly enough, she wanted him to be curious about her as well).

"Which do you prefer; the sunrise or the sunset?"

That wasn't exactly what she had wanted to ask. It was just the first question she could think of. She wasn't sure what she had wanted to say, but it certainly wasn't that.

"Oh," Armin said quietly, looking slightly puzzled. "Well actually, visually, they're the same. You can't tell the difference between the two without time or direction," Armin informed her.

Oh.

Well now Annie felt foolish. She probably should've left her mouth shut. He probably didn't even want to get to know her. "But I like sunsets more."

Annie looked at him, a neutral expression on her face, contemplating his answer. "Why?"

Armin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, giving her a nervous smile. "Well why did you ask?"

Annie didn't say anything, instead turning away from him. She felt a bit childish doing so, but she wasn't going to answer. Armin sighed. "The time of day is just more fitting, I think, for something so beautiful. It's almost like a reward for enduring the day." Annie then realized how painfully optimistic he was. "It's hard to come across beautiful things." And with that, Annie reconsidered her realization. "And what about you?" Annie turned to look at him. "I mean, which do you prefer?"

Annie setting her legs lazily off the ledge of the roof. The sun was now shining and high up in the sky. It wouldn't be long before Shadis made them line up for role call. "We should get going," Annie mumbled, "We've been here quite a while." Annie went to move, but Armin grabbed her arm. She faced him sharply, probably a frown and a glare etching her face, and Armin, realizing what he had done, let go quickly, blushing ever so slightly.

"We have time." Annie started blankly at him. "I mean, we hardly ever talk," he reprimanded.

It was ridiculous to Annie that it hasn't occurred to him that she doesn't want to talk to him. But even more ridiculous is that she did want to. If she had said she hated his company, she would lying. But fibs were a usual thing from her.

"Let's go." Annie then proceeded to climb down without waiting for his response. Armin reluctantly got up and followed suit.

The sun was setting. The sky was orange with hints of yellow shining out. The gleaming light blended well with small indication of the red that bled through. The sky was, in the clearest and most accurate way, bloody.

Looking down at him, she felt sick. She wasn't sure how long she stood there, but she knew it had been too long. So as she bent down to take his gear, she thought on what Armin had said to her. She picked up the clunky metal, inspecting it, watching the gruesome colors of the sunset reflect on it. Was this her reward?

She suddenly felt very ill.

His eyes were glued to the 3DMG on the table. And she knew that he knew. He wasn't stupid.

Or maybe he was just looking at it. That wasn't a crime. Then why did he seem so horrified? So she distracted him with the first thought she had.

"The sunrise."

Armin immediately look at her, a bemused expression on his face. "What?" he sputtered out.

Annie sighed. That was stupid. "I prefer the sunrise," she explained, "over sunsets."

A flash of recognition appeared on his face. He took one last look at the shining gear before giving his full attention towards her. "Oh, and why is that?" he asked, although he didn't seem interested. He didn't ask because he was curious, but more so because it was expected of him.

Annie hadn't really thought about it though. She just wanted his focus elsewhere. She didn't want him to think she was a bad person. But she could probably say anything and Armin wouldn't change his perspective of her. So she said what could be considered generic. "I'm not usually awake to see it happen."

Armin didn't look impressed, but he didn't have that same look of disgust either. "That does make it a bit more special, I suppose. After all, you see the sunset everyday." He sighed, now looking forward again. "I guess that's why I like it. Its consistent." He looked down at her gear again before facing her once more. "I can't say that about much anymore."

She stopped breathing for a moment. She looked over at him, seeing him with an unusually placid expression. Something changed from when they first met. She briefly entertained the thought of Armin being pretty inconsistent himself. "What do you mean?"

"Things change so quickly," he said to her, "Any of us could die at any moment. I never know what's going to happen next. Eren, Mikasa, you," her breath hitched, " you could all be gone tomorrow." He paused, eyes trained on her. "But really Annie, you're already gone aren't you?" And then Annie panicked. She tried not to let it show but knew it didn't matter. Armin was quite perceptive. And maybe that wasn't the reaction he wanted because he continued to speak again. "You are joining the military police, aren't you?"

Was that what he meant? Had he done that on purpose? Of course he had. "See Annie, the sunset..." a small appeared on his face, "is just the kind of consistency my life needs."

When he smiled, he didn't appear to be happy. Which was odd. He was always so foolishly gleeful from what she remembered. She couldn't tell what made him seem more sullen, even with the smile, but she knew she didn't like it.

"The sunrise," she started, not really sure about what she was saying, "is a symbol for redemption." The smile on his pale face was replaced with a frown and a quirked eyebrow (which actually looked a lot better in her opinion.)

"Really? How so?" he questioned, although his tone sounded not at all serious. But it was fairly obvious he actually asked for his own sake rather than hers this time.

"The sunrise is the start of a new day. Yesterday doesn't really matter anymore." Annie knew she was just rambling now. "It gives you a chance to start over. New ambitions."

The blond boy looked pensive and suddenly the carefree look was wiped off his face. "A new day didn't erase the past. Your actions today can effect the rest of your life."

"I know but I'd like to believe in new beginnings."

He looked out the window, seeing the sun beat down on the cement. There were gray and brown buildings, the smooth ground, and the occasional patch of grass. It was all rather bland.

Armin remembered the fields of grass shining and the tall trees swaying gracefully with the same wind that blew through his hair. He thought of the bright, warm sun that beamed down on him and shined on his well-groomed horse. The gleam was soon lost, he recalled, as a dark shadow appeared.

As he had looked up to see what had caused the shade, he only met a familiar face. He reminisced about her stepping over him, ruining past, stopping to pick up his hood where he then really saw the face he had grown to-

The blonde man sighed as he stood up, turning away from the window. It had been a long time since that day. It was a rather crushing day.

He could also recall the time they had checked all the recruit's gear. Just to check, of course. They had just lost valuable resources. He found it ironic really. Two titans were lost that day, but the same one who killed them was soon captured herself. Hanji would talk to the titans, he heard, so what he was doing was normal.

Then again, no one considered Hanji to be normal.

He passed other members of the survey corps without much of a thought. He thinks some might have credited to him in some sort of greeting, but he couldn't really tell. He was in a hurry.

But by the time he had reached his destination, he was hesitant to open the door. Finally, he though, after a few moments, he walked in.

The first thing one would see when walking in isn't the obvious. Said person would see the opposite wall and some bars. However, if one were to examine the room, that person's eyes would catch on the massive crystal held against the wall with wires.

Armin walked over to the glass-likes structure, a bit more slowly (even cautiously) than before. He stopped in front of it, seeing the same face he had seen for the longest of times. She hadn't aged. She had the same military police uniform, the same flaxen hair, the same soft features, and he could only assume she possessed the same crystalline blue eyes. The same eyes that reminded him so much of the sky above. The same eyes that were so cold and usually fixed in an icy state, but still held an addicting quality to them.

It had been much too long since he had last seen those eyes.

"Hi Annie," he whispered lowly, placing his palm on the cool surface. "It's been a while, huh?" She couldn't reply but he waited for answer anyway. He took the moment to briefly wonder if she was still alive. He questioned if she could hear him.

"I think I understand now what you meant about the sunrise. And new beginnings," he said.

He continued to talk to her with no response for who-even-knows-how-long before he decided to leave. As he took one last glance at the girl, he thought once again that Annie was a nice person. And even though at one time he could truly believe it, he still tricked himself into thinking it was true. As he sighed, he could only think about how she could really use a new beginning.

When he walked outside, he realized it was already night out. The sky, much darker than it was earlier, was filled with bright stars. His eyes, however, were trained on the bright moon that somehow also reminded him of the girl's eyes. He wasn't really sure why because he distinctly remembered her eyes were blue, not gray or silver or anything similar. At least, he thought they were. It has just been too damn long.

But a more prominent thought infiltrated his mind. One that distracted him from the luminous stars, the glowing moon, and her long forgotten eyes. He had missed the sunset.