Armin loved her, Christa Lenz; from the bottom of his heart he truly did. The love he had for the petite blond girl was undeniably real. Armin had always believed her to be a blessing, a light in the darkness, a shout of hope in the void of inevitable oblivion.
Oblivion, what a funny word. It was a word synonymous to death. Destruction. Total annihilation. But wasn't death supposed to be comforting? A release from a world that was tainted and ruined. Death was a good thing, right? It meant no pain, no?
Armin had experienced losing people to oblivion before, even though he was still a teen. Wall Maria went into oblivion, which caused his parents to also fade from his life. The boy's grandfather had died, but it felt like he simply faded away, never to be seen again.
What Armin had believed to be true about death had been a lie. Dying was supposed to be when you leave the world forever, was what he thought. How wrong he was to believe that; death can happen even if your heart still beats on. Because Armin's heart was still beating, making him technically alive, but he felt dead on the inside. As dead as the girl he held in his arms.
A pain like blade shot through his heart, a numb pain resonating through his mind. Choking on tears, he shook her slightly, as if she would wake up. A disfigured form that he had once called Christa had long gone limp in his arms. The form's face was blood stained, the red liquid had once poured from a gaping gash on her head. She sacrificed herself willingly; for Armin's sake. For her love's sake. And there she lied, cold and pale, in her love's arms. Death had already taken her, leaving her beloved to wish for it to come and take him, also.
But, at the time, he held her desperately in her arms, placing his lips on her cold, hard ones. They weren't like the warm soft ones he had kissed earlier that morning. His fingers grazed over her face; there was no sign of life in her anymore.
Her hair was a dull blond color that had splotches of faded scarlet splattered on it, but Armin didn't care; he still ran his hands through it. Her hair was still soft, but it wasn't warm like he remembered. "I love you," Armin whispered into her ear, even though he knew she couldn't hear him, "I'll stay with you forever."
Letting all the pain and sorrow out in the form of tears, he held her as close as he could to him.
Armin didn't notice the Titan behind him. And even if he did, he wouldn't have left Christa there anyways.
Hours later, a search party was sent out to see if any survivors remained. Eren and Mikasa were among those who had survived, but they couldn't find Armin. While searching through the bloody remains of the battlefield.
Eren picked up a green cloak, his eyes widened in horror as he showed Mikasa. "It's Armin's," he said, tears threatening to come. Mikasa gasped and touched the cloak, crying into the bloodied cloth, and the two wondered what had happened to their best friend and the love of his life, Christa Lenz.
They had faded away, faded to the point of oblivion.