Mikasa saw the little girl staring away as the children played outside bouncing a ball against the wall, a mindless game that fascinated them and her. Annie didn't say a word, she was just staring in amazement, her eyes twinkle with excitement; she was very curious and tearing away from the glass window was proving to be an impossible task. And as lovely as that image looked to Mikasa, it was starting to ache her inside knowing that it was going to boil down to a very serious request.
Annie finally gathers herself from the window and walked over to Mikasa's side. Her steps were very light, she didn't come running, there was no rush, something was holding her back, and Mikasa's throat started to get tight. Her instincts were telling her something, and she wished that she wasn't right about that. She braces herself just to be safe and inhale slowly; trying her best to harden her chest as Annie finally reached her touching her thigh with an open hand. A slight hesitation behind that, but eager nonetheless.
This was how Annie got her attention whenever she made a request.
Read me a book. Tell me a story. Sing me a song.
Her mind wandered as her eyes glance down looking at the innocent girl before her. Annie must have felt the vibe of the room changing, because her expression worried. Her eyes widen more than usual and her lips parted, and her fingers started to intertwine with one another. Mikasa blinked at this, she couldn't believe it, Annie was fidgeting, she knew she was nervous. This only made Mikasa's heart race faster knowing what could be lingering around Annie's tongue. She was still silent, perhaps trying to time it, to find the right words? What does a child know about finding the right words?!
"Um." Annie began, cutting Mikasa's train of thought and gaining her full attention once more. Annie was frozen looking at her, and the seconds were eating away at the poor little girl. Her fingers didn't stop, she was nervous, so nervous that she subconsciously involved her hoodie's sleeve and twiddle her thumbs around the rim. Nervous about what? Nervous for what?
"Can I go outside and play today?" She finally said it, still looking up.
Mikasa's heart dropped. It was what she was dreading to hear, she could see hope and excitement behind her blue eyes. 'Today', she said. It wasn't a simple 'can I go and play', no it was 'can I go outside and play TODAY', as in when will you stop putting her behind a cage 'today', as in 'I've been a good girl please let me play outside TODAY'. Or perhaps she's screaming 'PLEASE, PLEASE let me GO OUTSIDE TODAY. CAN TODAY BE IT? IF I ASK NICELY CAN IT BE TODAY, PLEASE?'
Mikasa's inner voice was screaming everything that Annie couldn'tay. That's what that look was.
Mikasa swallowed hard and saw that Annie was anxiously waiting for an answer. Perhaps setting all of her hopes in her tiny little heart for a 'yes', just wishing for once to be it. Her eager eyes made Mikasa feel worse. But Annie noticed that Mikasa was taking a while to answer, and that was never a good sign.
Annie started to feel some pain inside and she wasn't sure why, but she squinted her eyes. She lowers them and glances back up, trying to reassure herself that maybe she could be wrong.
"No. You can't Annie."
Mikasa finally said. It shook Annie's core. Her tiny body shivered at the sound of her voice, waking her up from her tiny dream of going outside to play. She glances down looking at her hands, for reasons she can't explain at such an early age, she began to cry in her feet, letting tears come down her cheeks not making much of a sound. She didn't ask why, and she didn't throw a tantrum, she was blatantly upset about being denied her heartfelt request of going outside to play. She covered her eyes and like any child, she began to wonder if it was all her fault. Why she couldn't go outside with the rest of the kids. What could she had done possibly wrong to deserve this…