Armin smiles were literally the best thing on this planet. It almost made me forget our impending doom and our demise by the hands of the titans.
In the flowery fields when we were younger, he'd simply fall into the plush, colorful plethora. The multiple colors would compliment his porcelain pale skin, and definitely made his timid, baby-blue eyes look even happier than ever. He'd stare up at the sunshine, and spread out his arms, accepting the warmth… warm days like those only came across Shinganshina so rarely… and Armin loved every second of them, bathing ever so merrily in the sun's rays. His smile was big and wide then.
Though after that, his smiles occurred very rarely.
When we were first shipped off to join the training camps, he was so nervous. His knees almost buckled in fear as they got there. The commander nearly made him cry in front of everyone… he was a delicate flower, just like the ones in the fields back home… Though, after that night, in the mess hall, he offered me a soft smile, and said, "We made it here, Eren."
The night of our graduation was a rather terrifying night. Armin didn't make it into the top ten. He couldn't join the military police, he couldn't be safe in the interior like I intended him to be. But yet, when I glanced back at him nervously during the ceremony, he smiled that soft, sweet smile at me, and I could see he had tears in his eyes. He didn't care that he didn't make it into the top ten of the cadets. He was happy for me.
The next time that he smiled at me was when he saw me for the first time after the plan to retake Trost. He told me about Marco's death, of course it made him sad, him and Marco had bonded over their time at camp. According to Armin, Marco was a rather intelligent man… yet, he still died. Nobody knew how he died, though half of his body was missing. I began to wonder what would happen if it had been Armin instead of Marco who died out on the battlefield that night. So lonely, so cold, nobody to save him or at least ease him through his death…nobody there to give him comfort in his final moments. This reminded me that anyone could die on the battlefield. Though, as my mind pondered the thoughts, Armin had hugged me, and when he drew away, he had the biggest smile I had ever seen, he was so happy… "I missed you so much, Eren."
Annie had been defeated, well, not really, more so crystallized in the caves here the military police guarded her. Armin had come to visit me by my bedside… he looked so happy when my turquoise eyes met his blue eyes, and he smiled rather widely as I shakily brought him in for a hug. "I'm happy you're alive, Armin." He glanced at me, and his cheeks turned a soft pink color, that reminded me of the petals that danced through the air in what used to be our hometown, but was now ruins.
But everything went to hell. Since then, Armin has never smiled again. And I'm afraid there will never be a day to come where he smiles those sweet, loving smiles back at me.