Word Count: 630
Annie had always loved the rain.
The calming pitter-patter the raindrops made when they hit the ground, the way the world seemed so much cleaner afterwards, and the fresh scent of wet grass: it seemed that everything had been reborn after a rainstorm.
Sometimes Annie wondered if she could wash away her sins just by standing in the rain. It cleansed the Earth, so why not her as well?
She knew that the things she had done those years ago were wrong, even then. And she regretted every second of it.
But at the same time, her dad had told her that he loved her for doing the right thing. Her dad.
The man who simply scoffed when she beat the training dummies and stalked off.
The man who always told her that she could improve more.
How could she let him down, when she promised she would return to him? How could she let him down, when he told her he was proud of her? That he loved her?
She couldn't. That was why, even though she had joined the walled people's side, she refused to give them any information on how to get to the Homelands. Because despite his words, he and his opinion meant the world to her.
Annie stood out in the castle courtyard one morning, alone, as the sullen grey sky cried down on her. It had been so long since she had last felt the rain. In her long slumber, she had felt nothing, absolutely nothing. When she got out of it, the dry season had just begun. The gentle drops falling on her face felt strange, very strange, almost alien to her, for it had been months, in her mind, since she had last stood in the rain.
Her father used to call her his flower, delicate and beautiful. Gentle and kind. She was none of those things anymore. Her father always told her flowers couldn't sting, yet here she did. One of the most controversial people in the walls, she had done her fair share of ugly things.
"Annie? Do you need an umbrella?" a familiar voice called. Annie ignored him, but lowered her gaze down to the muddy puddle her feet were sinking into. His splashing footsteps drew nearer and nearer, and suddenly, the rain ceased to fall on her head.
"Annie, you shouldn't be out standing in the rain. You could catch a cold," he said, and tugged on her sleeve, urging her to follow him.
Annie stepped out from under his umbrella, hearing the satisfying squelch the mud made when she pulled her feet out of it, and back into the rain.
"Are you okay?" he asked, quietly, nervously, as though he were afraid she would lash out at him. "Do you want an umbrella?"
She heaved a sigh, a soft, melancholy sigh that only she could hear. She didn't need the umbrella, she told herself. It didn't matter if she got sick, she told herself.
Before she left her father, she promised she would fear nothing. Yet what made her so afraid now?
She turned away from the stone wall that kept her inside and faced the boy who brought out the umbrella, the only person who had talked to her in days. With golden blond hair, bright blue eyes, and baby cheeks, Annie knew exactly who it was even though it had been over a year between her crystalling and her escape. He hadn't changed.
He was as deceptively kind as ever.
He held out the umbrella towards her, so that his own head was uncovered. He said nothing, but his face pleaded that she take it; he was concerned about her.
Slowly, she took the umbrella from him.
Author's Note: Whassup. Thanks for reading. Short note 'cuz the music that inspired this puts me in a melancholy mood. Feel free to review, if that's what you're into. And as always, have a great day~