The sun began to set from a blood-red sky and the last of the twilight disappeared as the sun sank behind Wall Sina. In the Survey Corps headquarters, Armin watched over Eren. He had fought hard and the exhaustion had taken its toll on his body. As he laid motionless on the bed, Armin's mind resonated with Eren's roars of psychotic rage. Even now they sent chills down his spine. The destruction the fight had caused to Stohess district was unimaginable.
"Armin, it's your turn to watch the 'freak'," Mikasa snapped, startling him out of his thoughts. She usually spoke very politely to him, but her rage at nearly losing Eren for a third time couldn't be contained. He thought it was best not to reply and quietly left. He had always had a distinct fluttering in his heart when he got the chance to watch over the one whom Mikasa called a 'freak'. Armin suppressed the slight wave of anger that rippled through him. He was one of the few- no, the only one- who still called her 'Annie'. The name brought a hint of a smile to his face.
On the way to his destination, he went to his room. He always carried a book with him when he had to watch over Annie and after some thought, he decided that this time around he would take his grandfather's book. Armin would read silently most of the time, but sometimes he would read in a soft whisper and hope that Annie could hear him.
Going into the basement, he saw that she stood suspended within her crystal shell. The torch flames of the room reflected and glistened all throughout it. That shell was the only thing that separated her from the people that wanted to inflict harm on her.
Was Annie really the one who had caused all of this chaos? All of those people who had died for nothing; innocent men and women, citizens and soldiers. She was the one that had brought death upon them. She didn't look cold anymore; she looked…fearful.
She couldn't have done all of that on her own free will. She couldn't have! Armin thought to himself.
Something she had said to him a long time ago floated to his mind: Armin you're weak…but you are brave.
"Hey, you! Are you here to watch over that…thing?" a military police officer called.
"Y-yes, it's my turn," Armin replied politely.
"We'll be off then. Keep alert; she shouldn't break free." With that last command, he turned around and left with his squad. Armin felt the hollowness of the silence, wrench away at his mind as he stood alone in the underground chamber. The flames slowly began to crackle and fade, bathing the room in an increasing darkness. As he stood frozen in place, he started to remember the time they had spent together as trainees, and memories came back to his mind in a flash.
You've always talked about going against the flow, but you were a hypocrite, he thought silently. You killed so many, and all to try and capture Eren. I have seen you angry and sad. I have also seen you happy, and I've seen emotions from you that no one else has ever seen. But you've never had a desire to learn for yourself. You've lived in a world of black and white; you've always done what others have told you, and believed what others have wanted you to believe.
"Please tell me you didn't do all that by your own will; please tell me that it wasn't you!" Armin whispered fiercely, trying to absorb all of the feelings that were raining down on him. He felt so many things at once; hatred, pity, anger, and was that love? There were some times –many times- that he would try to deny it, but it was no use. Annie had a beauty that he hadn't seen in any other woman. Her chilling blue eyes often froze his heart, but it was something that he liked and craved to feel.
But…but it's because of me that you're trapped here. Armin's mind started collapsing within itself from the crushing weight of his guilt.
"You could have killed me; why didn't you? You wouldn't have to be trapped here!" He was getting angrier with each spoken word of his thoughts. His rage continued to rush out "You didn't kill me; that's when I realized who you were! That is why you are here...like this." He tried to calm down. If someone heard him talking…whatever would they think? He stared at the shining diamond that surrounded Annie. It was the perfect outward expression for who she really was: an isolated soul who didn't want anyone close to her, to be able to talk to her, or to even feel her.
He sat in a chair and opened his book. "Annie," he said after a few seconds of silence. "Tell me: have you ever wanted to go outside the walls to see what's out there? I've always wanted to." He spoke with a slight trace of sadness, but a small smile crept across his lips as he thought about the many wonders that his grandfather's book had told him about. He opened it to a random page and showed it toward the crystal.
"Look, Annie! There are endless fields where the wind dances with scorching sands! Enormous hills that rise high into the sky! And some of them are covered with snow!" He flipped to the next page." And…and there are long stretches of sand that touch vast expanses of water…salty water! It's an expanse so vast that the water even kisses the sun!" He was like a child showing his mother his favorite storybook.
"There we will find fruits, with sweet water inside them! And..." He stopped; he could've sworn that he saw a sparkle that was coming from the crystal. He got up from the chair, not a care in the world as to who was watching him and slowly made his way toward her. As he walked up to the crystal, he saw it: a lone tear running down Annie's right cheek. He stretched his arms out, as if to welcome her, wishing with everything in him that her eyes were open so that he could gaze into them.
"We will see the world outside…someday we will," he said softly as he stood there in the silence...
Author's note
Another SnK romance, this time not drunk though :P
Another brilliant job by Georgy with her quality checking! And also this is (unofficially) her favorite work of mine!