June 22 – Childhood/Past
Armin could write poetry about his childhood: green grass and bright sun and brilliant smile and that one looming secret that no one knew that endangered everyone. He remembered an eternal summer, always hot and always sunny. It was never cold. Not like this.
They were trapped in a cave. They'd been riding back to Wall Rose when a blizzard hit and Levi had led them to an outcropping of rock, seeking a cave's shelter. Now they were snowed in. Armin, Eren, and Mikasa were huddled together for warmth while Levi sat a little away, unmovable. They watched with the fascination he commanded from even those who hated him.
Armin had one memory of snow before Wall Maria's fall. It was a freak snowstorm that had brought the town to halt for days, even though the snow only covered a couple inches of ground. The three of them had had fun snow fights—Mikasa always winning—and Armin had made beautiful snow angels. It had snowed more when they moved further north past Wall Rose.
"Isn't he cold?" Eren asked quietly.
"Eren," Mikasa whispered, "don't worry yourself about him."
"But he must be cold," he insisted, a little louder, "and Mikasa, he does matter. He's our commanding officer."
"I'm not cold," Levi said, loudly enough that his voice bounced around the cave. Armin put his hands over his ears.
"Armin," she asked, "Are you okay?"
She had asked that a lot during his childhood, after Eren had tried to beat up his bullies and Mikasa had cleaned up after her brother. He had always said fine in a little voice that was most certainly not fine. His voice had deepened a little now, though not as deep as Eren's and nowhere near as deep as Levi's, but enough that he wouldn't get teased for sounding like a girl.
"I'm a little cold. But we all are."
She reached out and grabbed his hand, rubbing her finger over its back. "We'll be okay. If we're stuck here too long, we can eat Levi."
Eren made a choking noise.
Armin smiled and dared "But Mikasa, he's too small to have much meat on him."
Mikasa smiled and Armin felt a little warmer.