Next chapter. This one is following the same backstory rule as before, but this one ships AruAni, so I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 2: The Twins
After the chaos of the military organization, the survey corps began to notice something in Annie Leonhardt's crystal; it was cracking from the inside-out. The cracks slowly grew larger as the years passed. One day, a now grown up Armin, was making a weekly check on the crystal alongside Hanji, Mikasa, Eren, and Levi. The group walked down the narrow, dark hallway to get to the room. Armin's hair grew to shoulder length and it was tied into a pony tail, exposing the sides of his face. He was much taller, stronger, smarter, and his muscles were more defined to help fit his frame. Mikasa had grown her hair out and now had it in a bun, fit to appear as her heritage would have worn their hair. She didn't grow as much as Armin or Eren, but she thought it was fine since she didn't always want to seem more manly than Eren — she would rather him have a higher level of self esteem. Eren didn't change much compared to his comrades, though he did grow to be as tall as Erwin. Hanji appeared the same as always, though she had several gray hairs which she dyed regularly, not wanting to appear older than she was or felt. Levi was the only one that did not change in the slightest. He still had his black undercut and height of 5 feet.
They had entered the room while Hanji was protesting to Levi why titans shouldn't solely be treated like monsters, Armin immediately had his eyes fixed on the crystal. In a state of shock, he saw Annie laying unconscious in a pile of shattered, glass-like crystal with pieces shattered all around her. The blonde man brought himself to move and think clearly again as he ran to the pile. His comrades, now actually paying attention to their original job, noticed Armin running to the place where the crystal once was. Armin kneeled down besides her and tried to wake her up, trying his hardest to not scream of the pain from the crystal shards cutting into his knees. Mikasa's reaction, however, was extremely different. She pulled her blades from their case and ran towards the two, as she yelled towards Armin. "Back away! I need to finish her!" Armin quickly snapped to her attention, but refused to move. "No, Mikasa, YOU need to back away!" He returned in a stern tone of voice, placing his hand under her head and another behind her knees, lifting her up bridal style as her blonde hair dangled and her entire body was as steady as a bowl of noodles.
The sight of Armin, a soldier of those who have sworn to protect the human race, carrying a dangerous enemy in his arms as if she were something soft and breakable. It drove Levi mad, his eyes narrowing at the younger man. "Arlert..." He spoke strongly towards Armin, as he had done so many other tines while in his squad. "Hand her over so Hanji and I can carry through with our original goal of questioning her, and testing to see what makes her what she is." Armin remained silent for a moment, his knees and hands bleeding from the numerous cuts he had gotten. "No, sir... I... Can't let you do that..." He spoke softly, almost in a whisper. He didn't make any eye contact, his gaze still fixed on the unconscious girl in his arms. "What?! Hand her over right now!" The short, yet powerful man stepped forward to take her himself, but Hanji held him back. He immediately looked at her. "Let me go, four eyes!" "Absolutely not." She then went down to his war and whispered softly. "Don't you see the look in his eye? Its the same one Petra always showed towards you." Her mentioning Petra just about pushed him over the edge and he responded with a whisper, but in the rasped tone of shouting. "Petra? Why the hell would she have anything to do with-" His eyes widened as he realized what she meant and she stood tall, facing Armin. "If you want, we don't need to begin right now. Have your little reunion then she is in my custody. You, however, need to keep her locked up in the dungeon as a safety precaution. And Mikasa will stay with you to make sure everything is alright."
Armin lifted his head and looked at her with wide eyes, a smile appearing on his lips. "Thank you." He turned to Mikasa who was clearly unhappy about the situation. The oriental woman sighed and put her swords away and she walked with him to the dungeon where Annie would be locked up. It was an awkward and quiet walk until they finally got to the room blocked by bars which Mikasa unlocked. The door squeaked open while Armin walked inside, laying her on the dirty bed then sat in a nearby wooden chair, his bloodied hands and knees now more visible, and this concerned Mikasa. "Armin, what happened? Why are you bleeding?" "The broken crystal cut me." He replied deadpan. Worried for the health of her childhood friend, she grabbed a roll of gauze from a crate outside of the bars, walking inside and gently lifting his hand. She began to wrap the cuts, blood seeping through and she removed his boots, wrapping his knees the best she could. "Armin... Why do you care about her? She's only a murderous monster." She spoke with a voice of concern. Hearing this, Armin couldn't help but look at Annie. Why did he care? Why should he want to be with her? After all, he was the one that betrayed her in the first place. He then looked back at Mikasa, deep down knowing why and he replied in a low whisper "I love her..." There was no response. Armin hoped she didn't hear, but his hope shattered when she spoke again with a shaken up voice. "Y-you... love her? Why?" "I don't know..."
The room remained completely quiet until the blonde woman began to wake up. Armin looked at her and stood. "Annie..? Are you okay?" She opened her eyes wide once she heard the very familiar voice and she turned her head, sitting up to see Armin, just a lot bigger than she remembered. "Armin?! Wha- Why am I here?! Why are YOU here?!" She stood quickly, only to be pulled back down by Mikasa. "Move another inch and your head is as good as gone." Mikasa's voice seemed extremely serious, still having her deep hatred for the female titan. Terrified, Annie turned her head to look at Mikasa. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit" repeated in her head. Armin then spoke up. "Mikasa... Chain her hands, then I want to talk to her. Alone." Skeptical, Mikasa did so, trusting him to some extent.
As soon as the two were alone, the blonde man intended to talk, but he was frozen, noticing her slightly torn clothes and how her body grew he was memorized as his cheeks became flushed and she looked at him, confused and not realizing how grown her body had become. "What are you staring at?" Her words broke his trans and he shook his head. "Nothing... But... Annie, where did you come from?"
"Why do you care?"
"Just please tell me. I have a plan, but I can only verify it if you tell me."
She sighed, knowing her position. "There is a destroyed village outside of the walls I used to live in. It's probably uninhabited now.
"Perfect. Annie, I can take you back and we can live there together."
"Together? What do you mea-"
"I love you and I want to be with you!"
The sudden confession left Annie paralyzed, though she did feel the same. The girl knew that if she didn't agree now, she would end up dead for sure. And despite not wanting to move at to fast of a pace, she admitted. "I love you too. You can really get me... Us... Back home? How?" Armin smiled and hugged her close. "Easy. We can take an underground passage to the outer gate. From there, you can transform into a titan and get over the wall. There's no possible way the scouts could get to us in time to prevent it." She nodded and the two did exactly that.
(Fast Forward time) After the two later got over the wall, Armin on her shoulder and holding onto her hair, the female titan ran to her old home. Half destroyed as expected. As soon as they arrived, Annie layed down and Armin got off of her shoulder then cut her out of the giant. That day forward, they two began to rebuild one of the homes. It took about a year, but they finished it and decided to start a family. 10 months later, Annie gave birth to twins — one boy and one girl.
When deciding on a name, Armin named the boy Thomas after the one lost in battle during the breach in wall Rose. Annie named the girl Amelia because it was just a name she liked. Thomas was shown to disrespect Armin even when a baby. Whenever he would pick his son up, he would kick and cry and try to get away, despite the tenderness Armin offered him. Thomas, however, clearly always preferred his mother while Amelia stayed with her dad most of the time. During the early years of their life, they tried to combine their parenting styles and make them both intelligent and strong. Only because of the children's own preferences did this not work.
Amelia grew up book smart with a lower muscle mass and wanted to follow in Armin's footsteps and join the scouts. Thomas grew up learning Annie's techniques and attitude. He wanted to join the MP's for Annie. The both lived simply by these ways while Annie and Armin continued to try and combine parenting.
By the time they were 12, Thomas was just barely shorter than Armin with short, spiked hair. He had a small scar on his right cheek from training with Annie, and he thought everything was below him despite Annie and Armin trying to teach him respect. Amelia was a lot brighter and was exactly as tall as her mother. Her facial features strongly resembled Annie too. She now has shoulder blade length hair and tied into a low pony tail.
The day they left, Armin made it clear that they had to use some sort of fake last name, being that Armin and Annie were now both known as criminals for treason of the people and treason of the king, and if they used their real names they would likely be taken, tortured, and killed.
Sorry I covered more of the ship than the kids, but by the time I got there I was too lazy to continue with detailed descriptions. Please rate, follow, and comment! And review would be appreciated and help make future chapters better!