Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan/Shingeki No Kyojin. Apologies for the long wait. Enjoy. ^ _ ^

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Chapter 2

Roar

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Annie

Everything around her burned, flames licking every inch of earth and consuming all the life it could reach. As far as her eyes could see there was heat. An inferno of heat.

She couldn't move or speak- but she could feel. And eventually she could see that beyond the flames was an endless array of blue. All around her, beyond the fire- there was blue. Trapping her like a cage.

She thought it was the sky at first. And then she thought it was the ocean.

But when the flames parted and dimmed, Annie slowly made her way through the inferno towards the blue light.

It was only on closer inspection did she realize it was crystal.

When she finally opened her eyes, the golden crown of her fathers head met her watery gaze.

For a moment, she could only stare. But then awareness hit her like a wave of ice cold water.

Annie inhaled sharply, surprise flitting across her features when the realization of their proximity to each other sunk in. She sat upright, her bones aching and her shoulders feeling as if they would give out any second. Mr. Leonhardt lifted his head the moment he felt Annie's movements and realized she was conscious at last.

He moved away from his daughter, the tiniest hint of relief washing over his face.

"You're awake..." The older man sighed, the shadows of old age falling into his eyes. He looked as if he had stayed up for nights on end with the way his eyes seemed sunken in and his skin seemed gray. Annie herself was a sight for sore eyes, with bloodshot irises and pale skin fit for a ghost. Neither of them seemed to be entirely there.

Annie's eyes moved around the room, noting that it wasn't the same chamber she slept in each night. This room was larger, the bed she was in was bigger, there were windows on the farside of the room that let dim light shine in.

And the walls were blue. Not the ash gray and forest brown she was so used to waking up to. This room felt too misty to be real. The fact that her fathers face shone with worry and softness where hardness and stoic lines usually were made it even more surreal.

She would have assumed she were still dreaming if not for the fact that the familiar ache in her bones alerted her that she'd been immobile for some time now.

"I passed out." She murmured after a beat of silence. As soon as she said that, Annie knew it to be a fact. She hadn't lost control of her body since her early days of training, and ever since that day that her body became like iron itself; she never dreamed she would ever lose herself again.

Disappointment filled her as realization sunk in.

It tasted bitter.

"Annie." Her father said, noting the darkening of her face and abruptly pulling her out of it. "Do you need anything to eat? You're too pale...and you're getting thinner. You can't go out in the condition you're in."

And as if in confirmation, Annie felt a tickling sensation in her throat before she erupted into a coughing fit. She covered her mouth with her arm and leaned back on the bed, trying to calm it down. Her father's forehead tensed, the crows feet around his eyes creasing. His hand lifted towards her but stopped abruptly, drawing back as the guest who had been watching the ordeal silently made themselves known.

"If you had let her live in the town like I said so, giving her real air instead of the stale junk you call oxygen in these ruins, maybe she wouldn't be so sickly." A deep voice cut in.

The owner of this voice emerged from a corner of the room that Annie had barely glanced over.

It was a man.

He was tall, posture and stance full of youth. And to Annie's brief surprise, despite her lack of awareness at the moment, the man was the spitting image of her mother. Or at least; of the memory Annie had of her. Which, painful for her to admit, was a very dim and groggy memory as the years went on. Even despite that though, there was something else familiar about the man. If she hadn't felt as sick as a dog, Annie would have studied him closer. But alas, the small girl could only curl her fingers around her throat and try to breathe through her fits.

Annie's father inclined his head towards the visitor- an annoyed look overtaking his face and replacing the worry.

"Alec...if I had wanted your input, I would have asked." He replied stiffly, the clench of his jaw evident enough that he wasn't very fond of this man.

The name sent another wave of recognition through Annie, and beyond the pain in her throat and chest she saw a memory of snow and sunlight. She saw a man in leather clothing with long blond hair pulled back away from his face retreating down a hill. And the soft words he had left behind echoed in Annie's mind.

'For your second test...you need to numb yourself to pain.'

The memory flashed through her mind like a knife.

Annie stilled, her eyebrows furrowing as the sensation in her throat slowly faded.

It took her some time to register that this 'Alec' had crossed the room in three strides and placed a hand on her pulse. His fingers were warm, the heat sinking into her skin and making the pain fade almost instantaneously. But in the midst of that warmth, Annie registered the cold metal edge of a ring on his finger.

Her mind went blank. And for the longest time, Annie didn't dare to move.

"Well obviously you don't need to ask me..." Alec retorted as he turned his head towards her father who hadn't risen from his seat.

The man leaned back, seemingly not noticing the young girls reaction to his presence, and ran a hand through his hair before continuing.

"You can clearly see the toll that place has taken on her. It's no more than a prison, and if you didn't want my input then you shouldn't have requested for her to come here."

Her father's eyes narrowed.

"If you want, I can easily pack her things and take her back." Her fathers tone was darker than before, but it didn't seem to phase the younger man.

"Like hell you will. She's staying here until I deem it necessary for her to go. She's my responsibility just as much as she is yours. You don't have the right to keep her away-"

"She isn't your child Alec." Her father was on his feet now, the chair he had been occupying nearly falling over.

The sound of her father raising his voice sent chills down Annie's spine, and she went even stiller than before.

Her father didn't notice this however, and his eyes never left the taller mans face as he went on in the angriest tone he had ever used in his daughters presence.

"And she never will be your child. I came to you because this is the only place where she'll be safe during her recovery. You think I don't find it odd she's suddenly ill right when I'm being summoned to the city? Of course I do. But if you're going to make everything more difficult, she's better off in the forest where the wolves will do a better job of protecting her than her own godforsaken uncle!"

His voice trailed off, silence instantly following. And that was all there was for the longest moment.

Silence.

Annie's heartbeat, which had been weak before, now pounded in her chest and echoed loudly in her ears. Her blood seemed to run cold as her fathers words sank in. On one end, she was surprised to hear the raw emotion in her fathers voice. On the other, the word 'uncle' seemed to push every other emotion she could possible feel away. That was the only word that floated in her mind for a while. She couldn't even be angry that they had spoken about her as if she hadn't even been there. She couldn't feel anything for the longest time.

Until finally, Alec spoke again. His voice so soft that she had to hold her breath to hear him.

"I'm sorry."

Her father reeled back at that. But Alec looked genuine as he leaned against the closest wall, hand lifting to his temples. Annie, who had been silent during the entire ordeal, finally pushed herself up and lifted her legs over the mattress. Both men looked up at her movements, and for the first time Annie got a good look at Alec's face. His cheekbones were high, eyes such a light blue they looked gray in the rooms dim light. If it weren't for his deep baritone and the stubble on his chin then he would have easily passed for a woman.

When his eyes met hers, Annie felt bare.

"I'm sorry." Alec repeated, his eyes never leaving hers despite the fact he was addressing her father. "And though I know my actions as of late aren't a very convincing show of my desire to help- I still want you to trust me."

It felt like he was speaking to her in a way. Annie didn't have time to react to Alec's stare nor his words however before her father sighed and leaned over her bed.

"I accept your apology. Now leave us." He murmured, running a hand over Annie's bangs and closing his eyes as if to ward off the tiredness washing over his body. Annie stared at her father, and then turned towards the young man on the other side of the room. A question pulled at the edge of her mind, on the tip of her tongue and just barely contained as the man called Alec straightened his soldiers and turned to leave.

Time seemed so slow and yet so fast in that moment. The thought of her mother made her want to stop him. But the feeling of her fathers cool hand resting on her forehead and the sight of his ashen face made her stop. She knew that speaking out would make the situation worse, and she had never forced her way into a conversation her parents had initiated with a stranger before. And she didn't have the courage to do that now, especially since the man seemed as if he wasn't ready to cross that boundary himself.

So in the end she kept her mouth shut.

The door shut behind Alec, and by then she already knew she had lost her chance. The thought sobered her, but Annie was already aware she couldn't change it nor was she sure that she wanted to. So she lay there- staring at the ceiling and barely noticing the figure of her father out the corner of her eye.

He didn't say anything for the rest of the time was there at her bedside. But as Annie recalled her fathers words about being summoned and Alec watching over her, she couldn't help but feel curious.

'There's always tomorrow.' She thought tiredly.

And how reassuring that thought was. So reassuring that sleep came even before Annie could realize it was there.

All went dark.

It's hard to live peacefully, then read the manga, and then get hit so hard with feels only to add to this story which is also contributing my feels whenever I lay at night and just think. Alec is someone I couldn't get out of my head when planning this story, and thinking about Annie's possible backstory is a huge part of what inspire me, so I'm excited to flesh the story out from here. Eren and Levi will definitely be apart of the next update when it comes- so thanks for reading. :)