And chapter four ^_^
The sun was low in the sky when Eren and Annie finally had Survey Corps HQ in their sights. They hadn't spoken much on the walk over, and Eren thought that best. Annie was on his side, that much he was confident of, but the war going on inside her had to be incredible. To put her trust in the humans, nearly all of which treated her like a dog that had bitten its owner, or go home to be killed among her own kind. The latter at least would have been a warrior's death, but perhaps she went along with this because she wasn't quite ready to die. Though, maybe she simply enjoyed combat enough that she just wanted to rip something's head off.
Eren's thoughts were interrupted as Annie broke the silence. "Do you remember everything we did out there?"
"I don't remember it as much as I feel it in my arms and my legs," Eren replied.
"Show me," Annie said, turning and throwing out her leg in the same motion.
There was no telegraph, but Eren managed to lift his leg, same as she had, and when he landed, he lunged forward with his elbow, same as she had. However, this time, as she redirected him, he grabbed onto her jacket with the left hand she hadn't seen him move. It was a clumsy process that caught Annie off guard, but he pulled her to the ground with him and in an instant her legs encircled his waist, her feet locked tight behind him. His arms crisscrossed around her neck, though she had him. She flexed her legs crushing Eren's waist. He let out a groan and Annie used that moment to gain the advantage. She flicked her hips to the side tossing Eren to the ground, and before he could react, she straddled him and leaned forward, using a similar attack to his own. However, her fists were not planted in the ground as his were, her hands wrapped his neck, ready to choke him if need be.
At feeling her hands on his neck, Eren's eyes widened. "Do you submit?" Annie asked.
He blinked in disbelief, but there was something about her in that moment. She was smiling, but this was different. He nodded and immediately she relinquished her grip and sat upright atop him, victorious and completely satisfied as she tilted her head back to look to the retreating sun. "This is a fun game we play, Eren," she said. "You learn quickly and with very little instruction; that makes you an excellent fighter."
Eren's lips perked up into a smile and that's when he took notice of how and where Annie was sitting. He looked to her face, then to her body, and then her hips. She is…an amazing woman, he thought. She's done so much, but as I know her now, I can't think of her as anything but a friend. I believe in her.
It was lucky for him that she got up when she did. She brushed off her pants and reached down to help him up. He took her hand and as she so often had, Annie seemed to miscalculate her strength, pulling him up and causing him to crash into her. He clumsily stepped back after bumping into her and all at once, their cheeks reddened a bit. It was incredibly awkward for a moment, though Eren did his best to fix it. He reached his hand behind his head and smiled, "Thank you for teaching me and for believing in me, Annie."
This only made Annie blush a deeper shade of red. "Thank you, Eren."
"Come on," Eren said as he took the lead. "I'm starving and we'll likely only get one loaf each."
"Right," Annie said.
Within just a few more steps, they were on the outskirts of Survey Corps HQ right where they had departed earlier that morning. Levi, Mikasa, Armin and Jean all sat at the same table they were at this morning, and they were all staring at Eren and Annie as they advanced on them. The moment in the woods just a few seconds earlier was comfortable compared to the awkwardness of now. Not one of their faces wore an approving look, and Levi was the first to make any sort of a gesture, just as the sun was going down.
He raised Annie's shackles into view and commented, "Your night clothes."
Eren was angry, but he couldn't let any of it show. "Captain," he calmly said. "Is it really still-"
"As long as she sleeps under my home, it is," Levi interrupted. He stood from his seat and dropped the shackles in front of Annie. "Always watching," he whispered as he walked past her.
However, once Levi was gone, Mikasa, Armin, and Jean all remained. "Do you want your rations for the day?" Armin asked. "We put them aside for you."
Eren's eyes lit up, though Annie didn't offer much in the way of a reaction. A few moments later, the five of them sat at the table and not long after that, the questions began. "What did you do today?" Armin asked.
Annie cracked a small smile, her tone never growing nasty, "You expect me to believe you didn't see, Armin? You who sees everything?"
"We know you turned into Titans, but what else?" he asked.
"We sparred," Eren replied. "Annie says the only way to learn how to control a Titan is by spending more time as a Titan."
"Annie says?" Mikasa quietly commented, her face turned away from the conversation.
"Mi-Mikasa?" Eren asked.
"Will you do everything she says, Eren?" she asked.
"If I believe it can help, yes."
Mikasa stood from her seat, still avoiding looking at either of them and commented, "Don't spend too much time in that thing, Eren."
"What do yo-"
"Enough time as a monster, and your humanity will vanish just like hers," Mikasa interrupted.
She turned and set off towards HQ as Eren stood from his seat and called out, "Mikasa! Wait! Mikasa!" He looked down to Annie who was naturally looking back up at him and he asked, "Is it true?"
"Do you think it is?" Annie asked.
Eren took a moment to think of what had happened today. What changes he experienced by being inside that Titan, but the truth was, he felt no different. He felt stronger, and he had learned a great deal about fighting without causing himself any measure of injury now that he was out of the Titan again. That's when he put it together for the first time. "You trained in your Titan form, didn't you, Annie?"
She smiled again, one of the few real smiles he'd seen on her. "I did," she replied.
"What the hell are you two talking about?" Jean asked.
Eren looked back to where Mikasa was walking away only to find she was gone. He frowned, but sat back down to finish his meal, and to answer Jean's question. "Inside the Titan, there is no pain," Eren explained. "You can push your mind beyond the physical limits of your human body, but the memory stays with you, even once you're no longer in the Titan. By training as a Titan, you can learn much more much faster because there is no physical toll on your human body."
"I see," Armin said.
After a few more silent bites, Eren spoke again. "Armin?"
"Hmmm?"
"Thank you for sitting with us," Eren said. "You too, Jean. I know this is…difficult, but-"
"I don't know what the hell is going on inside her head now or back then, but right now, I would never figure her for a murderer," Jean interrupted. He stood from his seat and commented before walking off, "Keep it that way and there will be no problems."
"You feel the same way, Armin?" Annie asked.
"I don't know what I feel, Annie," Armin admitted. "You betrayed us." He looked away as he spoke, "You killed many, and now here we are having bread. Maybe it's because you killed no one I knew. Maybe if you had, I would…" Armin took a minute to gather his thoughts. "Everyone should be allowed to atone for their sins," he said. "Many of us who will never offer you their kindness, but there are those of us who believe you can help."
"Which are you, Armin?"
"Seeing you here, I can only think of the time we spent together in the 104th. I don't know what your reasons were then, but I think I know what your reasons are now, and I still think you are a good person, Annie," he replied with a smile.
"What my reasons are now?" she asked.
"Goodnight, you two," Armin said as he set off for the night.
"Two out of four in one day is a start, right?" Eren asked Annie.
"You would count what Jean said as a good thing?" Annie spat.
"That's just how he is," Eren commented. "Coming from him, that was a rave review."
Annie let out a small chuckle, and with a few more bites, they proceeded out of the yard, and down to their room.
Eren sat on the bed, his back to Annie as she changed into a t-shirt and shorts for the night, while Hanji waited to shackle her hands and feet. His cheeks were a full red as he sat there. Though there wasn't much time in this world for thoughts like this, hormones were hormones and Eren's were on full boil. He turned around at the sound of the door being closed to find Annie ready for bed.
"Eren?" she asked.
"Huh?" he stuttered.
"Are you alright? Your cheeks are all red."
"Uh! Yeah!" he stammered, his cheeks only getting redder. He stepped off the bed and into the blanket he laid on the floor.
For a good while, they were exactly as they were the night before, lying awake, their eyes wide open. However, unlike last night, tonight it was Eren who spoke up first. "Annie?"
"Hmmm?"
"What you asked me yesterday about Mikasa, why did you ask?"
Annie lay silent for a good long while as she contemplated her answer. She could lie. She could tell the truth. But ultimately, could she really do either? Not even she was entirely sure of her feelings on the subject. One thing was for certain; every moment she had right now was a gift. Not killed by the people in her hometown, or by the humans within the walls. She liked Eren, that much she knew, but to what degree? Was it more?
She thought about his face, his smile, his vibrant green eyes that pierced anyone and everyone he focused them on. She thought further still about him as a person. About the Eren she was growing to know more and more. The Eren who strove to become a stronger fighter, and that was something that spoke to Annie on many levels. Finally, she realized that her life and the lives of everyone in this world could be on an exceptionally short timeline. What was the point of not laying out your hand, even if you weren't sure of it?
"I wanted to know if you belonged to her, that's all," she finally said.
"Belonged?"
Annie leaned over the side of the bed, looking Eren in the eye as she spelled it out for him. "If you and Mikasa were together."
"Me and Mikasa?" Eren stuttered. "No, we're just friends; like brother and sister."
"That's good to know," Annie said as she pulled herself back onto the bed.
"Why?"
She didn't answer right away, leaving him in just a bit of suspense. She realized more and more that she had his attention, and that this was her hand to play, and her time to play it. She could do or say whatever she liked, because he was listening without question.
"Have you ever kissed a girl, Eren?" Annie asked as she shut her eyes with a light smile on her lips.
"Ah! I…um…" he was at a loss for words, but in the end, the truth came out pretty easily. "No. What about you?" Annie's eyes burst open, having not anticipated that response.
She blushed and quietly commented, "Isn't it rude to ask a girl these things?"
"Ah! Sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"No," she interrupted. She was silent for a moment before her emotions spilled over. "Just like you, just like any of us. No time to be a person or to grow up, only to learn how to fight."
"But you love to fight and to train!"
"That doesn't mean I never wanted to be a girl, Eren," she said. "Have you never wanted to be a boy?"
He suddenly remembered her sitting atop him in the woods earlier. A part of him very much wanted to be a boy in that moment. Nevertheless, that was just not the life they were allowed. "I have," he said, his hesitation dwindling. "But, it's like you said, there is never enough time to just grow up."
"I wonder if there ever will be time," Annie morosely replied.
Eren's cheeks filled a deep red. Just as Annie had come to the conclusion, he came to the same one. Now was the time if there ever was one to play your hand. "You are a…" he carefully chose his words. "…You are a good friend, and a very pretty girl, Annie Leonhart. It would be a shame to die having never been kissed." He knelt up to the side of the bed. "If you want, I'll kiss you," he said. "It probably won't be any good bu-"
And just like that, she kissed him.
In the dining room above Eren and Annie, Levi arrived a little later than normal; sure that everyone would be gone for the night. Mikasa too was looking for a bit of solitude, or perhaps, a particular company. As she stepped into the room, a rosy-cheeked Levi turned to her. "You're supposed to be asleep, brat!" He took a swig from his bottle and again spat, "Not a moments peace with you people here."
"Whatever happened to Ackerman?" Mikasa nonchalantly asked as she took her seat.
"That was yesterday when I wasn't as angry as I am now."
"Angry for what?" Mikasa asked. "Is your childhood best friend sleeping in the same bunk with a woman you despise, and on the Captain's orders, which you cannot question?"
"Go to hell, Ackerman," Levi grumbled.
"Ah, Ackerman again."
"Oh shut up and drink," Levi said as he pushed the bottle towards her.
Mikasa looked to the bottle, then to Levi whom seemed to be in a daze. He's already had a lot to drink, she thought. It's not like him to be like this. I want to know. I want to hear him say it. She fake swigged the booze then passed it back to him. As she hoped, he picked up the bottle and continued drowning himself. "Why are you doing this, Captain? Do you do it every night?"
"It's none of your goddamned business, Ackerman," he growled.
"When you order me to throw myself at a Titan with alcohol in your brain, it is very much my business," she calmly replied. "I'll die for this war. I'll die for Eren if I have to. But, if I'm going to die for the whims of a drunken soldier, it would be nice to at least know why."
He lowered the bottle and scowled at her. "I won't hear this shit. If you want to drink, shut up and drink. If you want to talk, leave."
She frowned and reached out to take the bottle. Again he pushed it over to her and again she fake sipped; she'd let him drink that whole bottle if she had to. She pushed it back over to him and changed the subject, "What do you really think of Annie?"
"I hope she dies," Levi said without batting an eyelash. Mikasa instantly she knew she had touched on the right subject. It turned out Levi had a quite a few things to say on the matter of Annie. "That idiot, Eren. I don't know what he could be thinking trusting her. He got her out of the crystal and she should have been immediately turned over to us to deal with."
"When you say deal with, you mean-"
"I mean cutting off her fucking head!" Levi roared. "She killed all of my men and she did it with a smile on her face, and now, I'm housing the bitch!"
"Who died that day, Captain?"
"Shut up."
"Who died that hurt you this badly, to make you do this to yourself every night?"
"I said shut up!" Levi screamed, throwing the bottle against the wall. He walked over to Mikasa and grabbed her by her collar, "You know nothing and none of it matters, so leave it alone."
The alcohol on his breath nearly made her gag. "Forgive me for this, Captain." Before he could offer anything, Mikasa lifted him and threw him hard onto the table. Any less drunk and he might have killed where she stood, but in this state, he had no chance. Her hands wrapped his collar and she kept him tightly pinned on the table. "I know exactly what your problem is, Captain, but, I'll save my words to not cause you any more pain." Levi's eyes widened slightly as she finished her thought, "Think about her, Captain. She spoke so proudly and highly of you. She knew you better than anyone and I know how badly losing her hurts you."
"You don't know-"
He was interrupted as Mikasa slammed his body back against the table. "Would she have wanted this miserable existence for you?" She let go of his collar and flung the door open, letting it slam against the wall as she left him.
