A/N: This will be a more touching chapter, more emotional, but I hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 6: Mother

Over the few days that have passed, life between the young master and apprentice have been getting more and more queer by the day. Sometimes Annie would catch Eren staring at her, and every time Eren got in close to Annie during their practice, Annie would stay close to him longer than usual. The two have also been getting to know each other better, bringing them closer together as a more intimate bond began to form.

As the days to the festival get shorter and shorter, Eren gets more and more nervous about asking her to join him. He tried again and again, but it has always resulted in him saying nothing as she stared at him with a bored expression, waiting for his question. He just can not seem to do it. But, a few days before the festival, he decided he will force the question out of himself if he needs to.

Up. Down. One. Up. Down. Two. This was what was going through Eren's mind as he was doing his push-ups early in the morning before he meets up with Annie. The sun poking up from the horizon radiated it's lights through the window onto Eren, making him look as if he was glowing as the sweat slid down his body.

As he finished his set of thirty push-ups and sit-ups, he stood up and slipped on his arming doublet. Walking down the steps, he ran his hands through his wet dark brown hair as his green eyes met Mikasa's grey eyes. She placed his food on the table and sat down in front of her food across from his, "Gonna ask her today?"

Eren sat down, taking a bite of his bread before swallowing and nodding, "I hope I can."

Mikasa sighed, "Just ask her, you think Jean was smooth when he said he was interested in me? Hell no."

Eren smirked at the thought of Jean stammering in front of his sister, "Yeah, yeah, you're right, I will ask her today."

Mikasa showed a faint smile, "Good, now finish your food and get going."

Eren nodded and finished up his food before getting up and grabbed a pack with two training swords in it. As his hand was placed on the doorknob, Mikasa spoke up, "Be careful, alright?" Eren simply nodded, proceeding to open the door and step out before closing the door behind him. He took a deep breath before starting his trek into the forest.

Eren's feet brushed through the tall grass and flowers, looking around at the trees surrounding the giant one. He noticed that Annie was not present, which was strange, as she was never late. He did not know what to do, so he just walked over to the giant tree, laid the training swords against it, and sat down at the foot of the tree.

Immediately afterwards he could hear rustling and feet hitting the ground. He was instantly on his feet, seeing Annie burst through the bushes into the practice area, her cloak fluttering everywhere, "My apologies, my father held me up."

Eren shook his head, "No, it's fine. Shall we get started?"

Annie nodded, "Yeah, let me just get the armor on you." She pulled out the armor pieces and began to fasten them to Eren's doublet.

Eren looked at her and tried to start a conversation, "So...your father...what does he do?"

Annie looked up at him and shrugged, "He is a captain." She quickly got finished with his upper body.

Eren nodded, "Do you...get along with him?"

Annie looked up again, slightly swinging her head to get her bangs out of her face, "Uh...yeah, we do. He taught me everything I know." She finished his lower body, standing up and walking over to the swords, grabbing one for herself and tossing the other to Eren.

Eren caught it, but was instantly attacked by Annie, he blocked the strike and tried to swing at her, but she blocked it as well.

They stepped off from each other, staring into each other's eyes, waiting for the next move. Eren inhaled, "That's good." He dove in to attack her legs. She dodged out of the way, and they went back to staring.

"Yeah, it is."

She dashed in, her sword thrusting for his arm, he deflected it out of the way.

She back-stepped away, "What about your father?"

Eren back-stepped as well, "He is a doctor. My sister and I run his apothecary, which is also our house."

He blocked another attack as Annie dove in, "Interesting." She said.

Eren dove in, thrusting towards her chest. She dodged out of the way.

"What about your mother?" Eren asked, jumping back.

Annie dashed in to get Eren in the chest, but as she got in close, she stopped.

Eren looked down at Annie, noticing the lack of pain that a wooden sword hitting his chest should give him, "A-Annie?"

The girl's head slowly turned up to him, their eyes interlocking with each other. She looked down, staying silent.

Eren crouched to her level, dropping his sword, he gently grabbed her shoulders, "Annie…"

Her hair blocked her face, but he could feel her body tremble under his fingers. He could hear her shuddered breath and escaped sobs as he realized he struck something. Hard.

Eren did not know what to do in this situation. He was never put into this position before. He decided to do what seemed right. He got up from his crouched position, pulled her in close to his chest and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her.

What surprised him was that she allowed him to do it as she leaned her head against his chest plate, dropping her sword. Her sobs became louder as her sadness progressed, making Eren feel more horrible by the minute.

He waited a bit, before he said, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to bring anything up."

She pushed herself away from him, shaking her head. Her head looked up so that her sapphires met his emeralds, he could see her eyes were red and puffy from the tears. She sniffed, "No...no, it's fine. You wouldn't have known." She said, raising her hand to push her fringe behind her ear before continuing, "My mother passed away when I was...I believe six...from a disease...my father took full care of me afterwards."

Eren nodded and gestured to the huge tree before walking over and sitting by it. Annie hesitated, but then walked over to sit down next to Eren. They looked at each other, waiting for one to speak.

Eren decided to do so, "My mother died when I was ten from a illness as well. My father tried his best with everything he had, but all he could do was make her more comfortable. He didn't mourn for long, as he decided she would want him to take care of Mikasa and I."

Annie nodded, looking away at the surrounding trees, staying silent.

A few minutes of silence passed as they calmed down and Annie was alright again.

Eren turned to Annie, "Uh...Annie…"

She turned her head to face him, "Yes?"

Eren could not find the words, he was going to fail again. No! He cannot fail now. His mouth was opening and closing, trying to find the words.

Annie cocked an eyebrow, "Uhh...Eren?"

Instantly, Eren found the words, "Would you like to accompany me to the Maria Midsummer Festival with me?" He said quickly.

Annie blinked, then looked away, hiding a blush, "Uhh...I am not sure...if I can…"

Eren looked down, feeling embarrassed. Then he remembered Mikasa's words. Just be persistent, he thought, turning back to Annie, "Are you sure?"

Annie nodded, looking down at her feet, her blush gone, "Positive."

Eren looked ahead at the trees, seeing a deer run by, he narrowed his eyes a bit, turning his head back to Annie, "Why?"

Annie seemed lost in a thought. She blinked, her eyes snapping to Eren's, "What?"

Eren repeated, "Why?"

Annie looked back down, blinking several times, "Well...I...am busy that night."

Eren cocked an eyebrow, "I never even told you when it was."

Annie's eyebrows raised, "Oh, well...uhh...I c-can't...because…"

Eren slammed his palm against the tree, causing a slight vibration to rock through it, "God, Annie! Why do you have to lie to me?" He got straight up to his feet, and began pacing back and forth in front of Annie, who stared at him, wide eyed.

"I respect you, I admire you, I listen to you. I am just trying to-let me finish-I am just trying to show you my thanks for everything you have done for me. Because of you, Levi actually respects me as a human. Because of you, I can walk through town and be thought of as a potential knight. Because of you, I can actually think of a future where I am a successful knight. I just want to do something nice for you that doesn't include bringing the swords! I want to do things with you that doesn't include defense and offense!

"Can't we just do something together that excludes me being knocked on my ass? I just want to have fun sometimes, and I think you would really enjoy the festival. Just one night, Annie, please, just one night can we be together without our swords or our armor, and have fun?" He said, almost out of breath, he stopped in front of Annie and looked at her.

Annie was speechless, not able to think of what to say. She just sat there and stared up at him. After a moment, she blinked and stood up, locking eyes with Eren before walking a bit away from the tree with her back facing him.

Eren raised an eyebrow and curse himself in his head. Fuck, was I too harsh? He asked himself, looking down at his feet, waiting for her to speak.

Annie inhaled, "Why me?" She exhaled, her back still turned to Eren.

Eren's head snapped up, "What?"

Annie turned around to face him, "Why me?" She repeated.

Eren ran his fingers through his hair, going down until he reached the back of his neck, where he began scratching, "Well...uh…" He looked her up and down, listing every reason why in his head. He lowered his hand and inhaled.

"Because you are kind...and smart...skilled...patient. What else? I can relate to you somewhat...uhh...you're the best at what you do and you can move and fight better than anyone I have seen. Because I want to reward you for everything you have done for me...and...frankly…" He looked up into her eyes, which snapped from looking at the trees to look at him, "I think you are...pretty."

Annie's stance had changed. She pulled her hood up because her blush got redder with every word Eren said. She began to bite her thumbnail and her eyes darted from the trees to Eren's body. She crossed one leg in front of the other and began to dig her boot into the ground by twisting it. Her breath became uneven and her chest rose and fell almost rapidly. That warm feeling radiated in her heart again, this time also spreading out all over her body. When Eren gave that last compliment, she began to slightly shake, trying not to show her emotions the way she wants to.

After a minute of trying to take back control of herself, Annie turned to Eren, her eyes giving off a certain shine, "I see you have, uh, gotten better at talking to girls." She said with a smirk.

Eren couldn't help but let out a short chuckle, looking down at his boots before looking back up at Annie, "I...I guess…"

Annie walked up to Eren, getting in close and pushing herself up onto her toes so that she was slightly higher than before staring into Eren's green orbs. This time Eren began to feel uncomfortable.

Annie gave a humorous huff before lowering herself back onto her feet and nodding, starting to get the armor off of Eren, "Okay, I will go. When is it?"

Eren smiled, a celebration going off in his head, "In three days' time, we will meet up here after sunset."

Annie nodded, "Okay. Well, lesson's over early." She said, getting the armor off of Eren. She put the armor into her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

As she began to walk away, she gave a two finger wave, "See you in three days, Jaeger."

Eren nodded and waved back, "See ya!"

When she disappeared into the brush, Eren jumped into the air, throwing his fists up, "Yes!" He silently exclaimed, giving himself a small celebration at his success over his fear of being rejected.

Afterwards, he gathered the two swords into his bag and walked back home, happy to tell the news to Mikasa.

Earlier that day

Annie looked down at herself, making sure her armor was properly fastened to her arming pullover doublet. When she was satisfied, she pulled her hood over her head, picked up the bag of armor for Eren and exited her house, looking to both sides before hurrying towards the forest. After Bertholdt and Reiner held her up the other day, she became more careful as people pushed into her personal life. She only allowed Mina to do so because it is impossible to prevent her from doing so, especially when she is your best friend.

Over the past few days, Mina kept on asking questions about Eren whenever the chance revealed itself. What color is his hair? His eyes? Is he a good fighter? How'd you meet? Where'd you meet? When'd you meet? Do you think he likes you? What does he like? Does he have a cute brother? Does he have a brother?

For Annie, it did get annoying, but you have to appease Mina, or else she will not stop. But Mina's behavior was understandable. Annie never had a crush or anyone she was interested in. And now, at the age of seventeen, she has one, so it's big news that Annie doesn't want let out. But she can trust Mina, she always has, always will.

As she got halfway there, she heard a noise and stopped, dropping her bag to the ground. She put her hands on her hips, "Reiner, I know it's you this time." She sighed.

She heard a soft thump behind her, "You're good."

Annie gave a short humorless laugh, turning to face the brute, "You should already know that no one can sneak up on me."

Reiner wore a huge grin, "I guess I should. So...where are you going?"

Annie picked up the bag and slung it over her shoulder, "None of your business. Go back to Stohess."

As she proceeded to her destination, she could see Reiner walking next to her, "I don't think so. You know, Annie, you shouldn't be keeping secrets from other warrio-"

He was cut off as a blade touched against his throat. He glanced at Annie, who glanced back, "If it's none of your business, then I don't need to tell you. Now please, Reiner. Go back."

Reiner gulped, then held his hands up, "Okay, okay, Annie, I'll go. But know this. A warrior can't keep a secret from their brethren if it risks their way of life." And with that, Reiner walked back home.

Annie sheathed her knife and looked at the sun, "Shit, I am going to be late. I hope Eren doesn't mind." She said, continuing to run towards the practice area.

A/N: Like always, leave a review to voice your opinion. Also if something doesn't seem right, just tell me. I take (constructive) criticism well. Thank you for reading!