Hana inhaled, breathing in the moist air. Her violet eyes scanned the sky. Dark storm clouds formed above her, casting the entire area to be darker than before. She even felt a couple drops of rain splash onto her tanned skin.
Hana hated rain.
It just brought back bad memories for her. She remembered multiple occasions when her and her parents had fought, then she ran outside to get away from them, and got drenched in rain. It didn't rain very often in the Stohess District, but when it did, it poured pretty hard.
She remembered days when she was ten or eleven years old, before she met her friend Adam Eichmann, when she would just sit outside in the cold rain crying for hours after a fight with her parents. However, she would try to stay optimistic and think things like 'Just wait until tomorrow. The rain will be gone, it will be sunny, and everything will be okay.'
But, now, Hana couldn't bring herself to think such a thing. Her comrades were dropping left and right, and she knew that from then on, things would never be the same.
Hana exhaled, and surveyed the scene around her. She was standing atop a roof of a house, searching for any sign of Armin. It had been five minutes since she first started looking for him, but those minutes felt like hours, and she was getting very worried. So far that day, she had narrowly escaped being engulfed into a titan's grasp numerous times.
She attached her gear onto a building and sped off, heading in the direction her heart told her to.
Armin sat on a roof, along with Connie, Ymir, and Christa. His fingers were clenched into his golden hair, his teeth ground together, and his eyes were widened many fractions.
His expression read absolute terror.
Armin was so caught up in his hysterics, that he barely heard a comment Ymir made about how much of a 'shame it was that Armin was the only survivor of his squad'.
Connie cursed at Ymir, and then extended his hand out to Armin.
"Can you stand, Armin?" Connie asked, his tone deeper and more serious than usual. Armin looked at the boy through blurry eyes.
He stood up on his own, without Connie's help.
"Sorry for the trouble I caused…I'll go join the rearguard." Armin spoke, something indescribable edging his voice. Tears still spilled down his face, and his whole body felt numb.
Two names kept repeating in the poor, suffering boy's head.
"Eren…Hana…" were the names weakly said over and over in Armin's mind,
"They're both dead."
Armin's boot pushed off the edge of the roof as he sped off into the air, his maneuver gear whizzing as he went.
"Armin!" Connie called, but he was ignored.
As he glided, Armin noticed small drops of rain dropping onto his arms.
"E-Eren…H-Hana…" he mumbled aloud, his heart clenching.
Each syllable. Each sound, slur, and articulation of the two names made Armin want to cry out in horror and despair. He usually said those two names with a smile on his face, followed by a gentle laugh.
But now, those two names haunted his mind, tugging at his conscious, and tearing into his heart.
He would never be able to see those two again.
Hana could barely see anything. Her eyesight was leaving her, her head was pounding, and red liquid dripped onto the handle of her right blade.
She had lost way too much blood from her right arm. It was only a matter of time until she went unconscious. But she had to know that Armin, Eren, Mikasa, and the others were safe.
Just then, Hana heard another scream nearby. A male's voice? Female? She couldn't tell.
But, before she could find out, Hana's grip on the handles of her gear loosened, and she fell unconscious. She flew to the ground, smashing into the cobblestone. There was a fierce smack noise as her face crashed against the material.
"Who's that soldier there, on the ground?" Connie asked, pointing to a body on the ground below them.
Mikasa, Armin, and Connie were standing on a roof. Armin had just given Mikasa his gas tanks, because her gear was completely out of gas. Connie was there, offering to help them out in some way. They all three had just witnessed an abnormal-looking titan with thick brown hair and green eyes fighting other titans earlier, and Armin told the other two his plan to use the abnormal titan to the military's advantage.
As they were deciding their next move, Connie had spotted a person in a trainee uniform. Their maneuver gear was destroyed, and a pool of blood surrounded them.
Armin squinted, and all he could make out about the soldier was that they had a mop of short black hair, and they were quite short and skinny.
Suddenly, Armin's eyes widened, and he turned to Mikasa.
"Mikasa! Please, fly me down there! I think I know who that soldier is!" he begged urgently. Mikasa nodded, grabbed Armin, and used her gear to fly him down to the bloody soldier.
Mikasa landed gracefully onto the ground, and Armin immediately crawled over to the body. The mess of black hair atop the soldier's head became more apparent as he moved closer. Soon, he was knelt down right next to the body, his hands shaking, fearing the worst.
His boots and part of his pants were now soaked with the blood seeping from the right side of the soldier's body. Armin gently placed his hand on the person's shoulder, and turned them over, so he could see their face.
Armin's heart leapt, and he screamed. His suspicions were correct.
"HANA!" he shrieked, but there was no response. She didn't open her eyes. She didn't move at all.
Armin spun around, and his eyes locked with Mikasa. By this point, Connie had dropped down beside them.
"IT'S HANA! AND SHE'S NOT BREATHING!" Armin shouted, his voice reflecting total panic. Mikasa and Connie's eyes widened, rushing to her side.
Hana looked awful. Her face an entire body were many shades paler. Her black hair stuck out in every direction, and was coated with a thick layer of blood. Her white shirt was completely dyed crimson as well. Her dry lips were slightly parted, causing red to dribble down her chin.
Mikasa placed her hand on Hana's chest. She wasn't breathing, but there was a faint heart beat. It was so faint, that it almost seemed ghostly.
"Armin! Do you know CPR?" Mikasa yelled, facing him. He quickly nodded, and brought Hana's body closer to him.
Armin placed his mouth atop hers, and blew. He fiercely pressed his hands on her chest as he did so. He'd read how to perform CPR in books many times.
Finally, he lifted his head and stared at the girl in his arms.
A tiny breath escaped her lips.
Suddenly, her violet eyes shot open, and her chest rose. She began coughing violently, getting rid of the muck that had collected in her lungs.
Armin wanted to cry out in joy. Tears cascaded down his cheeks, and he wrapped his arms around Hana.
"H-HANA! Y-YOU'RE ALIVE!" He yelled out, slowly feeling the panic in his body drain from him.
Hana looked at Armin through half-lidded eyes.
"Armin…I'm so glad you're safe." She whispered, offering him a weak smile.
Armin's moist blue eyes hardened. "You idiot! Don't you dare ever do that again! Do you know how much that worried me!? Earlier, you just ran off! Everyone thought you were DEAD!" Armin yelled, gripping the fabric of Hana's jacket angrily.
Hana's eyes darted away, and pink covered her cheeks, ashamed. "I'm s-sorry, Armin. I just heard someone screaming and I had to help them."
Armin sighed, and his eyes softened again. "Alright. We need to wrap your wound. It looks like your arm got cut pretty bad…"
Hana nodded, and sat up, groaning from the pain. She rolled up her right sleeve, revealing the deep cut in her arm.
Armin cringed, and clenched his teeth. He was furious that she would put herself in danger like that, but he was incredibly relieved that she was breathing and alive.
Mikasa cut a long strand of cloth from Hana's jacket using her blade. She then wrapped the material around Hana's arm.
Hana squeezed her eyes shut, and shuttered from the pain. She let out a light squeak as Mikasa tied the cloth tight.
"Can you stand on your own?" Armin asked, snaking his arm underneath hers to support her weight.
Hana blinked back tears and slightly trembled from the episode of pain she was experiencing. "I-I think…I c-can."
Armin nodded, and helped her up. He then hesitantly let go, and she steadied herself.
Hana's eyes lingered on Armin for a moment, until she looked off into the distance.
"So, what's our plan?"
Armin then proceeded to tell her all about the strange green-eyed abnormal titan who paid no attention to humans, and only killed other titans. It took a bit of convincing before Hana would believe him. After he explained to her his plan on using the aberrant titan to their advantage, Hana nodded, understanding.
Since Hana's gear was completely destroyed, and Armin's was out of gas, Connie carried Armin and Mikasa carried Hana back to HQ.
"I want to get stronger. I want to be able to protect my friends, instead of the other way around…I want to get stronger so I can protect you, Hana." Armin thought, clenching his fists.