Author's Note: A quick thank you to the people who corrected the mistakes in the languages last chapter. My word processor likes to "help" by "correcting" anything it doesn't recognize as English, so please let me know if anything's wrong with the languages in future chapters, especially if it's your native tongue. I'd hate to butcher your lovely language!


Sunday afternoons in the Arlert household were notoriously lazy. Since Armin spent most of his time discussing strategies with high-ranking Survey Corps officials or working with Hanji in the lab, he rarely had time to enjoy the simple things in life, so he made a point to set aside some time to do so every Sunday. This included but was not limited to window shopping in the market, taking a leisurely stroll outside on nice days, or reading one of the many books on his shelves. He often looked forward to those quiet moments all week.

So when he woke up one Sunday morning in late April with Annie next to him, he decided that the whole day would consist of nothing but quiet, lazy moments.

As soon as the woman had been freed from prison, she had thrown her arms around him and refused to let him go. She hadn't exactly cried, but Armin could swear that he had heard some soft whimpers. Reiner had then wrapped his large arms around both of them, and Bertholdt, his anxiety forgotten, had gently massaged Annie's shoulder to reassure her that everything was okay. They had stood there until a Military Police guard told them to leave, and, even after they had loaded into the carriage, Annie still desperately clung to Armin but refused to meet any of the men's eyes.

The weeks since then had been long. Annie had been living with Armin, not wanting to be by herself even in her own home. Armin didn't have a problem with that and had welcomed her, but he worried for her mental health. She barely left the house, spending most of her time in bed. For the first few days, Armin didn't question her, but he was starting to want to push her back into the world. While he certainly didn't mind the idea of permanently living with her, he did not like the idea of her wasting the rest of her life in his home.

On that lazy Sunday morning, he gently nudged her shoulder and kissed her forehead until her eyes fluttered open. He smiled at her and said, "Good morning," to which she muttered a reply.

"C'mon, out of bed," he continued, pushing the covers off. "It's a beautiful day; we should go out."

Annie squirmed uncomfortably. "Don't wanna."

"Annie," Armin sighed, slumping over, "come on…"

She huffed at him and rolled over so her back was facing him. "No."

Now the blond was starting to get exasperated. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, stretching his arms out. "At least come have breakfast with me at the table?" he asked as he headed towards the bathroom. He heard an agreeing grunt and smiled. Baby steps were still steps.

Breakfast was quiet. Armin normally wouldn't have minded except that Annie wasn't eating nearly as much as she should have been. In fact, she hadn't eaten that much since being released from prison. She was already small, so the change in her body wasn't obvious, but Armin had a feeling that her hand-to-hand combat moves had weakened somewhat. He feared that she wouldn't be able to defend herself if need be and vaguely wondered if that was part of the reason why she wouldn't leave the house. After all, there were a good number of people, both among civilians and the military, who didn't approve of her (or Reiner and Bertholdt) being out of prison at all. Further, there was still a population that wanted all three of them dead. Armin had gained some muscle over the years, but he still feared that he wouldn't be able to protect Annie should the need arise.

But what Armin could do was understand and work with people's minds. He knew how people, especially people close to him, thought, and, while he didn't like thinking of himself as a manipulator, he did know how to get what he wanted out of people. Thank goodness he was a pure-hearted soul.

"Come to the market with me?" he asked, ripping a small loaf of bread in half and placing one piece on Annie's plate. When there was no response, he continued, "Okay, then at least eat everything I put in front of you."

Annie's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"If you're not gonna come, then you surrender full authority to me to decide what's for dinner, and you have to eat whatever I serve."

"Since when?"

"Since now."

Annie narrowed her eyes at Armin's waiting smile. He was enjoying this way too much. She rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, get whatever you want."

Well, that backfired.


Good thing Armin always had a trick up his sleeve.

That afternoon, he came home with a large basket full of ingredients. Among them was a large chicken, which made Annie do a double take. He just smiled at her and went to work in the kitchen, plucking and cleaning the poultry while humming a sweet, little tune. Annie watched him from the connecting living room while pretending to read one of his books, and the looks didn't go unnoticed. Armin didn't mind though, since his plan was already set in motion.

The knock on the door came about ten minutes before dinner was ready. Armin wiped his hands and answered it, since Annie refused. She hadn't answered the door since being freed from prison, fearing that the Military Police or angry civilians would be coming after her. As with everything else that had come with Annie moving in, Armin didn't mind, especially on this night.

Annie froze when she saw Reiner and Bertholdt standing in the doorway. Reiner waved at her as they stepped inside and Armin took their jackets. "Haven't seen you in a while," he said with a cheery smile. "How ya been?"

Annie hesitated in her response. "Fine."

"I hope you don't mind," Armin said as he walked back into the kitchen and started cutting the chicken. "I ran into them at the market and invited them over for dinner. It's been forever since we've hung out together and work wasn't involved."

Annie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

When the four of them sat down to dinner, Armin and Reiner did most of the talking. Bertholdt smiled and laughed along politely, feeling comfortable among his friends and lover. Annie sat silently, alternating between staring down at her food and looking up to watch the men chat. True to her deal with Armin, she ate everything on her plate. Despite how delicious everything was, she felt like a brick was sitting in the bottom of her stomach, and that wasn't because she hadn't eaten meat in a long time.

"What do you think, Annie?"

The blonde had been staring at her plate and suddenly looked up, startled slightly. "Huh?"

"We were talking about how Connie's gonna be as a dad," Reiner explained, trying to hold back a laugh. "I swear, I never thought he'd have kids so soon after getting hitched. Hell, I never thought he'd get hitched at all! I'm imagining him trying to change diapers in the middle of the night, and it's the funniest thing ever." He barely got his last line out before laughing loudly.

Armin forced himself to swallow a mouthful of chicken and then laughed with him. "What about Sasha? The poor kid is barely gonna be a few minutes old, and it'll be strapped to her back while she goes hunting."

"Kid's probably gonna know what wild game tastes like before getting a drop of milk!"

Even Bertholdt couldn't hold back his laughs at that one, knowing their jest was good natured. That sure did sound like something Sasha would do, and he had to admit that the thought of Connie trying to calm a fussy baby was highly amusing.

Annie just shrugged. "I dunno, they'll make it work somehow."

"Aw, we're just joking," Reiner sighed, coming down from the high of laughter. "Of course they'll be great parents. If Eren and Levi can raise a good kid, Connie and Sasha should have no problems."

Annie snorted. "I think that kid is a little more than good."

Armin smirked. Now they were getting somewhere.

Reiner grinned. "Yeah, you're right. I dunno how Eren and Levi won the kid lottery, but I'm glad they did. That kid is so damn cute."

"Annie and I babysat him together once," Armin added. "Well, not entirely by choice. Eren barged in on date night and left him here but whatever." He paused to giggle. "Anyway, he has an incredible imagination. You should have seen the pictures he was drawing. We only talked about what the outside world could be like for a few minutes, and he started thinking up all sorts of things to see! Annie and I got to go to, where was it, the multicolored rock walls? And they weren't like the Walls here either. They had a bunch of different rocks in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Heh, I don't know how he thought that up, but, if a place like that does exist, I'd like to see it."

Reiner's eyes widened slightly. "He thought of all that?"

"Yeah, and he even thought up a place for you and Bertholdt to visit: the tall mountains that shoot fire water! And what else was there…? A forest where it rains all the time, land made of ice, fields of sand, and, of course, the ocean." The smaller blond paused to take in Reiner's unreadable expression and then said, "Something wrong?"

"The kid's awfully…smart."

The whole house was quiet for a few seconds.

"Ah, sorry," Reiner sighed, "I ruined the mood."

"No, you wouldn't mention it unless you thought it was important."

"I just wonder…he seems a little too smart for his age."

Bertholdt bit his lip. "You think…?"

Armin's eyes widened. "What?"

Before Reiner could reply, Annie slammed her hands down on the table, silencing the house again. The men stared at her, startled by her actions, and waited for an explanation. Annie's shoulder trembled slightly as her resolve crumbled, and she lowered her head out of shame. "I don't want to hear about it," she said, her voice muffled and low. "I don't care how deep in denial I am. If anything is wrong with that boy, I don't want to know about it."

"To be fair," Reiner said after a moment's pause, "I don't think anything's wrong with him."

"I still don't want to hear about it!"

Another pause.

"It's selfish but…that boy means so much to me."

Annie heard the main prison door open and close and looked up as she heard footsteps come towards her. They were even and calm as they approached, and they stopped in front of her cell. Sitting in the corner with her knees to her chest, she looked up just enough so that she could meet her visitor's stare.

"I'm surprised," she said coolly. "I was sure you'd leave me here to rot."

Levi frowned. "Trust me, I considered it."

They were silent for a few long moments.

"So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Annie asked, hugging her knees tighter. "Are you here to mock me? To watch me suffer? To know that I'm stuck here in the dark unless you say otherwise?"

"I want to know why you helped us."

Silence.

An angry frown formed on Annie's face. "Don't flatter yourself," she shot back. "It's not like I wanted to atone for my sins or whatever, and I certainly don't see you as a friend. I helped you but it wasn't for you. It wasn't for anyone else in the Survey Corps either. I wasn't thinking of you or Eren or Reiner or Bertholdt or even Armin or anyone else."

Levi's eyes narrowed. "Then why did you help us?"

Annie took her time answering the question, still wrapped up in ball in the cell's back corner. Eventually, she glared at Levi and, in a strained voice, said, "I did it for your son."

Levi's eyes shot open.

"I know that there are groups out there that want your family dead," Annie continued, desperately trying to keep her voice steady. "I know that there's a small faction within the Military Police associated with those groups. I couldn't find information on all of them, but at least you now know who to watch out for within the Military Police. Who knows, maybe you'll be able to trace those losers back to the religious conservatives at the heart of those groups. But, no matter what it cost, I wanted to protect that boy, and the only way I could protect him was to help you." She then turned away from Levi so she was leaning against the cold cell wall. "There, now you know."

Levi's entire body shook, but he kept his composure. His eyes narrowed again, and he held onto a cell bar with one hand, the other resting at his side. He stared Annie dead in the eye, not allowing her any choice but to look back at him, and said, "I will never forgive you for what you did."

"I don't expect you to."

With that, Levi turned and headed for the door. When it opened and closed again, he immediately took Eren's hand, started walking away from the guard standing by the door, and said, "Let her go."

"You don't understand, okay? Whenever I go out, the world only sees the Female Titan. No one sees Annie Leonhart. Kids who weren't even alive all those years ago look at me like I don't belong, no doubt because their parents taught them to hate me. But what can I say? It's not like I can blame them, not when I killed so many people and nearly destroyed Stohesse. And plenty of people within all three branches of the military hate me, too. Plenty of them think that I shouldn't have been allowed back in. Plenty of people think I should be dead! But…but that boy ran up to me without fear. He smiled at me and put a flower in my hair and told me that I was pretty. He didn't see a murderer or a monster or the Female Titan. He only saw me."

Silence.

"…Dammit," Annie huffed out, getting up from her seat and heading back towards the bedroom.

"Annie!" Bertholdt cried before either of the blonds could speak. He ran after her and grabbed her arm just as she turned a corner. She yanked it back and glared up at him.

"Move, Bertholdt," she ordered, eyes beginning to water.

The tall man was starting to sweat, but he kept his firm gaze on her, refusing to back down. "No, I won't. I won't, Annie. I refuse! You think you're all alone in the world. You think that you have nobody and that everyone is your enemy. Forget what your dad said all those years ago. You live in a better world now!"

"Bertholdt—!"

"It's still not a perfect world, but I think it's a better one anyway! You're not alone anymore, Annie. You're allowed to be with us. You're allowed to rely on us!"

"Bertholdt, move!"

"I won't let you turn into me! I won't let you become some hermit who can't bear to show her face to the world!"

Annie's eyes widened and she looked at the man as if he had just grown a second head. "What?"

"Do you seriously think that you're the only one suffering?" Bertholdt asked, his voice starting to shake. "Lots of people want Reiner and me dead, too. I think the only reason I haven't completely given up is because Reiner won't let me. It's only because of him that I have any strength left at all, and he's my sole reason for continuing to live in this world. And yet…" He was sweating profusely now, feeling his anxiety build up within him. It was sickening. "…and yet I hate myself so much that I can barely stand next to him in public without wanting to cry. I hate that, too, which makes me hate myself even more. I can't escape from this cycle, but I refuse to let you fall into it!"

Annie stared at the tall man, unsure of what to say and starting to feel rather emotional herself. The room suddenly felt hot, and the hallway walls seemed to close in on her. When she gasped for breath, the trance broke, and she ran opposite Bertholdt, out the front door and into the night. She vaguely heard Armin call after her, but his voice disappeared from her hearing when she heard familiar giggling nearby.

"That was a good restaurant, Daddy!"

"Hmm, you liked the tomato salad, huh?"

"Yeah! Can you make that at home, Papa?"

"I can try."

Annie watched with teary eyes as the Jaeger family came walking down the street, no doubt on their way home from dinner. When the little boy's eyes met hers, the child squealed and waved at her. "Hi, Aunt Annie!"

Levi glanced up at the woman, face neutral. Annie didn't dare to reply to the boy for fear of what his papa would say. But Levi just gave the child a small smile and said, "Go on, go give Aunt Annie a hug."

He did just that, and Annie felt more alive in that moment than she had in years.


"Armin…"

The little blond just smiled. "Hmm?"

Reiner narrowed his eyes as Bertholdt made his way back to the kitchen table. "You didn't meet up with us in the market. You came specifically to our house and invited us over for dinner."

Armin just shrugged, still smiling. "Oh yeah, I met up with Eren and Levi in the marketplace and told them about a great restaurant nearby. THAT'S what happened, my mistake."

This particular Sunday may not have been as lazy as Armin liked his Sundays to be, but he could wait another week for the next one.

END