The quiet crackling of fire and the soft chirps of crickets communicating sounded throughout the otherwise silent camp. It was the middle of the night and everyone else was sleeping while Annie laid wide awake, her mind racing with memories. She wanted nothing more than to sleep, but closing her eyes only caused the nightmares of her past to come to life.

It had been about five months since the rumbling and everyone left was still trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. The threat of the titans being gone brought little peace, as they were still very alive in the survivors dreams.

Not knowing what else to do, they began trying to rebuild what they could with the materials available. And that's what they did day in and day out, along with planting crops and importing materials from places less affected by the rumbling.

Annie, Connie, Jean, Reiner, Pieck, and Armin all became the unofficial leaders of the camp and the rebuilding process. Armin especially took this role in stride, he drew out blueprints and led every meeting and answered any questions that came his way.

Armin had grown taller and his skin had developed a light tan from working out in the sun everyday. He was truly a man now, no longer the timid teenage boy he used to be.

Annie had grown as well, with the burden of being the Female Titan gone she felt like she had a second chance on life. She spent the days rebuilding, spending time with her dad, and sitting on the shore of the ocean.

She valued her time alone but her heart always sped up whenever she saw him out of the corner of her eye. Armin would come sit next to her and give a small smile, and then they would start talking.

Sometimes it would be mundane things like the weather or what the plan for tomorrow was. Or Armin would tell her stories about his parents and childhood before they passed, and Annie would only listen, not having anything too positive to say about her upbringing. They'd even talk about the memories of the previous Female and Colossal Titan users that they saw through the Paths.

Annie had never considered being in love before, too consumed with responsibilities no young woman should ever have. But now she found herself wanting to be near Armin whenever she could, they didn't even have to be talking, just being in his presence was enough for her.

At times she even found herself wanting to show him physical affection, "You must be losing it" she'd think to herself every time she wanted to place her hand over his.

Now laying on her cot with no sign of sleep in sight, she wanted to be with him. Against her better judgement Annie quietly got up, careful not to wake her dad who was sleeping in the other cot. She made her way out of the tent and started walking through the camp, wanting to clear her head some before seeing him.

After about twenty minutes of walking, Annie finally felt ready to go to his tent when something caught her eye. There was a small flame flickering in a lantern with a familiar form sitting next to it.

Changing her direction, Annie went towards the flame and found a tired looking Armin staring off into the endless ocean.

"Can't sleep?" Annie asked, while taking a seat next to him.

"No, I've got too much on my mind for that. Why are you up?" Armin asked back.

"Nightmares" Annie said back simply with a neutral expression on her face.

"Oh" Armin said, before pausing for a few beats and then continuing, "You can tell me about it if you want" while glancing at her, taking in her sleep deprived appearance.

She had her hair in her typical bun but it was messy and not as tight as usual. There were also dark circles under her icy blue eyes, and her clothes were wrinkled and didn't match.

It hurt Armin to see such a strong woman like Annie be in so much pain mentally. He knew she was still struggling with trying to adjust to a more peaceful life after being raised to only be a warrior and inherit a titan.

Annie took a deep breath and then sighed before saying, "Everytime I close my eyes I see the faces of everyone I ever crushed, I see them trying to run away, and I see the horror on their faces when they realize that there's no escape".

Armin had a crestfallen look on his face after hearing her dream but didn't say anything yet, he understood what she meant all too well.

"At the time I thought that's what I had to do so I could get back to Dad, but they wanted to go home to their family too, and I took that away from them" Annie said, her voice shaking as she pulled her legs in and wrapped her arms around them. She buried her face in her folded arms when she felt her eyes begin to sting with tears, meeting with Armin suddenly felt like a mistake.

But then she felt an unfamiliar weight settle across her shoulders, causing her to flinch and look up. And when she did, Annie saw Armin looking at her gently and his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Armin…" Annie said, trailing off.

"It's okay if you need to cry, I'm here" Armin assured her, hoping it would help some.

Annie was speechless at his words, she had spent her whole life bottling up all her pain and never expressing it to others. But now Armin was with her, and he was not afraid to take some of that pain onto himself for her sake.

So Annie tucked her head into his shoulder and let the tears fall quietly, with only a few hiccups and sobs. Armin stayed silent but he tightened his grip around her and rubbed small circles on her biceps with his thumb.

Once he felt her tears soak through the sleeve of his shirt, he decided to speak up, "I wish I could say those nightmares will stop but that just wouldn't be realistic. But I think all we can do now is live, live for all the innocent people who were lost at our hands. And build a world with tolerance and no resentment towards each other, so history won't ever repeat itself".

His words hung in the air before, Annie nodded into his shoulder and whispered a small, "Thank you Armin" that applied to so much more than what he had just said.

"Of course, I'll always be here for you" Armin said, while gently resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Promise?" Annie asked meekly.

"Promise" Armin said back without any hesitation.