Historia never really knew love. Her mother never loved her, never once acknowledged that she was her daughter, even with a knife against her throat. And her father, well… She's not sure about him, in all honesty. Her knowledge of him goes further down as she takes up the name Christa Lenz and joins the military and meets so many new people.

And Ymir.

Walls, she didn't know how she could go as long as she did without Ymir there by her side. From training, to the Titans' breach on Trost, to joining the Scouts–Historia doubts she would have been able to go through it all without Ymir by her side. With Ymir, Histoira thinks she might have finally figured out what "love" means, as long as she was with the taller girl.

Even when Ymir finally revealed her secret, of her being able to transform into a Titan like Eren, Historia could never see herself anywhere but by the other girl's side.

Until the end, when the girl chose Bertholdt and Reiner over her. After everything they've said to each other, all the promises of having a future together…

Gone.

Just like the girl she loves.

It's no wonder she lost meaning in herself because how else could she go on when the only person that understood her, left her.

Only when she met her father again after so long, torn between him and his "love," and Eren and his tears, did she realize that the love of her friends mattered more than a father that was only using her.

And after becoming Queen and making the orphanage happen, she felt content, happy, even. Though, the hole left by Ymir was still there, which couldn't be filled by the love of her friends. She didn't think there would be any way for that hole to be filled.

Until she saw something that could fill it. Or, someone.

She walks into one of the kids' rooms after noticing two of the kids not with the others and her friends. She spots the two girls, sleeping, and she sighs fondly at them. As she walks closer, she realizes that they're not just sleeping on the bed, but a person. A familiar person.

"Armin?" she asks, quiet and careful to not wake the girls.

Armin tilts his head, eyes glazed with sleep as he blinks up at her blearily. Then he smiles softly at her and that's the first time she's noticed how gentle he is.

"Hey," he whispers back in response, voice rough with sleep.

She smiles at him. "Did you just wake up?"

His smile turns sheepish as he blinks again, most likely trying to get the sleep to leave his eyes. "Yeah… They were adamant that I read them something and I guess we got carried away."

She laughs quietly, settles down on the edge of the bed as she reaches over to carefully brush the hair out of the sleeping girls' eyes as they slept. "I should have known they'd be in here," she muses softly.

"Ah, sorry."

She shakes her head to throw him a wider smile at his nervous look. "It's alright. They've grown attached to you, you know."

He chuckles, still so soft, yet light and genuine that she feels giddy and relaxed herself. "They practically tackled me as soon as I came in to see why they weren't with the others."

She's worried now, understands that these two are, perhaps, the youngest out of all the kids in the orphanage. "Are they alright?" She's tried to include them with the other kids as much as she could, even being with them for a bit longer than the others, but they've always been shy and quiet and prefer each other's company, or Historia's own, rather than the other kids. She felt relief and happiness when they finally had someone they could talk to that wasn't each other or her own when she saw how they took to Armin after he helped them by reading one of their favorite stories.

His eyes glow with recognition when he notices where her thoughts led and she shouldn't be surprised that their resident genius figured out what she's been thinking. "They're fine," he assures, lifting the hand that rests between the two blondes to carefully grab hers in a gentle grip. Historia ignores the way her heart rate picks up at the way he softly holds her hand and, instead, focuses on what he says. "They were practicing their writing–it's why they weren't out with the others." His eyes take a different glow, one of pride and affection and something else she's not sure about. "They wanted to surprise us by writing letters to us."

Historia's affections for the kids (particularly these two, she'll admit to liking them more as a parent than as a caretaker) grows as she looks over to the girls with softer love burning in her. A soft laugh escapes her as she leans down to leave a kiss on each of their foreheads, pulling back to watch as their lips curl up into smiles as they nuzzle against Armin's shirt.

Then the rest of what Armin says hits her and she feels her heart stutter and her face heat up as she looks back at the boy, who watched the whole thing with such a soft, affectionate look on his features that she's not sure how to respond. The way they act, particularly with these two girls, is so reminiscent of the books she's read of a healthy family: of a mother that will take care of the child, or children, and the father that would always be there to take care of the family.

She swallows her nerves down as she speaks, "They wanted to surprise us?" She figures asking about this would be a safer topic than whatever the heck type of feelings she's developing or realizing.

Armin grins and she ignores how it brings out his boyish charm. "They do," he responds, squeezing her hand gently as his eyes suddenly take a mischievous route that causes her to smile in amusement and without really thinking about it. "Though, they made me promise not to say anything to you, so you didn't hear any of this from me."

Historia nudges her shoulder against his as he settles back against the bed with a quiet laugh. "You're horrible," she says, can't seem to stop herself from following his movements and lays down beside him, her free hand resting softly on one of the girl's back. She hears Armin make a choked sound beside her, but ignores it, doesn't want to give it any thought on what she's doing or why she's doing it, nor does she want Armin to try and piece together something from her emotions, which she's still trying to decipher herself.

Once she's settled, she rests her cheek against his shoulder and focuses her attention on the girls as one shifts under her hand.

"Are they okay, really," she asks as the silence stretches a bit too long for her liking. She doesn't think she'd be able to hide the anxiousness that covers her tone, but, honestly, she doesn't want to–Armin has already proven to be her ally and friend, so there's no reason for her to hide when around his presence. (It also definitely doesn't help that she might be seeing him in a different light after the orphanage was built.)

The boy is quiet before he responds, "They're still shy around the others," he admits, "and afraid of the rest of the Squad."

Historia nuzzles her cheek against his shoulder, feels her heart go out to these two girls. Try as they might, she knows there's only so much she and Armin can do, besides being supportive of them and doing all they could to steer them into the right direction. Assuring them, teaching them, helping them learn from their mistakes, it was all they can do–everything else will be up to them.

"We just have to keep being there for them," she whispers, carefully rubs circles on one of the girl's back. Said child murmurs happily, and Historia giggles when she hears Armin chuckle.

"It's not going to be easy," he warns. "And I'm not always going to be around…"

Her heart seizes and her hand stills for just a second (a second too long) before she continues to sooth the child. He's correct, like always, because he's still a soldier, still a Scout, and he's one of the key players for when they go to seal the hole in Wall Maria. There's too many things that could go wrong, she knows, during that particular mission, and she has to prepare for that. Prepare for the worst case scenario of him not coming back…

Exhaling slowly, Historia faces Armin, who looks over with a seriousness she only sees during battle. She opens her mouth to assure him she'll be fine, that everything will be okay, but something else escapes her instead, "Stay." She can't lose another person, not after Ymir, and, even though she wants the rest of Squad Levi to stay, she knows they'll have to go–she knows Armin has to go, too, but her feelings won out over logic.

His features soften and he smiles sadly at her. "I wish," he murmurs, "but I can't." She's not sure what expression she's making, but it must be something that Armin didn't think suited her, as he leans towards her to lightly press a kiss against her temples, then moves away to rest his forehead against hers. "...Until it's time for the mission, can I stay here?"

She closes her eyes and leans against him heavily, feels something light and warm ignite in her at his gentle presence. "Please." Please don't die, she thinks, please come back to us safe and sound.

At this time, she won't realize that her feelings for him had settled in a romantic sense, won't realize that she worries for him more than the rest of their friends, more than Eren, when they give their goodbyes to go take back Wall Maria. Will fret over their girls (a phrase she'll use without thinking when it comes to those kids) so she won't drown in her worries and anxiety over what was going on in Shinganshina.

Only when news of the Scouts returning, of finding out how many survived, and then reading the written reports will she realize how much she loves him, will realize just how close she was to never seeing him again, to never watching him play with the kids or teach them. And when she finally sees him on his way to his best friends in the dungeons, she doesn't hesitate to run into him and hug him tightly, afraid he'll disappear. And he'll chuckle, tired, yet genuine, as he responds to her hug with his own, squeezing her just as tightly, afraid she'll disappear from his arms and she understands without him having to say anything.