Inspired by the song 'Marathon' by Gem Club
Home
What had happened?
She was so close to her freedom; so close breaking those chains, so close to home.
She was a failure. It seemed all to sudden; too difficult for her mind to process the circumstances that was unfolding in front of her very eyes. The world was spiraling around her so quickly; she was losing momentum, she was falling, failing.
Annie, Fall.
She choked, suffocating in the cramped space of her titan's nape; everything inside smelt like steam and fire. Humid, scalding, leaving a burning caress on her exposed skin. Words bubbled anxiously in her head, bouncing off the walls of her skull. Propelling her to,
Do something.
Do something!
You're a failure!
Escape!
Failure…
Oh Father…
Father…!
I'm sorry…
She was terrified of her inevitable fate. Why did the odds have to work against her? she hadn't trained all her life for this, hadn't thrown away her child hood, her innocence, just to be captured. Just to continue on living as a prisoner of war, as if she had never been given the chance of a new life. She'd given up everything for this.
Her body convulsed in the thick membranes of her titan; she was finally crying. Throwing away the last of her armor. White hot tears streamed down her cheeks, leaving a red trail down its path. Annie Leonhardt had lost. She was failure; an outcast to the Marleyan warriors.
She had been ripped away of her status; of her promised future, of living luxuriously and safely with her father at the very top; of being accepted as one of them.
It hurt, so much. They were tearing her titans flesh to shreds, attacking her nape, scraping away the only security she had left. What could she do? What should she do?
Oh god
Oh god
I'm so sorry Father
Forgive me…
I wasn't strong enough!
I'm sorry…
I'm sorry I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'm-
Cool air kissed her face; rough hands plunged into the loosening muscle, and latched on to her arms, and she shivered. Fear, and paranoia consuming her, over riding her senses. They pulled, and yanked, until her body was pressed against another, warm, heavily breathing, chest. A staccato heartbeat, in broken sync with her own pulsed in her ear drums. Everything else was background noise, the scent of blood, sweat and something earthy touched her nose, and it was all him. Only him.
Don't open your eyes, sweet heart
You won't like what you see
Her father's voice was a soft echo, and she grasped onto the material of his shirt, buried her face in to the nape of his neck, sniffling. His arms tightened around her protectively, and he was murmuring into her hair.
"Oh Annie, what have you done?"
"Why did you do this?"
"Why?"
It was all why's and what's; it was all questions that she herself couldn't bear to answer. Even if she did know all the why's and what's. The who's, the how's and the when's.
"I-I just…" She coughed out, squeezing her lids shut, tears catching in the brim of her eyelashes, and he stiffened as he felt the wetness staining his collarbone, "I...just wanted to live a better life."
Annie lifted her head, her fore head bumped against his chin, and she pulled away ever so slightly, but his hold on her was vice like. When she finally opened her eyes, and saw his hard emerald gaze fixated on her face, saw the lines of his mouth drawn in a frown, saw his chest nut hair wild and wind tossed, and so very him. Annie broke, she sobbed, "I just wanted to go home."
That emotion that flickered his eyes, that understanding and rage all mixed into one indescribable thing. That empathetic face, the sag of his shoulders, the gentle sigh that left his lips as he cupped her face in his callous hands.
Wiped away her tears with the rough pads of his thumb, the way he tugged her closer, whispered to her nonsensical things, things that meant nothing to them anymore, but he said them anyway. As if it'd wash away her fear, the notion that he understood her present in his hushed tones. That he was there for her, even when he shouldn't be.
That hurt above all else.