Tumblr Prompt: "I almost lost you."

Lost

"Annie, remember one thing, even when the entire world is against you…Your father will always be by your side."

"So—Promise me—Promise me you'll come home!"

She was dragged back to consciousness by the sound of sobbing; hot tears dripped onto her forehead, landed on her cheeks, stung her porcelain skin red.

Annie's eye's fluttered open, slow, steadily gaining focus on the face of the boy who ruined her. The sky above him was clouded white with the steam of their titan shells; she breathed in, and smelled iron, sweat, and carnage.

"…Eren?"

He jerked when she uttered his name, she jerked with him, and it was then Annie realized, Eren cradling her body…What was left of it. As she peered down, she swallowed the spike of panic at seeing her own mutilated torso, her entire right leg, from the hip, gone. Her shredded clothes, and blonde tresses sticky with some foul fluid.

Annie suddenly felt so very cold, even as Eren brought her closer to his chest, even as her body regenerated the missing bone, muscle, and flesh. She was freezing, and she was scared, and homesick.

"Annie!" He whimpered, in his arms, she felt him tremble. He shook his head, then spoke her name again, softly. "Annie."

The sight of her body, made her recall Marco. She looked away, back into the watery green depths of hell, that's all she saw in Eren, his face was lined with remnants of shifting, as hers was.

"What…happened?"

Eren opened his mouth, choked on a sob, and kept shaking his head. No. No. No. No.

"I'm sorry—I, Fuck—I almost lost you." He bared his clenched teeth, hissing in shaky breaths, so overwhelmed with the thought of her death. Of losing her? It struck through the ice of Annie's heart.

"I almost killed you."

"Why…didn't you?"

Eren's teeth sunk into his lower lip, but he didn't look away, he gazed down at her with an unknown emotion reflected in his bright eyes. What was it? Odd. He was crying, and staring at her so tenderly, like she…Like she meant something to him?

The emotion was akin to kindness; but Annie knew the look of kindness…and this—Eren's thumb brushed the hairs matted at her temple—this…wasn't just kindness.

"I couldn't." He swallowed, "I just…Despite everything you've done, the blood you've split, the chaos you've caused…I wanted to only know you as the monster from the forest, a monster without a name…and I did, It got to the point where I wanted to devour you and t—" Eren screwed his eyes shut, "Tear you apart…But then," he grimaced, "Then I saw your face, I saw your tears and I remembered and I—" He opened his eyes, fresh tears sprung in them . "I couldn't. I couldn't, because it was you."

Annie wished he wouldn't look at her like that; like she was somebody precious. She didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve that emotion his big green eyes conveyed to her so clearly, it hurt more than any physical pain she'd ever felt.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to him, and Eren laughed bitterly, all the while bringing her closer to him as the Commander, and his Captain neared. "It's far too late for that."