**MANGA SPOILERS—it would be impossible for Armin to not mention Annie's recent activity. This was also super fun to make; I'm glad I made this one-shot thing. I hope you guys are enjoying it too! **
She was fast and silent, always have been, always will be. How he knew this, he wasn't sure. He just knew that it was nearly impossible to ask her to slow down and stay.
Back in the training days (which seemed like the last safe place he dug his heels into), she kept to herself. She never went to someone; they always went to her, including himself. Some days he had to squeeze his way into the line of excited boys to see if they could outrun or outdo the "unstoppable Annie Leonhart"—of course, no one ever could. She showed no mercy and he appreciated the honesty. He knew he was physically small and weak and she told him this, but she still pumped her legs as if she were competing against the long-legged Berthold Hoover and threw punches as if she were taking down the monstrous-sized Reiner Braun.
Perhaps that's where it started, back in the training days. That's when he started thinking about her more than he thought about Eren or Mikasa or why he was there in the first place.
He remembered getting up before the sun because he knew Annie always went for a walk around camp by herself.
"Mind if I tag along?" he'd ask, shrugging into that itchy, tight jacket.
The first few times, she said nothing. A few mornings later, she'd shrug. It wasn't until a few days before Wall Rose broke down that she actually responded, "I guess not."
Always silent was she. Like a liar, like a spy.
He remembered trying to catch a seat next to her at dinner. He had to be fast in order to do this—Eren or Mikasa could find him and spoil his chance. Mina Carolina or Marco Bodt could get to her first and take away his opportunity. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. She was fast and it was hard for him to catch up.
"Is this seat taken?" he'd ask, practically falling into it before she had the chance to get up and take her empty tray away.
At first, she didn't answer. A few more nights later, she'd shake her head. She only started saying "It's all yours" the dinner before they had to choose which regiment they wanted to go in.
She was so fast. She was a runaway; she had something to hide.
He was pleased to hear her voice after so many tries of getting to hear it. He was getting close to her and, just when he thought she might actually slow down and stay for awhile, she sped back up and left him in the dust, confused and betrayed.
Where are you going, little runaway? Why won't you stay?
He watched her leave for the military police while he stayed with his fist over his heart. Was he making the right choice? Was she? Will they ever meet again?
They would, much sooner than he realized.
He had his suspicions that it was her before she even pulled back his hood. Eerie silence and rapid footfalls were uncommon in titans and that splash of blonde hair didn't steer the thought away at all. But it can't be, right? As far as we know, only Eren can transform into a being like that. And it wouldn't be her, of all people, right?
As far as we know.
The waves of infidelity crashed onto him with the same damage and sorrow that the fall of Wall Maria caused. There she was, the runaway, hiding behind this skinless monster that was looking down at him with an expressionless frown. Would she be silent as she crushed him between his fingers like a grape? Would she run from him once the deed was done and leave his teammates wondering what happened to him? After all, back at the training days, she never showed him any mercy.
So, why was that moment so different? Why did she let him go, staring after her as his heart broke in two? Why did she let him live? That question in particular pounded against his bleeding skull as Reiner snatched him from the ground and spirited in the other direction. She must've known the consequences of doing such a reckless thing. She knew he was dedicated to the Survey Corps—she understood this and she still stole Marco's gear. She still let him live. Why did Marco have to die and why did he have to live? Why, why, why?
If you keep on running, little runaway, you'll fall off the world.
She left him no choice. At least, that's what he kept on telling himself as he pulled her into that dark alleyway.
"Do I really look like such a good person to you?" She knew where this was heading, she wasn't an idiot.
I don't know what you are, he wanted to tell her, but I want to know. If you'd only slow down and stay. Please stop running away from me.
But that'd be too much, he knew. So, he'd settle on the vague "not everyone is a completely good or completely bad person" answer. She did deserve that part, for being so ambiguous in the first place, but she didn't deserve the heartbreak that came when he said, "If you don't do this, then you'd be a bad person in my eyes."
The almost desperate look that overcame her twisted the knife in his guilt, but she left him no choice. Right?
Threatening her to stop running only made her run faster. Seeing her cry as Eren tore apart her titan like a cat eating a struggling mouse made him regret everything. He didn't know her walls were taller than theirs, hidden with more secrets, built around more bloodshed and submission to the unknown. Even though she casted herself in a rock of indestructible crystal, she was still running.
Where are you going, little runaway? You think nobody knows, but you don't know how much I want to.
She never left his thoughts as time withered away for her but sped up for him. Seeing Reiner and Berthold's betrayal didn't hurt as much as hers did—he was expecting it this time, after all. It was also easier to trick Berthold into thinking that Annie was being tortured. Sure, it was mainly for him to let go of Eren, but there was a part of him that wanted to see Berthold squirm and cry beneath him. She didn't deserve that little weakling who couldn't make a decision for himself.
The horrible realization that he didn't die in the fire but was brought back to suffer the consequences. Will this help? he thought as titan serum flowed through his veins. Will I be able to reach her this way? He saw her face in the ocean and when he picked her up, she once again slipped through his fingers like the sand around them, reminding him of how close yet how far they were.
He made weekly visits to the girl in the crystal as did Hitch, another soul who thought Annie was still deserving. He filled her in on the world behind her own—what they found in Grisha Jaeger's desk drawer, the discovery of Marley, the attack on said country. Years he did this, and nothing changed.
I know you want to go home. I know you're running away from the world. I know you think nobody cares. But you didn't tell me any of that. Berthold's memories did, but I want to hear it from you.
Perhaps she didn't want to hear about the things that didn't matter, all this war, all this destruction. She was running from it, after all. She won't slow for any of it. So, maybe she'll stay if he told her what really mattered.
And that's what he did. He began talking about the training days, about the things that no one else knew but them. He retold the stolen kisses they'd sneak in before going to their separate dorms, how they held each other's hand under the table at dinner, how he told her his dreams under the night sky while running his hands through her hair. He remembered her kissing his neck and telling him to keep on looking for it because it was there, despite what everyone else said.
He'd close his eyes and smile into her lips. She really is a kind person.
He somehow felt like he went somewhere after that, even though the crystal didn't crack.
If you won't stay, then take me with you, little runaway.
He wished for that even more when Eren confronted him, their hands flat on the table along with Mikasa and Gabi's. As Gabi stared in bewilderment and Mikasa cried softly to herself, his insides shook with fear as Eren stated with dead eyes that Annie was the enemy and, therefore, Armin was too. Because of those weekly visits, because of Berthold's influence over him, because he hated the caged world he was born in, Eren told him that he was a coward, a willing slave, an enemy.
It was all bullshit, he knew, but never before had he understood Annie so perfectly well than that moment. He wanted to become a runaway as well, lock himself up and throw away the key. Run from Eren's hellbent revenge, run from Mikasa's suffocating red string of fate, run from the end of the world. He wanted to run toward Annie. Drown with her in isolation and forget the problems they were dragged into. Fall into her mysterious ways and let himself be seduced by her silent promise of some life far from this place—he'd follow even if it led him six feet underground.
Fall into my arms, little runaway. I'll be your home. I'll keep you safe and warm. Come running to me.
She didn't have the choice to fall out of that perfect little crystal world. Once again, she was dragged into hell, choking on its senseless ways of war, something that was shoved down her throat since she was a child. He knew she would pick herself right back up and continue running, so he kept a lookout for her. He suspected Hitch would help her escape—she loved Annie too—but he didn't suspect to plop down right next to her, seeing her munch away at four years worth of pie.
They stared at her and she at them. How would the little runaway react? Swing her fists at him? Jam her thumbs into his eyes? Pick up a fork and shove it into his thigh?
He tensed up when Connie burst out laughing, pointing a bony finger at her. Four years she hid from them and the first interaction she had with her comrades from those training days was Connie snorting at the crumbs stuck to her lips. Armin slapped Connie's shoulder and hissed at him to shut up, and when he turned back to Annie, he saw her running away. But this time it was in embarrassment.
Embarrassment, meaning she cared what they thought of her. The image actually brought him relief—she still cared.
Come back, little runaway. You have a place to go to. You have a home, in more ways than one.
They had a common goal now. Armin had to go to Marley to save them all from Eren and Annie had to go to Marley to see her father. He was reminded of that alleyway, trying to convince her to fall into his trap, to which she willingly complied. Was this another trap? Would they reach Marley but only to find her father dead, along with the rest of the world? Her home, the one thing she stayed alive for, might be gone by the time they made it. If they made it.
He tried to tell her without saying anything that she had other options. He didn't know who her father was—he didn't even know if he was good for Annie—but he wanted her to know that he was here and he would never betray her again. She couldn't stay and he finally understood that. So, he'd run with her. Run wherever she wanted to go. He'd grab her hand and let her guide him to that deathless death she was encased in for so long.
This world was cruel and the beauty was fading. The ocean wasn't clear and blue like he imagined, but it was black with the blood of the thousands that fell for impossible causes. He stared at her, at those beautiful crystal eyes and held on tight to them.
Let me run with you because I can't take it anymore. I'll fall off the world with you, I'll let you rip me apart. Our arms are strong enough to hold onto each other. And that's all we need. Let me follow you, little runaway.
She looked back at him. He saw their secret memories dancing behind her eyes as if she just found hope.
"Okay," she breathed.