A/N: I know fans scream for a redemption arc when it comes to Annie. But let's be real; not everything is gonna be all fine and dandy between her and the Survey Corp. They are not going to accept her with open arms, she killed far to many of their soldiers, which is why I believe if she ever does come back, there's going to be a great divide between people who want her on their side, the people who want her dead, and the people who want her gone. That being said, this story will get really shippy soon, so...it get's less realistic from there on out. But I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless! :p

A Proposal

Queen Historia Reiss was the epitome of elegance, and purity. She was the face of kindness—so dainty, and beautiful, but stern and ambitious all at once. A real goddess fallen from the heavens to guide the people of the walls into an era of peace, into another decade of ignorant bliss.

She did her part well as the people's Queen, she polished her speeches, she wore the silk robes, she inspired the masses. Her coronation had settled without a single inkling of doubt, four years ago, when she had slain her own father. When she proved her worthiness to the people within the walls. Historia Reiss became the beating heart of humanity. Christa Lens became a mere whisper in the wind, the very name erased from the tongues of the few who had known such a girl existed.

In four years, people only knew the name Historia Reiss—and the Queen preferred it that way. She lounged, now, in one of her many private chambers. Gazing out the balcony of the North Tower, overlooking the Capitol Mitras, bathed in the dying light of dusk. The Wall of Sina loomed miles ahead, stretching far across the land. Queen Reiss traced the outer rim of her chalice, lost deep in her thoughts. Shadowed blue's drifted to a faraway place. They saw something beyond the fifty meter walls, something beyond the civilization built on the backs of their ancestors. Their ancestors. The original Eldians. The black emptiness that swelled inside her threatened to take over again—She sipped silently at her wine, only to have nothing tarty reach her tongue.

The heart of humanity was made of glass, but nobody could see that when they were standing beneath the podium, looking from a great distance. The Queen could be considered the best actress in all the Kingdom. In the eyes of her peers, however, she was just another shell-shocked victim of war. Slowly decaying inside, but still surviving. She kept her promise of doing good by the people, but lost part of herself in the ongoing bloodshed between the Marley and the Eldians. A thousand-year war that would never stop until all nine powers of the titans ceased to exist. That would never happen, it was a curse that would continue until the end of time.

She had been nearly assassinated twice in her three-year reign so far—both assailants had failed, and were beheaded. They had been refugees of the Marley, not even warriors, but mere men who had only wanted a better life in trade for her own. She wondered sometimes, about their families. Who they were, if they had sons or daughters, if their sons or daughters had children of their own.

Then the Queen's mind would wander to a freckled dark-haired girl, because any basis of her idle thinking would always, always land right back to that girl. Despite her being long gone from this world. It did not bother Queen Reiss anymore, when she found herself thinking about a lost love. In fact, it brought about a warm peace that bloomed like a rose in her chest.

"Would care for some more wine, Your highness?"

"Yes, please."

Ymir would live on in her memory, snarky and smirking, all sharpened edges like a knife, but soft when she should be. Ymir, a goddess given a name, just like Historia Reiss.

The Queen smiled into the rim of her jeweled chalice—it wasn't so bad playing goddess, but that was only because the consequences came later in life. She suffered so her people wouldn't have too, she endured the brunt of it all because she wanted them to not live in fear any longer.

That's what a goddess did. She sacrificed for the greater good of her people. A Queen ruled, and mandated power. Historia Reiss was both, and she would continue to be until her dying day.

"Drinking alone again?" Queen Reiss lowered her cup, quirking a blonde brow at her not-so-new visitor, the Hope of Humanity himself, Eren Jaeger. He strode right through the double doors, as if he weren't disturbing the Queen of her idle hours, but simply paying a visit to a friend. Queen Reiss's servant eyed him distastefully, probably on the verge of seeing Eren off, but the Queen quickly dismissed him, not before asking him to leave the bottle of wine.

"Are you insinuating that I usually drink with others?"

Eren brushed past the servant who sealed the doors shut behind them, grabbing a seat across the marble table from the Queen, and plopping himself down in it. He nodded to the red wine bottle placed in the ice bucket between them, "No, but you usually share a drink with me."

Historia caught on his implication, offering him her chalice. Eren reached out and took it with an appreciative smile. Downing the rest of the alcohol in one gulp, he placed the chalice delicately onto the table as he swallowed. Historia giggled halfheartedly, but folded her arms in the way a parent would before they berated their child.

"So, that's where all of my liquor has been disappearing off too." She shook her head at him. Eren shrugged sheepishly in response, though he still reached for the last wine bottle. Popping the cork open, and refilling his cup. Then tilting his head back, and downing that one too. These days, he spent way too much of his time in the taverns of Sina, drinking himself into a stupor, until his body numbed to his toes, the ache in his chest dissipated; and everything, and everyone around him became a wonderful blur. Nobody knew of this, but the Queen and his closest friends, of course. Soldiers were prohibited from heavy drinking, unless it were a special occasion, or a celebration of a sort.

Eren just wanted to get drunk, he wanted to drown his worries, his sorrows, his regrets in the hard liquor. He wanted to feel nothing, nothing at all. Then pass out in his bed, un-plagued by the nightmares that weren't even his own.

"It's not my fault the royal pantry Guards are so easy to bypass." Eren quipped, gripping the neck of the wine bottle, he poured himself another cup. Historia rolled her brilliant blues at him, making a note to administer better pantry guards. She watched Eren knock back his third cup, and then refill for a forth one. She'd worry for his health; had he not already have a time limit put on his life.

She would stop him, tell him to snap out of it, pull himself together like she had been doing all along. But he saved her life more than once, and ever since that political feud, and race for power had occurred— ever since their shared epiphany in that cave— The two had grown to be incredibly close to each other. Historia did not want to risk their friendship over a couple bottles of stolen ale.

Though she wished he concealed his reason better. It was obvious the main cause of his drinking was being kept imprisoned, somewhere beneath Castle Yggdrasil of District Utopia. She had timed the start of Eren's daily trips to the Taverns, to the breach of Annie Leonhardt's crystal, and it lined up perfectly.

Historia was not a hypocrite; she drank to forget sometimes as well, but also to remember the good old days. The fun, blood and sweat-filled training days of the 104th was one of them. Ymir, was another. Eren drank because he felt he needed to feel some sort of release, an outlet to reduce his stress. She felt sympathy for him, he was too young to become an alcoholic. But she figured if she were the one with only four years left to live in this world, she'd also turn to the drink.

"M'not feeling anything." Eren murmured, half-way done with his fifth cup of wine. Historia, stood from her seat, and snatched the chalice back from him before he could finish it. He protested, but quieted down when she threatened to take the bottle away from him too.

"That's because the alcohol percentage in this," She swirled the wine in her cup, then drank the rest of the contents, Eren pouted at her childishly. "Is below the average."

He held out a hand for her to give up the chalice, but she held on to it, after a few seconds his hand flopped back to his side, and he grumbled, rubbing at his temple. "Why is that?"

"I don't know." Historia shrugged, moving to stand by the opened balcony, the autumn breeze felt good on her skin. "Because the brewers made it that way?"

"Well, demand that they make it better." She heard a chair scrape across wooden floors behind her, and then Eren was standing right beside her, wine bottle in one hand. The sun that was setting beyond the walls on the horizon, made them cast elongated shadows that stretched on and on. The walls cast their own shadows over the residents of Sina.

Historia laughed, "I can't do that."

Eren whined, "Why not?"

"Because that is an abuse of my power."

He scoffed, then took a swig straight from the wine bottle, Historia made a face when he offered it to her, turning the drink down. He shrugged, then rested his elbows on the stone railing of the balcony. The breeze ruffled his chest nut locks that he hardly bothered to maintain anymore.

"Abuse of power." He parroted, and Historia nodded staring off in the sky, which was palette of warm and cool colors, blues and purples that bled into oranges and yellows. Dusk was Historia's favorite time of day, the calming transformation from light to dark was always astounding to her, and so very beautiful.

"Historia."

She turned her head to the young man who was trying to get a buzz off high-end wine, "Yes?"

Eren's emerald eyes flitted down to his boots, he furrowed his brows, considering his next words carefully, took another swig of the bottle, and met her questioning gaze again.

"She has a year left to live, you know." He said quietly, tone heavy and morose, the wind carried his words to the Queen's ears. She almost forgot the real reason he was drinking an entire bottle of wine in the first place. He didn't even like wine. Historia allowed herself to feel the twinge of pity for the other blonde girl she'd barely known. She knew about Annie's betrayal, and how deeply it had affected Eren, how it disturbed him to the point that it took a piece of shrapnel lodged into his chest, and Armin's provocation to drive him to fight her.

She knew how much it angered him when the Survey Corp had accused her of being the Female Titan—she knew that familiar feeling of utter shock, disbelief and confusion, that all swirled into one painful emotion, that stung her heart when Ymir shifted for the first time— Because it had been just the same for Eren when he gazed at the monstrosity Annie had become. Back in Stohess.

Even after the battle, after Annie's crystallization, after Castle Utgard, after Ymir, after Reiner and Bertolt—After every event that was thrown at him, every realization, and threat. Eren still refused to believe it. Refused to accept the lie that Annie was. That'd she'd been. Eren had looked up to Reiner as an older brother, he looked up to Bertolt as tutor, and Annie... what did he look up to Annie for? What caused him to fuss over Leonhardt until this day?

It hurt Historia to see Eren hurt like this. Had she been Mikasa, she would have done something about it in a heartbeat. Like change the subject, or not say anything at all, and drop the conversation. Annie Leonhardt was a sour topic for the Ackerman girl, and Historia knew not to bring her name up so much in meetings whenever the other girl attended.

She digressed though, Historia was not Mikasa Ackerman. She was Queen Historia Reiss. The Queen who listened to the people's problems, and delivered them a way out. The way Eren was looking at her now, like he had something more on his mind than just Annie Leonhardt, gave her the suggestion that he was formulating an idea. An idea that he was just about to reveal to her.

Historia breathed out, then breathed in crisp fresh air. "Yes, I'm aware, I heard from the Commander already."

"Oh."

There was a moment of comfortable silence, and then, "I have a proposal for you…it's something Armin and I came up with when we were drunk- Well, when I was drunk. I was going to tell the Commander, but figured you should hear it first." He stopped, took a swig of wine, then continued. "I thought it was silly, but now… I just—would you listen to it, please?"

She nodded. As expected, he delivered the plan all in one go, though it might have been the alcohol that caused him to do so. Eren did not skip a beat, he even emphasized the points he was making. How better it would be for her, for all of them. Historia took the plan into consideration. It was in fact, a very good plan, and it was not harmful to any of them. Annie Leonhardt may had been their enemy once, but now, she was just a girl dangling on a loose thread. Historia caught only a glimpse of her when they brought her in for a brief trial. She remembered how frail the other girl looked, not at all like the stoic Annie Leonhardt from before.

"That's why I need you to be on our side." Eren finished. He studied her reaction, which was a thoughtful one. Historia regarded him with a pointed stare—one that said 'I am already on your side, idiot.'

"Where is Armin now?" She asked.

Eren scrunched his brows together, he was going to end up with permanent forehead wrinkles that way, if he kept doing that. He made a non-committal noise, "Somewhere around, I forgot."

Historia smoothed back her golden blonde hair, buttoning the top of her blouse, then sauntered over to where her royal cape rested on the back of the chair she'd been sitting on. She grabbed the cape, slung it over her shoulders, then called for a servant to deliver her more wine.

Eren tilted his head questionably, he watched her from where he was leaning against the balcony rail. Occasionally drinking from the wine bottle, which had warmed in his hand.

"What are you doing?"

Historia placed the crown on her head, adjusting it just so in the beauty mirror above her wardrobe. One of many in this tower, though Historia liked to leave little bits of herself everywhere.

"I'm going to hold a meeting."

Eren raised an eyebrow, "For what?"

The Queen sighed sharply, sometimes she wished her dearest friend weren't so naïve. "For your proposal, we are going to discuss it with the Commander right away." She turned to him, the lounge was quite a big chamber, but even from where she stood, a couple of feet away from him. She could still see how his eyes rounded in surprise, and his grip on the bottle tightened enough to cause a tiny jagged crack run along the side of it.

Eren sputtered, "W-wait—hold on!" He pushed off the balcony, stormed right into her, until his chest was an inch away from her face. She could smell the grapes on his breath as he leaned down. "Don't you think it's too soon?" He pleaded, "I-I mean I know it was a proposal, but you don't have to tell her right now, maybe think about it first?"

Historia was confused at her friends swinging moods, hadn't he just proven to her that this was the plan he wanted, the one he and Armin created when they were delightfully inebriated, just for the sake of that imprisoned girl?

"But I thought you wanted this?"

He sighed, "I do."

She made a puzzled gesture at him, palms upturned, "Then why do you think it'd be good to hold it off?"

"I don't…" Eren sighed again, "I don't know."

Historia knew, though. He feared the feedback he would receive, especially from the people he respected most. From his peers, from Mikasa, and the Captain. Armin was on his side though, and so was the Queen. That would be more than enough to fight for this proposal. Queen Reiss held Eren Jaeger slightly above the others, but that was only because of what they had experienced together. So, of course, she would back him up when he needed it most, be it against humanity, or their very own friends.

"Eren," She said firmly, and it got his attention focused on her, however the alcohol in his system made him sway a bit. Historia placed a comforting hand on his arm, also to make him stand a little bit straighter, "Do you really think it is a good idea to sit and wait," She gazed up at him intently. "While Annie is still wasting away in a dungeon?"

Eren's face was mixture of guilt and pensiveness, the near empty wine bottle was twisted nervously in his hands. "No, I don't."

"Don't you think that the sooner we relay this plan to the others, the sooner we could give Annie the freedom you're striving to offer?"

"I don't— "

"Eren." Historia cut him off, covering strong tan hands that were tightening around the wine bottle with her own small pale ones. "Nobody will hate you for wanting to pass on Annie Leonhardt's treason. The proposal you told me isn't allowing her freedom straight away, it's just loosening her chains a bit, giving her some fresh air. Kind of like a bargain. Well... no, actually it's more like granting her a… "

Historia trailed off, she racked her mind for the correct word to use. Something like this should come easy to her.

"It's like granting her a— "

"Wish?" Eren found the word she'd been looking for.

She clasped her hands around his, that were still wrapped around the bottle. "Yes!" She nodded. "It would be like granting her a wish."

Eren was not as moved as she, but he understood what she was getting at. He would achieve Annie's freedom under the guise of granting her a dying wish, since she did have a year left to live, it would not be too difficult. Though, Historia was wrong about one thing. The others would hate him for even giving the suggestion of allowing a mass murderer to walk free. He hoped Armin came prepared for the onslaught of verbal abuse that would surely come their way.

"Okay." He said, then breathed a little more easily, his grip loosened on the wine bottle, and Historia was grateful for that, anymore and he would have shattered the glass, and they'd both be smelling like fermented grapes for days.

"Okay, let's do this." Eren nodded, and Historia smiled brightly at him. He placed the wine bottle back into the ice bucket. Tending to his uniform buttons, before turning to the Queen, he said, "But first, we need to find Armin."

Evening Of Day 20

Being talked down too by the Commander was certainly not on Armin's list of things-to-accomplish-by nightfall; but it happened regardless, and in front of the remaining senior Survey Corp soldiers, as well as the Queen. Though Armin stood his ground, he argued in the most convincing way; he did whatever he could. This proposal was not just for him, or Eren. It was for her, too. It was especially for her.

Armin adjusted his spectacles, leaning back against the wall of an endless corridor. Castle Yggdrasil really was a Castle of mazes, with its endless pathways, and so many doors that led to empty rooms, that led to more doors, that led to more empty rooms; he had gotten lost countless times in his stay there so far.

Before him was a cherry-wood door that opened directly to the Commander's office. Inside sat the Commander herself, Captain Levi, Queen Historia, and his own trustworthy friends that he had battled alongside with for three years. That he had cried, and shared his terrible secrets with; most of them eyed him with looks of skepticism while he relayed the plan to Commander Hange. He understood them, they were right to do so, not everyone shared the same principles; not everyone was able to forgive and forget so easily.

But it had been nearly four years. Four years should be enough, at least to be considerate of their enemy. A limited life-span should be enough, as well. But people held grudges higher than they did their own morality, he supposed. It was not let bygones be bygones, more like, let us turn a blind eye to the terror that was done by this one girl, so that she could live the last of her days in peace, and yes, Armin did realize that he was devising Annie Leonhardt a way out.

Armin was not alone, however; the idea was every bit Eren's as it was his. He could not have done it without his dear friend; and if Eren was going down that path, then so would he.

The cherry-wood door swung open, and Armin's eyes snapped up to meet the tired emerald gaze of his best friend. Eren sighed heavily, shutting the door behind him gentler than he had opened it. Armin could hear the soft murmuring of the occupants' discussion within.

"I'm doing the right thing?" Eren leaned beside Armin, his eyes situated on the door, he had meant to make a statement, but it sounded more like he was asking himself a personal question. Armin smiled at him reassuringly.

"We're doing the right thing." He corrected, then added for the sake of it. "I hope."

Eren was silent for moment, but only a moment.

"Armin." he started, and Armin could tell from the tone of his voice where this was going. "You know, I couldn't have pulled this off without you," Eren turned to him, Armin could smell the remnants of wine on his breath. "I may have spouted some random idea when I was drunk, but you, you hung on to it, you flourished it. I just want to say, I appreciate all that— "

"Oh, stop it." Armin scoffed, but he smiled too. "I merely gave them a better hypothetical view, is all. I mean, I don't think it is fair."

Eren's face went from grateful, to dour in the span of a second.

"You know, Annie?" Armin explained, even though Eren was aware. "She doesn't deserve to die in a cell. I know that what she did was… cruel, but…" Armin left it there.

Eren fidgeted beside him, responding with a gruff. "Yeah." He wrung his hands together nervously, hands that would be scarred beyond recognition had it not been for his regenerative ability. He was quick to change the subject. "We could pull this off, I'm sure. Historia is on our side."

Armin chuckled, "Against the majority, every Survey Corp member, not including us?"

"Armin, you should have a bit more faith in her."

"Right, like you get faith from a bottle—!" Armin's ocean-blue eyes widened like saucers, he slapped his hands over his mouth, turning to Eren with a guilt-ridden face. The words had slipped from his tongue before he could stop them.

He sputtered out a quick apology as not to offend his best friend. "I didn't mean—I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

Eren did not seem at all bothered by it, instead he gave a careless shrug. "It's fine, you're right, anyway."

Armin felt he did not apologize enough, but the moment he opened his mouth to express his forgiveness, Jean came barreling out of Commander Hange's office, the door slammed shut behind him. The force of his dramatic exit caused a sudden sharp gust in the corridor. A shiver crept up Armin's spine as he met Jean's cold amber gaze. Jean said nothing, his expression downcast, then his eyes glued to the floor, and he did not even acknowledge Eren's existence as he stormed down the opposite direction, hands balled into tight fists.

Eren and Armin shared a look; Armin's rueful, but preparing for the backlash that would come their way, Eren's far more adamant. They squared their shoulders, held their chins up high, the meeting was coming to an end, and people would be shuffling out any given moment now. Their people. Eren grumbled.

"I want a drink after this."

"Same here."

Armin gave a pinched smile. The next person to exit the Commanders office was Connie Springer; his once shaved head, now covered in a mop of dirty blond curls that he usually slicked back. His mouth was drawn in a frown, and there was a bothered wrinkle between his brows. He stopped abruptly, right in front of them, mouth opening and closing, trying to voice what was in his head, tell the two exactly how he felt about the situation, but no words formed. Connie was at a loss of what to say, so he shut his mouth, frowning tighter than before. Shaking his head with a huff, and then stormed after Jean.

Sasha came running out of the office, her short bob cup swishing about her face. "Connie!" She called after him, but he did not glance back at her, just continued walking. Connie was hurt. Armin felt empathic, he felt that twisting sting in his chest, he turned to Eren, and he knew, Eren was feeling it too.

Sasha Blouse, their other longtime friend, faced them, her big doe eyes slightly watery, "I'm sorry," She stepped closer to them, chewing into the bottom of her lip, "He doesn't hate ya'll I swear, he just," She sighed, "He has personal vendetta against the Beast titan, you know, what happened to his family, and all, and—and you know Connie, he involves anyone associated with anything he hates…so that includes Annie."

At the mention of the Beast titan, Eren briefly stiffened. Armin noticed. He had been doing that a lot lately, when it came to that man. Armin reassured Sasha that Connie's attitude towards them was perfectly justified. As was Jean's. Annie had admitted to aiding Reiner, and Bertolt in killing Marco Bodt, after all. There was no way Jean would ever forgive his late friend's murderer, but that was alright. It was alright if he hated them too.

Sasha thanked the two shifters for excusing Connie, but did not take off immediately, she stood there idly, still chewing absently at her bottom lip. Armin found himself distracted, staring at her mouth a little too long to be considered a mere glance. He forced himself to look elsewhere, like her big brown eyes, that were gazing down at him with something akin to respect. Armin felt his cheeks flush, and the tips of ears tingle.

"Sasha?"

She blinked, suddenly brought back to the real world. "Oh-! I just…Just wanted to let ya'll know that I've sided with you, on this." Sasha gestured to the door behind her, "What you're doing for…you know."

Armin found it strange how people could pass around Annie's name like it meant nothing to them; but then treat it like something forbidden, poisonous to their ears. But he digressed. Sasha came to stand by his right side, and Armin thanked his growth spurt for giving him an extra inch in height. Grateful that they were both about the same size. Eren slumped opposite of him against the wall, most likely mulling over the amount of alcohol he was going to consume when this was over.

"I don't think it's right to just abandon her." Sasha murmured, "I mean, everyone deserves a redemption, right?"

Wrong. Armin wanted to say. Not everyone. He turned his head to Eren for support, only to find his friend completely indifferent, and pulling on the split ends of his hair, Armin faced Sasha, forcing what he hoped was a pleasant smile. "Yeah, thanks Sasha."

She grinned at him, and Armin was distracted by the pretty dimples on her cheeks. "It's nothin'" She chirped, her sullen mood forgotten, "Anything for my friends!" She punched his arm playfully, Armin winced. And the red-cherry door swung open again, Armin felt Eren jerk beside him to stand straighter, hands dropping to his sides.

"Captain!" Eren saluted, then his eyes drifted to the Captain's silent companion behind him, and in a much softer tone, he greeted, "Mikasa."

She looked away from him, Eren became crestfallen. Armin noted, that ragged red scarf she was usually not seen without, was not wrapped around her neck, but instead clutched tightly in her fist. It was Mikasa's way of telling Eren, that something was wrong, something was greatly bothering her, and that something had to do with Eren. Captain Levi, sensing the drama that was about to ensue, let Mikasa step in front of him, and he waited, leaning against the Commanders door, examining his finger nails.

"Mikasa I—" Eren started, but was cut short but the hand she held up, the one that did not hold the scarf.

"Don't." She shook her head, and looked him right in the eye. Eren could see his panicked reflection shine in those dark cobalt irises. "I don't agree with what you're doing for that girl." She told them both, truthfully, Sasha shamefully hid behind Armin's back.

"After everything she did to you," Mikasa said, her soft voice reaching that of a whisper, Eren swallowed down his anxiety. "To all of us."

The three said nothing. Though Mikasa had been speaking directly to Eren; Armin could see the spite rise in Eren from the way his jaw locked, and his hands trembled so noticeably, he buried them inside his cloak. Armin knew the signs of when Eren was about to have an outburst, and one he would be ashamed for, later.

"Eren— "

"So, you would rather have her die in a cage?" Eren spat, holding back the tremor in his voice, "Like a dog, huh, because she deserves it?"

Mikasa's expression remained passive, but inside, Armin knew Eren was causing her a deep distress. "I am not taking any sides." She told him, final, then turned on her heel, "I just hope you know what you're doing." With that came that sound of her clacking boots, as she walked down the long corridor, the same path both Connie, and Jean had gone. The end of that corridor seemed so dark in contrast to where they stood under the yellow glow of a fire-lamp, Armin guessed it might have been midnight already.

"Of course we do!" Eren shouted after her, his loud, broken voice echoing down the halls. Armin spotted the Captain sneak up behind the other shifter, and cuff him right in his nape.

"Shut up. Can't you see there's a meeting going on?" Levi snapped. Eren winced, turning to him, red-face from embarrassment, and irritated, rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes drifted elsewhere, but the Captain.

Levi sighed, exhaustion evident on his features. "I can't even put into words how disappointed I am right now."

In that moment, Eren, Armin, and even Sasha, all equally felt that shameful contempt roiling in their guts, making them avoid eye-contact with each other. Captain Levi was highly respected among the Survey Corp, he was their Squad Leader, they all looked up to him, and to be scolded by himwas like to be scolded by their own father figure.

At least to Eren, it was that way. Armin felt he did not want to be chewed out by both of his Captain, and Commander all in one day.

"She's worried, you know. Give her some time." The Captain stated, looking to Eren, then Armin, and Sasha, who shyly crept away from her hiding spot behind Armin.

"I know." Eren sighed, running a hand through his mussed hair, "I will."

"Another thing," Levi added, coming around to face them all, "The proposal will be happening, starting a week from now."

At this, Armin was taken back, eyes wide with disbelief, him and Eren yelled "What?!" in unison. Levi rubbed at his temple, clearly fed-up with these loud as hell teens.

"Really?!" Eren could not believe it had been passed that quickly, in a single day as well. Historia must have worked her negotiating well.

"Yeah," Levi stared at him levelly, or as much he could at his height. "Only Hange is going to be making the demands. Not you two brats."

"We wouldn't want it any other way, Captain."

"Right, well." Levi made an about face, the opposite direction of where Mikasa, Jean and Connie had disappeared off too. He stuffed his hands in pockets. "If you'll excuse me, I gotta' take a dump, so you three, wait for Hange and Queen Historia, Got it?"

They all blinked owlishly, "Yes, Captain."

When Captain Levi was finally out of ear shot, Sasha turned to them both, exuberant and smiling wide, but it all faded when she took in their puzzling faces.

"Hey, what's the matter?" She gently poked Armin's shoulder to get his attention on her, "Your proposal was confirmed!"

"I know, it's just, that was unbelievably quick. Don't you think?" His last sentence was directed at Eren, who nodded numbly, brows scrunched together, eyes downcast, as if he were in the mid of a deep thought. Sasha noticed this.

"Well, yeah. But, Historia might've just worked her magic, right?" She looked questionably at Armin.

"No," Armin mumbled, "That can't be it."

"Armin?"

Something was off, something was not right. Armin could not work his mind around it; until a week later, in the gardens of Castle Yggdrasil, he realized, it was that their own Commander had swindled their plans.

Then a month later, Armin stood, thousands of feet underground, beneath the Capitol Mitras, before the cabin that they'd incidentally condemned Annie Leonhardt too. A life of isolation. He knocked with one fist, twice, on the carved plywood door, that did not even have a knob. Armin assumed it was new. The unusual dimness of the underground did not sit right with him—it felt like he had gone into a whole other world, entirely different from his own. A haunted wonderland, Armin mused. Though the sun far above the terrain, still seemed to touch this old, neglected cabin through the cracks, giving its roof a soft ethereal glow on the edges.

Armin released the breath he was holding, the air down there was musty, like something that had been in the closet for far too long. He knocked again, stepping back to peer through the curtained window beside the door, when he heard a click, and the rattle of chains that followed.

The door creaked open, and Armin smiled briefly at the confused owner, before thrusting the pile of heavy books he had been holding into her arms. Annie blinked at him, struggling to hold each book so they wouldn't fall from her grasp.

"What—what is this?" She gasped, one smaller pamphlet fell from the pile, and landed near Armin's feet. He picked it up, tucking it under his arm. "Just some entertainment." Armin shrugged, "So you won't get bored."

Annie narrowed her icy eyes at him, "Why?"

"Because I think you'll like the literature of Homer, and Plato, they are very exquisite authors from a thousand years—"

"No." Annie sighed, adjusting the books as not to put so much strain on her arms. She tilted her head, wondering, wondering. "Why did you come down here?"

At this Armin replied with the utmost honesty, "Because I think you need a friend."