I am sorry this took so long to update. I was very busy these past couple of weeks, and I hope to past the last couple of chapters sooner rather than later. The song in this chapter belongs to the anime we all know and love and does not belong to me.

Touch of Death

"ARMIN!"

Stunned blue orbs gazed at the scene as a scream echoed in her ears. Liesel Eichenlicht, former soldier of Deutschland, felt her heart physically stop. The calling of Armin's name rubricated in her mind as Liesel stood on top of the roof of a house. Nein… she thought as her eyes widened at the sight of sickening smile of the Female Titan. Nein…

It had looked to be almost too simple when Levi, Armin, and Liesel had arrived at the scene. Eren was in his Titan form, battling the Female Titan in hand-to-hand combat. Liesel had looked at the Female Titan curiously. Blond hair and blue eyes complete with only the muscle visible were observed. A fifteen meter Titan…like me. Liesel remembered of what Armin had told her about the Female Titan, of how she had been a comrade before she had been revealed. "I liked Annie…I truly did." Luz could not see Armin's face. It was shadowed by the darkness, and the once bright expression on his face had disappeared. "I respected her, as she respected me…but I cannot forgive her, as a member of humanity and of the Survey Corps, for the part she had taken in the downfall of humanity." The solemn eyes echoed through Luz's own, and her face burned and her tongue felt slick as she thought about what she had apparently done. Her eyes closed tightly to not allow tears to soak against her cheek. Luz heard Armin gasp beside her, realizing of the implications of what he had said, but the dark-haired girl was silent and didn't reply to his stuttered apologies. Later that night as she lied across the room from the sleeping Jean and Armin, the dark-haired girl thought about what had happened that day.

The more whole young woman she had become had wondered if the Titan-shifters had suffered in the same nightmare as she. The gulfing darkness with blood-curling screams and monsters felt against my body…did they feel that? Liesel had kept her thoughts quiet inside herself, knowing that she would have been judged and would have to explain her confused thoughts. Liesel had briefly felt pity for the Female Titan, for what she had experienced…before she had eaten Armin.

Eren had been given a blow that made him collide with multiple debris. The blow had been so devastating it had caused his head to detach from his body, and his Titan-from to collide against multiple houses until he lied against the broken houses. Mikasa had immediately ran to Eren's side as the others continued to fight the Female Titan in Eren's stead. Although Liesel had asked Levi if she could fight, the heichō of the Survey Corps had refused. "You have not yet fought against the Female Titan, and I will not risk your death if you fucking die on us. Eren…has more experience than you of fighting fellow Titan-shifters, shitty brat though he is." Liesel had burned with indignant anger at the statement, remembering of how she had fought against Rod Reiss. She turned to speak, but stopped when she saw a solemn expression on Levi's face. "I…do not want to have any more regrets." Shame immediately coursed through the dark-haired woman as she remembered of Levi's former lover Petra had died against the Female Titan. She wondered how Levi felt now as he faced the Female Titan again. Did he feel the same rage and grief as he felt before? Did he feel like only he was allowed to kill her for what the Titan-shifter had done? Liesel had come across such people during the war, but Levi had been calm as he witnessed the brief battle between Eren and the Female Titan. His dark gray eyes had swollen in rage as he was too late as Armin attempted to incapacitate the Female Titan before he was grabbed and subsequently swallowed whole.

The one who had screamed Armin's name was Jean. Former calm and sarcastic Jean was now crying and screaming, his hearing numb as several members of the Survey Corps urged him to stop his madness. It didn't work. Jean collided against the Female Titan, his swords cracking and falling into tiny pieces as the hardened crystal rendered his weapons useless. Scheiße... Liesel thought, never minding the fact that she spent too much time around Levi, as she watched in growing horror as Jean remained blind to the world around him as the Female Titan grasped his Survey Corps cloak in her hands. Liesel surged forward, the impact of her sword distracting the Female Titan enough to howl and to drop Jean from her grip.

"You're not dying on me!" Jean roared. The Female Titan roared with pain as Jean cut through her stomach. The long arm reached into the insides. " You here me, Armin?!" Mucus and salivia coated him as he pulled, slick blond hair emerging from Jean's grip as he landed roughly on the ground with Armin, unconscious but breathing from the slight rise in his chest as the tall young man shakily stood and jumped away. Liesel turned, her breath tight in her throat as the Female Titan turned towards her. An enraged roar made them both jump when the Female Titan suddenly found herself under the Titan form of her enemy. Eren roared, the rage embedded in his expression as his saliva coated against the Female Titan's face.

"Levi.' The dark-haired man turned to find his Liesel across from him and looking at the scene emerging before her with an uncertain expression on her face. "What is Eren…going to do?"

"Eat her." A ragged gasp escaped from her throat as she stared at him with stunned eyes. "We have the information we need. The Female Titan is not needed in this world." Liesel swallowed as she watched Eren break the nape and handle a young human being with long blond hair. "Eren seemed to accept it." Levi watched her expression carefully, noting of how somber she seemed. "You do not have to watch it if you don't want to," he added less roughly.

"Nein." The human form of the Female Titan was small, almost as small as she and with a pale and beautiful face. "She was actually a kind person, Annie was." As Eren opened his mouth, Liesel did not look away. "I have to."

Eren had collapsed almost immediately after devouring the Female Titan. He was now in a coma with Mikasa nursing him, a worried expression growing on her usual blank face as the days passed and Eren did not wake up. It had been around that time that Liesel and the rest of the Survey Corps members had been told that Titans had at one time been humans. Liesel had observed the paling and sickened faces across the room, and noted of how their eyes landed on her after it had been spoken. She did not answer their silent plea to say a word, and continued to hear Levi's monotone voice explaining of the theory that Hanji-san had developed. Liesel vaguely heard Levi's barked tone at the response of the scorn and scoffing at the mentioning of the scientist, and looked across the room to see the expressions of her closest comrades morphing in guilt and regret. The tears and blank expressions burned in Liesel's mind as she entered one of the soldier's barracks.

The mucus and saliva that had once coated Armin's entire body was gone. His skin was once again clean, his hair damp against his forehead and his expression peaceful as he slept. Jean was beside him as he sat across the bed, his hands together and his eyes staring at Armin's face.

"I almost lost him." There was a crack in Jean's voice.

"I know." Liesel calmly stated.

"He saved me, the asshole that I am, so many times, and I…finally repaid the favor." Jean had his face turned away, but Liesel didn't have to see him to know that tears were running down his face. "I…no one truly was friends with me expect Marco. We grew up together, and truth be told…he was a better friend to me than I had been to him." Jean took a heavy breath and shuddered. "I was a truly selfish person then. And…I didn't think I would meet another person like that." Suddenly Jean turned toward Liesel, tears pouring down his face as he gritted his teeth. "Armin though, understood me. He was…someone I could relate to, someone who I was not afraid to let him see me as I truly was." He paused. "Have you…ever known someone like that?"

"Ja." Liesel's voice was thick, and she didn't yet notice of the tightness in her chest until she took a shuddering breath. "Meine bruder."

"I'm sorry." Liesel stared and Jean ran his hand through his hair in embarrassment. "The language you speak sounds similar to ours."

A small smile graced Liesel's face, remembering of young man who had said a similar thing. "My brother used to tease me of my inability to speak English. Sometimes…if he was angry with me, he would only speak English to me the entire day."

Jean noted of the slight wistful expression on her face. "Your world…what was it like?"

"Beautiful." Liesel immediately replied. "There was so much beauty in the world. Fruits and bread and sweets that you couldn't imagine. And housed taller than Titans, made out of glass. Children, running and laughing. So many different languages than what I spoke and you speak now." A look of awe that Liesel had only thought Armin was capable of appeared on Jean's face. "And there was music. People sang and played music, especially on pianos and violins." She remembered her grandfather, with herself on his hip as he played the old acoustic guitar and sang with his old friends, her eyes widening at the sounds. Later her grandfather told her that the song used to be a somber song, the lyrics created by a former World War I veteran. Time had passed, and it had since been known as a calm and soothing song despite of the somberness and longing of the lyrics. "But…it was cruel as well." Liesel did not have to close her eyes to see the death of her squad and her brother.

"Music?" Liesel broke her thoughts and found Jean looking at her bewilderedly. "What would cause you to have music?" He blinked at her blank expression, and sighed. "I….couldn't sleep the night before. Too many…thoughts and dreams."

"I will sing for you then." Liesel whispered. It…warms me when I think of these memories…

"Die stühle liegen sehr eng
Wir reden die ganze…nacht lang
Dieser niedrige…raum ist nicht schlecht
Wir können uns gut verstehen…"

Jean's eyes were closed. His face leaned softly against Armin's leg, and he seemed to be smiling.

"You have a nice voice." Liesel turned to find Levi leaning against the door, a faraway expression on his face. "Isabel…used to sing too, but hers was terrible. I couldn't bear to hear the shitty sound." His voice lowered. "I still hear the song in my head, and her messing up the fucking words. Even I knew that the words weren't correct." His dark grey eyes bored into Liesel's own, and she was surprised to see a strange peaceful expression on his face. "I am…pleased to hear the song again after such violent and terrible sounds."

He shortly left after that, his words echoing in Liesel's mind as she thought of her memories. Soon she too lied down to sleep and peace soothed her as she slept beside her friends.