She was drowning.
Drowning in the dark, murky waters of an endless ocean.
She couldn't swim, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't feel anything…
She didn't want to feel anything…
She couldn't feel fear nor could she feel the cold.
She felt nothing…
Nothing…
But she still wondered.
Wondered about the world,
She wondered about the universe and how it existed.
She wondered why she was even alive.
And she wondered about why she was drowning in this horrible, suffocating place.
And…
What was her name?
She wondered why…
Why she couldn't remember her name…
And why…
Why was there a boy standing above her with that sad…oh so very sad…look?
Why was he not saying anything?
Why was that boy crying?
And still,
She did not feel anything.
His tears glistened down like jewels before splashing into the ocean waters, morphing into them, becoming one with them.
He was saying something.
What was he saying?
She didn't know.
She didn't care.
But he was irritating her.
That crying boy, that naïve, stupid, and little boy was annoying her.
She raised her hand, reaching, and reaching, and reaching.
What was she reaching for?
Nothing.
There was nothing to grab onto.
So, as she drowned, as she stared up at the boy, she asked him a question.
"You," she said. "Why are you crying?"
The tears stopped,
The sobbing ceased,
The boy looked down at her dying figure.
Silence.
And then,
"Because," he said softly, his hands resting against the surface of the moving water. "I'm crying because…"
"ANNIE! WAKE THE FREAK UP!"
Jerking up from her slumber, Annie leapt up, all of her senses fired up and on alert.
Her blue eyes scanned her area, her heart thumping loudly against her chest over and over and over again.
Nothing.
"…" she paused, turning to look at Eren who had a very sheepish look on his face.
"Haha…" he gulped. "Good afternoon?"
"Yeah…?" she said softly, slowly and carefully walking towards him. "Good night."
But before she could raise her leg and smash it against his damn face, Eren quickly came up with a statement of defense.
"W-Wait!" he exclaimed, desperately trying to avoid her dangerous weapon, AKA her feet. "I-I had to wake you up…! Vadil told me to! It was her idea! Not mine!"
"Vadil…?" Annie blinked, looking up.
Now that she had a better understanding of her surrounding, she noticed Vadil leaning against a tree at least ten feet away.
They were no longer in her titan hand and instead were outside, completely safe and sound.
"Since when…" she started.
"A long time ago actually." Vadil's voice snapped, walking towards them
She was definitely worn out.
Her hair was a mess and her pupils were only showing the weakness of exhaustion.
But despite her lack of rest, she still had that burning spark of determination in her eyes.
"Eren carried you all the way over here, underneath this nice shade, where the freshest and greenest patch of grass is, next to this sparkling river." She said with a mocking tone.
Annie said nothing for a moment before glancing at Eren who was scratching the back of his neck.
"You did?" she asked softly.
"She's exaggerating a bit…" he mumbled. "But I did carry you."
Annie flashed him her infamous look of indifference before facing Vadil once more.
"What happened on our way here?"
"That midget and Asian chick didn't follow us. My scream did a pretty good job, huh?" she smirked, crossing her arms. "I ran for a long time. A long, long, long time so a thank you would be nice."
Annie ignored her last comment.
"This is the safest spot I could find…for now at least, so we better move out once we've rested."
Tucking another golden lock of hair behind her ear, Annie nodded in agreement.
"Vadil, you should sleep. You look…" she trailed off.
"Like shit?" Vadil frowned.
"No," Annie blinked with her usual stoic expression. "You look tired."
"Whatever." Vadil growled, sitting down on a decent space of shade. "Oh, I almost forgot. Don't even think about running away, Eren." She called out. "Because even if I'm out of order, Annie isn't." she chuckled.
Vadil yawned and stretched, preparing to drift away into her land of sleep.
After confirming that Vadil was indeed asleep, Annie's eyes traveled towards Eren.
He was sitting near the edge of the river, his eyes focused on the small mass of liquid before him.
He seemed to be deep in thought, but she knew he wasn't.
He was probably day dreaming.
She walked over to him, her steps quiet and discreet.
Eren hardly even heard her coming until the light tap on his shoulder gave her away.
"What do you want?" he grumbled, flashing her an irritated look.
She remained quiet, her azure eyes only reflecting the light rays of the sun as she gazed down at him.
"I had a dream." She said softly.
He stared back at her, confused.
"Okay?" he blinked. "And?"
"I don't remember what it was about though."
Silence.
"And," he frowned, slightly annoyed. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Once again, another moment of silence filled the air before it was shattered by her voice,
"Just wanted to let you know…"
Eren, in his own opinion, was not a very observing person.
There were many things he was quite oblivious to, especially when it came to people.
However, this one particular event was something even he took a notice of.
He realized that Annie Leonhardt was not very good at conversations.
In fact, she was terrible at them.
If she wasn't spewing threats, insults, or sassy comebacks then she was either quiet or dead.
If she was not quiet or dead, and not throwing threats left and right, then she would blurt out awkward and random things that weren't really necessary to their current situation.
Such as dreams she couldn't remember.
So, Eren decided to help her out a bit.
In his own awkward way.
"Oh, I have dreams like those all the time." He said nervously. "Those…dreams that are always forgotten. It gets pretty annoying after a while."
"Yeah…"
Silence.
This girl was impossible.
Did she not know how to continue a simple conversation?
Was she really that clueless on socializing with other people?
Come on, say something!
At least ask a question!
"Why didn't you just…escape?"
Eren flinched at her voice.
Okay,
He wanted her to ask something but he didn't want her to ask those types of questions.
"While I was sleeping…you had the perfect chance to-"
"No, I didn't. If I shifted, you would've woke up…" he snapped. "Shifting is loud. All that lighting and stuff."
"Ah…I see."
It was another awkward moment of silence.
Eren wasn't sure how long he would last.
"Well, at least I can use both of my arms now." He chuckled weakly. "My broken bone is all healed and I don't have some rope holding them hostage."
He waited for some reaction.
Nothing.
Of course.
What was he expecting?
"I…I can skip stones now and stuff…" he tried to keep this sorry excuse of a conversation alive as best as he could by picking up an oval shaped rock and flinging it across the surface of the river.
Annie watched it bounce a couple of times before letting it sink to the bottom.
She stared at the ripples that gently caressed the shoreline, then her eyes rested on Eren's hopeful face.
She blinked at him.
Oh…
Did he want her to say something?
Ah, right…
He wanted a conversation, didn't he?
Silence.
And then,
"Oh."
Eren's smile seemed to have brightened.
"I remember now," she continued, her pale blue eyes still holding no emotion. "In my dream, I remember what happened in my dream."
Eren waited for more.
Blankly, she mumbled, "I was drowning."