Annie hated these meetings at night. It was just the first year of training done and gone, and already Reiner was pulling her out of a relatively comfortable bed (compared to her bed back home in Marley, anything was an upgrade. Baring perhaps her actual upgraded bed supplied to her Warrior status, a bed she hadn't gotten to indulge in before being shipped off to hell) to get a status update.

Status? Pissed off, and ready to call it quits. Intel is as follows: these people are simple, they aren't devils, they aren't a threat. It wouldn't take much to condemn the rest of them to a cruel and unusual end, and they wouldn't know why. And hell, why shouldn't the Warriors do just that? Just breach every gate, run off, and watch these stupid, pitiful, innocent people die at the jaws of the Mindless surrounding them! The Warriors were already damned, with over a quarter of a million deaths on their souls, what was a nice 7 digit number?!

Annie paused in her steps, and took a deep breath.

She hated it here. She hated how everyone was so trusting. How people treated her with kindness she had barely if ever experienced back home. How they smiled at her, how they offered her a hand up instead of a clenched fist (though she had experienced those too, in laughable hand to hand exercises), and almost made her forget she was a monster.

But she couldn't forget. Couldn't afford to. Because of a promise.

'I'm going home. I promised my dad, I'm going home. I have to, I have to see that he's changed. That I actually have a father.'

Indeed, it was the only thing she had, a pitiful bond that was so shallow it was laughable, but she needed it. She needed a father, needed a family. Because without that, what was left? Just a empty husk, a weapon, a tool. What was here, it may have her feeling good some days, made her feel warm. But it was a fleeting thing. The second she revealed her true self, it would disappear. And then she'd be forced to kill them, people better than those she knew.

'Just focus on the mission. Keep investigating, keep looking, find this damn Founder! Just one bit of intel, and we're one step closer to going home.' Annie repeated to herself, her own mantra. If she could, she would have gone home right now, leave these people alone, it was the bare minimum she could do for them. But unfortunately, Reiner was right. Without the Founder, they wouldn't live one day past when the new Warriors were slated.

Sighing at the depressing direction her thoughts had gone (not like they went anywhere else), Annie trudged on. Just tell Reiner where to shove it, report she had fuck all right now, and go back to bed. Hopefully the momma's boy would accept that immediately and let her-

"Annie?"

Oh crap.

Annie didn't startle (she didn't!), but she did stiffen. Of all the people here, all those who she'd sat beside and broken bread with, gotten to know, bothered to remember the names, it had to be him. Armin Arlert.

Armin was a very present and clear reminder to Annie of how damnable her actions were. He had been there when Bertolt had broken down the outer Wall of Maria, and saw his home taken by the Mindless she had summoned. Those same Mindless who had taken 250,000 more people in the purge a year later, to prevent the rest from starving. Eren had been very vocal about how his mother had been lost, but Armin also showed pain. He had lost people too, maybe a parent?

And yet, he always smiled. He was easily the kindest boy Annie had met. His past was full of pain, and yet he never let that stop him from being an honest to god good person. Even when she had tried scaring him off (a feat that required little effort for most, she had perfected her scowl and glare with years of effort), he still smiled, smiled at her. And somehow had managed to figure out when a scowl was a reflex that was open to him starting a conversation or when she really did need to be left alone.

When the later happened, she would usually find a fresh fruit of some variety being offered to her the following day. Bribery? Perhaps, but he insisted it was just a simple gift, no big deal, he hoped it would be to her liking.

She never refused. Why would she? She still had no idea how he had managed to acquire strawberries! (Those she deemed to share with him, she wasn't ungrateful). And maybe that influenced her the following hand to hand session, where she would guide Armin gently to the ground, instead of full on slamming him down. Or simply pin Armin by sitting down on him, rather than a leg lock.

Armin became such a sputtering mess every time, it was a little endeari- amusing. It was amusing.

"Annie? What are you doing out here?" Armin asked, having gotten closer to be within arms distance, a lantern in his hand.

'Meeting up with my fellow practitioners of genocide for a secret meeting, didn't you know?' Annie thought, already feeling the annoyance of having to come up with a half ass excuse in the middle of the night. "I could ask the same about you."

Armin brought his hand up to rub the back of his head. "Ah, well, promise you won't laugh?"

Annie tilted her head. Was he embarrassed? "About what?"

Armin sighed. "I uh, I was practicing my kicks. Like you taught me? I was hoping I could improve. But I may have, uh, ripped my pants?"

Annie blinked. Then blinked again. "I… see."

"I actually managed to get some thread and a sewing needle from supplies, and was out here patching them up!" Armin explained. "Just finished too, but if you had shown up a little earlier, you might have seen me a little under dressed." Was he blushing?

Annie had a million things on her mind, but suddenly she was completely focused on this information. Pants-less Armin, Armin being pants-less due to him kicking. Probably a high kick, maybe, stretching the material against his…

"And so you came out here to get some privacy, rather than risk going to the barracks and have everyone see you." Annie confirmed for herself, as Armin nodded lamely.

"….Can I see it?"

"Eh?!" Armin looked up in shock, clearly not expecting that.

"The kick. Which kick was it?" Annie supplied.

"Oh! Uh, it was more the aftermath of the kicks?" Armin recovered, his blush fading once again.

Annie would never admit she had deliberately wanted that.

"I uh, I followed through with three high kicks…" Armin explained, putting the lantern down as he got into a semi serious fighting stance, willing to demonstrate but not so much to risk repeating the incident. "A one, two, three!" Armin displayed, not quite raising his leg to the optimal position but enough to give a clear image. "And when I finished, I had to bend over to catch my breath, where I heard a very distinct rip."

"… I see." Annie said. "…I guess it's fortunate it happened when you were practicing in private. Can definitely see several people drawing attention to you if they had noticed."

"Yeah, Eren would probably try to cover me up, offer me his jacket, but would definitely be loud about it."

Annie nodded in agreement, she could certainly see the loudmouth exclaim "ARMIN! YOUR PANTS ARE RIPPED! I'LL SAVE YOU BUDDY!" The boy had no idea what quiet meant. Speaking of…

"I was actually thinking of Shadis. He'd definitely put you on display, string you up in ODM gear and flip you upside down so everyone got a look."

"Oh Walls no!" Armin laughed. It was a nice laugh.

Armin calmed down, and gathered himself. "Well, I guess I should be headed back. Are you going as well?"

"I actually want a bit more night air before I turn in." Annie supplied. Much as she wanted to leave Reiner and Bertolt in the woods, that would cause more problems than it was worth.

"Ah. Well, if you'd like the lantern, I could-" And at the moment, the night sky light up. A terrific streak of fire, sailing through the sky, that Armin and Annie both turned to look up at as it pass over them, some distance above and yet dropping ever closer. It was certainly a captivating sight as it sailed behind a far off mountain range, beyond an out of sight Wall Rose.

But despite that distance, what followed shook harder than a Titan's footstep.

The ground seemed to jump at the sound of a terrific boom! One could be forgiven for thinking the Colossal had landed nearby! As the teens fumbled to the ground, Annie braced herself as she fell backward, prepared to be a little scuffed…

Only to find Armin cradling her body, having managed to wrap his arm around her mid fall and take some of the impact himself.

Catching his breath, Armin looked around in confusion. "What, what was that? Was that an actual meteor!?"

Annie was surprised, both at the thought and Armin's knowledge. "A meteor?"

Armin nodded, rotating himself over Annie in a daze, a little shaken up. "Y-yeah, a- basically a falling rock from the stars. I had a book about them, they're extremely rare, and don't normally make it to the ground…"

"Hmm…" Annie pondered. A meteor, managing to hit the Earth. And an island, of all places, and that island being Paradis. The odds on that were astronomical. Fitting really, with space and all.

(Who says Annie can't be funny? (Everyone, everyone says that)).

As the moment died down and the teens were managing to collect themselves, Annie couldn't help but notice Armin was still crouched over her.

"Well Armin, congratulations."

"Eh?" Armin looked down, to see a blank face Annie gazing into his eyes.

"You've managed to pin me to the ground. I am at your mercy."

"EH?" Armin gasped, immediately getting up and scooting backwards, his hands waving in front of him as he apologized. "So-sorry Annie! I was just- it's that- I just reacted and I- I'm so sorry!"

Annie slowly sat up, and putting her acting skills to use, hugged her body, looking as meek as possible. "Oh, how I can just imagine you'll now bully a defenceless little girl like me. Big mean Armin, please show mercy."

Armin stopped babbling at that, and went to pouty pretty quick. "Annie, that's not funny."

Annie merely smirked and tilted her head.

"…Okay, it was a little funny. But I still don't call this a win against you."

Annie shrugged. "You take the opportunities when you can, a win is a win. If an opponent gets struck by lightning and you don't have to lift a finger, don't feel bad because it wasn't an honourable fight, be happy your standing and they're not."

Armin proceeded to get up, and offered Annie a hand, one she took without hesitation. "Yeah well, I don't think I can rely on lightning saving my bacon. Even if we just witnessed a one in a million occurrence, I don't think we're due for another."

"True, it's up to you to win." Annie dusted herself off. "Still, I do appreciate the save. Thank you Armin."

Armin smiled, and nodded to her. "You're welcome Annie. See you tomorrow?"

"Unless lightning strikes, sure."

With that thought, the two departed. Armin to dream pleasant dreams after pondering where the meteorite could have landed to have made an impact felt so strongly, and Annie to chat with her fellow conspirators in genocide. Still, when she saw Armin the next morning at the mess, it was enough to lighten her mood a bit.

That night, the citizens of the Walls not tucked away in their beds could only stare in awe at the falling star. Some may consider it a sign, either of salvation or destruction. Some clinging to old forbidden faiths might hope it was a gift from the gods, to smite the Titans. Others, simply hoped it wouldn't bring more harm to their already desperate lives.

As the Garrison soldiers stationed on the Walls looked on, keeping it in sight until the moment it descended past Wall Rose to the ground beyond, the brief thought of reporting it to their superiors crossed some minds. Then, the impact occurred.

It wasn't the worst of earthquakes, in fact it wasn't really an earthquake, more a quick jolt than anything. Some people were abruptly woken up, some fell out of their beds, a few fine pots or dishes fell off the shelf's and were smashed. A brief panic, then calm soon returned, as soldiers assured woken up citizens the Titans hadn't breached the Walls. And that was that…

Until it wasn't.