Living In Hell Again

by meinsylaks

*ANIME/MANGA SPOILER ALERT* After Mikasa kills Eren and successfully stops the rumbling, Eren wakes up again back inside the walls, just after eating his father. With everything he has seen by now, wiill he be able to change fate? Will he manage to find a way to Eldia and Marley stop figthing? [Eren Y./Annie L.]

4. Keep your Friends and your Enemies Close

Chapter 3: Keep your Friends and your Enemies Close

The sun had finally hidden. Due to a big wood stove the place was warm enough to eat peacefully and not to worry about the weather outside. As he entered the place, Eren followed Annie wherever she would want to sit at. Knowing that she is an introverted girl, he was expecting she to sit far from everyone else inside the building. And his thoughts were right. When both had sat in a little table which was in one of the corners, they started to eat their meals. Eren knew better than anybody that he had to be the one to try and start any kind of conversation. He was thinking about the best way to do so when he heard his female companion initiating the chat.

"Just to let you know. If you ever hang out with some dumb girl who may be into you, don't stay that quiet for such a long time."

Being Annie the one to have the first word was not something that Eren would expect for. Not that he's throwing away the first time he was not forcing her to talk to him. After all, there is no guarantee that there would be a second one.

"Annie Leonhart breaking the ice? Are you deadly ill or something?"

"I'm already regretting to have done it. You were the one that followed me here, you should at least try to not make it look weirder than it does."

"I see; my bad then. So, let's go the easy way. I barely know anything regarding you. Apart from your name and your supposed skills on murdering. Reiner and Bertholt have already told me that you three are from the same village. Don't dare asking why the topic came up. So, tell me, who is Annie Leonhart?"

Eren knew her story from top to bottom. But giving it a thought, he didn't know what topics could be shared with the blonde in a kind chat. Going for the typical conversation between people who recently met was the way out, so he could also be aware not to say anything that could make Annie distrust Eren knowing the truth. The girl's facial expression changed to a bitter one before she began to talk again.

"My childhood is not something interesting. To make it quick, my biological parents left me behind when I was born. Still today don't know why, maybe they were just expecting a boy. My adoptive father took me in, but he was just taking care of me because he saw me as nothing more than a tool to improve his life quality. He trained me hard so I could make it through the top 10 and get into the Military Police. This would bring him a considerable amount of wealth. After the wall was destroyed and our village got wiped out by the Titans, I just felt that nothing could be worse than staying with the man that calls himself "my father", so I just signed on for the Training Corps. I wished the three years I'll be spending here to be peaceful enough, but then some asshole decided to try to get along with me. And here we are."

"Trying to make me feel guilty, huh? Not working with me." After the tiny joke, Eren felt the need to say something seriously. In spite of Annie lying to him about her origins, he knew that her lies were not that far from the truth. A wise man once said that the best lies are half-truths. "Sorry for asking anyway, it should not have been easy."

"Don't apologize. I never got attached to anyone so it's not like I have someone to cry for. I would even say that I have already talked more with you than I did with Reiner and Bertholt."

"You did even manage to make me not wanting to joke about that."

"If you want to know someone the best you can, ask for the tragedies they have gone through." Annie made a pause to get a little piece of a steak in her mouth. Eren did the same, waiting for the sad atmosphere to go away, but Annie did not allow that to happen. "So, what's wrong with you, Yeager? Anything to reveal? You surely know I am obviously aware of what happened back in your place."

"Well, there's actually something, I guess I have to reward your sincerity." He prepared himself taking a sip of the water glass he had carried with him, talking about how he met Mikasa was not something he enjoyed, although everything led to meet his valuable friend. "My father was a doctor back in town. Periodically, he started to go to Mikasa's house to check on her mother about something I can't remember. Somewhen, I started to go with him and spend the afternoons playing with Mikasa, being this how I met her."

"Just letting you know that it sounds like you are bragging about your childhood. Not seeing anything bad from what you've told me." Annie cut Eren's speech, thinking he was over.

"I'm about to get there. One day, normal as each other, we arrived at Mikasa's house. My father opened the door and Mikasa's parents were lying on the floor bathed in blood. They had been murdered and Mikasa was nowhere to be seen. My father ran back to town to look for someone from the Military Police or the Garrison that could help with the matter. I was supposed to wait there, but I remembered that there was a little abandoned cabin not far from the crime scene where me and Mikasa used to play around. So, I went to check the place."

Annie was now understanding where the story was going to. No more jokes coming from her mouth would be heard by Eren, leastways, until he's finished.

"When I arrived there, I could hear some voices coming from inside. I took a glimpse through a window and I saw Mikasa tied up with two men standing next to her. I went in without making noise and found a knife nailed to a chair in the main hall, thought it'd be from one of the kidnappers. I knocked the door of the room they were in and acted like a scared child would. One of the kidnappers approached me and I stabbed him in the neck. Then, I pretended to run away so the other one would follow me. Grabbing a spear that was in the front room, I kicked him in the stomach and picked up the knife from the neck of the first one. Then I stabbed the second one to death and released Mikasa." Considering Mikasa's privacy, he decided to not tell Annie about the third guy who appeared right after the scene he had just told Annie. Nobody needs to know about the girl's past unless she wants to share it.

"How old were you when all that happened?" was everything that Annie managed to say after hearing the guy telling her about the time when he became a murderer.

"I'd say eight. Maybe nine."

"Holy shit."

An awkward silence filled in between the two cadets. Annie did not know which was the best way to keep the talk alive and Eren was now more concerned about his past experience than the conversation in which he was taking part.

"Knowing that, I believe that killing you will not be a piece of cake."

Annie was surely trying to lighten the dark mood, but that was not the accurate time for a joke. However, Eren appreciated the girl's try to cheer him up. Given that she probably wouldn't have had a lot of friends in her life, it's understandable that she found difficulties when having tact with others' feelings. Eren just left his thoughts behind, came back to reality and carried on with the talk, as if this matter hadn't been talked about.

"I still might think twice before fighting to death against you."

The two cadets kept talking until they had finished their dinners. They went out the cafeteria with their bellies full and went their separate ways, each one of them heading for their respective bedroom.

The following morning, Shadis had woken the cadets the exact same way as he did the day before. They had a short amount of time to have breakfast before the day would start. Heading the training fields, the cadets could see that no equipment was being given to them that day. Wooden knives would be the only tool they will be using this time. Shadis began to explain the training program when all the cadets had arrived by him, not being completely sure of this as keeping track of about 200 cadets that formed the 104th generation was not an easy task.

"TODAY YOU WILL BE QUARRELING IN A ONE-VERSUS-ONE FIGHT. ONE WILL PLAY THE ROLE OF THE ATTACKER, WHO WILL BE USING THE KNIFE, AND THE OTHER ONE WILL HAVE TO TAKE HIM DOWN, STEALING THE KNIFE FROM HIM OR HER. THAT'S ALL. YOU CAN START NOW."

Shadis shouting explication was not the most specific one. It didn't seem that he wanted the cadets to learn to fight in a "professional way", but to know how to defend themselves in case of needing it. Eren was had been fighting with Reiner for a long time now. Making the other hit the floor was something they enjoyed for the time being.

"Not wanting to sound like an asshole, but I expected more from you Reiner. Given your muscle mass I thought you would wipe me out without needing to make an effort."

"These muscles you see come from long evenings chopping firewood back at my village. I may have more strength than most of the people here, but that does not mean that I would be the best at quarreling. When it comes to a real fight, force is far from being the most important thing. Having a nice technique and thinking in a rational and relaxed way when trouble appears, cause it will, can make the difference between ending in a coffin or not."

Eren listened carefully to everything that Reiner was saying, excepting the lie in the beginning. He had to remember that he only kept memories from the vision he had from the future. Everything involving physical aspects, like knowing how to fight, had faded in his head. Nevertheless, he found out that he may still have some traces of muscle memory inside of him.

"Anyway, if you are really interested in learning how to fight or improving your skills, you could talk to Annie. Besides, using the "I want to learn to fight" excuse you can spend some more time with your desired girl."

Reiner took the chance to mess with Eren regarding the conversation they had in the bedrooms the first night they had slept in the barracks. The mocking made some concealing smile form around Eren's lips. The brown-haired boy hit Reiner's shoulder with his fist as a reward for the joke he had pulled out of the hat.

"So, do you know what? I may be taking your advice. Not that I'm using the training sessions to flirt or something, just wanting to improve my skills. And before I forget, you could really do me a favor if you could train Armin a little bit, his brain has no rival here, but him getting fit would make me feel more carefree."

"Sure, it's not like my actual partner is changing me for a cute girl or something so I'll be on my way."

"Fuck off Reiner. Thanks, by the way. See you at lunchtime."

After sharing some laughs due to the final part of the talk they had had, they started to look for their new rivals, knowing that both Annie and Armin would not be very busy at the moment. Eren was walking among his comrades, taking the chance to see if their fighting was good enough to take notes on some details he would watch. No one seemed to be that good to take as an example. Even less people like Connie or Sasha who were doing nothing but stupid poses with the knives they were supposed to be fighting with. He finally managed to find the blonde he was looking for. It might seem that she was looking for someone to fight, but Eren knew that was far from the truth. She was just pretending to do so in order not to be grounded by Shadis, when anybody stares at her trying to carry on with the training, the cold girl would just look away and keep walking. Eren started to speed up his walking to reach so he could reach to her from behind.

"Looking for someone to fight with?"

Eren touched Annie's shoulder while he spoke, making her to turn backwards in a violent way. When the girl saw that the one who was speaking to her was no one but Eren, she relaxed herself.

"Actually not."

Annie had just thought that Eren talking in such a "serious" way to her was actually strange, she was even asking herself were that mocking attitude of him had gone.

"Such a pity, I kind of felt playing that role. Do you know if there are any more girls with bad temper and killer vibes round here?".

Annie raised an eyebrow as a gesture with which she would be saying something similar to "there it was".

"If you put it like that, I feel like kicking your ass would not be a bad idea. Mind if I ask why with me? Don't you have a lot of friends to choose from?"

Annie started to get in position to start the fight. As she saw that Eren was carrying a knife himself, she didn't bother to ask Shadis for another one. Eren, seeing this, decided to prepare himself too. The two of them were now staring into each other's eyes. Annie had both of her fists in front of her face and both of her knees flexed, leaving her left leg more ahead than her right one, holding a defensive position. Eren stood straight, grabbing the knife with his right hand. When he saw that Annie was ready to start the show, he lifted both of his arms to his neck's height, pulling apart his right leg from his left one.

"I would be an asshole if I had dinner with you last night and act like nothing happened the next day. You know my saying: manners make men. Besides, now that you know some secrets of mine, I have to make sure you don't spread them through the crowd."

"In case you pretend to act like a limpet glued to me from now on, I'm nothing but sorry to say that I might kill you before the end of the day."

Then, the fight started. Eren made the first move, starting to run towards his opponent. When the boy was about to give the first hit on Annie, the girl managed to kick Eren's right leg with her left one, making him lose his balance. With Eren standing on one of his knees, Annie had not to make any effort on taking him down, a single kick on the boy's face was all it took for her to knock him down.

"Every little move you did was bad as hell. Watch for your opponent's moves. Don't rush into action before you know how your rival is going to respond to you. And, above all, never underestimate the person you are fighting against unless you want to have all the chances of winning the fight removed."

Annie lend Eren a hand so he could stand up, who accepted it in a sign of defeat.

"Ready for another round?" asked Eren after regaining composure. Despite the short length of the fight, he felt a big amount of adrenaline traveling through his body.

"It would have to be me the one asking that to you."

"I'll take that as a solid yes."

The both of them went back to their fighting positions. Eren kept playing the attacker role and repeated the same starting moves as he had done a moment ago. This time, when he had Annie right in front of him, he managed to set a couple of punches into the girl's right arm, who used her limb as a shield against Eren's attacks. However, the girl took advantage of Eren's raising confidence. Using her left hand, she managed to land a single punch on Eren's face when the boy started to feel the fatigue due to his repeated hits. The boy started to stumble backwards and Annie made her moves to end the fight. Approaching the boy, she kicked one of his legs once again, leaving him in the same position he stood before being taken down. It was there when Eren realized she was about to kick him in the head again. Stopping the girl's punt, he managed to quickly stand up and grabbing Annie from her back, approaching her body to him, leaving the knife near her neck. Unfortunately for Eren, Annie grabbed his arm which was holding the weapon, lifting into the air. Then, she pulled Eren towards her and kicked him in his support leg with all the strength she could, making the knife leave its owner's hand. Eren felt back in the ground and Annie sat on his chest, nearing the knife she stole from him into his neck.

"I guess I have to teach you every little detail. Another basic rule, Yeager. Never calm down before you have let your opponent unarmed. Or things like these might happen."

"Fair enough. Not complaining though."

Eren saw the opportunity to tease the blonde when he realized Annie was sitting on him, with his face so near to Annie's.

"You dare to mock on me while I have a knife pointing to your neck? You are either a fool or someone with suicidal desires."

"Not to sound rough, but I don't see myself being murdered by a wooden knife."

"If you think that only sharp weapons can hurt people, you might get yourself killed sooner than later."

After a brief moment staring into each other's eyes, Annie left out a sigh before starting to get up. However, she took the chance to step on Eren's right leg as a reward for the previous joke. Right after this, she lent a hand again to Eren to lift him up.

"Just letting you know that you could have asked for an apologize. Although, to be fair, I might have deserved that."

"You really did deserve that, asshole."

"Okay, I'm sorry. You gotta admit that it was a good one, though."

"Seriously Eren, you won't make it out alive of this fields."

The two cadets moved on the uncomfortable moment that Eren's joke caused. They kept fighting each other for almost an hour, until the fatigue in their bodies obligated them to stop and call it a day. Eren went in a rush to the cafeteria and grabbed two bottles of water and went back to they were fighting. With Annie being sat in the ground, he took his place next to her. Handing one bottle to the girl, he started speaking to her.

"You know. After last night's talk, some thoughts came up in my mind."

"Being these...?"

"Your gaze. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not about to spell out my feelings or sending some romantic crap at you. I just came to think that I have seen a similar look to yours somewhere else."

Annie turned her eyes into the guy's face sitting alongside her, feeling confused due to his weird words. She did not have a single clue in knowing at what he was referring to. She just remained silent and prepared to hear what he was about to say.

"I know it may sound kind of weird, but I have seen a similar one in me. Somewhen, it started to appear every time I looked myself in the mirror. Maybe after Shiganshina's fall. Someway, I knew it was then that I was obligated to fight back. Surely, I would love to live a normal life with Mikasa and Armin, just moving into a village in Rose Wall and working for each day's meals. Being that way until we could afford a house of our own. But I feel like I just can't allow myself such a privilege. I insist, it may sound weird, but I can't find the accurate words to explain it clearly."

Eren made a stop in his speech and remained still, staring into the landscape he had in front of his eyes. After a brief moment, he kept going on.

"Also, I might be afraid that I'm dragging my friends with me to an unknown fate. Although, they made their own decision and I can't change their minds now. Maybe I'm deviating from the main matter. All I'm trying to say is that I think I understand how you feel. I understand how it feels to want to run away from everything and just live a normal life with your loved ones, but not being able to do it. I mean, isn't it ironic that we have to sacrifice ourselves so everyone else get to live a happy life?"

Annie paid extreme attention into Eren's words. She did not know what to reply. Anyway, she gave it a try.

"Seems that brain of yours is working yet. But I'm afraid to say that I can't see you understanding me, Eren. You may understand the surface of the matter, but my deeper reasons to challenge life are something that you will find either wrong or senseless. Believe me Eren, I can guarantee that our goals will never agree."

"You will have to be the one to believe in me, Annie. Somewhen, you will understand what I've tried to say to you today. And when that time arrives, you will see that our goals are exactly the same. I'm just worried about you realizing too late."

With these last words, Eren stood up and made his way to the showers, leaving his blonde friend behind. Annie was now more confused than ever. She had never seen Eren acting like that. However, she felt this last conversation to be the most real and sincere one that she had had with the brown-haired boy.

Months started to pass through. Eren really enjoyed being in the barracks and, with time, he started to get along with almost everybody in his "main" group. Even he managed to get closer to Reiner, Annie and Bertholt than he did in his dream. Unfortunately, that joy was destined to end sooner than later; one day, Eren received a reminder that he did have to step into action as soon as possible.

Almost two years had passed already and the cadets were no longer looking like kids. Adult traits started to appear in everybody's faces and bodies. Eren woke up one morning due to Shadis' shouts. After following the same routine he had had for a long time now, he made his way out to the fields where the cadets were meeting up. With Keith in the front of the crowd, they were waiting to know what would be their next duty. Unaware were the cadets of the calm tone that the man would use to speak to them this time.

"You have been here for almost two years. The graduation is almost there. I'm glad to tell you that the ceremony will be held in the district of Trost. You will be given a huge dinner in an accommodated dining room where you will be able to spend the night and enjoy yourselves for a while."

Some whispers of joy would be heard in the crowd. Nevertheless, good news usually come in company with not as good ones.

"However, the bad part from all of this is that due to the graduation being not that far away, we will be focusing more in the results than ever, so try your hardest to make it to the top ten cadets."

"YES, SIR!" the crowd answered in unison.

"So, you will be having spare time all day. Tomorrow you will be divided in groups and you will be sent in a three-days exploration into the woods. The groups will be exposed in the cafeteria at dinner time tonight. You will be given nothing but the basics, along with one meal per member of the group. You are supposed to go to the forest, survive there for three days, and come back here the third day's night. Outside from all of this, there are no rules and you can do whatever you want in the time given. That's all cadets. NOW, GET AWAY FROM MY SIGHT!"

"YES, SIR!"

The crowd scattered when given all the information needed for their next task. Eren, Armin and Mikasa were now in front of the girls' bedroom discussing about the matter.

"Finally, something different from the typical training. I was getting tired of exercising until we fainted from fatigue." Armin said. Eren looked at him and realized how much he had changed. Despite of his fragile appearance, he has gotten more fit and higher, too. Besides, he no longer had that kid face which distinguished him in the past.

"I'm just hoping that we are put in the same group. Think we could have some fun out there." Mikasa was the next one to share some words. She didn't come to grow up as Armin did, but she was definitely in a much better shape than almost everyone around. She was even prettier in Eren's eyes, her hair being the main thing that caught his attention. He felt like not telling her to cut it as he did in his dream, in spite of warning her that she might have to do it in case she finds it a hassle when it came to fighting. And for last, allowing the perv comment, puberty started to make its things on the girl's body.

"I hope so. We can't do anything but praying though." Eren's short answer was due to the boy being thinking about himself now. His friends were not the only to change these last years. He really gained some muscle mass, being noticeable mainly in his back, abdomen and arms. His hair was now the way he liked to be. Just as he saw himself in the future.

He was now lost in his thoughts, remembering all the time spent here in the barracks and that in some time, no longer than a year, they will be finally graduating in Trost. But suddenly, the happy memories faded when he realized what the arrival of their graduation would mean. He had spent months letting the time pass by without taking any risk on his first move. Regarding the events that were approaching, he knew he had to do something in the time they had left in those fields.

"EREN!?"

The teenage boy came back to reality to see both of his friends shouting at him.

"Where were you? We have been trying to speak to you for the last minute." Armin protested.

"Sorry, just thinking about something. Not so important, though."

"Anyway, let's head to the cafeteria. Lunch time is about to set in." said Mikasa, downplaying Eren's absence.

"Sure, let's go. How is the thing with Jean going though?"

Mocking Mikasa was not something you could do and come out unscathed from it. Eren knew that, but teasing her was worth the couple of punches the girl would deal on him. Armin's laugher from the back also made the hits less painful.

The lunch time came through and Eren decided to just rest some time in his litter as he had not a good time sleeping last night. Or at least, that's the excuse he gave to his friend so he could be all alone for a while. The silence in the bedroom helped him to think in a lighter way. Many options of how to deal with the situation appeared through his head. Going to talk with the Scouts was one, they would probably listen to what he had to say, but he didn't believe that option to end in a happy way, above all for the three warriors from Marley. Telling the truth to his closer comrades was something he contemplated too, but soon that idea was ruled out, this could lead to some discomfort in the barracks and that would make Reiner, Bertholt and Annie suspect that something was off.

Fighting his thoughts had Eren lost inside his mind. Dinner time came sooner than he expected. Not having found a solution was pissing him off, so he decided to take a lonely meal and head forward to bed. He was about to leave the cafeteria when he saw a little crowd accumulated in front of one of the building's walls. Among the people, there were Armin and Reiner, so he passed by to see why everyone seemed so thrilled about a brick wall.

"What's happening here guys?" asked Eren behind the other two boys, who looked backwards to see Eren standing and looking at them.

"Don't you remember? The groups for tomorrow's mission? Have you already forgotten?"

Armin pointed at some large paper that was nailed to the wall while he reminded Eren of Shadis telling them that the groups would be made by dinner time. Then Reiner took the word, leaving his hand on Eren's shoulder to claim his attention.

"And guess what? We are all in the same group."

"Swear?!" some kind of joy emerged from Eren's mouth when he was told the news.

"Our group is formed by the three of us alongside Mikasa, Annie, Bertholt, Sasha, Connie, Jean, Ymir and Krista, such a luck, huh?" Armin explained.

"Gues it won't be such a boring trip through the woods as I expected."

Given the news, the cadets had their proper dinner and headed to the bedrooms earlier than usual, so they wouldn't be tired in the beginning of their trip. The next morning came accompanied by a shimmering sunlight that made their wake-up routine not that of a torture, which caused Eren's comrades to be ready to go before the time arrived. Everyone was there, everyone except the three guys from Marley. When less than five minutes were left before they were setting off into the woods, Eren saw them approaching the group, coming from the main building of the barracks, once all of them were ready to go, their trip through the forest started. Nothing more than fifteen minutes of walking would be needed to hear some complaints coming from some members of Eren's crew.

"Walking is actually fine guys, but what's the plan? I don't feel like walking around the woods with no destination. After all, everything we have to do is spend three days here and go back. We could definitely take the chance to have some fun." Connie was the first to share some words.

"Something tells me that Sasha wouldn't mind to explore the surroundings from top to bottom." Ymir pointed at her. Sasha was climbing some random tree that was in their way. Once she reached one branch that could take her weight, she stood there and looked around for some orienteering. Meanwhile, the cadets kept the conversation down the same tree.

"Anyway, I agree with Connie. If what we do in here doesn't matter, why don't we look for some nice place to camp and use these days to take some rest from our training?" Reiner came up with an idea that was rounding everybody's heads.

"Relaxing would be too much. I remind you that we will have to hunt for food. We may have a meal for this afternoon, but dinner is something we have to deal with. Furthermore, we don't know yet any clearing in the area to stay." Armin said with his characteristic worried tone in his voice.

"HEYY GUYS! THERE'S A WATERFALL JUST AHEAD. IT SEEMS A NICE PLACE TO SETTLE IN!" Sasha shouted from the upside of the tree.

"Guess we already have one task completed." Eren said, starting to make his way to the clearing that Sasha had seen. Doubtless, everyone in the group followed him to see if the girl's sight was not wrong.

When they arrived to their destination, they felt relieved to see that the area was perfect for their task. The waterfall Sasha had seen was a short one, you could even reach the top following a small grass path next to it. The water in the river down the knoll flowed slowly and some fish could be seen from the shore. The near surroundings were not as full of trees as the way they followed to get there. The group took a glimpse around the area and instantly agreed to camp there for the days given. Everyone started to set up their tents and leave all their luggage inside of them.

When Eren ended doing his chores, he saw Jean standing in the edge of the river, looking into the water in a silent mood. Approaching him from behind, he went to have a little talk with him.

"What's the matter, Jean? Anything running through your mind?"

Jean got scared when he heard Eren's voice. Being totally distracted, he didn't expect his friend's appearance. Though, after recovering himself, he retook the chat.

"For god's sake Eren, you scared the fuck out of me. But no, just enjoying the view. Although, I thought that we could manage to hook some fish for the dinner, but we don't have any fishing rod, so I don't know how we could manage to do it."

"I may have an idea."

"Seriousl- "

Jean could not finish his question as Eren had pushed him from the back, making him falling into the river. The sound of the fall made everyone in the group look for its source. They only had to connect points when they saw Jean in the river and Eren laughing next to him.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, IDIOT?" Jean was now standing, with the water covering him by his belly button.

"Didn't you want to grab some fish? Let's do it then." Eren took his t-shirt off, leaving his upper body naked, and went back to his tent to throw it inside. "If you wanna join guys, you know where we are." Eren said to his friends before coming back to the river's edge and jumped into the water.

"You know you could have proposed your great plan to me and let me take my shirt off, too!" Jean complained when Eren's head emerged from the water.

"Yeah, yeah, sure. The one who grabs the less fish is sleeping outside his tent, deal?"

"Oh my god… Anyway, go for it." Jean replied as he took his shirt off and left it in the river's edge. Then the two boys started their competition, despite none of them would accept the punishment in the case they were losing. When they realized, all of their friends were inside or by the river, being mainly the girls who decided to just sit next to the water and let their feet get wet. Krista took a big bucket from the supplies given by Shadis and let it near the edge, where the boys could place the fish when they caught them. Having collected enough fish for the next two days, they decided to enjoy the bath and play for a while.

"Guys, the area where the water falls down is deeper! Should we do what we are thinking?" Reiner asked the crew. Immediately, the boys knew what their friend was referring to.

Everyone started to get out of the water and head up the small hill. The girls decided to go as well. Once they reached the top, Reiner approached the waterfall from the right edge of the path and looked down.

"Well, looking down from up here scares more than I would have thought."

"Are you flinching, Reiner?" Eren mocked him from behind, causing some laughs go out from Connie and Sasha's mouths.

"Speaking away from the edge is easy Eren. Come here and take a look."

Eren followed his friend's suggestion. Once he achieved the waterfall edge and took a look down the drop, a smile formed upon his face when an idea came to his mind.

"Damn, you're right. Given that me and Reiner are already doubting on taking the jump, I guess girls wont even give it a try."

"Excuse me? Step aside, Yeager."

"Bingo!" Eren thought for himself. The one who had answered him back was no one but Annie. Due to his vision, he knew that Annie didn't bear being treated less for being a girl, and another chance of pissing her off had just appeared. This was going to be the hardest one.

"Sure. Take a look yourself." Eren stepped aside and let Annie approach the little cliff. Once she was near enough to the edge, Eren started to run towards her and jumped down, hugging Annie before making his feet leaving the ground. Some seconds passed before they reached the bottom. The crew went down the path to see the scene that was taking part.

"EREEEEN! YOU BETTER RUN, I AM KILLING YOU BEFORE THE DAYS IS OVER!"

The group was now standing by the river and they were seeing how Eren was running away from Annie, who had the scariest face they had ever seen. The boy managed to get out of the water before his haunter, and then he started to run towards the group. Moments after, Annie got herself out as well, starting the chase over again.

"GUYS! HELP ME, PLEASE!" Eren shouted as he ran away from Annie, wanting to cover himself behind the back of every member of the crew. They looked back at Annie, whose face was getting worse second by second. With one voice, all of them rejected Eren's petitions for help and made their way to the campsite, wanting to avoid every little detail that could make Annie's anger splash them. Eren kept running and decided to return to the place where he jumped of minutes ago, turning back his gaze every time he could to check how far Annie was from him. Realizing that the blonde was approaching him second by second, he made a last effort to make it to the top before being caught. But once he was there, standing right in the border of the little cliff, he had no place to run left; he started to think about any option that could save him from the angry girl, but then he heard something coming from his back.

"Finally."

Eren turned his gaze back as slow as possible, just to see that Annie had arrived by his side before he expected. The anger was still noticeable in her face.

"Annie, listen. It was just a good joke, we have laughed enough now, why don't we make it back to our tents and forget everything?"

"Does my face seem to be forgetting all of this right now? You are dead Eren."

Eren gulped when he heard Annie's reply. He was now asking himself why the fuck did he have to push her down that cliff. As Eren was fighting against his inner thoughts, Annie took the first steps towards him. Eren came back to reality and decided to just close his eyes and let the girl punch him so they could go back and have a nice lunch all together. The next thing he felt was some arms being wrapped around him as the sensation of falling down appeared. When he opened back his eyes, all he could see was Annie leaning on him as the both teenagers fell down the waterfall once again. Eren was about to shout due to the fall, when he looked back to Annie's face. To his unbelief, the blonde was looking at him; and she was smiling once again. The couple reached the surface of the river and submerged in the water. Once they had gotten out of the river, they dared to speak again.

"Are you finally happy? I mean, you got the best revenge you could have."

"I guess so; besides, I'm not looking forward to kill someone today."

Annie, in spite of enjoying the last events, punched Eren in his right shoulder as they were going back to their tents. This was when Eren fixed his gaze on Annie. The girl still had all her clothes on when he first pushed her down to the river and she was now soddened.

"You don't have any changing clothes with you, right?" asked Eren thinking of any possible solution to the girl's situation.

"I don't. Why?"

Eren kept thinking for a few seconds until one idea came up in his mind.

"Which is your tent?" asked Eren once again.

"The first one starting from the right, in the back row. But still, why?"

"I'll be there in a second. Wait there." Eren disappeared from Annie's eyes heading somewhere that was unknown to the blonde.

Anyway, the girl went to her tent as she intended in the first place. Not even a couple of minutes had passed when Eren was back with a few things in his hands.

"Here. Take my t-shirt and my jacket. I brought you a towel too, so you can dry yourself before changing."

"What? How am I supposed to use this Eren?" asked Annie, with a tone of disbelief, wanting it to be nothing but a bad joke from his friend.

"My t-shirt will be big enough to reach almost your knees, so then just tie my jacket around your waist to cover yourself. It's just for the time that your clothes don't dry."

Annie kept staring at Eren to ensure herself that the boy was talking seriously. Once she was sure that this was not any kind of joke, she asked something too.

"Are you sure? You are soaking too."

"Consider this as an apology. After all, I was the one to make you fall to the river, and I was already soaking when that happened. Besides, it's not that I have any trousers to change on so drying my chest and my back would not change a lot. I will just dry out in the sunlight." Eren gave her a smile before handing her his clothes and the towel.

Annie surrendered to the guy's kindness, let out a sigh and thanked him for the gesture. Then she entered her tent and started to dry herself and get changed. When Annie had finished, she got out of the tent to see that Eren was still waiting for her. She left her clothes above her tent, hoping they would dry sooner than later, and went alongside him to join the others, who would probably be eating by now. Nevertheless, Annie's thoughts were somewhere else. With all the anger, happiness, teasing and pleasure caused by the events that took place this morning, she didn't even come to notice that Eren was shirtless all the time. The blonde was now staring sideways at his upper naked body, making it someway that Eren couldn't know. To her surprise, Eren was actually in such a good shape; maybe he was no longer the boy she met back at the barracks two years ago.

They eventually gathered with the group. All of their friends were already having lunch sitting on the ground and having a nice chat.

"Long time no see you guys. Where is our food?" asked Eren sitting next to Mikasa, Annie sat right next to Eren, being Bertholt in her other side.

"Oh, you are still alive Eren? Nice clothes by the way Annie." said Reiner as his friends sat along the group.

"Laugh as much as you want Reiner, my killer instinct is gone for today." Annie replied to Reiner's joke. Armin then handed the two of them their respective meals before sitting again between Connie and Krista.

"I attest to it." added Eren as he opened his bowl.

"Ohhhh, how adorableeee, you follow up each other sentences. You two actually make a good couple. Not as good as me and Krista, but still good though. Right, honey?" commented Ymir at the sight of the two teenagers sitting alongside, with Annie wearing the boy's clothes. Ymir started to hug Krista in her typical way of doing it, gaining some complains from her short but cute friend.

"Guess my killer instinct can be back sooner than expected." Annie replied, back with her dark and senseless tone.

"I ATTEST TO IT. HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH- OUCHH!" Eren had added the same thing he had said before but in a more enthusiastic way. This made Annie punch him in his right arm when he busted out in laugher, laughing about his own comment.

This scene made the laugher, that was cut from Eren's mouth, spread to every other member of the group sitting in the grass. Everyone except Annie, of course. But, deep inside, she was algo having a good time now.

The day was reaching to an end. Annie was already wearing her clothes again and Eren had finally put his t-shirt and jacket back on. The cadets were sitting in the ground around a bonfire after eating the fish they had gotten in the early morning from the river. As there was no need to wake up early next morning, they planned to keep sitting there for a while and enjoy the experience of camping. In some point of the night, Reiner, Bertholt and Eren decided to go into the forest again to look for some wood to light the bonfire which was starting to go out. As they left the place, the rest of them kept talking under the moonlight.

Annie was quiet as usual. Watching her "friends" having a nice time after all the training they went through, and what was left to come, was something she didn't expect to enjoy. In her own way, of course.

"Hey Eren, where are Reiner and Bertholt?" asked Armin out of nowhere. Annie raised her gaze to see Eren alone approaching the campfire carrying some wood on his arm.

"They are still in the forest picking up some more wood, we thought about taking as much as we could so we already had enough fuel for the next two days. I will be going back to help them though. Annie." said Eren now looking at her. "Do you think you could help us?"

Annie saw this request kind of strange, as he could simply ask anyone in the group.

"I could go if you don't want Annie, I would like to work a bit so I can sleep better tonight." proposed Mikasa, seeing that Annie was taking her time to answer.

"Sorry Mikasa, but I need to talk with Annie about some matter of ours." Eren didn't let Annie to take her word on the conversation, who was now not following what he was talking about. "Annie, please, come with me."

The blonde didn't know what was going on inside his head, but he was acting kind of weird. Nevertheless, she just got up and followed him into the woods.

"I hope you are not trying to play a joke on me again. I won't let it pass as I did this morning." Annie started the chat as Eren did not say a word since they left the group behind.

"I swear I'm not. I brought you here cause I want to tell you something serious. Very important, too."

"So, come on, spell it out. What are you waiting for?" the girl was starting to get annoyed due to the mysterious attitude he was showing.

"Okay, what I wanted to tell you was that…" Eren looked to his right side, evading Annie's face. The girl could tell that he was really nervous, being that not a very common thing. After a brief pause, he moved on.

"Wait. Reiner and Bertholt were here some minutes ago."

"And why does it matter right now?"

"Because they told me they would not move away until I made it back. Furthermore, look there." Eren pointed towards the ground. A big pile of wood was in the ground. "I can tell that there was not that much wood when I left, so it may be the one they were carrying themselves. I think there's something weird happening here."

"Are you sure?" replied Annie, keeping her composure, not letting fear getting inside of her.

"Not sure, but I'm a foresighted guy. Come on, let's take a look around, stand near me." said Eren, talking in a worried way that made Annie understand that he was actually afraid of what could have happened to the pair of friends.

"Are you crazy? If someone did attack or harmed them, isn't it better to go back to the camp to get help from the others?"

"We don't know what could have happened to Reiner and Bertholt. The later we are, the more likely something bad will happen to them. I'm not taking risks on other lives. Besides, not a long time has passed since I separated from them, so they have not been able to go too far."

Annie thought about what Eren just said. She still believed that getting more help would be less risky. She stared back at Eren, who had a determined face to look for his friends, so she believed in him this time and obeyed his orders.

"Okay… Let's go then."

They started to walk around the area paying attention to anything that could lead them to the whereabouts of their lost friends. Some time after starting the search, they arrived to another clearing deeper in the forest. A small shack was in the middle of it.

"Eren, look. Let's check in there." Annie said as she started to make her way towards the cabin in front of them. Eren grabbed her from the wrist to stop her.

"Wait. Keep being careful, we don't know if some stranger could be in there."

"I know, idiot!" replied Annie, whispering her last words so, in the case that someone is inside the old building, he or she would not be able to hear them.

They reached the shack's façade and tried to overheard any noises coming from inside, but nothing came to their ears. Being sure that no one was inside, at least awake, they decided to step inside. Eren aimed for knob and opened the door as slow as he could, trying to make as little noise as possible. When the door was fully opened, the couple found themselves standing right in front of their friends leaning to a wall, with both of their legs cut, arms tied and one thick rope around their mouths so they would not be able to talk. Annie felt nothing but fear when she saw that scene. Rushing, she came by Reiner and took the rope out of his mouth. He managed to say something despite of the state in which he was, causing his words to be weak and low.

"Annie… be careful… Eren…"

"What…?" Annie had trouble trying to understand what Reiner said. When she realized what he could mean, she felt fear going through all of her body. She had heard Eren approaching her in less than a second. Raising her head to the boy standing behind her, she took a glimpse of his friend carrying a pipeline, aiming for her head. Without the enough time to evade his attack, Annie felt the hit and started to faint laying down in the ground. Before she lost her conscience, she felt Eren's hand caressing her hair. She managed to look again to his face, showing sadness above all. As Eren took carefully the blonde's head and let it rest in the floor, he let out some final words before Annie's eyes closed.

"I am sorry, Annie. Really sorry."

Hello there guys, sorry for the late update. I've been busy recently due to university and my 19th birthday last weekend, so I just could not find the time to keep with the story these last weeks. I hope to post one more chapter in less than a week to make up for the delay. Anyway, hope you liked this one because this is where canon will not be followed anymore. This shit is about to get real.