From Across the Sea (Attack on Titan/OC) [ON HOLD]

Prologue

She had always loved the ocean. She loved the way it seemed to stretch on forever, how it glittered in the sun and seemed to hold infinite secrets. She loved the sun on her face, and the salty breeze blowing through her hair. She especially loved to bring her nephew, Zeke. She loved to watch the 5-year old splash in the shallow waves, and she loved collecting seashells with him to add to his collection back home.

Now, the ocean just seemed to mock her.

Angharad knew this was probably the last time she would ever see the blue waters. She was knelt atop the wall, her hands bound behind her back. The ocean breeze blew across her face once more, her short fringe bangs tickling her cheeks. The salty scent would normally bring a smile to her face. Memories of Grisha and Zeke flashed through her mind. Tears sprung to her eyes, blurring her vision. She turned away from the sunset that cast an orange glow over the sandy plains before her. I never got to say goodbye.

The Marleyan officer that she had been trying to ignore finally finished with the other prisoners who had previously been knelt alongside her. She knew what was coming. She knew she would become one of those monsters that were constantly being forced to invade the island. But the pinprick of the needle never came. Instead, her bindings were cut. Confusion flashed across her face, and she rubbed at her sore wrists before she dared to turn and look at the officer standing behind her. She saw flashes of him about a decade younger, leaning against the wall in her family's kitchen in the Eldian internment camp. She remembered how her older brother screamed at their parents, and the mocking tone of the other officer as he claimed that her 8-year old sister's death had been ruled an accident, that it was Faye's own fault she died the way she did.

She remembered how her mother had kept her home that day. She remembered feeling jealous that she couldn't go with her siblings to see the new airship. She also remembered how her older brother had told her that he would take her the next day, that he couldn't watch over an 8-year-old Faye as well as a 6-year old Angharad.

"I'll take you tomorrow Ang." Grisha had told her. Her older brother had turned to Faye to fix her armband, the armband all Eldians were required to wear outside the gates of the internment camps.

"Promise?" She responded. Grisha turned away from Faye to look into her striking green eyes.

"I promise." Her brother moved forward and put a hand atop her blonde head, ruffling her hair. She grumbled in annoyance and smacked his hand away. She put her arms around her older brother's waist giving him a quick hug before doing the same to Faye. She was the youngest of the siblings, at 6-years old. Her older sister was a little shyer, at 8-years old, and often followed their 11-year old brother Grisha everywhere. Angharad was often seen running after the two of them, being the more adventurous one of the children.

Her brother didn't return with Faye in tow that evening. In fact, Faye never returned at all. Had she known that was the last time she was going to see her sister, she would have held onto her a little longer, hugged her a little tighter. She would have told her "I love you." instead of "See you for dinner." She would've looked at her a little longer, burned the memory of her sister's appearance into her brain just a little deeper. Instead, she watched her older siblings walk out of their home and through the gate, before she turned to her mother and began to help her with setting the table in preparation for the rest of the family's evening homecoming.

Now the blonde officer stood above her, blocking the sun from her eyes for a few brief moments. He could see the anger flash across her face as she recognized him. Before she could open her mouth to speak, he put his hands on her shoulders, turning her back towards the empty wasteland before he bent down to whisper in her ear.

"You brother will be with you soon." His voice caused a shiver to run up her spine. Before she could even ask "What do you mean?" he had shoved her over the wall and into the sand below. She hit the bottom of the ravine, rolling a few times from the steep angle of the slope before she came to a stop. The clouds above her seemed to spin before she climbed to her feet and looked up towards the top of the wall again. The officer stared down at her before simply looking over the horizon behind her. Without any other direction to turn, the 19-year old began to walk away from the wall...and away from the ocean.

~

For those of you who may be a little confused, Angharad is just over 5 years younger than Grisha. In this chapter, Ang is 19, making Grisha 24, and Zeke 5. Since Zeke was about 8 or 9 when Grisha was sent to Paradis, Ang would be about 22/23 when Grisha arrives outside Wall Maria, 4 years after Ang is sent to Paradis.