The Month Of May

Chapter 35

I FELT LIGHTHEADED.

I was dazed, my head feeling as light as a feather but as heavy as a board at the same time. Moving too quick sent my world spinning. Annie could see me struggling, and without a word, she moved to support me as she slung my arm over her shoulders. Nice of her, though her icy eyes evaded mine. I could feel that something had changed between us. What, exactly, evaded my thoughts. What had changed? I had no recollection of anything in particular, yet the air felt so tense, so thick...was there a reason my head was so bad?

Not that she could have anything to do with it, or
course. She was ordinary, like me. Er-not in a bad way! She was extraordinary! But there was no way Annie had anything to do with my aching head. So that left me with one conclusion; something serious had happened. Something that had been so terrible, and I had just...forgotten. Forgotten? No. Perhaps my memory was blocking it out. It was too terrible, so I was suppressing it...

Perhaps it was for the best, but I longed to know just what I had forgotten.

"...Armin?" Annie said, her voice hesitant. I glanced over at her before she shook her head. "...Never mind."

"Okay," was all I said, wanting to be respectful of her boundaries, as well as just go to lie down. My head hurt so badly...I had no idea why, though. I didn't remember hitting it or anything. She glanced at me again, uncertainty in her eyes as she fiddled with her ring.

"Armin...what will you do if one of those monsters show up again?"

I clenched my fists.

"I'll kill them when I stand. We can't let those things destroy our village ever again!"

"I see," she said softly, "but what if they can't be stopped? What will you do then?"

"...I'll figure something out. I will."

"Armin...never mind. These are stupid questions," her tone grew cold. "Not worth anything."

"W-What do you mean? Isn't it honorable to try and find something to stop the attacks?" I was caught off guard by her complete tonal switch. How could she change to pessimism so fast? There was still time for us to win this war against those Titans. "We can't give up, Annie. Hope isn't lost. I'm sure Erwin is coming up with something fantastic for all of us! He's protected us for so long."

"Are you-well, yes. You're right. I don't know why I was doubting, that was silly of me. Anyway...let's just head in," Annie said, and I realized we were standing in front of my house. When did we even make it here? I had been so out of it, I didn't even notice.

"Okay."

We made it inside, where my parents were waiting. Upon seeing us, my father stood and embraced us both in a wide hug, my mother joining shortly.

"Everything was so awful. We are so grateful to have you here," my mother whispered. "This is all such poor timing..."

"Why did the chaos around us in the walls have to start when the Month of May did? Now everything is just insane," Dad sighed, "maybe we're not as safe within these walls as we thought."

"Vic! Don't say that!" Mom's eyes frantically darted toward us. "Did you not just see what went on during the Month of May presentation? That's what happens outside of the walls. Honestly, how can you even say that...?"

"Yeah, Dad. No matter how bad it gets, we're better off in here," I said, though something inside of me constricted as I said it. What was it? I was missing something, what was going on...? I clutched at my head, confused. "Yeah..."

"...Are you alright, Armin?" Annie asked me, and I nodded.

"Just a bit lightheaded...I feel like...I'm forgetting something, but I have no idea what..."

"Why don't you go to bed, dear?" Dad suggested, pulling away from Mom as he hugged me. "Everything has been rough for all of us today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. The second day is never as hard as the first."

"You're right. I think I will go sleep, too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," everyone called back to me as I headed to my room. I could hear the others that were staying at our house entering the house, and I was glad they hadn't been there to witness our conversation. Annie followed me up, silently making her way into my bed. When she caught my gaze on her, she sighed.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just..." I hesitated. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

There was definitely something I was forgetting, and from the looks of it, it definitely included Annie...

But what was I missing?