『𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬』ₐᵣₘᵢₙ ₓ ₐₙₙᵢₑ

【3】

Morning had came around by the time Armin woke up. He looked around and saw that Eren had already woken up and had been dusting himself off from all the dirt that gathered upon him and his clothes during the night. As Armins' eyes were still getting used to the light, he turned his head to the side and saw that Annie was still there right beside him. A faint smile grew on his lip knowing that she didn't try to run away from them during the night.

Eren saw Armin smiling and he wondered what he had been smiling about, until he looked at who was beside his best friend. It took the young dumb boy a mintue to figure out that Armin seemed to have a little crush on the stranger, but when he did he couldn't let go of the new information. He was thinking of multiple ways to annoy his friend that was until the stranger spoke out and broke his thought process.

"Are you just going to stay there or are you going to come with us?" Annie said.

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm coming," Eren yelled as he got up to run to the people that tried to leave him stranded in the forest.

"Oh I'm Eren by the way and you are??"

"Annie, and I know, Armin already informed me about who you were last night" Annie said as she walked ahead of the two boys.

A few hours had passed and the three had been walking for a good amount of time until they got thirsty. They stopped by a stream that they found on their journey out of the forest. The water had been nice and fresh for the travelers as this was the only form of liquid that they have had for a little over twenty four hours. They rested for a few minutes since they knew that they shouldn't waste lots of time getting back to where they needed too or else they would have died from lack of food and water. As they were about to leave the stream they heard small stomps coming from ahead of them. It sounded like a horse to them, but it didn't seem like a wild one. As the horse got closer they saw a female on it. She looked at the three strangers in front of them and her eye shot a look at Annie, trying to think if she was who she thought it was.

"Who are you?" Eren yelled.

"I should be asking you three the same thing." The stranger yelled back.

Annie studied the female in front of them, since she felt like she knew her. She looked everywhere to see if the stranger had anything that gave her a hint on who she was. That was until she spotted a familiar birthmark on the person in front of them. Annie studied it for a minute and that was when she finally realised that she did in fact know the stranger in front of them.

"Put down your weapon" Annie said as she intruded between Eren and the strangers bickering.

"No," the stranger answered, keeping her hand on her sword.

Annie had no choice but to show her hand, that had a ring on it. The stranger's face softened and took her hand away from her sword. The stranger then got off her horse and bowed down at Annie as the boys looked at her in confusion.

"Your majesty, I must apologize for any inconvenience that I have just brought up," She elegantly said.

Annie shook her head at the formalness of the stranger in front of her. "Mikasa, you know I hate you calling me majesty, especially since you're not only one of the Ackermans, but also a loyal friend of mine," Annie said to the girl in front of her.

The boys stood there still confused as to why the stranger, Mikasa had called Annie "your Majesty".

"Mikasa, these two behind me are Armin, and Eren. They have not only helped me, but have also kept me safe from any danger that could have harmed me." Annie said, gesturing at the two boys.

"I'm sorry for any trouble that I have caused either of you. You were just mear strangers and I didn't know if you were a threat to me or not. Since the princess trusts you, I'm sure I can do the same," Mikasa apologized.

"Princess?" Eren asked, still confused.

"You boys don't know? Well Annie, over here is a princess," Mikasa shyly replied.

"What does that make you then?" Armin asked respectfully to Mikasa.

"Mikasa, is a lady of the Ackerman family. They are one of the most powerful families out there. You might be familiar with Levi Ackerman, a captain, alongside captain Hanji Zoe and commander Erwin. They've won many wars together, and have been a great ally to the kingdom," Annie informed the boys.

"Anyways enough about that, Mikasa do you by any chance know the way out of the forest? I have lots of duties I have missed and these boys need to find their way to their village in the Shiganshina district."

"I'll lead the way, your majesty. If you want you can ride my horse instead of having to walk, since I noticed that you have some injuries," Mikasa offered as she started leading them out of the forest.

Annie kindly refused, and said that she was fine to walk on her own. Truth be told, she was still hurting, but she wanted to be close to Armin for some odd reason. As the four traveled out of the forest, they got to know each other a little more. That was mostly because Eren wouldn't keep his mouth shut and had to have a conversation with someone. No one really minded though, especially not Armin. Having Eren ask questions, helped the boys get to know the two girls ahead of them. He listened carefully to every word that the blonde girl said, enchanted by the way she spoke and how she turned back to look at him. Eren noticed Armin looking at Annie and he could see that he was in love with her even if they had just met.

As the sun was starting to set they found themselves surrounded by less trees every step that they took. The sight of the horizon in front of them had started to become clear as they finally reached the brim of the forest. All four of the travelers' eyes had a hint of shine in them due to the fact that the sunset in front of them looked like a mear painting that had been placed right in front of their eyes. At this moment they knew that they had to finally separate from one another, causing a hint of pain in both Armin and Annie's chess. The two unknowing lovers didn't get to spend as much time they wanted to. Sadly they both knew that even if they didn't want to return home they were going to have to at some point.

"I guess this is goodbye, it was nice getting to know you two gentleman," Mikasa bowed

"Yeah, hopefully we get to see one another again," Eren replied sadly.

Annie didn't bid any goodbye to Eren, all she was able to do is take in the last moment she had with Armin.Her heart to hurt a little, knowing that this might be the last time that she would ever get to the blonde boy in front of her. She took in every feature on his face, starting from his hazel eyes, to his lips to the softness in his face. Armin took notice of the sadness in her eyes and felt like he had insured her that they would see each other again.

"This isn't a goodbye forever. We'll meet one another again," Armin softly said while holding onto Annie's shoulder.

Annie nodded in response, but she still felt pain in her chess, knowing that even if they see one another again, they won't be able to be with each other. Mikasa noticed the sadness in Annie 's eye, and she knew that her best friend wasn't just sad about leaving Armin, but also because even if she wanted to confess her unknown love, she wouldn't be able to be him. After all she was already destined to marry prince Bertholdt. Mikasa wanted to try to help in that moment but she knew that she couldn't allow Annie to go with the boys, especially not after she had to track her down to bring her back home.

"Princess Annie, we should get back now," Mikasa Said, holding her hands out so that Annie and her could ride the horse back.

Annie agreed and waved at the two boys as she and Mikasa rode off into the sunset. Armin looked at the two girls and nodded his head, knowing that this would be the last time he would have seen either of them ever.

"We should head back now, and this time we won't take any detores," Eren tiredly spoke as he patted his friends back.

"Right..." Armin quietly replied.

Before leaving, the boy took one last look at the wide horizon in front of him, hoping to see the princess one last time before he had to officially leave her in his memories. Sadly he wasn't able to see the horse or the princess, and to that, he turned around and caught up to his friend.