『𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬』ₐᵣₘᵢₙ ₓ ₐₙₙᵢₑ

【5】

Knock Knock.

"Eren, open the door," Carla, Eren's mother yelled from the kitchen.

"But Mom-"

"Don't but mom me, I need you to open the door."

Eren knew that he couldn't argue with his mother any longer so he just implied and went to open the front door. When he got the door open he saw two soldiers in front of him, he noticed the short one was Levi Ackerman, but he wasn't sure about who the one with glasses was. The three stood there staring at each other awkwardly until Eren's mother came to see who had been knocking earlier.

"Captain Levi and???" Carla said in shock.

"My name is Zoe Hanji, I'm a section commander for the scouts. Levi and I are here to deliver a letter from the princess to your son, Eren," Hanji politely said as she handed the boy the letter. "Make sure you deliver it to your friend Armin for us, please. Now if you don't mind we must return back to the castle or else we will be late for Prince Bertholdt and Queen Historia's arrival." Hanji continued on as Eren took the letter in his hand.

Both Carla and Eren nodded their heads and waved at the two captains who had been heading off. Eren quickly told his mother that he would be heading out to find Armin to deliver the letter that he had just gotten. It took the brunette boy some time, but that was only because he had to walk his way through the crowds that were in the village. As he made his way to the river he found Armin looking at a book, which he suspected was about the ocean since his dear best friend wished to go see what it looks like.

"Armin!" Eren yelled as he was running towards the boy.

Armin looked up at Eren to see that he had been holding an envelope. He waved his hand with a smile on his face, but deep down he was confused as to why Eren was waving an envelope out in front of him.

"Here, it's from the princess. I think it's a letter, probably a love confession if you ask me," Eren said as he laid down on the grass beside Armin. Armin blushed at the thought of Annie writing a letter to him until his mind jumped back into reality to ask how Eren got the letter.

"Oh well uh... this short captain that has black hair and an undercut came along with his comrade who had glasses and was brunette to deliver this letter for me to give to you. I'm pretty sure the one with glasses was named Hanji and the other I know was Captain Levi Ackerman." Eren stated with his eyes closed.

"Oh okay," Armin said, still somewhat confused.

He looked down at the envelope in his hand and opened it to only find a letter had been inside. He carefully unfolded the letter and lightly traced his fingers onto the paper pretending as if he was writing it with his fingers. The sun shined down upon him as he quietly whispered what the letter had said.

Dear Armin,

I would like to thank you and Eren for taking care of me in the forest even if I had been a mere stranger to the two of you. I would also like to let you know that it was nice to stay up that night we met, even if I was in pain it felt peaceful. I hadn't felt that kind of peace for a long time. So thank you, now I may know that this isn't a long letter but what can I say I still barely know you and you don't know me. I hope you are doing well.

Sincerely,

Annie Leonhart.

Armin quietly sighed after reading the letter, thinking about how he wanted to know more about Annie, but how could he. He knew that she was bound to marry a prince with money and could give her everything, that he, a village boy couldn't. He didn't notice it yet but Eren had ran off to get him a paper and pen.

"You know it's rude to not write back." Eren quietly said, handing the supplies he bought from a nearby shop to Armin. "I know you fell for her even if you didn't know and I'm sure she did the same. So you should write something back to her now before it's too late," he continued on.

"What's the point? She could be walking down the aisle right now," Armin sighed.

"What's this about someone getting married," a girl with freckles and her hair tied back asked.

"Come on Ymir, we don't have time for this" a tall buff man said from behind her.

" Reiner, we don't have to be at the castle until two days from now. Plus can't you see that this poor boy with a mop on his head has some trouble in the love department, surely we could waste a few minutes helping him." The girl Ymir said.

"Fine, but make this quick,"

Ymir didn't waste one second to ask Armin about his love life, and even if he didn't want to answer he had a gut feeling that the girl would have made him talk one way or another. He informed her and Riener about what happened the past couple of days with the princess and how he and Eren helped her with her wounds. He also explained the letter and how he wished he could go visit her or talk to her one last time before she would marry Prince Bertholdt.

Ymir nodded once Armin was done explaining his story. "Ah, so you're in love with our beloved princess I see." She stated.

"I wouldn't say, love, I barely know her. I do wish to get to know her and talk to her again though" Armin replied back. He saw Eren roll his eyes knowing that he thinks that Armin was in love, but just won't admit it to himself.

"Well, Reiner, what do you say we bring this mop of a hair boy to go see the beloved princess Annie," Ymir said as she gave Reiner a cocky smirk.

"Wait? What do you mean?" Eren asked while trying to gain his balance due to the fact that he almost tripped over his own shoes.

"Well you see kid-" Ymir started saying.

"Ymir, if you want them to take you seriously how bout you don't start off with calling them, kids." Ymir looked back at Reiner and rolled her eyes at him, indicating that she understood what he was saying but didn't care.

"You see, Reiner and I were heading off to the castle to attend the wedding that's happening in a week anyway, so why not join along." Ymir casually stated.

" If you're confused as to what she's saying, let me simplify it for you. Ymir and I are close friends of Annie, Bertholdt, and everyone else at the castle." Reiner said.

Eren and Armin thought about the twos offer for a few minutes until Eren agreed for them to take the two boys to go visit the princess. The only thing that they asked was that they could bring Connie with them since they trusted him to know what is and not poisonous to eat. Reiner and Ymir agree so the four went off to retrieve Connie from the farm that he lived at.

2 hours later

"You want me to go with you to the castle?" Connie asked, confused. Eren looked at the boy in front of him and nodded.

"Only because you don't want to die from eating something poisonous?" Connie continued while looking at the two boys.

"That is if you don't mind, we wouldn't want to pressure you into anything," Armin replied.

"No, I'm willing to go. I was just wondering why you asked me... Actually, it's not a shock that you did, I mean you two aren't really known for making friends. Especially you Er- I should be quiet now," Connie mumbled as he saw Eren giving him a death glare.

"Are you guys done, we need to head out before it gets dark," Ymir implied as she and Reiner waited by a tree stump.

"Yeah, we can take my horses," Connie replied as he led them to the stables where he kept the horses. As they chose their horses, Armin helped Connie pack enough food and water to last them for a few days.

"We should go now," Eren said as he rode past Armin and Connie. The two boys agreed and quickly got on their horses, and to that, the five of them headed off to their destination.