PARTING OF THE WAYS

Whole

It had been a week after the incident. The peace treaty was successful with Xian and Historia ratifying it. Annie was discharged from the hospital a few days ago. She was fine but she had sores. Also her eyes were swollen from crying. Today she's going to the hospital with Hitch to visit Armin.

When she entered the ward, all the nurses smiled at her. Annie smiled back. They told her he had a visitor. Annie assumed it would be Xian. But it was not. The lady was in peach with a red scarf. Of course, she would be here, thought Annie. They were inseparable, well, except Paradis separated them.

"You know you don't have to come everyday, Mikasa" Hitch remarked.

Mikasa looked at the both of them. She was patting the bed and making sure everything was neat. Annie watched quietly. Here was the only other most important woman in Armin's life. One of the prettiest and sturdiest person she had ever met, and right now Mikasa was quite cold towards Annie.

"He doesn't have anybody, except me," she said carelessly. "He used too but well.." Mikasa sighed.

Annie glared at Mikasa. She loved her but by God she's testing her. Annie knew she was taking Armin's side, but now Annie WAS ON HIS SIDE too.
Annie felt she needed to make something clear. She had nothing but love and respect for Mikasa. Mikasa was instrumental in helping her save Armin and nudging both of them to work on their feelings. And she did all these selflessly while her boyfriend was rampaging upon the world. So this misunderstanding was making Annie a bit sad. She knew Armin would feel sad too if both of them had this misunderstanding.

"He has me. We made up before he falls into coma" uttered Annie.

"Really? That's convenient" Mikasa snorted. The room was tensed and Hitch could feel it. Annie wanted to say more.

"Mikasa, have you eaten!? Let's grab a bite!" Hitch shoved Mikasa out of the room, trying to diffuse the situation, leaving Annie with the sleeping beauty. No seriously. That's what the nurses called him. Annie came towards Armin who was in coma, on the bed. She pushed the tendrils that framed his head. Then she caressed his thick eyebrows and kissed it. Annie went to get a basin of water. She wetted a cloth and started cleaning his face, hands and chest and legs while speaking to him. She believed he heard her, much like she heard him in the crystal.

What happened during the incident was while Annie was getting medical care, the rescuers threw a rope to Armin who was climbing out of the car. But then the tree broke at the same time so the car fell. Thank goodness Armin had wrapped the rope around his waist so he didnt fall with the car. The only thing was he was barely out when the car fell so the car knocked into him. He was hanging off the cliff unconsciously. They managed to hoist him up to safety but the knock was so terrible he was still unconscious. The doctor said he should wake up because the longer he's in coma, the lesser was the chance to wake up.

That night, Annie refused to go home. She stayed with Armin until late. When she was sleepy, she laid down next to him in his bed. She was small so it was no problem. Armin was getting smaller too because he was not eating. When she touched his collarbone which was getting more prominent as he's losing weight, Annie cried without any sound. She laid her head on his chest, which was still rising up and down, albeit slowly. The proof that he was still alive as Annie surrendered into sleep.

In her dream, she saw a small Armin running after Mikasa and Eren towards a tree on a hill. Armin looked so cute as he almost tripped but she was so proud to see he made it. Then the scenario changed. It became Armin and Eren reading a book together with Eren looking at Armin with mesmerised eyes. After that they were running along a road, they were like in a middle of a desert, but they were the only ones there. At the end of the road was a tree, only it was made of light. Annie immediately knew this was the path and the tree was Ymir's tree. And she knew what it meant if Armin followed Eren into it. Annie cried and called Armin to not go there with Eren. Armin stopped for a bit and turned around, but Eren grabbed his hand. That was when the sand under Annie's moved and became porous. As Annie fell into the quicksand, she desperately called for Armin, who did not even look at her...

Annie woke up with a jolt. She saw Armin's face next to her so she pleaded 'don't follow Eren, Armin, my husband, my darling. You promised you'll never leave me' as she held his cold hand. Annie was about to cry when she felt him tightened her hand. Annie looked at Armin who then opened his eyes. 'Hi my wife, my darling' he said weakly. Annie embraced him on the bed so hard that Armin muttered ' Annie, I can't breathe'. Annie apologized and let go but she never let go of his hand.

Later that day when Annie told Armin of her dream, Armin told her he had the same dream. He was walking hand in hand with Eren into the tree when he heard her crying. He stopped in his track and so did Eren. Eren then told him 'There is a time and place for everything, you cannot always be divided. You need to be whole. I will always be here when the time comes. And we will run again to the tree like always, with Mikasa' Then Eren let go of his hand and disappeared into the tree. After that Armin woke up from his coma.