Nest & Wings (Annie Leonhardt x Male Reader)

Chapter 10: A Difficult Choice

Later that evening,

You head to your usual training spot and sure enough; she was already there expecting you. You nervously bring yourself to confront Annie, just a day after finding out that she's responsible for you losing everything.

"Sorry about yesterday, something came up and I had to leave on short notice." She apologizes and you begin your training.

Your mind was still in distress, being torn apart by the decision you had to make. However, as anxious as you were, the moment you start sparring with Annie, you feel at ease— as if all that tension had been lifted off of you in an instant.

The way you felt when you were around her was a sensation that you've been deprived of since losing Shiganshina five years ago. It was a very pleasant feeling of familiarity that you've only felt in your hometown. In an ironic twist, over the past year, Annie had slowly filled in that void and become what she herself took away from you; Home.

As you realized this, it started to make sense why you couldn't bring yourself to warn the others about Reiner's plan. It was because doing so would expose their secret and you would lose Annie and Reiner. Knowing how selfish your reasoning was, you start to look for more objective reasons to keep their identities a secret.

After sparring for a while, you decide to take a break. As the two of you were sitting down, you ask, "Hey Annie, umm... can you tell me a little about your father?"

"Huh? What makes you ask that now of all times?" She responds with a question of her own.

"Well, umm..." You had to come up with an excuse as you didn't want to arouse any suspicion concerning the fact that you overheard their conversation last night.

"You— you're joining the Military Police, right? I figured since I'm joining the Survey Corps, we wouldn't get to see each other often so... I just wanted to get to know you a little better before having to say goodbye." You manage to come up with something that made sense.

"I see, well... I guess there's no harm in that, but only because I've acknowledged you as an equal. So promise me you won't talk about it with anyone else, alright?" She says.

"Of course, I promise! I'll keep it to myself." You reassure her.

Annie starts explaining, "I used to hate him. For as long as I can remember, all he cared about was himself. He put me through hell to teach me his combat techniques so I could become a warrior and get him a better life."

You knew the term 'warrior' had something to do with whatever 'Marley' was as you had overheard Reiner mention it in that context, but unaware of the fact that you knew her secret, Annie must have assumed that you would connect that story to her ambition of wanting to join the Military Police.

It made sense. Considering that her alias was a refugee from Wall Maria, she and her father would've been forced to live in slums digging fields. But by joining the Military Police, both of them could go and live better lives in Wall Sina. Granted, you were fully aware that this wasn't the case.

She continues, "I remember being so frustrated that as soon as I was strong enough, I lost control and kept beating him up till he wasn't able to walk. But instead of getting mad at me, he smiled and said that I had finally become a warrior."

As she said that, you realize the parallel between that incident and the way you reacted when she threw you to the ground and figure it must have had something to do with why she agreed to train you.

"Wait so... Why do you speak so fondly of him if he treated you like that?" You ask her.

Annie answers, "Because just before I came here, he hugged me and apologized for everything he did. For the first time, he admitted that he actually cares about me and made me promise I would return to him alive."