Unwavering | Annie Leonhart x Male Reader

24. Revelation

"I... I was so close... If I'd have just gotten there a few minutes sooner it would've worked." The thoughts flowed freely to you, breaking the silence of the void that had engulfed you "She wouldn't have been down, they wouldn't have been ready."

You were already exhausted when you finally topped the Stohess wall, completely drained by the ride through the night and into the morning. The chaos down below has been audible long before that moment though, sending the wave of adrenaline through you that guided you into the ensuing melee and up to that moment.

"I held my ground... Against all of them, took down a Titan and fought off half of the Scouts, it was supposed to be over..." Gunshots rang out in the void, the final moments of your memory replaying in their wake "I didn't think they'd risk it, risk killing her. I thought for sure they'd want to take her alive..."

"... There's... There's no way..." Softly, barely above a whisper in the silence came Annie's voice "This isn't real-How..?"

"Annie...? She-she never said that, she didn't even speak..." All at once the sensation of being, a sudden awareness came over you "Wait... I'm not-I'm not dead?"

You felt a vibration in your throat just as a mind numbing pain flared all across your body, two icy blue eyes finding yours while you tried to speak "... Annie, I..."

Exhaustion, pain, or both took over at that moment cutting you short and leaving you tumbling towards her as your eyes slid shut.

* * * * *

You awoke some time later to find the pain that had filled you prior had almost faded entirely, now replaced by the feeling of fingertips gently caressing your scalp. The memory of what you thought was your death in Stohess played out again in your mind as your eyes cut to the night sky and then down again to the forest around you.

"Annie?" She'd already looked down to you with a look of complete shock by the time you had fixed your gaze on her "Wh-what happened? Where are we?"

"I-I'm so happy you're awake... I thought-..." Her arms quickly squeezed you in a delicate hug before she spoke "You happened. We're safe, thanks to you."

"Thanks to me?" Her words only amplified the confusion you felt as you furrowed your brow up at her "I-I thought I died... In Stohess, the MP, all those gunshots?"

"I.. I thought you did too, at first." Her hand slid under your shirt and across your body before her face contorted in bewilderment "All the wounds... They're already gone... You were riddled before, I've never seen anyone regenerate that fast."

Following her lead you quickly ran your hand across your torso, convinced she had been wrong but found no evidence of any injuries. Cautiously, you pushed yourself up to see your cloths still covered in dried blood.

"Regenerate? Annie, what are you talking about?" Her head slowly tilted as she narrowed her eyes at you "I have no idea what you're saying, I... I don't know."

"You don't remember anything?" You gently shook your head in response, trying your hardest to remember anything "Y/N... You-you transformed, fought back the Scouts and MP, jumped the wall, and brought us here."

"Transformed... Into a Titan? No, I'm not like you and Eren, I can't just-" Suddenly the memories began piecing themselves together, just like she'd said "I had no idea... This can't be real, I'm-I'm a Titan...?"

"I remember climbing.... Then I was running somewhere, somewhere across a river. There was a forest, but there aren't any details to any of it." Disjointed fragments of memories started surfacing as you ruminated on the incomplete picture "Maybe those memories are real... She did describe the same thing happening..."