Attack On Titan 4 (aot x oc)

29- Titans Really Are Incredible

"This is... freedom!" 10 year old Eren says as he stands with his arms out wide, completely contempt with the fact that the 19 year old version of himself is destroying the outside world he once dreamed of, killing his grandparents, the children from the camp where they spent their first night drinking, the venue where Levi and Evelyn held their wedding, everything, "we've finally made it here to see this. Haven't we, Armin?".

19 year old Armin looks at 10 year old Eren looking back at him in the Paths.

"Eren..." Armin says softly as he is sent back to reality.

"Are your wounds healed?" Annie asks from where she's sat down.

"Huh? Annie?" Armin asks as he looks at Annie, "yeah, since we've had some time... I never imagined we'd be able to relax like this".

"Do you want to sit with me?" Annie asks as she pats the place next to her, "I've... been meaning to thank you".

"Huh?" Armin asks as he sits next to Annie.

"For coming to talk to me for years" Annie says as she looks forward, "I was so lonely I thought I'd go crazy. Hearing from you and Hitch was the only joy I had. But why did you choose to spent time chatting with a rock that never responded? There were more cheerful and pleasant girls to talk to, right?".

"That's... not how I felt" Armin says as he looks down, "it was because I wanted to see you, Annie".

"How come?" Annie asks as she places her head between her knees, the two of them blushing.

"What? You really don't know?" Armin asks as he covers his face, "after how much Hitch teased me?".

"I don't know" Annie says shyly, "what am I even doing? Right now, thousands if not hundred of millions, are being trampled to death all across the world, and we're... I know. You were talking to an enemy like me because you're a good person, right? For the same reason you won't give up on talking things out with Eren. I could have woken up at any moment. Talking to the monster was another way to avoid a conflict. Right?" she asks as she stands up.

"Don't go" Armin says as he holds Annie's hand, "also, I told you this before, but... I really do hate the phrase 'good person'. I killed a huge number of people. Including civilians... even children... and now I've made the choice to betray the people of my island, and killed friends as a result. I've long since become a monster, too. Some part of me thought that, one day, the promise Eren and I made to explore the unknown world together would become a reality".

"The unknown world wasn't what it cracked up to be, was it?" Annie asks as she sits back down.

"Yeah. it was different from the world we dreamed of" Armin says as he looks down, "I want to believe that there must still be something beyond the walls that we don't know about".

--- that night ---

"Annie, check your equipment with us" Evelyn says as she and Mikasa come over with their and Annie's gear, "you're still not used to the new ODM gear, are you? Go with Reiner and zip around over there to get accustomed".

"Why?" Annie asks as she looks down.

"We should... do the things we can do... so..." Mikasa says as she looks at Annie.

"I believe I told you that I'm backing out" Annie says as she shuts her eyes.

"You don't even intend to get on the flying boat either?" Evelyn asks as she puts Annie's gear on the ground.

"Sorry, but I'm staying behind" Annie says as she looks at her reflection in the water, "wanting to save humanity... I don't really get that. If anything, us Eldians in Marley were persecuted by the 'humanity' you want to save from the moment we were born. Even if hypothetically the rumbling is stopped now, there's no one left to protect the Eldians. I truly do feel sorry about this, when they're putting everything toward the slim hope of saving their homeland. But... I can't fight anymore" she says as the three of them look over at the bunker where Armin is getting to work on the flying boat, "I want to spend the time I have left living peacefully".