|𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠e𝐥𝐲 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞| ᵃʳᵐⁱⁿ ᵃˡᵉʳᵗ

|22| Mothers and Love

*Warnings: Language*
-MARLEY-

"But- you never talk about her, so why now?" Y/n asked her father as they walked down the busy main streets.

"It just feels like the right thing to do," he answered. "She was a great woman, unfortunately you and Melvin inherited all of your looks from me. There are a couple photographs of her but none of them do her justice. She had deep red hair and electric blue eyes, the only way I can describe them is like the ocean."

The first thing Y/n thought of was Armin. It made her a little sad, but she knew it was for the better. Even if it hurt to let go. "Yeah, don't worry I get what you mean."

"She was a dancer," he told her.

"Really? I didn't think you could make much money from that," Y/n replied.

"Not unless you're good, and trust me, your mother was one of the best," he answered as they stopped in front of a large building. It blended into all the rest of them, except for size and shape of it. It wasn't rectangular like all the other buildings, it was a very wide cylinder with a large dome roof. The doors were large and very heavy, though Y/n's father pushed them open with ease. He ushered her in first as he walked in behind her.

At first Y/n thought it was a school, lots of younger kids and teenagers her age running around. But as they walked further in, up a flight of stairs and into a large theatre, that's when she realised. "She did ballet-" Y/n said as she watched a group of dancers rehearse on the stage. "That's really...cool."

"Yeah, she was a pretty cool girl," he huffed as his gazed drifted around the large theatre. "There's old photos of her in the halls if you want to go find one," he suggested.

"Uh yeah, I'll go have a look," she answered as she walked back out of the room, then down the hall. There were plenty of photos of many groups of women, all of which were in black and white. Though she found herself drawn to a large photo of three women, the one to the left with long dark hair and bright eyes. She had broad, strong shoulders and slim hips that made the tutu she was wearing look even bigger than it actually was.

This is her, it has to be. As Y/n stared at the woman in the photo, a large hand landed on her shoulder. "That's her," her father said, "how'd you know so quick?"

"I was born knowing her," Y/n answered, "she just felt like...my mother." Her father only nodded then patted her shoulder with a huff, "okay, that's enough reminiscing for today, lets go." He led her back out of the Ballet Hall and back onto the streets.

"Why'd you take me there? Why today?" Y/n asked.

"I thought I could try to start fresh with you," he answered. "The way I treated you wasn't right, I did feel like you were responsible for her death and I know now that you weren't. Despite the fact you and you're brother both look like me, Melvin got her magnetic personality. He's friends with everyone, nobody can hate him. But you, it took me a little longer to figure out, but you have her eyes, not in the colour sense, but you've got this look in it. It's the same look she had when she would dance on that stage. It was almost like she wasn't there in the moment, she was dreaming of something else, she was living in the moment so completely she just fell straight through it and into another."

Armin said the same thing about me, that I have a look in my eye.

"I see her in everything you know," he added. "Everywhere I look, she's there somewhere. I can correlate everything back to her, every colour, every emotion, every day all I can think about it her."

"You're haunted by her," she told him. "It happens to the best of us."

"You've got that too?" he asked her.

"Yeah, but mines not dead. They're alive, just not anywhere near me," she told him.

"Is it that tall, lanky, dark haired boy?" he asked.

"Bertholdt? No!" she chuckled, "you're sort of close though. But you'd never know them."

"That Braun boy?" he asked again.

"No, not him either," she answered, her tone getting a little quieter.

"But there's no one else over there-" her father paused for a moment. "It's not one of those devils, is it?"

"They're not devils," she answered.

"Y/n, you can't be serious? You went there and you fell in love?" he exclaimed, though sort of hushed.

"I didn't 'fall in love', well I might have, but that's not the point. He's across the ocean, Reiner, Pieck, Bertholdt and Zeke will finish the mission, and I'll never see him again. I'm learning to live with that. But it's kind of hard knowing he's alive under the same sky as I am, we're connected in some way, but not in a the way where we can talk to each and spend time. But in the way that we did talk to each other and we did spend time together, and that's all it'll ever be. I used to know him, we used to be friends."

"Your mother used to say stuff like that," her father said. "She'd get all poetic and come out with the most ridiculous things, yet they made so much sense when you really think about it."

"I guess I get that from her," Y/n huffed.

-IN PARADIS-

I can't believe it, we were close, or I thought we were close. I thought we had more time together. She was with Bertholdt and Reiner the whole time? She almost killed me! But I want her back, I wish she had just lied a little longer. Even if it was all a lie, I wish she had strung it on a little longer. We were supposed to see the ocean together, and now, now I'll see it without her.

Suddenly, there was a knock on Armin's door and Mikasa walked in. "You gotta get over it Armin, she betrayed you," she told him. Armin couldn't say anything, he didn't know what to say. I wish she didn't betray me, but she wouldn't have been here if she never did. A tear rolled down his cheek.

"I told her so many things Mikasa. I told her about my grandpa, about how I wanted to see the ocean, so many things, and she listened. She sat there and she stared at me and she listened. I did the same thing because I wanted to know her, I wanted to know everything about her and I could tell she was holding back so much, but I didn't mind. It's just really fucking sad, because I really liked her, Mikasa. She understood me, she was my person. I didn't quite understand her but I was fully prepared to sit there, listen to her and rot until I knew everything about her. I would've used my entirely life to listen to her and it wouldn't have been a waste at all because by the end of it we would've had a happy ending."

Tears were spilling from his eyes. "Armin, you're not gonna get some fairytale ending like in all the books you read. She betrayed us," Mikasa told him.

"I know that! But that doesn't change the fact that I know she didn't want to. She wanted to be here, she liked me! I know she did, but something held her back. Maybe it was where she was from, or the military she was apart of. I know she's not perfect, but I still like her anyway, I still- I like- I love her Mikasa," Armin said with a shaky breath. Eren walked into the room as Armin started sobbing, Mikasa just standing there watching him.

"Armin? Armin, what's wrong!?" he rushed over and embraced him.

"It's Y/n, he said he loves her and a bunch of other mushy stuff," Mikasa answered.

"Armin, she's a traitor, you can't-" Eren tried to console him.

"I get it! It's wrong! She's fighting against us, but- I- I can't help it!" Armin shouted.

"Eren- just leave him for a little bit," Mikasa told Eren, grabbing his shoulder. Eren nodded, giving Armin a glance before leaving and closing the door behind him.

Of course the one person I genuinely connect with turns out to be a traitor. Just my luck...

-

1.4k Word Count