Blinded

3. Ocean

Two years after Armin went blind, they finally made it to the sea.
The wind carried the scent of the ocean across the beach to where the two boys stood and the sun warmed the rocks under their feet beautifully. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore and the seagull's cries overhead brought a smile to the small blonde boy's lips. Eren looked around excitedly, wanting his partner to experience everything he'd always dreamed of.
"Armin! Take off your shoes, I'm going to carry you onto the sand." He dropped the blonde boy's hand and allowed him to kick of his shoes as he did the same. Laughing the whole time, Eren carried his partner down onto the sandy beach.
"It feels weird! Eren! What color is it? What color is the sand?" The blonde boy was practically bursting with excitement.
"It's uh... It's white, but like off white. Almost yellow but not quite. Like really really light yellow."
"And the sea? What color is the water?"
"It's blue, dark blue. Ooh, and when the waves crash there's a white foam in the water."
"Is there really water everywhere like the book said?"
"Yeah, it's just like the book Armin." Eren replied softly, a sadness coming over him at his realization that Armin would never really know what the ocean looked like. His sadness didn't affect Armin it seemed, as the boy was still beaming and practically jumping up and down with excitement.
"Take me to the water, I wanna feel it!" The brunette laughed and took the smaller boy's hand, leading him towards the water slowly. He took him to the edge, where the waves splashed over their feet and watched as his partner's eyes lit up again, almost regaining their former sky-blue color. Then Armin sat down, fully clothed, in the water and tasted the salt on his fingers.
"It really is salty Eren! The air even smells salty! This is even better than I imagined!" Eren smiled sadly at the blonde, taking his small hand.
"Yeah? I just wish you could see it."
"I don't."
"Why?"
"I can feel it now Eren. I can feel everything better than I could ever see and I don't regret a thing. Thank you." He lay his head on the taller brunette's shoulder and Eren described the sunset to him as the waves crashed over their legs.
They did this every day for years afterwards because Armin never got tired of hearing Eren describe the sea to him with the feeling of the sticky salt water crashing over his bare feet and Armin never once wished that he could see the ocean.