Beyond The Walls (AOT x OC Fanfic)

A Stranger's Gaze

The tears that trickled down her cheeks felt endless, each drop carrying the weight of the confusion and fear that had settled deep in her chest. She clutched the sheets tightly, her fingers digging into the fabric as though anchoring herself to something—anything—that felt real. The room around her was quiet again, but inside her mind, there was a storm, one filled with blank spaces where memories should have been.

The man standing near the bed—Levi, he had said his name was—had fallen silent, his intense gaze never leaving her. She couldn't read him, couldn't figure out if he believed her or if he thought she was some kind of threat. It was hard to focus on him, though. Her thoughts kept spiraling, grasping for even the faintest shred of memory.

But there was nothing. No flicker of recognition, no hint of familiarity in the sterile room or the faces around her. Who was she? How had she ended up here, in this place that felt so foreign? The more she tried to pull at the empty threads of her mind, the more lost she felt.

She stared at the sheets, her breath coming in shaky gasps as the tears continued to fall. Her body felt weak, as if she hadn't used it in days, and her head throbbed faintly, though she couldn't pinpoint why. All she knew was that the weight of her own amnesia was crushing, suffocating, and she couldn't stop the waves of panic that rose every time she tried to remember.

Suddenly, the door to the infirmary slammed open with a loud bang, causing her to flinch violently. Her heart leaped into her throat, the loud noise jarring her out of her internal haze. She blinked rapidly, her tear-filled eyes snapping toward the doorway, where a figure stood, framed by the light from the hall outside.

"She's awake! She's finally awake!" the woman cried out, her voice filled with an almost manic excitement.

Before the girl could process what was happening, the woman rushed up to her bedside, moving with an energy that seemed almost out of place in the quiet infirmary. Her brown hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and a pair of glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, slightly askew. The woman's eyes—sharp and gleaming with unbridled fascination—locked onto her with an intensity that made the girl shrink back slightly.

Levi, still standing near the bed, narrowed his eyes at the woman, clearly unamused by the sudden entrance. His expression darkened as he spoke in a low, warning tone. "Hange, what the hell do you think you're doing? You're going to scare the girl half to death, barging in like that."

But the woman, Hange, barely even glanced at Levi. She waved a dismissive hand in his direction, her focus entirely on the girl lying in the bed. Her excitement was palpable, almost contagious, but to the girl, it felt overwhelming.

"Oh, Levi, calm down!" Hange said, her voice bubbling with enthusiasm as she leaned closer to the girl. "This is fascinating! She's awake, and her eyes—just look at her eyes!"

The girl's breath caught in her throat as Hange leaned in, her face just inches away from hers now. She could feel the woman's eyes studying her, examining every detail, as if she were some kind of rare specimen.

"Your eyes," Hange whispered, her voice suddenly soft with awe. "They're such a vivid blue. Have you always had eyes like this? Did you know that? Do you remember anything about yourself? Anything at all?"

The questions came rapid-fire, one after the other, leaving the girl no time to respond. Not that she had any answers. She could only blink up at the strange woman, her own eyes wide with confusion and a fresh surge of panic. The flood of questions made her head spin, and she instinctively pulled the blanket up toward her chest, as if trying to shield herself from the intensity of Hange's gaze.

"I—I don't..." she stammered, her voice barely a whisper. "I don't remember... anything."

Hange straightened slightly, but her excitement didn't waver. She tilted her head to the side, studying the girl with a kind of reverence, as if she had just discovered a new species. The girl could feel Hange's eyes scanning her, searching for clues, trying to unravel the mystery that she herself couldn't comprehend.