Mind over Matter | Armin Arlert

Fleeting Youth

"What is...going on?"

Gabi's voice stayed puzzled, confusion laced on her soft features. Her quick eyes darted around, scanning the town she had been raised and grown to love as her on, now filled with bustling shops and busy stalls. The atmosphere, so unlike before, was lifted by the chatter of the crowd and cheerful spirits, a sudden contrast to the sorrowful blanket that always seemed to weigh down on this town. 

"Gabi!"

Falco shouted, arriving behind her. In his hand held ice cream, his expression lighter than ever before. "Finally, you're up!"

"What is all this?" the brunette only replied, turning her head around to face him. Behind Falco was the rest of the warrior unit, four of the best that had strived to come this far. They had grown rather fond of each other in the training sessions they often had, and despite the harsh competition to the question of who will be the future inheritors of the titans, they had only saw in each other's eyes the same desperation. Perhaps it was this shared burden they carried that had driven them together, a unforsaken bond in such a harsh world. 

"A festival!" Udon exclaimed, a hint of excitement in his usual monotone voice. His glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, the only one out of them who wore it. 

"They let a bunch of people from outside into the internment zone and opened all kinds of stores!" Falco continued in a tumble of words, and he quickly held the ice cream out towards Gabi's face. "Eat this!"

This is a festival?!" Gabi jolted as he did, grabbing the cone with her own hands, the cold yet soft taste of the cream melting on the tip of her tongue. 

Reiner's eyes held an unrecognizable emotion in them, dancing behind the facade he held so often. He watched the warriors in front of him, taking notice of how they interacted and quarreled with one another, and a sudden wave of nostalgia overcame his heart. It was a weird feeling, for each time he met with any of their eyes, they seemed all too familiar, a crystal of memory in time. 

But he was snapped out of his train of thoughts when Gabi looked up to him, a quiet disappointment in her big eyes that so often held the wrath he hated to see. Next to her, the three others did only the same, turning their heads to face him. In her hand, an empty wallet opened almost pitifully, and he got the hint.

For the rest of the day, Reiner would spend probably most of the savings he had to spoil the four kids. In his heart, he'd told himself that he'd done so out of the kindness he held towards them in general, but he knew that it sunk so much deeper than only that.

For he had seen his past in them, himself in the reflection of their eyes that held none but innocent youth, determination that was but only a flickering flame in the vastness of the cruel world. 

He wasn't able to save himself, nor those that he had found cherished of the fate that was laid upon them, but maybe, just maybe, he could save them. 

"Four pieces of hotdogs, please."

The stall keeper,  an old woman had smiled as she handed him the snacks. Wrinkles etched on her skin, fine lines stretching onto her stern yet gentle features. Reiner returned the gesture out of politeness, paying for the food with the remaining paper of cash he had stored in his own wallet. Internally, he sighed at the thought of having to tell the kids that he could no longer afford their spending. Beside him, he felt the presence of another person as they bought one for themselves as well. 

But when he turned, just to only get a glimpse of the figure next to him, he swore he felt his heart drop. Confusion latched unto his sharp features as he watched the woman carefully. Her expression remained nonchalant, the payment for the food in her one hand, and a roll of newspapers in the other. Her black hair was long, and brushed against her shoulders in a gentle and elegant manner.