In Love With A Monster (Armin X Annie)

~Chapter Two~

Armin woke up for what he thought wasn't long after he had shut his eyes. His eyes were still closed, he was still half asleep. He reached his arms out as a cool breeze hit him, and sent a shiver up his spine. He tried to grab his duvet or anything that he could cover up with but what he ended up grabbing was a lump of grass. Armin felt the strange texture running through his fingers and immediately opened his eyes to see himself surrounded by green. Somehow, he was in a meadow, surrounded by grass, flowers and the occasional tree nearby. He had no clue how this could have happened or how he even arrived there, but he wasn't complaining, it was beautiful. If this was a vivid dream the it was a peaceful one. The sight reminded him of home, the meadow just outside of the Shigansina gate, in wall Maria where he, Eren and Mikasa would often play together.

Armin sat up and looked around. There was grass for as far as he could see and not a single wall in sight, which meant that surely wherever this was taking place was outside of the walls, somewhere no one had been yet. In the distance, if he really tried to look, Armin swore he could see  sunlight hitting water oh-so far away. Could it be?

The sea?

It seemed like Armin was truly conscious like he was awake, yet he had realistic dreams like this often, except not much dreams as night terrors. He began to wander around, taking in the breath of the meadow and feeling the heat of the rising sun on his skin. Close by there was a tall tree bent over a stream, a willow perhaps and Armin went to go take a look. Going over, he heard noises becoming louder and louder, footsteps that weren't his own, whisperings of someone talking to themselves and gasping desperately for air. Someone was clearly behind this tree. But as Armin slowly approached the tree, he stepped on a branch, snapping it in half and making this person aware of his appearance.

"Shit..." he heard the voice quietly whisper to themselves, the voice was clearly feminine but too quiet to recognise. The voice sounded on edge as in with a split moment they could break. It reminded him of Eren, except Eren was usually angry, she was scared.

"Hello?" He hesitated to speak, moving towards the tree as slowly as possible. Whoever she was, she was as fragile as a deer, one loud sound as she'd be gone.

"I'm armed! Don't come any closer!" The voice seemed hostile, but yet soft and so very familiar, through speaking she was sucking air in through her teeth and gasping frequently. "Drop any weapons you have and stay there! How many of you are there?"

"I assure you no harm!" Armin raised his hands in the air. "I'm Armin Arlert, a member of the survey corps, do you know where we are?"

"Armin?" The voice gasped through a choking breath.

The girl crept almost into Armin's field of view, she was still hidden behind the bark of the tree, all he could see of her were her hands, tightly gripped onto a shining shard of glass. She took a deep breath, a slight glimpse of her head peaked round the tree. Armin couldn't believe his eyes, this was impossible, it surely was a dream. It was Annie. He could recognise her ice blue eyes anywhere.

"If you're really Armin, tell me something only he would know." Annie demanded, her grip tightened.

What is she so afraid of? Why does she need such confirmation, was it not clear to her that this was him, in the flesh standing before her eyes? What had she been through that could lead her to believe that he was anyone other than himself? Armin thought to himself, something only Annie would know?

He hesitated, slowly moving closer towards her. "The first time we spoke, a week or so into becoming cadets. In the mess hall, you were sitting by yourself and reading, I came over and asked you about it. The book was called 'The Doe Eyed Girl' and you let me borrow it for a day."

Annie dropped the blade and stumbled out from behind the tree, her legs fell from beneath her and Armin rushed over to catch her before she hit the ground, falling to his knees as she did. His arms around her waist, he held her tightly, unsure of wether this was a hug or him helping her, he didn't care. He was holding her, and it felt real.

She was still wearing the same things she wore that day when she was captured. Her MP jacket, usual hoodie and attire except it looked worse than it did that day. Her clothes were torn and her hair had fallen from its usual bun. She had cuts and burns all over her skin, blood stained every article of clothing she wore. She was tired or at least she looked it.

"What are you doing here?" Annie asked, between breaths.

"I don't know... I just remember waking up here!"

"Armin... You've got to go!" Annie demanded, looked up at him. He felt her breath on his face, he could feel her heart beating as he steadied her.

"Why?" He asked, he couldn't leave her in this condition, he wouldn't dream of it. She was clearly in danger, needed to sleep, needed to eat.

"It's not safe for you..." She picked up her blade from the ground beside her and shook Armin off, she leaned backwards and rested her back against the stump of the tree. She closed her eyes, if only for a moment, it was rest.

"Annie, what's going on?" Armin moved towards her, he placed his hand onto her leg.

"How is it one minute, I'm about to be burned at the stake and then next I'm here with you. This is almost as cruel as just letting me die... giving me a moment with you, knowing it's not true." She confessed.

Armin moved his arm to Annie's shoulders and she turned her to face him. "What is this... what's going on?"

She shook her head weakly, "You don't have much time, I need —"

But as if magic, Armin was gone.