Fight for Love (Attack on Titan/SnK fan fiction)

Fight for Love: Chapter 5

The trees around me are a blur the surroundings never changing. I quickly look to my left then right my eyes darting frantically and my chest heaving with each breath a take. Where is it? I growl internally and dart around a large tree.
A hand lashes out from a bush to my right and makes a grab for my arm. I yelp in surprise and stubble back my heart leaping into my throat. The arm is yanked back into the bush and disappears from view I hear the sounds of leaves crunching then nothing. I listen to the forest the creatures chirping or the sound of a leaves rustling overhead but, I don't hear any human sounds.
I run forward the wind snapping at my sweat drenched clothes causing chills to travel down my spine. Where the fuck is it?! I stop running and spin in a circle my eyes taking in my surroundings but, I don't find what I am bloody looking for! Growling, I turn to continue my trek when, again, a hand lashes out from a bush and makes a grab at me. The fingers graze my skin and my hand comes down gripping the wrist tightly, I jerk it toward me. Almost instantly he is knocked off balance and comes stumbling out into the open. His other fist connects with my shoulder a pain erupts and I grit my teeth. He is NOT going to win. My fingers tighten around his wrist and I slide my foot backwards bracing myself, I jerk him toward me again. His feet try to find a hold but I spin in the direction of a thin tree his weight instantly transferred to my shoulder.
With a small battle cry I release his wrist sending his back into the tree. The tree groans underneath his weight and a gasp of pain escapes his lips his eyes are wide with surprise and that only fuels the fire that is burning in my chest. I reach up and gingerly massage my shoulder where he punched me and shoot him a glare. Nope. He doesn't have it which means.. I stand up straight and look around.
I see the silhouette of a rock cliff through the tress off to my right and other than that just bushes and trees. Then I see it. The flag is positioned proudly on top of the rock cliff; the Wings of Freedom sign catching my eye. I smirk and angle my body in that direction when a hand comes down on my shoulder.
His fingers dig into the muscle in between my neck and shoulder. A burning pain digs deeply into where his fingers are imbedded almost like he is pressing a hot poker to my skin. My knees turn to jelly and my legs can't support my weight anymore. Panting, I drop to my knees but his grip doesn't let up. My vision begins to swim and my body slowly lowers to the ground my elbows are shaking and I fear they won't be able to hold my weight much longer. I look down at the ground, panting, and silently begging him to stop.
He doesn't.
I jerk my head back and my mouth is open on a silent scream. I feel my necklace be jerked out from the protection of my clothes and fly through the air. The Wings of Freedom pendant flashes at me then the necklace drops back onto my chest. 'Thats right if I can't endure a pain like this what makes me think I can endure the three years of training?'
My mouth snaps shut and I grit my teeth against the pain. Balling my fists slowly and with shaky legs, I pull myself to my feet. His fingers tighten trying to force me back down onto my knees. With a sudden burst of strength, I jerk my fist up and it connects with his chin.
His eyes widen and he steps back to hit the small tree again. I stand there watching him and gently rolling my shoulder trying to work feeling back into it. After a couple minutes my legs stop shaking and the pain in my shoulder subsides to a dull ache, which I can put up with. He balls up his fists and shoves off the tree his fists flying.
I weave around each punch he throws and sidestep every kick he attempts to make. We are both panting from the effort we are putting forth, although, neither of us dare to surrender. I take another step back narrowly dodging a punch that would have hit my nose. I feel the brush of spiky bark against my back and I know I am cornered. He smirks, realizing it as well, and throws a well aimed punch to my face. I watch it fly toward me and at the last second I duck and spin around him, his fist connects with the spiky bark of the tree and he howls in pain.
Jumping to my feet I run toward the rock cliff. The height alone of the rock cliff is intimidating but, if he can find a way up there then I can too. I run around the cliff and toward the back I find a small and steep set of stairs leading to the top of the cliff. Quickly finding finger holds I jerk myself up my feet slipping every now and again. I grit my teeth in frustration and glance at the flag which with each step I take I get closer and closer.
I am on the last steps when a hand wraps around my ankle. My eyes widen and I reach forward and my fingers tighten around the soft fabric of the flag. I am jerked off my feet and thrown backwards. I land on my back the force of the impact practically causing my teeth to shake free. I roll a couple feet pain erupting in almost every one of my muscles. Moaning in pain I roll over and squeeze my eyes shut.
My body is suddenly pinned to the moist forest floor I can't move my legs or hips and can barely breath. My eyes flash open and in a panic I watch him draw back his fist.
"I win!" I yell frantically. Waving the flag in his face.
Erwin's eyes widen and he lowers his fist slowly. He takes the flag from my outstretched fingers and jumps off of me his eyes dance in between the flag and the rock cliff where it was moments ago.
He curses under his breath and looks down at me,"Fine," he growls,"you win."
I smile knowing how competitive he is just to flinch at the effort.
His eyes widen,"Did I hurt you?" He asks and kneels down next to me.
I roll my eyes and push myself up into a sitting position,"No, of course you didn't." Sarcasm is dripping from my tone.
He sighs and honestly looks mad at himself,"I knew I was taking it a little to far." He growls.
I shake my head and give an uneasy laugh,"It's fine. I didn't exactly set up any rules."
He growls,"Stop acting like your not hurt! You can't even stand up and here you are telling me 'it's fine?!'"
I glare at him and use a tree branch to pull myself to me feet,"See I can stand!"
He throws his hands in the air,"Only because of the damned tree."
I laugh,"You need to calm down." I say then shove off of the tree and walk away from him even though every muscle in my body is protesting.
After a couple steps I hear an irritated sigh from behind me and Erwin jogs up next to me. I keep my hands stuffed in my pockets and refuse to look at him.
"I'm sorry." He whispers and shoots me a pained look.
I sigh,"It's fine, really."
He shakes his head but doesn't push the subject. After about an ten minutes of walking in complete silence I see the house up ahead. We walk out of the woods that surround the house and into the backyard where the horses are grazing in the early afternoon sunlight.
I glance at Erwin and see him reach up and swipe at something that was flying around his face. When his hand falls back to his side I see a smudge of crimson blood smeared over his forehead. My eyes widen and flicker in between his forehead and his hand. His right hand is covered in blood to the point where it is dripping off of his fingers to splatter onto the ground.
"You're bleeding." I whisper and step in front of him.
He looks down at his hand and blinks in surprise at the sight,"I didn't even realize I was bleeding." He whispers barely loud enough for me to hear.
I nod my head,"Let's go." I say and lead him into the house and straight to the kitchen.
"Sit." I command and point at a chair at the kitchen table.
"Your injuries are more urgent than mine." He protests.
"All I have is scrapes and bruises, that is it." I snap and narrow my eyes."Now." I point at the chair again," Sit."
He sighs but, obeys and takes a seat while I prepare the medication. I fill up a small bowl with warm water and drop a couple tablets into the water to help with infection and to help cleanse the wound. I take a rag and dip it into the medicated water after the tablets are completely dissolved and wring it out.
With the rag and bowl I walk over to Erwin and place the bowl on the table then gingerly take his hand in my own. Sparks seem to dance up my arm when our skin touches making my mind fuzzy. I shake my head to clear my mind and examine his wounds.
He has small scratches criss crossing over his knuckles and a large cut on his index finger.
"This might hurt." I say then begin rubbing at the blood that is coating his hand until his skin is slightly pink and I can clearly see his wounds.
To ensure his hand doesn't get infected I drop it in the medicated water to soak while I clean his face. I take his chin in my hand and rotate his head to the left then right and see smears of blood on his cheek and a single swipe underneath his jaw.
Sighing I reach up and press the rag to the blood on his forehead. My eyes flicker down to his and I see he is watching me intently, his eyes seem to examine my face closely when our eyes lock I see a flash of an emotion that I wasn't able to place before it was gone. Breaking our intense stare I continue my work on his face.
My fingers gently caress his cheek as I swipe at the blood there then I tilt his face up and clean his jaw. When I am done with his face I place a hand on his shoulder and pull myself to my feet. I walk over to one of the kitchen cabinets and pull out a roll of bandages and a tube of antibiotic cream.
I return to his side and take his hand out of the bowl and gently towel it off. When I know for sure that his hand is dry I smear some antibiotic cream onto his cuts then wrap up his knuckles and his index finger.
"All done." I say with a smile then gather up my supplies and begin to clean up.
I glance at Erwin over my shoulder while I am dumping the medicated water into the sink. His face is forlorn and he holds his injured hand to his chest while looking at a complete complication.
I walk over to him and kneel down so I can see his face,"What's wrong, Erwin?" I ask softly.
I place a hand on his uninjured one and smile at him silently reassuring him that he can talk to me.
"I don't want you to go." He whispers barely loud enough for me to hear.
My mouth falls open,"I have to go tomorrow, Erwin, you know that."
"You can stay here. You don't have to go." He pleads his eyes begging me.
I shake my head dismissing his pleas,"I have an oath and a promise to keep Erwin. I have to go to fulfill both of them." I say while pointing at the scar on my left hand.
His fingers close around my left hand and he yanks me closer to him and wraps his arms around my body,"I understand that you have to fulfill your promises but, maybe Eren and you father will understand if you don't?" His lips are so close to the sensitive skin underneath my ear. His breath sends shivers down my spine but, at his words, anger slowly boils up in my chest.
"I can't believe you would say something like that!" I growl in his ear," You knew from the very beginning that I would have to leave in a years time. Now, that that time is near, why? Why are you trying to get me to stay?"
His arms tighten around my body and he inhales sharply,"I know, okay? But, if you go, you will change in that three years time and I don't want that." He whispers his voice shaking slightly,"I want you to remain like you are now."
I jerk back from his warm embrace and glare at him,"I DID NOT just spend an entire year training my ass off just to stay here! Yeah I will change. For the better!" I'm screaming now,"I will be stronger and faster I will be in the Survey Corps! I would be able to fulfill my dream, my dream to fight next to you. Don't you want me to fight next to you?" I hiss the last part and clench my fists.
He stands up and walks toward me his arms are open and he goes to embrace me again. I place my hands against his chest and shove him away sending him scrambling back.
"Don't touch me." I growl and glare at him again,"I can't believe you would ask me to stay knowing damn well what the answer is."
I take a step back toward the door,"I am going tomorrow." I snap then turn on my heel and dart up the steps to my room where I slam the door shut and lock it. I lean against the door inhaling sharply through my teeth then punch the wall. Over and over and over until my knuckles are bleeding. I grit my teeth and shake my head I can't stay here tonight if I do he will most likely try to stop me from going tomorrow.
I walk over to the wardrobe and pull out a roll of bandages from when my ribs are broken. I wrap up my hand then pull out a black pair of sweatpants and a dark grey tee along with a zip up black hoodie. I quickly change and pull my slightly damp hair into a pony tail then pull the hood over my head. I turn around and my eyes land on my dad's Survey Corps cloak my heart falls when I see it neatly folded on my bed, knowing I can't take it.
With a sigh I pull out a piece of paper and a pen and quickly scrawl Erwin a letter then fold it neatly and scrawl my name on the front then lay it over top of the cloak. I would hate to depart with the cloak but I have to now, with me going tomorrow into training I'm not allowed to take it with me. I turn my back on the cloak and the letter and walk over to the window and throw it open.
Silently I pull myself up onto the windowsill and dangle my legs out into open air. I take a deep breath squeeze my eyes shut and slowly lower myself out of the window to where I am dangling from the window my hands the only thing stoping me from falling. I take another deep breath and release the windowsill. I am free falling for a couple seconds then my feet hit the ground.
My eyes snap open and I look around the woods is directly behind me and I am facing the house. With one final silent goodbye I step back into the woods and run toward town.
****
"Tomorrow's the big day!" I hear Eren say from a stable where they are required to sleep. I freeze and turn toward it glad that I don't have to ask one of the Garrison soldiers where they are.
"Tomorrow is the day we start our training. The day we join the military!" He yells excitement clear in his voice.
"Stop yelling Eren!" Mikasa hisses.
Taking that as my cue I reach up pull my hood down and step into the stable. Eren's back is facing me but Armin and Mikasa's eyes widen when they see me standing there.
"Sakura! What are you doing here?" Armin asks his eyes wide with surprise.
Eren whirls around his eyes wide when they land on me,"I thought you weren't supposed to come here until tomorrow morning?" He questions.
"That what the plan was then.." I reach up and scratch the back of my neck nervously,"something came up and I was wondering if I can stay the night with you guys then we all leave in the morning?" My voice is tight with nervousness.
Armin lurches forward and grabs my hand,"Of course you can stay here!"
He pulls me down onto a bed of hay and takes a seat next to me his blue eyes reminding me much of Erwin's kind blue eyes. I shake my head to get him out of my mind, he tried to stop me from fulfilling my dream he was holding me back is all.
"So, if I may ask, what came up?" Eren asks then takes a seat across the room on his own bed of hay.
Armin gives my hand an encouraging squeeze with my eyes locked on mine and Armin's intertwined fingers and with a deep breath I explain to them everything that happened.
The room is silent when I'm done no one moves and no one speaks I risk a glance at Eren and I am surprised at what I see. His fists are clenched and his shoulders are shaking with anger, his head is down so I can't see his eyes but I don't have to to know that he isn't happy.
Eren slowly turns his eyes to me his eyes are narrowed and a raging fire is behind them,"I can't believe he was trying to stop you from joining the military." Armin whispers at my side.
Mikasa nods,"Yeah wasn't he, like, encouraging you just the other day?"
I nod my head,"He was but, now, I don't know, all of a sudden he just...didn't want me to go."
"The douche bag was holding you back is what it was. He doesn't want to see you surpass him and leave him in the dust." Eren says through his clenched teeth.
I shake my head,"No! I don't think it's that either."
"What else could it be?" He questions.
My mouth opens then snaps shut,"Exactly." He says then crosses his arms and leans his back against the wall of the stable.
"Eren think reasonable here!" Armin says,"Maybe he was trying to protect her? I mean he did say he didn't want to see her change..."
Eren shakes his head and instantly dismisses the idea but, Armin's words run around in my mind. Could he have been trying to protect me?
"It's possible." Mikasa whispers her mind on the same track as mine is.
Eren jerks up his eyes wild,"You honestly think he was trying to protect her?!" He yells. I flinch at the tone of his voice and return my eyes to the ground.
"Of course I do." Mikasa says with a shrug.
"I can't believe you would think that! It is obvious that he was just trying to hold her back." He growls.
Armin shoots me a worried look,"Guys, stop arguing please."
Eren turns toward Armin his eyes large and fueled with fury. Armin points at me and mouths something I couldn't make out.
Eren sighs and shoves himself to his feet,"I'm going to go get us some bread. Come on, Mikasa."
The two leave, both of them shooting me worried looks before stepping out into the open air. Silence stretches in between me and Armin then he starts rubbing circles on my hand with his thumb.
"Are you okay?" I hear Armin whisper from my right.
I glance at him,"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" My voice is shaking slightly.
He sighs,"I know how you feel about Erwin and I just thought you might not be okay because of his douche bag behavior."
A blush creeps up cheeks at being called out like that,"Thanks for worrying but, I'm fine, truly."
He raises an eyebrow but doesn't push the subject anymore. After a couple minutes I feel the soreness in my muscles take over and my body slowly relaxes into a deep sleep.
****
"Come on, Sakura! It's time to go!" Groggily I sit up and rub at my eyes until the crusty things are gone then I look up at Eren's excited face.
"We can't be late on the first day!" He says then grabs my hand and tugs me until I am standing. Every muscle in my body feels heavy but, thinking about training, my heart begins to pound with excitement. I grin and follow Eren out of the stable into the early morning sun where Armin and Mikasa are waiting patiently then together we walk toward the long line of new trainees to sign in and get our uniforms.