The Lost Soldier [Armin x Jean]

Part 2

I remembered back to when I was young, showing Eren the book of the outside world. We were so happy then, so excited to see what was outside the walls. What happened? Little me looked over, causing me to stiffen. There's no way he could actually see me, this is just a memory, right?

"The titans happened, Armin. That is what went wrong."

Fear went through my body, I just spoke to myself. This wasn't a memory at all. The setting swirled and I was in the center of town, staring up at the wall. People surrounded me, trapping me in a circle of displeased eyes. They started to yell, saying I was a waste of space, a waste of tax money. I looked at my hands, then rubbed my head as something hit it. The people were throwing things at me now, their shouts growing louder. I fell to my knees and covered my face as I was hit by rocks and bottles.

"I'm sorry!" I yelled, trying to be loud enough for them to hear. But I couldn't get louder then a whisper. "I'm sorry." I cried into my hands while I was being pelted by different objects.

"Armin," someone called out. I shook my head, moving one hand to cover my neck.

"Armin," they called again, more forcefully. I still refused to look up, I couldn't face these people.

"Armin!"

I woke with a jolt, throwing my eyes open and quickly sitting up. A flash of pain went through my body and I laid back down, looking up at the sky. Something was different, it was moving. Then my surroundings came back to mind. I tried to sit up again, only to be pushed down by someone. I looked over and saw Jean with one hand on my chest looking over at someone else. Glancing over, I saw Christa near my feet. Suddenly, a flash of pain went through my body, causing me to suppress a sceam. My vision flashed black and I looked back at the blonde. Jean turned and looked at me.

"He's awake."

"He is? That's good! We only have to explain one thing to him now..."

"What's going o- ah!" I winced as Christa poured something onto my leg. Did I get cut somehow? Why are her hands all red? Why are Jean's hands red too??

"Oi, hurry up!" Jean yelled at the person driving the cart.

"Jean, Christa? What is-" then I remembered what happened. The plan, being overwhelmed, and being picked up by a titan. But everything after that is a blur. The two looked at eachother then nodded, acting like they shared a conversation just with their eyes.

"Eren is okay," Jean spoke up. "Levi and Mikasa were able to pull him out before he got eaten." I sighed, that's good news. "But that isn't the same for you."

"What?" I looked at him. It was then that I realized how sad he looked. I glanced over to where the pain in my leg was and nearly passed out from the sight. It was all red, but that wasn't all. A huge chunk of my leg was missing, it stopped just above where my knee should be. "What happened!?" I yelled, looking between the two. They were silent, then Jean spoke up again.

"We couldn't get to you before a titan took your leg..."

"I- what? What happened? Why didn't I just die?" I could feel tears running down my face as I laid back down, covering my eyes with an arm.

"Jean ran over and saved you, thank him for that," Christa said as she changed the bandage around my leg. The cart stopped moving and the driver turned to face us. They said something, but I couldn't catch a word. My mind was overflowing with the fact that I could have just died if it wasn't for Jean. I felt him lift his hand off my chest, then arms going underneath me and picking me up. I let my head fall against the chest of whoever was holding me and cried. Everyone has seen me cry, so why bother to hide the fact. I felt myself being carried, people rushing around, then we were in the air. I kept my eyes closed, not wanting to know what was happening. Seconds later, we hit the ground with force then were moving again. This time it sounded like whoever was holding me was running.

"Jean, wait up!" Christa yelled from somewhere in the distance. I opened my eyes slightly to see that Jean was holding me, it only made sense. He rushed to the nearest doctor's house and ran inside. How he knew it was the house of a doctor, I'll never understand. Maybe someone told them to take me here, who knows.

"Help! Please!" I closed my eyes again just as yelling started.

"Put him on the table!" someone said. Their voice was unfamiliar, most likely the doctor. "How much blood did he lose?" the two yelled back and forth, I understood nothing of what was being said. Slowly, I went back to dreaming. It was much quieter in my dream, there was no screaming like last time.

I was sitting along the ocean, like I always wanted to be. I could hear the distant screaming of my name, was that Jean screaming it? I don't know, it was so far away. I sat quietly on the beach, feeling the ground beneath me. They say it's sand, but it feels like grain. Waves hit against the shore, sounding as calm as ever. In the distance, I could see a boat floating over. It was so far away, but someone was certainly on it. I stood up and waited for it to dock. The person stepped off, they were wearing a long hood that covered their face. Slowly, they faced me and lifted down the hood.

I woke up again, right before I could make out the face. It looked like Marco, but half his face was bandaged, and he looked terrified yet sad. But it was all a dream, a weird dream. I looked up, expecting to see a sky, but all I saw was a ceiling. I looked around the room, moving my head only slightly. It looked like the same type of room Eren healed in after he fought Annie a while back. That means I was injured, but back in a safe zone. I was injured... my leg. I lifted my head slightly but was too sore to do much, so i laid back down with a sigh. I looked over to my side and saw Jean, passed out on a couch. He saved me from dying, if it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here. I laughed a little and looked at the door.

"Mn," Jean mumbled before slowly opening his eyes.

"Good morning Jean, how long was I out for?"

He blinked for a minute then stretched. "Not too long, brought you back an hour before nightfall, but you were asleep long before that. Worried us a little."

"....How bad is it?"

He looked at me then stood up and walked over to the bed, pulling up a chair to sit next to me. "Not too bad, you lost everything below your knee, even a little above. Captain Levi said you won't be fighting on the front lines anymore unless you find a prosthetic."

I sighed and closed my eyes. I felt them watering up, but I didn't want him to see that happening. "I figured, I guess I'm useless again. I should've just died there if I knew this was going to happen."

"Don't say things like that! You're not useless, you are still a huge help in the saving of this world."

"How? I can't fight, not like I was ever that capable of fighting."

"You have your brain, isn't that helpful enough?" He put a hand on my forehead and sighed. "You got a fever, maybe you should rest more."

"I'm fine Jean. But... thank you."

"Huh? What for?"

"For risking your life to save me."

He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. I couldn't tell if he was blushing or not. "It's nothing. The others weren't going to anything, so I thought I'd give it all I got. We're soldiers, right? It's what we do."

I smiled and opened my mouth to say something, but someone knocked on the door. I looked at it for a minute. "Come in."