I Hate to Love You

Chapter 2 ~questions and answers~

It had been a week, since I'd wandered down to see Annie, and honestly I couldn't get it off my mind. Encased in ice, she opened her eyes, and looked at me. No one had that, with concerns me slightly. Was I just imagining things, did it really happen?

"Hey!" Eren yelled, snapping me back to the present, as he delivers a well placed blow to my rib cage. "And you tell me to focus while we're sparring"

"Well Eren, the difference between me and you, is that I always make a comeback" I swept his legs out at the knees, and pinned him down. "And you have yet to defeat me in a sparring match"

"Whatever" He huffs, and tried to get away, but fails. "Alright I give."

I stood, and helped him up.

"So what's been on your mind? You've been like this all week, since I got back from from the scouting expedition with Levi. Did I worry you that much?" He stands, and looks at me.

"No, I was just thinking about some things" I shrugged.

"You're not going to tell me are you?" He sighed.

"Nope."

Later, as I lied in bed, my thoughts once again returned to Annie. After an hour or so of restlessly trying to sleep, and get her off my mind, I caved and got out of bed. I slipped on some pants, and a tank top, and went back down to where Annie was being kept.

"Back again?" The same guard from before greeted me, but still never met eyes.

I nod, and he stood aside, as I entered the room.

Everything was the same as before. The cold atmosphere, slightly chilly temperature, and of course she remained frozen. I pulled up a chair, close to her icy cocoon, but didn't touch it. I sat there and stared at her for a while.

"I know you heard me last time..." I spoke. "So that means you can hear me now"

I started talking to her about trivial things, that she'd never care about, trying to see if she would react like last time. Then I moves on, and started talking about Berthold and Reiner, the mood in the room seemed to shift a bit, I knew she had cared for both boys. Then I started talking about Eren, and Armin, and the expeditions beyond the walls.

Soon, I found myself talking to her, just to talk, I talked about things I'd never once mentioned to Eren or Armin. Things that were dark, and had left their mark on me.

When I looked up, she was looking at me again, with a very curious look.

"I knew you could hear me" I looked back at her.

She smirked a little, and mouthed something.

I shook my head. "I can't tell what your saying"

She rolled her eyes, and the ices that covered her face dissapated. "I said, of course I can hear you Ackerman."

"If you can make the ice dissapears like that, then why don't you come out?" It wasn't the question I had meant to ask, but it was the one that came out first.

"Aw, miss me Ackerman?" She snickered.

"Just answer the damn question Leonhardt" I growled, maybe I did, thinks to myself.

"Well Ackerman, if I were to do that, then I could be caught. I cannot give up the secrets to titan shifting, because I don't have them. Each of us titan shifters are different, so each shifters abilities must be unlocked by themselves, the only person who knows all of them is Dr. Jaeger. And I'm not about to become Hanji's new play thing."

I was about to correct her about Hanji, but she was right, so I just laughed slightly. And if I hadn't known better, I would've said she'd actually smiled, but it's Annie.

"So, you're not gonna go run and tell the guard that I've unfroze myself, and that I can hear you?" She gave me a look.

"Now why would I do that? You'd just go back to being frozen, and I'd look like I've gone mental."

"Do you really think people would

mistake you for a liar?" She looks at me curiously.

I shrug. "Most of your military police friends don't like me very much"

"Because you're with Jaeger" She seems to spit out his name, as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"I'm not with Eren, I see him more as a brother, than anything else" I sigh, and and look at her. "It's a common misconception. I owe Eren my life, so if protecting him, means my time comes to an end. So be it."

"I guess I'll never fully understand your dedication to him, but I can respect it atleast" She looked away. "So if you're not going to report me, then what are you going to do?"

"I do know" I yawn. "But I, am going to go try a nd get some skeep, before I go training with Levi and Eren again." I get up, and walk to the door.

"And to answer your question, yes, I considered you a friend" She said quietly, before returning to her frozen state.

My heart fluttered a bit, as I left. Well Mikasa...This could be a problem... I sighed internally, as I walked back to my room, and quickly fell asleep