No Escape (Bertholdt x Annie One Shot)

Final

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or any of its characters. All copyright belongs to their rightful owners.

This was just a short little snippet I did as a writing exercise a while back based off the prompt of 'Poverty' and timed for about 30 minutes. There's not much more to it than that ^^

Bertholdt's POV:

The moment before I died, I was scared. And yet, some part of me felt relieved. It's like standing on the shore and watching that giant wave coming towards you. Just as it towers over you and prepares to swallow you whole, you find yourself in a calm of impending darkness. Cool ocean sprays your body and the wind is undefined in that brief moment, still as a statue. Finally, it crashes down and the ground leaves your feet spinning you into a rushing current and bottomless depth. You can't breath, can't see, can't hear and can't feel. Saltwater penetrates your lungs and suddenly, you're gone.

It's a peaceful feeling once the pain has subsided.

The burden that I was carrying was over. I didn't want it to end, but I guess it was my time already. The truth of what I amounted to will no longer be hidden. I'm sure that one day, I'll see you again, Annie. You're alive, right? That's... That's what they said. And Armin... He wouldn't lie to me, right? Even if you're getting hurt, you'll pull through. You always have, and I believe you always will.

Back home, you were always fighting, too. I liked that about you. Even though you didn't show it, you were confident and powerful enough to fight anyone who would stand before you. I'm sure that was why you were chosen.

For me, I survived poverty by hiding in my asylum.

I had my physique to combat my strength, but my will is meek. I've always felt like that. Truthfully, fighting scares me. I wish I never had to fight. But, the people in our lives were counting on us to succeed so they would be provided for in the light that we would make it back from the war. To become spies among the demons and pawns to retrieve the founding titan was the greatest honor that any of us could carry on our shoulders.

It's a shame that I couldn't come home. I wonder how much things have changed. I wonder how many people are still alive. I have so many questions, but it looks like I won't find out the answers.

Sometimes, I wondered how you could always put on such a perfectly strong face for everyone. Being surrounded by the people here, these demons, you were a pillar of hope, the foundation holding us together.

Or maybe, it was better to say that you were holding me together.

I'm sorry I died. I'm sorry I couldn't prove myself to you. I couldn't find the strength to follow you. I couldn't leave Reiner to fall apart even more. We became liabilities, and you continued walking on the path of our mission while we fell behind.

There are so many things that I want to say to you if things had gone differently back then. If Reiner and I followed you into the military police, I wonder if I would have found the courage to speak my thoughts.

But, they go unspoken now.

When I see you again, I hope that you will also find your peace and be at ease in your happiness. I hope that you thrive and give everyone back home a smile and shining hope they'll remember. When I see you again, I hope that you'll forgive and let me say this to you.

Annie, I love you.