"Saving Liberio is impossible."

"I'll stop here...I don't want to go...I don't want to fight or kill anyone anymore."

Her thoughts never failed to make her tear up. Every moment of her life since they went into the mission in Paradis to capture Eren, all she ever thought about was going home to his father in Liberio. She encased herself to a crystal but still, every day she had hope to go home.

But the rumbling, the massacre in Marley and Liberio cannot be stopped now. She'll never see her father again. They are probably dead now.

Annie cried herself to sleep as the fatigue from her previous transformation took over her body.

...

She woke up from the knocking sound on her door. She felt like she'd been sleeping for a whole day and she couldn't feel her lids, but it was only an hour since she closed her eyes.

"Annie, come eat with us." Said Pieck who was surely as devastated as her, but the only difference between them was Pieck chose to fight.

"I'm not hungry." She answered along the growling sound of her stomach. In all honesty, she just didn't have the appetite, so she brushed it off and got back to bed before her head started to hurt like it was begging for nutrients from the sun. She decided to climb at the deck afterwards when Pieck finally gave up on waiting on her.

The sky was calm and blue out there like it wasn't even aware that crimson bloods were scattered in almost quarters of the world. She mindlessly stared into nothingness when she heard the screams again—screams of the people she killed. It was a nightmare...

Not until her attention darted at Armin who happened to pass by on her line of view.

"Did your wounds heal already?" She asked.

"Huh? Uh, yeah. Because I got some time. I wasn't expecting that we would be spending our time aimlessly." Armin stammered.

"You can join me here." She gestured on her side.

Armin gave it some thought, considering that no one's needing him at the moment and like he said, he was free, so he sat beside her.

"Thank you for coming to see me...all those years." She started, "I was so lonely, and I think I will go mad, but I had to wait on you and Hitch every day to talk to me. That's the only thing that's pulling me together. Even so, I'm bewildered why you had kept on talking to someone who can't even respond to you. There must be some other interesting girls out there, right?"

"That's not true." Armin cut her off, "I wanted to see you, Annie. That's all I know." He confessed as the heat started to creep on his face.

"Why?" She leaned on her elbows for she didn't know how to react to his confession.

"Huh?! You really didn't get it? Even if Hitch kept on teasing me all the time?" Armin gasped.

"No. I don't understand." She bluntly answered. She didn't get. She didn't know why someone would like her, a mass killer. No, she didn't want to accept that someone would love her. She doesn't deserve any of Armin's attention. That's what been bugging her.

Tears started to accumulate on her eyes, and she couldn't stop overthinking, "What are we even doing?" She asked, "As we talk leisurely here, millions of people are being massacred out there."

There was a pregnant silence between them, but it was comfortable otherwise.

"You're right—"

"I get it. You're a good person, that's why you kept on talking to me, your enemy." She finally pulled her thoughts together, "That goes for Eren. You're avoiding conflict so you're still entertaining the idea of talking to him, right?"

Armin seemed to be lost in his own thoughts too. Was it trauma that she seen in his eyes? For a moment, she saw in him the same loneliness that she had. She promptly got up, certain that she'll never get an answer from him. She didn't even know why she's waiting for his answer. Was it to get sympathy from him?

"I hate it when you say that I'm a good person. Because I'm not." He stopped her with a firm grip on her wrist as if he was searching for the same thing that she wanted, "I killed innocent people, my comrades, and now I'm betraying Paradis. I'm a monster too, if that's what you think of yourself. Nevertheless, I still hope that the promise I made with Eren to travel the world would come true."

"And the world you hoped for turns out to be vicious, huh?"

"It was different from what we dreamed of. But I still believe that there is still a side of the walls that we haven't discovered yet."

...

If she had truly lost Liberio and her father, there's no way she still wanted to live. The only purpose that remained was her being eaten by the inheritor of the female titan. The only purpose left with Annie was death itself.

I'm tired.

She was close to drowning in her thoughts again when she was interrupted by another knock on the door. She waited for Pieck to ask her, but that didn't happen.

"Annie, can we talk?" It was Armin instead.

"Come in." She answered.

"The ship is close to Odiha." He mentioned as he closed the door behind him, "I'm riding the flying boat with the others."

"I'm deciding if I'm coming—"

"No." He sternly said, "You've done enough, and you're not obliqued to go with us." He said convincingly, and Annie only wonders why.

"There's no point in staying and there's no point in coming either." She frowned as she stood up to leave the room.

Armin held her shoulder that forced her to stay in place.

"I don't want you to come, Annie. I want you to be safe here. To live your remaining time in peace. You wanted it too, right?"

"How about you?"

The question was left hanging as Armin tried to read her mind. Tension was building up as the silence grew heavier.

"I want the peace that you brought to me." He looked into her eyes like she was valued more than anything else in the world.

She was in the middle of questioning her purpose, so how come she'll ask for him?

No, that was what she's searching for. To be human in someone's eyes. Is it? Surely, she wanted it, but...does she deserve that kind of affection?

"That's why I want you to stay." He added and his voice was like a thread that was knotted on her lips which slowly drew her to him.

She inched closer as she stared at his bloodstained clothes up to his eyes. They are still hopeful, she was thankful.

"Stop being nice to me." She bit her lips as she felt her tears coming out again.

"You still didn't get it, do you—"

She didn't let him finish his words. She felt a whirlpool of emotions in her body. It was the peace she doesn't deserve. It was warmth. It was serendipity.

Armin returned the kiss, and he swears she was quivering. He felt the cold tears running down from her eyes, and all he wanted at the moment was to erase all her doubts in life and her silent battles. He wanted Annie to share her adversities with him so he could make her feel that she's not alone as they carry the burden and guilt from their crimes. Because with her, he is always at peace.

"How can you assure me that you're returning?" She asked.

"I'll never forget to search for peace." He answered as he laid her down on the bed and started to work on his buttons while kissing her jaw.

Annie on the other hand gently gripped on his locks, and Armin thought she would pull him away, but he was wrong. She pulled him his closer instead as if telling him to do it quick and deeper.

At her fear of Gabi or Pieck to jolt their way into the room and catch the Female titan shifter and Colossal titan shifter having a farewell sex, she helped him to undress, directly reaching to unbuckle his belt, and she noted the unfamiliar arousal behind his trouser. She had the urge to ask him to lock the door, but she was also embarrassed to interrupt the development.

"What are we doing?" She asked out of curiosity, for all that was happening is solely rooted at their instinct.

"Making sure that I'll come back." Said Armin who slid back his sleeved shirt before he connected his lips on hers again.

Her heart was beating fast, and she finally felt it for the first time since she broke free from the crystal. She bit her lip as she tried to contain the soft breaths that came out as muffled moans. Does he always have this effect on me? She asked herself as she felt her stomach empty and being taken over by a newly discovered sensation.

Armin was surprisingly quiet as he did his job. He hesitated for a moment before he undone her zipper and slid down her trouser. He also took notice that she was still wearing her jacket, but embarrassment slowly daunted him, so he chose to roll under and let her take charge, fairly aware that Annie also experiences the same unfamiliarity.

Annie was about to take off her clothes, but Armin stopped her.

"We don't need to do it yet, do we?" He panted.

She smiled after a couple of blinks, laying down beside him as they cherished the warmth and peace.

"I'll be waiting."

There's no guarantee that Armin and the team will make it out alive. But he'll be yearning for her, and that's more than enough reason to survive.

"I don't have all the power to stop all of this, but...I'd rather lose everything just to come back." Armin sat up as he dressed himself.

...

Evening came and they finally arrived at Odiha where the Azumabito tuned up the flying ship. Mikasa was there to make sure that Annie and Reiner already practiced their equipment.

"Reiner and I already tried them earlier. But I already said that I am not going with you." Annie answered.

"You're not getting on the flying boat?" Mikasa worriedly asked.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know how you'll pull everything together. Even if you survive, there will be nothing left to protect Eldia. I really feel sorry for them, for betting their hopes on us just to save our hometown that is far from being redeemed. For now, I just need peace." She answered as her eyes were subconsciously glued on particular someone.

Mikasa was not dumb to not realized that Annie has her eyes on Armin the whole time. She gasped but she held her tongue.

"Since when?"

"What?!"

"I see." But then, she chose to leave the fact alone.

...

Hange's death before their eyes made her heart burst. She wanted to stop him, she wanted to make Armin stay but they already rode the flying ship and there's no turning back now.

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