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❛ 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩! ❜
the whoop leaves the young, grinning annie leonhart's mouth as another hard kick was thrown against the low-hanging bag attached to a tree. combat - nothing made her feel so. . alive. she's been like this almost from birth. a fighter.
a 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳.
childish innocence would sometimes take its hold upon even the coldest of children, sometimes.
❝ wonderful job, annie. ❞
𝒇𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.
his voice always brought her back down to reality quicker than anything else ever could. an anchor. the only constant she's had in her life, until recently.
annie's leg was slowly lowered to the soil below her, slow, heavy pants leaving her mouth as sweat was wiped from her forehead. it had been a long day of this. training.
it's all she ever did. train. to fight. to kill. to be a warrior. even from birth, it seemed, her fate had already been chosen. what choice ( did ) she have? either this, or die. that was their ultimatum, wasn't it? choice was never given.
❝ one more set, then you can wrap up for the day, okay? ❞ the voice called out to her. was it her father? the voice - it was faint. muffled. she couldn't turn around to see, so she had no clue. the voice, it was familiar to her nonetheless.
so she did just that, fists raised, legs bent. five punches, three from the right, two from the left, followed by a heavy kick to the side of the chained bag suspended in front of her. each at a certain height, each at a certain angle every time. the punches focused on the rib area of a human body, it's sole purpose being to shatter the opponents will. the kick - it was placed higher, sole purpose to hit the neck. every single one hit the exact same spot, without fail.
if she did, annie would simply make herself begin anew.
this went on for ages.
right.
left.
right.
left.
right.
𝘒𝘐𝘊𝘒 - .
right to the neck. the bag slipped off the hook that suspended it, sending it falling to the ground and slamming against the ground in front of her.
the sight would make annie crack a smile, despite the stinging - excruciating pain emanating from her foot as it dropped to the ground. quiet his as weight was put onto the leg, but it was something she was willing to push through nonetheless.
even as the bag rolled, her smile grew evermore.
❛ haven't done that in a while. is that. . good enough? ❜
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
silence.
❛ . . father? ❜
body swinging around, glancing back in the direction the voice - his voice came from. nobody. nothing - except for the exit of wooded areas - and childhood home in the distance.
did he . . leave? ugh. she'd have to put the bag back up herself, then, it always proved difficult.
she turned around.
only this time, she was somewhere else.
she felt older, but not by much.
staring directly at a man, dead, or, at least, dying, hanging from a tree. he had finished a story just now, before he killed himself.
what had he wanted, again? what was the story even about?
three kids. that's right. they were all dead, according to him. he took responsibility for their deaths and, simply put, he couldn't live with himself anymore.
had he wanted forgiveness? to finally be judged, after every other person never once blamed him for his children's deaths as the wall fell? she couldn't remember. would they even be able to offer him the 𝘰𝘯𝘦 thing he truly wanted.
were they any better?
marcel was dead. because of them, marcel - the one sensible person here, was dead. instead of trying to help, trying to do ( anything ), they simply. . sat there. and watched as their comrade was torn apart by the mouth of a titan.
how did he die, again? did he hang himself?
did 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 hang him?
why couldn't she remember?
❝ . . annie? are you there? ❞
hand waved in front of her face, making her blink back into reality. glancing over, she would see reiner - and the ever-concerned bertholdt. he looked especially shaken up by this. as the most dangerous here - it seemed odd how his resolve was always the one who was broken the first. he was crying. a lot.
shaking hands were balled into fists, tears welling upon eyes blinked away in an instant.
❛ yeah. I'm here, Reiner. ❜ spoken above barely a whisper past chapped lips, ocean blue hues staring now past the dead man - towards the darkening sky behind him.
❝ we're leaving. come on, annie. ❞
hand tapped her shoulder as the taller boy walked past, as bertholdt walked past, yet, she remained unmoved, feet rooted to the ground. annie couldn't move, even if she wanted to.
❝ annie. come on. we're leaving. ❞
. . silence.
❝ 𝘈𝘕𝘕𝘐𝘌! ❞
whipping around instantly, she found herself met face-to-face with marco bott.
❝ Help me out! ❞ he screamed, writhing on the ground as a knee kept on his back kept the young man firmly stuck against the rooftop.
. . what?
what was reiner doing?
voices - they faded away. she could see lips moving, tears streaming down marco's face as he pleaded for his life. a titan - one came stomping from around the corner, and her body moved on it's own.
why was she removing his maneuver gear? why couldn't she stop herself? annie could feel the tears streaming down her face as the gear came apart - thrown through the nearest window. she wanted to apologize. to do it all over again, save him. yet she couldn't, she knew that as they all flew away.
annie found herself staring. back towards marco, as tears streamed down his face, fist pounding away at the hand on the titan that seized him by the waist. she couldn't help the tears while he screamed, as the titan slowly began to stuff him into it's mouth.
slowly, his screams began to merge with her own. she was screaming. to what, to who, she didn't know.
then, she finally awoke, a gasp following the choked up sob as she shot up from the bed she was laying on.
were they gone?
was it over?
tear-filled eyes glanced down as her hands came into view, watching them shake violently - uncontrollably.
❛ I'm sorry, Marco. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, I-. . ❜ spoken barely above a whisper - between choked up sobs. she couldn't stop apologizing. she never would. what good would it do? annie was a monster. she would never be redeemed - no matter what she tried to say to herself. she was what she feared the most in this world. a devil, someone irredeemable.
she would never be human.
❝ Annie? ❞
no.
❝ Annie? ❞
not again.
please.
please, god.
❝ Annie. ❞
then, another hand grasps her own, nearly causing her to let out a strangled scream then and there. following the direction the hand came from, she found herself meeting an onyx gaze, head propped up on an arm as a yawn left the others mouth.
Mikasa.
It was 𝘔𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘴𝘢.
❝ Are you okay? ❞ spoken with a tired tone, yet, the others sincerity the other displayed was obvious nonetheless.
a soft sigh would leave the blondes mouth, and she tried - god, she tried, to put a smile on her face. perhaps the other saw right through the façade. it wouldn't surprise her, that woman seemed to see right through everything she did, nowadays.
❛ . . yeah. I just had a bad dream. I'm okay. ❜
the other would simply nod, knowing it best not to search for a further answer but to simply offer comfort, and that she would do. the hand linked with one of annie's own would tug towards her, which the blonde mindlessly followed, until the other arm enclosed around around her waist. her back was pressed against mikasa's chest.
here, she felt. .
human.
loved.
safe.
❝ you're going to be okay, annie. I promise. do you want to go back to sleep? ❞
sleep.
a condition of body and mind that typically recurs for several hours every night, in which the nervous system is relatively inactive, the eyes closed, the postural muscles relaxed, and consciousness practically suspended.
such an easy concept to grasp, is it not?
not for annie leonhart, it wasn't.
❛ . . yeah. I do. ❜
her eyes fall shut once more, body doing its best to hide within the frame of the other. the woman she . .
❝ okay. ❞
a kiss, to the back of her head.
❝ I love you, annie. ❞
loved.
a woman she loved.
lips finally turn upwards into a smile, at least one more genuine than the last.
❛ I love you too, Mikasa. ❜
slowly, but surely, she would drift off into sleep once more.
maybe she was human, after all.
maybe.