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She is finally back home. After everything she was put through, she’s finally back in the country of her birth - Marley. All that she had forced herself to do; bloodying her hands with the blood of ‘devils’ from that dreaded island. Although she had sealed herself inside a crystal shield for a time to keep said ‘devils’ from getting to her, her two friends managed to get her out of custody, and sneak out mostly undetected. When she woke up, she found herself on a Marleyan ship, she was soaking from melted pieces of crystal but had a towel over her to keep her warm.
There was only one person in the room waiting for her to wake up, his eyes were droopy - like he hadn't slept in days. Who else would it be but Bertholdt Hoover, the tall, quiet boy who'd appeared to now have scars over him; both metaphorically and physically. Once Annie woke up from her slumber, Bertholdt's head immediately rose to the sound of her in pain grunts, he'd asked if she was feeling okay and when she replied 'sort of', the tall boy reached over for a plate of bread and a glass of water; 'you should eat.' is what he said before walking out of the room to tell the officers that she's awake.
Annie can't get this out of her mind. Bertholdt was never usually the type to upfront do anything for someone before, from the times that she remembers, their friend Reiner was always the one to such deeds, whenever they were good or bad; while Bertholdt would just remain silent behind him. He barely did anything to Annie as well, aside from looking back at her from time to time, sharing a smidgen of a conversation at rare times too. But recently he's been doing a lot for her, and the Marleyan military alongside Reiner, it's like he has become a completely different person.
The small, blonde girl doesn't know what may have happened, but what's matters now is that she's home.
A week has passed now since Annie had been brought back to Marley, she managed to make a full recovery but even though the military volunteered for her to go back onto the battlefield, Bertholdt and Reiner suggested to give her another few days off from fighting. Luckily, the general was convinced enough to let it slide, even so, Annie is honestly surprised from their proposal. Something definitely happened to them while she was sealed away by the Military Police, but what? The blonde hair girl is still a bit too tired right now to figure it out, she'll ask Bertholdt about it later.
This morning while getting out of bed, Annie makes a large, nice stretch before putting on her regular white hoodie, and since she is still given time off there's not much for her to do today but head down to the big shopping area right next to the warrior headquarters. She walks down the stairs quietly, hence to not disturb any of the others, not realizing that she's opening the door that led to the meeting room; suddenly all the curtains gets drawn open to reveal some wrapped gifts and a cake on the table.
"SURPRISE!!" Pieck, Porco, Reiner and Bertholdt all appear from behind said curtains, (Pieck is the only one to yell 'surprise' btw) clapping with glee. Annie is flabbergasted.
"Happy Birthday Annie." Bertholdt says cheerfully, the smile on his face is something Annie hadn't seen in a long time, she doesn't think she's seen him smile like this before.
"Hey, happy birthday. Uh... feeling older yet?" Reiner awkwardly tries to be cheerful but formal at the same time.
"Happy birthday Annie. Great that you're here with us for it, right?" Pieck gleefully addresses to her old, quiet friend. Porco just gives a shrug and barely gives a smile, this is mostly the expressions he gives but still ensures that he is happy for her.
Annie doesn't know what to think right now. It's her birthday today, she should be happy, right? Well, yes and no. As a child, she was always a loner, so to have people around now to celebrate her birthday feels heartwarming in a way. But at the same time, she feels very uncomfortable about being with a group, even though they're people she has known for quite some time. She's not really big on parties either. Whenever someone were to invite her to one back in the trainee days, all she wanted to do was leave; somehow she never did in the end. She could've just said something about this to the others just there, but she didn't, not after seeing such a smile on Bertholdt's face. Maybe that's what's stopping her from leaving, such a rare sight has effected her in some way.
Everyone then gathers around the tabel, take seats and Reiner sets a match to light the seventeen candles on the cake. The mere silence that follows is kind of off-putting: Annie still feels uncomfortable so ends up lost in thought, Pieck is holding onto her gift for Annie pretty nervously, Reiner looks between all of his comrades awkwardly, while Porco just stares into open space with brooding eyes. Finally, Bertholdt breaks the silence by clearing his throat out loud.
"So... um... why don't we all wish Annie a happy birthday."
"We already did that." Porco grouches. Obviously bored already.
"Oh. Well... why don't we give out our presents then." Bertholdt says while nervously fiddling with his.
"Or we can sing her a happy birthday. I lit the candles after all." Reiner suggests, looking oddly proud with that grin on his face.
"Alright. We can do that." Pieck replies back, also looking weirdly happy at the request. Bertholdt just agrees without a second thought.
Annie on the other hand, does not look impressed. She clearly looks against the idea, but nobody seems to notice. If there is one thing that Annie strongly dislikes about birthday parties, especially her own, is the singing. It's also doesn't really help with her current situation and how she feels at the moment at all. So when everyone starts singing the first line, she immediately stands up from her chair telling them to shut up.
"Shut up. Just... shut up." It comes out a lot more harshly then she wished for it to be. "I don't like surprises."
The room goes quiet again. Even a bit more silent than the first time. Annie realizes what she just admitted out loud, and covers her mouth with one hand. She looks over at Bertholdt, who now has a saddened, at fault look on his face, quite the contrast to the cheerful expression from when she first walked in the room. The blonde girl removes her hand from her mouth as to say something, but is quickly interrupted by a very crabby Reiner.
"Wow. It's no wonder nobody likes to be around you, Annie." He grouches, but it has a hint of sarcasm in his tone. He winks over at Pieck on the opposite side of the table.
"Yup. Your titan is almost as big as your attitude, Annie." Pieck pouts, trying to be insulting.
Porco is not as nearly as subtle though. "Hmph. What a bitch."
Of course, Annie is mature enough to not take these insults to heart, even if they stung a little bit. After all that has to be said, Annie steps away from the table and walks away, heading towards the door without another word or the slight of a sour feeling on her face. Bertholdt keeps his eyes on her until she left the room; he looks down at his present in shame. Bertholdt planned for this surprise party in hoping that it would make her feel better, but he really should have thought more realistically. After having to fight against old friends then to be sealed inside a crystal for months, it would take a longer time for her to be wanting a moment of merriment again; Bertholdt feels like such an idiot after figuring it out. The tall, tan man steps up from his chair and starts heading out to follow her, when Reiner whistles back for him.
"You forgot something here." Reiner assures him, pointing at the gift on the table.
"Oh, right. Thanks." Bertholdt says while picking it up gently and quickly exits the meeting room.
Reiner and Pieck both look oddly proud of themselves, but why?
~~~
Annie is all alone in her room, trying to take her mind off of things by reading a book, but all she can think about is that slight embarrassment from downstairs a few minutes ago. Aside from that though, she can't help but wonder but feel that something was off; since when did they liked throwing surprise parties for each other? They never had before, even while on the island. Suddenly, a light knock came from the door behind her. 'No doubt that it's Bertholdt.' Annie thinks to herself, but calls him to come in anyway. Bertholdt makes his way in and lightly closing the door; the nervousness on his face can be read like an open book.
"Y-You feeling better?" Bertholdt asks, he's clearly trying to make eye contact even if she's looking away.
"As in my recovery or from the confession downstairs?" Annie asks back.
Bertholdt moves slightly closer towards her bed, she notices. Annie scoots over as to make room for him to sit beside her, and so he sits on said space. "Mainly your recovery, what you confessed... isn't all that surprising to me."
The blonde girl hesitates to make eye contact back at him, only giving a brief smile at his comment. "Oh, really?"
"Well... yes. I mean we've known each other for so long, there's some things that should be pretty obvious by now." Bertholdt gives out a nervous laugh, trying to make this sound comedic, but stops while noticing the lack of an expression from Annie. This clearly isn't going as well as Bertholdt hoped it be.
The tall man is about to leave the room, and Annie on her own once more, till she spoke up with an unusual reply. "Well... there's not much I know about you apparently."
Bertholdt looks back down to her, he's really intrigued now by her comment. "What do you mean?" He asks calmly, as to not sound too intrigued.
She takes a minute of being quiet, then turns over so that she is facing towards him fully. "Ever since I was brought back to Marley, I've noticed the noticeable changes to how you behave. You've been aiding Reiner when it comes to giving advice to the army, and even to the general himself; something that you'd never did before. I don't know what you two have been through when I was gone, but... it must have effected you a lot. You're so... different."
Bertholdt hears every single word perfectly, as clear as ice, he's never heard her talk this much so calmly before. She is right about all of it, he has felt a lot more confident ever since their last battle on Paradis, mostly due to Reiner and Zeke Jaeger, it's such a contrast to how he used to be when they were younger but he never thought in a million years that Annie would even notice it. He thinks for a moment before replying back, but has to be quick cause Annie starts to look more dull than before.
"You're right. You weren't there to see such pain that Reiner and I had to go through, but I still feel like I haven't changed that much. All I did was doing my duty as a warrior. I... didn't think you would notice."
"Why wouldn't I? It was something that I liked the most about you. I don't usually do that well around people, but you... you were someone I can be relaxed around, and be myself with." The blush on Annie's face starts to become very noticeable. "Sorry that I couldn't let you know about this sooner."
The more Bertholdt realizes this, the more it makes sense. Annie did seem to open up more whenever it was just the two of them, he can't believe she's been like this the whole time. His face blushes pure red which almost matches hers. Bertholdt takes a deep breath, then another, and grabs Annie's hand with her attention along with it. "A-Annie... I wanted to say before... that it was I that suggested to plan the surprise party for your birthday. But I had no idea that you were so sensitive with such gatherings, I should've known better. So for that, I'm sorry." He stutters a little - the blush starting to fade away.
He waits for her reply; but what he receives is something that he didn't expect from her. She lets out her hand from his grip, brings both of her hands up and onto his shoulders and practically pulls him in so that their chests touch. Bertholdt can't compute to what's happening. A hug from Annie? This is really happening? He even feels his body starting to wrap his arms around her as well. His face feels very hot, but the longer it went, the more he feels relax and safe. Annie feels the same way.
"It's okay." Annie gives her answer. "I knew you'd be the only one to risk yourself to save me, right? That's what you wanted to tell me?" She can feel a slight nod of his head on the top of hers. "I don't normally say this but... thank you."
Both warriors feel so at ease within each other's company. Annie feels glad to finally open up to someone that she cares about, and Bertholdt feels lucky enough to have a moment of peacefully talking to the girl he loves more than anyone he's ever met. All the worry and guilt from moments ago have lept off his shoulders and faded away; such a rare moment during such harsh times with the wars constantly happening around them. If they can have more small moments like this any time they want, even if it doesn't make a big difference for their duty, it'll still be enough. Slowly, they let go of each other but keep holding each other's hands. Till Bertholdt reaches into his pocket for the small gift he would've given her in the meeting room. Annie's smiling just for the two of them makes it all worth it in the end.
"Happy birthday, Annie... again." Bertholdt chuckles under his breathe, smiling back at her with such awe as she did for him.
"See? I told you he had it in him."
Behind the door are of course Reiner, Pieck and even Porco. They were listening on the whole conversation, it's surprising that neither Bertholdt or Annie were able to hear their footsteps creaking on the stairs or the wooden floor. "Can't believe everything actually went as I thought it would. Oh well."
"That just shows how well you know Bert, Reiner. You're like the brother that just wants him to be happy." Pieck grins widely with such pride on her face. Porco now places all the pieces of the puzzle together.
"Wait... don't tell me that you two planned all this, and tricked Bertholdt into thinking throwing her a surprise party was his idea, am I wrong?"
The pair look over at him, not even surprise that he caught on to their plan, but how he didn't even realize it from the beginning. "Well it's about time you figured it out. Yes, we allowed this to happen." Reiner answers but keeping it quiet so that Bertholdt or Annie wouldn't hear.
"It's the least we can do, right?" Pieck tenderly smiles at Porco. "I mean poor Annie has been locked away leaving poor Bert to be worried sick. Besides, he was the one who wanted to do something special for her, we just... improvised for him."
Porco shakes his head in disappointment while heading back downstairs to the meeting room. "You're both idiots."