Spark to a Flame [Discontinued]

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at [Link]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Categories: F/F, M/M
Fandom: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Eren Yeager, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Armin
Arlert & Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss, the relationships are kind of minor
sorry but they're there
Characters: Armin Arlert, Eren Yeager, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss, Ymir (Shingeki
no Kyojin)
Additional Tags: Kidnapping, Prologue, Armin Arlert & Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss Are
Related, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, alt pov and rewrite of
ova distress, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Armin
Arlert-centric
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2021-08-08 Completed: 2025-08-05 Words: 18,658 Chapters:
4/4
 Spark to a Flame [Discontinued]
by backflipintothesun

Summary

*Discontinued (officially) August 4th, 2025

Armin wasn't special. He was just another kid, another soldier, another victim. Everyone lost
something in their life, and really, he came out a bit luckier than most.

He began to get used to looking up to the courageous Eren Jaeger, the fierce Mikasa
Ackerman, and the strengths of all his fellow soldiers. He wasn't strong like them, or
incredibly quick witted. He was just the bookish one, and he was fine with things as it was.

But when comparisons are made, dots are connected, and the mistake of a couple that was
better left buried points to one Armin Arlert, he began the journey to further himself along
his friends and some people he thought he had lost in the fall of Shiganshina.

Family.

Notes

*A/N (8/4/25): I'm keeping the notes from when I wrote them in 2021. All new content can
be seen after this prologue chapter.

if this doesn't get that much attention, i don't think it's likely that i'll continue writing it.
though, if it does, ill probably start it! ive only really finished this prologue and a rough idea
of what i want haha

reason why im doing it like this is because i know for a fact that if i start it (officially) and
start to slow down ill feel really bad and i really dislike leaving things unfinished. so if
people like it, great! ill leave this preview up until i finish like,,, at least 10 chapters or so
with a fleshed out idea of what i want before i take it down and start posting the official thing
with a steady schedule. if not, well then the idea will be left alone until i revisit it in the
future, maybe.

again it's not really a 100% guarantee that i will or wont continue it, but it does give me an
idea.

thank you, enjoy reading!

See the end of the work for more notes
 Prologue

There was a loud noise- too loud to come from an animal, but too quiet to come from a gun.

Armin felt his head jump up, his surroundings oddly muted and blurry. His hands, which were
much smaller than he remembered, attempted to grab at everything. He felt the starchy sheets
of a thin blanket covering his form, and he clumsily slipped out of the covers to land on rough
wood floor, his feet aching as he wriggled his toes. He began to feel around, bumping into a
wardrobe and a desk until he eventually came to a door. Wrenching it open with as much
power as he could, he waddled into a small, dusty looking kitchen. A woman was there, with
pale hair and shaking hands. When Armin reached her line of sight, she froze, briefly
stopping her trembling. Grasping at something he couldn’t see, she slowly approached,
standing taller and taller until she was towering over his short form, her lips pressed in a
thin line.

Her eyes were blue, just like his. A staggeringly stunning ocean cerulean, brighter than
anything Armin had seen before.

His mouth opened, but he couldn’t hear a thing he uttered. The invisible words he spoke
caused the woman to shudder, gripping the thing she was holding onto so tightly. He repeated
his words, and somehow Armin knew he was confused. The woman shook harder.

Beneath those crystal clear blue eyes were something darker- swimming sharks, beginning to
grow impatient for their food. Sea monsters with large, gaping maws and sharp teeth, eager
to snap him up at any second.

The woman raised her hand, and in it was a dirty, dented frying pan. She took a step forward,
and Armin felt himself take a step back.

The pan swung, closer, closer, closer, and Armin felt his throat open to scream. Shout. Make a
noise, anything. But still, nothing came, and the flat surface was now just a mere inch from
his head, ready to slam into his-
“Armin! Wake up! Nap later, we haven’t gotten to our checkpoint yet!”

Eyes shooting open, Armin whipped his head side to side, still feeling the phantom pain of…
of something in his head and down his spine. He must have dozed off in an odd position, and
after a few seconds of rubbing the sensitive muscles in his neck with thin fingers, he felt the
crick dissipate. Sighing in relief, he thanked an exasperated Connie for waking him up and
faced forwards once again, paying a bit more attention now that he was alert.

The sun glared at their forms from overhead, the constant rattle of ODM gear bumping on
their backs filling the pleasantly silent air between the riding soldiers, sweat slipping down
their necks in a rhythmic pattern.

Armin wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, the opposite clenching tightly to the
reins where a clipboard was pinned between his arm and his chest. He hadn’t quite
volunteered to be the one tracking down the events that took place during their training
exercise, but with how everyone dogpiled onto him it wasn’t necessarily up to him. He pulled
a pencil out from his pocket and tested the sharpness on the corner of the paper before
beginning his report.

Four hours into training. We are currently traveling through the desert path, still on track.
Our comrades have not yet scavenged for food, but we are also not on the path to losing the
supplies we have. There have been no fights as of-

He paused in his scribbling, looking down at his paper before shaking his head, frantically
erasing the unfinished thought and replacing it with a ‘We’re all holding up fairly well under
the intense heat, and are optimistic to arrive at the treeline by nightfall.’

Sighing, Armin slipped the pencil back into his pocket and gently set the clipboard back into
the side pouch that was hooked onto the saddle, patting his horse gently before throwing his
hair back to let his neck feel some fresh air. His blond locks stuck to his skin stubbornly, and
he was forced to raise a far too dry hand to brush it away from his eyes.

The sharp clopping of another horse alerted him, and Armin turned to his right to see none
other than Eren pull up beside him, offering him a canteen of water. Considering he had just
drank his last drop in the previous hour, he took it gratefully and sipped carefully.
“Thank you,” he murmured, passing the canteen back to see Eren take a swig himself.

“Yeah, ‘course. We can’t have you falling over from the heat. Who knows what Jean would
write while you’re out of commission? Probably something along the lines of ‘Eren fucked
up the operation because he dared to be honest about how much of a raging loser I am!’”
Eren puffed up his chest in a mock impression of Jean. Armin tried not to giggle, but he
couldn’t help the little snort that quickly dissolved into muffled laughter. From the rear,
someone hissed.

“Well if you were the one to get that clipboard, you’d probably write about how much you
had ‘contributed’ to the operation and how much I had supposedly ‘ruined everything’ by
properly getting us through the forest and back with my leadership!” Jean retorted, eyebrows
creased into an angry expression.

“You guys know I’m the leader here, right?” Marco muttered from the front, and this time
Armin really couldn’t stop the laughter escaping his mouth. Several others joined in, and
while Eren and Jean didn’t quite giggle, a hint of a smile appeared on their lips.

“Ah… I really wish we could have caught that lizard from before…” Sasha grumbled, the
former silence now broken with easy conversation and the distant bickering that was Eren
and Jean. “That thing was so fat, too! Back at home, big ones like those are hard to come by,
you know!”

“Really? Well, I guess it kind of makes sense. Out here, barely anyone goes through these
paths, and all the predators that exist are typically hunted down by the few people that do
come. These lizards have probably fattened themselves up while competition is low,” Armin
stated off-handedly, eyes zoning out into the distant horizon that would eventually open up
into trees.

“Oh! Yeah, yeah that’s right!” The brunette nodded frantically, Connie mimicking her action.
“And not only that, but I’ve heard these particular desert lizards are super good at finding
sources of water, so if you’re ever stranded in a desert you should try following these little
critters right to a small water deposit! Plus, they taste amazing! ”
“Wow, that’s pretty cool, Sasha!” Krista said from behind, wide eyed. “I didn’t even know
that lizards could do that!”

Sasha sheepishly rubbed her cheek. “Ah, well- it’s just these specific types of lizards. They’re
somewhat hard to come by, which makes them all the more special to catch and cook over a
fire-”

“Hey, did you all hear that?” Krista interrupted abruptly, looking off to the side of the road.
Armin followed her gaze, blinking the sun out of his eyes to see nothing out of the ordinary
but the same pale green foliage and desert weeds.

“No, I didn’t-” he was about to respond, but his words didn’t finish forming before Sasha’s
form whipped past him like a blur, shooting off her horse and into the shrubbery. They all
stopped in the middle of the road, waiting for the redhead to reappear.

“Sasha! We have no time to play games!” Jean called out.

“What is she doing…?” Marco asked, squinting, before the girl finally poked her head out of
the desert growth with a wide smile radiating off her face.

“I caught them! Three whole lizards!” She squealed, yanking her arm up to reveal oddly
oversized reptiles hanging limp from her hand.

“Ooh- I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait to show you all how good these guys are! They
taste surprisingly like chicken! Especially when they’re roasted just right over the fire, at the
perfect temperature- they’re really delicious you all are truly missing out just by not eating
one-”

“Sasha,” Armin cut in, smiling hesitantly. “Don’t lizards tend to drop their tails if they’re
ever caught?”
“Eh?” Sasha blanched, looking to the hand that had just held three lizards, now holding two
and one detached, scaly tail.

“Ehhhhh?”

//

“Yeah?! Well I’m just better than you- how about that?”

“Shut up! You really think you can talk like that when you’re going off about joining the
Military Police? Give me a break!”

“Will they just stop? So loud…” Krista muttered, and Armin couldn’t help but agree. Long
after they had all finished setting up camp and scarfing down the lizards Sasha caught- (they
really did taste like chicken!) Eren and Jean continued to bicker, grabbing at each other’s hair
until both of them lost their dinners to their resident foodie. Overall, it seemed like the
exercise was going mostly smoothly, with minor bumps and hitches and- of course- Eren and
Jean’s loud fighting.

“You’re just sensitive because you know I’m right!”

“No you!”

“No, you!”

“ENOUGH!” Marco bellowed, the two snapping upright and successfully shut up. His shout
caused them all to stare at him awkwardly, eyes wide with surprise that Marco Bodt , one of
the sweetest guys in camp, had the capability of raising his voice to that level.

“You two have been fighting for far too long! The way you argue is so infuriatingly
immature, I’m pulling my hair out every time either of you open your mouths! For God’s
sake, do us all a favor and scream at each other tomorrow, where none of us have to actually
sleep. ” He hissed uncharacteristically, turning over in his sleeping bag and stubbornly facing
away from the pair.

“Sorry, Marco…”

And soon enough, blissful silence once again enveloped them all in a wonderful blanket.
Well- almost silence. Nothing but the distant chirping of crickets, faint rustling of grass in the
wind, and the far off noise of dripping water was heard.

Armin settled into his sleeping bag, also grateful for the peace that now rested on them. He
listened to the sounds of his comrades breathing, all of them falling into that steady pattern
that he recognized as deep sleep. Ready to join them, he too shut his eyes, but a rustle from
beside him jolted him back awake.

Hearing the tell-tale signs of a person sneaking out, Armin carefully shifted in his bedroll to
see Krista glance side to side, pushing her slightly messy hair out of her face before darting
into the woods. Curious, Armin shrugged his own bedroll off to follow, but not before
grabbing his cloak and an extra. Just in case.

Tracking Krista down was a fairly simple task, since the girl clearly didn’t expect to be tailed.
She made soft cursing noises up ahead as she tripped over foliage, and eventually Armin saw
her stop by a large lake, where they had all put their horses in order to rest. He gave her a few
moments to herself, petting her horse amiably before he too approached.

When a few scattered sticks snapped under his heel, she whipped around in surprise, eyes
wide with shock. After realizing it was just him, she relaxed considerably, though not without
pouting as he drew closer.

“Armin! Don’t you know how it looks to sneak up onto a girl at night?” She joked slightly
shakily, though she quickly regained her voice.

Immediately, he flustered, taking a few steps back. “Ah! I didn’t mean it that way, I swear,
Krista! I was just curious as to why you snuck out so late- especially when we’re to wake up
early tomorrow.”

She sighed, lowering her shoulders and turning back to the water, leaning a bit more heavily
on her horse. She looked a bit guarded as Armin reapproached, (albeit a bit more slowly,) and
handed her one of the cloaks he had brought. Tugging his own on and over his head, he
barely heard the mumbled thank you from the girl. They both watched the moon’s reflection
glow off the surface of the water, their hoods billowing slightly in the chilly wind.

It took another few moments for Krista to finally answer, removing her hand from her horse
and simply watching the water ripple. “I came out to think, is all. It’s been a long day, and
I’ve been itching for some time away from those two kids that call themselves soldiers.”

Armin laughed, glad to see the faint tension had now relaxed, looking up to see the stars.
“Eren and Jean?”

“Yep,” she replied, popping the ‘p’ as she rocked on her heels. There was a comfortable
silence that spread between them, interrupted occasionally by the nickering of Krista’s horse.

“You know, I haven’t actually gotten to know all of you that well while we were on the
field,” Krista stated off handedly. It took a moment for Armin to realize she had spoken again
with her soft voice, but he eventually glanced over, slightly puzzled.

“Well, I suppose that’s true. But as far as I see, don’t you mainly hang out with Ymir? I
haven’t really seen you interact with anyone outside her.”

“Yeah…” She looked over her horse with a fond look in her eye. “She’s a real tough one. But
really nice, I swear! I think she’s trying to protect me by keeping me close, but I can protect
myself!” She puffed out her cheeks indignantly. “I love being around her, I really do, but it
kind of hurts seeing you all have fun and talk with each other while I don’t even know where
to come in… It’s a little lonely, even though I know I have Ymir.”

Krista looked across the water wistfully, before she seemingly realized what she had said.
“Ah! Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to dump that onto you- I don’t know, it’s just been that kind
of week…” She laughed nervously, putting a hand to her cheek. “You don’t even know me
that well, and you’re still here listening to me rattle off about feeling isolated… I’m sorry.
Please, don’t think differently of Ymir because of me.”

Armin shifted on his feet, contemplating his next words before he crouched down by the
water, the gravel crunching beneath his boot. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s a perfectly
reasonable thing to feel, after all.” A few almost invisible shapes darted in the water, small
fish or tadpoles swimming freely in the lake. “I don’t think Ymir is entirely in the wrong,
though she might want to loosen her grip on you so that you can go off and meet people
yourself. Even so, I don’t really know the relationship between you two, so I can’t assume
that that’s always possible, but…” Armin paused.

“When Eren and I were kids, he used to be so clingy because he swore he would protect me
from the bullies in our neighborhood,” he said in a slightly quieter tone, to the point Krista
had to lean in to hear what he was saying. “Always grabbing my arm, yanking me this way
and that to avoid pretty much anything!” Armin sucked in a breath, pulling his cloak closer to
his body. “One day we had an argument about it. I said he didn’t need to baby me. He said I
was too weak to do anything myself. We made an agreement- I’d go off by myself that day
while Eren would go to the opposite side of the district. If we were both scuffle-free and I had
all my groceries for the day, then he’d lay off it a little.”

“So, I went off to try and prove him wrong. I got all my groceries, successfully avoided any
sharp edges or shady people, and made it back to our meet up place. But, he wasn’t there. I
went off looking for him after an hour, because I knew Eren should have gotten there before
me. Soon enough I found him being yelled at by some drunk geezers. Turns out they were
trash talking the Scout regiment, and Eren being Eren, he tried to pick a fight. They were
definitely bigger than him, and I knew if I waited any longer he’d just be a black and blue
mess. So, I stepped in. I started talking to them, defending Eren and getting him away from
the conflict before anything started. It somehow miraculously worked, and while the men
were busy trying to get a coherent thought through their drunken heads, I took Eren’s hand
and fled.”

Armin huffed a breath, smiling a little to himself. He turned his head to face Krista, who
looked at him curiously. “Well, I guess the moral of the story is that one should trust their
friends more. In your case, Ymir to you. Does- does that make sense?”

Krista blinked, dazed, before her face burst into a wide grin. Her eyes glistened slightly, and
Armin turned away respectfully as she gently wiped her face. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s- thank
you.”
Humming, Armin returned to watching the fish. They swarmed and scattered around the
middle, not too close to shore so that they wouldn't get caught by the bears. Though, one
thing struck him as odd. The fish were staying out of a particular spot, evading it as they
made their laps in the lake. There was a shadow on the water that wasn’t quite tree-like in
shape, and when Armin blinked the shadow moved.

His neck prickling uncomfortably, he clenched his fists tightly as he glanced around,
eyebrows furrowed. Standing, he was about to ask Krista if they could head back, but the girl
gave a startled yelp and stumbled into his back.

Because there were now guns cocked at them, men with crudely made masks over their heads
closing in on them as he and Krista raised shaky fists, back to back and facing them. Looking
over their equipment and the faint jangle of coins in their pockets, Armin categorized them as
bandits, and was proven correct when one of them spoke in a rough voice.

“Two blondes. What should we do with them?” He grunted, shifting his gun so that it pointed
at Armin’s forehead. Lowering his head so that his hood could cover his eyes, he felt the
familiar prick of tears build up as he shook silently in place.

“Which one’s the girl?” One man said from atop the trees, voice gravelly. He surveyed the
ground where Armin and Krista were surrounded, before raising his binoculars in the
direction of their camp. Armin felt a shiver run down his spine. They know about the others-
what if we can’t get back at all?

They were outnumbered and surrounded, the little hope Armin had towards finding his
friends and getting them both out safely was out of the window. Held at gunpoint, likely
going to be killed while Krista gets taken away, his friends picked off one by one. Still, he
tried to quell the overwhelming urge to break into a sob and squeezed his fists tighter, cursing
the fact he left his ODM gear back at camp. A long, sharp blade would do wonders with
keeping the men back.

“Hm. They have their hoods up, we can’t quite tell. Should we grab both?” The man in the
trees considered it before replying.
“Release the horses, then knock them both out to take a look. We’ll decide what to do with
the spare later.”

A grunt reached out to grab him, but before the man could Armin lunged for him, kneeing his
groin as hard as he could before snatching his gun, aiming it at the other two men that had
them cornered. Krista immediately went for a sharp stick close to her foot and backed into
Armin, a steely look in her eye as they both charged at the men. While Armin most certainly
did not have the guts to pull the trigger of the gun, Krista seemed unashamedly vicious as she
whacked her branch into one man’s side, forcing him to stumble backwards. Armin batted the
end of his gun into the grunt’s head, and with a sickening crunch he was on the ground,
unconscious. Armin's stomach lurched, feeling ill, but turned to look at Krista. He felt
victorious, but it was stamped out when he saw a shadow pass by far too quickly.

Moving out of instinct, Armin pushed Krista aside as he felt a heavy weight crash over his
head, immediately blocking his vision. He struggled wildly as he felt the drawstring of a bag
yank tight around his arms, and he was both unable to see and move. Armin yelped as he was
pulled backwards, stumbling into the ground and seeing the moonlight shine through the
weaved fabric of the bag.

“Let go of him!” Krista screamed. He saw her shadow move to approach but before she could
he hissed, squirming on the ground into an upright position to face her properly.

“Krista!” He yelled. “Run! Get to the others- I’ll be okay!”

“But- Armin! What if-”

“GO! Better one person than two!”

As Armin watched her shadow grow faint and disappear, he heard two far too loud gunshots
ring in his ears. Cursing was heard from above him, and he shut his eyes tightly.

“Idiot! Why did you shoot?! We need her alive!”

“Yeah, well! Don’t we have her right here?” Armin felt a kick at his side.

“The girl called him a he, dumbass! We have the wrong one!”

“Well, what are we supposed to do?!”

“Keep him hostage.” The man from the trees had presumably dropped down, gravelly voice
making Armin shudder fearfully. “Maybe we can ransom him. Worse comes to worse, I know
a few places that would pay a pretty penny for one like this.”

“Right. Should we knock him out?”

“Obviously.”

Armin was pulled onto his feet roughly, and before he knew it he felt a hard object whack
into his skull, the world falling into blissful darkness.

//

The empty void that Armin recognized as the back of his eyelids was comfortable- a
welcome escape from the pounding headache that was relentlessly banging against his skull.

He could hear distant voices, but he felt too comfortable in his shut-eyed safe space to stir
properly. The voices drew closer however, and soon enough Armin couldn't ignore their
carelessly loud volume.

"What now? The client won't be happy we didn't get the girl…" one man said from his close
left. Another responded a little further away.

"It can't be helped. At least we have the ODM gear- there's little chance those brats are going
to follow us now that they have nothing to fight us with." There was a sharp bump in the road
that caused Armin to jerk, though it thankfully went unnoticed to the men.

Thoroughly woken up from the rough ride, Armin tried to sort his messy thoughts, his head
feeling like slush as he waded through the thick fog that had settled in his mind. The
pounding from before increased tenfold as he tried to think.

Ugh… where am I? He thought far too belatedly, barely shifting.

What happened to training? Am I in a wagon? What’s with the voices?

Where is Krista?

And as the wagon jolted again, the cold shock of realization splashed onto him quicker than a
bullet. Sweat began to build on the back of his neck as panic filled his chest, the darkness that
was once so sweet feeling oppressive. He wanted to see. What happened? Where was he?
What was going on?

Logically, he knew panicking wouldn’t help his situation. He read it in books- every time the
main character would freak out, it would only make matters worse. It was much simpler to
just calm down and analyze the situation, but why? Why was it so difficult to push down the
noise of fear that almost left his lips? His shaky legs he begged the rickety wagon was
hiding? The dots of precipitation that the bandits were bound to see if they glanced at him-
the occasional jerk of the wrist or involuntary shudder?

Breathe, Armin thought, trying to keep a steady pattern. He felt light-headed, so jittery his
heart’s quick staccatos turned more insistent. It wanted to be heard. He felt that if he didn’t
move right at that moment, it would find a way out through his mouth, revealing to the men
he wasn’t asleep. His fear would kill him. He’d die, and his friends- oh, his friends- they
could get hurt by the bandits as well. Armin was sure that his group would be able to survive
if they escaped- after all, if they had Sasha, who knew her way around a forest, and a capable
leader, they’d likely live for a few more days. But what if the bandits came back for round
two? He didn’t want to die. But he didn’t want his friends to die, either. Maybe they kept
their flares? They could signal the other group to help them get back to base.
Without him.

Armin didn’t want to be left behind, even though he knew that his friends would have to. It
was a simple decision- one soldier, or all of them? ODM gear was expensive, but they could
always get more. He was worthless in battle, anyway, and damn it he could feel the familiar
prickle of tears building in his eyes, and-

Breathe. He thought more insistently.

In. Two, Three.

Out. Two, Three.

The racing in his chest quelled just that bit, but didn’t stop.

Think. What’s the first thing you can do?

Right. Pick up his surroundings. What was his status? Could he move? Testing it, Armin tried
to feel where he was. Clearly, his hands were above his head, though just how tightly they
were tied was a mystery. He didn’t want to try yanking his hands in case the men in the same
wagon noticed his movement. His feet didn’t feel tied, though, and a chilly breeze brushed
against his back.

He’d have to find out more once he’s able to see.

Knowing what the enemy was doing was always important- it could help influence his
escape. Now that he knew where his limbs were, Armin tried to listen to the conversation that
he had earlier tuned out, hoping his eyes weren’t pressed too tightly shut.

Breathe. He repeated in his head.

“What if he sends his goons on us, or something?” Says a guy to his direct left. “Hires the
Military Police?”

“Those guys are a joke.” This time it was the one just a bit further away. “If we’re really
worried, we can take the money we got selling this junk and hire a bodyguard for a week. It’s
not like they’ll keep chasing us for long, there’s plenty of other bandits those fools pretend to
catch.”

“I guess you’re right. Still, it’s a pity we didn’t get the girl. He was paying such a high price,
do you have any idea why he wants her so badly?”

“She’s probably a runaway or a prostitute that got herself tangled in the Training Corps to
hide. Nothing too unusual. Really, I'd want to leave too- that guy looked shady as hell, I'd
actually feel a little bad for her if I had to live under those conditions-"

“Oi!” A loud voice from the front of the wagon cut through the mens’ idle chat. “Need a little
help up here- the wheel is busted!”

“Ugh, again? I swear, we got that fixed before we came here…”

Their voices quickly grew distant, and Armin took it as his cue to look around. Carefully
peeling his eyes open into slits, he saw bright spots that gave his aching head another sharp
pang. While his head had been in the bag when he was knocked out, they had evidently taken
it off. Though whether it was because he would have suffocated if it was kept on or for some
other reason, it didn't stop his eyes from feeling raw due to the sudden influx of light. One
would expect the shade of the forest and the night sky to help with his oversensitivity, but
clearly Armin was proven wrong.

Trying to keep his eyes open, he looked around. A simple carrier- one bench on the side, a
barrel filled with rifles, and the open air up front and behind. The backs of three men and a
horse were in front of him, leaning over something he couldn’t see. Glancing up proved his
wrists were definitely tied, though the knot looked daunting and difficult to manage by
himself. The barrel of rifles were close enough that he could maybe kick it, though it would
strain his legs. He could miss and end up wasting the element of surprise. Perhaps he could
fake his unconsciousness until only one man returned into the wagon, kicking them instead?
But then what would he do? Even if he somehow gets one man out of the picture, how would
he deal with his tied hands and the other men that are bound to discover the body? He did not
have the proper strength to pull free from the intricate knot, and he was definitely not strong
enough to take a beating. Not when he’d still be taken to the destination after being turned
black and blue, and be unable to defend himself should the situation need it. No, he’d have to
wait until they stopped for a better idea of how to escape. Even if he doesn’t know the layout
of the ground, there’s always going to be a map in a city.

Plan decided, as optimistic as it was, Armin tried to relax his limbs to continue pretending
sleep. But the wagon suddenly shook and the sound of fabric tearing above him caused
Armin’s eyes to shoot open, seeing a wild figure dropping down from the canopy holding
their fists defensively. There was the whinnying of horses from up ahead, muffled shouting
and loud yelling passing dangerously close to his position. The pitter patter of bullets firing at
something rang in his ears, but Armin couldn’t keep his eyes off of the figure, who looked
absolutely furious. A shiver ran down Armin’s spine as they quickly darted over, deftly
untying the knot with quick fingers. When his wrists were finally free Armin tried to rub the
rope burn out of them, but before he could strong arms enveloped him in a tight bear hug,
squeezing what little breath he had left out of him.

“Armin!” Eren cried, burying his face into his shoulder as his brown hair tickled his cheek.
Feeling his cheek burn up, Armin tried to pull away, but Eren’s tight grip wouldn’t let him
budge.

They hadn’t hugged like this since they were in the refugee camps, huddling together for
warmth and clutching tightly at each others’ shoulders, scared for what’s to come. He,
Mikasa, and Eren never truly knew what was going on- the only thoughts in all of their minds
being eat, sleep, survive. Joining the Training Corps gave them shelter. Food. A place to rest,
with no need to constantly keep watch over what little possessions they had. But of course,
the Training Corps pushed their resilience to the limits. Or, at the very least, it pushed
Armin’s. Eren and Mikasa always seemed so far ahead, passing their physical and written
tests with relative ease. While Armin had always been stellar at the theoreticals, he’d always
taken a step backwards at putting it in action. He, Eren, and Mikasa almost never saw each
other because he was always so far behind.

It made the hug feel a little more special.

“Hey,” Armin wrestled out of his dry throat. The tears he was holding back from before took
its chance to escape during the commotion, and he hoped Eren didn’t mind having non
inconspicuous tear stains on his shirt. “You came back for me.”

“Of course I would,” Eren mumbled into his shirt. His green eyes were watery as he stared
back at Armin, which surprised the blond more than he’d admit. “You’re worth a lot more
than you give yourself credit for. Especially to me.”

The words caused an unfamiliar flutter to dart in Armin’s chest, but before he could look into
it the wagon shook once again. The gunshots were now far too loud for comfort, and a man
suddenly darted in front of the carriage, rifle aimed for Armin’s head. Eren growled, pushing
Armin behind him to protect him from the man, but as he did that Armin felt an arm yank
him back out the other side of the wagon, dragging him out kicking and screaming as a knife
was held to his neck.

He was suddenly facing all his friends just a little bit away from the carriages, eyes wide with
fear as the sour breath of the bandit holding him invaded his nostrils, making the experience
altogether not lovely.

"Damn it!" The man snarled, knife shaking in his blistered hand. "Damn it, damn it, damn it
all! This wouldn't have happened if I was more careful! If I didn't take this shitty job for
Elena's health…"

Elena…? A relative, maybe? Or a partner? Armin's thoughts spun wildly, a small whirlpool
that let him forget his predicament just for a moment. Speaking of which, why did these men
try and kidnap Krista alongside the ODM gear? As far as he knew, she was just a girl. Like
the men in the wagon had said earlier, even if she was a runaway it's odd to see someone go
as far as kidnapping instead of sorting things out more civilly. A simple visit would have
worked much better. So what made Krista so important that they had to take her by force?

Armin was pulled from his thoughts by the knife being pressed closer to his throat, the blade
now digging slightly into his tender flesh. He tried to lean back, but the small dots of blood
and sharp sting of the incision made him realize it was too late to avoid a cut. Paling, Armin
froze, and with having nothing else to do he looked forward.

The sheer iciness of the gaze that bore holes into his own startled him, an odd chill of fear
jolting down his spine. Eren’s viridian green, now a darker and more menacing shade, felt
like an ominous threat- and while Armin knew it was (likely) not directed at him, the feeling
of unease was there nonetheless. Eren, having caught Armin’s eyes, softened his gaze, the
steely look now turning concerned, the silent question of “Are you alright?” loud and clear.

Armin couldn’t make a subtle nod, but he gave a shaky smile in response, which seemed to
satisfy Eren all the same. Those green eyes that seemed to border on black darted up to the
face of Armin’s captor, that same cold hearted fury written all over his face.

“Let him go.” Eren snarled, taking a step forward. Unfortunately that step meant the knife
dug deeper into Armin’s neck, and he whimpered as more blood pooled around the blade. His
childhood best friend froze, staring at the sharp edge, before his eyes narrowed dangerously.
He didn’t take another step forward.

“Not until you drop all your weapons! Now!” The bandit yelled, his voice cracking halfway
through his demand. The silence following it was heavy, so thick, that Armin’s labored
breathing felt like the loudest sound in the world, a thunderclap to the distant presence of
crickets and rustling of the leaves. Branches hanging above clicked together as the moonlight
shone through their weaved fingers, dappled shadows spreading across the pine strewn
ground. Armin held his breath, focused only on Eren, whose face was twisted with the battle
he was fighting in his head. But eventually, the brunet took his borrowed rifle and set it to the
ground, setting the example to the rest of his comrades. Those who had slipped on their
recovered ODM gear began to tug it off, and as Jean’s stiff arms settled the last blade on the
ground Eren looked up, above the bandit’s head, and inclined his head.

There was a whoosh of air, whipping Armin’s hair in front of his face as the tight pressure on
his throat released, letting him stumble forward onto his knees. Feeling sick from the sudden
motion, he pressed his forehead to the ground, uncaring of the soggy dirt that was now
probably smeared onto his face.

Loud grunting and yelling was heard, and in his hurry to not get caught in the crossfire,
Armin quickly picked himself back up and turned around, facing a startlingly terrifying
Mikasa, grey eyes hardened into black slits. The dark haired girl whirled in the air gracefully,
scarf whipping in the wind as she swung her blades, the glittering silver rushing for the man’s
exposed throat. Armin watched, wide eyed, as time seemed to slow down.

“For Elena’s health.” The bandit had said. He wasn’t acting out of pure selfish greed, nor for
the sake of it. He was stealing, kidnapping, pointing guns at childrens’ faces- for the health of
a loved one. What would happen to the girl, when this man that had just pointed a knife to
Armin’s throat mere seconds before died with a slit throat? What of his family, if he had any
other than this ‘Elena’ figure?

Before Armin could stop himself, before his big mouth and sensitive soul could stop the plea
that was bubbling up and boiling over his lips, he shouted out. Hand outstretched, eyes wide
with fear, and heart too big for his body.

“Stop! Mikasa, don’t kill him!”

The blades that were cutting through the air effortlessly stopped just a mere hair’s breadth
from the man’s neck, Mikasa glancing up to look at Armin with something akin to concern.

Standing his ground, Armin bit his lip and stared back at the powerful girl. After some silent
seconds she lowered her blades, instead forcing the man to his knees with her heel to his
back.

“Don’t move.” She said simply. The man nodded rapidly under her boot.

A few other figures dropped from above, namely the other training group. A nonchalant
Annie dragged a few kicking bandits with gags around their mouths, the distant figures
Armin assumed was Reiner and Thomas lugging a few unconscious ones effortlessly to the
wagon. There was a loud call from his left, and he turned to see a quick brown blur rush past
him and tackle a blonde head, a loud “Krista!” being punctuated with a sniffle of “Ymir!”

Ah, Krista! Armin had almost forgotten about her in the scuffle. He took a step forward,
deciding to approach her to see if she was alright, before a tight grip on his forearm made him
look back.

Eren squeezed him into a hug for the second time that day, Armin’s breath leaving him with
an embarrassingly loud squeak that he refused to believe came from him. Eren’s fingers
gently brushed up against the light cut that was still bleeding on his neck, and after Armin’s
sharp hiss he quickly retracted his hand.
“God, I’m- I’m sorry, Armin. I should have been looking behind us, too, and because of my
mistake you got hurt.” Eren sighed, letting Armin out of his bear hug as the blond desperately
tried to get some oxygen.

“No, it’s- it’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known there was a second person.”

Eren bit his lip, as if not quite agreeing with him, but continued to look up and down Armin’s
face. After some time, he pinched Armin’s cheek, as if satisfied with his check.

“You’re not totally in the clear yourself, you know?” Eren jabbed playfully. “You could have
died, Armin. Promise me you won’t go off being a reckless idiot, alright? That’s my job!”

Armin giggled, pressing his hand to his mouth. “Yeah, alright. I won’t.”

The two of them walked together to the other group of trainees, the bandits set on their merry
way while they gathered up and redistributed the stolen ODM gear. Armin gratefully pulled
his back on, the sound of blades clinking together familiarly easing his mind.

“Speaking of,” Armin muttered, attracting the attention of nearby comrades. “How’d you all
get there so fast with a plan? What happened while I was held captive?”

“Oh! You’d never believe it, Armin.” Connie laughed. “Jean and Eren, for once in their lives,
worked together! Like, actually put their heads together to figure out how to save you.”

“Did they, now?” Armin sent Eren an amused glance.

“Mhm!” Sasha butted in. “We were super quick about it once Krista reappeared after the
bandits left us alone without our gear. She had apparently been brainstorming how to get you
out, too, so it was the efforts of those three that got you out of there!”
“We can’t forget how you were the one who tracked them down, Sasha…” Jean said, looking
away. It was clear from the pink tinge of his ears that he was flattered from the praise, though
he was trying really hard to suppress the urge to gloat.

“Yeah, well. Least I could do, with my hunting experience.” Sasha linked her hands behind
her head and leaned back.

“I heard rocks catch the wheels before Eren came into the wagon- was your plan to just hope
the bandits would go out to investigate? What if they hadn’t stopped and just- rapidly fired at
the trees? What if you were all caught, and someone had been shot? If they were slightly
smarter and left someone in the wagon to stand guard?”

They all looked sheepishly at each other.

“Well, we hadn’t quite thought about the worst case scenarios…” Sasha mumbled. “But! We
still got both you and the ODM gear safe and sound!”

Biting back any harsh reprimands for not thinking things out fully, Armin gave a pointedly
exasperated smile. “Yeah, I guess so.” He considered the events that had just unfolded,
especially on the fact those bandits had definitely also been set on capturing Krista , too.
Armin didn’t really know anything about the girl, having only been officially introduced an
hour before, but anyone who was desperately being searched for raised a few questions.
Though, before Armin could fully sort through his branching thoughts and the cold that was
starting to seep in, a loud voice called his name.

“Armin!”

He turned to see Krista approach him briskly, Ymir close behind. The freckled girl looked a
little disgruntled at being dragged along, and she gave the two boys wary glares.

“Are you alright? God, I’m so sorry, this was all my fault! They were after me, not you, and I
didn’t even-”
“Krista,” Armin sighed wearily, putting a hand up to stop her. “It’s not your fault, nor
anybody’s. Please, don’t blame yourself for something I willingly threw myself into.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could Ymir leaned onto Krista’ head, the
taller girl’s dark eyes scanning Armin’s contemplatively.

“You saved her.” She said sharply. “What are your intentions?”

“What do you mean, intentions?” Eren stepped up from behind Armin, glaring at her.
“Armin did what anyone else would do in that situation! He’s not the bad guy here-”

“Eren…” Armin said softly, immediately stopping the green eyed boy. The bristling boy
backed down, but not without shooting Armin a supportive glance.

“I don’t really know what kind of answer you’re looking for, Ymir,” Armin started, looking
directly into the freckled girl’s narrowed eyes. “But I have no intentions regarding Krista- I
was just there at the right place, right time. She was in danger; I tried to help. We haven’t
really known each other that long, Ymir, but I hope you can trust me when I say I have
absolutely nothing for or against Krista.”

Ymir continued to stare at Armin, though now it was more curious than hostile. It was why
Armin was so startled when she doubled over laughing, clutching her sides as if she were in
pain. Krista gave her a concerned pat on the back, though Eren gave a scoff from Armin’s
side and tugged at his hand.

“Come on, Armin. She’s clearly gone crazy, let’s go-”

“Pfft-!” Ymir snorted, stopping the boys from leaving. “God, you should have seen the look
on your face. You were taking it so seriously-! Hahaha- Man, I should have known you
weren’t up to anything- you’re practically a cute, harmless little bunny!”

“Hey…!” Armin bristled, though that only seemed to make Ymir laugh harder, along with a
few trainees that had caught her comment. Krista was giggling, too, and Armin would have
brushed it off if it wasn’t for the snort that came right from behind him.

Turning slowly, Armin watched in betrayal as Eren laughed, averting his gaze to the side as
his shoulders bounced from amusement. When Eren’s green eyes turned to meet Armin’s
blue, he pouted, but it only made the brunet look away again with another treacherous snort.

Despite himself, Armin felt his expression melt into a soft smile, pleased that he and his
friends were beginning to feel a bit better. Though, in the temporary bliss that was laughing
along with his friends after a long, long day, he had forgotten something.

Perhaps one day he’d go back and think of the words the bandits spoke- the questions that
arose when Armin was captured in place of one, relatively out-of-the-way girl. He’d recall
the sun beginning to rise over the treeline, outlining the path back to the barracks where
they’d rest and eat, an excited Sasha being pulled out of the meal hall for stuffing herself with
bread. He’d remember the way Krista glanced at him warily, as if making sure he hadn’t
noticed something, before beaming like the sun when he’d glance over in confusion.

Perhaps one day, in the not-so-distant future, he’d recall the mystery surrounding one Krista
Lenz.
 [Discontinued] Chapter 1
Chapter Summary

Hello! Sorry for the unfortunate announcement.

Because of my declined interest in AOT, I am discontinuing this fic. As a result, I'll be

sharing what drafts I wrote per chapter, and the general plot synopsis for the dilligent
readers that were kind enough to take a chance on this work. (Also, Google Docs keeps
deleting my works so I really want to archive these somewhere. Please forgive the
writing, it's from four years ago.)

I appreciate every comment, kudos, and read left on this fic. Despite my lack of
commitment, I'm so glad you were able to enjoy a slice of this story, despite how half-
baked it was. In 2021, I was able to write a bit more that I hadn't shared, but
unfortunately what I'm sharing now still remains unfinished. Hopefully those bits and
pieces can be enjoyed.

Once more, thank you for taking the time to read my work. I apologize for its
discontinuation, and I hope you are able to enjoy what remains.

Chapter Notes

This chapter is unfinished, and ends abruptly. For a semi-conclusive read of this chapter,
(that's mostly just filler interaction anyways,) feel free to stop reading after finishing the
line "And if he was significantly more pink in the face afterwards, he'd blame it on the
heat."

For the majority of his early life, Armin remembered his parents.

A pair of warm, constant presences, always there for him to hold their hands. He doesn’t
remember anything else other than his favorite people, his mother’s fond smile and father’s
quirky personality. For a long time, the couple were the only ones he truly loved—that is,
until he met his grandfather.
Grandfather was… interesting, to say the least. He was loud, and laughed a lot, and was the
first person he had met besides the kind doctor that stopped by often. His timing might have
had something to do with Armin’s parents not being home often enough to supervise him, but
he was a welcome addition to his small bubble nonetheless. Mother tells him that
Grandfather was the one to find him, whatever that meant. Maybe he had picked him up from
the storks, like in the storybooks!

He had apparently moved in with Armin and his parents because he was getting old, and
couldn’t take care of himself. But he still helped out where he could despite his age, helping
Armin figure out a big word or changing the weird white cloth wrapped around his skull that
his parents put on him ever since he knew them. It was itchy, and more than once Armin
begged his grandfather to skip a day, just once. But it was kept on, and so was the routine
until finally, he had turned four years old.

Four was an interesting age for him. For one, the white cloth around his head—(it was called
a bandage!) was removed. Gone were the days where Armin would try to inch his fingers
beneath the bandage to poke at an insistent itch, only to groan in frustration when he realized
how much trouble he would be in for daring to touch the area. While the removal of the
bandage was certainly a relief, it didn’t come close to the excitement Armin felt when his
parents, albeit a bit begrudgingly, allowed him to step outside the house’s doors for the first
time in his entire life.

Now, Armin wasn’t stupid. He’s seen the other kids play ball out the window, seen various
adults strolling through the streets and chatting between each other as the sun casts its rays
down below. He’s asked to go outside on more than one occasion, but every time his parents
turned him down sternly. When he’d ask why, they’d say he simply couldn’t—he wouldn’t be
able to handle it, the outside was scary. Armin had stopped asking when his father had come
back one day with red cuts and black bruises, frightening him so much that he was
practically glued to his father’s side for an entire month.

His first day outside was wonderful. Small, tiny hands gripping two much bigger ones beside
him, he looked at anything and everything he could with wide blue eyes. Big shops with
bigger signs, massive fountains and towering apartments all scattered the area. Armin was
fascinated by the birds that flew above his head, the different aromas that floated from
various restaurants and stalls, and the stunning view from atop the hill, the sky painted colors
like orange, gold, and violet, with pale clouds dotting the canvas.

But the place that caught his interest the most was most definitely the library. It was huge—so
spacious and tall, and with bookshelves filled to the brim with books of all shapes and sizes.
There were short ones, thick ones, ones so high up Armin swore it touched the stars! The
thought about what mysteries laid untold behind the covers, what stories and wild tales that
he could explore freely all made him practically salivate at the mouth, and day after day
Armin would beg to go outside one more time just to spend his entire day cooped up in the
cool building with stacks of books surrounding him. His grandfather always accompanied his
frequent visits, reading his own shabby newspaper or commenting on Armin’s choice of
reading for the day. Grandfather was truly amazing—he seemed to know almost every single
title in the library! And Armin began to make his presence known in the community, a kind
greeting from the librarian and from old grannies that he’d frequently pass by on his daily
adventure to his chamber of secrets.

Even though things were changing so quickly in his life, that didn’t mean some things stayed
the same. Like his parents, who continued to take odd intervals of the day and night to go
outside, often coming back with leaves in their hair. He really did miss the days when his
parents would be with him all the time, but Armin’s parents always remembered to hug him
and kiss him goodnight, ask about his day and what he had read. His parents weren’t the only
things staying the same in Armin’s life, for the doctor’s visits continued even after Armin’s
bandage was removed, though he came by far less frequently. When Armin was a bit younger,
he had a hard time pronouncing the doctor’s last name and was usually just looked at before
he was left alone. But now he was able to greet Doctor Jaeger at the door and talk with him
like his parents, doing grown up things like serve tea and ask how he was doing. It filled
Armin with pride when Doctor Jaeger commented on it the first time he had tried it out,
especially when the doctor provided him with a lollipop for his excellent behavior that day.

Armin looked forward to Doctor Jaeger’s visits a lot more now that he could hold full
conversations with him and his growing knowledge of the world around him, and one day the
good old doctor surprised him by asking if Armin wanted to meet someone special. Clueless
and certainly interested, he had agreed with haste, and one day the road that Doctor Jaeger
took had two people instead of one.

He remembered that day vividly, for it was the day that Armin met someone truly special—
someone he’d stick with for years to come.

He could never forget those vibrant green eyes. The signature smile. The deliberately messy
chocolate brown hair, that seemed so soft to the touch.

Armin could never forget Eren Jaeger.

//

There were many pairs in this camp—and more often than not, there would be mumbles of
“Eren and Mikasa,” “Jean and Marco,” “Connie and Sasha,” “Krista and Ymir,” “Reiner and
Bertholdt,” and so on.

There were many pairs that were common enough to see in daily life. Most of the time, they
were easy to understand and predict, too. Eren and Mikasa were together most of the time
because of Mikasa’s dedication to protecting Eren. Jean was with Marco because they had
developed a kinship that led to them spending most of their afternoons together. Connie and
Sasha were a pair of idiots. Ymir and Krista were dancing around each other, trying to find
the right time to make the right move.

But one that almost nobody expected was one that had risen from the ashes of the Training
Corps expedition into the forest and back—Krista and Armin. While this pairing was
certainly an oddity almost nobody could have predicted, it didn’t mean that the start of a
comradeship that would last for years upon years to come didn’t exist.

It started off subtly; after the duo had returned from the training exercise, the usually shy and
reserved Krista would actively seek out Armin. She seemed to trust him a lot more than the
other cadets excluding Ymir, who was always by her side even when Krista seeked him out.

But even though Krista was typically the one who came to him for things, sometimes it was
the other way around. Even when Armin wouldn’t be the one to approach, there were certain
times where he needed Krista’ assistance, and one particular event happened on a stiflingly
hot summer afternoon.

As it stood currently, they were all sitting in the same sweltering hot classroom, even forcing
Mikasa to pull off her scarf and lay it across her lap. The rest of Armin’s classmates were in
varying states of completely miserable, people like Connie only moderately bothered while
most of the girls with longer hair were fanning their red faces with their hands.

While there weren’t many boys with longer hair, Armin was unfortunately caught in that
group. He sighed, pulling his fringe up to try and let his sweat dry up faster. It was times like
these where he cursed his longer hair. He enjoyed it at its length, the style identical to the one
his mother would always give him as he grew up. Though, in this type of heat, Armin would
have much rather had Eren’s shorter hair, despite its shagginess, or even Connie’s buzzcut.

Huffing out in annoyance, Armin tried to read the words on the chalkboard better, but his
vision was getting blurry from the sweat getting into his eyes. Blinking them out made the
drops splatter onto his notes, forcing an already irritated Armin to write around the wet mark.

Unfortunately, the action of writing meant there were no hands for him to hold his hair up,
and the strands flopped back onto his face and left damp trails across his flushed cheeks. At
this, Armin was tempted to just grab the nearest pair of scissors and hack away at his hair, but
a warm hand touched his own and he glanced up.

Eren gave him a reassuring smile, sweat dotting his own face but not as much as Armin. A
whispered “I’ll get you some water after this class,” was uttered, and the blond gave him an
appreciative smile. At least there was something to look forward to—he wouldn’t have to
stand in the terribly long line that was likely going to wrap around the only water station in
the building, especially in this kind of weather.

It was forty more minutes until their brief break, and the wait felt like an eternity’s torture.
Armin could barely keep his head upright, mouth drier than a desert and mouth lolling open
akin to a Titan. His thoughts were muddled and he started to zone out instead of taking notes,
getting a worried glance from Eren. Ten minutes in, Armin tucked his hair behind his ear,
then again, then again. Twenty minutes in, he simply dipped his head down to try and get his
bangs to stop sticking to his forehead. Twenty-five was when the headache began, the dull
thrum increasing in its intensity. Thirty-five was when he started to bounce his knee in a
weak effort to pay attention, but right when the bell clanged to indicate break was when his
body had evidently given up. Armin sank forward as chairs screeched on the wood tiles and
his face smushed uncomfortably on his papers, but he didn’t care enough to move. In this
position, at least, he was sapping what little cool his papers had gained, though it wasn’t
much. The worried looks Eren had been giving him all throughout the class had evidently
bubbled over now that they were allowed to rest, and he shook Armin’s shoulder repeatedly
to try and get him to look up.

“Armin! Hey, Armin!” Eren shouted, much too loud for the poor boy’s pounding headache.
Mikasa was looking over too, her hooded eyes more droopy as she groggily looked at
Armin’s limp form. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she slowly lifted a heavy hand to feel his
head.
“He’s burning up…” Mikasa mumbled. “We need to cool him off.”

Eren bolted out the door, shouting “I got it!” as Armin tried to lean into Mikasa’s blissfully
cool palm. The girl indulged him, though when his sweat started to make it more difficult for
her to keep it on she drew it away, much to Armin’s distress.

Most of the classroom was empty save a few soldiers, the majority heading off to get water or
splash water onto their faces. Among those who stayed, however, sat the ever empathetic
Krista with her hair up in a bun that day, glancing over to Armin. She had been checking on
him periodically throughout their class, for he kept swaying dangerously, face red and
blotchy. She had suspected he was suffering from the heat as everyone else was, though she
hadn’t realized it had gotten as bad as it did—Armin looked like he was about to pass out.

It’s probably because of the hair… Krista thought sympathetically, Armin’s yellow bob
hugging his pink skin and neck. He likely isn’t getting as much open air as he should be.

An idea struck the blonde, though, and she rummaged through her bag to try and find
something to help with Armin’s plight. Ymir, while also suffering the same fate as her
classmates, kept an impassive expression on her face as she leaned over to see what Krista
was doing, playing idly with her pencil as the shorter girl gave a triumphant laugh and pulled
out a…

“Really?” Ymir asked, eying the little thing in Krista’s fingers. Her small hand closed up on
it, and she gave Ymir a dirty look.

“Yes, really. Have you seen Armin at all today? He looks like he’s going to keel over—I have
to help him.”

Ymir rolled her eyes. “This again? Krista, you’re way too nice for your own good… I mean,
come on. You saw the way Jaeger ran out the room—he’s going to come scrambling back
with more cups of water than he can hold.”

“But will that last Armin until the end of the day? Or tomorrow, when the heat is supposed to
be even worse? I don’t think he’ll last…” Krista adamantly stood up, sticking out her tongue
playfully at Ymir as she made wide steps to where Mikasa and Armin were sitting. The blond
didn’t notice at first, face pressed against the desk so he couldn’t see. But Mikasa’s
inquisitive “Hm?” made him pull his head up to at least address what made the noirette
puzzled. He didn’t exactly expect Krista in front of him, sticking out her hand with something
sitting on her palm.

“A hair tie…?” Armin asked hoarsely, coughing into his fist. After his fit had finished, Krista
nodded, pushing her hand closer.

“I think you’ll need it. Do you know how to tie hair?”

Armin considered the question, the heat making his brain chug the words slowly, before
nodding. “I learned when Mikasa’s hair was longer. Thank you.” He gingerly picked up the
thin elastic band and pulled the damp strands back, flexing his fingers to get the tie around
his hair. With some difficulty due to his hair being just a smidge shorter than comfortable
tying length, he managed a little ponytail before glancing to Krista for approval. The blonde
gave him a bright smile, pleased to see that his face was already starting to regain its normal
color. Turning to Mikasa gave a similar result—though she merely gave a nod of satisfaction.

It was at that moment when Eren flailed through the open door frame, clutching a
surprisingly normal three cups between his hands. Panting, he clumsily placed them onto the
desk in front of Armin, not looking up in order to catch his breath. A bit of water splashed
over the rim.

“Sorry—” A large suck of air. “Big line—Limited amount of cups. Most I could grab was—
three—”

“Thank you, Eren,” Armin responded softly, giving the brunet a smile. Eren looked up to
reciprocate the grin, before he took notice of something that hadn’t been there before.

“Whoa, whoa hold on. Armin, your hair—!”

Armin’s cheeks grew hot, but he didn’t look away. “Krista was kind enough to give me a hair
tie because she noticed my er—predicament. It’s helping a lot so far.”
Eren kept staring at him though, mouth slightly agape as he was fixated on his face. Armin
shifted awkwardly, lifting a hand to gently tug his tiny ponytail. “Ah… does it not look good?
Sorry, my hair isn’t really long enough for different hair styles and it was kind of tough to
even pull it into some semblance of a ponytail, and…” Armin rambled on, though Eren raised
a hand to make him stop and gave the blond an affectionate nudge with the cup of water.

“Drink,” he said. Armin took the offer instantly, chugging the cup in an instant. Mikasa
plucked the other cup and sipped at it with control, while Eren, similar to Armin, simply
gulped it all down in one go.

Later on, when class had resumed after the break and the suffocating warmth plus the drone
of the lecture made almost everyone fall asleep in their seats, Eren leaned over to whisper in
Armin’s ear.

And if he was significantly more pink in the face afterwards, he’d blame it on the heat.

The next time, Armin returned the favor, albeit in a slightly different way.

The day had started relatively normal. It was the Training Corp’s off-day, meaning there were
plenty of people sleeping in and slacking off in their usual daily exercises. Armin, on the
other hand, knew that in order to catch up physically he needed to continue with his training
exercises, even on break. So, with a groggy head and the thick clouds overhead indicating
rain later on in the day, he set off.

The path he took was blissfully empty, and Armin started to sweat a little as he made his trek
around the site. The puddles left from last night’s downpour were everywhere, and Armin
wondered if the rain later on that day would be just as fierce. His head brimmed with
different ideas, considering the appearance of the clouds in the sky as well as the temperature,
the science of it distracting him from the burn in his lungs. Eventually he neared the medical
cabin, and a familiar bob of bright yellow hair caught his attention. The head turned around
to reveal a pair of dejected blue eyes, and they drifted up to meet Armin’s own. He tilted his
head, puzzled, and to his surprise a hand went up to wave him over.

Even though he was keeping an even and slow pace, he took a moment to catch his breath as
he slowed to a halt, climbing the short steps up to the little porch to meet Krista. Her lips
were pressed tightly and her eyes downcast, seemingly guilty. She fiddled with the hem of
her skirt, which was unusual, and suddenly the lack of a certain Ymir made Armin feel a bit
uncertain.

“Krista! Hey—what’s wrong?” Armin asked. “Are you okay?”

The girl simply sniffed, rubbing her eyes before giving him a shaky smile. “Yeah! Yeah. I uh
—I don’t really know why I called you over here, actually…” Armin blinked, surprised,
before giving her a reassuring smile.

“It’s alright. I mean, I can just keep you company if you wish? Were you heading inside?”

Krista nodded slowly. “Yeah. Thanks, Armin.”

“Any time.”

Krista carefully creaked the door open, peering into the space that smelled distinctly like
medication and something sour. A curtain was drawn around a single bed, the nurse sitting at
her desk and not looking up as Krista hurried to the separated area. Armin trailed behind her,
unsure, as he looked around carefully. Soon enough, they had stopped at the foot of the bed.

He had been in the medical cabin—of course he had. With his meager abilities out in training,
a visit to the nurse at least once a week was a guarantee. He had gotten used to the smell, the
same bed he occupied by the window, and the nurse’s monotone questions as she’d make
quick work of whatever injury he had gained that day. (Armin would always be grateful for
Ms. Doe’s help, even though he was starting to think the woman was getting tired of seeing
him in there often.) More often than not he was the only patient there, so seeing someone else
sitting on the hospital bed felt… foreign, in a way.

Especially someone as tough as Ymir.

Though at the moment, she didn’t look that tough. She’d probably pummel Armin to death if
he had said that out loud, but at the moment all he could see was the way her eyes were
inflamed, her cheekbones more sunken in than usual and breathing rather unsteady. It wasn’t
a good look on her, and Armin’s apparent surprise must have shown on his face as the sick
brunette lifted her swollen face to give him a glare.

“Don’t stare. It’s rude,” Ymir said raspily, before Krista hesitantly reached out to grab Ymir
hands on top of the sheets. The brunette responded to the touch, wrapping her hand around
the smaller girl’s thin fingers. Armin remained at the edge of the separated area, within view
of Ymir and Krista but keeping a fair amount of distance.

“How are you feeling?” Krista murmured, pressing her ear against Ymir’s chest. Though,
surprisingly, Ymir pushed her away.

“As bad as I was yesterday. Should probably wash your hands after you leave here. I don’t
want you getting sick.”

Krista drew in a sharp breath, before she closed in on herself. “I’m—I’m sorry about that—”

Before she could continue, Ymir shook her head. “It was my decision to leave the cabins
while it was pouring outside. Just because you couldn’t stop me didn’t mean it was your
fault.” The blonde’s eyes still held a bit of guilt, but she bit her tongue and looked down. As
she tried to formulate a response, Ymir glanced over at Armin.

“Why are you here?” She asked gruffly.

Even bedridden, Ymir was scary. Armin fumbled for his words, pulling at his own sweater
before managing a quick “Accompanying Krista.”

Ymir squinted, before laughing. It was sudden, as things usually were with Ymir, and both
Armin and Krista were startled upright.
“Of course. I didn’t think you would have had any other reason to visit me, and I don’t think
Krista has talked to other people about my condition yet. Until you, I guess. Oh well, it’s
actually a good thing you’re here.”

Armin shuffled on his feet, not sure if Ymir’s definition of ‘good thing’ was the same as his.
“Can… Can I ask why?”

Ymir muttered to herself an immature “I don’t know, can you?” before giving him a grin with
all teeth and no smile. She had a strange way of being as prickly as possible without being
entirely unfriendly. “Eh. I guess since I’m going to be sitting here, my ass glued to this stupid
old cot, Krista won’t have anyone to beat off those boys who think they’re entitled to invade
her privacy—”

At this, Krista piped up hotly. “I can defend myself, Ymir, you don’t need to force Armin to
guard me—!”

“Really?” Ymir shot back, just as sharp. “What about last time, when I was late to lunch and
that disgusting creep was all over you? Or the time before then, before we were that well
acquainted and that pissant tried to pull a move with you?”

“That doesn’t count! I—I was telling them off, and I planned to report it later—”

Ymir scoffed. “Later might be too late. No way. If you’re so sure you can handle yourself,
prove it to me. Prove that you can shoot down anybody that tries to pull a dick move. Call me
an asshole! Push me off! Come on!” The girl reached out to grab Krista’s shirt collar,
twisting it in her grip and yanking her closer.

Armin really, really felt like he was intruding. Why did it always come to this when he was
with these two? He slowly began to edge toward the exit, hand reaching out for the door
handle.

The air in the cabin became charged, Krista’s eyebrows drawn in genuine anger but trying
and failing to shoot Ymir an insult. Her hands trembled as she attempted to tug the tough
fingers off her shirt, but she couldn’t. With a frustrated groan, Krista went slack in Ymir’s
grip.

“See? My point exactly.” Ymir’s grip loosened, and she let go of Krista. Her gaze softened.
“Sorry. But you understand—I don’t want you to get hurt. Sincerely. And you know more
than me how crazy these slackers are, so for my sake, stay by Armin?”

Krista’s lips tightened, but she nodded. “Fine.” She jerked away from the bed, walking stiffly
past Armin and throwing open the door. The nurse raised her head drowsily from her
worktable, glancing at the blonde pair before turning away with a noncommittal huff.

The effects of stepping outside the sterilized room was immediate, fresh air flowing through
his lungs and letting Armin feel a little bit lighter. He hesitantly followed Krista as she
stepped heavily to who knows where, following the trail around the grounds until they came
to a stop in front of the girls' cabins. Krista spun around and glared at Armin, crossing her
arms and leaning back.

“Are you going to follow me in? I bet that’d please Ymir, huh? Mind the door on your way
in, I’m sure the girls will be ecstatic that a guy is in there to keep an eye on me.”

Krista’s tone was scathing, her sarcastic remark leaving Armin a little surprised. When her
words finally sank in, his eyes widened and he took a step back, bringing his hands up to
offer no harm.

“I—no! Of course I’m not going to follow you in the cabins just—I—well—”

He stumbled over his words, finding difficulty explaining himself before Krista cut him off
sharply.

“Armin, you know you don’t have to listen to Ymir. You can leave me alone for the entire
day and I’ll tell her that I was with you.”
At this he hesitated, unsure exactly how to proceed. She was right, of course—he really had
no obligation to listen to the scary brunette’s words. He could easily mind his own business
for the entire day and leave Krista to spend her time elsewhere, maybe find Eren and Mikasa
and go out to town.

But somehow it felt wrong. Perhaps it was just his own stupid noble self trying to rear its
head, faltering at breaking a promise.

“...Ymir isn’t the only one that cares about you, okay, Krista?” Armin mumbles, wringing his
hands.

[Armin takes Ymir’s place while she’s sick and helps Krista make cookies, like the AOT
spoof comic.]
 [Discontinued] Chapter 2
Chapter Notes

This chapter is unfinished, and ends abruptly. For a semi-conclusive read of this chapter,
(that's mostly just filler interaction anyways,) feel free to stop reading after finishing the
line "The outside isn't as good as you think it is."

Eren was different.

He was charming, loud, adventurous, and outgoing. The complete opposite to Armin, who
was clumsy, quiet, and preferred to stay in one spot and read all day. But despite their
differences, they got along well, and thus began their friendship.

The bright sunny days would always start with Eren pounding on the door, dragging Armin
out by the wrist and dashing for the grassy field. Armin would always take with him a large
book full of fairy tales and stories, so they could roleplay as every single one until they moved
on to the next. He loved reading them out for Eren to gush over, and watching the brunet
swing a long stick in a mock representation of the Scouts’ ODM gear. It was amusing to
watch.

Now that his parents knew Armin had a friend, they were confident enough to send him to
school. Armin was excited- of course he was! He’d learn more about the world- how to read
faster, write better, and pick up a few ideas from his mathematics and science classes he
thankfully shared with Eren. Maybe he’d be able to help his parents with whatever they were
working on, since he’s caught them more than once with their heads buried in piles upon
piles of what looked like complicated math, their groans of frustration and requests for more
caffeine the direct result of it. He doesn’t like seeing his parents so stressed, but they try to put
up a strong front for him. He’s unsure how to feel about that.

School was as fun as it could be. There were funny moments with Eren, exciting adventures
taken from the field to the playground, (in Armin’s opinion, playing with only Eren on the
field was much more fun than with his other classmates,) and engaging conversations with
his enthusiastic teachers.
But with every positive came a negative, and the bullies arrived.

At first it wasn’t anything major. Just a few small insults, little shoves and name calling. It
didn’t affect Armin so much when he was with Eren, who told them off quite brusquely, but
alone he couldn’t help but tear up and ask what he had done to deserve the harsh words.

When the bullies realized their only consequence was Eren’s wrath, the teachers typically not
noticing when they picked on Armin, their insults and shoves got worse. Uttering words no
grade schooler should know at their age and kicking at Armin whenever they’re able, it got
bad enough that the bruises he had gained from throughout the day were visible on his arms
and legs, but he never spoke up about it.

At this point in his life, his parents were… odd. They were quieter, gone from home a lot
longer than they had before. While previously, Armin would see them fuss over papers, now
he’s more likely to see them cart in odd materials and sneak out at the dead of night, only to
return barehanded. He was incredibly confused, and considered asking Eren for his advice
before he decided that his parents were probably formulating some kind of surprise- and it
would do no good for him to ruin it, right?

So he didn’t want to tell them, because then they’d have more things stacked on top of their
‘surprise.’ And if he told his teachers, then they’d tell his parents, and the problem would
persist.

It didn’t matter, anyway. To Armin, he could endure a few harsh kicks and mean words as
long as Eren was there with him, but as one could expect there wasn’t a guarantee that the
boy would always protect him.

It came to Armin on a hot spring afternoon, where he had run to the side of a building to get
away from the bigger boys. They found him, unfortunately, and kicked him until he was bent
over and bleeding, snivelling and crying.

They kept demanding for Armin to fork over his lunch money, which he adamantly refused to
give. His family wasn’t poor, per se, but food was important and money was as well. The boys
only learned to stop when they realized Armin wasn’t really getting back up, his form curled
into himself as a small puddle of blood started to leak from his nose and stain his shirt.
“Damn it!” One of them snapped. “I told you to not go so hard on the twig. Now he can rat
us out!”

“Oh, please. We’ve left much larger bruises before, and he never reported them. Let’s keep
going, he’ll give in eventually-”

“HEY!” A loud, familiar voice came from Armin’s left, and his heart soared as Eren skidded
into the scene, scarf billowing like the capes of the hero in the storybooks.

“Back off, you jerks! Before I make you guys learn what it’s like to feel pain!” Eren cracked
his knuckles, standing tall and glaring at them adamantly. Despite his attempts, though, the
bullies still towered over his form, and it was apparent to Armin that Eren was probably
going to end up on the floor next to him.

Oh well. At least his idiot had tried.

“And what will a runt like you do about it?” The lankier bully sneered. “It’s still two versus
one. Who do you think will win? Better save yourself when you can- you might end up on the
floor like little ‘Armine’ here-”

“His name is Armin! And try me!” Eren spat, swinging his fist at them with little aim but full
strength. However, before it could hit, a long wail of an old woman off from the distance
alerted all four boys, and the lanky bully stepped back easily to avoid Eren’s fist.

“Sorry, losers. Gotta go. It was great playing with you, though.” He laughed in an ugly way,
the other bully snorting along with him. They pranced off, giving Armin a parting kick much
to Eren’s rage, and finally the two were alone.

It’s alright, Armin repeated in his head. A few bruises and aching ribs were okay, but it was
the blood that worried him the most. It would be torture to get the red off his shirt, and even
then it was likely that the poor thing was stained. Armin struggled onto his elbows, trying to
pull at his collar to get a better look at the damage before his hands were grabbed by an
overly concerned Eren.

“Armin! Are you okay? I’m sorry I couldn’t get here earlier- I could have shown those…
those bastards just what they deserved!”

“Eren!” Armin gasped. “Don’t say that word!”

The brunet scoffed, rubbing Armin’s face with one hand as the other squeezed his own tightly.
“Who cares? Nobody’s around to hear it anyway.”

Armin had nothing to reply to that with, so he kept silent. When Eren’s examination was
evidently over, he kept squeezing Armin’s hand as he lugged the blond off towards the
direction of his house,

They made the trip in silence, interrupted occasionally by Armin’s hisses of pain or Eren’s
grunt at too much of Armin’s weight being pressed onto him. But they continued on, until the
tips of Carla Jaeger’s flowers could be seen from their distance away.

“Hey, Armin…” Eren piped up suddenly. Armin looked over.

“Why do you let them beat you up?” He asked softly, a bit of vulnerability in his voice. “You
could run… it would keep you safer, and you wouldn’t have to come home with all of these
awful injuries.”

Armin never really thought specifically about why he never ran and stood still, but an
instinctive response bubbled up from within him. Before he knew it, his mouth was moving,
and he didn’t have time to think about what he said before Carla Jaeger took them both
inside, fussing over Armin’s injuries and Eren’s dirty shoes.

“The bullies are the ones who are losing, not me. I may not be fighting back, but I am not
running. So, I won.”
The Scout regiment was known for its suicide missions outside the walls, the general people
despising them for their waste of taxes, and the man that is fabled to be Humanity’s Strongest
Soldier.

Armin Arlert knew what he was expecting by going in. Or, he thought he did. He was
expecting a lot more blood and gore, barely enough people to be considered a troop, and food
blander than the ones served during the Training Corps.

At the very least, all of those boxes checked out in some way. But Armin had neglected one
particular factor that he was so certain such a serious group of people had.

Maturity.

His eye twitched in irritation as the same old squabble broke out at the same table, the same
time, the same people. At the very least, this particular argument looked to be fairly light
banter, but Armin was willing to bet his rations that it would eventually escalate until Captain
Levi whapped the two supposed soldiers upside the head for causing a ruckus during dinner.

“Psst, Armin!” He turned his head to see Krista wave him over, a singular spot left open
across from the bubbly girl. Armin was surprised to see that the spot hadn’t been taken yet,
though with Ymir’s expression twisted into a deep scowl from beside the shorter blonde
head, it didn’t take him long to figure out why.

He slid into the seat neatly, looking around warily before he began to eat. The room was just
about full, all the soldiers gathering to eat what could be their final dinner before their
departure the following day.

Outside the walls.

Armin felt a thrum of apprehension and excitement soar through his heart at the idea. What
would it be like? Would the ruins of the town feel achingly hollow, haunting them as they
made their way through the path? Would the Titans be waiting for them right outside the
gates, picking them off one by one?

Where would Eren fit into it all? With his recently discovered Titan form, Armin knew that it
was risky bringing him outside, with such little known information about him. None of them
knew what could happen- and really, with how unpredictable things have been as of late, it
wouldn’t surprise Armin if something as bizarre as a massive Female Titan or the like
appeared out of nowhere to chase them all down.

But then again, what were the chances of that specifically happening? It was just the Scouts’
57th expedition out into the unknown- nothing special about it at all other than Eren. All
things considered, nothing would probably happen out there until they got back, where the
real threat was likely going to be the public outcry.

And speaking of Eren...

“They’re really going at it again, aren’t they?” Armin pointed his spoon at the squabbling duo
that had made their presence well known to the entire Scouts legion, Jean’s fist yanking
Eren’s shirt.

Krista laughed, sipping another spoonful of soup. “It’s bringing the memories back,
definitely. I really thought they would have grown out of this state all the way back when we
were in the Training Corps, but here we are.”

Ymir sniffed, irritation etched onto her face as she kept her disinterested eyes on the
commotion. “Right before tomorrow’s expedition, too. What assholes- so inconsiderate for
our precious beauty rest.”

“Ymir, I think both you and I know you rarely use your ‘precious beauty rest time’ to actually
rest…” Krista admonished gently. “And besides, you can think of it as a welcome routine.
Maybe some people need it to keep them grounded for what could be their final night.”
“Gee, way to keep things light, Krista...” Armin laughed nervously, turning his head to get a
better look at the pair that was steadily growing louder at every second.

“...What’s wrong with you, huh?! Just because you don’t care whether or not we live doesn’t
mean you get to determine that our lives are worth it!”

“Feeling scared now that you’ve actually joined the Scouts and are about to be set out on an
actual mission? Don’t kid me, Horse Face. The Titans may be scary to you, but it’ll also be a
great opportunity to just see outside. Ever consider that, huh?”

“Well unlike you, bastard, I don’t give a shit about how our old towns look overridden with
Titans! Isn’t it worse?! And besides, it’s none of your business how I feel about this mission-
especially when you look so damn proud to be eaten alive tomorrow-!”

A sharp fist snapped Jean’s head to the side, and a collective “Ooh!” buzzed out from the
table. Armin winced in sympathy, Krista inhaling sharply through her teeth while Ymir
continued to watch with a stormy look on her face. Oddly enough, she looked stonier than
before Armin had joined the table, her mood souring more and more as time went on. The
verbal fight progressed into an impromptu brawl session, the two boys snarling at each other
as they grappled arms on the floor. It was a bit difficult to see who was winning due to the
crowd cheering them on, but Armin hoped that both of the boys wouldn’t get too hurt.

A little huff distracted him, though, and Armin shifted his attention to see a disgruntled Ymir
looked downright infuriated, eyebrows drawn into a sharp angle as an oblivious Krista
continued to watch the fight with wide, concerned eyes.

Now a bit worried, Armin reached out to ask her if she was alright, but before he could the
freckled girl yanked her body away and briskly walked away from their table, weaving
through the packed room and slipping away from the scene smoothly out the tall wood doors.

“Ah-! Ymir!” Armin called out. Krista jumped, twisting her eyes away from the scene to look
at Armin in confusion. The shouting grew louder as a sudden crash was heard.
“Ymir? Eh-?! Where did she go?” She yelped in surprise, twisting her head left and right to
try and spot the tall girl in the crowd. Abandoning her food, Krista darted into the pack,
leaving Armin with no other choice but to follow.

“Ah! Krista- not you too!” He yelped in surprise, shooting upright and tripping over his seat
as he tried to keep up with the girl. He felt an odd sense of deja vu as he tried to trail the
blonde head as it bobbed in and out of the sea of people. It was more difficult to follow her
than Armin realized, and soon enough he couldn’t see a single thing other than pressed
bodies and the ceiling above him. Paling, Armin stumbled backwards only to meet the wall,
as well as the fresh breeze coming from the open doors to his right. His chest felt tight,
breathing staggered and head spinning as he tried to suck in desperate gasps.

Once he’d gotten his bearings, he tried calling out.“Krista! Krista?” But with no response- the
sheer noise that was erupting from the spectators was cancelling out his shouts, and Armin
was forcibly shoved out the door as a particularly rowdy group of soldiers passed by his
smaller form.

Stumbling onto the grass, Armin groaned, head in his hands as a sudden ache shot through
him like a firework. There was a loud bang, and looking up from his position showed the
open door was now shut tightly, a bit of light peeking through the crack. He tested the handle,
but to no avail- it was locked.

He shivered from the cold, staring up the door in mild frustration before he heard the sharp
sound of leaves crunching from behind. Armin whirled around to see a shivering Krista creep
closer, her nose red already from the frigid air and with her eyebrows drawn together.

It was quiet when they both recuperated, catching their breaths and trying to pull at the door.
When it was clear that it wouldn’t give and it started to get slightly colder, Armin gestured
for Krista to sit at a lone bench by a put out campfire. He sat at the other side, dejectedly
looking at the dirt while the crickets chirped around them.

“Hey, Armin…” Krista muttered. He glanced up, tipping his head to acknowledge her.

“Sorry about uh- running out on you. I-” She gave a shuddering inhale, and Armin realized
that she was shaking. “I was so concerned about Ymir, I just- I’m sorry. I knew that she
didn’t like crowds, so I just ran in and made a beeline for the door. If I had just- thought it
through, maybe you wouldn’t be stuck out here with me.”

There was a slight wobble to the last words, and following it was a hiccup, then a sniffle.
Krista rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, facing the other way from Armin’s concerned gaze
and hunching her shoulders to hide her face.

The night moved on slowly, the trembling girl silently crying while Armin contemplated
what to do. Though, he made his decision quickly, not wanting to make the girl any more
upset.

“Krista…” He said softly, reaching out slowly and settling his hand on the blonde’s shoulder.
She twitched, but didn’t face him. “Krista, please look at me.”

It took a few seconds, but she carefully turned around, head bowed to try and hide the puffy
red eyes and swollen lips from biting it too hard. Her hands were closed at fists around her
skirt, but even though she was clearly upset she looked right at him in determination, tears
budding at the edge of her eyes.

Armin felt a pang of sympathy, and without knowing it he had moved closer and wrapped the
girl in a tight hug. Krista had stiffened, though she loosened up soon enough and squeezed
him back, pressing her face into his collar. He could feel the wetness of her tears seeping
through, but he didn’t really care. It was better for her to cry it out instead of holding it in,
anyway.

They pulled apart after a while, all of it done in silence as the distant sounds from the meal
hall filtered down to the pair and the moon cast its glow onto their figures, letting them see
the area around them more easily.

“It’s not your fault that you were worried. Let’s find Ymir, okay? It’s a little brighter now
with the moon out, so maybe we’ll have better luck.” Armin said kindly, taking Krista’s hand
and pulling her up. The blonde sniffed, wiping her nose discreetly and nodded. They took the
path down through the training grounds, looping around and calling out Ymir’s name within
close proximity to each other. They stopped by the bathrooms, poked around the edge of the
training forest, and asked a few soldiers that were out and about for different reasons. But in
the end, the freckled brunette was nowhere to be found, and the duo found themselves on the
dual road between the boys’ cabin and the girls’ cabin.

“We should probably split up, right?” Krista asked, peering at the winding path that led to the
girls’ cabins. “I can take this path, while you check the forest behind the boys’ cabin. We’ll
regroup here.”

Armin nodded in affirmative. “Sounds like a plan.” Trekking down the path, he kept his eyes
peeled as the terrain began to get rougher, passing by the boys’ cabins and into the stretch of
tall trees further beyond. As the ground started to get a little steeper and mushier, he
considered turning back, but a startlingly loud bird cry caused him to stumble over a tree
root, tumbling to the ground and rolling down a hill. Armin cried out in pain as the branches
whipped his face and his body was brutally scraped by a bunch of rocks and sticks, until
eventually he came to a stop at the bottom.

Groaning, he blinked to try and get the dirt out of his eyes before a shadow hovered above
him. Glancing up revealed something that looked like a hand, and out of instinct he grabbed
it. With surprising strength he was hauled easily off the ground, and with a little wobble to
keep his balance Armin opened his eyes fully to see an amused Ymir with a smudge of dirt
on her cheek, which she promptly wiped off and gestured for him to follow.

Tripping over more twisted roots and branches, though thankfully not rolling down any more
hills, Armin followed Ymir in silence to a small cliffside that loomed over the camp, with a
perfect view of the meal hall illuminated by the lights inside. It seemed like he had traveled a
lot further than he intended, and Armin paled at how jagged the rocks looked below the cliff.
He was tempted to continue standing safely on the stable ground, but a sharp “Sit.” from
Ymir convinced him to move closer, though with some caution.

“Why did you come here, Ymir?” Armin started right after he found a relatively sturdy part
of the cliff, pressing the back of his heels together as he fought the urge to look down. “Krista
and I- we’ve been worried sick about you! You should have told us why you left so quickly,
or at least told us you were leaving.”

The girl hummed, simply staring up to the stars before letting her head roll over her shoulder
to look at Armin. “Sorry. I don’t like crowds.”
At this, Armin puffed up, eyebrows furrowed together. “That doesn’t explain why you left so
abruptly- if you didn’t like crowds you could have easily stepped outside once Eren and Jean
started shouting. You know once they get to that volume a fight is bound to occur.” He waited
for the brunette to respond, though she kept staring at him with an unreadable expression, lips
pressed tight and not giving any indication of a response. Armin squeezed his fists on the
stone, sitting upright and trying to muster the confidence he didn’t quite feel. “Tell me the
truth, Ymir. Why did you leave?”

There was too much silence. Nothing was shared between them besides what could be the
most intense unofficial staring contest Armin had ever gone through, his wide eyes watering
from keeping them open for too long. But still, he continued, because he knew if he backed
down now he wouldn’t be able to wrangle the answer out of the stubborn brunette. Another
pang of deja vu rang through him as he kept his eyes locked, refusing to lose.

After what could have very well been hours, Ymir pulled away first, scoffing slightly and
leaning back on her hands. Her head was yet again dipped back to look at the stars, though
this time Armin followed along. He carefully leaned back to glance up at the sky that was so
far away, dotted with gemstones that glittered and glowed atop the foggy backdrop that was
the clouds.

“I don’t expect you to get it,” Armin huffed, but continued to listen. “But have you ever felt
like nothing’s ever going to change? That this shitty world full of shitty people will always
stay in its ridiculous cycle, rotating through human cowardice and hatred until there’s nothing
but ashes left for the Titans to scoop up?”

“Have you ever considered that all this training isn’t worth it? What’s the next battle? What
does it matter? Even if we manage to push back a few waves of titans, we’ll never be able to
demolish all of them. And we’ll either run ourselves out of men, or the titans will devour us
all with time. Our efforts in gathering soldiers are futile- nothing will come out of it in the
long run, I assure you.” She gave an unamused, dry laugh, before continuing. “Do you think
this is the true fate of humanity? To make being eaten alive an ‘honor’? Is it worth dying for
a world that wouldn’t look back on your corpse, attaching an empty honor to a nameless
face? Worth watching your friends and comrades die, one after the other, until you’re left
with the crippling fate as the last living representation of humanity’s pathetic swing at the
immovable wall of titans?”

“I don’t think this is the kind of world I want to lay down my life for. This world has nothing
to give to us. It has nothing to share, nothing that’s worth it . Everything is going to end up in
flames, anyways. Humans will keep on rotating through these neverending patterns, the titans
will keep banging on our doors, and we will never escape the confines of the walls-”

“You’re lying!”

Armin surprised himself with his own voice, and it was evident he had caught Ymir off guard
too. She raised an eyebrow, dropping her chin to look at him a bit closer. Armin swallowed,
but went into it head first.

“You’re lying. There is something that’s worth it in this world- for everyone. It’s the idea of
chance- maybe if you live a little longer, the Titans will be exterminated. There will be a
future where humans can live on these lands with peace. A time where none of us die, where
none of us will suffer the fate of a Titan’s stomach. You can’t tell the future- you don’t know
for sure that we're going to die.”

“Doesn’t that also apply the other way around?” Ymir raised an eyebrow.

“Well, in that case, don’t you think it’s worth living to try and find out?” Armin insisted. He
took a deep breath. “I haven’t- I never told anyone else other than Eren and Mikasa this, so
you have to keep this a secret, okay? But I’ve always dreamed about going outside- not back
into our stolen territory, no- into the real world that hasn’t been explored yet. I want to run
through the plains, feel the wind on my face, and see the horizon without the walls blocking
the view. I want to feel free, and I want to experience the sea. That’s what’s driving me- the
outside.”

Ymir’s face was carefully blank after his small ramble, and Armin felt sweat build up on his
neck. Scrambling for words to elevate the energy that had suddenly chilled their
conversation, he blurted out a clumsy “And anyways, who knows? Maybe you’ll get your
happy ending with Krista. Isn’t that something that’s worth living for?”

For the first time in Armin’s entire life, he saw Ymir’s cheeks pinken and she turned her face
the other way. There was no way Ymir blushed at that comment, especially since it was
nobody’s surprise that she liked Krista more than as a friend, (at times explicitly stated,) so
Armin leaned over to confirm his suspicions.
He was right. She was bright red.

“That’s true, I guess.” Ymir huffs, annoyed. She shoots him a glare, before flopping onto her
back and staring at the sky. “Krista is… worth a lot to me. She’s like the sun, the stars, the
moon…” Ymir reached out her hand to the sky, stretching out her fingers. “She’s so… her,
and sometimes I don’t feel like I deserve her. Ha ha ha…”

“You know, your boyfriend is part of the reason I’m so pissed-” ( “Not my boyfriend, Ymir,”
Armin said under his breath.) “-Eren always wants to throw himself into situations with
absolutely no regard for other people. And before you interrupt me, trying to valiantly defend
him, I already know that he technically isn’t asking people to join his Titan obsessed killing
spree. It’s just that his unintentionally inspiring speeches tend to reel people into listening ,
and unfortunately my precious Krista was one of them. She was so adamant about joining the
Survey Corps- even though she was terrified out of her mind, my sweet angel stood her
ground and chose to sacrifice herself for the good of humanity…” Ymir massaged her
temple, an affectionate smile brightening the normally irritated soldier’s face. “Ah… I
suppose Eren and Jean’s frankly idiotic fight made me remember. Or something like that.
Sorry for all the trouble, Armin.”

While Armin was a hundred percent sure that Ymir’s sudden confession of her feelings to
Krista were legitimate, there was something about her reasoning for leaving the meal hall that
struck him as… odd. She was still hiding things from him, but before Armin could
interrogate her further a loud snapping noise from behind and stumbled made both soldiers
get up from their comfortable perch to see a haggard Krista shake away a few leaves,
storming up to them very angrily.

Armin felt himself sweatdrop, and Ymir beside him. Krista took one look at them, pointed
angrily at the moon, and screamed in frustration.

“Armin! Ymir! Come on, guys! That’s just totally not fair- when Ymir was gone I was scared,
but with both of you?! I was so worried, my god and here you two were just sitting on a
cliffside, completely nonchalant without me. Do you know how terrified I was when you
didn’t come back, Armin? It’s cold, it’s dark, and the path to the forest is stupidly creepy!
God, I hate you two so much…”

“Aww, was my little Krista worried about me?” Ymir cooed, grabbing Krista’s hand since it
was in reach and pulling her closer to the edge. The blonde yelped, tripping over her feet and
landing on top of the brunette, who was affectionately nuzzling her head.
“You don’t have to be mad, I already know how much you missed me. I’m sorry for keeping
you waiting, princess- Your selfish dragon ran off without letting you know and is paying for
the consequences. Could someone as sweet as you ever forgive me?”

Krista’s face pinkened, stumbling over her words, before she none too gently pushed Ymir’s
hand off her own and crossed her arms, sticking her nose into the air. “Hmph! Fine. It’s
alright, I guess, since I found you anyway… But don’t think that means you shouldn’t tell me
the next time you come out to have some time for yourself! You have to let me know where
you’re going, I get worried you know…”

Ymir stuck out her tongue, and promptly got up. It was then that Krista seemed to recognize
Armin was still awkwardly watching, and she offered a hand to pull him up. He gratefully
took it, and Krista quickly suggested they return to camp before it got any colder into the
night. She darted ahead, eager to return to the warmth of the cabins, while Armin stayed in
pace with a blank-faced Ymir.

It was when Krista was busy figuring out the way back home that Ymir piped up since
returning from the cliff, her voice clipped but quiet as to not alert the blonde up ahead.

“Is your dream really to see the outside?” Ymir muttered, hands in her pockets.

Armin paused, looking over in confusion as to why she would be curious. She was the last
person he’d expect to care about his dream.

“Yes…?” He responded carefully, stepping over a particularly scraggly root that he vaguely
remembered as the one he tripped over. Damn darkness… Armin cursed in his head.

It took a bit for Ymir to talk again, though when she did it caught Armin off guard. Her voice
was quieter than when she first posed the question, expression completely unreadable and
there was no indication of her response, which was likely why Armin didn’t even notice
before she was already whispering the words in his ear, stepping away to the cabins before he
could retort.
“The outside isn’t as good as you think it is.”

Everything was going by so quickly.

It felt like just yesterday that Eren was busy fussing over his scratches from the woods while
he himself sported a black eye and bruised lips that healed overnight, just yesterday that
Ymir’s words puzzled him beyond belief. Just yesterday that Armin felt apprehension and
slight excitement, whereas now he felt nothing but cold emptiness and an aching feeling of
guilt.

For they had encountered the Female Titan. And as much as Armin didn’t want to admit it, as
much as he wished it wasn’t true, the Female Titan was none other than Annie Lockhart- the
terrifyingly strong blonde soldier that had knocked Eren on his ass all those years ago. And
now she was encased in this ridiculously hard material, there were Titans hiding in the walls,
Eren had almost died again, they were suddenly in wagons and now there were talk of Wall
Maria being broken through and-

Stop thinking that way- Armin snapped at himself, clapping his hands to his cheeks which
brought a raised eyebrow from a nearby Mikasa. He gave her an apologetic smile before
looking ahead.

And now they were here, in this cold stone building as the dark of the night made the lanterns
seem to glow all that much brighter, though there wasn’t much warmth. Armin might not
have heard much about the Ehrmich District, but surely wasn’t this gloomy all the time.

Maybe it’s the fact that Wall Maria’s been broken through again and hundreds of citizens are
forced to evacuate to avoid being eaten alive, Armin thought pessimistically, pushing aside
another crate as he heard Captain Levi enter the room with the Wall Priest. When he turned to
glance at the old man’s face, he was surprised to see an expression written over with shock.

“We have to go now!” Called Moblit, Hange’s assistant, from Eren’s side. Squad Leader
Hange, however, didn’t move from their spot, choosing to give the priest a look over before
approaching him with wide strides.
“Give me a second, Moblit,” Hange said, before stopping before the old man. “Have you
changed your mind? We don’t have time for your dallying, you know.”

The priest hesitated, sunken eyes looking at all of their faces and pausing on Armin’s, his
eyebrows furrowing before he returned his gaze to Hange. He wet his lip, confliction passing
through his eyes like a bolt before he took a deep breath, mind made up as he exhaled slowly.

“There is… something I must say, before I delve in. The Order of the Walls- we’re unable to
disclose the entire truth, for we’ve sworn our lives to protect it. Thus, I am unable to go into
any more detail than the information I am about to give you, and it is even risky for me to
dare give you this small sliver of the truth…”

“There is someone we have been sworn to protect with our lives, but I am only able to tell
you their name. They have only joined the Scout Regiment this year.”

Armin’s eyes widened, and he could feel Eren and Mikasa stiffen from beside him. The Wall
Priest paused, eyes downcast before he mustered the strength to continue his statement, fear
evident in his shaky hands.

“Their name is-” a shaky breath, hesitant and fearful but pushing onwards. “-their name is…”

Armin’s heart dropped to the floor.

 [Discontinued] General Storyline + Afterthoughts
Chapter Summary

Contains where I would have taken the story, and notes on certain story changes I had
made. It's of note that I hadn't planned this story to the end, just a little bit into the
future.

I want to emphasize that at the time of writing this message and also when I wrote this
script, I had the barest idea of how the AOT royal bloodline worked... No amount of
AOT explained videos could make me understand ^^" So if it sounds like nonsense and
if there's plot inconsistencies to those that have a far better grasp at the storyline than I
ever did, I sincerely apologize.

The tags and work summary will be adjusted accordingly.

Chapter Notes

Thank you once more for taking the time to read my work. I apologize for leaving you
hanging for so long, hopefully this can provide some form of conclusivity to this work.

Structure and intent for currently existing content:

Prologue: Forest Scene rewrite, curating Krista & Armin’s friendship

Chapter 1: Miscellaneous scenes throughout training focusing on Krista and Armin regarding
their relationship. Emphasize their closeness as friends, and how their interactions can reflect
sibling banter and care for one another, despite not knowing it.

Chapter 2: Armin and Ymir beginning to understand one another.

Chapter 3: Armin, Eren, and Mikasa learn of Krista’s royal lineage, and Armin is concerned
for Krista, despite finding himself involved.

Early history:

Armin is a Reiss; Historia's half-brother. His father is Rod Reiss, and his mother is a nobody.
He was never discovered because his birth mother never disclosed that he was ever born,
being a simple worker at a brothel, and she never told Reiss. Initially she raised Armin with
care, but soon her sanity began to deteriorate because of the nature of her work and the
weight of the father's identity. In a state of mania, she traumatizes Armin in his youth,
causing him to forget about his true birth mother. His birth mother commits suicide.

His grandfather, a friend of his birth mother, picks him up after finding out about Armin,
unaware of his bloodline/true father. Armin is officially adopted, and despite knowing that
they’re not his birth parents, he refers to them as mom/dad. They pass away from the hot air
balloon, and leave Armin alone with his grandfather.

Chapter 1:

He starts to recall his memories, (scattered as they were,) slowly after meeting Krista at
camp. After the bandits, he develops a close sibling bond with her, to the surprise of many.
He earns Ymir’s respect, and has a small developing crush on Eren.

Chapter 2:
There is a time skip to just before female titan expedition, where they’re all gathered together
to eat a meal. Armin, fed up with the chatter at the table, goes out for fresh air and
unexpectedly finds Ymir. At this point, he isn’t close with her, but he's familiar enough with
her through Krista. They sit together silently and watch the stars until Ymir asks a strange
question- “Do you think it’s all worth it? All this bloodshed?” Armin answers that it is, and
that it’s worth it. For the outside- for humanity. For Krista, in Ymir’s case. She understands,
returns inside, and broods.

There's another small timeskip. The story proceeds at a normal pace from this chapter
onward. At Utgard Castle, where Ymir’s titan is discovered, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin are
learning about Krista, or Historia. This is the same as canon, and ultimately will stay as such
until Eren touches Armin while he’s a titan. (This event will occur a while later, when
Armin’s royal lineage is revealed to everyone, including himself.)

Chapters 3 and beyond:

Armin’s change in position will occur when recovering Eren, as Ymir chooses to stay with
the Scouts . Until that development, Armin experiences flashbacks, reminiscing on his
relationship with Krista/Historia and the changes he can make to turn the tides against the
Titans.

Returning to Urgard Castle, Historia and Ymir reunite, and Armin is confronted by his half-
sister, who asks him for advice. He stays with her when Reiner attacks, resulting in him
grouping up with her and eventually end up by Eren’s side with Mikasa when the Smiling
Titan approaches. He grips Eren’s hand, promising they’ll see the sea, and Eren transforms
into a Titan as he pushes Armin behind him, spreading his arms out. He doesn't touch the
Smiling Titan.
During the manhunt arc, Armin’s potential royal blood is made known through an insider
within the Scouts that reported to the Interior Police. This splits the search from two people
to three- Armin, Historia, and Eren. (Though to their pursuers, it’s still unclear whether
Armin truly has royal blood or if it's a fluke, but it's still enough for capture.)
End Notes

comments or kudos are greatly appreciated! generally im just looking for people who are just
interested in my idea even though im a fairly average/below average writer lol xD hope it
was alright and a fun read!

Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!