Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: Oh, man. I'm back. Not sure how I feel about these. Some made me kind of sad...

Next set will definitely be the long awaited Battle for Trost arc. Just had to set some things up :'D

Also, I've begun to be more active on my Tumblr in terms of posting updates and secret passages of upcoming fics (for example, I'm working on another Dark!AruAni that I posted the first 1,000 words for already). I know this is shameless self-publicizing, but follow me, macrauchenia, on Tumblr if want more updates :D I might also start use the tag #snkmac or something like that with all of my posts relating to Shingeki no Kyojin. Like I said, shameless self-publicizing, but I thought some of you might want to know :D

She has no money, no relative to send her funds. She can't afford to waste the limited stipend each recruit receives for supplies on frivolous things. She loathes the days when they are given freedom to roam the city to buy sugared treats and new clothes. She denies herself these tiny pleasures. Sometimes she even forgoes necessities when she can't justify exchanging her worn, stained white jacket for an expensive new coat.

Yet when she sees it languishing in a store window, she feels no guilt or remorse for spending her last, precious coins on the tattered, faded straw hat.

.

Annie has never given a gift before. She's not quite sure how to and she refuses to stoop low enough to ask Mina for advice. She watches from a distance as recruits present each other with small tokens of affection and wishes of safety. They're all preparing for the eventual divide between the three branches of military.

Once all she wished for was the end of training, but now she dreads the final day when she leaves, alone amongst her fellow top ten graduates.

It's a stupid, irrational belief that keeps the hat under her bed. Giving him the gift seems too much like confirming a final goodbye.

.

Only days before their final graduation, she corners him after dinner. She thrusts the hat to his chest and his limp fingers react automatically, cupping the gift gently before it can slip through his grasp.

Annie hates the hesitation in her voice and her actions and she wills her cowardly gaze to rise to meet his shocked, azure eyes.

"An-nie…?" he stutters. He's as startled as she is and his mind has yet to process the confusing situation.

"To keep you safe," the girl mutters, repeating the same oath she heard Franz murmur to Hannah. The words feel foreign on her tongue like they weren't ever meant to be said.

"H-how…?" The boy's thin fingers curl instinctively into the brim, causing the straw to crackle. When he speaks again, his voice is thick and choked with emotion.

"Thank you, Annie," he breathes, eyes bright and blue.

.

She ponders the exchange later, lying alone and quiet in the safe confines of her own bed. For some reason she can't explain, it is relief that floods her overwhelmed system. Relief that her attempt at being human wasn't rejected like every time before. Relief that she didn't have to give an answer.

She's kept awake by the boy's unanswered "how." Would she have told the truth? That she knew him before he even knew himself?

Or would she have lied like she does every time his shining eyes meet hers?

.

Sometimes the boy wears the hat. Sometimes he doesn't. Even after hours of careful observing, Annie still can't figure out why.

Once she catches Eren staring curiously at the object when it's perched upon the blond's feathered hair one night. Uncertain recognition flickers in the boy's aqua eyes at the familiar hat. Annie hears the boy ask his friend about the object and she feels a clench in her gut, dreading the inevitable moment when her kindness is exploited.

However, the blond merely smiles and shrugs, leaving his brunet friend without an answer.

Annie smiles faintly in her cup, savoring the tender secret the two share for at least one more moment.

.

"What you got there? Some stupid hat."

A malicious sneer. Grubby, insensitive claws reaching for the fragile brim.

Annie feels her feet move in the blond's direction before she can stop herself.

A smaller, lighter hand smacks away the talons of the assailant. She stops, eyes glued to the unfolding action.

"Don't touch it," the blond's voice rings authoritatively. His brilliant eyes dare the larger male to try anything else.

Only when the thug leaves does Annie notice a change in the blond. His confident, grim-slashed expression droops to a relieved frown and furrowed brow. His trembling fingers brush against the faded brim as if he needs reassurance that it's still there.

The gift becomes more than a simple, old hat.

.

"Do you love him?"

Annie's first reaction is to recoil at the sly question.

"What?" Her tone comes out short and curt. She's angry, but she isn't sure why. She realizes who Mina is talking about and her face darkens dangerously.

"What the hell is there to even like about him?" she snarls, stalking away.

By the time she's ten paces away, she's already reached the seventh reason.

.

She hates the word.

It's jarring. It's short. And when she loosely traces the characters in the sand, she realizes how ugly it is.

Worst of all, she hates what it represents. A fleeting warmth. An empty embrace. The inevitable goodbye.

She was brought into the world under the lying guise of love, but she knows when she leaves this life, there will be nothing left to lie about.

.

Reiner finds her a day before their projected graduation date. This has been the plan all along, but for the first time Annie finds herself questioning their orders.

The blond male chalks her resignation up to nerves, clasps Bertholdt on the shoulder, and heads back towards the camp. Only the brunet seems to share Annie's mixed feelings, but he merely glances away ashamedly before following Reiner. They've already said their goodbyes. They've made their peace.

When their backs fade from view in the waning dusk light, Annie realizes that she may never get her chance to say goodbye.

.

Annie lies awake, dreading the inevitable moment when the sun rises, ushering in the dawn. She knows what will happen when the noon sun reaches its highest point.

Every muscle in her being trembles with apprehension. She wants to spring out of bed and run, run, run until she finds him.

Even if she can't reveal the truth, she still wants to hear him promise that he'll be okay in that confusedly placating voice of his. He won't know why he's swearing to be safe, but Annie will still be soothed by the words.

When she finally flips the suffocating blankets off her sweltering legs, the faint rays of morning creep under the threshold. Cool air brushes against her bare legs. She's too late.

Never before has the threatened fate of humanity felt so cold.

Ouch. Well. Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following! :'D