AN: Hello guys! This is my first ever fanfiction, and an Aruani one, no less. Seriously, this ship will be the death of me. Anyway, this story will be set on the Aot timeline, just as it is in the manga and anime, although I will change some of the situations and tweak the circumstances a bit for the story's purposes. So if anything seems different from what we all read or watched, it ia because it is intentional. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan. Isayama owns all the greatness.

Chapter One

Get a grip.

Armin clutched the smoke gun tightly in his hand, his finger poised over the trigger, ready to shoot a signal in case something went amiss. He knew several members of the Scouting Legion were hidden behind the nearest alleys, while some crouched on the roofs, ready to strike at a moment's notice. He also knew that like him, they were waiting for Annie to make any dangerous moves--it was their cue to move, after all.

Annie. She stood several steps above him, unmoving. She refused to join him, Eren, and Mikasa down the underground tunnel, despite him and Eren's efforts to persuade her. She would not budge. By now Armin's hands were beginning to shake, and sweat gathered near his hairline, making him feel sticky and nervous.

Finally, Annie spoke.

"Tell me, since when did you look at me with such eyes..." she said quietly, turning to him. "...Armin?"

Armin dragged his feet through the familiar dusty expanse of the training grounds, his arm up, covering his eyes from the harsh sunlight. Their drill sergeant, Shadis, instructed them to line up before him, and he found himself shoulder to shoulder with Sasha and Jean. Shadis walked to the front, surveying them, and Armin noticed some wooden knives placed on a table next to him. Oh great, he thought, hand to hand combat. He would definitely make a fool out of himself in training today.

"Cadets, today we practice hand to hand combat. You will be working in pairs --" as he said this, a chorus of excited buzzing came from the cadets, "--but I have ready chosen your partners, and the two of you will become training buddies until the end of your cadet days, with the exception of the occasional switch, which would only happen every two months."

The 104th groaned when they heard that Shadis had already picked the pairs, and Armin can't help but join them. He hoped he'd be paired with Eren, or even Mikasa, because they knew of his lame combat skills and wouldn't laugh at him. Still, even if Armin was mortified of the fact that he would probably just end up being ridiculed, some part of him was excited of the prospect of learning with someone new. He guessed it was a blessing that he was friends with almost all of the other cadets, and it made him sigh with relief, because there was almost an eighty percent chance that he was going to be paired up with someone he was familiar with. Who could it be? Sasha? Maybe Marco?

His attention went back to Shadis, who was reading off the pairs from a piece of paper he held. Connie was with Jean; Mina and Sasha; Reiner was coupled with Mikasa -- now that's some pair, he thought, and finally...

"Arlert, you're with Leonhardt," yelled Shadis.

"Pardon, sir?" he asked suddenly. He was quite sure he had read the name wrong. "Did you just say Leonhardt?"

Some cadets laughed.

"I did, Arlert. Is there a problem?"

"No, sir, it's just that --"

"That what?"

Armin jumped. Next to him was none other Annie, her icy blue eyes looking bored as usual. She was the one who had asked the last question. Armin felt nervous. What was he going to say? He averted his gaze and saw Eren, who gave him an encouraging nod.

"Um --"

She turned on her heels. "Let's go."

He followed her, and he spent the entirety of that afternoon being beaten up by Annie that by dinner time he was so sore he couldn't even lift his spoon. Not that it mattered. He never ate anyway -- he was too busy staring at Annie from across the room. She was smaller than him, and yet she managed to kick his butt. Of course, factoring in his lack of physical strength, it was no surprise that she would win. Still, he knew that she could even defeat Reiner. He was, to put it simply, amazed.

"Armin, what are you looking at?" asked Mikasa. She followed his gaze and saw Annie. She immediately glared at her direction. "She got you pretty bad. She shouldn't have beaten you up like that, it was just practice anyway."

He turned to his friend, smiling. "It's nothing, Mikasa. It's my fault, really. I should have put up a better fight."

Mikasa was unconvinced. She urged him to eat, even helping him chew off his bread, much to his embarrassment. Now he knew what Eren felt like whenever Mikasa was being overly protective.

He was the last to leave the cafeteria. He had insisted that Eren and Mikasa go on ahead of him, because he knew he would only slow them down by his wobbling and they needed to rest. As he was walking towards the boys' cabin, he saw Annie leaning by the door, her arma crossed.

He rushed to her. "Good evening, Annie. What are you doing here?"

"Just had something to tell Reiner," she replied. She turned to go, but looked back at him at the last second. "Say, Arlert, since when did you look at me with such eyes?"

So she had caught him staring after all.

Armin went beet red. He tried to give an intelligent response, but ended up stammering. Annie shook her head, muttering, "Pathetic," and went her way, leaving him there.

Armin did not know why he was thinking about all that as they confronted Annie. Maybe it was because he had an immense sensation of deja vu with what she said, or maybe his head was just so messed up he couldn't think straight anymore. Either way, he knew they failed the moment Annie laughed.

"Armin," said Annie. "I'm glad I could be a good person to you."

And everything went downhill.