Hello! It's been a very long time. I'm sorry I haven't updated any of my currently ongoing stories lately; since I'm now a mom of two kids under 3, I am honestly probably not going to for a while. I was going through some of my old files and found this. Since it was mostly finished, I figured I'd just jot in the transitions it was missing and be done with it. I'm sorry it's not very good; I was in a very weirdly poetic frame of mind when I wrote it. For the record, I'm terrible with poetry; I don't understand it or really appreciate it most times. This is obviously no longer canon-compliant, but I wrote this like…back in 2013 or 2014 when season 1 came out, so, y'know, it was still compliant at the time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shingeki no Kyojin/Attack on Titan or any affiliates.

Armin Arlert is in love with the moon. Or, at least, that's what he always says.

The first Annie learns about it is after lights out one night when sneaking behind the boys' barracks to leave a secret message for Bertolt and Reiner. She listens with not even a quarter of an ear as they all rib Franz for his infatuation with Hannah before going around and confessing the object of their own affections. If she was a different kind of girl, she could tell the girls their secrets, but she didn't come here to make friends and simply files the information away. She finishes up her message just in time to hear, "Armin, what about you?" and readies herself to stand until he answers, "My love is the moon."

"You mean the person you love is like the moon?" Marco finally asks.

"No, my love is the moon," he repeats.

"C'mon, Armin, we're all friends here," Reiner coaxes with a laugh. "Tell us, what's her name?"

But he persists in his folly; his answer always the same. Eventually, they all give up and continue around the room, but she can tell that no one's quite sure if he believes it's true. Personally, she's surprised he doesn't say the ocean or books since he seems far more taken with these things than he ever would with a person, but if he loves an orb in the sky, then who is she to question it?

::

For some reason, the conversation comes up again almost a month later after most of the students have left for lunch. Being overlooked by others is one of her cherished gifts, and because of it, the conversation after class very easily shifts.

"Your moon is Krista, right?" Connie asks as he swings over to Armin's desk.

Annie suppresses the urge to scoff lest she draw attention to where she's packing up in her corner. With hair of noon and eyes of sky, Krista is obviously a sun child.

"Sasha," chimes in Franz, joining in the game.

It's not a terrible guess: though Sasha is a bowed huntress like the crescent moon, her nature belongs to a wind waif.

"Hannah?" guesses Eren, obtusely unaware of Franz's glare.

No, Hannah is calm water that nurtures and facilitates life.

"Mina," Daz teases.

Annie rolls her eyes. Mina is a mother bird.

"Mikasa," Bertolt suggests, and that one gives her pause. With her hair and eyes of night, and luminous pale skin, Mikasa could be the moon.

But all Armin does is smile with eyes of fathomless mystery and say, as to all the others, "My love is the moon."

::

Years later, Armin stands in front of Annie's crystal, eyes pensive as he runs his hand over the curve of her jaw. "Eren and Mikasa are getting married today. They keep encouraging me to find someone to love, but I keep telling them the same thing I always have: my love is the moon." He sighed and pressed his forehead to hers. "Did you ever know how I felt about you, Annie?"

"You are my moon maiden—strong, mysterious, and changing. You are the girl who stays at a distance, yet warms and comforts when needed. You shed light on the dark of mysteries that don't reveal your own. Even your name speaks of your prowess, the guardian warrior who protects and subtly to guides. You shine with muted radiance you can never truly hide. But you are unreachable and unattainable, and can never be truly mine."

Like I said, I have no idea what I was thinking when I wrote the main bulk of this, but here you go: more bittersweet AruAni for the fandom. It is nice to know that Annie can hear what people say to her in her crystal, so maybe in this universe, they'd actually get together after she got out. XD