Nest & Wings (Annie Leonhardt x Male Reader)

Chapter 32: The Promised Plan

Reading the books and learning about how Eldians were being persecuted by Marley sparks an idea in your mind. It was nowhere close to being a concrete strategy, but you finally manage to formulate a rough framework for the plan you promised Annie. You approach her to let her know about it.

"Hey Annie, remember that plan I promised you? The one where I said I'd find a better way for you to see your father again? I think I just came up with an idea." You tell her.

"What is it?" Annie asks. While it was covered by her generally emotionless demeanor, you could definitely see an air of excitement about her.

"There's a lot to figure out before it would become a viable option but... what if we bring the Eldians in the internment zone here? That way you, your father and the rest of your people can live peacefully without being oppressed by Marleans." You tell her.

Annie responds, "That would indeed solve our problems, but what about the Eldians from other internment zones around the world? Would it be fair to liberate just the ones in Liberio?"

"I thought about that and I have a bit of a theory. Dr. Jager mentioned it was Marley that came up with the internment zones, right? They were the ones who painted the picture of Eldians that caused the rest of the world to fear them. But think about it... who's been using titans to subjugate other nations for the past century?" You point out.

"Marley...?" Annie's eyes widen realizing how hypercritical Marley's accusations against Eldians were. It wasn't a shocking revelation; you were simply pointing out the obvious. However, Annie and her people didn't have a state of mind where they could think for themselves and speak out against Marley.

You answer, "Exactly! As much as people despise Eldians, I'm sure the rest of the world harbors similar hostilities towards Marley as well. If we capitalize on it and antagonize Marley, we might be able to convince them to free the Eldians in their internment zones in exchange for peace. I still need to do a lot more research on this to say for certain, but if we succeed, Liberio will be the only internment zone we'll have to liberate by force."

"I see... that won't be easy, but it's within the realm of possibility. But there's one issue. Suppose we managed to convince the rest of the world, do you really think the people of Paradis would agree to it? I mean, it's not like they'd just want to give away their land and resources to strangers for no reason."

"You have a point, but I'm almost certain that they will, or at least the authorities will. We just learned that Marley is the source of the titans that plague Paradis, right? If we bring all the Eldians here, they won't be able to create any more titans. It'll be the most efficient solution to our titan problem, so I'm sure people like Commander Erwin would agree." You explain the basis for your idea.

"Hmm... That does make sense. But it'll be difficult to convince my people, though. Some of them are completely brainwashed by Marley and think that the people of Paradis are devils." Annie shares her thoughts.

"You're right, but we'll figure a way. I'm sure there are still people who believe in freedom, so we'll start there and move on to the others slowly. I can't predict the future so I don't know how things will turn out, but what I can guarantee is that I'll never go back on my word." You reassure her.

"Thank you!" Annie says, "I know it's still early and this whole thing could go wrong, but I appreciate the fact that you're at least trying to keep your word. That alone means a lot to me." She was surprisingly sincere as she said that.

While your plan was nowhere near viable at this point, you see a glimmer of hope in Annie's eyes as she takes a gamble and puts her faith in you. With that, you store the books carefully and call it a day.