The Adventure on-board the Maria

"It's Not Your Fault"

About a minute passed after Eren left the room, and neither Melody or Armin made a sound. Melody could tell something was wrong with Armin, so she decided to be the first to speak up. "Is everything okay Armin?" she asked cautiously. Armin didn't say a word. Melody noticed him beginning to shake, which only created more concern. "Armin?" she repeated. The next thing that happened, happened within a split second. So fast that Melody didn't even know what was going on. Armin held her tight in his arms, sobbing into the crook of her neck. "I'M SO SORRY MELODY!" he wailed. "IT'S ALL MY FAULT! I SHOULD OF MOVED OUT OF THE WAY! BEFORE YOU JUMPED IN FRONT OF REINER! IT'S ALL MY FAULT YOU'RE HURT! I WAS SUCH A COWARD I DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!". Melody didn't know how to react. Armin's break down was all so sudden. She simply gave him a gentle hug back, rubbing soothing circles around his back. This seemed to shock him as he suddenly pulled away, looking at her wide eyed, with tears still running down his cheeks. Melody gave him a small smile and began to speak to him calmly. "Armin, you silly egghead, of coarse it's not your fault. I was already injured, and I could of been even more so if you hadn't shot Bertholdt. I might even be dead if it weren't for you, if anything I should be mad at Eld for not concentrating on his fight with Reiner, then he wouldn't of gone after you in the first place. You saved my life Armin, you're my hero". That last sentence made Armin's cheeks flare up. They flared up even more when Melody gave him another reassuring hug, but it went unnoticed by her. After another minute or two of this, Melody finally pulled away, her kind smile replaced with a serious look. "Don't you ever blame yourself for something like that again, you hear me" she scolded. Armin didn't say anything, but nodded, rubbing away his last few tears. Melody then smiled again and ruffled his hair, giving a light hearted chuckle. "You little egghead" she giggled.

Melody sat quietly, watching Armin observe his surroundings. She noticed how his sight fell upon her song book that laid on top of her folded shirt. "What's this?" he asked curiously, picking up the petite book and flicking through the pages. "Oh....uh.... that's my song book" Melody mumbled. It was now her turn to turn red. She never really allowed anyone to look at her book, it was always private, so to see Armin casually reading the pages was kind of uncomfortable. "You write songs?" Armin gasped, his eyes filling with wonder. "Well.... yeah" Melody answered rubbing the back of her neck. "Do you play any instruments?" Armin asked, getting more and more interested. "Yeah" Melody mumbled bashfully. "I play the guitar, and I used to play the violin, piano and the flute as well". An amazed smile appeared on Armin's face as he looked at Melody. "Wow, you must be super talented". Melody blushed even more at the compliment. She then began thinking back to when she used to play her music. She missed playing the guitar, she missed singing, she missed the smiles she would receive from playing her music back at the tavern, she missed the kind people complimenting her talent. She wanted to feel the guitar strings against her fingers, she wanted to sing out to people like she did back then, she wanted to listen to the friendly people of her town, she wanted to hug the people she cared about up close, but she couldn't, because she was out in the middle of the ocean, with no guitar, none of her family, and with a super grumpy Levi who would probably give out to her for making noise. Armin continued to look through the pages, every now and again pointing one out that he really liked. Melody soon felt less uncomfortable with him looking at it, since he didn't seem to criticize. At least she had people like him, Hanji and Petra to compliment her talents, even if Hanji was a little weird.

 Armin soon came to a page where he stopped. He began reading Melody's neatly written handy work, his eyes filled with a deep interest. "I really like this one" he said, pointing at the page. He continued looking at that one in particular, as if he was rereading it over and over again. He then handed the book over to Melody, pointing at the same page again. "Can you sing this for me?" he asked politely, looking away as if he was nervous about asking the question. Melody took the book and looked at the song in question. It was a particularly sad song, one which she had written based slightly on her mothers death. She felt sorrow seep into her heart. "Sure" she said solemnly , not wanting to disappoint Armin, who gave a happy smile at the answer. Melody was taking, a deep breath in, getting ready to sing, when Levi came marching in. "Arlert. Out. Now" he demanded. Armin's visiting time was up. Armin gave a disappointed sigh. "I guess I'll just wait for another time" he mumbled to himself. He started walking in the direction of the doorway, waving back at Melody. "Bye Melody, thanks for cheering me up" he said, giving a smile before he was dragged out by Levi, who slammed the door shut behind them, leaving Melody alone to herself again. She gave a low sigh, starting to feel lonely again. Stupid Levi and his stupid rules, with his stupid hat and his stupid coat, his stupid hair, his stupid frown. She wanted to talk to Armin more. Hanging out with him and Eren really made her feel better. She wanted to talk to the other crew members more often, which was rare since back at home she hated hanging out with anyone apart from her family. However, Levi had to interrupt all her conversations with them and make them leave her alone for dumb reasons. 'Stupid Levi, Stupid Levi, Stupid Levi' she repeated over and over again in her head, as she lay down in her bed once more for another nap.