Distance (Aruani - SNK/AOT) ✔

Ten

(Armin's POV)

Annie? Where are you Annie? Please. I need to see you.

I lay in bed all day. Nurses come in and out, applying more morphine to my pack and bringing food. So many other Scouts were in the building, but were leaving quickly. Connie was somewhere, so was Jean and Christa. The older ones had all recovered from their minor injuries, and were already out helping, at meetings and planning the next expedition.

I was still attached to all these wires, locked away, kept from everyone. No one was allowed to see me. Someone guards me at night, usually Eren, Mikasa or any other Scouts who weren't injured.

It had been a week, if not less, and the pain in my leg was stabbing.

I want to see her. I want to explain. To explain everything.

I have to know that she's happy. That I've fully let her go.

I hope she's found the prince she thought she found in me.

* * *

"You have twenty minutes," the nurse said. I raised my head.

"Eren..." I whispered.

"Hey Armin. We've come to see you." He moved forward, and in came Mikasa, Sasha and Connie on his crutches.

"Hi guys," I said, smiling. I was so happy to see them, even if we'd only been apart for a couple of days.

"Armin! We've wanted to come and see you for so long! Oh, this is great!"

"Hi Sasha," I managed. She looked at my heavily plastered stump and sighed. "It really got you, huh?"

I nodded. Mikasa scowled at her. "Hey, its fine. He's okay. Armin, we have something to tell you."

I pulled an interested face. She smiled. "We saw Annie yesterday."

My heart fluttered. I took a see breath. "Oh?"

"Yeah, she's looking really well. She's now the commander of the MP's."

My eyes widened with the news. "Wow!" I said. She really was doing okay.

"Yeah, we told her to come and visit you, you know, when you're better."

I nodded. I'd like that. Maybe not yet, but soon. I want to see her for myself. "Okay, great!" I said.

Eren grinned. Connie hopped over, sitting on the chair next to my bed. He caught my eye, and smiled. I smiled back.

"So Armin! You getting a new leg or not? We're missing you out here!" Connie said. I nodded, thinking back to what the doctor told me yesterday. I grabbed my sketchbook from the table beside me, opening up on my ideas for my prosthetic leg. They all read the nites and looked at the pictures with awe.

"These are really good! I'm sure they'll make this!"

I nodded. "Yeah." I sighed. They were all so happy, and I was grateful to see them, but I wanted to see Annie. It had been three years. Three life changing years, difficult years. I wanted to see her.

"You okay Armin?"

"Huh? Yeah, no I'm fine."

"Okay, good."

We spend the rest of the time talking about places we'd visit once I was better, and how we'd catch up on what we missed, and once the wall was rebuilt, we'd go around exploring that part.

I know we were twenty five, but I couldn't care less.

And when the nurses came back to shoo them away, they all hugged me tightly, much to their concern, and promised they'd be back tomorrow. I heard Eren, Sasha and Mikasa say goodbye to Connie as he returned to his room, and then everything went silent again.

I leaned back, lying, facing the ceiling.

And wondering what Annie was doing right now.

After a minute of collecting my thoughts, a gentle knock came into the room.

"Hello?"

It opened slowly. My heart started pounding.

Annie?

.