A/N: Don't worry. Ereannie sweetness will be coming soon. This chapter is like the Awakening chapter of "Shock," but with Eren's point of view.

He could feel the cold oak door press against his forehead, making him want to scratch at it. But for some odd reason, he didn't. He just kept leaning into the door as he inhaled one gulp of air before exhaling another. His eyes remained shut as his teeth grazed his lower lip, and any form of sound in the background became a dull hum of white noise. Oddly, he felt at peace with this place. He felt at peace like this. And when two soft, yet strong arms wrapped around him, he resisted the urge to melt into them. Though he couldn't see anything, he could feel a small shoulder rub his, moist breath tickling his ear.

"I know you want me out," a stern, yet melodious female voice grazed his ears, turning the corners of Eren's mouth up, "You know it, too. I want to get out of there. I want you to get me out of that hunk of crystallized skin. Why don't you say anything?"

He is prepared to keep his mouth shut. He is prepared to get her out of his subconscious forever. But he knows that it would mean indulging in his pain. Yet he was willing to do anything to get her out. He felt the cold air rush make his throat dry as his mouth formed a perfect O, his uvula dangling at the back of his throat. 

"I may want you out of that little cocoon of yours," he says, saliva pooling on his tongue, "But some would prefer it if you stayed in there, never to come out."

He smiles wider as he hears little giggles wander into his ears. These giggles were different than her psychotic break from Stohess District's failed capture. These were genuine, cute, and low.

"When did you start caring about other people's opinions?"

He can feel his lips showing off his pearly teeth to no one, biting his tongue as she continues to chuckle. His mind reverts back to the days of the 104th Training Corps, where he would belt out ideas of venturing outside the walls to put an end to the Titans. How he managed to save Queen Historia from an awful, short, unworthy life as the Beast Titan. When did he start caring about what other people think?

"I thought so," she said as her grip around his shoulders loosens, "Tomorrow, 5:00 p.m, my usual place. And it should be easy to gain Hange's permission."

By now, only her hands remain, the digits of her fingers massaging his shoulders. They are so close to pulling away, yet Eren's hand flies as he slaps her fingers down onto his shoulder, savoring her touch. 

"Annie," he mewls, biting his lower lip, "Just promise me something."

"Anything," she replied, her voice sweet.

Eren presses his lips together, feeling his teeth digging into his flesh. But he manages to get the words to fall out, regardless.

"Promise me," he says, breathless, "Promise that you will come out of there? It doesn't have to be tomorrow. Or the week after. Just come out of there before my time is up. Come out of there before my four years pass."

Silence. That's what he thought. He was just about to let go before he felt something in the space between his shoulder blades. It was a soft, yet hard touch, silky strands of hair ticking his neck. He could feel her nose nuzzling that space. 

"I promise."

+++++

(TIME SKIP: The next day, 5:00 p.m.)

"Can you let me in now?" Eren was gritting his teeth, not caring about the fact that they could break into little pieces easily. The guard in front of him just looked at him, his lips quivering at sight of the Attack Titan.

"I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry," he stammered, beads of sweat glistening down his forehead and cheeks, "B-b-b-but you n-n-need p-p-permiss-s-s-sion-"

"In the form of a handwritten note, signature and all," Eren didn't need to wait for the panicked guard to finish his sentence. He yanked a folded white paper out of his pocket, shoving it into the guard's chest. The latter yelped as he clutched the note, shakily unfolding it and reading the contents before staring Eren in the eye again. Eren scratched his stubbled cheek, waiting. The guard read the note a second time before his shaking hand went to his pocket, where a ring of keys lay. He hastily went through the different keys before settling for a large bronze one, jamming it into the metal keyhole and unlocking it. Eren stormed over and yanked the door open, causing the poor guard to jump at least five feet back.

"I'll be out in ten minutes," Eren said monotonously, "In the mean time, take a break or something."

The guard was about the say something until Eren slammed the door shut behind him, leaving the poor guard to piss his pants.

+++++

It didn't matter that her eyes weren't open. It didn't matter that her lips were in a straight line. It didn't matter that burn marks from the Female Titan graced the space underneath her eyelids, the bridge of her nose, and her upper cheeks. She was just so... beautiful. With her blonde hair barely touching her shoulders, here icy-blue eyes closed peacefully, and her cherry-blossom lips in a straight, emotionless line. Beautiful, yet shielded.

Eren felt his mouth melt into a lopsided smile, his brain telling him to keep his cool, even though Annie can't see him. 

"Hey, Annie," he said, his voice trying to sound casual but failing, "Not much has happened since my last visit. We only found out that one of Mikasa's magical, non-Eldian bloodline includes a royal ancestry from the nation of Hizuru. That, along with Zeke's Volunteer Army, adds to the excitement I guess."

No reaction. Not even a crack of the crystal. Eren felt a sigh escape his lips. He had to stop beating around the bush. If he ever wanted to see Annie before his time came, he had to cut to the chase.

"Look, Annie," Eren asked, "I understand why you're hiding out like this. But is there really a point to all of this anymore? We know about Marley, the Warriors, our crimes as Eldians, the Interment Zones, the Paradis Operation of yours. So naturally, you have nothing to hide anymore. So don't!!!!

He felt a huge gulp run down his throat as he paused from his rambling. No reaction from the sleeping beauty, though, looking back, Eren could have sworn that he saw something wet run down Annie's cheek. He placed his hand on Annie's crystal cocoon, a certain sting at the corners of his eyelids. He closed his eyes, allowing the sting to become wet and run down his cheeks.

"You only have so much life left to live," he said, a certain heaviness creeping into his voice, "I only have so much life left to live, so let's spend it together fighting for the Eldian's freedom. Or spend it frolicking outside in the daisies. Do what you want!! Just.... come out of there. Be with me."

He opened his waterlogged eyes, staring up at Annie. Nothing. No crack. No reaction. No nothing. Eren gritted his teeth once again, muttering about how he will never trust his dreams again, and pivoted a perfect 180 degrees to walk out. But that was when something reached his ear drums. It was a sharp and loud sound, and it sent shivers down Eren's spine. He turned his head towards the crystal and had to bite his tongue to hold back a scream. Running down the crystal cocoon was a large crack, wide and thick, with little cracks running along the sides. The sounds of glass slowly breaking filled Eren's ears, and a bright, white light filled the room. Eren managed to shield his eyes and ears before the loudest, sharpest, ear-bleeding crack filled the room, and Eren's eyes were ignited by the light. 

To this day, Eren can never remember what happened immediately after that. He would try. He would try as he did his usual Titan experiments with Hange to test the coordinate. He would try as he pushed his children on the swings. But he never could. All Eren could remember was the light dimming down, his ears ringing, and feet rushing over to a freed Annie Leonhart, who had begun to fall onto the ground. But just before Annie hit the cold, stone ground below, she hit Eren's arms, which pulled her to his chest as he fell to his knees. 

"Annie!!??" He shrieked, staring down at her as her body was draped across his arms. He hastily put his two fingers together and placed them underneath her jawline. He frantically searched for a little pulse, panicking as he didn't find any beat. But his heart relaxed and his muscles loosened up as he soon felt a little thump, thump, thump. 

"Okay," he sighed, "You're okay."

You're here. You're really here. Oh Annie, welcome back.

That was when he his muscles tightened once again as the oak door slammed open. Eren didn't need to turn around to know that the guard had bolted into the room, probably hearing the crystal cracking. Eren clenched his teeth as the guard lost breath, flinching as the guard belted out a huge shriek before running out of the room, screaming that "Female Titan" was awake. 

Soon enough, hundreds of soldiers of all three branches were surrounding the two of them. Some were freaking out that the "murderer" was out, others were whispering about Eren Yeager holding Annie Leonhart in his arms, whilst others were shouting at him to keep away from. Mikasa was the loudest, having shouted at Eren to keep away from the "titan" as if they were 15 and in the dark again. But they were all background noise to Eren. He didn't care about them. All that mattered was the fact that Annie was in his arms, her breathing having become regular. 

"That's it," he heard a male voice mutter.

Before Eren could do or say anything, he felt Annie get replaced by the air as she was yanked from his arms, dragged away by MPs who had no regard for the unconscious girl. Eren felt his heart grow heavy as Annie's breaths became whimpers and groans, her skin scraped by the ground, and her butter-blonde hair being pulled.

"No!!" He choked out, but no one listened. No one cared. His face was in his hands, his heart was breaking. She was gonna get thrown into another cell, or tortured, or executed.

Or so he thought.

"Stop!!" Eren heard a male voice yell, silencing the voices. The crowd parted to reveal a short, yet intimidating Survey Corps soldier with raven-black hair, navy-blue eyes, and an icy glare storm over to the MP, who had tossed Annie to the ground like trash. Eren felt the urge to crawl over to her, but a strong pair of hands kept a firm grip on his shoulders, keeping him in his place.

"What are you talking about Levi!!??" The a**hole soldier, revealed to be Nile Dok, shouted, "Didn't you say 'No Exceptions' when we asked what to do with Leonhart, should she ever wake up?" 

Eren whipped his head towards Levi Ackerman, who had a small shred of guilt on his face. Eren felt his throat tighten up at the sound of this. Levi ordered Annie to be executed?? Even though Eren confided to him about his feelings (yes, feelings) for Annie? Well, he didn't necessarily confide in Levi. The latter just picked up the hints. But he also told Eren that they hadn't made a decision, but it was clear that Levi lied to him. 

"Nile, I had gone through a series of memories when Leonhart was mentioned," Levi claimed, his face and voice in his usual monotone state, "So naturally, I acted out before I could think."

Eren couldn't help but wonder about what Annie could have possibly done to trigger such a reaction from Levi. But about a second later, it hit him like a ton of bricks. His head turned to Levi's companion, a certain orange-haired, amber-eyed, kind, petite girl who was thought to have been murdered by the Female Titan at the 57th Expedition. But, as it turned out, she, along with the rest of Squad Levi, were alive after all these years. But that's a whole other story. 

"So you're saying not to execute her?" Nile spat, Annie lying on the ground cold and whimpering.

"Yes," Levi replied blatantly.

"What are we supposed to do with her, then!?"

"Keep her under strict supervision, lock and key, and we'll decide on what to do with her in about, well, as long as it needs to take us!!" 

"But Levi-"

But, from the corner of his eye, he could see that Levi had stormed off before Nile could utter another word, Petra running right behind him. Though no one could see him, Eren's lips turned up into a smile as Hange barked orders to keep Annie in the lowest cell in the dungeon. He wasn't smiling at that, of course. He was smiling at the fact that Levi saved Annie.

"Thank you, Heichou."

But no one heard him or saw him. And he was okay with that.

A/N: Yay!!! And for those of you Levi x Petra lovers, read the book before this, titled, "Shock." It's centered around Rivetra, but I would consider this book a spiritual sequel to that. But for those of you who read it, did you like my little reference there?  :)

Stay tuned for the next chapter!!

-TheBookGuardian290