For those of you that don't know, this is a continuation of my previous fic, Annie's Heart. Not quite a sequel, more like a separate timeline in which Annie succeeds in capturing Eren and bringing him back to her homeland. Only my second fanfiction, so please leave feedback on what to write about, how to improve, et cetera.

If you want to read the events that led up to this fic, it's this fic, chapters 1-9: s/11821928/1/Annie-s-Heart

Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 1:

Calm down, Annie. She thought to herself. You can do this.

Levi and Mikasa were formidable enough on their own. She had seen Mikasa in action, and heard the stories about Levi's ferocity in battle. Of course, those were against regular titans, which Annie was not. And she knew what they were there for.

I'm not going to let them take you, Eren. Annie thought. I don't care what the cost is.

Annie turned to punch at Levi. Levi dodged and slashed with his blades, a deadly cyclone working its way up her arm. He stopped in front of her and got ready to dig his blades into her eyes. For the second time, Annie was blinded by the flesh-paring blades of an elite Survey Corps member.

Just like last time, Annie thought, Only one eye. Half the time. She felt blades tearing away at her flesh, hacking and slashing. Overwhelming her. She backed against a tree and fell down, back against the trunk.

You won't take him. Annie thought, I'm not going to let you take away the only thing I care about!

Annie flashed back to what Mikasa had told her during training, what seemed like an eternity ago. If you do anything to hurt him, anything at all, I will kill you.

You're welcome to try.

Annie dropped her arm from her nape. It was a risk, but if she was going to get out of here with Eren, she needed to distract Levi. Killing Mikasa wouldn't work, Levi would just be that much more determined to get Eren back. But if she injured her...

She felt a hook grab onto her nape. Perfect.

Annie quickly brought her hand up again, grabbing onto the cable. She yanked it down, sending Mikasa off course. Her eye had regenerated and she opened it to see Mikasa smack into the tree right next to her and let out a cry of pain.

"Ackerman!" Levi yelled, and the slashing stopped, just as Annie had predicted. Levi had halted his assault and scooped up Mikasa, whisking her away to a nearby tree.

Annie seized the opportunity and spit out Eren onto the ground, wincing and apologizing internally as he hit the ground. She would have to act fast. Separating her body from the titan body, Annie jumped quickly and engaged her 3DM gear. She shot forward and scooped up Ere, hoisting him over her shoulder.

Good, he was still unconscious. She shot forward, away from her titan's smoldering body and into the thick forest. She turned in time to see that Levi had returned, but didn't know where she had gone. As he cut the titan's mouth open to reveal nothing outside of an enormous tongue and set of teeth, Annie smiled to herself. She had done it.

Annie flew on her maneuver gear until her her gas almost ran out. Trees flew by, and time did as well. The sun was almost setting when she reached her destination, a crumbling church that the Wallist cult used to gather in back before Rose fell. She slowed to a stop and draped Eren's arm over her shoulder, walking him into the building.

Reiner and Bertholdt were waiting inside. Reiner was, as always, crossing his arms and scowling, but when he saw Annie walk inside, his expression softened. "You did it, then."

"It didn't go according to plan, exactly," Annie muttered, "but, yeah. I got him back safely."

It wasn't until now that Annie had realized just how monumental this was. She had gotten Eren away from safety, and not only that, but maybe the others even thought he was dead and wouldn't go looking for him. Relief flooded Annie's system and she let out a breath, and gave a faint smile.

Reiner gave a congratulatory nod. "You did good, Annie."

The compliment flowed around Annie like water, barely registering at all to her. She thought back to all the people she had killed. She had kept count of them. Nineteen. nineteen lives that she had personally claimed, nineteen families left to mourn their losses. Thanks to her.

She pushed the thought away. I got Eren back. She thought, That's all that matters.

"He's still unconscious." She muttered.

"Yeah, he is." Reiner said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a syringe. "This should keep him that way for a while. Should be more than enough time for the trip back home."

Annie nodded and watched Reiner jab the needle into Eren's arm, pushing the green fluid into his bloodstream.

"Let's go." Reiner said. "Annie and I will shift into titan forms for the trip back. Bertholdt, I'll carry you. Annie, carry Eren."

Annie stepped out the door and once more into the cool air. The sunset from the outside was beautiful, but Annie couldn't focus on it. Instead, her mind lingered on what would happen next. She couldn't keep Eren in the dark forever. She would have to tell him everything, eventually. She didn't plan on leaving the details out, Eren had a right to know absolutely everything that happened. When she told him, Annie knew that he would hate her guts.

Eren woke up on a bed in a dark room. His hands were bound above his head and his feet were tied to the bedposts.

Where am I? Eren thought, The last thing I remember is... Oh shit! The female titan!

Eren yanked on his wrists, trying to free them from the rope that tied them together.

"Don't strain yourself." A voice said from the corner of the room. Eren turned to see a muscular, toned man with long, shaggy blonde hair that reached his shoulders, and a wispy mustache. He wore loose pants and no shirt, and a pair of circular glasses similar to the ones Erwin read with. His composure also reminded Eren of his commander, stoic and demanding. However, the similarities ended there. This man was completely different from Erwin. There was something wild, untamable inside him. Eren knew instantly that this man was no friend.

"Who are you?" Eren asked.

"I don't think the answer to that question," the man began, "is as important as the answer to the question, 'who are you?'"

Eren stayed silent. This guy was starting to freak him out.

"Of course," the man continued, "I already know the answer to that question. You're Eren Yeager, and you're from Shiganshina. You're a member of the so-called 'Scouting Regiment, and were a graduate of the 104th cadet corps. Ranked number five in your class. It's nearly commendable. You're almost on the same level as my subordinates. They all graduated above you."

Eren didn't understand. What the hell was this guy going on about? "Wait," Eren said, "if you know so much about me, why did you ask who I was?"

The man walked over to the bed. "Because, Eren, there's more to you than what I jsut mentioned. Not only are you all of that, but you're a titan shifter."

Eren yanked and struggled against the bonds. "What do you want with me? Who even are you?" He asked.

The man simply sighed. "Oh well." He stood up and walked to the door. As he opened it, light flooded in, blinding Eren. It must be midday. The man turned to the side and said, "you can see him now."

Three figures ran into the room, one small and two large. The small one held a lantern. The dim light illuminated the room and Eren's eyes could make out three faces. He was expecting more strangers, but no, these were people he all knew.

"Bertholdt! Reiner!" Eren's eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. He was grateful to see friends. He turned to the other figure. "Annie!"

Annie hugged him and Eren could feel wetness pressed against his cheek where her eyes were. Had she been crying?

"So you hug people now?" Reiner joked.

"Shut up and let me enjoy this, dickhead." Annie snapped.

Annie pulled away and Eren could see her clearly for the first time in what was probably days. She held her right arm with her left and seemed to carry a much gloomier atmosphere with her than usual. He tried to meet her gaze, but she looked to the ground. What happened to her?

"Eren, are you okay?" Bertholdt asked.

"Apart from being tied to this bed, yeah, I'm pretty good." Eren joked. "Hey, speaking of which, could one of you guys untie me?"

The smiles melted off Reiner and Bertholdt. "I'm sorry, but no." Bertholdt apologized. "Commander Zeke's orders."

"Commander Zeke?" Eren asked, "Is that the guy that was just in here?"

Reiner nodded. "Yeah. He told us not to undo your bindings no matter what."

"That's stupid." Eren noted, "Where are we anyways? Are we back within Wall Rose?"

Reiner and Bertholdt looked at Annie. "You wanna handle this?" Reiner asked.

Annie kept staring at the ground, but she nodded. "Yeah. I'll tell him."

Bertholdt and Reiner walked out of the room. Before closing the door, Reiner turned around. "Oh, by the way, Eren... If you need anything, just give us a shout, okay? Food, water... Anything."

The door creaked shut, leaving Annie and Eren in the darkness, alone. Annie pulled up a chair. "Eren..." She began. Eren could hear her voice cracking. "We aren't within the walls."

"Well, where are we?" Eren prompted, voicing one of the millions of questions gnawing away at his consciousness.

"We're in my home village." Annie answered, "This is where I grew up."

"You grew up outside the walls?" Eren asked. "Annie, you aren't making sense. No people live outside the walls. It's just titan territory out there."

"Well," Annie said, "that's the thing. Everyone in this village... Everyone living in Homeland... We're all titans."

"Annie, you're making even less sense than usual. Are you saying that you grew up in a village of titans?"

Annie nodded. "Eren, what was the last thing you remember from before you woke up?"

"Well, I was fighting this titan. An abnormal, unlike anything that's ever been catalogued. And it... It kicked me?" Eren racked his brain, trying to remember. "I don't know. It happened so fast. All I know is that I blacked out while fighting it. And now, I'm here."

"Eren, I..." Annie began, struggling for words. "I'm the one who..."

"Annie, what's wrong?" Eren was concerned. He was grateful that they were together again, but the whole 'mysterious' bullshit was hurting his head. "You're the one who what?"

"I'm the one who you fought." Annie said slowly.

Eren was taken aback. Had she gone completely insane? She couldn't have been the female titan, she was safe inside Stohess District. "Annie, you're talking crazy."

"No, Eren, I'm serious." Annie declared. "I'm the female titan."

"No, you're not!" Eren insisted. "If you were the female titan, why would yo udo that? Do any of that? Huh? The female titan killed over a dozen good men and women. You'd never do soemthing like that, Annie!"

"But I did!" Annie argued. Eren could see the tears streaming down her face. "I killed them, Eren! I killed nineteen innocent people who were just doing their jobs!"

"Shut up, Annie!" Eren screamed. "You are not the female titan!"

"Eren," Annie gave the driest smile Eren had ever seen, "what did the female titan look like? Blonde hair, shoulder length, gray-blue eyes... Even the fucking nose is the same, Eren!"

It was true, Eren had to admit. There was a resemblance. "So what?" He asked, "What kind of proof is 'I look like the female titan'?"

"Eren, the female titan knew every move you made when you two fought. It knew every combo, every punch and kick. Only three people know that fighting style, Eren, and that's you, me, and my dad."

This was also true, wasn't it? Could Annie, sweet, beautiful, perfect Annie, really be that cold-blooded murderous monster? Eren thought back to the fight. He wanted to think that the female titan was mirroring his stance, but...

"Shut up..." Eren whispered, barely loud enough for even himself to hear.

"Wh... What?" Annie asked.

"Shut up!" Eren screamed, coming to terms with it. The truth was, he had a slight, nagging suspicion when he saw the stance. And here she was, openly admitting to all of it. "Just fucking shut up! Why did you do that, Annie?! Why?! Why did you kill those people?!"

"I didn't have a choice!" Annie screamed back, her voice breaking. "They got in the way of my mission, I had no choice!"

"That's bullshit! What the fuck were you trying to accomplish anyways?"

"I was trying to get to you! And bring you back here!"

"Annie, god dammit, why the fuck would you do that?!" Rage blinded Eren. The girl in front of him suddenly seemed so unfamiliar, so alien. Like a completely different person. "Why would you kill nineteen people just to bring me back here?!"

"...I wanted you safe..." Annie whispered. Eren saw her hang her head, and caught light reflecting off the tears as they fell away from her face and dropped onto the ground, meaningless.

"Yeah," Eren said sarcastically, "killing my friends, almost killing me, dragging me somewhere I don't even know, real fucking safe, Annie. A plus plus."

Annie winced at the words. "I had to, Eren. I had to. And I spared Mikasa and Armin, I could have killed them but I didn't, Eren. I let them live! I didn't want to kill anybody!"

"Oh, congratulations!" Eren said, "You've earned the 'not as much of a scumbag as you could have been' award!"

"You don't even know their names." Eren said, almost pleading. "You butchered them all like they were animals and you don't even know that. I think that you should have at least learned the names of my squadmates before you killed them."

Annie looked up, and even in the dim lantern light, Eren could see her tears. Normally, he would have comforted her, but now, he didn't care. "Oluo. He's the one you kicked into the tree. Gunther is the one you killed with your blades. You snapped Eld out of the air with your teeth. And the one you stepped on?" Eren could feel his own tears well up in his eyes. "The one you crushed like a bug? That was Petra."

"Eren," Annie whispered, reaching out instinctively to his chest. Eren glared at her and she stopped, and drew her hand away. She still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Eren, you always talked about..." Annie whispered, "you always talked about how you wanted to live away from that world. Away from all the death, all the destruction, away from the world where you wake up and ask if today is the day you die. You wanted to live in peace, with me, remember?"

Eren did.

"Well... Homeland is that place, Eren." Annie stated, "We don't have to live like caged animals in here. We're free out here. We can live peacefully, together. Just the two of us. We don't have to suffer anymore, Eren. I can introduce you to my father... and we could visit him on weekends... and maybe even get married one day."

The words made Eren sick. "Get the fuck away from me." He whispered. Annie looked at him, brokenhearted. Good, Eren thought.

"I said that I wanted to live my life with Annie Leonhardt, the girl I fell in love with, not Annie Leonhardt, the girl who slaughtered my friends. I don't know who the hell you are, and frankly, I don't want to know. As a matter of fact, I never want to see you again."

"Eren," Annie begged, "I-"

"Annie, stop." Eren shut his eyes, holding back any more tears that might try to escape. "Don't you get it? We're finished."

Annie stared at him, defeated and quiet, for a long time. Eventually, she stood up and trudged towards the door. She opened it wordlessly and looked back. Eren continued to glare at her, and she looked away, unable to take anymore. She closed the door, leaving Eren in the dark with his thoughts.

Eren was back in the training yard. He and Annie had just finished a sparring session and the two of them were sitting down, side by side. Annie was resting her head on Eren's shoulders, and Eren was leaning his head on top of Annie's. They were both aware of Connie and Sasha snickering at them from behind the barracks, but neither of them really cared.

"Annie," Eren asked. "What do you like about me?"

Annie was quiet for awhile and Eren wondered if there was anything at all she would like about him. "Well," she spoke, "you're driven, passionate, you actually took the time to get to know me. You're caring, and you're sweet, and considerate. And you've got this fire inside of you that urges you on, keeps you fighting."

Eren soaked all of this information in. He had always regarded Annie's demeanor as somewhat icy. Ice to his fire, he chuckled internally.

"Plus," Annie cooed, rubbing the inside of his thigh, inching it towards his crotch, "You're really good in bed."

Eren looked at her. She was grinning coyly and Eren felt himself get harder as she rubbed him through his pants. "Annie, not now, please?"

Annie shrugged but obliged. "Can we do tonight?"

Eren grinned a little bit. He knew exactly what she wanted, and frankly, had been wanting some himself. "Sure. Tonight, usual spot."

Annie sighed. "I'm glad I met you, Yeager."

"Yeah," Eren agreed, "So am I."

I'm going to marry her one day, Eren thought. He would never voice this thought for many years, but he added to his mental checklist of things to do before he died. Exterminate the titans, graduate with a ranking above Jean Kirstein, marry Annie.

Yeah, Eren thought, I'm going to marry her one day.

Eren woke up in a new room. He was no longer tied to the bed, but the door was barred and the walls stone brick. There was what looked to be a restroom to his left. Apart from that, the room was similar, which is to say, empty except for a bed. Reiner stood on the opposite side of the barred door with his usual crossed-arms scowly-face demeanor.

"Let me guess," Eren said, exasperated, "you're a titan too?"

"Yep," Reiner affirmed, "the armored titan, as a matter of fact. Berthodlt is the colossal titan."

Eren was too numb to care. He thought about the previous day and remembered telling Annie that they were through. His heart felt heavy, cold and hot at the same time. He hated her, hated her with all of his soul. But a tiny, tiny part of him couldn't help but feel bad for shouting at her.

"By the way," Reiner said, interrupting Eren's thoughts and pointing to the corner of the room to Eren's left, "Annie told me to bring that in for you."

Eren looked to where Reiner's hand was pointed and recognized the object, folded neatly and tucked away in the corner. It was the deerskin blanket.