**Hello, beautiful brains! Now I know "epilogue" is a scary word for some of you (it is for me, at least, even with my own story), but I promise everything will be alright. I'll explain at the end. For now, enjoy the final chapter of Home.**

The best thing about the ocean, Armin decided, was the sound. Sure, he undoubtingly loved the smell of the salty sea rising into the warm air and the feel of the soft sand in between his toes. But the mystifying sound of the crashing waves against the large, bumpy rocks held him captive for the past twenty minutes, the same length of time that he and his friends had found this excluded beach.

Long story short, Eren came up with the idea to take a road trip down to the nearest beach with the whole group sometime in the summer before he and Mikasa joined the military and, more than likely, had to be dispatched across the country. The trip would be around seven hours long, they would need at least three hotel rooms, and they needed plenty of money for food, souvenirs, and other activities they wanted to do. But, by everyone pitching in their own allowances and the more-than-generous offering Grisha and Carla Yeager gave to the young adults, they had reached their goal and began to eagerly pack their things.

The journey itself was far more interesting than Armin could've imagined. The frequent stops at gas stations (mainly due to Sasha and Connie's inability to stay in one place for too long), never-ending hills of green grass, and the constantly repeating songs on the radio gave them something to talk about (other than how excited they were to get to the beach). They traveled in three different cars—Armin, Annie, Mikasa, and Eren in one; Marco, Jean, Sasha, and Connie in another; Mina, Thomas, Hannah, and Franz in the third. Somehow, Sasha had gotten a hold on some walkie-talkies and handed one to each group, insisting that this be their way of communicating with each other whilst on the road. They did use them, but over time, all that came through the small speakers of the walkie-talkie were chaotic laughter and Connie's occasional dazed questions like "Is brushing your teeth the only time you clean your skeleton?"

Such comments caused thoughtful silence to follow and/or Mina's stifled giggles, like a hand was clamped over her mouth to keep her from ruining the unspoken brainstorming session.

Armin blinked at the sound of a joyous scream ahead of him, snapping him back to reality. He caught sight of Mina and Annie by the shore, staring down at the salty water encircling their ankles, clutching each other's hand as they braced for another small wave to splash against their legs. A chuckle nearly escaped him when he took note of the huge physical difference between the two girls. Mina sported a baby blue sundress that made her eyes pop and a wide straw-hat that sat atop her onyx black hair, flowing around her shoulders freely instead of being trapped in her usual pigtails. Annie, on the other hand, wore a tie-dyed sweatshirt and a pair of blue jean shorts. Mina had bickered with Annie over her outfit and Annie said it was comfortable and didn't see the point in getting dressed up to go to a beach. He remembered the way Mina stuck out her bottom lip at her, like an impatient child, and told her that she at least had to fix her hair to make herself feel better. After arguing for another ten minutes, Annie gave up and let the stubborn girl do a fishtail braid in her lemon colored hair (which looked marvelous on her).

Armin's eyes traveled throughout the rest of the calming shore, finding out what his other friends were up to: Hannah, Franz, Sasha, and Connie were way out in the ocean, the girls sitting upon the boys' shoulders, trying to push the other off (eventually Sasha shoved Hannah into the blue sea, unleashing an obnoxious battle cry into the sky as she did so); Thomas and Marco (now cast-free) were in the middle of building a massive sandcastle—it came up to their knees and contained high towers and drawbridges.

From the corner of his eye, Armin saw Eren and Jean actually getting along for once—they were bouncing a giant beach ball to each other like a friendly game of volleyball. That's how it started anyway. Eventually they became more aggressive and let their competitive sides show, practically shoving the colorful ball back and forth until, finally, it slammed against Jean's face, causing him to fall back onto the soft sand which made Eren howl with laughter.

And last but not least, he spotted Mikasa sitting on a striped beach towel, sporting a pair of sunglasses as dark as her long charcoal hair while attempting to read a book that Armin actually recommended to her, but he did see her almond-shaped eyes occasionally glancing up at Jean and Eren, to make sure that they weren't starting any serious trouble no doubt.

Armin took in a deep breath, inhaling the refreshing scent of the salty sea, before stepping further into paradise.

The rest of the week was just like the first day the group of friends arrived at the beach: absolute bliss. They explored the small city that surrounded the beach—shopping at tiny souvenir shops, eating at seafood restaurants, renting bikes to pedal down the boardwalk by the busy seaside. They laughed, chatted, jumped, smiled, and spun; they let their personal rays of happiness burst through them like how fat raindrops poured from the gigantic, grey rainclouds overhead.

Armin often found himself thinking about his parents, wondering if they too were gazing at the blinding sun, watching it sink into the deep blue sea as a half-crescent moon stepped in to replace the sleepy sun.

Now the enchanted dreamer stood at the seashore, feeling the warm waves splash against his calves and soak his sandy capris before dragging itself back toward the rising moon. He stood alone; the others were back at the hotel, getting themselves a good night's sleep so they could feel refreshed for the long journey home. Armin informed Eren and Mikasa that he was going to watch the ocean one last time; his friends nodded in understanding. "Have fun," Eren said at the same time Mikasa told him, "Be careful."

Although it was plenty dark outside and the beach was vacant of any other human life, Armin found the scenery all the more beautiful. He could still feel the warm water encircling his legs, hear the calming sound of the crashing waves, smell the salt in the air, and watch the reflection of the moon ripple across the ocean's surface.

He closed his eyes and smiled, a small laugh escaping him. The ocean, being here, was everything he imagined it would be, possibly even more. He knew that it would be nearly impossible to take away this feeling of pure happiness and peacefulness.

Just then, he felt a pair of small, warm arms enfold around his waist from behind. The owner of the arms placed their chin on his shoulder, pressed their body close to his, and then murmured into his ear, "You didn't tell me you were coming here."

Instantly realizing who it was, Armin interlaced his fingers with Annie's, leaning into her hold. "I just wanted to say goodbye to the ocean." He sighed contently. "It's so beautiful."

"It is."

The two blonds gazed out towards the open water, listening to the waves, sniffing the air. "I never got to thank you, you know," Annie spoke up suddenly; her grip on him tightened and he knew that this was difficult for her to say.

He turned his head to the side, catching sight of her whipping hair (which was still entangled in Mina's fishtail braid) and pale forehead. "What for?"

She buried her nose into the fabric of his shirt, something he always found undoubtedly adorable (but she'd always turn away with an irritated huff and a tint of pink cover her cheeks whenever he'd point it out so he dared not say a word). "For everything. For bringing me to the beach, for taking me to see your grandfather, for helping me when I needed it." She paused. "For letting me into your home."

At that, Armin twisted around in Annie's embrace so that they were facing each other; he delicately cupped her face in his warm palms and rested his forehead against hers, smiling slightly. "But you are my home."

He felt her cheeks tilt up in a slow smile and then her lips press against his. They let Annie's kiss linger on for a little longer than they both anticipated while the wind danced through their hair and the ocean waves lapped at their ankles. That feeling rose inside Armin's chest—it always came whenever Annie touched him. Butterflies fluttered about in his stomach, his heartbeat picked up to incredible speeds, he felt as though he couldn't get enough oxygen into his lungs.

He held back a laugh. How can she still have this effect on him? They had known each other for quite some time, but she still made him feel like every time was the first time.

Their lips slowly departed and their eyelids slowly peeled open. The sweet exchange left both participants filled with joy and delight. At the sight of the tiny smile upon Annie's face, Armin decided that now was a good time to finally give her the gift that he's been meaning to for a long time.

"Hey," he said, "there's something I want to give you, if that's alright."

Annie's sincere smile turned into a mocking smirk. "I hope it's not that nasty crab Jean found earlier."

Armin laughed out loud. "No, it's not; I promise." (That morning, Jean discovered a small fiddler crab scrambling along the sand; all the young men gathered around the little creature and stared at it in complete awe and interest while the girls either avoided it like the plague or just wasn't interested, with the exception of Sasha, of course, who closely observed the crab with both horror and fascination.)

"All right," Annie replied in a sarcastic tone. "I guess that's okay then."

Armin cracked a smile before reaching into his back pocket. He pulled out the necklace that he had gotten what seemed like centuries ago—the one with the leather strapping that held a small diamond-shaped crystal that contained a drop of a brilliant sky blue color, only a shade lighter than Annie's irises.

He brought the necklace up between them, cradling it in his palm. Annie looked down. She stared at it as her fingers hesitantly grasped the rock and held it up closer to her face. She gently stroked the smooth crystal and felt the rough leather while Armin explained to her how he acquired the piece of jewelry.

"I got this before you came back—actually, I believe it was that same day—but I spotted it in a shop window and it reminded me of you." Here he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, I didn't know it then, but I figured it out shortly after…you-know-what happened."

He knew that Annie still wasn't comfortable talking about her failed suicide attempt or her slashed wrists (the skinny and pale stiches still held her skin together in all sorts of odd angles encircling both her wrists) so he tried not to bring it up unless absolutely necessary.

She continued to gaze at her gift, completely ignoring his stumble of words. Her hands touched everything the necklace had to offer (which wasn't much) like she was searching for something. For a terrifying moment, Armin thought she didn't like it.

But his terror quickly switched to confusion once she began looking at the sand around them, mumbling under her breath, "It's missing something…"

"What do you mean 'it's missing something?'" Annie glanced up at him, quiet for a second before asking him, "Do you still have that seashell you found earlier?"

Armin blinked. "Uh, yeah, I think so." He dug around in his pockets until his fingers came across the familiar curved edges of the cracked seashell he discovered snuggled into the wet sandbanks. He happily collected it and later showed Annie the little assortment of chipped seashells.

He handed the shell to Annie, who carefully took hold of it and closely examined its wavy features and tiny holes scattered about its structure. Armin was about to ask again what she meant by that something was "missing", but his question was finally answered when she silently responded by slipping the seashell through the strap until it clanked against the crystal.

Annie looked down at her new necklace with a small smile. "There. Now it's perfect."

His own lips tilted up in a relieved but still puzzled smirk. "Uh, that's great, honey. But why did you need the seashell?"

Just then, Annie began to tie the strap around the back of her neck, forcing Armin to bite back a gasp and leave his hands grasping slightly at the air between them. But he didn't admit to her that he actually wanted to put the necklace on for her.

"It's like Mikasa's scarf, right?"

The question caught Armin almost completely off guard, causing him to blink wildly a few times and cough into his fist. "Mikasa's…"

"That red scarf she's always wearing? It was Eren's before he gave it to her on the night of her parents' death, right?" Annie finished tying the leather strap behind her neck and then looked down at the crystal and seashell, cupping them in her palm. "Well, I think she wears it because it reminds her of him, of everything he's done for her. The crystal reminds me too much of me so I needed your seashell to sort of even things out." She glanced at him, fingers curling around the seemingly precious objects. "I like the necklace is what I'm trying to say. Thank you."

He smiled softly as he gently gripped her hand, the one that held the necklace, and said, "Of course, my love" before pressing his lips against her narrow fingers. He pulled away slightly, studied her half-lidded eyes, and then added, "But someday I hope you will look at yourself as how I look at you."

Annie smirked, snorting a little. "What, with fear in my eyes?" she teased, weaving their fingers together and then guiding him back to the hotel.

Armin chuckled. "I've done no such thing!" he replied sarcastically. He heard Annie's bubbly giggles by his side as he turned his head back toward the ocean, watching the waves roll by, listening to them crash against the shore. He smiled. He knew that he would miss this, the sound of the ocean, but he also knew that he was happy to follow Annie, wherever it may be. What he didn't know, however, (nor did Annie) was that two homeless titans were still on the streets searching for his precious love or that his best friends would see and do horrible things in a few weeks to come, when they would willingly follow the military's path to the utter chaos of war.

And he never expected to know that Annie's only parent was sobering himself up, finally clearing up his infected mind and setting out to find his warrior daughter.

**Yay! Happy ending with a huge cliffhanger! (Sorry.) I left it that way because I wanted to know if you guys wanted a second story or not. I'm in the process of writing many stories right now, including this potential sequel. I'm done with my college classes for the summer so hopefully I'll get more stuff and thangs done and posted for you guys before school starts again.

Eep! I'm really excited for you lovies to see the stories I got for you! I have more anime stories, Home's sequel, and I'm currently doing a collab with another author (it's her first piece of work) for an Attack on Titan AU with everyone's favorite ships and some pretty awesome OCs. Let me know your thoughts on my first fanfiction piece and I'll even take requests from you guys. It can be more Aruani or more Attack on Titan or even other fandoms if you want. I'll add it to my list and start typing away! (Except smut or lemons—sorry, I feel like I have to take a shower every time I read those.)

Anyway, thanks a million for your support and interest in reading my story. Amazing people like The Undead Redeemer and Crowdust helped me continue with this piece and their kind and thoughtful words really touched my heart. Every viewer, every commenter, every follower has my respect and I love you.

But Aruani will never die! Keep your eye out for our favorite blondies and more stories from me! Keep reading, beautiful brains!

Sketchy Tepe OUT! *snaps fingers and flies into the wind*