Under the Tree [Attack on Titan self insert]

That Day

             As Armyn's sobs died down, and he was left in a state of shock as he processed everything happening, he heard Eren shouting again. With his eyes uncovered, he looked around. He wished he hadn't. There was blood everywhere, bits of the wall that once protected them and homes where people lived. He looked up at Eren and Hannes as they argued. He hadn't been paying attention, so he was more than shocked when Hannes threw Eren onto the ground. "Eren!" Him and Mikasa shouted at the same time. Mikasa was able to pry herself from Hannes' arms, but Armyn was shaking too much to even attempt, so he let him go instead.
             "You wouldn't have been able to help her. I'm sorry—but you're just kids." He knelt down to their level. "I was even too weak. Too... cowardly." Armyn saw tears pricking his eyes.
             "You're damn right you are!" Eren sat up. "You could've saved her, and you know it! It's all your fault!" he yelled, pulling his arm back and thrusting it forward. Hannes caught his fist.
             "Your mother is dead because of me!" Hannes yelled. Eren stopped. "She's dead because I couldn't kill one titan! It's my fault, and I'll be damned if I don't take the responsibility for that and get you kids to safety." He finally stood up. He didn't wipe his tears away. "I'm sorry."
             Hannes took Eren's hand in his, and Armyn grabbed Eren's other hand. He squeezed it tightly. Eren looked at him, and it seemed like he was trying really hard to hold it together. Armyn wanted him to know he didn't have to. He didn't think Eren got the message.

             It was all kind of a daze as they were filed into the ferries. Armyn heard screaming and yelling all around. The ferries were eventually at full capacity, and people started pushing and shoving, and a few jumped across the river to get onto the ferry. He heard splashing—he decided to ignore it, and squeeze Eren's hand again.
             Eren was the older brother. Only by about fifteen minutes, but he took pride in those fifteen minutes. He treated Armyn like he was his baby brother instead of his twin brother—he was protective of him, always was the one to comfort him, and he even called him his younger brother sometimes. Of course, Armyn comforted him and was protective of him too, but it was different.
             Armyn thought about what Eren had said to him while Hannes was carrying them. He looked at him. He was staring at the floor of the ferry, he hadn't looked up in a while. He must've seen mom die. Eren was covering his eyes, but who covered his? Armyn let go of Eren's hand, which made Eren blink back to life for a moment. He looked like he was going to cry without the touch, but Armyn was already wrapping his arms around him tightly. Armyn felt Eren's body shake, and his arms wrapped around him too. They cried together like this, and Armyn's hand searched for Mikasa to pull her in too. Armyn had never seen Mikasa cry, but he could feel her shoulders shake as she joined their hug.
             Erens voice was barely above a whisper as he finally spoke up. "I want mommy..." Armyn hadn't heard him call her mommy since they were six. She had almost cried the first time he called her something else. "I wanna go home... I want—" his voice broke as he sobbed again, "I want mommy to tuck us into bed, and give us a kiss on the head like she always does. We can wake up, and this be just a nightmare, and mommy will come in and she'll sing to us, and—"
             Eren stopped talking as Armyn started humming a tune. He didn't sing the words, but Eren could almost hear his mother's soft voice.
"The monsters gone,
             He's on the run, and your mommy's here
             Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful
             Beautiful boy."

             Almost as if the world wanted to tell them that they were wrong, heavy footsteps that shook you to your core echoed. Eren looked up, and Armyn hesitantly followed suit. It was a big titan—not by height, it was actually average, thank god—but it was muscular, and it looked like it had a shell of some kind. Armyn couldn't tell, nor did he really care. It stood still for a moment, before taking a single step back. It was getting ready to run, Armyn realized. How was it conscious enough to do that? When it ran, it didn't run like how a titan normally runs. It ran like a human. It was strange.
             Cannonballs were fired. When they hit it, though, the cannonballs broke. Armyn shook his head. That shouldn't be possible—then again, a 50 meter tall titan shouldn't have been possible either. Who was he to be able to say what was possible anymore?
             They watched as soldiers rushed to the gate, trying to get through before the gate was closed. Would the gate even be fast enough?
             Whether the gate closed or not wouldn't matter. Armyn didn't even gasp when the titan burst through the wall. How was he supposed to react? He didn't have the energy in him anymore, so he just watched.