[The small "Leave him alone," barely registers. Armin's too impassioned, too angry; he's finally getting a chance to say what he's been feeling in his chest for months - God, and it isn't even the beginning, but then...Aubrey speaks again.

[Armin turns to her. She isn't looking at him. She's looking at Eren, and Eren is looking at her. It's not difficult to place the expression; it's a look that Armin is extremely familiar with, in fact. Eren used to look at him that way too.

["He has a chance..."

[Will Armin Arlert's tears ever dry? The anger crumbles out of his expression. He looks helpless instead; so very, very sorrowful.

[There's hope there too. Always hope. Armin has to keep clinging to it somehow. He has to.]

I want him to have that chance. [His voice is hushed with grief.]

I'm not racing to get him home. It's nothing like that.

I want him to live. I want him to be happy. Of course I do...