Wind and leaves rushed by in an instant, whipping harshly at the desperate android's face as she pushed her limbs to move as quickly as they could, faster and faster than she'd ever even been built to go. She turned into a blur to all watching eyes, a presence that was there and then gone, leaving nothing but startled birds and swaying branches in her wake. Even her pod struggled to keep pace with her, its fans whirring loudly as it did its best to stay by her side.

Her heels made a constant rhythm of noise on the ground below her, sometimes being the only way she even realized what terrain she was on, too focused on the task at hand to really register what the area looked like. From the dull thudding of solid dirt to the splashing of puddles and back to clicking harshly on smooth concrete, it was the only sound to accompany her harsh breath and her pod's complaintive motor.

In her arms, she gripped a plethora of repair and medical supplies as if her life depended on it.

Because maybe his did.

The image of him, his beautiful smiling face shining at her as it always did, appeared in her head. As if forgetting it was just in her head, her spirit reached desperately for him, tugging at her heart in a plea for her to pull him close and keep him safe. It was futile, of course; the memory continued, showing her yet again how she'd failed to protect him.

Again, for what number of times she didn't know, she watched a bloodied blade appear from his chest. Watched the glistening metal stop inches from her own nose, going out of focus as she looked to his face. Blood poured from his mouth.

He struggled to breathe, to speak, his hand reaching out for her. The rogue YorHa unit behind him, the owner of the sword, ripped it carelessly from his damaged body and threw him roughly to the ground. The sound he made as he landed, the sound of the weapon exiting him, it all echoed in her ears over and over like a morbid record player as she watched him collapse into a heap.

The rogue unit grinned at her.

The next thing she knew, they were in pieces, her weapons and hands drenched in their blood.

She burst through a tangle of plants, long grass catching her boots and ripping her momentum away, pulling her mind from the jarring memory back to the present as she stumbled. Her pod tried to give her a warning about internal temperatures while she caught her balance, somehow managing to keep all the precariously balanced supplies in her arms, but she ignored it and took off again. She had to get back. She had to return to him.

She had to save him.

The memories returned. Her eyes snapped over to him when she came out of her rage, and he hadn't moved at all, though the pool of blood under him had grown considerably. She was beside him in an instant, pulling him into her arms and desperately trying to get his attention, but he gave no response. Her blood soaked gloves only left red streaks on his skin, his incredibly pale skin, and his head lolled limply away from the support of her hands.

Her heart felt like it stopped, for a moment. Her own blood ran cold inside her body, just as his had on the pavement.

A rush of grief overtook her, and she pulled him close, sobbing openly as she pressed his body as close against hers in a desperate hug as she could. Tears saturated her mask, and began dripping onto him.

Why did life have to be this fragile?

He'd wake in the bunker later, she knew. But it wouldn't be him as he was now, it would barely be him at all. His data wasn't backed up. He wouldn't remember her, again. She didn't want to lose him,not again, not the him he was at this moment.

Ever so faintly in her vice grip, he stuttered a ragged breath, and she froze. Her mind went over a thousand escape routes at once, a thousand places that could be safe, every transporter in the area, anywhere she could get supplies.

He couldn't go through a transporter in this condition. She didn't have time to go without him. What else could she do?

In an instant, she'd pulled him into her arms, and ran as fast as she safely could while carrying him to the one place she knew no one would hurt him.

Back in the present once more, she returned to that place. Her heels clacked loudly on the wooden bridge, clicked dully across concrete stairs, padded quietly on lush plants and finally she heard the clanging of metal as she sped into the elevator. Every muscle in her artificial body was screaming to keep moving, but she had no choice but to wait for the ancient mechanism to slowly descend into the hidden cave.

Finally, the doors opened again and she sped out into the half light. The Lunar Tears glowed soothingly, and fireflies bounced gently from flower to flower, the whole room ethereal in feeling. But she didn't care for that, not now. She looked around desperately for where she'd left 9S in the soft cushion of the almost ghostly flowers, following the trail of the ones splattered with dripped blood.

Her feet slowly came to a stop as she found him, her eyes glued blankly to his form as she took in the scene in front of her.

In a particularly soft looking patch of the beautiful flowers, 9S was sitting upright, his gloves removed and folded carefully in the grass and a chain of braided Lunar Tears in his bare hands. His mask was set aside as well, and his pale eyes reflected the white glow around them as he looked up at her.

Heartbeats passed with no reaction from either, until he smiled at her. In that moment, looking at him so fragile and yet still able to smile at her so beautifully, something inside of her broke. The supplies in her arms tumbled to the ground and her face scrunched up as she sobbed again, barely seeing his eyes widen in shock before she fell to the ground beside him and pulled him into a tight embrace once again. He grimaced slightly in pain, but didn't complain as she crushed him ever so slightly.

"9S.. 9S..." She choked out his name, her voice cracking. 9S was still staring wide in shock as she clung to him, entirely unsure of how to handle her reacting in such a way. He expected maybe a faint smile when she returned, if he was lucky, not for her to be openly crying as she hugged him like something precious.

If only he knew, then. If only he knew he was the most precious thing to her, out of anything on or off this dying world.

"2B?" He could only croak lamely, not realizing how weak his voice would be. It made her remember her mission again, and she pulled away, much to his distaste.

"Let me fix you." 2B was struggling to make her voice level, her face pulled slightly as she forced it to be neutral again and pretend nothing had just happened, and it showed in her less than suave choice of words. He only nodded as she grabbed the things she'd dropped previously, and returned to beside him, immediately but gently tugging at his coat.

9S gulped, and went along with her movements, allowing her to undress him to his wound. He made pitiful noises whenever she accidentally touched anything sore, prompting her to mumble a string of soothing words as she worked. Despite her being the less experienced of the two in field care, he found himself lying back into the flowers, fully comfortable and trusting in her ability to take care of him. He barely even noticed the pain after awhile, drawn in by her voice as it turned to a gentle hum and the warm yet feather light touch of her gentle fingers on his chest.

When her touch finally retreated, he nearly whined.

"...Okay." She sounded relieved, or satisfied. A deep breath rattled in her lungs, slowly evening out, and suddenly he wondered if that was her first real breath since he was stabbed. When she spoke again, it sounded more like a mantra to sooth herself. "You're okay. You're okay now."

"Thanks to you, 2B." He murmured quietly back, sitting up again. There was a slight pain as his torso bended, but it was better than before, and his skin still felt warm and tingly where she'd touched it. "You did a good job."

But she didn't move, staying in her kneeling position beside him and not acknowledging his words at all. After a few moments he reached up, fully ready to lose an arm, and gently tugged her mask off too.

With glassy and emotional eyes, she was staring right at him, her focus darting around his face almost like a cornered animal. It started to sink in just how much he must have scared her, and an awful feeling settled in him. His hand slid back to his lap, searching for something.

"Hey, 2B?"

Her eyes focused a little more sharply, listening closely. But he didn't say anything for a moment, only reaching out again and carefully setting his handmade crown of Lunar Tears from before onto her pale hair. With her eyes nearly white in the glow, and both her hair and the crown glowing in the half light, she looked almost angelic in a way. He felt a smile tug at his lips when he imagined the flower crown as her very own halo, and he couldn't help but feel this may be the most beautiful he's ever seen her. 9S could feel himself falling for her even more, if it was even possible by this point.

"It suits you."

And if her reaction at that moment was to push him gently into the flowers and pour all of her previous concern into loving, wandering touches, desperate to appreciate every inch of him, he wouldn't tell.

A/N:

so who was scared for a sec that I'd write angst like everybody else? *raises hand*

anyway so this happened since my gf suggested flower crowns and iemia on ao3 suggested lunar tears, so this idea popped into my head last night and welp here it is

also thanks for all the feedback everyone, it was very flattering to hear my phone blowing up with emails of comments and favorites last night. if this interest (and suggestions, gimme) keeps up, I'll definitely keep giving this pair the happiness they deserve