Mable: Hey there! Another story that I've planned and finally posted! Though I would like to note that this chapter has… Moments of being rushed. I lost the entire chapter, then got it back incomplete in parts, and just had to finish a bit of editing on it right now. The next couple of chapters are much better quality so I'm just going to rely on those for the moment. Ah, but I'm rambling. Anyway, I don't own 9, Enjoy!

Our Past Mistakes

Chapter One

It was hard to believe that they were completely gone. It was even harder to believe that it was completely over.

As the remaining four Stitchpunks trudged into the Library once again there was a heavy sadness hanging over them. For a short while there had been comradery among the four as the final survivors, but that had deteriorated the second that they had realized that the others weren't coming back. They were gone for good, had completely vanished, and had disappeared into whatever was beyond the sky. Entering the Library again was a solemn event. Neither the twins nor the two older Stitchpunks felt much relief from entering what was to now be their home.

Of course the twins had been living there before the entire Machine Incident so it was nice to go home, but nothing would make them feel pleased after they lost their five companions. Nine couldn't even stand thinking about them anymore. They were gone with the rain and there was nothing they could do to stop them. The twins looked weary and Seven exhaled quietly before finally breaking the silence, "I'm… I'm going to take the twins to bed. They've had a long day." There was something Nine and Seven weren't saying to each other that was clearly there; she wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, he wanted to apologize for ruining everything they had.

It was clear that he was beginning to fully take in the consequences of his actions. He was starting to blame himself and he was starting to regret his actions. As Seven started to wander away with the younger Stitchpunks, Nine responded, "I'm… I'm going to take a little walk." The Warrior looked back in alarm. There was some sort of suspicion in her optics as she started, "Nine…" He interrupted before she could continue, "Just a walk. I need to clear my head for a bit." She seemed to trust him well enough and knew that he was having a hard time so she let him be.

"Just be careful. The Machines have survived without a Leader before; they could still be out there." He took the warning to heart and nodded in agreement before turning to wander out of the Library. She watched him leave with sympathy. He knew that she didn't feel the same blame as he did, the same horrific guilt that came with surviving, and hoped that the twins didn't feel it either. Nobody else deserved this except for him.

However, to be fair, if he was to really go deep into his thoughts there was always the throbbing hope that they would come back, that something would change and they would return, but this didn't seem like it was in sight in the near future. Perhaps being out in the rain made Nine feel closer to who he had lost. His friends, his replacement parents, his companions, they were gone. He shook his head, "You have to get it together, Nine." He scolded himself out loud, trying to ease the silence around him.

"You have to be strong now. It's just you and the others. Seven can't watch the twins alone, she shouldn't get stuck watching them alone, I have to be here for them like they were for me." 'They' meant the ones he had lost and his talk to himself with a mimic of something that he would plan to hear from one of the others. He needed to stay strong. Yet as he wandered alone in the Emptiness he felt helpless; he had tried to be strong for so long and now when he had to be he didn't think he could anymore.

"I don't understand." He suddenly blurted out as his pace quickened to a brisk one, "This isn't right, I did everything I was supposed to. What was the point of stopping the Machine if it meant the lives of the ones I loved?! To save the world? For who? I know I can't live in a world like this! I can't live like this!" His voice was becoming frantic as he called out to the empty buildings desperately, "You weren't supposed to leave me! You were supposed to come back, you were supposed to stay, not sacrifice yourself for nothing!"

There was no response and he couldn't stand the silence. Suddenly he broke into a run, having to do something to exert his frustration. At first aimlessly along the streets but soon in a relatively set direction; the Scientist's Workshop. Perhaps there he would be able to find some sort of answers for what to do next. After all, Six had sent him back there before, maybe there was more that his creator had left behind. Anything was worth a try and every chance of finding another solution was good enough for Nine.

He was at his wit's end and part of him was already thinking horrible thoughts. "Was I supposed to be the one who died?" He questioned himself wearily. "Maybe… Maybe that's it. I was supposed to die and when I didn't the others did instead… They all were sacrificed because I lived." He felt a dull pain in his chest and a soft choking noise exited his voice box. He suppressed it and continued onward through the Emptiness, feeling more cold and alone than he had ever felt before. This was an absolute nightmare.

He was in sight of the stairway to the Workshop when something went off of plan in a way that Nine hadn't anticipated. It was a dull groan that sounded suspiciously like a Beast that scared Nine into immediate terror. It was low, almost as though it didn't even exist and was merely in his mind, but this changed as soon as he started to hear the thumping sounds like footsteps. It was a Beast that was somewhere nearby and the Stitchpunk immediately went into defense. Or perhaps the adrenaline from earlier simply made him much too paranoid.

He couldn't very well run across the open street, past the sound of the movement, to get to the building. As it was getting closer Nine reacted immediately and turned on his heel. He had no weapons and he had to get away. Unfortunately, he could hear the noises still from behind, and his panicked mind began to interpret it as being closer than expected. His mind was still askew and frightened from everything that had happened and as he ran blindly through the wreckage between a few buildings he couldn't think rationally.

In fact, he wasn't thinking at all, his mind flipped to a 'fight or flight' perspective and overtook any plan of attacking a Beast. Even as the Beast's noises started to lessen the rising of his pulse in his audio receptors spurred him on. He made it to another street and dashed across to the other side. That was when it happened, so quickly that Nine had no time to even brace himself. The other side of the street was a ditch that Nine unfortunately went into, his feet stopping only to slide across the oil slickened street that had tasted a leaking Beast more recently than the rain.

He tumbled down the ditch in an awkward fashion. Usually, this would have done nothing but left him dirt, scolding himself at his clumsiness, but fate had other plans. Such as the rock position in just the right position to crack his head upon. At that moment his body seemed to go limp as his head was enveloped with a hot pain.

He only had a second to think that something was wrong before his vision died completely.

He was unconscious for some while and only realized it once he awoke to rainfall on his face. It had started coming down once again and even harder than before. He flinched a bit before slowly beginning to sit up, only being able to groan as his head protested the action. He groaned as he rubbed his forehead, "How long was I out?" he looked around the muddy ditch through blurry optics and began to seek out the rock that he had struck his head on. Yet it was nowhere to be found and he assumed that mud had washed over it and this was why it had disappeared from view.

Either way he slowly began to stand with shaky steps and stared around at his environment wearily with unfocused optics. Yet as he did he noticed a weird noise nearby, like a rushing noise, and climbed towards the top of the ditch to see what it was. At first he saw nothing that seemed to be the culprit, but after a short while he did notice something very odd that he hadn't as he was running through the streets in a panic. "How did I not notice this earlier? It's… It's perfect back here. None of the houses are destroyed around here…" Nine thought to himself.

Then he added in a weary thought of, "I guess that the buildings didn't matter unless there was something inside worth getting to." He looked down at his mess of a body, muddy and cold, and reminded himself, "I need to get home." He spoke this sentence out loud and followed it with a quick shiver. His thoughts were interrupted when something suddenly turned onto the street and headed down it, something that took Nine aback and confused him greatly. It was a car; one of the transportation vehicles left behind by humans.

It was somehow in working condition and unlike all of the destroyed ones was driving down the rainy street still in use and fine condition. From what he saw of the cars they looked too destroyed to move and even if they could he doubted that any Stitchpunk or Beast could control them. But there it was, and from the sounds in the distance that mimicked the rubbing of the tires on the rain, the rush that he had thought was simply from the rain, it sounded like there were more cars driving around the area.

The car came to a halt on the other side of the street and Nine dropped to his knees to duck down and somewhat hide from view. Then Nine was taken aback yet again, "What?!" The vehicle's door opened and out stepped a human woman. She was taller than Nine had ever expected and shielded her head with an odd covering attached to a pole that she opened like a Seamstress' collar. Her footsteps were quick as she circled the car, but she didn't look afraid, she just looked to be in a hurry. She fondled the doorknob for a few seconds before disappearing inside and soon after the vehicle drove off yet again.

This left Nine in the silence and rain. He sat down completely in the ditch in aghast. "Humans?!" He whispered to himself in alarm, "This- This can't- they're all dead!" Yet he managed to somehow calm himself down slightly. "How is there a human here? This… This can't be real… Maybe I'm just still unconscious in the ditch, or this is some sort of hallucination. That makes sense, right?" Even though he felt like he was calming down his mind was racing and his body was still jittery. He knew what he had just seen and it was a living, breathing human being.

Before now, if Nine thought of finding a living human, Nine would have probably been interested or excited, but actually seeing one with his own optics also brought a feeling of terror. Mostly because the situation around him was all changed. He was perspective enough to add exactly what the situation appeared to be, "It's… It's like this area hasn't been touched. Like the war never happened here, but that can't be possible… It's almost as though the Machine's weren't even created yet!"

He then huffed, "No, Nine, you hit your head and are dreaming. That's what happened. This isn't real." Then everything took a different approach and Nine suddenly lightened incredibly. "If that's the case then I'm not in any real danger. Well, except maybe a severe head injury, but I've dealt with worse." For a few minutes he thought he would just wait it out so he sat there pitifully and waited for the hallucination to pass or for him to wake, but neither occurred. Eventually Nine started to get nudged by his own curiosity and stood before peeking out of the ditch once again.

The alley was empty so it wasn't like there was anyone to see him anyway. He hesitantly went over his options, "I can wait here, but I don't know when it's going to end… I could go to the Scientist's Workshop. Maybe there's humans there too?... What if he's somehow alive?" But he shook this away quickly, "I can't lose my head with this." The answer abruptly came and he immediately knew what he needed to do. "I need to get back to the Library and see if Seven and the twins are there."

With that in mind he started to walk down the edge of the street in the direction of the Library, keeping his optics looking for if anything was nearby and able to see him. Even once he passed out of the alley he realized that the city was a much different place. All of the buildings were whole once again and all of the destruction ceased to exist. If he was hallucinating then he had to be seeing the scientist's view, because he knew he couldn't have made this up in his mind.

He counted every glowing with and tried to look past the curtains and into the lit room. It nearly screamed of warmth that Nine's body was in need of. He was beginning to shiver pitifully and his mind refused rest. The thoughts were pressing Nine in ways that he didn't like and he slowly continued along through the streets. He only stopped when he heard another car coming around the corner and jumped into the ally to avoid being in the sight of the car. It was then that he noticed the paper he was standing on and looked downwards at the poster. It was in bright red and gold colors and depicted the face of an older human male.

The words were designed strange, but Nine could read them when he focused, "Victory demands sacrifice." Then he read beneath the picture, "Pay the price for freedom." His optics locked onto the small design beside the words and realized that it was the same that was presented on the flags and posters around the Emptiness. "So… So the Machine is alive, somewhere, but the war hasn't began yet." Then he blinked in realization as he looked at the person once again. "And that's the Chancellor." He felt a pang of anger towards the picture of the human now that he remembered him.

He knew what he had done to his Creator and his part in giving the Machine the means to war. Maybe it was because in this realm the humans were alive, but Nine was actually able to feel that anger towards this being, though it wasn't much. He controlled it with the thought of knowing what eventually would happen to them which managed to elicit sympathy once again. It didn't last long as he was interrupted by the sound of something nearby and looked upwards only to gasp. There stood a creature that was walking straight towards him.

It was about the size of a Cat Beast and covered in dark grey hair that was designed with a few white blotches. All Nine had to do was look at the contours of its face and he knew that this was the creature was what the Cat Beast received its name from. It was a cat, a living and breathing cat, and now it was coming straight for him. Around its neck was a thin stretch of fabric with a little bell attached that chimed as it bounded towards him. Nine gasped a bit before turning back to dash down the alley once again. Upon arriving at the street he continued the way that he believed was towards the Library, trying to escape the cat.

However, it was quick, and it paw came down upon him. Thankfully the claws were much thinner than a Cat Beast's and it seemed more to want and trap him then actually kill him. It pinned him to the ground and stared at him. Nine was hyperventilating as it watched him, tail flicking back and forth behind it as it lay down on the ground, both paws coming to grapple him. It was almost like it was playing with him and he didn't know whether to go along with it or to fight back. Before he could make a decision, luck was on his side.

It was some sort of shrill noise that caught both his and the Cat's attention, but the Cat more so. It cocked its head around so that it could stare back towards the ally. The noise rang out again, but this time was interrupted by a voice of a human suddenly calling out from further off. They were from two separate sources, but the latter of which caught the cat's attention. With the call of 'Muffy' and 'here kitty' the Cat left Nine and went to go off down the alley again. Nine simply laid there until it left, not wanting to draw it back.

It was obviously trained which was why it responded to the call, but it didn't explain what made that shrill noise before. Either way the Stitchpunk was more than aware that he was visible beside the road and began to hurry to his feet before continuing towards the Library. He knew that he was still in danger, maybe even more so, and he continued along. He somehow found the wall that surrounded the city like a barrier, fully intact and, as such, blocked any way to the factory. Not that he wanted to go to the factory, but part of him was curious about what it would look like outside.

Unfortunately for Nine, he also started to notice a pattern that occurred whenever he walked and looked straight ahead. The dull sound of movement from nearby would always ring out no matter whether or not he was alone. As such he attempted to hurry his pace and soon found himself dashing into the allies once again for shelter. It was there that he caught a beacon of hope through the rainy sky. He could see the Cathedral's tower and while he knew there weren't any Stitchpunks there it showed where his bearings were.

He continued along dodging cars and the occasional human wandering around and eventually arrived at the outskirts of the Library. As the Cathedral was presently housing a group of humans that he could see through left open doors he bypassed it and continued towards the Library. He was growing cold and tired so he fixed himself upon searching for anything useful on the way. Being as though there were not yet things destroyed and abandoned everywhere he didn't find much.

While he was fussing over another poster that was somewhat dry, though looked to have been drawn on as the Chancellor's eyes were blacked out and words were written on it, he stopped at the sound of scuffling and peered behind him only to freeze solid. What he saw was not what he expected at all. There, across the street, stood a figure about Nine's height, clothed in a thick hood, but with a malformed head. Nine could barely see much except black metal over the shoulder and a red optic staring into his soul.

It was as though time had stopped for a second and so much confusion overwhelmed him. "What… This can't…" It stepped closer in a smooth moment and suddenly Nine's body reacted. The Beasts were alive, they were present, and here was one hunting him down. He sprinted through the metal gates and through the courtyard towards the front of the Library. The courtyard was much different that he remembered from his time. The statues were all intact and lined the walkway while bushes and flowers surrounded them.

Large trees full of thick leaves stood tall but didn't stretch far enough to block the rain. Yet it seemed so quiet, so silent, as though even the cars had stopped upon Nine seeing the thing behind him. He didn't want to look back because something about this entire thing didn't seem right. That thing was too close to his own height, it resembled a Stitchpunk too much, and he didn't see a Seamstress tail connected to its underside. He desperately climbed the wet stairs and reveled in the slight covering that blocked the rain, but unfortunately his luck ran out here.

The front doors were sealed shut and he stared at them with a racing mind. "There's got to be a way in." He murmured to himself before looking back to scan for the creature. He hoped to see nothing, but there it was, standing at the open gate and looking around for him. The red optic, and malformed head, seemed to slide around in an odd fashion and Nine guessed that maybe the distance was making it look strange. Nine stumbled over and ran before leaping into the flower bed. The bottom was thick with mud and the bushes scratched at him.

His pulse was racing as he watched through the bushes. The figure was coming closer, but he was noticing something odd about the head moving around in odd angles. Maybe it wasn't even a head at all, but it did have an eye, a dead red eye. He was interrupted by the sound of the Library door being opened. The figure retreated behind a statue and vanished while a man and woman exited the Library. They had two small children with them and Nine immediately perked; they hadn't shut the door yet. As they were exiting into the rain they were taking a short time to make sure the children, especially the younger boy who they were trying to fix a jacket on.

He slipped out of the back of the flower bed and rushed to the stairs, hiding behind the column briefly before taking towards the door. When he dove through into the Library he felt little relief as he scrambled to find a hiding spot. With the rubble missing the Library was a lot more open, alit by warm lights that changed the normally blue tinted library to a warm orange. Nobody was in the near vicinity to he rushed to one of the now standing book shelves and slipped inside an opening at the bottom. He dropped against the packed in books on the other side of the shelf.

After a few minutes the door was shut and looking out he couldn't see the creature nearby. He was relieved immediately that he was safe, but now he knew he had to collect his thoughts. "That might just be a Machine of some kind… I've got bigger things to worry about. If humans see me, if the Scientist sees me, I could ruin the future…" He rested back against the book behind him, enjoying the familiarity of the cover. Even if everything else was different the books still remained the same. Even if it was less destroyed, the books weren't on the floor, and a warm glow passed through the room.

"I could always stop the Machine from starting the War… But then I, and the others, might not be created. I need to consider the humans as good as gone, because I can't… I can't sacrifice our lives for them." While he felt selfish he was stubborn with this decision. The future had to go on as planned which meant that he couldn't be seen by any outside parties. The Machines wouldn't exactly count he assumed and he just let himself relax. "So what am I going to do?" He asked himself quietly and received no answer.

His body slowly began to shut down in exhaustion and even though he had fallen unconscious to get here he still felt like he had never rested at all. His head slumped back against the book and his optics fluttered shut tiredly. The world went quiet as he fell into a deep sleep.

His rest was interrupted an unknown amount of time later when he awoke to the sound of footsteps. The humans' shoes made a clicking noise on the marble floor as a tall female crossed by the bookshelf. He roused himself enough to pull back as far as he could into the lines of books and watched as she adjusted the shelves with books resting on some sort of cart. While his pulse began to speed when she kneeled and pressed a book in right beside him, he only dodged by moving over and she wasn't really looking into the shelf while she set the books back.

Soon the woman moved on and as Nine peered out to watch her he wondered if she was some sort of Librarian. Either way, the Library was empty, and his optics went to the high windows to try and judge what time it was. Because it was overcast he knew it was hard to judge, but it looked about evening time. He stretched a bit tiredly before rubbing the back of his neck. "I need to get some more rest while I can, and maybe I'll wake back at home." He doubted it but couldn't deny how tired he was still as he leaned back against a book.

He stared forward blankly before slowly allowing himself to fall asleep once again. Hoping that he would awaken to something, anything better.

Mable: Hello!... So, umm, I'm going to do something different today. Usually reviews don't matter to me, but maybe if you have something nice to say you could send a short review? I guess I'm a little discouraged or overworked, but I'd sort of like to hear some, if any, feedback this time. Anyway, next chapter will be posted soon, thanks for reading!