The crate landed with a thud on the floor, startling the few birds that were perched on the rooftop and sending them all flying away squawking in a panic. I huffed and pulled my gloves off, stuffing them into my pants pockets before pushing the crate around with my foot until it was facing outwards from the camp, giving me a good view of the city and even as far out as the ocean.

Plopping down on it with a groan, the wood creaked under me before settling. Wiping some rain water from my face, I flicked my hand before opening up my jacket and gently pressing a hand down on my ribs. Which were still somewhat sore from earlier when Lilac had slammed into me like a bullet. Thankfully though, she hadn't broken anything as far I could tell. But I'll probably have to take it easy for a while.

My shoulders fell with a sigh as I smiled. "That would've been one hell of a reveal of what I am..." And probably would have ended with a lot of tears on Lilac's end. It would've taken forever to get her out of that kind of guilt if that had happened and she injured me.

I sighed again, my hand falling onto my lap while my smile felt tired in an odd way, as I looked back on the past hour or two I had spent in the camp with Lilac. Where she had practically dragged me around the camp like a kid with their parent, showing me every nook and cranny before tiring herself out. Which then left me having to put her in bed, which hadn't been easy considering the grip she had on my jacket even in her sleep.

Tapping my fingers on my leg, I pursed my lips and turned my head up at the tattered tarp sitting above me. Covering me from the few rain clouds that had moved in and were currently sitting over the camp. A small amount of rain coming from them.

Never thought I'd really end up with the whole surrogate father role. Shaking my head, I scooted myself back and turned my view out to the city and its flooded end in the distance. It still seemed to be the same as the last time I had been there. A majority of the buildings in the process of or were already sinking into the ocean and with a good portion of that end of the city already submerged under the water. I hadn't stayed there for long.

Amidst the quiet pitter patter of the rain on the tarp, I could hear footsteps slowly approaching from behind me. Sitting up with a grunt, I turned my head to see who it was and blinked in surprise when I saw Anemone walking up to me, a small smile on her face. "Anemone?"

"Sebastian." Anemone gave me a nod in greeting when she got closer, stepping under the tarp before coming to a stop next to me, her cloak fluttering in the cool breeze. Her gaze fell to the crate I was sitting on before she looked back at me with a bit of amusement in her eyes and tilted her head while raising a brow. "Room for one more?"

"Ah, sure." Sitting up, I pushed myself up and scooted myself over. Making more than enough room for her to sit down next to me.

Anemone nodded her head gratefully before she sat down next to me, adjusting her cloak with a tired sigh and closing her eyes for a moment. "...Thanks."

"Hm, no problem." The crate creaked as I readjusted myself into a more comfortable position before turning to her. "What are you doing here?"

Anemone hummed and remained still for a second before she straightened up and opened her eyes to look at me. "I saw it fit to come and inform you that the supplies you requested are just about ready. I had to look all over the camp just to find you." Anemone said with a grin before she turned forward and reached up to her hood, pulling it and her headdress down, freeing her hair which was tied back. She ran her hands through it before turning her head back towards me with a genuine smile on her face and shrugged her shoulders. "That and I thought this would be a good chance for you and I to catch up for just a few minutes... It has been twelve years after all."

"...It has, hasn't it?" I mused, glancing down and gently scraping my boot along the moss covered floor beneath us. "How'd you figure out I was up here?"

"One of the perimeter guards spotted you heading up here a few minutes ago. So I made my up here." Anemone answered before she fell silent and turned to look out to the city ruins.

I hummed quietly before falling silent as well, my eyes lingering on her for a moment. Her hair was the same length it had been back then and even her face was even the same after all these years. Showing no signs of aging like all androids. Of course, even knowing that, it had still thrown me for a loop at first. Besides her uniform, Anemone hadn't really changed since the time I saw her. At least appearance wise…

Following Anemone's gaze, I found myself staring out at the flooded end of the city. Currently, the sky above the coast was littered with storm clouds, and the whole area seemed to be getting hammered by rain, with somewhat audible thunder going off every once and a while. I could also see the occasional machine flyers that were idly floating above or around the buildings like flies, just mindlessly buzzing around.

"...It almost looks like Adia from up here, doesn't it?" Anemone spoke up with a quiet and contemplative tone.

"Hmph, it does." The similarity between this place and the old port city hadn't been lost on me the first day I had arrived. Leading to some… unpleasant memories propping up again. Though the only difference between this city and Adia was the lack of a major android presence. Seeing as how Adia had acted as a port for supply ships. That and all the buildings here were in states of ruin, due to lack of maintenance and from all the fighting that happens here.

Turning my head up, I stared through one of the few holes in the tarp at a group of clouds overhead, which were beginning to break apart, sunlight shining through the cracks briefly. "All that's missing is the snow and it'd be just like back then." I said with a wistful smile.

Anemone hummed and nodded her head silently with a smile before she released a mirthless chuckle that made me look back at her. "You know, Lilac informed me of that encounter you two had with that goliath. The way she described it kind of reminded me of that time you and I were trapped in that building with our own encounter with one all those years ago."

I grunted at the reminder of what had happened the other day, and what had happened back then. "I can remember the smoke in the air from all the burning buildings, and the ash mixing in with the snow. Could barely see anything outside because of the clouds blocking out what little light there was."

It wasn't hard to forget that day. Almost starving, little sleep, and then seeing those red eyes glaring through the windows out in the snow, the goliath biped completely unmoving and silent as it watched the windows for us. It took months for the nightmares to go away.

Anemone clasped her hands together with a nostalgic sounding chuckle. The leather material of her gloves creaked as she glanced at me. "We were low on ammo and everyone else in the building was either dead, had already left, or just laying low. And we couldn't call for help." She glanced down and patted her left leg. "Plus my leg had been damaged earlier before that, so I couldn't really move all that much." Anemone then looked up and gave me a grin. "And you could have just left me there. Instead, you stayed by my side the whole time, risking your life just so you could patch me up."

A mix of odd emotions welled up inside me as I crossed my arms with a huff. "It's not like I was going to leave you there." I grumbled.

Anemone smiled and raised her hands in a placating manner. "I know. And I'm glad you didn't. Even if I hadn't really shown it back then." Her smile then turned into a scowl as she crossed her arms and shot a glare at me. "Though don't think I forgot that stupid stunt you pulled after my leg was fixed up! Where you decided to play bait and shoved a rocket launcher into my arms before running off like an idiot."

Wincing at her scolding tone, I leaned away and avoided her gaze while clearing my throat and rubbing the back of my head. "Not… my brightest idea, I'll be honest. But you still managed to kill didn't you?"

Her glare remained on me before it slowly softened into a weary look and she sighed. "I did…" She whispered before looking back at me. "Doesn't mean you didn't scare the hell out of me at the time." She murmured, eyeing the tattered end of my scarf. "Almost thought you had died back then…"

"I thought so too…" Leaning back, I closed my eyes and hummed. "...Those were the good old days huh?" I said with a grin, opening one eye to glance at her.

Anemone had a bemused look on her face before she looked at me, my grin still in place even as she gave me a deadpan stare before pinching the bridge of her nose with a scoff and a small shake of her head with a smile. "...You and I have very different definitions of good Sebastian."

The only sound for the next few minutes was the diminishing rain hitting the tarp and a small battered rusted bucket across from us that was laying on its side.

Anemone then grunted quietly before she tilted her head towards me. "How have you been, Sebastian? You…" Anemone hesitated for a moment and I turned to look at her. Her mouth opened and closed for a moment before she frowned and pulled on a strand of hair with a worried expression. "You seem like you've seen better days..." She said with a quiet gentle tone. Her eyes briefly flickering towards the scars on my face.

My gaze fell to my clothes, which were covered with dirt and definitely showing their age with a bit of wear and tear. That and with the few scars that marred my face. It probably gives the illusion of someone who's been through it all. "Hm, I do look like crap don't I?" I said with a wry smile on my face as I wiped off a small patch of dirt on my pants.

Anemone took up a regret filled expression as she suddenly sat up. "Wait! That's not what I-"

"I know." I interrupted her, bumping her shoulder with a grin and hopefully easing her worry before sighing. "As for how I've been… I've been doing alright. Just been doing my best to survive like everyone else these days. Scavenging and whatnot... You?"

Anemone eyed me for a moment, pursing her lips before heaving out a sigh and resting her hands on her lap. "Fine, I suppose. Hmph, tired more than anything ever since I was put in charge here." Anemone rubbed her eyes with a frown. "Running a camp and trying to hold together an entire network spread across three sectors isn't easy work. Not when everyone is counting on you to keep them together and alive to see another day, command not being an entirely reliable source for support, scarce resources…" She trailed off before sighing, trailing her fingers through her hair. "…It makes me wish the captain was here. She probably would have made this all seem so easy." Anemone whispered, looking exhausted.

Frowning at Anemone while also giving her a sympathetic look, I scooted myself closer to her and gently nudged her arm with mine, making her look up at me. While I glanced to the side as I tried to think of something to say before looking back at her. "...She might have. But honestly, from what I've seen today, your camp is doing a lot better than most I've been through in the past few years. And with you in charge, I feel your people have nothing to worry about. As for Rose," I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. "I think she'd be proud of you... They all would have been."

Anemone stared at me in muted surprise before she looked away with a grateful smile on her lips. "...Thank you." She whispered, nudging my arm back before sighing. "...They missed you, you know? Hmph," Anemone closed her eyes with a rueful smile. "Even Dahlia. Not that she ever openly admitted it."

"Hah… She and I never really did get along in the end." Dahlia's muscle headed personality had been much too abrasive for me back then, so we used to argue the few times I had encountered their squad.

But in those last few weeks in that city, I think she began to have something akin to respect for me. Though, I think I dimmed that respect a little when I avoided her like the plague when she started wanting to arm wrestle me during those rare times of relative peace and quiet we managed to get when I found them or they found me. Those moments unfortunately didn't tend to last long, however. Not in that place.

There was a faint flicker of amusement on Anemone's face for a moment. "Honestly, I think Lily missed you the most." Her smile then turned into a frown as she glared at her feet. "When… when we were abandoned again on Oahu…" Anemone muttered, her hands balling up into a tight fist on her lap as she scowled. I frowned as she stayed silent for several seconds before taking a few deep breaths and releasing a deep exhale through her nose and relaxing. "...Lily tried her hand at cooking." Anemone admitted with a quiet tone, making me raise a surprised brow.

"She did?" The girl had caught me cooking up some food I had snagged from a store that had been partially destroyed during the fighting back then. And after maybe spending a few minutes just watching me, she had finally asked what I was doing, and that led to me hastily teaching her the bare bones basics of cooking. "How did that turn out?" I asked Anemone, my curiosity peaked.

Anemone paused and went still like she was trying to figure out what to say before she shuddered and turned away with a grimace. And despite the growing ache in my chest and the tight feeling in my throat, I managed to bark out a quick weary sounding laugh. "Ah... That bad huh?"

Anemone shot me an unamused glare before she crossed her arms with a sigh. "...It's not like she didn't try her best." Anemone grumbled. "She had found some bird eggs while we were returning from a battle, and she wanted to 'make a meal for us all to enjoy.' So she tried to cook them. They were… burnt."

A snort left me as I shook my head. "I never did get the chance to teach her properly." Looking back on it. Lily was almost like Lilac in a way, though Lily had been as timid a mouse. Poor girl would always freeze in place whenever she saw me the first few times before she got used to me.

And now she's gone, along with the others. My smile slowly faded as the ache in my chest grew the more I thought about them before I swallowed and lowered my head. "I'm… I'm sorry I couldn't have been with you all in the end..."

Anemone froze at my words, her eyes slowly widening before they narrowed as she grunted and sat straight up, giving me a hard look as she shook her head. "Don't be! Sebastian, if you had been there with us..." Anemone trailed off, her mouth moved silently before she grimaced and gripped her pants as her shoulders bunched up. 'You would have died too.' went left unsaid by either of us. And she's right, if what happened on Oahu had killed the others. Then I would have met my end there as well. That doesn't mean I don't regret not being able to help them in their last moments…

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air between us afterwards, which was when I noticed that the brief rainfall had ended and the clouds were finally breaking apart, letting the camp be covered in sunlight again.

I jumped and tensed when I felt a hand rest near the bottom of my jaw before a finger gently pressed down against the right side of my face, where the scar was. Glancing over at Anemone, she stared at me with a concerned look as she gently trailed her thumb down the scar.

My shoulders fell, as my body slowly relaxed. "...Anemone?"

She said nothing at first, her lips pulled down into a deep frown, her thumb brushing under my eye for a moment. "...You know you can go to the maintenance tent and get these cosmetic damages fixed, Sebastian. We have the necessary materials and tools to do so." Anemone said, briefly turning her eyes away from my scar to look me in the eye.

My shoulders rose and fell with a huff as I smiled, my head leaning into her hand briefly. "I know," I said with a shrug and glanced at the floor. "But… Hm, they've… grown on me over the years. It'd feel weird to get rid of them." Scars weren't that common on androids I've found, since they could just get any damaged skin replaced without any hassle. In my case, however… It wasn't so easy. But the scars could easily be passed off as just android who wanted to keep them like they've earned them. Or so they can be closer to humans.

Anemone stared at me for a long time with a searching look before pulling her hand back with a sigh. "If you're sure..." Her gaze lingering on the scar.

"Hmph... I'm sure." I said with a smile.

"Shut up you guys! I can't hear them!" I jumped in surprise at the not so quiet and harsh whisper that had come from behind us, as did Anemone, who went completely still.

Anemone then slowly leaned away from me while I glanced over my shoulder towards where the entrance of the stairwell was. Where I immediately saw a girl with dark reddish brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail peeking her head out from behind a short concrete wall, staring at Anemone and I with wide curious eyes. There were also a few more androids poking their heads out to spy on us. With one of them really sticking out considering the blue glow coming from the goggles strapped onto his head.

The girl then looked over at me and our eyes met before she audibly gasped and darted back into cover behind the wall leading into the stairwell. Dragging the others back down with her and out of sight.

Staring at the spot the androids had been with bemusement, I closed my eyes and heaved out a sigh with a smile while also releasing a quiet laugh. Scratching my chin, I looked back to Anemone and gave her a lopsided smile. "I guess we should call it here?"

Anemone who seemed more exasperated than amused at the actions of her subordinates frowned at me before rolling her eyes with a shake of her head as she stood up with a sigh. "Knew this was going to happen…" She muttered, throwing on her hood and securing it before making her way over. While I got off the crate and slowly followed behind her.

Harsh and rapid whispers between the androids started to become audible as Anemone and I got closer to the stairway. Which got louder and louder until they went dead silent as Anemone rounded the corner and stopped in the doorway Stepping up next to her, I peeked my head over Anemone's shoulder to see all five androids huddled together now looking up at us with wide eyes and startled expressions.

Anemone gave me a quick glance before turning her attention back to the five androids. "What are you all doing here!?" Anemone asked with a swift and serious tone, planting her hands on her hips as she stared them down.

They all quickly stood at attention with varying looks of worry and embarrassment on their faces, like they were a bunch of kids who had been caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. The red haired girl I had spotted slowly turned to face us with a wince on her face as she stared at the floor.

Anemone stared at the girl, the growing exasperation on her face clearly visible before she groaned and palmed her face. "Daisy…"

Daisy's wince turned to a grimace at Anemone's disappointed tone as she shuffled in place, fiddling with her hands as she continued to avoid both of our gazes. "A-Ah, Anemone, ma'am…"

Anemone huffed and removed her hand. Scowling at Daisy. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working on repairs for the scaffolding?"

Daisy looked up and weakly raised a finger while giving us a sheepish smile. "I already finished that! And then, um…" Daisy gulped and quickly gained a panicked look as she obviously tried to think up an excuse. Her eyes darted all over before she turned her head back towards the others, but they all merely kept quiet and avoided her gaze. She then turned forward again and her eyes quickly looked towards me with a silent pleading look in them.

Though her expression quickly took an overdramatic look of despair when I shook my head and gave her an apologetic smile.

Anemone sighed again with a frown and rubbed the side of her face, making Daisy turn her attention back to her exasperated leader. "Just... Just get back to your post, all of you!" They all jumped at her shout before rapidly nodding their heads and quickly scurrying away. Their footsteps echoed through the building as they all rushed down the stairs. Leaving Anemone and I to ourselves again.

"...Bit harsh don't you think?" I asked with a teasing tone while leaning against the doorway with a quiet chuckle. Which had Anemone quickly turn and give me a look that had me throw my hands up while I gave her a placating smile.

Anemone's gaze remained on me for a few seconds before she huffed and shook her head as she looked away. "Not harsh enough." She mumbled, pinching her brow in exasperation. "They should know better than to leave their post and run around just to spy on us."

A quiet laugh left me as I pushed some overgrown ivy out of the way before I started wrapping my head back up in my scarf. "They're just curious is all, Anemone. Hell, I'd probably be a little concerned if they weren't."

Anemone didn't offer a rebuttal and merely hummed while staring at the stairs with a pensive look. Once my head was fully covered up, I went to make my way down the stairs but Anemone grabbed me by my arm before I could pass her, stopping me in place and making me turn to her.

"Promise me." Anemone said with a quiet tone, her hand tightening the grip on my arm just a bit.

"Hm?"

"…Promise me you won't do anything crazy out there." She frowned and looked up at me. "I won't be there to be able to pull you out of the fire like back then. And…" Anemone pressed her lips together firmly and closed her eyes with a sigh through her nose. "I can't lose you too..." She whispered.

Anemone… My eyebrows shot up in surprise at her words before I sighed quietly and smiled. Reaching up, I rested my hand on hers, making her open her eyes and look at me. "I'll be fine." I said before letting out an amused breath and grinning. "And don't worry, I've... I've learned not to be so reckless after all these years."

Anemone narrowed her eyes at me with a scrutinous gaze, her eyebrows furrowing as she stared at me for what felt like minutes before her expression softened and she relaxed, her hand briefly gently squeezing my arm before she let go and nodded her head. She took a step back before heading down the stairs. And I followed her soon after.

(-)

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Holy moly! Finally got something out. Now as for where the hell I've been and why this took so long to come out. Life got very busy for me and gave me little chance to really focus on writing with job related things, dentist appointments, and a lot of other stuff kicking my ass.

I'm also going to try and take a short hiatus from writing. (About maybe a month, but it'll probably be a couple of weeks. I'm not sure.) Because I nearly burnt myself out trying to write this damn chapter when I was able to.

The reason mostly has to do with some lore related stuff. Which makes writing for Nier a pain in the ass because of how little information there is.

Anyways, hopefully you guys enjoyed this little chapter between Anemone and the MC. And hopefully posting this will help ease some of my stress.

/ Aug 17 - Just putting this here for people who look at these notes. I'm almost finished with chapter 9. Which is... long overdue. But it should be a pretty large chapter, which should hopefully make up for the time I was gone.