First of all, thank you all for the great reviews you've posted for this story. You have no idea how much every good review means to me, and I worked so hard on them and I poured my heart into every chapter of this story. I'm very grateful for them, and keep it up with all the kind reviews.

-BlackWolfStar15

The next morning, the Stitchpunks left the Library and ventured into the Emptiness. They reached the outskirts of the ruins and 9 looked at the horizon that showed the battlefield. Looking at them, he remembered the first time he ventured into them when he went with 5 to save 2, and the last time when he and 7, 3 and 4, and 1 faced the Fabrication Machine one last time.

2 placed his hand on his shoulder and said to him, "You won't be doing this alone, lad. We're here for you." They looked at 7 and the twins, who were standing right behind him, with 7 having her skullmet on her head and 3 and 4 by her side. 7 nodded in agreement, "You won't do this alone, not without us by your side." 9 smiled at her, knowing that she and their friends will be there for him to support him.

9 looked out to the horizon, and he said to the others, "Let's go then."

They made their way into the barren wastelands of the battlefield and began their trek to where they won the battle against the Fabrication Machine. After a long time of walking, the Stitchpunks arrived at the remains of the Fabrication Machine. Looking at it, 9 still felt the pain in his heart with the horrible memories of his fallen friends. He had seen everyone before him die to the Fabrication Machine, starting with 2 and ending with 1. He didn't dare go to the Fabrication Machine, for the memories of his friends dying pained him and the Machine still haunting him even after he destroyed it using the Talisman and got everyone's souls out of it.

"It's alright 9."

He shook the memories off when he heard 7's voice and felt her hand on his shoulder. 9 felt a little better, but then he started getting troubled by a new thought. He said to 7, "I'm not sure if you're right about this, but if 1's body is crushed by the Machine, it would be impossible to bring him back." 7 assured her, "But you also said that there's still hope he's still in one piece."

9 smiled at her, knowing she might be right and remembering the words she said to her before. He looked back at the Fabrication Machine's remains and made his way over to it, and the others followed behind him. They looked around the large Machine for 1's body. After twenty minutes, they found no sign of the elder's body, but they never gave up on their search. The twins were looking around the side of the Machine when they noticed some fabric underneath it. 3 said to his twin sister through the lights in his eyes, Is that him?

4 flickered back to her brother, Let's check it out.

They scurried towards the Machine and looked closely at that they saw, and what they saw shocked them; 1's body! 3 flickered to 4, Go get the others. We'll need some help getting the body out.

4 nodded and she ran off to find the others while 3 stayed behind and watched over 1's empty shell; the body was still intact, except for his hand being mangled and the bottom half of his legs were trapped under some metal. 3 went into the Machine and tried to pull the metal piece off of his deceased leader, but it was too heavy for him to lift up. He left the body for a minute just as his sister came back with the other Stitchpunks.

9 looked at 1's body still in one piece, and he smiled at her and her brother, "Great job, you two." The twins smiled, then 3 pulled 9 towards 1 and pointed to the metal piece on his legs. 9 lifted the metal a little, but he felt it was heavy. 9 looked at 7 and 2 and said to them, "This thing is heavy. 7, 2, I will to lift it together, and the twins can pull him out." The Stitchpunks all nodded, and everyone came over to him to help him. 9 and 7 lifted the piece off the ground together a little while 2 placed a part of the Machine's remains between between the piece and the ground. Then he went over to 9 and 7, and 9 said to them, "Ready?"

The female and elder Stitchpunks nodded.

"Lift!" 9 said, and the three friends lifted the metal up off the ground together while the twins grabbed 1's arms and pulled him out. The Stitchpunks let go of the metal piece and they all got out of the Machine's remains. The twins let go of 1's arms and he laid limp on the ground.

2 inspected the body and felt around his legs to check to see if anything was broken. Then he looked at his mangled hand. He looked at the others and said to them, "His legs are fine. His legs don't feel broken, but I'm afraid he might start limping when he walks again. As for his hand, it can be repaired. All I need is some metal to replace the mangled parts." The twins went around the Fabriction Machine and catalogued the remains, then they went back with some pieces of metal the looked almost looked like the same type in 1's hand.

2 looked at the metal pieces they found and smiled at the twins, "These will work nicely. Good job, lad and lass." He patted their heads and they smiled back at him. 9 smiled at them, but his smile disappeared when he looked at 1, the elder who sacrificed himself for him to take the Talisman from the Machine. He remembered the very last time he saw him when he left the Talisman in his soul form, and instead of still being cold and mean, 1 had finally shown some respect and approval to him by putting his hand on his shoulder and smiling at him. His memories faded into when he first met the other Stitchpunks and 1 wasn't very welcoming of 9, and he only saw him as a threat to their group's safety.

9 brushed his memories aside and said to everyone, "Come on, guys. We can't stay here." Everyone nodded and 7 came over to him to help him carry 1 home. 7 lifted him up by the legs while 9 picked him up from under his arms and they carried him away while everyone else followed and the twins held onto her spear and followed them with the metal pieces to fix 1's hand.

Along the way back to the Library, they found 2's roller skate, which he was once using as a wagon to carry all the stuff he found when he first met 9 in the Emptiness, and 2 and the twins took the roller skate with them to use as an extra carrier for some supplies they needed and other things they could collect. The Stitchpunks returned to the Library, and 2 placed his roller skate with the other one from Sanctuary while 7 and 9 brought 1's body up to the workshop. Using some small books they found, they made a small gurney for 1 and placed him upon it to be ready to be fixed.

When 2 came into his workshop with the two small pieces of metal and went over to where his tools were resting and grabbed a pair of scissors, the broken head of a hammer, and some nuts and bolts he found on his way back to the Library. 9 watched as he prepared to repair 1, but then the Stitchpunk elder said to him, "It's alright 9. You just go and stay with 7 and the twins."

9 shook his head, "No. I think it's best if I help too. I-" 2 cut him off, "Not another word 9. You stop worrying about this until later. Right now, you have three others to go back to and take care of." He put his hand on 9's shoulder and said to him, "It'll be alright. I'll let you know when he's good to go."

9 nodded, then he left the workshop as 2 started getting to work by cutting the metal into smaller pieces and slamming the hammer tip on the metal to shape it. 9 climbed onto the lift and made his way to one of the shelves where 7 and the twins were. He went over to them, and he said to 7, "2's working on 1 right now. He'll let us know when he's finished."

7 smiled at him, then 9 looked at the twins and patted their heads. He smiled, "Nice job finding him, guys." The twins smiled back at him. 9 looked at 7 and smiled at her, "You wanna go for a walk around the Library?" 7 nodded, "Sure. I could use one right now." They both got on the lift and the twins followed them. 3 pushed the switch back and the lift lowered to the ground. Once it stopped, the Stitchpunks walked off of it, and 9 and 7 left the globe while 3 and 4 stood by the entrance and watched them leave together.

As they walked, they passed by the fountain, the water still and crystal clear. Although the memories of burying 2 in it still brought a little bit of pain in his heart, 9 knew that it was all in the past now, and everything was going to be okay once everyone comes back. 7 broke the silence in the Library and said to him, "9, I'm glad you're doing this for us. Bringing everyone back."

9 looked at her with a small smile, but then his smile faded away and he said sadly, "But what if you're right? What if we can't bring everyone back? I might not be able to see 5 again." 7 put her hand on his shoulder and assured him, "9, you can do this. Remember, we'll be here for you when you do this. And I know you'll see 5 again after you bring him back." 9 looked at her and asked, "You think so?"

7 nodded, "I know so. And we have faith in you."

9 smiled at her, and they came together into a kiss. They broke apart and continued their walk around the Library. As they made their way back to the globe a while later, they walked past the painting of the world before the War of the Machines, and 9 stared at it for a bit. 7 noticed him staring at the painting and asked him, "What are you thinking about, 9?" 9 looked at her and replied, "Nothing, just thinking about what it was like. I mean, how beautiful this world once was before the Fabrication Machine destroyed everything."

7 thought for a second, then she said to him with a smile, "I've got something to show you back at the globe." She took his hand and they went back to the globe. They found the twins scrolling through their big book and looking at some of the pages. 7 went over to them and whispered something to them. The twins nodded at her, then they started turning the pages until they found one with pictures of trees and flowers and some leaves of different shapes and sizes taped onto it. 9 looked at the page with amazement, seeing more plant life for the first time besides the flower he had seen after leaving the drains.

Then the twins took him over to the lift and they activated it to bring them towards the shelf they were heading to. They stopped and 9 looked around with his eyes filled with wonder.

The whole shelf was filled with everything related to plants and flowers! There were encyclopedias on flowers, plants, and trees, fact sheets about flowers and plants, and preserved flowers in frames. 9 smiled, "7, this is incredible!"

7 smiled at him, "I thought you might be amazed by this. When we first came here, 3 and 4 went around the Library looking for those books. They wanted to learn more about different forms of life, and they started off with plant life. They tried looking for flowers in the Emptiness to catalog, but all they could find was shriveled up dead flowers. We were lucky enough to find this frame of preserved flowers." She chuckled as they went over to the frame and looked at the flowers in it. Their colours all ranged from blue, red, green, yellow, white, and even pink.

9 ran his hand over the glass frame, then he looked at 7 and said to her, "Well, this may sound a bit crazy, but when I brought 2 out of the sewers, I found that moth sitting on a flower. But it was different somehow." 7 raised her brow and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the flower was in bloom instead of shriveled up or wilting. It was in perfect shape and still fresh, and it's petals were as white as your skin." 9 replied. "It reminded me of you, and it was as if when the moth was sitting on it, it was giving me hope for both humanity and us, that we'd all be together again. But then I suddenly began going back and forth from doubting myself to believing in myself."

7 reassured him, "9, we'll get through this together." 9 looked at her with doubtful eyes, and she added, "We can do this." She took his hand and held it tight, and 9's smiled returned. They heard the twins going down the lift after 2 called for them. The elder talked to them for a brief second, then he got onto the lift and the twins brought him over to 9 and 7. After stopping the lift, 2 stepped off of it and smiled at them.

"He's all set now."

So how was that? The Stitchpunks find 1's body and 9 is about to bring the eldest Stitchpunk back to life, but he begins doubting himself about it, but he's not alone in this. Again everyone, thanks so much for the good reviews; I really appreciate them.

9 belongs to Shane Acker and Tim Burton.