This one's for you CrazyArtist!

CHAPTER 8: NOTHING IS SET IN STONE

The next two days where ones of almost complete silence. 7 hadn't been able to really talk to 9 ever since their conversation that night. When he surprised her with a new (but poorly made) spear to replace the one she had lost in the battle with the Scorpion, she was only able to squeeze out a small "Thanks." She had spent that entire night along with some of the morning working on it. Sharpening the blade, trimming the staff, making sure the blade was fastned on tight, or just looking at her reflection in the cool metal.

When the group climbed an especialy large hill they could just make out their destination. A lone building, most likely a residence, that seemed to be almost completely intact. This was strange since everything in the entire city was destroyed, so the stitches where even more excited to see what fate had led them there for.

Fate, 7 thought, such a strange word with an even stranger meaning.

7 couln't comprehend the thought that a persons life was just a straight line, never straying from the path. She didn't believe that the future couldn't be changed, in fact they had proven that anything can change, possibly even death.

Hadn't they?

They walked on untill they had to rest. There were still a few hourls left of sunlight but the stitches decided to spend the rest of the day for other things. Carefree things, in a way, it was a vacation. Even if only for a fraction of the day, 7 was glad to not have to worry about machines or prophecies or the mysteries of the future. She was happy to just watch as 9 played with the twins, chasing them in circles. He had done so much for them, so much for her. She looked over at the spear he had made her. Maybe I can return the favor.

It took her the rest of the day to find the parts she needed and put them together, but the others hadn't noticed. It was getting dark, and 7 looked up at her finished work. The new lightstaff looked perfect, just like the old one, but of cource 7 had made some...improovements. The lightbulb seemed to shine brighter, for one, and she had made the staff in a way that was more comfortable to hold. The lightbulb could be removed, either to replace it or add one of the different attachments. One was the lightbulb attachment, and another was more like 2's old hat contraption, which replaced electric light for one from a candle. The third was a blade, because 7 remembered how 9 had stayed to fight the monster with her, even though he had been unarmed, but the last attachment was her favorite. She had found a case of one kind or another, large enough to slip over the lightbulb. When the light turned on, the light would flow out of little holes and shapes that 7 had cut out of the cover. When the light was pointed at a wall or something similar, it would create an effect that looked like the moon and stars, so that 9 could look at them whenever he wanted. There were other improovements here and there like how the staff could retract for easier storage, but the attachments were obviously the most important part. She packed up the staff and attachments in a special bag for them, thinking to give it to 9 immediatly. But when she looked back at the camp, she noticed that he was already asleep, the twins on each side of him. 7 smiled at the three, she didn't want anything bad to happen to them, and she would make sure that nothing would. She put her surprise for 9 in the wagon and went back to her post. Her mind wandered for a while but then she was shocked when 9's hand fell on her shoulder.

"I didn't know you were awake." she said, "Did I wake you up?"

9 didn't answer, instead he sat down next to her, waiting for her to continue speaking.

"9, I've been wanting to tell you something. Last time, when we talked, when I touched your face I-"

9 quieted her with a finger,

"I saw it too 7." was all he said.

7 let his words sink in.

"Well, what are you thinking? I know I've thought about it, but with everything thats been going on, I just, I don't know."

"You said that these visions weren't my gift," he whispered, "and I think you're right. Although they've been helpfull, that doesn't mean I'm always going to be right. You also said that we all have our faults, don't think that I can't be wrong sometimes. Everyone makes mistakes."

"What are you saying 9? Do you doubt yourself? I don't-"

"What I'm saying 7," he said, "Is that I don't always follow what's in here" He motioned to his head, then to his chest. "I sometimes follow what's in here."

7 said nothing, she just looked deep into 9's optics, looking for the right words, but none came. 9 said them for her.

"Nothing is set in stone 7."

With that he got up and went back to bed. 7 stared at the sky for a few more moments, then she too, fell asleep.

But they all awoke when they heard the crash.