Three years.
Three long years spent alone and isolated from everyone and everything, fighting over and over for survival, from machines and androids alike…
Three years before A2 found out she may not have been so alone after all.
At least, not in terms of having survived that mission that doomed everyone dear to her… and to Anemone.
Anemone that she too had never known about her, until A2 saw through 2B's memories that she'd been informed about her, after they met and fought at the forest castle.
She hadn't asked what she thought of her, perhaps it was the only one that understood what she'd been through, and that the old Number 2 was long gone, alongside the people they had lost that day.
She didn't question her actions, didn't question anything, and for that A2 was glad.
Anemone just welcomed her back with open arms, something the Attacker did not expect, after all she'd been pretty much the cause her friends died.
Hadn't she asked…
But would they be here today if she didn't?
No, probably not.
And now here they were, carrying their memories with them.
And for the sake of old times, when Anemone informed her of a stray group of machines threatening to harm the camp, she hadn't hesitated in asking her for her help.
To reminisce about the time spent together, she had decided to tag along as well.
Perhaps she just wanted to bond with someone she knew.
Someone that understood her pain.
And someone with a hate for machines that burned as hard as hers.
So away they went, just the two of them, recalling a time that there were so many more people around them, fighting for the same objective.
If they focused hard enough, they could still hear their voices ringing in their heads, they were much louder than the sounds of cutting metal and bullets being shot.
A2 slashed away at everything that dared to cross her path, using that pristine white sword that now contained someone else's own memories and consciousness, mixed with her own.
That same sword she once held in her own hands from the day she was created, the same one she had left behind together with those black clothes she had torn away from her body seething with pure rage.
So no one would easily find her.
The other sword she carried with her, she didn't often use it, didn't want to ruin it.
That one too had previously belonged to someone else.
Someone she missed dearly.
Behind her, she heard Anemone covering her shooting her own gun, however, even this felt familiar to A2.
No, not the fact she saw her do that before, but in another way entirely.
That didn't sound like a resistance gun, but another one.
Well, in three years she may as well have found another, but why did A2 feel like she heard the sound of those shots before?
Even if not too many times…
When the last machine was slain from Anemone herself, she knew why.
She hadn't shot it, but rather, since it got too close, she had stabbed it with her pocket knife, straight between the eyes.
And that knife, the golden blade and hilt didn't lie.
"Those are Number 21's." the weapons the Scanner was given while training, but that she never truly used.
Anemone's eyes widened for a moment, but it passed as quickly as it came. "Of course you would recognize them." no one ever did, but because no one else had ever known her, nor YoRHas in general.
Besides 2B and 9S.
The golden color of the knife reminded the one of the sword the Scanner boy carried with him, if she were honest.
Maybe it was tied to their type.
"I thought you said you weren't attached to memories." or something similar, A2 recalled.
"Things change, even for someone as old as me." it was the best answer she could give. She wouldn't tell A2 how close she'd come to take her own head, to join Number 21, she had told her…
And yet here she was.
When she had thrown away her own weapon in rage, all that there was left was to take the Scanner's ones, not like she needed them anymore.
"She never used them, the weapons I mean." just tried them during training, that was it. "She hated them, hated fighting."
A2 thought she did too, but like Anemone said, things changed, sometimes after years, sometimes from a day to another.
Sometimes even in the span of mere minutes.
She, they had to keep fighting for them.
"Feels that way." even today they still felt new, even in Anemone's hands. "It was for the best that she never experienced to have to get her hands dirty."
Perhaps out of all of them she was probably the most innocent.
Something they couldn't say they were anymore, even though they all despised this war just as much.
A2 laid a hand on the one holding the dagger. "It's called Cruel Fate."
"Just like how it ended for her." for them. Like a premonition.
After all, their existence was just to die.
But the name didn't fit her personality, at all.
Made A2 wonder what the Commander was thinking when she assigned it to the Scanner, but perhaps she too had more in mind how it would have ended up, that damn woman…
Well, it was much like Virtuous Contract, perhaps before when she was still naive and full of hope, it would have suited her.
Not anymore now.
There was nothing honorable in what her life had become.
Just a spiral of death, violence, rage and sorrow.
"I think that in the end we do need a reminder." of the people they loved.
"Yeah…"
Months would pass after that talk, A2 had honestly almost forgotten about it.
She was just sitting at the desk at the camp with Anemone, not like she had anywhere to go, now that she was back here, against her will.
And the Resistance Leader was all she had.
Things were quiet, she and the other two resident YoRHa tended to ignore each other's existence, until one time, followed by a really annoyed and grumbling 9S, 2B decided to approach her.
When she saw the Battler silently reach behind her and summon the great sword, Anemone tried to get between them, probably fearing a fight.
"I would like you to keep this, A2." it was what she said, as she stuck the point into the ground for her to take.
"It was hers, no?" 2B didn't refer to the other sword, because it was what she left behind, together with her former self, and knew well A2 held no attachment to it.
As for the other one, it was another thing entirely.
The Battler's eyes laid for a moment on the two weapons visible on Anemone's belt.
The fact that she had stayed quiet during the conversation to give them privacy, didn't mean that she hadn't listened to it.
And when she came back, she already made up her mind about Virtuous Treaty, even if 9S had been contrary, but that was due to the fact he still despised A2.
The sword was better in her predecessor's hands than hers.
Besides, there was hardly any need for their services anymore, all those weapons were now, were just relics of the past to keep close.
"Don't we all need a reminder of the people dear to us?"
A small bitter sound escaped the Attacker, as she finally reached for the weapon.
"Thanks…"
The duo left without saying more, since 9S didn't love being in A2's presence, and he already had been for far too long.
At least he had the decency to keep quiet about it.
Or perhaps 2B told him to do so.
Whatever.
A2 held the long sword closer, the white blade shining in the sunlight.
Just like Number 4's smile.
She felt Anemone place a hand on her shoulder, as her free one went where Number 21's former dagger was.
Their presence was comforting.
And for a moment they could swear, they could still feel them be at their sides, holding them in their warm embraces.