The first thing she noticed was sunlight flooding her senses and beating down on her, the second thing she noticed was the figure in front of her.

9S…

And as she reached out to touch his cheek, she noticed that she had control over this body.

She sat up, looking down at herself, she half expected to see the dirty and black plated hands of A2, and her entirely ruined appearance, as she got oddly used to. Being in communication with someone in a body not your own you had no control over had almost become normality.

But no… she had her usual white gloves and YoRHa uniform, even the visor.

Which she promptly took off, letting her eyes adjust to the sun, she took in the scenery around her.

She and 9S were on top of a building in the city ruins it seemed, but how? And why?

Also why did she have a body again? When did that happen?

A white Pod floated in front of her, 042, her Pod.

"Good morning, 2B."

He greeted her like it was the most normal thing, as if she hadn't been dead for months, or close enough. She didn't call being a consciousness in a weapon living.

"Pod, what happened? After the Tower fell." she asked, when she finally found her voice. Why am I alive? Why am I here?

She could understand 9S, A2 had saved him in the end just like she desired, and then let herself finally die in peace. 2B hoped that she was at peace with her friends, at least.

That much she could remember, she remembered all that she and A2 had passed together from her eyes, the words they told each other, the feelings they shared.

"Upon the completion of Project YoRHa, and the successful eradication of machine lifeforms, us support units were ordered to wipe out the remains." Pod 153 decided to make an appearance.

"However Unit 153, Unit 007 and myself, Unit 042, thought that our supported Units deserved a second chance, as such we recovered your data and reconstructed your bodies."

"So we may live again…" 2B found it hard to believe, but, could it be that much like androids and machines, Pods could also evolve and develop feelings too?

Did they bring them back because they cared for them instead of accomplishing their final duty?

Well, if YoRHa could make an android out of a human, then who was to say that Pods couldn't feel affection then? For as weird as it sounded, after what she'd seen and heard, it made sense.

They thought they deserved a chance to live, actually live in peace…

"Thank you, Pod." with a small smile she raised a hand to pet him, and then 153 too.

Though even if they mentioned him, 007 was nowhere in sight, maybe he was with Robin, maybe she was back too.

But first, she should check on 9S.

She could only hope that he'd be happy to see her, after everything. If he remembered, and she did want him to remember.

Too many times his memories and personality were wiped for no reason at all.

It seemed that 153 read in her mind as she said something about restarting him. Good, so they could settle matters immediately.

For too long she lied and was forced to lie, enough of it.

When he woke up, it took him a moment to settle, just like her he took in where he was, before she could feel his eyes on her behind the visor.

And then, his mouth twisted in the wicked grin she'd seen through A2's eyes at the Tower's summit, reaching behind him he drew out Cruel Oath. 2B flinched but forced herself not to move.

"Aren't you machines satisfied yet!?" he snarled at her.

From his words, she recalled the dead clones she and A2 found, and guessed that he thought she was one of them. And that also machines were still active, but he couldn't know A2 destroyed their server as he was unconscious when 042 brought him away from that place.

"9S…" a whisper escaped her. "Nines." she said with more conviction.

That got him to falter, a look of pure shock on his face. "What… what did you say?"

Clones didn't talk, they laughed at him and at his misery, was his mind playing tricks on him again? Was this all a cruel dream?

"Nines." with a soft smile she placed her hand on top of the one that was holding his sword.

The weapon fell with a clatter as he grabbed her hand in his own ones, she placed her free hand on top of them.

"My precious Nines." she reached out behind his head, undoing the knot of his visor.

They didn't need these symbols of blindness, not anymore. There was a reason why A2 and Robin both discarded them, and it was better this way, for them too.

"2B…" tears fell from his eyes as the cloth came undone.

Soon enough, she found herself in the most tight hug she ever received, that he ever gave her, wrapping her own arms around him, she was not willing to let go anytime soon.

She tried to refuse contact as much as possible before, and these months passed without a body, making her miss his touch more than ever before. Sure, seeing Robin and A2 so close, warmed up her heart, and she knew that a part of the rare and more affectionate side of them both was also towards her.

But they were not him, and could have never replaced her dear Nines.

Tears of her own wet her cheeks, as he repeated her name like a mantra, afraid that if he'd stop she'd disappear again.

But she wasn't going anywhere, not this time, not ever if she could help it, and neither was he.

Never again her white sword would be strained with his blood, they could finally be together and at peace.

"This is real… right?" his timid voice broke the silence, and seeing him act like this, so unsure and afraid, made her wonder just what had happened during the time she was just a consciousness.

She knew the other side, of course.

Taking his face in her hands, she leaned in, kissing him.

"Can you feel this?" she asked him a moment later, he nodded back at her. "I'm not going anywhere this time."

They stayed like that, embracing each other for a long time, that neither of them cared to keep track of, until 9S broke the silence again, ever curious to know everything.

"So how are you here? I thought… I thought that A2…" he clenched his fists at his sides, he was still unaware of everything else, 2B realized.

"Our Pods rebuilt us, well me, and fixed you." she took his hands again, the motion calming him down.

Maybe he wouldn't like what she had to tell him, but he had to know that A2 had no fault in what had happened, she just accomplished her request, before she would have been too far gone.

Before she could have been entirely corrupted and risked killing even more people.

To kill him again…

"Nines… I… I asked A2 to kill me."

"What? Why? Why would you do that?" naturally he was shocked to hear she'd do such a thing.

She knew she was hurting him by telling the truth, but she lied to him and all the other 9S too much and for far too long.

"The virus, I was infected."

"But why didn't you look for me? I could have…" she shook her head. "It wouldn't have worked."

And she knew that from hearing A2's story of one of her comrades, the Scanner one, even if right in that moment she hadn't, her priority had been his life over hers, for one time in their whole existence.

"I just wanted you to live…" she confessed, hoping he'd understand just how much it meant to her to be able to save a life instead of taking one.

Especially his.

"I… I think I understand now…"

She just nodded. "It doesn't matter now, does it? We're both here, and we can live in peace."

"In peace? The machines are dead?" he seemed confused. "But I didn't destroy the server, or the Tower."

"A2 did, she finished what you weren't able to do." she explained, looking over to where the machine tower was standing before. "The virus plaguing you, she took it and used it to end it all."

"You seem to know a lot about her." he spoke, unable to hide a hint of jealousy.

"She took care of me after I died. I backed up my consciousness and memories in my sword, and gave it to her, hoping it would help her. I didn't expect my consciousness and hers to merge enough to be able to communicate." or she didn't expect it at all.

"Anything that happened, to her, and to Robin, I could talk to her and she could talk to me, I could feel her emotions as if they were mine, and she could do the same, I saw and heard from A2's own eyes and ears, including what happened at the Tower."

He looked down, refusing to meet her eyes. "So you know…"

"About humanity? Yes, I do."

And she hated the fact that everything she'd done, that all the people she'd killed were for nothing at all, for a lie, and nothing more than that.

Why hadn't the Commander done anything at all about it? Who the hell created YoRHa? And how could they be so cruel? Not only to whoever was within YoRHa themselves, but also to all the androids they fooled with their so called project.

Even with the machines now gone, there wasn't much to be happy about, but the prospect of peace, she assumed.

But having known Pascal who was to say that both androids and machines could have lived on Earth without fighting, if hadn't both sides been entirely clueless the whole time?

And whoever made YoRHa even dragged a human of another planet into this whole madness too. Now she understood very well why A2 had been so mad about it, even if she didn't know about humanity's demise either.

But she'd known another kind of humanity, at least.

"I have a question about your teacher. Well, former teacher." 2B just nodded,having a feeling as to what he would ask, knowing he'd hacked into Robin's memories, and saw them.

And from what little the former human had shared about them, they weren't pleasant ones.

"Were they real? Her memories I mean. Then if humanity is gone, how is she here, and why is she like us too?"

"You have a lot of questions." she gave a small laugh, but she was happy to see he was returning his usual curious self.

"I can tell you this, yes, she was a human, but no, she's not from Earth. Or so she said. A2 called her with her human name, and demanded I'd do the same. I got used to it, but I can refer to her as 26E if it makes it easier." 9S nodded, taking in the information, not seemingly bothered by the name change. "So there are humans beyond the stars then?"

Another nod, from her side this time. "So she claims, but I don't know much, she wasn't too willing to share her past, not even with A2."

"I can imagine…" he sighed, mentally recalling those images of pain and abuse he saw, and then shook his head to send them back where they came from. "There were… a lot of bad things that had been done to her, as far as I could tell."

He didn't need to specify them to her, nor he ever wanted to become like one of those slimy men he saw from the Executioner's mind in the future.

Made his hypothetical stomach revolt at the thought.

Suddenly 2B remembered something, as she sharly turned towards the two Pods that were floating next to them, listening and watching. Hadn't 042 mentioned Robin's Pod too?

"Pod, are there any other YoRHas you brought back?"

"Affirmative. We've successfully recovered and repaired Unit A2, however she has yet to be reactivated." 9S gave a small noise of disapproval at A2's mention.

Probably even after knowing the truth it would take longer to accept her, if ever.

But bringing her back alone sounded like a terrible idea, knowing the woman had wanted nothing more than just to be put to rest, and with more than a good reason.

"What about Unit 26E?" they did mention her support unit, so then why wasn't 042 making her name too?

If she was back too then maybe it would make it easier for A2 to come to terms with being alive again, she assumed. She would have someone at her side again, just like her with 9S.

"Pod 007 reports that Unite 26E's personality and memory data has been successfully recovered, however, 007 reports extensive damage to Unit 26E's body, beyond what us Pods are capable of repairing."

"So what you're saying is that she could come back too if someone was able to repair her body?" 9S asked, and he'd seen the full extent of the damage too, so he didn't find it hard to believe in 042's words.

He almost couldn't recognize the woman when he saw her corpse at Pascal's village, hadn't it been the presence of her purple companion and peculiar sword.

2B rose from her seated position. "We'll find a solution." she declared.

9S knew she too was attached to the Executioner to just leave her be if she could be brought back like they did, they just needed resources, data, and capable hands.

A lot of things, but he believed it could be doable.

"I'd say we head to the Resistance Camp, maybe Anemone knows how to help us."

Right… Anemone…

She knew A2, and she knew her well too.

"Right, we find her, then we take her to A2, and together we can think of a plan."

"Why does A2 need to be involved? And why does Anemone have to be involved with her too?" 9S rolled his eyes, he truly did not like her older model being alive again.

But if anything it was the Pod's fault, none of them asked to be brought back, and it had been them to decide who would have. Personally 2B was pretty fine with A2 around, she was more worried about her not accepting to be alive again, if anything. Which was why she wanted to involve Anemone into it, maybe the presence of a friend could help her.

But given how attached 9S was to her, she could understand why he wasn't very pleased.

However she was positive they could understand each other, if they had a chance to properly talk it out, they had a lot in common, she felt.

That was if A2 would be willing to talk too, she knew the woman could potentially shut down and not speak a word if she wanted, and nothing would make her change idea on the matter.

"They know each other." she told 9S, and it was all he needed to know for now.

One thing at a time.

First, they had to head back to the Resistance's Camp, and hope that 2B being alive again wouldn't shock everyone.

They hadn't made it to the camp, as when they passed by the ruins of the Tower, they could spot someone lying on top of a piece of rubble.

And both knew exactly to whom that green cape belonged to.

The duo rushed in aid of the Resistance Leader, hoping she wouldn't be dead too.

With a flick of his hand, 9S made screens appear before him, checking the status of the android woman to confirm if she was still active or not.

He didn't need to say much, as when 2B raised her from the white block she lied on, the woman made a noise of discomfort, signaling she was alive.

"I see signs of extreme fatigue, but other than that I can't find any injuries."

Which made them question what she exactly was doing within the remains of the Tower.

"Number 2?" Anemone's green eyes opened, and apparently she'd mistaken her for A2. Just like she did when they met the first time.

Upon seeing A2 with short hair like her she could guess why. They hadn't changed much of anything between the two models, if anything at all.

2B shook her head at the Resistance Leader, as much as she was sure the other woman would have been more happy to see her friend than her, she'd have to disappoint her. For now.

"It's 2B." she just said.

"2B?" the woman blinked a few times more, and finally she could see it in her face that she recognized her now. "How are you alive?"

"Long story." she helped Anemone sit up. "Ask our Pods for details, we are still coming to terms with it."

But now it was their turn to ask questions. "Why are you here?"

"Looking for survivors." Anemone replied with a small shrug. "But I can see you're well."

And definitely happier, now that 2B was back, that much was obvious, but it was good to see 9S be himself again, instead of a shadow of his own self.

"And Number 2? I found no trace of her… is she back too?" and who else she wanted to ask, but one question at a time. After all, she came here for her old companion first.

She looked under the rubble for who knew how long by now, but of her no trace at all. She'd found the bodies of Devola and Popola, and brought them to camp, much to the disappointment of other Resistance members, but she couldn't care less, she was in charge and didn't need to give them explanations.

She'd meant to give them a proper burial, after all they did deserve at least that, maybe after she found Number 2, maybe alongside her even, but time passed, and no signs of any other android.

When 2B and 9S found her just now, it hadn't been the first time she'd collapsed for exhaustion, for moving rubble for so long.

"Well it is what we were looking for you. A2 needs to be activated but… I'm afraid she won't take it well."

Anemone just nodded, understanding full well what 2B meant, after all, she too hadn't been that happy when she woke up alone at Mt. Ka'ala. She was also looking for Number 2 because she had failed to look for her once already, and left her to face the world alone, until 26E came around.

She didn't want to fail her again, and now she needed her. Neither android mentioned Number 2's companion either, so Anemone was stuck with thinking the worst thing had happened to her.

Which only reinforced the reason why she felt so important in this very moment, for Number 2's sanity, and that 2B came looking for her for that purpose.

"Very well then, lead the way."