11945 - Flooded City.

Daytime.

In a moment of quiet, Robin allowed herself to take a stroll through the city, and her feet carried her to a place that should feel familiar to her, the Flooded City, or rather, the sea.

Soon enough she'd see the ocean of her home again too.

It was finally happening.

After so much hard work, but that would be just one part of it, because there was more work to be done, once she went back home.

Choosing hadn't been easy, but she was sure of the people she selected.

However, as she walked on what remained of the buildings that had sunk into the water, how ironic, considering where she came from, she spotted someone else.

The white haired woman was turned away, and seemingly unaware of her presence, as she held her arms to the side, taking a deep breath of the salty air lingering here.

Something Robin found comfort in.

"Number 4." she called her, as the Attacker turned around to face her. "Oh, you're here too?" she asked, and the human nodded, deciding to sit on the edge of the building at her side, letting her feet dangle above the water.

"This place has an air of familiarity, I find it comforting." she admitted.

Well, she was rather tense about the long voyage ahead of them, and needed to calm down a bit.

She didn't expect to find Number 4 here.

Or anyone.

But she cleared her doubts as to why she was here before Robin could ask anything.

"Is the ocean of your planet as big as this one?" the Attacker sat next to her, as she nodded. Well, she wasn't sure if the two bodies of water were the same, but still they were much bigger than whatever ground portion there was on either planet.

"I wanted to see how it felt, since we are supposed to get used to it eventually, no?" it seemed that she wasn't doubting the success of the mission.

This girl had too much faith in her, honestly.

"You don't seem to have doubts." Robin commented as Number 4 frowned. "Why would I?"

Then it hit her.

"Oh, it's because of me and Number 2 again, isn't it?"

The whole doubt comment wasn't much because of the hard task ahead of them, but rather on the whole feelings matter. Hadn't she clarified it long ago already?

"I meant to talk to you again, and now we're alone." so…

"Are you sure you don't regret your choice?" surely seeing her with Number 2 all the time must still hurt, despite the air of cheerful happiness the Attacker always seemed to have around her.

She said she wanted to show she could be trusted, but… Robin did too…

It wasn't a one way thing.

Perhaps she just needed a confirmation.

Another one.

Number 4 sighed. "Well… I would be lying if this didn't hurt some, but… no, I don't regret making this choice."

Robin opened her mouth to argue, but the albino beat her to it. "No, I'm not saying it because I know it's what you needed to hear. I mean it."

She… meant it?

She wasn't just being kind to her?

"Let me explain. Yes, seeing Number 2 with another woman hurts, but during this time I could observe you, and her. The girl I knew, she was the sweetest thing that wouldn't hurt a fly, she is still sweet, but she has changed, perhaps too much."

Robin stayed silent, listening.

"I am obviously not going to hold it against her, that is none of her fault, heck, if someone else of us would have been through what she lived, I think we would have become angry and bitter just like her. Even Number 21, I'm sure."

Even her, for as kind as she was.

"She'd been so alone without us, and when you arrived, you understood her, her pain, her story, her sadness, that was bound to create some kind of bond because you two came in contact with one another. And, to be honest, I, we, weren't expecting to come back to life, and she thought we were dead too, so I can confidently say that I am glad that she found the strength to move on."

If she were to die again to save her, she'd be glad to know that the girl she loved would have been in good hands.

"I am happy to see that she has found someone she could trust, and love again. It was one of the many wishes I had when I sacrificed myself for her, so that she'd live a life we never could."

A life without pain.

That didn't come, but in a way, it also did.

In the form of the human woman right before her.

"And I can see you love her too, I know you said you're not good with showing feelings, but the way you act around her is enough to tell, I know it, she knows it, and that's enough."

Robin may be thinking that because she wasn't always expressive, that it would look like she had no feelings, but that was a lie.

Well, Number 4 had known and been around Number 21 so much that even a person that wasn't good at showing, didn't mean that they couldn't feel. Love came in many forms.

Some were blatant, others more hidden.

Some took an instant, some took a lot more.

But they were all valuable.

"I didn't know what love was, before seeing her, or rather, before YoRHa took me in." and that was true.

She'd barely known what having a friend meant, thanks to Saul.

But that had lasted too little…

"Let's say that… within me exists a side that longed for affection, the innocence I lost long ago, that was… my humanity… represented by my child self." and that wasn't just a metaphor, it was what remained of her humanity.

She knew it was within her, and that she protected it with any means necessary when 9S tried to take that away from her, when he saw her memories.

"YoRHa gave me something I never had, even despite how wrong my actions were, and the voice of my inner self kept screaming at me for it, but we both wanted affection, 21O, 2B and the others were what we were looking for. But then… I saw A2."

She'd never forget that day, ever.

"I saw her eyes, I saw in her eyes the pain I felt in my life reflected against me, I saw the eyes of someone that like me lost everything, but that couldn't die because she had a weight too big for her shoulders to carry." just like her.

They were carrying the memories of their fallen loved ones, to not let them be erased forever.

Like the world wanted.

"That day the child in me screamed the hardest ever, and… for once… I listened." that day, it was the day she finally came back in contact with her humanity.

"It was like A2 saw my child self, and took it in her arms, she saw what I long forgot was even there, and kept it safe ever since."

It was safe to say that she let her humanity shine through again.

"She gave me all I desired, and has taught me more than I could dream of. Thanks to her I know what love and friendship is."

"And you can be our friend too now." Number 4 flashed her a smile.

"You may think that I saved A2 from herself, but in reality, she saved me." as she said this, the albino's smile only became larger.

"You both saved each other. That's why I refuse to ruin the bond between you two. To me it's enough to be at Number 2's side, something you've never forbidden me to be at." she shrugged. "And that's fine by me."

"If I were to push you away, A2 would hate me." despite all, part of the rogue's heart still belonged to Number 4.

And it would always be.

She'd been too important in her life not to be.

And Robin accepted it, no reason not to.

Plus, Number 4 was very kind.

"Well, same thing if I were to do the same, no?" the Attacker shrugged.

Right, that was also true.

"I don't regret my decision to let my feelings be pushed aside, I'll still remain Number 2's friend, and your friend too."

For once, Robin could give a genuine smile at her words.

"Thank you. Truly."

Part of her still thought she didn't deserve so much kindness, but she could already hear Rose yelling at her for thinking it.

That woman would never get tired of saying that all of them were a family.

And that in her family they supported each other.

"Don't listen to those humans, Robin. You're a kind person, that's why I am leaving Number 2 in your hands." Number 4 wouldn't if she weren't.

She could swear on it.

"I could argue with that."

"Don't. You'd lose." again she flashed one of her signature smiles. "Those humans understand nothing. Don't let them get you down when you'll be back on your planet, they're liars."

And they hurt her for far too long.

"I won't." Robin hoped.

The voices were hard to keep quiet when alone sometimes.

It honestly scared her a bit.

Because A2 wouldn't be there to shut them up.

But she'd have to be strong, for her.

For everyone.

Number 4 stood up, dusting off her skirt. "Let's do this." she offered Robin a hand.

"For her happiness."

She grinned brightly.

Robin took her hand with no hesitation, she couldn't help but smile herself, as she allowed the Attacker to pull her up.

"For her happiness." she repeated.

For their happiness.