The city ruins were busy on this day. Under the orders of the Resistance Leader, Rose, the androids gathered at one of their supply warehouses, to pick up the remaining items, and move them somewhere else.
Lately, even though the machines were low in activity, they received reports of them assembling around this particular part of the ruins. Best to use the moment of quiet, to take away whatever was left, before they found out where their supplies were, and destroyed them.
With how quickly machines were multiplying and evolving, Gerbera suggested they did this, because there was no telling just how smart their enemies had gotten this time around.
And best not to risk anything.
Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Margaret glaring slightly at two men, but not for anything they did, but rather what she overheard them say.
"I've heard that a new type of androids called YoRHa have been deployed."
Margaret went to sit by the truck where currently the rest of their little group was standing by, without a doubt they had heard those men talk too, judging by the look on their faces.
"YoRHa again huh?" Dahlia half whispered and half growled.
That name surely brought back memories.
They weren't quite new androids, but the people here except them didn't know.
None of them spoke of YoRHa with anyone but between each other.
They hadn't seen any other unit around these parts in years either, perhaps they got here recently.
It almost made them wonder who they were, and if they looked like them…
And this time what their objective was.
But one thing was pretty much clear, whoever they were, and how many, surely they weren't interested in helping them.
They never were.
Not their Commander at least.
"Do you think we'll get to see other units of theirs one day?" Daisy asked quietly, so only they could hear.
"Best if that doesn't happen." Anemone was quick to shut down their thoughts, but it wasn't because she wanted to be mean or anything.
She was just stating something that was in all of their minds since they heard of YoRHa.
"Whoever they are, we don't want these people to end up like them again, don't we?"
No they didn't.
Those poor four girls…
They had given their lives for them, for showing them what friendship and family meant, believing that their sacrifice would be worth something. Believing that accomplishing their mission would have brought peace into this world, for them that would keep on living on…
But as soon as their group was brought here, to this other camp among these other refugees, they saw immediately how big of a lie that had been.
How worthless their sacrifice had been…
They had given away their young lives of barely a few months for them…
And for what?
For the machines to keep running free as they pleased, making even more victims…
Everything they had done had been useless…
Everything, except their friendship.
"We've got to keep living, and never forget." it had been one of the first things Rose had said, after they were brought here, and patched up.
They must never forget.
"We will destroy these machines from the first to last."
After they had laid eyes on machine lifeforms yet again.
"We owe them."
They had believed…
They had given them a new hope…
They would have wanted them to keep living in a better world…
"It's up to us to make sure that they haven't sacrificed their lives for nothing…"
Rose's voice had been so cold that day, like part of her had died alongside those young girls they had just begun to know.
Torn away from them way too early…
No one could object to anything, no one wanted to object anything, no one needed to object anything.
In a way, it was true…
With those girls something went alongside them.
Their friendship.
And all it remained was just their cold memory of a time that had been so short.
Too short…
All of them lost so many comrades in those 200 years they spent in this seemingly endless war, but for some reason, they had just been… special.
The more of them died, the more their hopes went.
Those four YoRHa and their seemingly impossible mission had restored that hope, the hope to be able to finally strike back at those machines, something they hadn't been able to do in so long.
Forever even.
And once again, that hope had been shattered with their lives once again.
Like a never ending cycle.
And they were trapped in it, like rats in a laboratory.
Only useful to be experiments, or sacrifices, whenever the council felt like picking them out from the cage they decided to put them into.
"A declaration to androids struggling on Earth from the Council of Humanity on the Moon. Currently the battles against the machine lifeforms are at a stalemate. You all must be exhausted from an extended duration of combat. However, I would like you to continue striving without giving up. For the several hundred thousand humans on the surface of the Moon, winning Earth-"
What a damn mockery, now of all times. That was what Rose thought as she crossed the distance from where she was to the truck transmitting the message to turn it off.
Easy for them to say, they weren't the ones who were fighting day and night.
And they weren't the ones watching their friends and family die before them all the time.
Not that they ever cared.
Rose stopped caring about humans long ago, she and the rest of her friends both, when said humans abandoned them in the lands of Hawaii without help.
They were all alone.
And the only time they had gotten help was when…
"Huh? You're not going to listen to the end, Rose-san?" her musings were interrupted, as she turned towards the person that asked.
"I already know what they are going to say."
Heard them too many times.
And none she cared one bit.
Any respect she and the others had for the Council died long ago.
But these people seemed rather hopeful and naive still, and she was not going to deny them that.
She didn't have the responsibility of just her group anymore.
And they all owed these people for saving, patching up and giving them somewhere they could stay. In exchange she took them under her protective wing, doing the best she could.
There wasn't much else she could have done after all.
She tried to give them some kind of direction to follow, so they wouldn't be lost.
But if she had to be honest, she had no idea what direction to take anymore.
They had one when they encountered those four.
But with them gone…
They were left as lost as before they had met, but with a new empty hole deep in their chests, that their loss had left them with.
Rose gave the man before her a harder stare than she meant to. "They just want us to fight until we die, that's about it, really."
She wasn't going to lie about this.
With all the friends they had lost, she couldn't see the words of the Council any other way, and her group shared the same feeling.
There was nothing good behind these transmissions.
Not until she saw those humans with her own eyes pick their own selves up, and work towards the goal they claimed to want but left the androids to sacrifice themselves for.
If those humans even existed.
With time, Rose had even begun to doubt their existence.
Never saw even the face of one of them.
Only heard cold and emotionless messages like this one over and over.
And they only ever said the same thing every time.
She decided she wouldn't believe their words any longer, until her green eyes laid on an actual human form, and only then maybe she'd believe them again.
Too long had passed…
And nothing happened but death…
"Rose-san, you always sound so harsh."
Not harsh, just realistic.
She didn't quite know what the people of this camp had been through, or if they had been alive as long as her and her group, to witness what they did, and she wouldn't pry them to tell either.
Somehow they still hoped.
It reminded her of a young Attacker with white hair at times.
But she always made a point to speak her mind about things.
Unlike the Council, she was no liar.
Didn't want to be one.
"Help me out here!" someone called. "Jeez, can't she do it by herself?"
"Go help her." Rose urged, not really feeling like picking up the subject they were talking about.
It was rather sensitive.
But she couldn't blame him, nor anyone else.
They didn't know.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Stop that already." she reprimanded.
"Roger that, Leader."
She sighed.
Well at least it was amusing, but…
"Just Captain is fine." she was used to it.
At the moment she wanted to seek out the company of those she was closest to, that most likely listened and watched the exchange.
They weren't saying anything about it.
Nothing of what she said was any different than what they all thought anyways.
Probably, much like her, they were just musing whether or not YoRHa was truly active in this area, if they were up to their missions or not.
And if they'd send someone their way again.
Would they be as helpless and lost as they were?
"Those guys on the moon speak in high spirits." Rose heard Dahlia mutter as she walked to her and the others. "Easy for them to say, staying all safe on the Moon."
As she spoke these words she could hear the same words spoken with the voice of a certain Gunner type so similar to her. She had said something similar in a moment of despair for having been refused help yet another time.
She wasn't holding back on her words, that's for sure.
"Not even a single gun has been given to us, we always had to pick ourselves up on our own." what Gerbera said was also true, and no one better than her could say it.
She was the weapon expert for a reason.
Even after centuries, not even that little luxury.
They had to learn to repair and construct the guns by themselves when the need arose, or find them elsewhere somehow.
Nothing they had compared to the seemingly endless arsenal the machines had.
They could build more and more of themselves.
And evolve at an even faster rate too.
Whatever the androids could do, somehow they already knew how to counter it, before they could put their strategies to use.
This proved to be true even with those girl's help.
Despite how new as a surprise they were, and despite the intelligence of a certain Scanner type.
But even that hadn't been enough.
It still remained that they still had nothing more than what was in their hands, and in these storage places. Which was why they were here, to preserve whatever supplies were left.
They thought the end of this whole thing would have been in sight with them, and their mission.
It was one of the reasons they were ready to die then and there.
Other for their friendship.
And it ended up the way they knew.
Rose spared a glance up to the sky, where the Moon was looking down on them, and almost glared at it.
Just how long would they have to keep going until one side fell?
How long would they have to survive until they could get some actual help?
If ever…
"As soon as we're done loading, we'll head to the next resource storage!" Gerbera announced, since the moving was looking like it would be done soon, only a few boxes remained.
About time, they spent enough in the area.
"Go on and scout as soon as you're able to!"
Not wanting to be outdone, even Dahlia and Anemone took their rifles to go scouting. They were better at that than stuck carrying things.
And the recent news put the group on edge, that they felt the need to be moving.
Sitting in one place didn't suit them.
On the other side, there was a loud crash of boxes falling, and the twin redheads working to pick up the pieces they scattered.
And someone scolding them for being so slow.
Rose wanted to tell them to not be so harsh on those two, but she didn't manage to do so.
"Enemy attack!" she heard Anemone call out, realizing with much horror that a horde of exploding machines rushed towards their location.
Towards them.
Quickly she grabbed her rifle, as they all did the same, trying to shoot the walking bombs before they could get close.
Despite their best efforts and the barrage of shots, one of the machines still managed to pass through. Its body collided with one of their trucks, blowing it up with it, and the people in and near it too.
Rose covered herself from the debris with her cape, her eyes searching for both her group, hoping they all survived, and for those injured.
"Retreat! Abandon the resources!" she called out.
Best to save as many people as possible.
The resources could always be recovered, if there were any left.
But the people could not…
"Load the wounded onto the remaining trucks! Hurry!" they had to leave before even more of them could be hit.
Before more of them died.
She could already see Gerbera revving the engine of a truck, Daisy, Lily and Margaret already on it, waiting for them. Rose waited as Dahlia and Anemone rushed over to them from where they were guarding the place, since they had strayed further out, before jumping in the truck herself once she knew they were safe.
Gerbera wasted no time in driving them away from here.
There was no time to assess the damage nor mourn, not if they didn't get out of it alive first.
They drove towards the outskirts of the ruins, towards a minefield Gerbera herself had set up with the aid of Jackass, as a defensive measure a while ago.
If anything it served to buy some time for Devola and Popola to look after the injured.
Hoping to save at least some of them.
While she and the others kept watch.
"Kill. Kill. Kill." the horde approached, slow and unrelenting, repeating this same word over and over.
The mines set before exploded as the machines passed on them.
But they did nothing to stop them.
Not even slow them out a bit.
"The minefield is useless…" Rose spoke through gritted teeth.
It wasn't Gerbera nor Jackass' fault of course, the minefields they could set up were still one of the best strategies they had in their arsenal.
But they had discovered long ago that they could be ineffective…
Hadn't they?
"How are the injured?" someone asked, it didn't even matter who.
Any kind of remotely good news would help.
But… they helplessly watched as the twins shook their heads, keeping them low in shame.
They patched them up the best they could, and as fast as possible, but their injuries were simply too much for them to even live through just a bit longer.
If they managed to get out of this situation…
The odds weren't looking in their favor.
But Rose refused to voice that thought.
It wasn't over until it was over.
Hadn't they taught them just that? To hope? Until the end?
She heard the others speak about sending a distress call to the camp, and how they wouldn't last until they arrived.
But there had to be something they could do to stall until that happened.
Something…
Anything…
"What about an assistance request to the Council of Humanity?" that ticked Rose off, but the one who answered was Anemone.
"How many times do we have to tell you!? Those guys will never send any assistance!"
They never did.
How many more times did they have to repeat themselves?
"They'll never help us." Dahlia added, keeping her sights on the machines, and her finger on the trigger.
They had never received any help before, wasn't it clear enough yet?
It'd just be useless.
Rose told them so many times already, and not only her, all of them did.
She was almost tired of them asking about it, she knew the others were, that was why they were so quick to snap.
She watched as Gerbera pulled the pin of a grenade with her teeth, before throwing it into the horde, turning around to the rest she gave an order.
"We'll lure them out to the valley up ahead, and then drop the bridge!"
Rose had never been more glad to have someone that could think at strategies other than her. She was glad to have them all still here.
"All of those who can, follow us!"
She didn't need to say anything for her group to follow, it was more for the rest.
Anemone and Dahlia ran at her sides, Lily was close behind her with Daisy next to her for protection, Margaret and Gerbera tagging along just after them.
The rest followed behind.
Whoever was left, that was.
And behind them the horde of machines…
They crossed the bridge as quickly as possible, setting the explosives under Gerbera's suggestions, and then they waited…
This was the last hope.
As much as Rose didn't want to admit it, to anyone nor herself.
"Here they come."
Her eyes were fixed on the mass of machines, when she heard the man at her side mutter something.
"What is it?" she asked, mentally praying there wasn't something wrong.
Or even another complication.
The situation was dire enough.
A matter of life and death even.
"There's a strange one."
"Don't mind it." she honestly didn't care. Didn't care about any machines.
They took their friends away from them.
So whatever that thing was doing, it didn't matter.
"Draw them in really close, then drop them." those machines hadn't hesitated to launch themselves to their trucks, and kill part of them.
She had no pity in doing the same thing.
They would have none for them.
They never had any for them.
If machines could even feel.
At all.
That would be kind of scary…
"They've passed the center!" soon…
Just a little more…
"Now!"
The button had been pressed, once, twice, multiple times, and yet…
The bombs wouldn't go off…
Were they set too quickly and not well enough? Were they defective?
"Did it break?"
"What are you doing? Set it off already!"
"Damn it, It won't explode!"
Damn it!
Damn it!
Damn it!
This was their only plan!
Rose rushed ahead pointing her rifle to the machines ready to fire.
"Leader! It's useless!" but even as the others screamed, she watched the rest of her friends do the same.
"Let's retreat!"
If they retreated, they would follow them to the camp, and the chance of having more victims was almost guaranteed.
They had to fight for their survival, and make it out of it.
Somehow…
It all happened in a moment…
Something set off the explosives they had placed on the bridge, sending the machines flying everywhere, while a barrage of missiles rained down on the rest of them.
"What the…?" Dahlia frowned looking at the sky.
Who?
What?
What was happening?
In a matter of a few seconds the horde of machines was dead, and their bodies fell from the sky and around them in piles of burned metal, and body parts.
Ahead of them, on the other side of the bridge just fire and smoke remained.
"Who in the world…"
The only thing Rose had known had come down from the sky, had been those four YoRHa back then…
No…
It wasn't possible…
But as the smoke cleared two flying suits, a white and a black one approached them, stopping right before her and the rest of her group.
From the white unit, a female descended, sinking an all too familiar white sword in the head of a machine that was still alive. However, the weapon was not the only familiar thing they saw.
It was all too similar…
Those white hair in the same bowl cut, black dress and blindfold…
"Number 2…" Lily whispered from next to Rose.
She and the rest all had the same expression of disbelief, and wide eyes.
She looked exactly like Number 2…
How?
Why?
Was it her?
That last question was written on their faces as they looked at each other and back to the familiar, yet stranger android.
"2B-san, we have completed the suppression." while the male one was definitely unfamiliar.
Maybe a newer model.
Maybe both of them were.
Despite everything, Rose refused to believe that this was the same Number 2 they knew, because if that was the case, it meant that YoRHa hadn't left her in peace even after she died.
And had turned her into something else.
If it had been her, she'd recognize them.
Whatever happened, she, they really hoped it was a completely new unit that just looked like her.
Because otherwise would be disrespecting the dead.
And they could not accept that.
The boy mentioned her name was 2B, so hopefully…
But the more Rose stared, the more shocked she became, as memories surged forth from the depths of her mind.
She watched as Lily sat down from equal confusion, staggering to remain on her own two feet. Daisy placed a hand on her shoulder, even though she had no idea what to say either.
The rest of them gathered closer to her.
None of them seemed to have anything they managed to voice, if not for Lily herself.
"Is this… some kind of cruel dream?" she whispered in her daze.
They knew why she used cruel as an adjective out of all of them, whether this was the same Number 2 or another, their Commander must have known they had been involved in that mission, if she somehow got to know that they had survived it.
That was why…
"It feels like she's mocking us…" Dahlia growled quietly.
It hadn't been directed specifically to this new android, most likely, she was just answering orders, it was referred for that one that gave said orders from the comfort of her little satellite.
It felt like it was done on purpose, somehow.
"Don't trust them, yet." not until they found out who they were and why.
Using the same exact strategy they used with those four, well, maybe besides the whole almost killing each other scenario, Rose thought.
Watch and see how they acted.
It wasn't because of these two specifically, the one she didn't trust was who sent them here.
She had no reason to.
And none she'd been ever given.
Not after what they had been through.
Still in their daze, they hadn't noticed that one of the machine corpses around them had still been active, until the boy alerted them of it.
They managed to dodge the punch coming down on them rolling out of the way, except for Daisy, who as loyal as ever, shielded Lily with her own bigger body.
The machine had been quickly dispatched from whatever those floating things accompanying those YoRHa, but not before Daisy sporting a gash on her arm for her courageous act.
"Daisy…" Lily held onto her other arm.
"It's just a scratch."
"Okay, everyone. It's all right now." Rose watched as the boy android started to make his way towards the rest of the Resistance.
She pointed her rifle at him like she did long ago to them.
"Stop!"
Not knowing who they were or what they wanted, it was better to be safe than sorry.
And considering their past regarding YoRHa…
Being too cautious never hurts.
"Rose-san!" she ignored her name being called, preferring to keep an eye on them, as Dahlia did the same, pointing her weapon at the boy, while Anemone, Margaret and Gerbera kept an eye on the girl.
But she didn't seem intimidated or asking to not fight like Number 2 did back then, even if this was a similar situation.
Maybe they were not so similar then, looks aside.
"Pod, give me some staunching gel, and the logic virus vaccine." she heard her speak to her own flying companion instead.
Those items most likely were for Daisy.
They even had vaccines now, huh?
But still…
"No need." Rose motioned to the red haired twins to patch up Daisy's wound instead.
If she had to choose, she'd trust those two more right now.
Immediately they answered her order, sending healing nanobots from their own hands to Daisy's wound, patching it up.
In the meantime the others started gushing over these two new YoRHa units, but only because they had never met. They wouldn't do so if only they had known that it meant only one thing.
Those two were here seeking out the Resistance for some kind of personal objective, and they were just bait.
Just like their Commander wanted to use them as such before.
If it hadn't been for them and their good hearts… then most likely they wouldn't be here…
But this gave Rose the ability to wait before casting her judgment just yet. It was very much possible that these two were also just sacrifices, much like those four.
So for now she'd give the benefit of doubt.
Also because if YoRHa finally decided to assist them, then it would only be beneficial.
And she had to remember that this time it wasn't just her own group she had to look after, she had a bigger responsibility now.
These people hadn't been the same ones that followed her with no hesitation for centuries either. They were still unaware and naive about certain ordeals, and she had to do what was best for them too.
"The Council of Humanity answered our request." someone said.
Anemone watched, her rifle still drawn as the Number 2 clone and the boy looked at each other, and shook their heads.
"Somehow I don't believe it." it was all she replied with.
It hadn't been the Council back then, and it surely wasn't their doing now.
If they did, why wait so many years since their creation to send help?
Rose gave the twins a nod as Daisy's injury had been finally fixed, before addressing the rest while they were bickering.
"We're heading back to camp." she declared, as she turned to the two YoRHa.
"You two, we'll talk once we get there." out here in the open with so many people and dangers it made no sense.
And she wanted to avoid watchful eyes as much as possible.
Both machines and not.
Because certain matters and things were just between her and her group, no one else.
They weren't there, so they wouldn't understand.
Immediately as they started heading back, her friends held themselves close to her, though she could see both Dahlia and Anemone still keeping a wary eye on the two YoRHa, they had always been the two most suspicious after all.
Back then it had been them pointing weapons first too.
Certain things didn't change, as apparently it didn't change the face of Number 2 units either.
"What do we do now?" Margaret asked, sparing a quick glance to the female YoRHa.
"We keep an eye on them, and find out as much as we can as to what they want. I don't want to be suspicious of them, but I am suspicious of who leads them." Rose declared in a low voice, so only they could hear.
"After all, we wouldn't blame them either, for the orders they had, wouldn't we?"
They never blamed Number 2 nor anyone else of the other three, they couldn't, and they wouldn't. It wasn't their fault that their Commander had meant to use them as sacrifices so they could proceed in their mission.
Hadn't it been why they had been spared from death after all?
So if anything, for the sake of these two other models, Rose wanted to hope it was just a similar case.
That somehow they could still collaborate.
They still needed all the help they could get, and they knew well how much just a single YoRHa could contribute and turn things around, even when there was little hope.
They were rather special.
True to their word, those two were actually being helpful, carrying part of the supplies themselves. Yet another similarity.
Rose remembered how effortlessly even Number 21, supposedly the weakest of the four, used to be able to carry more bags than any person of their little Resistance group could. Just how the ones of this new group were praising these two for being so strong.
She couldn't help but stare at this other Number 2 when she stood nearby.
"Number 2… Type B…" she let her name pass through her lips.
If it were the one they knew, it would be Type A.
She had introduced herself as Attacker Number 2, and the others as Attacker Number 4, Gunner Number 16, and Scanner Number 21.
None matched.
Only the number of what she now assumed being a new Number 2 model, and his saying, the model of the boy, a Scanner, like Number 21, but of a different number.
The similarities ended there for now.
Still, looking at her wasn't easy on their eyes, and much less on their minds.
Again it felt like some kind of mockery.
They waited for the gates of the camp to open as soon as she whistled, before turning again to those two.
"Welcome to the Resistance's Camp." a formality.
But if they were to help them, then it wouldn't be so bad if they had a place to stay.
She wasn't going to be so evil, after all, they saved them from an almost certain death, or at least more certain losses.
There had to be a reason why, no?
Immediately as they entered, people began swarming and getting acquainted with the two newcomers, not that they would blame them, they too used to be, other than careful, curious about those mysterious girls in black.
Rightfully so.
And some of them had gotten closer to some of them than ever expected.
But that didn't change anything…
Perhaps it was time to find out more about these two, and maybe give them an apology for the way she acted.
She had apologized back then too.
"You two from YoRHa, can I have a moment?" Rose had them follow her to the inner part of the camp, where her desk sat.
Though they were alone, she could see the rest of her little group sitting close by.
Probably just wanting to listen and to know more as well.
"Sorry for pointing our guns at you earlier. My name is Rose. I lead the android Resistance in this area."
More like after finding out her knowledge and expertise in leading a group, and her former status of Captain, though her friends still used the honorific, these people pretty much elected her as their leader.
Someone that could give them a direction to follow, at least.
"First of all, let me thank you for helping us out." she wasn't going to be so ungrateful.
"Helping the Resistance is one of our missions. No need for thanks." so very formal, this Number 2 was.
The one they met was so cheerful, positive and full of energy and emotion.
"Now, now, let's just be grateful for their gratitude." speaking of cheerful, the boy here certainly was.
Or seemed to be.
"Rose-san, I'm YoRHa unit 9S, and she's 2B. And those floating around us are our Pods, tactical support units. Nice to meet you."
Perhaps she'd been staring at 2B too much, losing herself in thought as he explained, and she noticed.
"There's something wrong?" the woman asked, but the boy, 9S, seemed to pick up more of it.
"Oh? Perhaps you know 2B?" had she truly been looking so hard?
How embarrassing.
She hadn't meant to, but it was hard not to.
"No. I don't."
"Leader." she hadn't been more thankful to have Jackass around than right in this moment. At least it got her out of a potentially uneasy situation.
"I heard you got assaulted. I'm glad you're okay." yes, they were.
Even for as curious and hyper she could be, Jackass had many aces up her sleeves, and was good to have her around.
Immediately she began introducing her to the two YoRHa, watching her fuss over them, before reminding her that she claimed to want to speak to her because she had something to report.
Said report said that there was a new phenomenon going on between the machines of the desert, finding out that the two YoRHa were here to do the exact same thing.
So them coming to their rescue had just been a lucky coincidence.
Still, they were asking to entrust them to investigate it.
She… wasn't really willing to send these two people they just met to do something so dangerous, the last time they saw YoRHas for a mission it ended with them dying… they had just been thinking about how if they were going to meet more of them, that they wouldn't have a repeat…
It was the Resistance's duty, but they were asking for it too…
What should she do?
Should she accept?
Maybe she was being too cautious due to their past…
"It'll be fine. If they want to help us recon, then let them help." Jackass wasn't wrong either.
Rose sighed.
"All right… but do be careful."
And she meant all of them.
Lowkey she did want to see these two again, maybe it was just a matter of settling some kind of score with the past, but still…
Watching them leave, she joined her friends sitting in the area of the jukebox, they were listening to some kind of slow music, kind of sad and sorrowful, in a way it matched their feelings.
"So… can we trust them?" Anemone asked, she, who wouldn't trust so easily.
"I'm not sure yet, for their sake I hope so…"
The air around them was heavy. They were happy to have been saved, but having YoRHa around again brought back unpleasant feelings.
Not that they didn't want to remember, but memories hurt…
Both happy ones, and the ones that weren't.
This was useless, but…
"Everyone… we're still fighting."
They couldn't hear them, but maybe, hopefully, they were watching down on them.
Wherever they were…
After all, seeing them here, still alive, was what they would have wanted.