The ancient elevator creaked and groaned as it descended down the long shaft. Inside, a small android rocked back and forth impatiently as it shuddered to a stop deep beneath the earth. He sighed dreamily as the doors slid open and flooded the small room with soft, white light and a faint, sweet scent of a thousand flowers.

9S stepped out into the cavern and carefully inspected the room. It had only been a week since he was last there, but he could never be too careful when caring for a place filled with such precious memories. His eyes flicked around every corner, every flower, until he released his tension and sighed.

The scanner's gaze drifted to the lone, wooden stake standing in the center of the cave. He tiptoed through the field to reach it; taking great care not to damage even one of the delicate flowers.

The black cloth tied to the post fluttered faintly as 9S sat down beside it. He took the visor delicately in his hand and gently ran it though his fingers, mapping every stitch, seam, and blemish in his mind once again.

“Hey... I'm back.” 9S said quietly. “And I brought you a present!” He reached into his bag and pulled out a sparkling rock no bigger than a grape and placed it on the soft ground next to a variety of other small trinkets. They ranged from a giant acorn, to an ancient necklace, to a sachet filled with a collection of dried flowers.

“I'm not quite sure what kind of offerings spirits or whatever like.” He chuckled nervously. “But I'll be sure to keep bringing different things and hope I find something you like.”

His voice softened to barely above a whisper. “I just wanted to say thank you, for everything. I don't know if you can hear me, or if you're even there, but... you've brought me so much happiness, that I don't know what else to do besides this.”

9S leaned his head up against the stake and sighed. He closed his eyes and prayed to whoever, or whatever might be listening.

Behind him, the sound of the elevator caught his attention and he turned just in time to see the doors slide open.

“2B!” He smiled and turned to face his one and only love.

“Nines, I was wondering where you went.” She said as she made her way over to him. “You just vanished and I got worried, is everything all right?”

“Yeah, everything's fine. I just...” He turned back to the small memorial. “I know this seems silly, but I try to come here at least once a week to give my thanks to the lunar tears.” He chuckled softly and ran his fingers across the small offerings resting in the dirt. 2B tilted her head in mild confusion but stayed silent as she waited for him to continue.

“Remember the time Emil told us that lunar tears can grant the wish of anyone lucky enough to see them? I thought it was just an old legend, but... when I lost you, I was...” His voice dimmed and he gave the visor a light tug. “I was so alone... and so lost. I... felt myself drawn to this place and found myself coming back here day after day to beg them to bring you back to me.

“And...” He paused again, waiting for the right words to form. He could hear a faint rustling of fabric, then felt a dreamy warmth cover his entire back as 2B wrapped herself around him. Her arms slid under his and tenderly ran up and down his chest as he sighed and leaned into her. She rested her chin on his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek with hers and hummed softly.

“They listened to me. They brought you back to me... I mean... I know they really didn't and that there's some logical explanation for whatever the pods did to revive us. But like...” He could feel the tears form in his eyes as his emotions started to overwhelm. “I... it's just nice... to imagine that there's someone, or something out there that is watching over me and they did what they could to bring us back together again.”

His voice started to waver and a single tear rolled down his cheek. 2B quickly kissed it away before sliding her lips upward to wick away the next tear that was forming in the corner of his eye.

“So you come back here every week to give thanks to whatever it was that listened to your pleas.”

“Mmm...” He nodded. “I just want them to know how thankful I am. Waking up and seeing you alive and crying over me was just the happiest moment of my life. It was as if... everything bad that happened in those previous few months just washed away when you called me Nines.”

“Nines.” She whispered. 9S sighed and leaned further into her.

“Mmm... Just like that.”

“Nines.” She whispered again, and smiled.

“2B.”

“Nines.”

“2B?”

“Nines?”

“Thank you... for everything. These past few months after our revival... have been pure light for me. Everything you do, everything you've done, has just been pure bliss.

“Haha... sometimes I worry this is all a dream... but I know it's not. It's real, and it's better than any dreams I've dreamt of you.” He took her hand in his and brought them up to his face and kissed her fingers lightly.

“You were never this warm in my dreams. Never this close. Never this gentle.” His shoulders shook and he shifted himself around in her arms and buried his face in her chest. She brought her hands up and weaved them through his hair and massaged his head. “Thank you.” He whispered. “Thank you.”

“Nines.” She breathed. “I'm the one who should be thanking you. After everything I've done to hurt you, after everything I've taken from you, you still care about me so much. You forgave me so quickly, when I can't even... do that for myself...” She sighed and nuzzled her face into his hair.

“Even when you learned the truth about me, you still prayed to these flowers to bring me back. And now... it's all over. The war is over and I can finally be as gentle and kind to you as I've always wanted. I'm free. We both are. It's over. It's finally over.” She let out a weak laugh and squeezed him harder.

“2B...” He leaned upward and lightly kissed her on the chin. “I hope one day you can forgive yourself. You and I both know you wouldn't have done any of that to me if you had a choice.”

“I know but... I always think back and think of what I could have done better.”

“I do too... for me. I just wish... one of the past mes could have figured out how much this hurt you before I dug too far. I would have stopped in an instant if I had known.”

“I know.” She breathed. “I know. It's ok Nines... we have all the time in the world to make it up to each other.”

“Yeah... we do.” They both went silent and simply held each other in their arms for the next unknown time. 9S pressed his ear close to her chest and listened to the faint hum of her black box and breathed in the sweet scent of rust, grease, and flowers that always clung to her clothes. That strange mix of scents might have been off putting to anyone else, but to 9S, that smell was distinctly her. It belonged to her and it always put his mind at ease whenever he breathed it in.

He nuzzled her again and the glint of his pod's metal exterior caught his eye.

“Pod 153. Come here.” He extended his arm out and his pod floated silently over. He pulled it in and held it between them, shivering at first as the cold metal seeped into them, but relaxing soon as their body heat warmed it back up. 2B beckoned her pod over too, and soon they both were sandwiched between the two androids.

“Query: why are you doing this?” Pod 153 asked. “We tactical support units do not understand the purpose of this activity when we are unable to feel the physical effects of the hug.”

“I just wanted to thank you too, Pods.” He hummed. “You broke free of your programming to save us. You risked your lives for us when you had no reason to. And now we're all here together in this beautiful room. The hug is just one way we show gratitude to the ones that have done things for us.”

“We do not understand how or why we began to develop care for Units 2B, 9S, and A2 beyond what our programming told us to, but we are... 'appreciative' of your gratitude. We do not yet fully understand the full range of emotions that androids are capable of, but Pod 042 and myself have both agreed that we are... 'happy' to be your tactical support units.”

“We're happy you're here too, Pods.” 2B smiled. “You're just as much to thank as these flowers, or the spirits, or whatever they are.”

“Again, we are 'appreciative' of your gratitude.” Pod 042 chimed in.

2B and 9S smiled and snuggled in a bit more. The hard, angular exterior of their pods wasn't exactly comfortable, but the pods deserved some love too, even if they didn't quite understand it yet.

“Nines?” 2B asked as she leaned back to release the pods as they began to overheat.

“Hm?” He responded as the pods resumed their careful watch of their androids from above.

“Next time you come here, will you bring me too?” Her voice was soft and gentle. “I wanna show my thanks to the flowers too.”

“Of course! I mean... I would have a long time ago, but to be completely honest, I was a little embarrassed about doing this since it was so... illogical.”

“I think it's sweet.” She sighed. “And besides, you know how cute you look when you get embarrassed.”

“Twoo Beeee...” He could feel his face get red and quickly buried it in her shirt.

“Just like that.” She laughed softly and tussled his hair.

“Heh... I love you.”

“I love you too. So, so much.” 2B yawned before standing up and stretching out her synthetic muscles. 9S started to stand up as well but before he knew it, 2B had scooped him up in her arms and held him close.

“We've had a long day, I think we deserve a nap.” She carefully navigated them through the flowers to the small bed that lay waiting for them.

“We only woke up three hours ago.”

“Such a long, rough day.” 2B repeated and nuzzled his nose with hers. She set him gently on the mattress and crawled in beside him, wrapping her arm around him protectively. He rolled on his side and did the same for her and began playing with her hair with his free hand.

It wasn't long before he felt his eyelids grow heavy as the soft light of the room and his partner's gentle embrace lulled him to sleep. He buried his face in her chest and breathed in her sweet scent once again.

“Heh... goodnight 2B.” He mumbled dreamily.

“Goodnight Nines.” She whispered back just before his senses went dark and sleep claimed him once more.

Before, he was alone. He was afraid. Everything was crashing down around him as every bit of hope he had left quickly vanished. 2B, the only one that mattered to him in this cruel, chaotic world, had slipped from his grasp and was supposed to be gone forever. But something, someone out there listened to his pleas and brought her back to his waiting arms. And for as long as he continues to walk this earth, he's going to make sure that whatever it was knows just how much their deed meant to him.