Mable: Here we are with a request fic for Skylar the Elf Owl; sorry for the delay on this and I hope you like it! I don't own 9, Enjoy!

These Changing Moments

The moment when realization set in. The moment when his breathing regulated and he finally managed to realize what had just happened was real. Five stood at the edge of the cliff and stared down into the depth of the ravine. Slowly Six sunk in his arms before sliding to the ground at his feet. He was in shock too, along with the other Stitchpunks. After all, it had been a sudden epiphany of Six's that warned them of the Machine still being active, and of it planning to come after them. He had only barely managed to stop Five from leaving the immediate area, which most likely would leave him out in the open.

After that point everything was a rush of running for their lives, forcing themselves over a bridge, a blur of cries and horror, and finally ending with the Machine trapped in the fallen bridge. It was the only thing that kept it from falling as it no longer was active. Whatever Nine had done with Talisman, which he had pulled off the Fabrication Machine, pulled the green light from the Machine that it had pulled from Two and Eight. Now he held it in his hands and stood nearby, staring down into the depth far below. The twins dared to come closer to the edge, but Seven quickly blocked them.

"Don't go too close… The Ground might give." They seemed still curious but nodded in agreement. Nine, meanwhile, looked down at the Talisman in his hands. "This… This was the light that came out of Two and Eight… It's in here." He looked towards the others questioningly, "Do you think there's a chance that… Maybe we can bring them back with this?" Silence covered the group and oddly enough One responded, "Perhaps…" He seemed to be oddly dismal since the incident even started and glanced down to check the Machine again; it still didn't move.

"We… We need to find shelter. We should return to the Library." Nine was surprised by this admission and looked to Seven who looked equally shocked. He then looked to Five who gave a bit of a shrug before bending over. "Come on, Six." He began to pull him to his feet but Six seemed to still be in a state of shock. He had a constant look of partial surprise and partial nothingness on his face, staring forward with his lips slightly parted and his optics aimed downwards. It was a disturbing sight, but Five insistently rubbed at his shoulders in a brotherly manner, "It's finally over."

Three noticed the look on Six's face and felt a tinge of concern, nudging her twin and gesturing over for her to see. Four was concerned as well, but no doubt not as much as Three was. Both cared for Six; Four like a brother and Three a bit more so. However, those feelings were set aside at the moment for worry, which Three and Four both felt. Though before they could dwell on it One was starting away from the trench, "Does anyone know the way back?" The one eyed male perked and Nine smiled a bit, "I'm pretty sure Five does."

Honestly he still partially remembered too, but he thought that maybe Five would remember better. It gave the Healer something to do at least and he started to guide the way. "I think… I think it's back this way. I don't have the map on me, but I remember well enough." He began to head along the way and guided the rest back to the Library. Six still acted hesitant and so now the twins were the ones to step in. Three took Six's left hand and Four took his right, both sweetly smiling and guiding him along. After all, they both still saw Six as a hero for his warning, even if he still seemed so hesitant now.

It took a good while to get back to the Library. When they did, however, there was immediate relief. The group dragged themselves in before Nine exhaled, "We should… We should go after Two first." He noticed Five's head snap over and diverted his optics away, "We've got the light safe, so if we get his body back…" Now One interrupted, "His body is probably halfway in the sewers by now." Nine was about to argue when One finished with, "I will come with you." It surprised Nine that the male was doing so considering his relationship with Two and stared before smiling a little.

"Alright. Seven, are you coming too?" Usually the last thing Seven would want was to go anywhere with One, but she knew that she was needed and nodded. She turned back to the twins, "Why don't you two stay back here? It's… It's been a long day." The two females didn't argue, as they usually didn't when Seven made a suggestion, and it was just mutually understood that Six wasn't coming in this state. Five, however, started to follow as the three began to head into the back. He didn't expect when he was faced by Nine and given a different task.

"Five, you can stay here. The twins, Six, they need someone right now." It baffled Five and he sputtered, "But… Wait, Nine, no. I-I can start healing Two immediately if I come. I've got all of my supplies right here." He reached for the quiver to show when Nine stopped him by laying a hand on his shoulder firmly, "Five." He voiced, making his light voice unnaturally firm, "You'll see Two and you'll want to help him, I know you, but we'll have to get him back here before we can work on him and… You don't need to see him like that again." He then handed over the Talisman, "Keep this safe until we get back."

Part of Five was ready to protest and yet he stayed quiet. Mostly because another part of him was dreading seeing his mentor again in this state. It was terrifying enough the first time. He held the Talisman close and nodded. Nine gave a warm smile before One drew him to attention. "Let's make haste… Unlike Eight's body which is in a set location, Two's could be currently moving deeper even as we speak, and the sewers are crawling with rats." He spoke with a clear shiver in his voice, "If there is one thing and only one thing I absolutely loathe in this world it is rats."

Seven lightened the mood with a quick, "Oh, I think a few of us remember your last run in with a rat, and the shriek that came after." She joked and One scoffed a bit before turning and starting towards the back. She soon followed and Nine lingered before going along as well. Five watched them leave with a mix of emotions. He was both relived and anxious at the same time. He exhaled and reached back to push the Talisman into his quiver before turning back to the remaining three. Six quietly sat on a book, clutching his key, while the twins stood nearby.

For a few seconds the four realized that they were simply stuck together in an awkward silence until the others returned. "Umm…" Five started, clasping his hands together and looking towards the others, "Maybe we should… Get some rest?" The twins gave skeptical looks and Four quirked an amused smile while Three tilted her head. Six looked to Five with a look of dread. "What?" The Healer asked curiously and the twins shook their heads with insistence. Following them, Six added in, "I can't sleep either… Too… Too awake." He voiced quietly before trailing off.

Five cleared his voice, "Oh, okay, umm… Maybe we should… Do something to take our mind off of this? I know that's probably hard to do…" Four perked and nodded vigorously before looking to Three and gesturing to Six. She whispered to her with the flickers of her optics and pointed out that maybe they could distract Six. Three perked as well and began to smile eagerly with a quick nod. They then continued to whisper and wonder about what to do while Five crossed over to Six's side, sitting down on the book beside him. "How are you holding up?" He offered quietly.

Six's brows furrowed briefly, "I… I don't know… I feel strange." He admitted this with clear confusion and Five gave a slight smile, "I'm… Sure you are. It's been a long day." It was now that the twins crossed over with concern lacing their optics. Four sat down beside Six curiously while Three kept her distance, hesitant to make any sort of move from shyness. "Five… Three, Four…" Six started quietly, looking to them with desperation in his optics, "Do you think… That it's my fault? That I could've saved Two and Eight too?" He seemed disturbed by the idea and yet didn't know why.

Certainly Six had a lot of feelings. Those strange tugs and nudges that suggested that something was occurring or that he had seen something before in his nightmares. Yet over time Six had learned not to trust these visions; he wasn't ever certain whether they were real warnings or cruel tricks on his mind. Yet now it had been one of those visions that had managed to secure Five and his own safety. He decided on not telling the others that his life had been in danger too, it simply wasn't worth it. Yet the three all looked horrified by his words and he was actually a bit confused, "Do you?"

Three felt boldness well into her chest and she decided to do something. She reached her hands forward and took Six's own with hers. The striped male jumped a bit, not used to having his hands directly touched, and looked to her in surprise as she squeezed it between her hands. She gave him a firm look of reassurance and shook her head. While she couldn't speak her face gave enough of what she wanted to say and the Artist looked to her with surprise and perhaps a bit of relief. She gave him a small and sympathetic smile following it to punctuate her silent point.

"Six, you don't really think that, do you?" Five asked quietly. "You… You saved my life! You shouldn't think for a second that it was your fault that what happened did happen! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here, Three and Four wouldn't be here, the Machine wouldn't be gone and we wouldn't have a chance!" He reassured the striped male, shaking him lightly with the hand resting upon him, "Nobody thinks that you let anything happen… And you know what? Two and Eight aren't going to either. You'll see, when they get back they're just going to be happy that we're all okay, and then we'll be a family again."

The twins looked to him and smiled at the comment. Four nodded and Six got a bit of a smile, "You really think they'll come back?" Surprisingly enough, or at least to Three, Six looked to her as though to confirm the comment. She quickly nodded in sync with her twin and he looked back to Five who briefly continued, "Now all we have to do is just wait until they get back… So what do you guys want to do?" Now things were finally relieved a bit and the twins fumbled thoughtfully before coming with their own solution. Three pulled her hands back and covered her face while Four mock counted with her fingers.

"Hide and seek?" Five deduced and smiled at the idea. "That's a good idea. Let's go with that." He started to take his quiver off and set it aside, "I'll seek first and you two can hide. How about… The quiver is base." He tapped on the quiver, "Whoever gets back here is safe. If I find someone they can either sit out or come after the others with me. We'll decided that then." He smiled to the group and turned around, "Alright. Hurry and go hide." Four looked to Three, Three looked to Six before grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet, and then the three hurried off towards the back of the Library.

Once inside the study, the twins continued to hurry ahead while Six hesitated at the large book. He watched as the two disappeared into separate cubbies before looking around and spotting the large book. He started trying to climb behind it, tangling himself slightly in the cords they had trailing around it before huddling behind it. Five could be heard counting from some ways away before calling out, "I'm coming to seek!" The three waited in the darkened study, the twins peering out from the cubbies they were in and soon noticed that Five appeared in the entrance.

His footsteps echoed as he headed inside, highly suspecting that the others had hidden in here. Six could hear him wandering around and pulled back, tugging at some of the strings and causing something somewhere to squeak. Five immediately noticed the noise and began to look around, searching for the source of the noise. Slowly he started towards the large book before calling out, "Olly olly oxen free!" He playfully cried out to rattle them. Six was the only one that was actually rattled and naturally feared that Five had found him. He leapt forward to rush off, hoping to outrun Five.

Unfortunately the strings became a problem again as his foot caught on one and he plummeted to the hard flooring. He smacked straight into it and was clearly loud enough that Five hurried over and looked down at the striped male, "Are you alright?!" The smaller groaned and suddenly the sound of footsteps could be heard as one of the twins, Four, made a break for it and took out of the study. Five hurried to help Six to his feet before inching away. "Are you okay?" Six nodded quickly and spoke, "Go after her. I'll go for… For Three." Six murmured, suddenly noting that Three was the Stitchpunk remaining.

"Alright!" Five smiled back before running off. The Artist paused before looking back to the cubby. "Three?" He asked quietly, slowly approaching the multiple cubbies. "Three, are you… Still there?" Naturally Three was as he knew Four had ran out from the cubby she dashed out of. Six edged in closer before suddenly Three zoomed out as fast as she could. He was almost shocked by how fast she was and scrambled. "Wait! I'm not going to tag you!" He practically pleaded and she halted before looking back to him, though didn't get close just yet.

"Umm…" Six suddenly seemed to grow quiet and clutched his key anxiously, "I want to thank you for earlier." Three seemed surprised and quickly flickered a projection of Five's number onto the floor. She pointed to it insistently and Six's smile began to immerge again, though was quite small and shy, "Five helped too, but… But you never really, you never did that before. Nobody really has." He stumbled out in a confusing was before rubbing at the hand that she had taken into her own. The female felt a light blush of green settle on her cheeks and gave him a thankful nod, adjusting her hood.

"I wanted to just… To just…" Six started but failed. He had never been good with his words, mostly because he kept frequently to himself. Even the interactions with the twins were usually silent even though they were friendly, but now he had more he wanted her to know how thankful he was, how precisely her comfort had made him feel. Finally he made a decision and his smile dropped as his hands returned to his key to clutch to it. Three curiously tilted her head at his change of behavior and waited for him to do something.

Slowly Six leaned forward towards the female, his mismatched optics slipping closed, and pressed his lips against hers. She silently gasped against his mouth, but didn't pull back from it. She had read enough books to know what kisses were and what they meant. Once she managed to get her mind back to thinking straight she eagerly kissed back, pressing back again his lips with pure pleasure. A few more seconds inched by before Six pulled back to judge her reaction, the small smile returning to his lips. She eagerly smiled back before leaning forward to join their lips again.

Four attempted to scurry away from the study and managed to get into a few stacks of books before stopping and looking around frantically. She knew that Five and Six would be after her next and knew she needed a new place to hide. Desperately she huddled behind one of the stacks and peered around as she heard a quick dash of footsteps before silence. It had sounded like Five had rushed out and then stopped all of a sudden. The Librarian peered around and wondered why Three hadn't followed. No doubt her hiding place was obvious now.

Four crept out and looked towards the study before turning to look towards the pool, wondering if there was a better place to hide over in that direction. Yet just before she could she suddenly heard a rush of footsteps behind her. Before she could even look back there were arms around her waist from her back, lifting her playfully and swinging her slightly in the grasp. Four gasped in surprise before writhing playfully, trying to get free of the arms that she knew belonged to Five. His warm voice broke into a chuckle, "Got you!" After his joking comment he set the female down with a smile.

Four promptly gave him a pouting frown and crossed her arms. "Looks like you're on my side now." He continued with amusement, deciding not to remind her that she had a choice not to, and her frown cracked into a smile. She nodded and he dared to ask, "…But you're not going to tell me where she is, are you?" Four now had a mischievous smile form and shook her head. "That's alright. I think I have a good idea." He retorted and beckoned her as he started to head back to the study. Four followed beside him and wondered if Three had already been found by Six.

Both Stitchpunks obliviously walked right in on the scene between Six and Three. Both were taken aback by the moment while the two innocently kissing Stitchpunks took a short while before noticing their watchers. Both pulled back anxiously, Six clutching his key and Three anxiously clasping her hands together. The awkward mood was obvious as Five simply stared in surprise while Four recovered enough to silently giggle, her optics flickering in delight at the situation. She came forward to the two with a wide smile and her twin was practically mortified by it.

Four took Three's hand and squeezed it lovingly, then reached out and insistently took Six's wrist with her other, pulling it from the key. She gleefully brought them together and secured the hands together. Then she turned and hurried over towards Five once more. The Librarian turned him around before pushing on his back to guide him out. The Healer didn't ask and simply followed the direction out of the study, leaving Three and Six alone again. The two were now really confused, but eventually Six started to chuckle a little. "That was strange…" Three looked to him with her own silent laughter and nodded.

Back with the other two, Five and Four returned back to Five's quiver. The male sat back down on the book, "So… I guess the game's over then." He pointed out, still in almost a disbelief. Four was still quite content with seeing her sister finally show affection to the male she admired. "Six and Three… I didn't really expect that." He admitted and the smaller nodded before shrugging as well. The one eyed male started to smile again before reaching over and lifting the Talisman in his grasp. "…The others are taking a while." He started to grow a little worried and the shorter female felt her smile drop.

Naturally she had accepted that eventually they would have to remember what happened earlier. They would be drawn back to reality as soon as the others returned. Five would be working on Two, they would go look for Eight, and they would have to deal with everything that happened. Part of Four wasn't ready for that. She paused for a few seconds before making a move, reaching out and laying a hand on the Talisman. Five looked to her and she rewarded him with a smile before taking the circular object out of his hands. She set it to the side before standing and taking his hand like Three had with Six.

Five must have noticed as his optic dropped to their hands and then to her face once or twice. Four tugged him until he stood and this nudged him before covering her face, her optics flickering as she started to count. The Healer caught on and patted her shoulder, "Thanks." He simply said before starting off to hide again. Relief passed through Four's being as the game started again. Maybe it wasn't an outcome like Three and Six had, but it was enough, and she was going to enjoy the continuation of the game.

Who knew how long it would be until the others got back. Perhaps she would have just enough time to find him again.

FIN

Mable: It's very late at the moment so I'm going to leave this Author's Note short and be off to bed. I actually considered leaving the first part with One, Seven, and Nine out but decided against it, considering the material. I'm hoping it still turned out fine with that extra portion and I hope everyone enjoyed!