she had spent days, weeks, months, after her death just....wandering aimlessly in a state of shock as a spirit. she hadn't even known who she was, what she stood for, who her family was or her friends. losing herself, it had always....it had always been an art she excelled at, but that time, she hadn't wanted to forget herself. she had just wanted her. it was always her, everywhere ev went, everyone ev saw, it was nothing but thoughts of the one who had made her life complete and forced her to focus for once in her life. because all throughout the rest of her life, she had been just like this, a shell, a ghost, a wanderer and a loner. aly - it hurt to think the name - had made her become real. she wasn't just a figment of imagination that could be dispelled by a mere thought.

back when sayaka had control over her, it had been aly that reached down and found the scared little girl named ev that was hiding inside the demoness possessing her, and brought her to light, brought ev back to the land of the living. brought evergreen back to herself.

it was time to do the same for aly, ev thought to herself as she left the bunker she called home. she could feel her wife's soul, she had always been able to feel it, and know that aly was alive. it didn't take long for the pull of her spouse's soul to lead her....to the place she hadn't been expecting. it was the labs. the hope inside her dwindled and then reignited as she realized that she could shapeshift into a human. she could save aly. she would save aly. it was mandatory.

she followed the tug, shifting into the uniform that everyone else seemed to be wearing, donning a badge and making shoes manifest onto her feet. a blank face was added, and a nod to each person who passed by, as if it were a normal occurrence for her to be here. all the while, the screaming inside her head was getting louder and louder, bordering on deafening. she was finally going to see her wife again, oh goddess.

she pushed open the door with an air of authority, confidence and steel glinting in her blue gaze. "aly? where are you? i've come to get you!" came her voice, echoing in the other's mind through telepathy. "just tell me where you are! i'll get you out!"

everything had been black and white before, but now it was bursting into color at the sound of the other's voice. she was led forward towards a door, her wife's soul tugging at her. the whirlwind of emotions raged around her heart: joy, anxiety, fear, confusion. was this where aly had been the whole time? was she okay? was she hurt?

ev carefully picked the lock without a sound, her hands pushing the door open and stepping inside. aly was on the floor of a very small space, her claws having gouged into the floor and walls. she was. . . completely metal. this wasn't the body ev had grown up with, the one she had fallen in love with, the one she had married, but it was still beautiful because it was aly. it was HER. she was quiet as she stooped down to pick up the other, gently, and began to back out of the room. "come on baby, let's get you out of here," ev whispered to the being in her arms. 

she held herself with an air of icy confidence, her face frozen into a hard mask. no one dared to stop her as she left the facility carrying her robotic wife, no one even questioned her. and for that, she was glad, because she would have ripped someone to pieces.