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"Sometimes..." Firefly stared at her with a sort of intense fondness you'd only see in movies. Of a longing lover who yearned for you more than you could ever know. Perhaps more than one ever should. "I think that you're too good for this world."
Robin stared back and smiled softly, moreso for Firefly's comfort than her own. "How so?"
"You've seen it before..." The girl turned to face the setting in front of them. The orange-colored dusk reflected off of her face, contrasting her soft, dawnlight-filled eyes. "All the horrible things that happen in this world. All the horrible things humans can do... and yet-" She breathed in deeply, and spoke in a tone Robin had never heard from her before. "You keep believing. You keep believing in this world and these people that live in it, even if they don't deserve it. And I don't know if they ever will deserve it… including me."
Robin blinked, biting her lip in the process. "You don't think... you deserve me?" Parts of her wanted to reach out and hold her, to tell her that's not true and that it'd always been her choice to be with her. Or how, sometimes, when she would get caught up in her own imagination, she dreamt of running away together to live the peaceful, normal life that the veteran had always wanted. But that couldn’t happen yet when there was still work to be done, she knew that. And so, Robin waits patiently for Firefly to continue.
"No..." Firefly chuckles softly. If anything, it was out of pity for herself. "I never have, and I don't know if I ever will."
Robin teared up and took hold of her hand. "My love..."
Firefly reciprocated the caring motion, and looked back at her. She spoke carefully. "I've... never thought of myself as a good person. I've given up on wanting to be one a long time ago, and I stopped caring about what other people think of me. But you..." Robin could see her lover's eyes start to glisten and her voice become slightly broken. "You make me want to be one... I see all the good things you do, all the kindness you share. You were born with it, that intrinsic kindness that's intoxicating... It makes me want to be good for you. I care about what you think of me and it makes me want you to see me as a good person, but I know I can never be one..."
"Who said that you couldn't?" Robin cradled Firefly's face in the palm of her hand, and she unconsciously nuzzled back. "I believe you can, as I always have. My belief in others goes the same with you, and I've never thought of you as a bad person."
"I've killed too many before I met you."
"Do I have to love the sin to love the sinner?"
"No... but–"
"My wings must've made you mistake me for an angel, my dear." She placed a chaste kiss on her lover's lips to silence any protest. "I don't care about what you've done. All I care about is the person you are now. This you, the one who's made all those mistakes, makes the woman I love today…” She lifted Firefly's scarred hand up to her cheek, intertwining their fingers together. “And, as cruel as this may sound, it would be worth living through absolutely any tragedy if that meant I could love you one more time."
Every retort, rebuttal, and desperate effort to prove her guilt died in the veteran's throat.
"Do you really think I've never loved anyone who has killed before…? I do. They're two of the most important people in my life right now." Robin tilted her sweetheart's chin up slightly and pressed their foreheads together — so she could look into the eyes that made her fall into the abyss of love in the first place. "...And if loving you is a curse — a sin — then any Aeon can clip my wings right now and take them from me as long as that means I get to keep you in my life.”
Firefly looked away, hesitance obvious in her eyes. “…Do you really wish for that? To love a killer for the rest of your life, no matter what it brings you?” The blood on her hands was too great of a burden for anyone to bear but herself. But the notion of sharing each other’s pain, to love each other unconditionally, and to be together until the end of their lives?
It sounded terrifying, but the temptation was so, so sweet. Firefly had already gotten that taste of what it truly was like to be loved by Robin, and she had already fallen so far into the endless depths of her love that she wanted to simply keep clinging on until the end of time. But Robin, wanting just the same? It sounded like no more than a passing sweet dream.
Robin smiled at her, looking at her as if she was a culmination of everything of what was right and wrong with this world, and yet choosing to love it all anyways. “This world is far from perfect, my dear. It’s unwavering in its cruelty, and yet blesses us with the most beautiful sights and experiences one could ever hope for.” Firefly couldn’t help but shudder under the idol’s touch, slowly starting to caress her waist. “You, my sweet little bug, are one of those experiences that make living in this world worth it. But, with the way you talk about this… it makes me wonder if you feel the same way. Do you perhaps… regret loving me?”
An irrational flame burned within Firefly’s heart at those words. ”…I could never regret loving you.” She had to destroy those thoughts of doubt from Robin’s mind immediately, like another one of her targets. “Every time I dare to even dream about my life as a normal person, you’re always right there beside me. You’re there when I wake up, you’re there when I come home, and you’re there when I take my last breath….” Firefly had closed her eyes without thinking, so she couldn’t see how red Robin’s face had become, or how wide her eyes had gotten as she kept speaking. “I’m not afraid of death, I never have been. I’m not afraid of going to Hell. But… What I am afraid of now is having my time loving you come to an end. Not being able to feel the love I have for you, or not being able to lose myself in the love you give me is like… a nightmare I never want to come true.” She paused, piecing together her words perfectly as if they were a puzzle Robin needed the answer to.
"Even though I’ve been afraid of corrupting you, I… I’ve always been confident in how I feel for you. I want to devote my life, my dreams, to loving you and nothing else. I've sinned many times before, but… In this life, I want my love for you to be the last.”
“...Then, please…” Robin’s sniffles and choked up voice made Firefly realize there were tears running down her face. “Make our dreams a reality.”
The only gesture of comfort Firefly could muster was to kiss her tears away and say:
“I will.”