"Have yourself a merry, little Christmas…"

Chief scowled at the singer that crooned gentle carols from the speakers overhead. Shaking his head, he moved to the punch table, wondering how he got wrangled into a party at Commander Laskey's. He sipped the fruity punch and idly thought back to how he had gotten himself in this situation.

"Please, John?" Cortana begged, her slender hands grasping at his rough ones. Electric blue eyes stared pleadingly into his, her pretty mouth turned into a sweet smile.

John frowned down on his now human A.I. "You know I don't do parties. And I definitely don't do Christmas things." He protested, "Besides, we're too busy."

Cortana pursed her lips, her face deep in thought. After a brief moment, it lit up, a sly smile spreading across her round face. "If you come, I will never make you go to another party in your life!" She exclaimed triumphantly, her eyes sparkling at she looked back up at him.

His heart softened at her puppy-dog eyes, trying to fight the impulse to give in. Cortana had won too many battles already, but she had her heart set on the party. She had dragged him to all sorts of domestic things ever since she had become human, and he couldn't deny her the human pleasures. Could he?

"Last one." He relented. She gave a giant smile and reached up on the tip of her toes, her arms bringing Chief's head down to peck a warm kiss on his stubbled cheek. His heart, much to his annoyance, thumped faster in his chest, and his face grew warm.

"Thank you, John! I promise you'll have fun!" Cortana said happily, rushing off to her room in the small apartment they shared to fix herself up. Chief sighed and tuned away, back to the kitchen to pout himself a glass of vodka. Cortana stuck her head out of the door, her now long, black hair damp and dripping over the grey carpet.

"Wear the suit!" She ordered before ducking back inside to finish her shower.

Chief groaned. He grabbed an extra-large glass and the vodka. It was going to be a very long night.

Cortana glided over, her strapless red dress lightly trailing behind her as she stood next to Chief. She held out a cup of wine and took the half drunk glass of cherry punch from him.

"You look like you're at a funeral." She commented dryly, raising a dark brow. "Cheer up will you? It's not like you're gonna die or anything!" Chief said nothing, he only stared at her with miserable, grey eyes and adjusted his red tie that strangled his throat. Cortana sighed and took his large hand in her small one, guiding out of the spacious kitchen and onto the patio. "C'mon, John. Let me introduce you to Jason." She said, stopping in front of a handsome, blond man.

"Oh, hello. You must be the famous Master Chief. I'm Jason." The blond man exclaimed eagerly, shaking Chief's limp hand firmly. "I have heard so much about you!"

Chief immediately hated him.

Cortana knew that and quickly stepped in front of Jason, a warning look in her almond-shaped eyes. "John, this is the man who took me out on a date a couple of weeks ago. Remember?"

"Vividly." Chief grunted dangerously, eyeing Jason for his weak spots. Tension crackled in the air, Jason squirming under Chief's deadly gaze, and Cortana trying to smooth down the hostility.

The smell of cigars filled the night air, and a gruff, loud voce broke the tense silence.

"Long time no see, Master Chief!" Sergeant Johnson called cheerfully, raising his beer can in a greeting.

"Where did you get the beer? There's only wine and punch here." Cortana asked warily, moving a little farther away from the clearly drunk soldier.

Johnson hiccupped and then let out a booming laugh. "Ol' Laskey has a stash down in the (hic) basement. I saw it and thought, all that good beer and nobody's drinking it! So I took it!." The grizzled sergeant finished proudly, gulping down more of the potent alcohol. Cortana shook her head at Johnson and pulled Chief away from the crowd, and especially away from Jason. She took him out into the large garage, stopping in front of him.

She didn't look very happy.

Chief gulped.

"Please don't be a Spartan tonight. The war is over, there is no need for you to put up your walls anymore." Cortana stroked his cheek gently, her thumb moving softly over his rough skin. "Why don't you hang out with some of your Spartan friends? Palmer is here, I'm sure you'll get along fine with her." Cortana walked away, a teasing smile directed at him over her bare shoulder.

That went well, he thought, relieved. He moved off towards the brunette Spartan woman who stood talking to a couple of officers. She was wearing a red dress that reached to her knees, it had billowy long sleeves that fit nicely over her muscular arms. Palmer had her normal pulled back reddish-brown hair down and in soft curls that fell to her waist; silver eyeshadow glittered from behind her warm brown eyes. She turned to see Chief approaching, a tiny, slightly relived smile crossing her red lips.

"Master Chief, I see you were dragged here too?" She asked wryly.

"Yes, it was Cortana. She loves these things." Chief admitted with a sigh. "Who brought you here?" He asked awkwardly, both ex-Spartans not used to small talk.

"I came here with Lieutenant Parisa. She wanted some company, but she deserted me the second we came. So much for watching each others back." Palmer replied sourly, sending a glare towards a tiny woman with a black pixie haircut and olive skin.

Chief's heart nearly stopped beating when Palmer said Parisa's name. It had been so long since he had last seen her, and she hadn't even recognized her.

"Good to have you here, Master Chief. We need help coordinating the city's defenses." Lieutenant Parisa turned to face Chief, her thin lips set in a hard-line. "It's not looking good, the Covenant have almost breached Mombasa. We need more backup." She sighed and sat down in a hard chair in the dirty room, her face weary.

Chief moved over to examine the plans, just noticing Parisa pulling out a small photograph. Her face was wistful and terribly sad as she gazed at the picture on the photo. He scowled, stepping closer to reprimand Parisa for bringing personal objects onto the battlefield. Then he got a clear look at the two children that were on the photo, their happy faces frozen in innocent smiles.

There was one boy and one girl. The boy's messy, brown hair flopping in front of his mischievous, freckled face. He had a brilliant, toothy grin as he stared into the camera with sky blue eyes. The girl had black hair that was pulled into a disheveled ponytail, her equally blue eyes looking at the camera eagerly. Her pink, thin lips pulled into a bright grin. The bright sun shone down from the cloudless sky and a green-blue lake stretched over the valley in the background.

The boy was himself, younger and innocent. The girl was his best friend, and she sat in front of him in the destroyed hotel, staring at the happy scene.

"That me and John." Parsia told him quietly, pointing towards the girl. Chief just stared at the woman's sad face, his head whirling. She gave a tiny smile, "He saved me from drowning after that picture was taken. Said he would always protect me." She laughed, her eyes soft as she remembered the moment. "He promised he would marry me someday. That never happened. He died a year later, heart failure or something." A tiny tear rolled down her face as she looked back up into his blank, gold visor. "I can't move on, I can't forget him." She cried, the pressure of the grim situation at hand and the bittersweet memories from her childhood collapsing in on her.

He opened his dry, cracked lips. His heart breaking for the girl he had once know. Every fiber of his being wanted to pull the cursed helmet off and tell her that he was alive. That he would always protect her. A hot tear slid down his scarred cheek as he shut his mouth. He couldn't let her know he was alive, it would ruin them both. So he reined in his raging emotions and closed off his heart in icy walls. His face wiped clean into a blank, stoic expression.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said cooly, inside wanting to scream out that he was alive.

"Yeah, thanks." She said bitterly, standing to her feet an brushing off her armor. Her face hardened as she brushed by roughly. "Lets get to work." Parisa ordered and picked up her magnum, a steely look in her sky-blue eyes.

His heart shattered into a million pieces of broken glass.

"Chief? You still here?" Palmer asked loudly, lightly punching him in the arm.

"Yeah." He answered in a daze, walking towards Parisa who chatted amiably with the officers. He ran his thick fingers through his clipped, brown hair, smoothing his suit down and adjusting the bright red tie around his neck. He became very aware of the long, red scar down his jaw, and the healed gash stretching from his nose down to his chin. He wasn't the same boy she had met so long ago.

He stopped right beside Parisa, the officers noticing and moving off. The tiny woman turned to look up at him, a bright smile on her thin face.

"Hello, I am-" She began, but Chief cut her off gently.

"Skye Parisa. I'm John 117 of the Spartan-III program." He rushed, fighting down the bubble of joy that welled up in his chest.

"How did you know my name?" She asked cautiously, her eyes not recognizing him.

He didn't answer the question, "Yeah, you might know me better as Master Chief?" He offered, staring intensely at her for any recognition.

"Sounds familiar… Oh!" She exclaimed, "You were the Spartan that assisted me on Mombasa. It's a pleasure to see that you lived." Parisa shook his hand heartily, a pleased smile on her dark lips. He just took her in. The smell of her perfume, the tilt of her head, the way her hands fluttered around when she talked.

She had changed, but in a way, she hadn't.

"Well…it was nice to see you again. Now if you would excuse me…" She finished, turning to walk away.

Chief was not going to let her slip away again.

"Remember Lake Gustav?" He called after her.

She froze and faced him slowly, almost afraid to look at him. When he saw her face he saw suspicion, curiosity, anger, and hope too.

"How could you possibly know about that?" She whispered harshly, staying a fair distance away.

"Because I was there." He answered, stepping closer and taking her hand in his carefully.

She tensed and stared up angrily into his eyes. "You can't be my John. He was so-so." She couldn't finish.

"Innocent? Young?" Chief said bitterly, "war changes us, Skye. I was in many for too long."

"But-" She stared to cry, black mascara running down her round cheeks and staining her dark skin. Her hands traveled up his suit jacket, resting on his broad shoulders. "It can't be…after so many years."

"Its ok, " he murmured, leaning down, his dry lip hovering centimeters above hers, "I will always protect you." He finished softly, pressing his lips to hers in a tender, hungry kiss.

Her lips responded slowly but eagerly moved with his, passionately kissing his as hard as she could. His hands moved up to press against her slender back, winkling the tight, black dress. She stopped before him, her oxygen running out before his more efficient lungs did.

"You don't know how long I've wanted to do that." She mumbled, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down into another intense kiss. They were too wrapped up in their reunion to hear the gasp from the dark corner by them, and the swish of a red dress as Cortana fled from the scene.

Chief hummed happily to himself as he strolled through Laskey's small rose garden. Parisa, or Skye as he called her, was refilling her wine glass inside the mansion. His lips were swollen and warm from all the kisses the two had shared, and the warmth of finding her again melting his heart. The cold moonlight washed over his large frame, making the shadows deeper and darker. So he was taken by surprise when a body flew out of the shadows and began to pummel him in the chest, not even hurting a bit. His Spartan training didn't desert him, even in the whirl of emotions and alcohol, he grabbed the assailant's wrist tightly, feeling bone bend under his iron hold. Red tinged his vision and all of his emotions turned off as he went into battle mode, pinning the small person to the stone wall that surrounded the garden. The attacker's wrist snapped and he pinned her against the wall, his hands wrapped securely around her throat.

Wait, her?

He relaxed and stared in horror as Cortana collapsed onto the gravel path, her lips blue and swollen from lack of oxygen. Her delicate wrist was turning purple and hanging at an unnatural angle. Tears trickled from her broken, electric blue eyes as she stared despairingly up at the horrified Chief.

He crouched down, his eyes wide and filled with self loathing and unspoken apologies.

"Cortana, why would you do that?! You know-"

"I know that you can't stop yourself," she interrupted coldly, standing shakily to her feet. One of her red pumps were missing and her once beautiful, braided bun was falling on her dirt and tear-stained face. "I know you better than anybody, John. Don't you know that? I have been with you for years! I have fought and nearly died fighting for your life! Oh, wait, I did die for you. What do you do? Go and kiss some long-lost childhood crush who barely knows you now! Are you still going to protect me? I know I will never stop saving you." She was angry, her eyes flashing with hurt and red with old tears.

"I'm sorry…" He said, his voice wavering as he saw the damage he had done to her. Both physically and emotionally.

"Leave me alone." Cortana spat, limping off into the darkness, leaving a broken and confused man behind.

Chief sat on the bed, his red tie lying in a crumpled heap on the floor of his apartment. His face was buried in his hands as memories of Cortana and Skye filled his head in a confusing jumble.

"So you did miss me."

"You look nice."

"They let me pick. Did they ever tell you that? Choose whatever Spartan I wanted. You know me. I did my research Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw but me. Can you guess?

Luck."

"I am your shield. I am your sword."

"You found me…"

"Wake up, Chief…I need you."

"Don't make a girl a promise you know you can't keep."

"C'mon, Chief, give a girl a ride."

"I'm not doing this for humanity."

"We were supposed to take care of each other… and we did."

Welcome home, John."

A deep moan tore from his throat as he remembered her broken body before him, her tear washed eyes as she looked up at him sadly. She was always there for him, even when he had left her. Never failing, never stopping. His AI.

And he broke her.

He would never deserve her.

Skye lingered in his thoughts though. She was his past. The woman who never gave up.

But he knew who he loved. He would make her his future, and leave his past behind.

No more clinging onto ghosts.

No more hiding his heart from her.

No more.

Guess who he chose! I'll let you know if you got it right.

I love writing angst romance, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Hope you liked, its just a little one-shot that I dreamed up for Christmas, but I pictured it more cheerful. Oh well, most of my stuff ends up being sad though, it was to be expected. Lieutenant Parisa and her and Chief's backstory was not drempt up for drama. I got her from the halo books. Search her on halopedia or halowiki. Hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful Christmas!