Author's Note: Valentine's Day special!

Chapter Thirty-Nine: When You're Busy Making Other Plans, Part Two

Mark was asleep again in no time. I heard the change in his breathing as it slowly evened out. Minutes later, he was still and snoring lightly.

Seeing him asleep just made me more restless. I thought about Cal again, and my walk with Willis back to his side of the keep, of Laraza and the Sangheili who still wanted humanity eradicated. Finally it got to be too much. I decided I'd get up and head to the mess for some coffee. If I couldn't use this time to rest, there was no reason I shouldn't get to work.

That's when my datapad buzzed underneath my cot. I quickly turned over to grab it before it woke up Mark.

ONE NEW MESSAGE, it flashed brightly in the dark. The sender was MAJ HAWK.

Curious, I opened it.

Are you awake?

I raised an eyebrow in the dark, but answered, Yeah.

A few seconds later, I received a reply.

Come see me.

I realized then that I couldn't do anything about most of the things I'd stressed over tonight, but I could at least try to clear this up. So I stood. I pulled on a UNSC-MC sweatshirt against the chill of the night, then my running shoes, grabbed my sidearm for protection, and walked out.

The courtyard was quiet in the middle of the night, a sharp contrast to the flurry of activity during the day. I walked past the large ring where the younglings learned and played, the center fire pit we'd clustered around upon arrival, and finally some of the makeshift buildings the 8th Engineers had put up for us. That included a modest mess, where Cal and I had gotten lunch the day he'd found out the sex of his baby, the small medtent Reynolds managed, and our regimental CP, where I'd spent most of my time the last couple weeks. Beyond that were my Marines' quarters, which included the building my husband was in.

I wondered if he couldn't sleep over this, like me.

"Willis? It's me," I said as I approached his door and knocked. I turned behind me while I waited, noticing that the Sangheili guards who'd watched me cross the courtyard were still staring in my direction. They hadn't stopped or confronted me along the way, just remained vigilant. I turned back around before I got too hung up on the surveillance - and utter lack of privacy here.

I heard footsteps coming towards the door in no time. Willis opened it, standing by the threshold in a white T-shirt and dark shorts. His hair was a little mussed, and a five o'clock shadow had set in on his face. I had to admit, he looked good.

"Natalie."

"Hey." I pulled out my datapad from my pocket and held up his text. "You weren't hacked, were you?"

He chuckled and stepped aside. "Nope. That's from me. Come on in."

I almost let out a sigh of relief when he shut the door behind us. Finally, I was free from those inquisitive eyes on my back. But there was still more apprehension and uncertainty to come.

"I'm guessing this is about this afternoon?" I asked him.

"Yeah, it is."

"Okay, let me just - " I held a hand up as I pulled my sidearm from my waistband with the other. I set it down on the desk, making sure the barrel pointed away from us. "Don't worry. Safety's on. It's just, you know, Sangheili territory and - "

"I get it. Want to sit?"

I nodded and did so at the desk, turning to face him while he sat on his bunk. My bunk. What should have been our bunk.

Willis glanced down at his feet before looking up at me. "I've been thinking, Coop. About this. About us, and I just - " He shook his head. "I couldn't sleep. Couldn't find a way to turn off my brain. I hoped you might be in the same boat, so I called you over to talk instead of waiting for morning."

"It's fine," I said with a small, half-hearted grin. "Rest wasn't coming easy for me, either."

His expression matched mine. "I noticed. Anyway, I wanted you to know that I really took my time with this. I took in everything you said to me outside the mess that day, and I thought long and hard about this. To make sure I wasn't just reacting in the moment, or trying to please you or the kids or anyone else. To ensure that I was doing what I wanted for me, after all this. And that I could live with, and stand by, and truly be okay with the decision I made."

He held up a hand then and got up, going into the makeshift closet to rummage in his sea bag. I wondered for what. I sat waiting, curious, until he returned with something behind his back, and sat down again.

"I bought these for us just before we left Mars. We had those few months where we were back together, with the kids, and even though we were living apart, it just...it was an amazing time. I was happy to have that back. I was happy to have you back. So I thought, maybe, if we still felt the same while we were here...I'd give you this."

Willis finally showed me what he'd been holding, and my heart caught in my throat. It was an open ring box, with two rings inside. They were made of shining white gold, different than the yellow gold bands we'd worn for over a decade before our split. The band on top was larger, thicker, clearly meant for his hand. The bottom one was smaller and thinner - meant for mine. "I got us new wedding rings. To celebrate our new beginning. To..." He took in a deep breath. "To leave the past behind us, and start fresh."

I felt the sting of tears welling up in my eyes, but held them back.

"You asked me to give you a definitive answer two weeks ago." He took my hand then and looked me in the eyes. "Well, here it is. I want you to be my wife again, Natalie. And I want to be your husband. With everything that means. Stay with me here, now, and come home when we get back. We'll get our paperwork sorted out, and we can keep working on things. Together."

The shock was overwhelming. A couple tears spilled down my cheeks. He quickly wiped them away.

"I love you, Cooper. Now and always. We still have some work to do, but I believe we can get past this."

It took me a while to respond. Maybe longer than it should have. I just couldn't imagine that what I'd dreamed of all these months was actually happening. "Willis." I wiped at my eyes before more tears could fall. "I...I don't know what to say."

He pulled my ring out of the box and held it up between his forefinger and thumb. Then he gave me a small grin. "Say yes?"

I shoved his arm playfully and smirked. "Of course, you big goof. Come here."

Before he could slide the ring on my finger, I pulled him close and kissed him - softly, on the lips. This time, he kissed me back. We kissed a few more times before pulling back again. Willis finally brought up my left hand and placed the new, gleaming band on my ring finger. I did the same with his.

"Don't suppose I could convince you to become Mrs. Hawk this time?" he asked me in jest, lifting an eyebrow.

I chuckled and said, "Not a chance. I think the whole 'Cooper' thing has stuck by now." I kissed him again, deeper this time. "But I'll always be yours. I promise you that."

That seemed to invigorate him, since he put his hand on my cheek and kissed me back harder than before. After almost a month apart, my body responded instantly. I suddenly craved that contact with him, the kind we'd had a lot of before landing that had abruptly stopped once "Ethan's" message had appeared.

"So," I said as I kissed him in return, then moved my way down to his chin, then jaw, then throat. My voice dipped lower. "Why don't we celebrate by getting you undressed and on that bed?"

Willis smirked as I crouched down in front of him, slipping my hands underneath his shirt to help him push it up over his head. "That's a great idea, Coop," he said, his breath coming in a little faster now as I got to work on his boxers and shorts. "Actually, I wouldn't mind just...staying here, too."

"Tell you what," I said, tugging off my sweater. "We'll start here, and move later."

"That sounds...oh, God."

Afterward we lay naked together on the bunk. I sighed in contentment as I snuggled against him, head resting on his chest. He squeezed his arm around me a little tighter in response, drawing light circles on my elbow with his fingers. When I glanced up at him, his eyes were closed but he had a small smile on his face.

"I love you, Will," I mumbled against his skin as sleep finally threatened to overtake me.

"Love you, too," Willis said softly.

And then we were both fast asleep.

In the morning we woke in a rush. Mostly because I needed to hightail it out of here before the rest of the regiment awoke, and I also had to march my ass back to the quarters I shared with my brother to get in uniform. I wish I'd thought to bring it with me last night, but I hadn't really thought of a positive outcome to this. Hadn't allowed myself to hope too much.

Willis watched me from the bed, grinning. "You know, if anyone sees you out there, you can just say you were out for a morning run."

At that I snorted. "Yeah. I've got a great excuse if I'm caught wandering around in PT gear. Not so great if they see me actually leave here."

Willis held up his left hand and wiggled his fingers. It was good to see a ring there again. "Married, remember?"

"You've got an answer for everything, don't you?" I paused in getting dressed to lean down and kiss him. "I know that, honey, and so does everyone else. Doesn't mean I don't still need to be professional about it."

My husband kissed me in return, then calmly leaned back against his pillow and folded his arms behind his head. "Well, just let me know when you need the squadrons up. I'll be here."

"Ass."

I said that last with a smirk as I picked up the rest of my stuff. I pulled my sweatshirt back on, grabbed my datapad and shoved it in my pocket, then picked up my gun. I checked that the safety was still on out of habit, and pushed the barrel into my waistband. "I'm going to try to get my clothes from Mark's without too much fuss. I'll meet you at the showers."

Willis waggled his eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Not like that."