No One's POV

"He'll be here, I'm sure." Zander tells Aria, giving his friend's hand a light squeeze for encouragement and support.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will be, Aria!" Jane says in her usual perky voice. "Why would he miss something like this?" She questions. "He loves you!"

"Well, I don't know about that…" Aria rolls her eyes a little. "But, thanks guys." She gives them a small smile as they fix their hats on their heads and prepare to walk out with their graduating class towards their seats in the auditorium to listen to the speeches; Aria's grandmother was speaking, of course, after all she was Nova Prime, and a few other professors and officers before they were officially graduates of the academy.

"Hey, now is not the time to think about it or be all down in the dumps!" Nera nearly bursts past them. "We're graduating, bitches!" She cheers as she drags them out, Aria laughing at her friend's antics.

"Aria, we're very proud of you." Einar, Aria's father, tells his daughter as he stands with her mother, Hania-Ell, admits the crowd after the ceremony.

"Thank you, father."

"Are you excited for your first assig-" Hania-Ell's question gets cut off as Aria gets distracted, Yon-Rogg suddenly appearing out of the crowd.

"Yon?" Aria manages to look surprised. "You- you came?" She admits that she had been disappointed when she hadn't seen him in the crowd.

"Hello Aria." Yon replies, dressed instead of his normal Starforce uniform, a pressed shirt and a nice jacket. "Centurion Rael, Hania-Ell." He greets Aria's parents with respectful nods.

"Lieutenant Colonel Yon-Rogg." Einar greets somewhat coldly, his gaze not particularly friendly towards his daughter's dalliance; although married to a Kree himself, a lower born Kree, Einar still didn't particularly like the Kree's, particularly their warriors.

"Einar, honey, perhaps we should let Aria have some time with Yon-Rogg? We will see Aria later." Hania-Ell suggests.

"Very well," Einar reluctantly agrees. "Congratulations, my daughter. We will see you tomorrow. For your party." He tells Aria before he and Hania-Ell disappear.

"So…" Aria begins, now standing with just Yon. "You did come…"

"Of course I did. I promised I would." Yon immediately answers, almost looking insulted by the fact his mate didn't have faith he would.

"I didn't see you in the crowd before ceremony started." She points out.

"I thought it best to be further back." Yon answers.

"Hmm… I suppose that's not a terrible excuse." She answers, a glimmer of playfulness in her eyes. "Now come on, want to get out of here?" She suddenly asks, grabbing his hand without waiting for an answer and practically dragging him through the crowd without preamble.

The stars of Xandar stretched seemingly endlessly out above Aria and Yon as they sat in the grass together eating a picnic, Yon not quite understanding why his mate wanted to be outside where there were bugs and dirt and it was cold, however, that was what she wanted to do, so he acquiesced to it.

"Isn't this peaceful?" Aria leans back on the blanket they were sitting on.

"Sitting in the dirt?" He questions.

"We're on a blanket…" Aria deadpans and then rolls her eyes. "This is peaceful, quiet, romantic… With the stars, the night sky, just the two of us?" Aria prompts.

"Well, yes. This is nice." Yon finally nods.

"See? I have nice ideas." Aria smiles at Yon, scooting closer to him to finally tuck herself closer to him.

"Are you cold?" He questions, noticing the goosebumps on her arm.

"A little," She shrugs.

"Shall we leave then?" He immediately asks; the hover car only a few feet behind them.

"No, let's stay. Just a little longer." Aria shakes her head, simply shifting closer to him for warmth, simply enjoying time away from the busy chaos and pressure of her family and sometimes even her friends.

To that reply, Yon simply takes off his suit jacket and wraps it around his mate to keep her warm.

"A little longer then." Yon replies.