Author's Note: Hope you're all resting easier now that you know Cooper's still alive. ;-) Please please review, hope you have a pleasant reading experience, and peace!

P.S. I apologize about the glassing thing in the last chapter, I guess I'm not exactly sure how it all works. But in the interest of carrying on the story, I'm going to twist the realities of such an event a bit. ;-)

Chapter Thirty-One: Rollercoaster Love

Interlude. February 2545 – April 2549. "The Aftermath," Planet Mars/Reach. William Hawk's Memories

Weeks had gone by since the whole nightmare with Ethan ended, yet some scars remained. They weren't physical scars; Natalie had eventually made a full recovery in that respect. The scars that were left behind were emotional ones, and those took much, much longer to heal.

After Ethan was arrested, Willis didn't see Natalie for quite some time. She wouldn't even look at him at school, and she didn't come by the house. She had, however, apparently spoken to Jamie, because his sister informed the family that Natalie had said she'd need some time alone.

No one other than Willis knew about Ethan, and that would continue to hold true even up to the present day. This meant that no one knew about the bond Willis and Natalie had formed; his parents and siblings couldn't understand why he moped around the house like a lovesick puppy when Natalie was Jamie's friend.

But they were right about one thing: he was lovesick. After all they'd been through together, Willis had fallen hard for Natalie Cooper. And before they had temporarily parted ways, she had admitted to falling for him, as well. Why, then, he had wondered, couldn't they be together if they loved each other?

The answer had been simple, of course, but it had still been hard for Willis to hear: Natalie told him she wasn't ready for a relationship immediately following her ordeal. So Willis waited, knowing Natalie had every right to her space after what had happened but also knowing the separation was killing him.

Luckily, the wait was shorter than it could have been. In a few months, Natalie was back at the Hawk household, and though she was still emotionally damaged, she was now willing to accept Willis's help. There was only one condition: Willis was sworn to secrecy about what had occurred, and so they came up with a story to explain her break-up with Ethan.

Explaining the fact that Willis and Natalie were now dating was easier to do than thinking of a story for the Ethan mess. Jamie was stunned at first, as she had come to believe that Natalie had no interest whatsoever in her brother, but things soon returned to normal. Willis's parents still treated Natalie like a second daughter, except that now there were strict rules about her and Willis being alone in the house.

Meanwhile, Ethan was convicted of assault and battery, though he served little of his sentence due to the influential power of his father. Natalie was outraged, but found comfort in the fact that she had Willis to protect her…and a newly issued restraining order.

Soon high school was over, and with it came a time of unbearable sadness for the Hawk family. Matthew, the youngest of the three children, was killed when traveling to Outer Colony worlds on a class trip. The news said a Covenant ship had attacked the school's rented commercial shuttle, but a full investigation never happened. The war had been going on since before Willis was even born, and resources were simply too scarce.

This was when Willis and Natalie seemed to reverse roles, and she was there for him as a support while he and his family grieved over the huge loss. The fact that they had both helped each other out during stressing times only strengthened their relationship.

With the death of his brother at the hands of the Covenant, Willis decided he was going to apply to the Naval Academy on Reach. Natalie confessed that she'd wanted to join the Marine Corps ever since her father had been killed in action, and so she applied as well. With their stellar grades, both Willis and Natalie quickly received their acceptance letters. Once at the Academy, their education was accelerated in order to get new officers into combat quickly. Two years after Willis and Natalie had first arrived on Reach, they were both commissioned second lieutenants in the Marine Corps.

During their time at the Academy, Willis had proposed to his girlfriend. And now, at graduation, faced with the reality of getting separated for years, they decided to get married before they were deployed. A large wedding could wait until later; for now, all they wanted was a city hall marriage with a witness and a judge.

The time to leave finally came a few weeks later. The newlyweds hadn't had a true honeymoon, but they had spent the whole time after graduation together. Like the real wedding, the real honeymoon would have to be placed on the to-do list. For the next two years and four months, Willis and Natalie were separated, experiencing combat for the first time on two different planets.

Many times during that first deployment, Willis wondered if he'd ever see his wife again.