Author's Note: Well everybody, the last chapter of the story is finally here. I spent a lot of time on this one, and I must have rewritten it a million times. Hope it turned out ok. ;-) Please please please review. I'd really like to know how I did on this final chapter, and how I did on the story as a whole. As always, hope you enjoy and peace!

P.S. Thanks for reading, and be sure to go on to read the Closing Author's Note when you're done. ;-)

Chapter Forty-Eight: What Matters Most

1945 Hours, July 7, 2552. Cooper Residence, St. Louis, MO. "The Great Homecoming," Planet Earth. Three Months After the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV

The Battle of Sigma Octanus IV had been a harrowing forty-day fight for the planet; the city of Cote D'Azur alone lay in a terrible state of ruin. After overseeing a clean-up operation that lasted over three months, however, I had been allowed to give Bravo Company a privilege coveted by all and granted to few: shore leave.

Ten whole days of shore leave, to be precise.

I found it hard to believe at first, mostly because I could barely remember the last time I'd been allowed to go home. It didn't hit me while I was packing my bags, and it still felt like some amazing dream even when I was on my way to Earth. Ok, so I wasn't exactly going to my real home, Mars, but it was close enough. My family was on Earth, and that's what really mattered.

I'd debated whether or not to tell Willis about my arrival for the longest time. I'd wanted to surprise him, just to return the favor if nothing else. But if I stayed silent, there was a good chance I wouldn't be able to see him, and that was something I wasn't willing to risk. In the end, I'd told him before I left; he spoke to his commander and, thankfully, Captain Dakota had been sympathetic to the cause. The captain knew what Willis had gone through all those weeks thinking I was dead, and so he'd given my husband leave for as long as I was on Earth. Because of travel time, we'd ultimately get to spend seven days together.

And right now, an entire week with my family was just what I needed.

A lot of awful stuff had happened on Sigma Octanus IV, stuff that wasn't fit for anyone to see or experience. Just like Private Beesner's death, I needed to come to terms with everything that had occurred before I could truly move on. And, as always, there was only one person I knew who was capable of helping me do that.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain speaking. We have touched down at terminal three of the New York spaceport. We hope you have had a pleasant flight from Cote D'Azur, and welcome to Earth, everyone."

I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked onto the orbital platform. The last time I'd been on Earth was…well, a long time ago, that was for sure. Besides, I had landed on a different spaceport back then. Where the hell did that flight attendant say the shuttle to the surface was? Crap, I knew I should have paid more attention…

"Excuse me, ma'am, but are you Captain Natalie Cooper?" I heard behind me. Turning around, I found myself facing a man about a decade older than me.

"Depends," I said, cocking an eyebrow at him. "Who's asking?"

"Charles Harrington, ma'am. I'm a shuttle pilot for GalaCorp."

GalaCorp? I thought. The most famous private orbit-to-surface shuttle company in UNSC space?

"Sorry, but I think you got the wrong person. I didn't request a pick-up, Mr. Harrington. That would require me to fork over about four months of pay," I replied.

"I was hired by your husband, Mr. William Hawk, ma'am. He asked me to see you to the St. Louis airport."

For a moment, I just stood there and blinked at the man several times. Finally, my brain regained enough function that I was able to follow Harrington to his shuttle. After that, it was only about twenty minutes until he announced our arrival in St. Louis.

The GalaCorp man handed me my duffel bag, wished me a gracious farewell, and gave me what he thought was a salute; I was dressed in my uniform. I flashed an amused grin at the civvie and saluted him back properly, then stepped off the ramp. Walking out of the gate, I finally noticed the three people standing at the arrival area beyond: my mother, my husband, and my son.

When I saw them, I grinned so wide my face hurt.

"Mommy!" Gabe cried, starting to run towards me.

I dropped my duffel right where I stood and met my son halfway. He jumped into my arms as soon as I crouched to his level, and I quickly wrapped him in a tight hug. I must have kissed his light brown hair and small cheeks a million times; I hadn't seen my little boy for over a year, and holding him again was an indescribable feeling of pure happiness.

I didn't even bother to wipe away the tears of joy suddenly rolling down my face.

"I missed you so much, sweetie," I said. "I love you, my little Gabe, more than you'll ever know."

"Love you, Mommy," Gabriel replied, burying his face in my shoulder.

"You've definitely grown up a lot, kiddo." I couldn't believe he'd turned two years old almost a month ago. Time went by fast, even though it didn't seem that way sometimes.

I stood back up after a while, carrying my son in my arms. As Gabe clung onto my neck with his little hands, Willis approached and, not even bothering to speak first, gave me a hard kiss on the lips. Before he could say anything, I kissed him back with equal fervor.

"You have no idea how great it is to see you," my husband said in my ear as he hugged Gabe and I.

"You, too. And it's certainly great that we're finally all together, like we should be," I said. "Right, Gabriel?"

"Yeah!" he shouted, grinning wide. I could tell my son was excited to have both his parents with him at the same time. Unfortunately, such occasions were few and far between.

But thankfully, today was the exception to the rule.

"I was so scared for you, Natalie. For a long time, I thought you didn't make it," Willis said, his voice wavering slightly as he rested his forehead against mine.

"I know. I'm so sorry I made you worry, honey," I replied. "But I'm here now." I paused, taking in the moment; it still felt surreal to me that I was finally home, surrounded by my family. Then I said softly, "I love you, Will."

"I love you, too, Natalie." He kissed me a second time, and then he let me go so I could greet my mother.

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"I can't believe it. I didn't even notice those shiny new captain's bars of yours at the airport," Willis said when we were finally at my mother's house. I had changed out of my uniform and into civilian clothing since our arrival, but this was the first opportunity my husband had to comment about the promotion.

"Maybe you've been wearing civvies for too long," I said, trying hard to sound serious. Despite my efforts, that wasn't working out very well so far.

Willis, on the other hand, was able to keep a straight face as he looked down at his plain red T-shirt and khaki shorts. "Really? I've only had them on since this morning. You think that's too long?"

Damn, but things were moving way too slow right now. I finally gave him a smirk and got up close to his face. "Actually, I think any more time you spend with your clothes on is too long."

My husband gave me a brief look of mock indignation, barely able to conceal his grin. He wagged a finger at me and said, "Watch it, Cooper. You're starting to cross into breaching-of-regs territory."

"You mean because I rank you now?"

"Exactly. And you know fraternizing with a subordinate comes at a hefty price."

"I might be willing to overlook the rules and regs, just this once."

Willis widened his grin, looking me in the eyes but still holding off on making a move. "You know, I'm starting to think your mom's emergency trip to the office was planned."

"Hmm. And I suppose Gabe fell asleep because he was an accomplice to the scheme?" I asked.

"Yup. The world's not-so-subtle way of giving us some much-needed alone time."

That's when things finally picked up.

A serious look suddenly appeared on his face after he spoke. Without warning, he slid his arms around my waist and leaned into me hard as my back hit the wall. I grabbed onto the back of his shirt tightly, closing my eyes for just a moment as I relished the feeling of his body against my own.

Our lips met unexpectedly just an instant later, and he gave me a long, passionate kiss. My head was spinning by the time it was over, and I could hear my pulse pounding in my ears.

"Fuck, Natalie, I really missed you," Willis whispered, sounding out of breath.

"I missed you, too, Will," I whispered back.

He kissed me again, this time with even more emotion than the first. By the time we found ourselves in front of the bedroom door, we were in the middle of some intense making out. Barely managing to even step through the threshold, Willis and I were already missing our shirts, lost somewhere in the frenzy of things. Once we were finally on the bed, everything else started coming off real fast. A powerful mixed wave of love and lust swept over us, and it lasted for the best twenty minutes of our lives.

Yeah, I was pretty damn happy I was still alive---and so was Willis.

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"Wow," I said a while later, taking a final deep breath of air. "I should definitely make you worry more often."

Willis chuckled. "Nah. Just wait until the war's finally over, Coop," he replied, his breathing finally returning to normal as he lay beside me. "By my count, we have five years of this to catch up on. And that's only so far."

"You sure know how to motivate, don't you?"

"Well, it sure as hell couldn't hurt to give you one more reason to live for, Cooper."

I started laughing, and Willis turned his gaze on me before he joined in, too.

Our laughter died down eventually, and we didn't say anything else for a time. After a while, Willis moved closer and put his arm around my shoulders. I slid my own arm over his stomach before resting my head against his bare chest.

"There's a lot of stuff I have to talk to you about, you know," I said quietly. "The things I saw, the things I felt…everything. It was all such a damn mess..." I trailed off, unable to finish.

"I know, honey. The fighting must have been so horrible…"

I swallowed hard. "But…let's put it off until my last day. I want to spend as much time with you and Gabriel---all three of us together---as I can before I go back. And I don't want to have to think about…about that battle."

Willis placed his hand over mine and gave it a squeeze. "Whenever you're ready, you know I'm here for you, Natalie."

I couldn't help but smile at him. "Yeah, I know. You've always been there for me, Will."

When I lifted my head and kissed him, it was meant to be a brief and innocent display of affection; I hadn't counted on all the love I felt for him to turn the quick peck into a deep kiss. Willis grinned at me when it was over and, not wasting any time on words, he promptly kissed me back. Soon after that, things got pretty far from innocent.

Lucky for me, there was one thing Willis was better at than being an ace pilot.

THE END