"Starship Infinity is overlooking earth, ready for a possible landing. It has been - hours since Spartan 117 was rescued from floating near the plant - very -- deep space. The --transfer went well, we now have him on board and I must say the whole crew is impressed by this huge lone warrior." ONI Agent M personal log Data level: Top Secret

Standing alone on the observation deck was John, taking in a spectacular view of earth. He had seen so many other worlds, it was hard to believe this miniscule green and blue planet represented the past, present, and future of the human race.

To put it simply, earth was full of civilians.

As far back as John could remember, he was taught to risk everything, including his own life to protect this. For him, it was hard to understand regular people in general, with their "undisciplined" ways and lack of combat skills. However he did not dislike their existence, they were just made of a different cloth than he was.

At this point, John's life was so complex it would take four, no make that five Dr. Halseys to analyze.

Yet, for once he wished he could have a simple life, with a family and a soft bed to sleep on.

He did not have any family or friends, and his special girl had faded away into thin air. At least pretty much everyone else in UNSC had something more than a cause to fight for.

"Cortana sometimes looked blue and green, kind of like earth," thought John with a mental groan.

"Why does everything have to remind me of her?"

Being soldier, you get used to having death around; it was a hard fact of life. When someone he knew died, John could mentally block them out of mind, if he wanted to. That's what good soldiers are expected to do, and he knew that.

He could not just forget about Cortana, especially since she gave her own live to save his.

"There has to be a way to bring her back, she's just missing in action. I can feel it," whispered John to himself, as he replayed the last moments he had with her over in his mind.

In the protetion of hard light, John though Cortana had never looked so beautiful as she walked towards him with her perfect blue eyes glowing with sadness.

And when she had physically touched him for the first time, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before; he just wished that his MJOLNIR armor had not separated them.

He could have held her hand and said something nice. Then again, saying anything out loud especially "good-bye" was not one of John's strong suits. He wanted her to live and never thought about losing her till that point.

"Face it 117, you're can handle anything in battlefield full of Covenant to kill. But when it comes down to romancing the ladies, you end up looking like a bashful, oversized schoolboy," remarked Sam-034 one time during their last target practice session they had together on Reach. "In the end, I guess we all die loving someone. Just do me a favor, if you ever find that special girl, try to make every moment with her count."

John had to let out a chuckle when that memory popped into his mind.

But Cortana was that "someone special" to John and he was kicking himself for not making the most of their time together. His mind and heart felt empty without her by his side. It was like they were destined to be together forever, and now nothing made sense.

Cortana's voice echoed through his mind in waves,

I won't be coming with you this time, most of me is down there.

It was our job to protect each other, and we did that.

Welcome Home, John…

Confident footsteps made John snap out of his gloomy thoughts. He did not have to turn his head to know it was Commander Lasky.

"Would you mind some company?"

"Of course not, sir," replies John not moving an inch.

Lasky starts talking.

Narrator: Yup, going to skip the boring part to make this quick.

"As soldiers, our duty is to protect humanity no matter what the cost," John stated plainly, turning his helmeted head to watch well-meaning officer's next reaction.

"You are essentially saying that humanity and soldiers are two different things. But, we are not machines, just people," states Lasky bluntly before turning to leave.

John thoughts turn back to Cortana's comment on Requiem, and said "She said that to me once. About being a machine."

The painful question he had thought about the most as he floated in space came back into his thoughts:

"Can I live without you, Cortana?"

John was almost the perfect machine in every right. He could go without food or sleep for a long time and fallow orders to the letter. On the other hand, he had a heart that made him human and it was time for John 117, otherwise known as Master Chief, to fellow it.

"No, I cannot live without you Cortana. I know you still out there and that gives me hope for the future. I will find you. It is a promise I will keep, even if I have to search under every rock in the whole universe," growled John, clenching his fists with determination.

"I am ready"

Saphira Koshi here! Going to end this here because we'll just have to wait and see until Halo 5. Ugh. :^(

I hope you enjoyed reading this story and thank you all for waiting for this chapter. Remember, don't forget to leave a review. Fin, SK

Ps. I don't own Halo, this is just for fun.