Location: Celestina's office, Hydra Base, Mars
February 10th 2553
7:06am

"Come on in!"

"Celest! Hey, I'm glad I caught you before you ran off for training."

"Oh, what's up, sweetie?"

"I have a surprise for you."

"Ooooh, a present?" When Jun lifted up the mysterious object in his hand, Celestina instantly recognized what it was. "It's an AI data chip."

A smile played on his lips. "Time to meet your AI, princess."

She gasped at that. "Holy crap. How's my hair?"

"Silly..." He commented with a chuckle, heading over to the AI console next to her desk and inserting the data chip into it. The AI console was originally for Death to make his appearance every now and then. "You excited?"

"Totally!"

The AI console came alive and the light gray-colored AI that was created from Celestina herself revealed itself to the duo. She flipped her straight waist-back hair to her back and causally adjusted her elbow-length gloves that very easily matched the sleeveless evening gown she was wearing. "Salve (Hello)!" She greeted in a pleasant tone, holding onto her clutch purse.

"Hi there." Jun returned the welcome with a little wave.

Celestina, however, did not say a word. She was too busy gawking at the sight of her AI, almost rendering her numb.

"What's the matter, dear? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Neither of the two expected a strong Italian accent to come out of her either.

"I'm... sorry," Celestina apologized with all her heart, still trying to break out of her daze. She stood in front of the console and got down to its level. "You look... just like my mother. And this dress - my sister Christine wore this for her 15th birthday party. I remember because she asked to me to pick between the navy blue dress and the gray one."

"And you told her that she never really wore anything gray so she should give it a shot," The AI's gentle nature and affectionate smile... Hell, it wasn't just the AI's looks. Celestina knew for the fact that she was staring at her mother. "Va bene (It's okay), child. I understand if this is a shock to you. Please, let me introduce myself. My name is Emiliana. Lieto di vederla (nice to meet you). The both of you."

"Similmente (Likewise)!" Celestina looked at the AI she if she was in love. "So you've got my dad's Italian accent, my mother's looks, my sister's dress... The name 'Emiliana'. Is it what I think it is?"

"Yes, child. It's exactly what you think it is," She confirmed with the tiniest of bows. "It was known to me how much Emile meant to you. So it's only right that I honor him."

"Well, I won't have it any other way," She grinned widely at Emiliana. "Welcome to the family."

Location: Spartan Training Bay
February 22nd, 2553
10:26pm

"Emiliana told me you were here."

Jun didn't even face her. All he did was give a little nod.

For the last 3 nights, Jun and Celestina have been meeting after lights were out to have at least an hour of training, in hopes that she could cure his fear of engaging in close combat. It appeared to be working, despite the short amount of time.

However, after dinner on this day, Celestina was surprised to find that Jun was not in his private dorm. They had agreed to not have training today, but there was nowhere else he could be. She knew that it was important not to push him too hard, especially when there were some skills of his he was unable to execute, not without risking paralysis. Her AI eventually popped up to the nearest AI console to confirm her carrier of Jun's whereabouts.

Celestina was twiddling her thumbs as she spoke. "Sweetie, I'm... a little concerned about you," Anybody could tell that Celestina inherited her gentleness from her mother. She walked up to Jun, who was peering over the railing, observing the empty bay below him. "You've been gloomy ever since this morning and you wouldn't tell me why. I told myself not to pry because I was hoping that you'd tell me what's going on. But now I see that that's not going to be the case," She then placed her hand on his arm. "So I'm asking again. What's wrong?"

"It's... just been a rough day, princess."

Wow. He's not even trying to lie to me. "I'm gonna take a shot in the dark here and say it's because of the news we received this morning. About the memorial on the 3rd of March."

This time, Jun gave no reaction whatsoever, and it answered Celestina's question easily. "Yeah, I know. I'm not to crazy about it either. But it's about time we honor our fallen. Especially the Spartans. Screw the MIA crap. There's no excuse to take anything away from them. Not after everything they've done for us."

"I'm not going."

That statement brought her to a screeching halt. "What?"

"I'm not going, princess," He repeated without any emotion, still keeping his bright blue eyes on the empty bay. "You go. Oh, but take Death with you. I know he wants to go."

"... Am I hearing this right? You don't want to go?"

"Yes."

"What the hell, Jun?!" She sounded as if she had been greatly offended to the point of no return.

"Look, I'll keep it brief, Celest," He turned his head to her. "I don't want to go so that I can spare myself the pain of having to say goodbye. I don't go? I don't get to say goodbye. Makes it helluva a lot easier to deal with it all."

She could not believe what she was hearing. "Jun, do you have any idea what you're saying? You're denying yourself a chance to honor our friends! They are our family!"

"Well, families aren't supposed to leave you. But newsflash, Celest, they did. And then you're left all alone, wondering why the hell did you get the survive again while all of your friends get to die! I'm going to have to battle all of these questions and I don't need a memorial service to make me feel even worse about myself, Celest. So forget it! I'm outta here." With that, he brushed by her, heading for the exit.

"Jun, wait!"

She wanted to go after him but she was then stopped by a serene voice from the bay from behind her. "Celestina, no," When she looked behind her, Emiliana was projected onto the railing, still within distance from the nearest AI console. "It's okay, child. Let the poor dear be. He'll come around, I'm sure of it. Best let him dwell."

Celestina reluctantly listened to her AI, watching helplessly as Jun stormed out of the observation deck.

Location: Jun's office
February 23rd, 2553
9:35am

The next morning, as always, Jun was in his office, looking over a new list of potential recruits that Death cooked up on his data pad. There was a slight ominous essence in the air and Death could feel deep in his circuits, despite being safe in his AI chip in the AI console.

Just then, there were knocks on his door that, while were gentle, they were impatient as well.

"Come in." There was next to no energy in Jun's voice this morning.

He had half-expected Celestina to walk in, even though she was supposed to be at training as always. Then he remembered that Emiliana could hold down the fort for a little while. So true enough, the female Spartan entered his office with an unreadable expression and stopped a few inches away from his desk. "So I've thinking about what you said last night. And the more I thought about it, the more it pissed me off."

She almost couldn't recognize the person she'd known for the last 23 years. His face currently said that he gave no fudges. His bright blue eyes darted from the data pad and onto his lover. "Then I guess it'd piss you off even more when I say that I'm not sorry."

She had one had on her hip as she spoke. "You don't have to be. You're entitled to your opinion. And I'm entitled to try to change it." She proclaimed.

One eyebrow rose at that but he knew she was asking to be heard and even though he was not in the mood, he still didn't have the heart to deny her of anything. "Knock yourself out," He put the data pad down. "I'm listening."

"I know what's going on here," As if to emphasize her point, she placed her other hand on her hip. "This is your PTSD acting up."

A single short laugh left him upon hearing that declaration. "Come on, Celest, that's-"

"Crazy?" She leisurely made her way to his desk. "Well, I think you're forgetting who you're talkin' too. I'm the only Spartan-III to have left the program because of PTSD getting the upper hand. So I know exactly what kind of thoughts it conjures. So whatever you said last night? I thought of it first."

Jun began to drum his fingers on his desk. "It has nothing to do with the PTSD."

"Keep lying to me, Jun."

"I'm not lying."

"You love your friends. Why not honor them?"

"You know why."

"Because you don't want to say goodbye?" She placed her hands on his desk. "What does that even mean?"

"You know what that means. You're the only one who knows." He leaned forward.

"What, you're afraid of letting go?"

"Yes."

She had no reaction to it written on her face, but her 2-second silence said that she was not expecting to be right. "But you let go of your dad."

"Don't let the tattoo fool you. I never did." He got up from his seat to meet with her, though his back was facing her.

She took him by the arm and made him face her. "Please talk to me." She quavered softly.

He gazed into those pleading hazel eyes and found no reason to deny her help any further. With a tired sigh, he ran one hand past her cheek. "Losing our families - it's what shaped us to be what we are, Celest. My father was all I had and when he... I wanted to let go of him. To not cause myself anymore distress. But when I tried to? All that's left were the memories. And all they did was cause me even more pain instead of bringing me comfort. And you know how much I love my father, so you know that there were a lot of memories. I wanted to let go of Shadow, of Noble. But it's not working. It's the same thing. Just pain and more pain, Celest. I go to that memorial and I'll have to let go which I don't want to! For the sake of my sanity!"

"Sweetie, you've got it wrong!" She immediately grabbed hold of his hand. "Memories are not meant to cause pain. They are meant to keep the people you've lost close! Think about all the wonderful moments you've had with your dad. Like the first time you scored a bullseye in archery. He was super proud! Doesn't thinking about that day make you happy?"

He couldn't stop that little chuckle from coming to him, along with a tear glistening in his eye. "Could've sworn our whole neighborhood heard him cheering like a maniac."

"See? No pain in that, right?" She giggled. "It's the same with Ryan and Rhonda and with Noble too. There are so many good memories that are meant to bring you joy, sweetie. Not pain." She let him have a moment to digest that before speaking again. "You remember what Ambrose said to us?"

"Ambrose said a lot of things to us, princess,"

"Well, the one thing he said is to honor our fallen," She informed. "And Jun... I feel like I'll betray his memory if I don't go to the memorial. Won't you feel the same way?"

"Ah. You're hitting it where it hurts, Celest."

"Sorry, but it's how I feel. I really miss him. I was looking forward to working with him..." She said desolately.

"He's probably enjoying a beer with Jorge in Valhalla right now."

She laughed harmoniously at that. "That's such a nice thought!"

"Pardon me," The duo recognized Death's voice anywhere. "The two of you are aware that I never listen in on your conversation. Yet I deduced that I might need to weigh in on something."

"Do tell." Celestina said.

"I was thinking about what the both of you have said respectively, children, and... well..." Death had his hands behind his back as he spoke. "The one thing you must understand, Jun, is that goodbyes are not forever. We will all see each other on the other side."

Jun appeared as if he had not thought of that before, but it was certainly truthful. Giving his AI a small smile, he then said, "You're right, Death," Then he glanced at Celestina. "The both of you are. Sorry I was acting like a little bitch."

"Aw, that's not true! But apology accepted, sweetie." She placed a quick kiss on his lips before embracing him in a tight hug.

A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you've liked this chapter! :)

Stay tuned for the next one as it's going to be the most exciting one yet!