Okay guys, So, I'm promising you that the whole depressing shit happening to Jem arc? Well, don't get me wrong, shits still gonna go wrong in this story. But trust me, we got through the worst of it.

It had been two weeks since Jem got the news that Earth was gone. And he had barely spoken a word. He would eat, sleep, exercise and repeat. It was almost like he was on autopilot. Nala and Winter weren't sure what to say. They knew it was never going to be easy to talk to him about it. After all, how do you talk to someone who had just lost their country, their home and their heritage? Some would say that Jem still had his friends and family, and its true. He did have his family in Remnant. But it didn't take away from the pain he felt that everything he had ever stood for back on Earth was washed away like it never existed. Sure, he had his immediate family and his friends from Remnant, but all the men he served with were gone. All the friends he made from those long cold nights in the field were gone.

But today was different. Today Jem was expected to give a speech to the people of Mantle. He was looking at himself in the mirror backstage before he was to make his public appearance. He was still depressed. But he knew he had responsibilities to adhere to. His tie was hanging loose around his neck as he just continued to stare into his own eyes. He should have been happy. He was almost completely back to a normal level of strength. He didn't feel so useless anymore. But it didn't seem to matter in the scheme of things.

"Are you sure about this?" Winter came in as she walked over to Jem and gently held his tie.

"Here. Allow me." She said as she began to tie his tie.

"I'm sure, regardless of what I'm going through, the people deserve answers." He said as every part of his soul wanted to just go home and drink to his hearts content.

That was another issue. He hadn't drank heavily since he left the army, but over the past two weeks. He felt that temptation come back. He was already depressed as is, and he knew the alcohol would only make it worse. But there was still that little voice in the back of his head saying that it would make him feel better. And then another voice would tell him that nobody would blame him if he was a slobbering mess while he was drunk, that was what alcohol did. But he knew he had to stay sober, because if he started drinking heavily during his own personal crisis then there was a chance he would never be able to stop drinking.

You couldn't risk abusing any kind of substance when you were going through a hard time, because it wouldn't help, and would oftentimes make your problems that much worse while adding on a new pressure.

"Jem, you did just go through...a traumatic experience...nobody's going to blame you for not being back to your normal self." Winter said as she tightened his tie.

"Thats a bit of an understatement..." He said as Winter bit her tongue.

Jem saw the look on her face though and corrected himself.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to snap, its just that, its hard to adjust to. Even with how fortunate I am that I wasn't there when it happened, It still feels like I lost everything." He said as one of Jem's aides came back.

"Mr. Cotton, We'll be going live in 5 minutes." She said as Jem nodded.

"Thank you Daisy." He said as he sighed.

"Jem, are you absolutely sure?" She asked as Jem nodded.

"I'm their voice out there, if they see me fall...It could be bad." He said as he was holding it together.

"Mr. Cotton, the council did write some notes for you if you had trouble." Daisy said as she handed him flashcards but Jem shook his head and threw them away.

"I'm sorry Daisy, but could you kindly tell my fellow council members I intend to speak in my own words. I won't go off of some script." Jem said as she nodded.

"Are you sure?" She asked as Jem nodded.

"What kind of leader would I be if I needed flashcards just to get through a speech?" He said as he looked down at his watch.

"Well, here we go." He said as he walked out from the curtain.

Only to immediately be greeted by a roaring crowd of his supporters.

"Woah...what?" He was shocked.

They told him it would be a small turnout. Things have been so hectic since he was in the hospital. Slate had told him that he shouldn't have expected anymore than 20 people. However this crowd was easily in the 1000s.

"They all came out to see me?" He thought to himself as he waved out to the crowd only to see some of his friends from lost liberty.

"JEM! JEM! JEM! JEM! JEM!" They chanted as he saw multiple signs out there showing their support for him.

"I can't believe it..." Jem would be lying if he said he didn't feel touched from it all.

He nervously took the podium. The crowd quieted down as they got ready to hear him speak.

Jem didn't know what to say. Nothing came to mind. He was so overwhelmed by the amount of people he saw, it almost made him feel like tearing up. But he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No, the people needed to see that Leonine strength he showed in the campaign. And that was when it clicked.

"Citizens of Mantle, I would just like to inform you that I did get caught in an explosion, but it will take more than that to Kill a Cotton!" The crowd roared in approval as he looked them over.

"Man, that line doesn't work as well as Teddy Roosevelt's Bull moose line. But damn it worked well enough." So he did rip off one line from his favorite president, but it helped him get over his nerves.

"Thank you all for coming out here, its good to see so many friendly faces in the crowd. I'm sure its been a rough six months for all of us." He said as he went quiet.

Everyone again quieted down as they all wanted to hear him speak. Jem was originally going to put on a bravado display. But he remembered what he told Daisy. He was going to speak from the heart as he always did. And right now, seeing everyone out there cheering for him. He knew what he needed to say.

"My friends, When I first came to you all, I'll admit, I wanted to help, but I never saw this place as truly being my home. Most of you know I wasn't a citizen of Mantle before I chose to run for the council position." He said as they all intently listened.

"Truth is I knew I wanted to help, but this place wasn't what I could truly call home. My loyalty would always be to the place I came from. But I figured if I as a foreigner could help make this place a little bit better than it was, then that was what I was going to do." He said as he took another deep breath.

"But the truth is two weeks ago, that no longer was an option. I found out my home was completely destroyed. Everything I ever knew was gone. It felt like I lost my home, my heritage and everything I ever stood for was all for nothing." He said as the crowd got solemn.

"But seeing you all here, it made me realize that these are the kind of things I always wanted to fight for. Seeing you all here made me realize that I didn't lose my home. I just had to learn to accept my new home." He said as everyone looked up.

"I may not have been born in Mantle, but you all elected me, I may have been a stranger to your home, but you welcomed me. And now I'm more motivated than ever to help make this city even better than before. Mantle is my home now, and you can be damn sure that I am going to do everything in my power to make Mantle strong!" He said as the crowd cheered.

The cheers were intoxicating.

America was gone. Reduced to ashes. And sometimes Jem wished he had died along with it.

But seeing all the faces happy to see him out of the hospital and recovered. It reminded him that he still had people worth fighting for.