Finding Hope

Palace Hotel

John smiled behind his visor.

 It was one of the first times he'd smiled since Reach. The thought that little Parisa had survived the entire war was enough to take the whole weight of humanity off his shoulders, but the thought that his mere presence could be the cause of her death in a matter of minutes still lingered heavily in the air. Those feelings he'd had for her were still there, even after decades apart and his promises stayed his feet. 

 "Parisa..." Johns hand trailed towards the woman in front of him, but he quickly checked the motion. She was buried in her TACPAD ready to hinge her bets. 

 "Yeah...?" She didn't remove her gaze from the tablet as she spoke. Chief weighed the risks of telling her the truth. Her words still ringing in his ears "...he passed away...", her whole world would be flipped, if suddenly the one person she knew had been spared the horrors of this war, had been the first to experience its whole weight. But, it was a fact that sooner or later almost everyone would know. ONI couldn't keep the Spartans under wraps forever, in time, their dirty little secret would slip and they knew it. He reached for his helmet quickly releasing the locking switch. It was followed in quick secession by the releasing of pressure in the form of a low pitched whine. 

 "What are you doing?" John had almost forgot about Cortana. He didn't acknowledge her with a reply. The helmet clicked when the pressure normalized. With a quick twist he removed the helmet from his armor. He parked it under his arm as Cortana began to complain. She said something along the lines of "put your helmet back on" but John didn't care, he was focused on Parisa.

 Was this really the way to go? It was too late now. Parisa slowly turned around and was met with her own reflection in Johns golden visor. He adjusted his grip on the helmet, taring Parisa's attention. She gave a brief smile impressed with the state of Johns armor despite the war raging around them. 

 "Alright, so that el ay ay vee will be moving with my troops so I want you to stay away from my men and draw the Covies attention" She briefly looked at her TACPAD "Just watch for my anti armor teams, right?" 

 Parisa removed her gaze from the tablet and looked up at the Chief. The smile faded from her face being replaced by confusion. She knew that face, but how? The Chiefs expression was stoic and calm, but his deep blue eyes seemed to bore a hole through the lieutenant. Her brow was furrowed and as she scanned her brain for a name. 

 "Huh... You look just like him" Parisa once again smiled, smiling at the thought of her long lost friend "John I mean.. The little boy in the picture" her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were filled with pain and sorrow. Johns expression softened and his stoic expression was filled with pain. Again, the lieutenants smile faded. The man in front of her looked as if he knew a secret that could end humanity. Sometimes, Parisa toyed with the idea that John had never really died and that the little boy that they'd found was just scared and alone with no where else to go. "Yeah...?" The Lieutenant asked nervously. 

 "Lieutenant... Parisa. My name is John-117 also known as the Master Chief," Parisa seemed taken aback by Johns words " I was born on Eridanus Two and at the age of six" He gestured to her vest pocket " a month and half after that photo was taken I was abducted along side 71 other 'candidates'. The child you knew died was not me. He was... He was a clone, designed to die" The way he said "...die..." hurt Parisa more than anything, no one was built to die. "I have nothing to say in my defense, nothing to say that what happened was okay, it was wrong..."

 Parisa had tears swelling in her eyes, it all seemed too fake... Too surreal and yet, some how she felt like he was saying the truth. Her heart began to pound endlessly against her chest and her mind raced. Part of her wanted to believe it was the truth, but another part of her felt sick at the thought. If he was here, than who was the little kid she'd found dead after suffering for so long at the hands of some unknown genetic decease. 

 "Do you... Do you have proof of what your saying" Parisa had nothing else to say. Now her arms were crossed and her TACPAD was resting precariously on the edge of the table. With no reply John instinctively reached for the back of his helmet. He ran his thumb along the ridges and lines to the center were he pressed hard, removing a micro-chip from his interface... no not a micro chip a A.I-chip. He held the chip out on an armored hand, instantly a small avatar appeared. Her arms were crossed and she took the form of a slender woman with short cropped hair. Every few seconds mountains of code illuminated her body in a dazzling light show. 

"Cortana..." Parisa glanced up at Chief, taking in the details of his face for only a moment before returning her attention to the A.I in his hand. 

 "Lieutenant right?" Her tone was bored and uninterested "Well lieutenant I cannot tell you anymore details about John's 'childhood'" She turned and scowled at John like an angry mother, she was met with no reaction. "...But I can indeed confirm what he says is true, despite the fact that neither of you have the clearance" John clenched his hand squelching the A.I beneath his armor. He once again went for his helmet placing the A.I back into the neural interface. 

"I'm ... sorry..." John shuffled uncomfortably, his armor clicking with each movement.

 Parisa's hands moved her hands to her mouth and tears swelled worse than before, every drop racing one another down her cheeks. Chief reached to comfort the woman crying before him, but she reared away. Parisa hit the TACPAD on the table and it clattered to the floor, skidding along the rugged and worn concrete floor of Palace hotel. Her head shook and more tears dropped. She repeated the same thing over and over, she just said "oh god..."

 It was understandable, the one person she knew had died before all this sorrow hadn't actually been spared any of it, if anything he'd suffered more than anyone else. Now they stood, together again, this time surrounded by a thirty year war over the euphoria that coursed through them as children, smiling at the lake. The pristine image of the photo seemed to fake to be real, too... perfect. Their life was now war and nothing but war. Every minute of every day just war, trying to stop the fall of humanity against the mighty Covenant. There was no time for fantasying anything and what Parisa wanted more than anything was something or someone to fight for rather that the shadowed figure of ONI and the UNSC. 

 For a moment the Lieutenant stopped, her tears ceased to fall and she just stared at John. He looked up from the ground making eye contact with Parisa. His expression was stoic yet filled with pain. Before John could react Parisa thrust forward, leaning up wrapping her arms around the towering Spartans neck. His lips were met with hers and the sound of Johns helmet clattering to the floor filled the room. John had no idea what to do, as a Spartan any form of affection was foreign to him, he was trained not to have relationships, but this was beyond his control. For a moment his hand moved to Parisa waist and he kissed back.

 A few seconds later Parisa moved away, a smile tore across her face but John could see the tears forming in her eyes. Her arms were still around the Spartans neck and she was stood on her toes to make her as tall as possible. John leaned down to close the gap between them. 

 "I've been waiting so long to do that again..." Parisa dropped to her feet with a somewhat metallic thud Her arms trailed down from the Spartans neck to his chest before she pulled herself away and began to move towards her TACPAD. She grabbed her vest and looked over her TACPAD. A cut bore through the center rendering it useless. She stood moving towards the door, she caught a glimpse of John retrieving his helmet from the floor, dusting away the fine particles of dust it formed when it hit the concrete. She stopped a meter from the door. 

 "We move out, and you... You keep your promise" They both knew what she meant, his promise to marry her and keep her safe. Chief returned his helmet and once again found himself smiling behind his visor.

 "Ma'am" She smiled back and headed through the door, ready to fight this war not just for her employers but for someone. Someone real, tangible.

 "You shouldn't have done that..." Cortana spat through Johns helmet "You've put both your lives at risk" 

 "And this war hasn't?" John followed swiftly after Parisa, ready to protect her with his life.