Greetings, fellows. For those who are familiar that might have gotten alerts, yes, Ti Amo is returning. After an unfair murdering of my old fan fiction account, I've decided to return it to its semi-original state. I won't go into details in what made me want to nuke this account, but I decided to use the G.E.C.K. Device to revitalize the wastes. And here we are. All I can do is apologize and slowly repost the story. I never completed it, and don't really plan to, but there's enough here to provide hours of reading, clocking in at 641 pages, or roughly 440,000 words... and 63 chapters, all in Roman Numerals! Ain't I all fancy-like?

And for those of you just stumbling upon this... well, new story! But since you gathered by now that this is a story of ye olden days when we thought Halo 3 was the official end of the main series, and this is simply a repost after being 'ded' for a few years, you'll see that I'll offer retrospects at the ends of each chapter.

Bear in mind that since this is old I can assure you my writing and story-telling skills have improved substantially (yes, I may release some new fics in the future). A lot of this makes me cringe, but hey, nostalgia, and I still like it in general, nostalgia or not.

Regardless, it's here, and readable, and I'm not going to take it down again.

One other thing: you'll probably notice some [CLASSIFIEDS] floating around. This is just my lazy approach to censoring 18-year-old me from giving away where I live IRL. Yes, this is far behind when I learned anonymity on the interwebs should be taken seriously. I mean, nothing happened or anything, but still. Sanic Sez.

Ti Amo

Chapter I

Faaip De Oiad

Stone Gossard lolled his head to the side, his brain pumping like a heart juiced on steroids. He hadn't headache this bad since he had smashed his head on the ground, one winter in [CLASSIFIED], when slipping on the ice.

Maybe the fact that I had been smashed in the head with a plasma rifle had something to do with it, he thought in dark sarcasm. Stone Gossard, and his former squad mates had been sent on a mission to assassinate the Prophets of Truth and Mercy. Squad one had been saved by the Master Chief, according to tidbits he heard on the UNSC comlink. He didn't bother to contact them, he could only pick up, but not send transmissions. His radio had broken in a fire fight with some Elites and Brutes. Now he was locked in this prison cell, completely alone; his teammates murdered and the Covenant that were guarding the brig all went out to fight that civil war that had been cooked up by the Prophets. From what Stone heard, the Prophets had basically condemned the Elites from the Covenant, and now they were pissed and ready to kill every Covenant bastard that stood in their way. Stone half hoped that the Elites would decide to help humanity.

During his time in the cell, he finally saw that the Elites, pissed to begin with about some Honor Guard situation, semi-respected humans; he even struck up a discussion with one rookie Elite in blue armor. The Elite, to begin with, ranted to him, since the other Covies didn't want to hear it. About how he had originally wanted to be part of just the Sangheili military, and not the Covenant army; but his father had made him join the Covenant army. Since he had no choice in the matter, he was stuck as a Minor Domo. Only a few days after he joined High Charity, the Prophets assigned Brutes to become the Honor Guards after the Master Chief had assassinated Regret. Then he went on about how the Brutes strutted around High Charity like they owned the place, how the Elite Council threatened to resign, and ultimately the Prophets finally were fed up with the Elites and ordered genocide on their race. Then Stone said,

"Guess they're going to have to kill your brothers, your sisters, your mothers, your fathers, and glass your planet." The Elite, Samos his name was, began,

"Hardly! Out of every race in the Covenant, we have the most planets, the most ships, the..." he trailed off when he had finally noticed Stone's dark look...and understood what he meant.

"Not so fun to be in a human's shoes, is it?" asked Stone, his eyes carrying an animalistic emptiness and rage that made Samos bow his head in shame. Then the commander of the group of Elites spoke up,

"We leave! The Flood have began infesting High Charity, there is nothing more we can do on it. We can only escape, then find out what happens against the Covenant." The other Elites got ready to leave, but Samos looked back at Stone. Then he turned to his commander,

"Excellency-" he began, but the doors to the brig opened and two Brutes entered.

"In here!" yelled one. The Elites opened fire, taking the Brute down quickly since they were outnumbered, then proceeded out the brig. Samos turned back to Stone and said,

"I'll come back for you." He then turned off the lights. "Stay in the shadows." Then he left. Ten minutes passed and he never returned. Either Samos had wanted to give Stone false hope, was killed, or was forced to leave him behind. Either way, Stone figured he would either be killed by wandering Brutes, starvation, or the Flood would get him. Something he shivered at.

Stone reflected back on his life. He had been on Reach, but not gone to Halo. He fought with the remaining Spartans that resided on the half-glassed Reach. The majority of the Covenant fleet had chased after the Pillar of Autumn, but a generous amount had been left for what was left of Reach. He had escaped Reach, but not after one hundred percent of his friends and family were killed. When he arrived at Earth, for the first time in his life, he was left alone with no contacts. He had strictly been a Reach man, the son of forefathers that colonized Reach and never left. Earth wasn't much different, but it wasn't home to say the least. That and the fact that his only home was a [CLASSIFIED] base, his roommate some racist jackass that used the terms "nigger" and "spic" openly. The only good time Stone had with that skinhead was when he looked up the man's family on an ancestry website, and found that his great great great grandfather had had a Hispanic mother and a black/Caucasian father. Then they got in a fist fight, resulting in Stone's broken nose, but the bastard's dislocated elbow joint.

Out of all the times, that was the only good time Stone had since the loss of his home and family. Several Marines had attempted to become chummy with him, some girls had tried to hitch up with him even. After he declined every woman's request at a date, he was then rumored to be gay; and of course he was given shit about that. Truth was, Stone was just a miserable person, and he didn't have it in him to make the best of life. After lives he knew could be extinguished so easily, he couldn't bear to live happily when his family had suffered. All he knew was that he was going to kill Covenant until he was either dead, or the war was won. After that...he didn't know. But right now it seemed he was going to die on High Charity.

Stone felt terrible, like he was sick and dying. He had been in this cell for hours, with no food and his wounds weren't cleaned. He looked up with watery eyes, the air was a slight haze of green.

Flood, he stated mentally. Maybe his breathing that shit in and it getting in his open wounds was making him sick. Out of every way he could possibly die, he did not want to die Flood. But what choice did he have? He looked at the foot of his cell and saw a pistol lying near the bars. He crawled from the back of the cell, his body feeling slightly numb and weak, and his head screaming with pain. He bit his lip and picked up the weapon. He slid the clip out and looked in, it was empty. He sighed and threw the clip away, then pulled back the slide.

Would God tell me to do this? He thought when he saw a single bullet in the chamber. He eased the slide back into its original position and looked at the weapon. He had read the Bible, the Koran, and the Torah. They said suicide was bad news, but what were the odds of a gun having only a single bullet left, magically appearing at the foot of his cell. He was sure the gun had not been there before...he thought. He then coughed violently into his hand. When his fit was over he saw droplets of blood on his hand. He was never a religious man, but an agnostic that thought religion had some semi-truths to them; he had never been a praying man, but now he prayed that he wouldn't become Flood. If impossible miracles happened then God answered some prayers, but there were as many unanswered prayers as there were answered. He knew that God would either answer or not answer. He looked at the gun, wondering if his current prayer had a pre-answer, that this gun was the answer to his future prayer of not becoming infected. But suicide wasn't a good case, whether you were religious, agnostic, or atheist. So he sat there arguing with himself. The spores he was breathing in were maybe making him sick and/or killing him, or they could be in fact slowly turning him into a combat form. In which case, he'd shoot himself, no hesitation. He had always been miserable his whole life, but never suicidal. Stone coughed again, the blood droplets appearing in his hand again, his insides tied in a sailor's knot. He felt his stomach shudder, bubble, and contract. It felt like he was going to-

Stone doubled over all of a sudden and puked. Not a stream, but a burst, like spitting out water. It was orange, and thick, and was pretty hot too. Did anyone order butternut squash soup? Stone scooted away from the puddle of puke, sat in a corner and wiped his mouth. He looked at the gun again, noticed his vision was fuzzy, he felt dizzy, and sweat was accumulating on his face. Stone found it sort of hard to breathe, and took bigger breaths. He needed to rest his eyes. Stone closed his eyes and rested his throbbing head on the cool wall of the cell. He was out like a light, and it only seemed like a few seconds that he was asleep. Then Stone groggily awoke, feeling worse.

I can't take it, he thought bitterly. He brought the pistol to bear and pointed it at his temple. As he was about to pull the trigger someone said,

"No!" forcefully. Stone looked around in surprise, looking to see who had spoken. He looked outside the cell and saw no one.

What the fuck? He asked himself. He paused for thirty seconds, listening. The only thing he heard was the throbbing of his own brain.

The voice of God? Telling me to hang in there? If so, whatever, dude. He sighed, shaking his head. He was probably going crazy with this sickness and would start hallucinating angels. Stone sighed again and closed his eyes. It was a bit harder to sleep now, and he managed Stage N1 sleep before a scream pierced his drowsy, half-awareness. He bolted upright and scanned the cell wildly with his weapon. Outside the brig he heard a Brute yell,

"Get over here you little runt!"

"Leave me alone!" yelled another voice. But it sounded like a child to Stone's surprise.

"You all must die!" Then the door to the brig opened and a small Elite stumbled in. It wore a purple dress lined with gold. It, now apparently a she, was about 4'11, had a gash on her hip that was bleeding freely, and brilliant silver eyes. Her facial features were more feminine and strangely beautiful even to the human eye. She looked at his cell and her eyes held shock when she saw him. Then a giant fist grabbed her by the scruff of the neck. She screamed in terror as she was lifted high into the air. Then the grinning Brute slammed her into the ground violently, making Stone flinch. When the Elite girl hit the ground, she gave a small croak and huddled and a fetal position. The Brute chuckled.

"Poor thing," he said sarcastically as he pointed his read plasma rifle at her. Stone, despite his hate for the aliens that killed his family, felt cold fury fill his insides when the Brute got ready to kill the girl.

"Hey asshole!" he yelled. The Brute looked up in surprise, not expecting to see any humans on High Charity. Stone quickly lifted the gun and aimed at the Brute's eye. Before the Brute could move, Stone fired off, and the bullet pierced his eye and went into his brain, killing him instantly. He crumpled to the ground next to the Elite girl, who yelped and crawled away. She then looked at Stone, who sat down again, feeling unable to stand. She stared at him and he stared back. After a silence that lasted forty-five seconds, Stone said,

"Are you okay?" The Elite looked taken aback by that question, then nodded yes, still eying Stone warily. She slowly approached the cell door and knelt in front of it, just a few feet from Stone.

"Who...who are you?" she asked. Her voice still sounded Elite-ish, but sounded much more closer to a human female's voice.

"I'm Stone...Stone Gossard," said Stone, who was surprised at how haggard his voice sounded. "What's your name?" he asked her.

"Sedena," she told him. She broke his gaze shyly and blushed slightly.

"Can you let me out?" asked Stone. She stood and pressed the holopanel next to the cell door. The bars retracted into the roof and Stone tried to stand. He grabbed the wall for support and found his legs shaking beneath his body. Sedena watched him undecidedly. He staggered out of the cell and grabbed a weapons rack for support before he fell. It was then he noticed the weapons from his squad had been saved and put on the rack. He couldn't help but smile when he saw his custom BR55. His late Sergeant had given him and his squad permission to "up their arsenal". The clip held about fifty bullets now, and had three firing modes; semi-auto, burst fire, and full auto. The scope zoomed up an extra 4 times. He put it on his back, and regretted it as it seemed to take all his energy. He then took it off and slowly knelt down, then sat and leaned on the crate. Sedena came over and rested on both her knees.

"You look sick...Stone," she told him.

"I feel sick," Stone mumbled, closing his eyes again. "I'm too weak to do anything. When...and if I wake up, we can find a way out of here."

"I'm looking for my father. My mother was...killed by Brutes," Sedena forced out. Stone looked at her, and saw she was starting to cry.

"So was mine," he whispered. Sedena looked up and seemed...glad that someone knew the pain.

"I'm scared. The Flood took over the city...I don't know where my father or brother are," she started to sob. Stone tentatively wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She didn't seem to mind, as she rested her head on his chest.

"What are their names?" he asked.

"My...father...I do not speak his name...but my brother is...Samos."

"Samos?" he asked. She looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"You saw him?" she asked, eyes bright.

"I did...but it was a long time ago. Last time I saw him he went to fight...he said he'd set me free but never got to it," Stone explained. Sedena started to look dismal again. Stone started to feel dismal. No matter what someone else on another side of war did to you, you always felt compassion and understanding for the innocent. He now wanted to pull through his sickness and help Sedena find her father and brother. He hoped they weren't dead...which was the first time he hoped an Elite(s) weren't dead. Not necessarily because he liked them, but for Sedena...well, he liked her so far. Sedena seemed to settle down and looked like she was dozing off on his chest. He wondered how old she was. Elites towered over humans, any human girl this height would be considered six, maybe eight.

"How old are you?" he asked her.

"...seven years," she responded softly, she was definitely falling asleep. Stone sighed then closed his eyes again. The throbbing in his head abated ever so slightly, and then he drifted to sleep, but hoping when he awoke he would be strong enough to support both of them.

[So everything I'm going to say below is my ramblings as I'm reading the chapter, so it might be a bit fractured. I'll probably refine in the future, but for now the excite is too much.]

(1) Notice how I claim the place on Earth where I live is where Stone once lived? But then I go on to say he also lived on Reach? Now I'm sure you can say, "Well, Stone is a marine, so he could easily be assigned to some ships that go between worlds, including Earth. It's not that far-fethced." I'm actually projecting YOUR potentiel arguments as I'm thinking of what to say during my retrospect... but then I read, and I directly quote teenage-me: "When he arrived at Earth, for the first time in his life, he was left alone with no contacts." Cool. I already have a major continuity error only a couple paragraphs after the first one. Well, it's not really all that major, since it doesn't affect the story in general, but I know this can bug people. I'll admit it doesn't particularly bug me, but you know, old story on display, nothing I'm continuing.

(2) Oh, and get this, 50 pages later I reveal that Stone was once stationed in a San Diego military base, even though on just the first page I claimed he had only lived in... err, [CLASSIFIED], since he first got to Earth. And no, I'm not making a huge spoiler or anything, so don't fret. Just some idle conversation between characters.

(3) Ha! I say that at one point Stone was rumored to be gay at his old Earth base, and he gets picked on for it. Come on, me, it's the 2500s. I'm sure homophobia still exists and all, but I highly doubt as widespread as it is now (and even now it's slowly but surely thinning). I mean, just a couple of years ago Obama got rid of that horrible 'Don't ask, don't tell' thing, but I remember some Halo stories around the time of this one implied THAT was still a thing in the 2500s. As much as people like to stereotype marines and so on as a bunch of hyper-masculine jarheads, and I'm sure there's quite a few of them, even most of the dudes like that are decent guys. I'm skeptical the Corps would even be any worse in FIVE HUNDRED YEARS as it is now.

(4) So a human gun magically appears at the foot of his cell... which is apparently barred and not energized, so he can grab it, by the power of convenience. kek. And then a bunch of drivel about God stuff. I was a former Catholic back then that became an agnostic still 'open to the concept of religion' and other God stuff. Listen guys, I'm not trying to be inflammatory or anything, but I'll just get it out of the way: agnosticism is just pre-pubescent atheism. So if you're agnostic and wondering if you'll ever believe in religion again, well, I won't say you never will. You could decide you're Christian or whatever you pick. But it's likely you'll just become a regular ol' atheist like me.

(5) "Stone doubled over all of a sudden and puked. Not a stream, but a burst, like spitting out water. It was orange, and thick, and was pretty hot too. Did anyone order butternut squash soup?" Ah yes, this was my 'I'm going to write like Stephen King!' phase. I'll admit, I still do sometimes. I mean come on, his style is just so fun, you can't help but give it a go yourself!

(6) Funny story about the theme of this chapter and its name. "Faaip De Oiad" is Enochian for 'Voice of God.' It was also the name of a Tool song that wasn't actually a song. Yeah, back then I was one of those kids that took his philosophy lessons from Maynard James Keenan music and politics from Rage Against The Machine. So the whole 'voice of God' theme is that basically Stone 'hears' God tell him 'No' when he's about to kill himself. But the reality is I just liked that Tool non-song and Tool in general, and I had to tell everyone how awesome they were (and how I was for being a fan) by naming my chapter after the song and coming up with some God stuff so it wasn't just some irellevent thing that you would soon forget as you got into the story proper. I also think I came up with some crack-pot 'coincidences' regarding John-117's number and Kelly-, um, Kelly-WhateverNumberOrSomething (REALLY?! A Biblical coincidence regarding people with Biblical number passages in their names?!), and that a recording used in Tool's not-a-song, which was some dude freaking out about aliens and Area 51, and how IT HAPPENED ON 9/11 YEARS AGO BEFORE REAL 9/11 ISN'T THAT SPOOPY?! Le sigh.

(7) "It was a bit harder to sleep now, and he managed Stage N1 sleep..." Pfffff-hahahaha! Really, teenage me? You couldn't just say 'he fell into a half-sleep,' but had to look for the technical term on Wikipedia? No seriously, after reading that I remember actually going on Wikipedia to look for the proper terminology.

(8) "It was then he noticed the weapons from his squad had been saved and put on the rack. He couldn't help but smile when he saw his custom BR55. His late Sergeant had given him and his squad permission to "up their arsenal". The clip held about fifty bullets now, and had three firing modes; semi-auto, burst fire, and full auto. The scope zoomed up an extra 4 times." Convenient-rifle is convenient. Seriously, though, it's 2500. You'd think humanity would have made some truly future-ry weapons by then. Sorry, Bungie, I know you had to appeal to casual FPS players, but still: it takes more than a mounted ammo-counter and a bullpup design to make a future-gun. At least you learned this lesson with Destiny... sort of.

(9) "'...My mother was...killed by Brutes,' Sedena forced out. Stone looked at her, and saw she was starting to cry.

'So was mine,' he whispered. Sedena looked up and seemed...glad that someone knew the pain."

Good use of the word 'glad,' me. I'm also 'glad' when I hear other people have lost their great-grandmother like I have. It just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. But seriously though, innocent mistake. These days I'd put it something like... 'Sedena seemed somewhat comforted by the notion that she could find common ground with someone who shared the same pain.'

Well, all things considered, I still find this generally good. If any readers feel like discussing this you're more than welcome to. Like it? Dislike it? Flat out hate it? I won't take it personally, just as long as you're not a douche meister. Please tell me your thoughts! I think I might actually reply to them publicly, so we can have a bit of a general discussion instead of just shooting PMs back and forth. Possibly even open up a forum thread if there's enough viewers. This was my most popular story back in days of yore, so it's entirely possible it could be popular again and I could open a thread about it. But I'm not in this to be all pretentious and have everyone gape in awe at how amazing I am now, I'm just doing this for funsies.

Nah, the pretentiousness is for NEW stories! kappa