~Caelum's POV~

Nervousness filled my heart, a tail whagging in uncertain excitement and fear, with a form trembling from anxiety. The hospital called Courtney earlier, asking her to visit them at her earliest chance; the time of which was not long before I had finished school. Lunar's dad was kind enough to drop me back, and I had a spare key anyway, the note from Courtney was the first thing I noticed when entering the kitchen.

Granted, I didn't know how long it was since she had actually left, and the hospital was a fair distance away from our new home. Honestly, I did think back to where I used to live - the dump of a broken down house that hadn't been managed or kept in condition for years since mum... After her death, my dad just seemed to give up on most things. I always wondered if I was the source of my dads downfall, if I was what caused him to break the way he did.

Courtney said something that my dad did suffer from PTSD? I wasn't sure what that was, but she said it was something that did affect the way he viewed things. I asked her why, though I was too young to understand what she meant, not to mention quite angry.

.."Caelum, your dads got PTSD, you can't hold everything his done against him."

"Why can't I? His beaten me, abused me, neglected me, you're saying I'm not allowed to be upset about that?"

"Caelum... Just listen, that's not what I'm saying, but you've got to understand. Maybe your too young, but I'll tell you anyway. Your dad, when he was with your mom, was apart of ZSF - Zootopia Security Force."

"Like you?"

"No, I'm ZPD - Zootopia Police Department; Security Force is basically another branch of the ZM and ZCT - Zootopian Military and Zootopian Counter-Terrorist. They have very dangerous assignments and deadly missions, and your dad has been apart of the Marked war for a solid ten years before he even met your mom. It's left it's mark on him. You're too young to properly understand, and some of the things you should never have to experience... All I'm saying is, give him a genuine chance, because deep down he is a really good guy."

..Maybe she's right, I'm nothing if not willing to give a second chance. I mean, even before I moved in with Courtney, my dad had slowly been getting better, acting more like the dad I remember from when I was so young. Maybe when I was a bit older, I'd talk to my dad about it... If he makes it that long...

I still couldn't believe it, my dad was dying. I didn't want to believe it, I refused to believe it. He couldn't. I needed him. Oh god... What if? What if? What if they called her for final goodbyes? No... No don't think like that Caelum.

Everything went silent, the world going quiet as my keen hearing picked up on the sound of a car pulling up outside. Everything went slow, even my tail felt and looked like it was swaying in slow motion. Two doors. Dad? Was he here? I couldn't be sure if what I was hearing was just wishful and hopeful imagination - and I was too frozen to run towards the window and look outside. Footsteps approached, and my heart began to pound against my ribcage like there was no tomorrow.

I had never cried so hard.. When the door opened, the first thing I saw wasn't Courtney like I was expecting, it was my dad, leaning on some sort of stick to support him. I... I...I... He was here.. There was not a single second going by that moment when he wrapped his arms around me, when I was crying like a newborn kit - not one second where I felt anything other than soul fulfilling joy and happiness.

"Hey kiddo." It took some time, but he finally wheezed out a word - only because I had so kindly loosened by deathly grip on him. I stared up at him, my vision blurry and distorted from the ears flooding my sight. I didn't trust my words right now. "What'cha crying for?"

"I...I...I was so... So scared." I whimpered out, burying my face into his chest - I hadn't actually realized just how tall I actually was for a fox my age -either that or my dad was actually rather short.

"Hey, it's ok... I'm here now..." I pulled away from the hug, and my dad did his best to kneel infront of me, staring me in the eyes, with a paw resting upon my shoulder. "Dad's here now... You never have to be scared again." He sighed, temporarily breaking his gaze to look down in shame. "This time, I'm going to be a dad. I promise... I can't change the past, but I'm going to atleast try towards making a start at being a good father, for however long I have left."

"Just please, be the dad I remember you were back when I was so young.." I whispered.

"I will, Caelum... I promise.." It was at that moment Courtney piped up, reminding us both of her existence.

"Hate to bust up this moment, but can I please come inside, I'm freezing my butt off out here.. Some of us aren't wearing coats y'know." My dad got up, with some help from me, and stepped aside to let the girl through, laughing softly as she passed.

"You're the one who decided to wear a tank-top."

"I didn't know the weather was gonna go all Tundra-Town style on me when I got back did I?" She replied with some slight sass. "Now can I have a word in private Mr Doorblocker?" Dad nodded, looking down at me. He could tell I didn't want to leave him, but he tried anyway to dismiss me.

"Go play kiddo, Courtney wants to talk to me." I pouted, staring at the ground. "I'll come up and see you after Caelum, promise. Just give me five minutes, k?" Reluctantly nodding, I retreated upstairs to my room.

~Courtney's POV~

The second Caelum was out of sight, I punched Odi in the arm lightly. "That's, for when you gave me a fucking heart attack in the hospital." I rubbed my arm slightly as he chuckled, replying.

"Oh, you mean when you were screaming your lungs out at that poor doctor?" I nodded with both a smile and a thumbs up at him. "What did you want to talk about?" As he made his way over to the couch, I walked up and helped him sit down, before taking up the seat next to him. I looked down at the ground in shame.

"I kinda told Caelum about your PTSD and the Marked." I expected some angry remarks or something like that, he said himself he wanted to keep the ZSF days behind him once Caelum was announced, he didn't want his kid to know all the shit his done. What I wasn't expecting was him to just sigh as if he knew it was going to happen but didn't really want it too.

"I thought you would've. How much?"

"Just that you were a ZSF trooper and part of the Marked conflict when they were still around - thank heaven they're gone."

"I'll talk to him about it at some point." I looked at him curiously and confused. Yeah, Caelum was a smart kid, but I don't even he could truly understand the effect it has on his dad, nevermind this was going against what he himself wanted - to keep it a secret.

"Why? I thought you wanted to put the ZSF behind you and be a father to Cae with Amare."

"Cae?" I shrugged.

"Thought it was cute."

"I do wanna be a father.. Let's face it though, I'm not good dad material, heck, I don't even know what makes you a good dad - mine was away in the ZCT pretty much all my life." Oh yeah, the military had always been in Odi's viens. His dad, his grandad, his older brother, his uncle - nearly every male in his family had at one point or another served or enlisted in one of the three. Even the girls all at some point were part of the ZPD, the odd few joining firefighters and the medical profession through the course of time.

It was in their blood. Me, I was a waitress for a solid three years before the ZPD, then signed up one day and got accepted. I was honestly surprised when I found out he liked Amare, honestly didn't expect him to even notice her. She was studying for being a doctor, he was trainging for the ZSF, and yet because he got a few broken bones and she was the one tending to him, they hit it off. Didn't stop me from threatening him if he hurt her.

Odi sighed sadly. "Has he been alright? I've missed out on so much of his life because I never paid any attention." Resting a comforting paw on his shoulder, I gave him my best reassuring smile.

"Caelum's been fine. His got a nice little girlfriend, his doing alright at school, and we're not struggling or anything. His growing up into a good fox, you'd be proud."

"I already am proud of him... I've always been proud of him, I've always loved him, I've just never really shown it." He looked at me like he wanted to break down and cry. "Courtney, I'm scared... I don't know what to do." He whimpered, looking down at the floor. I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug, resting my head atop his own.

"Don't worry Odi.. We're gonna figure this out. I'm gonna be there to help you, every step of the way." I promise, it's time for a new life Odi. A life where you and Caelum are actually father and son. I had a strong hopeful feeling in my heart, a strong hope that the future for us would not be so dark anymore. Hope that everything was, for once, going to go our way and be alright.

~...~

How naive of me to think that.. Of course the future wouldn't be all great, and this was the most obvious sign of how stupid my naivety had been. This one little piece of paper with a symbol known all too well. If the Marked wanted another war, they were definitely fucking asking for it after those attacks, but this time, the ZCT and ZM were more than ready for them... "This time Odi... I promise you, we'll finish this war." I strapped my pistol into it's houlster on my hip, clutching Odi's Tags in my right paw, before donning on my Police riot armour, staring at my helmeted reflection to notice one lone tear falling down my cheek. "For Caelum..."