AN: Fluff! Senseless, shameless, horrible fluff! That's all this is.

Really though. It's Valentine's Day, and because I recently finished a story that tended to get pretty depressing at times, and because I'm also currently writing another, equally depressing story to take its place, I decided that giving myself a break and writing something a little more light-hearted for the occasion would be good for me.

Maybe that's a good thing, maybe that's a bad thing, either way enjoy!

Linda set her rifle over a low wall, eyeing her sangheili foes that sat about 200 yards ahead of her. This battle had been harder than any she had fought in years, but it was coming to a close. The last few sangheili now stood, backed into their last defensive fortification, and on the edge of defeat.

She settled the scope on the forehead of sangheili Field Marshal and signaled to John to commence the final attack on their entrenched position. A green acknowledgement light flashed on her HUD, and she gently squeezed the trigger, dropping the sangheili.

The other sangheili spun on their heels to investigate, and of nowhere, John, Kelly, and Fred sprung from behind cover near their position, firing into their backs with everything they had. Kelly leaped acrobatically through the air, discharging her shotgun at a rapid pace and dashing swiftly between the sangheili while the other Spartans picked them off from afar.

When the last sangheili fell to one of Linda's trademark precision shots, she tore off her helmet and let out a long breath, glad that that was finally over. The breath she drew in, however, wasn't full full of gunpowder-tinted smoke and gore as most of her life's arduous, bloody battles had been, the air in this battle smelled as sterile as the war games complex it was hosted in.

The length of today's exercise had been a full two hours, making it truly, the longest battle she had been in in the last two years.

Linda almost laughed at how a fake battle now constituted her "biggest battle in years," but the war truly had been over for that long now, hadn't it?

Linda wasn't really sure when the war had ended fro her, but it hadn't been immediately after she had been rescued from the shield world. Pulling John from the Forward Unto Dawn had been one of the biggest rushes of relief she had ever felt in her life, so maybe that had been it. For her, it had felt like the true end of a war, a war that involved so many years of that stress had evaporated in an instant as she brushed the frost off the glass of his cryotube, revealing his armored form for the first tim win years, and ordered Cortana to wake him, catching him as he stumbled out of the pod, as he had become a bit disoriented after so many years in cryo.

She had torn off his helmet, and made sure the first thing he had seen after regaining his eyesight was her smiling face. She had thought that that would be the end of years of secret confessions of love and constant worry over wether or not they would see each other again after the next battle.

It hadn't been, not quite. It had still taken many years for them to adjust to this new life that they had been thrust into, but with their augmentations, the Spartans were expected to live for an obscene amount of time, so if anything, they had years to figure it all out. In a way, she'd like to think they had.

Linda picked up her rifle by its carry handle and ran towards the Spartans, a slight smirk on her face. The simulated ground slowly morphed into the white tile that the facility was made of as the hydraulically raised terrain began to settle as well, leaving them in a large, empty, white room.

"Woohoo!" Shouted Kelly as she bounced back and fourth on her feet, letting her child-like enthusiasm show through, "we kicked ass!"

John removed his helmet and shook his head, wearing a smile underneath that he would have obscured years ago, but now he could have cared less. He still had most of his old, stoic mannerisms, but Linda was glad his smile had been given back to him by the end of the war. It was one of the many things about him she couldn't get enough of.

"You're enjoying this way to much Kelly," he said as he rubbed his shoulder, "me, I think I'm getting a bit old for this."

She laughed and bounced over to him. "Jesus John, you're only eighty five, and I'm a year older than you. Quit complaining."

John shook his head dismissively and sat down heavily on the floor, groaning at the pain in his back.

Linda moved to stand by his side and smiled as Fred came over to join them. He approached Kelly from behind, playfully attempting to catch her in a restraining hold, but she was too fast for him, jumping out of his grasp and instant before he could catch her. He countered, sliding and wrapping his arms around her.

Kelly struggled playfully for a moment, but Linda could tell she was letting him win. That was surprising in its own right. Even though the two of them had been together for some time after the war, this wasn't something Kelly let Fred do often.

It hadn't been long after the conflict had ended that both Kelly and Fred had realized romantic love wasn't just something only Linda and John could fine. The bonds shared between Spartans ran deep, and sometimes love wasn't enough to describe its strength. It wasn't quite the same as a bond shared by a family, or a bond shared by fellow soldiers, it was deeper, and more personal than anyone who wasn't been raised in such horrific circumstances could understand. Love was something that had come more naturally to the two of them than they would have ever imagined, just as it had for John and Linda.

"You caught me you sonuvabitch," she spat not too angrily as she gave up her struggle.

"Well, at least someone can keep up with me," she said, shooting a glance at John.

John just shook his head, while Fred reached up and removed his helmet, pressing a kiss to Kelly's lips and not worrying for a second who saw it.

"Happy Valentine's Day Kelly," said Fred as he pulled away.

Valentine's Day?

Linda raised an eyebrow and checked her HUD's earth-standard calendar. Yes, February 14th. Today was Valentine's Day. Another holiday.

Holidays were something the Spartans were still trying to figure out, even after all these years out of combat. Fred loved Christmas, and it was hard not to celebrate St. Patrick's day with so many Marines around, but the rest just seemed to slip through their minds, mattering little to any of them.

Valentine's Day was supposed to be romantic, that was all Linda knew about it, and clearly, Fred was on top of it.

Linda smiled and rolled her eyes as Kelly and Fred continued to playfully half-spar half-make out, before turning to John to see if he had anything planned for her.

To her surprise, he did nothing, and simply picked up his rifle and head to the locker room. For a moment Linda was disappointed, and she didn't even know why. This hadn't been something they had celebrated in the past, so why would John start now?

Still though, she wished he would have done something after seeing that. Something about the joy she saw in Fred and Kelly's eyes, however, made her wish John had something planned for her. Sh Reid to shrug off the feeling as she packed up her gear and headed for the locker room, stripping her armor quickly and heading back to her small quarters near the facility.

Something about that exchanged stuck with her however, and as she flopped back on her bed, she couldn't help but begin to feel a bit irrationally angry. John had never been one for holidays, but why did he have to forget this one? He could have kissed her, or hugged her, or said something at the very least. She wasn't asking for much, was she?

She took a deep breath and tried to lower her trademark fiery anger. Maybe he was just waiting for a more personal time to say something?

She got her answer when he entered, exhausted and disheveled looking after a long day of fighting.

He made no attempt to talk to her, much less try anything romantic. He simply laid down on the bed next to her and closed his eyes.

"You were great out there today," he said with a level of contentness that shot Linda's anger through the roof.

She scowled in return and crossed her arms over her chest, forcibly removing herself from his side before she did something stupid. Maybe John wasn't the most socially inclined person, but after seeing something like that he should have at least something to say to her.

He sat up and frowned over at her, clearly lacking any inclination as to why she was mad at him.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, rubbing his eyes from exhaustion.

Linda shot a glare at him that could have ruptured a frigate's hull.

"Oh, nothing," she said angrily, "I'm sure you just forgot. Silly me."

John raised and eyebrow and stood, placing a hand on her shoulder, which she shrugged off.

"what did I forget?" He questioned.

Linda didn't answer and simply Shook her head. John frowned and waited for a response, but saw quickly he wasn't going to get one. She gave him a glare that clearly read "get out." He sighed and headed for the door, guessing that it would be best to give Linda space to think about whatever she was mad about.

"I'm sorry," he said, with sadness in his tone, "I'll leave you alone. I'll be in the commons if you need me."

Linda fumed angrily as he left and paced for several minutes before flopping down onto the bed. Leaving her alone on Valentine's Day, that was John's way of saying he was sorry?

She fumed for a while longer, but as her anger subsided she began to think a little more rationally. It got the better of her many times, and this had certainly turned out to be one of those times.

John wasn't a normal man. To him, Valentine's Day was just any other day. It didn't change the fact that he loved her, or how much. She didn't need to go around questioning that because of some arbitrary date someone had set up. He had never done anything to make her question him in the past, so why start now?

She stood and headed for the commons, hoping that she could end this day better than she had started it.

The Spartan's common room was a relatively small room, mostly left unused by them, accept for when high ranking officers came to visit their new post-war home. It contained little more than a couch, some chairs, and a small, old style fireplace the Spartans never used.

Linda was surprised, however, when she heard the fireplace crackling as she approached. She found John huddled under a blanket near the fire, warming himself and looking dejectedly at the ground in front of him.

Linda didn't even ask what the hell he was doing, she simply sat down next to him and pulled the blanket over herself as well, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Linda?" He asked, clearly expecting her to still be mad at him, "you're not mad at me?"

It wasn't an unreasonable expectation. Linda could stay made at someone for weeks, months, even years, but she had come to realize some things need to be forgiven and forgotten. John was far from the careless, civilian sort of man who would typically celebrate Valentine's Day, and that was the John Linda had fallen in love with.

"No, I'm not. I'm sorry John."

She let out a long breath before continuing, not used to apologizing to anyone for anything.

"Look, I love you, and I know you love me, and I shouldn't let some stupid holiday make me doubt that. I love you John."

She placed a kiss on his forehead, and waited for him to respond, but he was only left looking more confused than he had started.

"I love you too," he said softly, "but which holiday are you talking about?"

Linda sighed and tried to keep her blood pressure under control as she realized that he still truly hadn't a clue which holiday he had forgotten.

"It's Valentine's Day John," she said with a sigh, "it's no big deal that you forgot it. I know we haven't done anything for it in the past, but it's just something that sounds nice to celebrate. That's all."

John's confusion all but evaporated as she finished her sentence, and he grinned slightly.

"Oh, Valentine's Day?" He asked, nearly oblivious to his error.

He reached behind the sofa and pulled out a rose, handing it to her.

"Must have slipped my mind..."

Normally, if John had been joking, Linda would have slapped him, if he was serious, she would have punched him, but in that moment she did neither. She wasn't sure who had convinced him to delegate Valentine's Day, maybe it was Fred, or Kelly, and she would certainly be having some words with all three of them after this about messing with her, but right now that was the last thing on her mind.

She smiled at him, waiting for him to do more, but he simply turned to face the fire and pulled her close to him.

"Do you remember those cold nights on reach when we were still trainees?" He asked, smiling fondly, "When you and I would huddle for warmth to keep from freezing to death?"

Linda smiled at the memory, leaning into John's shoulder. In the midst of such a horrible upbringing, those truly had been good times.

"I sure do," she said, a fondness about her tone.

John turned to face her and pulled the blanket around them, resting his forehead against hers.

"Well, February on earth isn't nearly as cold as February on reach, but I figured we could use some time to warm up together anyway."

By the sly smile on John's face, Linda could clearly tell that this had all indeed been planned. She would have to have some words with him and Fred latter, but now was neither the time nor the place.

Linda smiled sweetly as he placed a kiss on her lips.

"Happy Valentine's Day Linda."

She laughed slightly and kissed him passionately, letting him smile into the kiss before settling her head against his chest.

"Happy Valentine's Day John."

John allowed Linda to curl up against him as he settled himself in and faced the roaring fire, the blanket trapping the heat and warming the two of them.

The two of them stayed that way for God knows how long, enjoying each other's warmth.

Maybe the two of them would never become perfectly adjusted to holidays, or regular life, or anything else that came so easily to most people, but at least they would have each other to hold onto as they tried.

:) 3

Have a great day Spartans.