The Academy stood quietly beneath the evening sky.
The last rays of sunlight painted the stone towers gold as six Academy cadets raced through the front gates.
"Move!"
"I'm trying!"
"No, you're not!"
June laughed as Lucian grabbed the back of his uniform before he could shove another cadet aside.
"I'm preserving your dignity."
"I didn't ask you to."
"I know."
"You're welcome."
Mira laughed softly as she climbed the final staircase.
"I forgot..."
"...how many stairs there were."
Castiel looked up toward the final landing.
"...Twenty-three more."
June stopped halfway.
"...You counted?"
"I always count."
"...I'm worried about you."
"So you've said."
David and Nyra reached the top together.
Both slightly out of breath.
Both laughing.
Nyra leaned against the door leading to the roof.
"...Ready?"
David smiled.
"...Yeah."
She pushed it open.
Fresh evening air greeted them.
The Academy rooftop stretched before them exactly as they remembered.
The city below shimmered beneath thousands of lanterns.
Far beyond the walls...
The mountains faded into the deepening blue of twilight.
For a long moment...
No one said anything.
June walked to the railing first.
He spread both arms wide.
"...I have returned!"
Lucian closed the rooftop door behind them.
"...You were gone for six hours."
"It felt longer."
Mira slowly sat cross-legged near the edge of the roof.
"...It's beautiful."
"It always is."
Nyra replied.
David stepped beside the railing.
The city looked different from up here.
Peaceful.
Alive.
Safe.
Children still played in the streets below.
Music drifted upward.
The warm lights from homes stretched all the way to the distant hills.
He rested his arms on the stone railing.
"...I forgot how quiet it is."
Nyra stepped beside him.
"You don't hear the city."
"You hear life."
David looked toward her.
She was watching the sunset.
The wind gently moved strands of her silver hair.
"...You always notice things like that."
She smiled.
"My dad always told me..."
"'If you stop paying attention to beautiful things...'"
"'...you'll forget why you're fighting.'"
David looked back toward the city.
"...He sounds wise."
"He is."
Behind them...
June had somehow convinced Lucian to throw a small rubber ball back and forth.
The problem...
Lucian threw like a military officer.
June caught the first throw.
Barely.
"...GOOD GRIEF!"
Lucian blinked.
"...Too hard?"
"You nearly declared war."
"I adjusted for the wind."
"There isn't any."
"There could have been."
June threw it back.
The ball missed Lucian completely.
It bounced once...
Then rolled to Castiel's feet.
Castiel calmly picked it up.
Looked at June.
Looked at Lucian.
Then...
Without warning...
Threw it.
Perfect spiral.
It landed directly in June's hands.
June stared.
"..."
"...Do you ever fail at anything?"
Castiel thought seriously.
"...Social conversation."
Everyone laughed.
Even Castiel smiled at his own answer.
As darkness slowly settled...
The conversation drifted naturally.
Not about combat.
Not about rankings.
Just...
Life.
Mira looked toward the stars beginning to appear.
"...Where do you think we'll all be five years from now?"
Silence.
June answered first.
"...Rich."
Lucian sighed.
"...That's your dream?"
"It's one of them."
"What are the others?"
"...Still being rich."
Nyra laughed.
"At least you're honest."
June pointed toward David.
"What about you, Boss?"
David looked out over the city.
"...I don't know."
"I've never really thought that far."
Lucian looked at him.
"You should."
"You're leading people now."
David nodded slowly.
"...I know."
He looked around at Gamma Squad.
"...Honestly..."
"If five years from now..."
"...we're all still friends..."
"I think that'd be enough."
Silence.
A warm one.
Nyra smiled.
"...I like that answer."
"So do I."
Mira added.
Castiel nodded.
"...Agreed."
June looked around the group.
Then grinned.
"...Well..."
"...You're all stuck with me."
Lucian answered immediately.
"...That was always my greatest fear."
"Yet here we are."
The first stars appeared overhead.
One by one.
The city grew quieter.
No one felt the need to speak anymore.
David looked around the rooftop.
Lucian stood at the railing.
Strong.
Dependable.
Mira quietly watched the stars.
June somehow managed to entertain himself by tossing the ball straight into the air.
Castiel sat reading the rhythm-game brochure again.
David laughed.
"...You're still reading that?"
Castiel looked up.
"...There's an interesting section on programming."
June looked toward the sky.
"...I can't tell if you're serious anymore."
"...I am."
Nyra sat beside David.
Close enough that their shoulders almost touched.
She looked toward the stars.
"...Today's been perfect."
David nodded.
"...Yeah."
"It has."
She smiled.
"...We'll have to do it again."
David smiled back.
"...Definitely."
Around them...
The Academy stood peaceful beneath the night sky.
Six cadets.
Six friends.
Sharing one quiet rooftop.
Completely unaware...
That years from now...
This would become the memory each of them returned to whenever they thought about what Gamma Squad once was.