The Good, the Bad, and the Didact

Epilogue: Slipspace

I stood alongside the Didact, holding his hand on the bridge of Mantle's Approach as the ship prepared to leave.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"We need to leave this system. Your kind may now be preparing forces to attack my ship. I have fought them before, but there is no doubt they outnumber us. We shall head to Nomdagro. It is a planet on the far rim," The Didact said.

"Nomdagro, you've been there before?"

"It is where the Librarian and I raised our family. I have not been back there since my first exile, but I know my home remains. You will love it there Emily, it is a sight to behold. But first, there is the matter of ensuring how we can stay together, we Forerunners live for centuries but you do not. I want our time together to last and could not bear the thought of watching you die. Though you may not be a Forerunner, you could live like one, if that is what you desire." The Didact told me.

I thought for a moment as I stood beside him. Is this really what I wanted? I had nowhere else to go. My foster parents were probably dead back on Requiem. The Didact was all I had left, and he was the only one who loved me. If I chose to stay the way I was now, my time with the Didact would not last, even if it was only for several decades. He probably still had a century or two left in him. But I was all he had left as well. What would he do without me? He needed someone beside him, and if I was going to do that, I wanted to be with him longer.

"Yes this is what I want," I said.

The Didact smiled and turned to look at me. "So be it, Emily I will not abandon you. I shall protect you, and stand by your side until the end of my days. Once we get to my home on Nomdagro, my Prometheans will outfit you suitable armor that may be of use. Do not worry; it has been done on humans before,"

"I wasn't worried about that. What are we going to do on Nomdagro besides live there?" I replied.

"That is something I do not know Emily. For most of the Forerunners have died from the Halo Array eons ago, or they have been composed into my warriors," He looked out towards the horizon, "But, I am hoping to find peace now, knowing that what I have done is wrong. I will redeem myself by staying with you. Should the Flood ever return, we will find a way to deal with them a better way; one that does not involve destroying humanity this time."

Two Promethean Knight Commanders walked onto the bridge. The Didact turned towards them.

"Prepare to jump into slipspace, we are setting a course for Nomdagro," The Didact commanded, and the two Knights walked past us to activate the full thrust. A large slipspace portal opened before us, and Mantle's Approach's shields went up. The Didact turned to me again.

"Emily, I never got the chance to say this earlier, but thank you for coming back for me," He stroked my cheek gently as he spoke.

I blushed, "Hey, if you love someone you let them go, and if they return, that means they love you, and now they're yours. We came from difficult pasts. Let's start over......"

Before I could finish my sentence, the Didact swept me into his arms, lifting me up the way he did on the light bridge. I smiled and gazed at him.

"Together?" He asked.

"Together." I said softly.

Then he kissed me deeply as Mantle's Approach jumped into slipspace, taking us to our home, my new home, and my new life.

THE END