Nightingale 》Jake Seresin

Chapter 10

It's been a few days since Tom "Iceman Kazansky" passed away. And everyone was feeling the effects.

Once Maverick was able to calm Nova down enough to get her off the base, they headed straight to the Kazansky home. They didn't know if anyone was actually at the house, but they would wait out front if they weren't.

But when they got there, JJ was already on the porch. He knew who would be coming as soon as they got the news. Mav had barely put the car in park before Nova was out of it.

She ran to JJ and the two friends held onto each other like their lives depended on it. Never had they hugged each other as tightly as they did in that moment.

Maverick gave JJ a squeeze on the shoulder, knowing his daughter had him, before making his way inside to find Sarah. He knew she would be doing everything she could to be strong for her family, but she deserved to feel her emotions as well.

Taylor came out to the porch half an hour after the Mitchell's had arrived to find Nova and JJ sitting on the steps. JJ's head was laid out on Nova's shoulder and her hand was running over his hair, keeping him calm.

As soon as Nova spotted Taylor, she waved her over, trying not to disrupt JJ. She pulled Taylor into a side hug, neither of the women letting go for a few moments.

Nova had done pretty well at not bursting into tears again, but that all went down the drain the minute she was in Sarah Kazansky's arms.

Once the initial night of mourning was over, a funeral had to be planned. And as they were planning, Sarah asked something of Nova. Something big.

"He wanted you to deliver his eulogy," Sarah told her. "I know it's a lot and very difficult. If you don't want to, I understand and he would as well."

Nova shook her head. "No, he wanted me to do it. So I will. I made him a promise the last time I saw him, and I'm going to try and keep it."

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The day of the funeral had arrived. Nova had stayed at the Kazansky house the night before, not wanting to be alone. Dressed in a black dress, she stood on one side of JJ as Taylor stood on the other.

Nova had looked around when they arrived, spotting every member of the Navy in the area. Dressed in their uniforms, all any of them could do was give her meaningful glances at the moment. But that still meant the world to her.

And as much as Nova wanted to be with her father, he also had protocols to follow. And Pete Mitchell would follow them to the letter today.

The priest begins the service, bringing fresh tears to all those around. JJ was gripping both Taylor and Nova's hands, trying to remain strong. He was one of the oldest, he had to remain strong for his siblings.

And too soon, it was time for the eulogy. Nova made her way to the podium slowly, not quite ready to say goodbye to her uncle.

"Most everyone here knew Iceman as Admiral Kazansky, Commander of the Pacific Fleet. But to me, he was just Uncle Ice," Nova began, looking around at the service men and women.

"I know many of you are surprised by that, but there was a reason I didn't advertise this. When I first told Uncle Ice that I was contracted by the Navy as a nurse, he told me one thing. To never let our relationship be known. He told me that people might try and use me to get to him. When I asked him how he knew that, he simply said, 'I was one of those guys'. And I knew all he was trying to do was to protect me, like he always had."

She took a deep breath, taking a moment to compose herself. She had promised herself she would get through this without crying. But it was getting increasingly more difficult.