Training was canceled for the day.

After news of Iceman's death, Maverick had all but ran to the house so he could be there for Sarah and the kids. Rooster went to the hospital, where he informed the others of the news.

Cecelia, despite not knowing the admiral or his family, went with Rooster to pay her respects. She had gone through a similar process only a year prior with her own grandfather. Cat stayed behind at the house with the Marcellini brothers, all of them sending their condolences AZ well.

Service men and women lined the cemetery in uniform as the burial took place. A flag, draped over the coffin, was carefully filed and handed to Sarah with the utmost care and respect.

Soon, ceremonial rifle shots are fired into the air. Maverick, being one of the closest people to Iceman and his wingman for many years, pulls the wings off of his uniform. In time with the rifle, he bangs the wings into the coffin, tears forming but never falling.

Cecelia looks on from the back, a flower in one hand. She knows what they are feeling. She knows the grief, the heartache, the anger. All of it. They are things she still feels, even a year after her grandfather's passing.

The other hand is absent-mindedly holding onto her necklace. After her grandfather's funeral, she and her brothers had necklaces made from the rifle shells. They were another way to keep him connected and around.

Looking up, four jets fly in unison, one breaking off to fly ahead while the other three stay steady.

Filtering through the line of people paying their respects, Cecelia makes it to Rooster, quickly grabbing his hand. He knows just how hard this is for her, despite not knowing the Admiral. "Do you want to go?"

Cecelia shakes her head, motioning to the flower in her hand. "I want to go give my condolences." He nods his head and leads her to the line of people doing the same.

Laying her flower on the coffin, Cecelia walks over to Sarah. "I'm sorry for your loss. I didn't know him, but I'm sure he was a great man," she offers in a soft voice.

Sarah simply smiles at her. While she didn't recognize the woman, she saw her hand clasped tightly in Rooster's. And despite their differences now, Maverick had always brought Bradley with him to visit Ice. "Thank you. I'm sure he would have loved to meet you."

Before Cecelia could question the last part of her statement, Bradley was squeezing her hand, indicating they had to move. Making their way over to the group of Top Gun pilots, the two grab Phoenix's attention. "We are all heading over to the Hard Deck to celebrate Admiral Kazansky. Would you like to join?"

Without needing to ask, Rooster replies for both of them. "We're gonna head home, but I'll try to swing by a little later." Phoenix nods her head in understanding, waving goodbye to the couple as they begin to leave.

☽☆☾ ☽☆☾ ☽☆☾

The car ride back to the house is pretty silent. But one thing has been nagging Cecelia since they had left the cemetery. "What did Mrs. Kazansky mean by 'he would have loved to meet you'?"

Bradley knew the question was coming, but he had been hoping to have been home before she had asked it. "Maverick used to take me with him to visit Iceman. He and Sarah were like extended family I only saw like once a year," he explains. Taking a deep breath, "they basically watched me grow up, but after everything with Maverick and my papers, I kinda pushed them away too."

Finally pulling into the driveway, he shuts off the car before closing his eyes. "God, I don't even remember the last time I actually talked to him." He opened his eyes where tears were beginning to gather. Cecelia was quick to grab his hand, sliding over as much as she could. "And I know he was always checking in on me. He didn't have to say or do anything for me to know that. Whether it was for Maverick or for himself, I don't know. But he was looking out for me."

Bradley let out a shuddering breath as he tried to keep his emotions in check. There was another reason he didn't join the others at the Hard Deck right away. Because despite everyone knowing about his father now, no one knew he was once, and still is no matter what he believes, considered family to the Kazanskys.

Cecelia wraps her arms around his waist as best she can while still in the car. She would sit there all day if she had to so he could mourn. He simply buried his head into her hair, letting out quiet sobs every once in a while.

A few minutes had passed before Bradley lifted his head. Taking another moment to gather his thoughts, he released Cecelia and suggested they head into the house. Knowing Cat and her brothers were waiting and very impatient, it was better for them to go in before the others came out.

☽☆☾ ☽☆☾ ☽☆☾

Just as he had said, Bradley joined the others at the Hard Deck later in the evening, with Cecelia and crew tagging along. Finding the pilots playing a round of pool, as per usual, the five make their way over.

Fanboy is the first to notice them. "Glad you could join us." His words prompt the others to look up and see the newcomers. Ronan gravitated towards Payback and Phoenix, while Kai went towards Coyote. Cece stayed with Rooster and Cat, but she exchanged looks with Phoenix.

Hangman walked up to the group, a new round of beer in his hands. Passing them out to the newcomers, he raises his glass in toast. "To Admiral Kazansky." The others raise their glasses and repeat his saying. For a long time, they are all pretty quiet. The only sound within the group is the occasional sound of pool balls striking each other.

Coyote is the one to break that silence. "So I want to know more about how all of you met," he gestures to the Marcellini family and Rooster. "We heard how you two met the other day, but I'm curious to see how it went down with the family."

The guys all nod their heads, while Phoenix makes her way over to Cat, getting ready for the show she knows is about to occur. Ronan snorts, just remembering the events of the night the family had met Bradley.

Cecelia smiles and begins the story. "So, remember how I told you Bradley surprised me at a show? Well he surprised my family as well. So his first official meeting was over dinner afterwards."

Hangman clasps his hand on Rooster's shoulder. "Bold move there Bradshaw. Didn't know you had it in you." Rooster just shrugs his hand off before scoffing. "How was I supposed to know her family would be at the exact show I was surprising her at? It's not like I could have asked ahead of time."

Ronan jumps in with his favorite part of the entire night. "No, the best part of the story is how Kai reacted." As soon as he finishes his sentence, Kai is jumping on him, trying to get him to shut up. "Stop talking," he hisses out. Ronan manages to push him off before informing the pilots of exactly what Kai said.

"Now this was five years ago. So Kai is all of nineteen, even scrawnier than he is now," he begins, dodging the punch Kai aimed at him for his last comment. "And looking Bradley right in the eye he declared 'I may be the baby, but you hurt her and I'll hurt you.'"

Now everyone was laughing, imagining that as they all knew Rooster wasn't scared of much. And he certainly wouldn't have been scared of a teenage boy, who was quite a few inches shorter than him at the time.

Kai, while looking slightly embarrassed when thinking back on the event, still stands by his statement. "Hey now, I might not have looked it, but I was serious. He was the first real serious relationship I could see going far for her. Besides, she's my big sister. I'm supposed to look out for her just as much as she looks out for me."

Cat lets out an "aww" while pinching his cheek. Kai is quick to swat her hand away, now very embarrassed. Cecelia tries to take the attention off of him a little bit. "Hey I'm just glad Dad didn't overreact."

Her brothers and Cat let out laughs, knowing just how dramatic Riccardo Marcellini can get. Rooster lets out a breath, "Yeah, after knowing him for a while now, I can safely say his reaction was really calm in comparison to others I've seen since."

The others can't help themselves in asking for some of the most dramatic reactions he has had, ones from even before Rooster entered the picture. And that's how the rest of the night is spent. Fun stories passed around, each one more ridiculous than the last.

What had started out as a sad, tearful day, ended as a laugh filled, stomach aching night. One that bonded the pilots and civilians for years to come.

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Word count: 1,565

I'll be honest, I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I tried my best, but because Cecelia doesn't have any connection to Iceman, it was hard. But I refuse to believe that Rooster didn't have some form of attachment to Ice, especially with how involved Maverick was in his childhood. So to me, Rooster should have been given time to mourn as well as Maverick, because that was another line to his father gone.

And the rifle casing necklace Cece has? I plan on making one similar soon. I've got a casing from my own grandfather's funeral from when I was 11. He served in Korea and was given a military funeral as well.

I also like the ideas at the end where Kai, a scrawny little 19 year old, is coming fresh off of rehearsal and watching his big sister perform, and then promptly threatening a naval officer about 10 years his senior and much more muscular than him. Like I can see this fully happening in my head with Cecelia shaking her head at him to stop and completely embarrassed to the point where she apologizes to Bradley.

Well that is all for now, so until next time. Bye!!