David regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on his side, embracing someone beneath a blanket. David sat up, and it seemed he was in a bedroom, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and long pants. When he looked beside him, he saw a woman who also began to wake up. David noticed that the woman had black hair that was slightly longer below shoulder. She looked at him, and her expression suddenly became overjoyed.
"D-Dear... Y-You slept w-with me last night...??? Thank goodness y-you're b-better now, darling!!!" the woman said with teary eyes as she cupped both of David's cheeks. He was still confused about what had happened and why he had suddenly ended up here.
"A-Are you alright, darling? You still look confused after everything..."
"I-I'm... alright..." David gently held both of the woman's fair, soft forearms, a sharp contrast to his own larger, rougher hands.
He kept trying to remember who this woman was, likely his wife, as well as what had happened before. Suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and a little girl with long black hair entered together with a tuxedo cat.
"Gooood morniiinnggg, moommyyy...!!! Yaaayyy... Daaad finally with mommy again...!!! Hoorayyy...!!!" the little girl jumped excitedly.
"Good morning, my dear Darla! Come over here with Doly too!" the woman said. Darla and the cat climbed onto the bed and sat together with the woman and David. Darla was also carrying a piece of paper. David suddenly realized that they truly were his wife, his little daughter, and his pet cat.
"I drew this last night. I want daddy to get well soon so daddy can be with Darla and mommy again..." Darla showed the paper to David. He took it and looked at Darla's childlike drawing, showing himself David, Darla, Doly, and Dianne—whose name was apparently his wife—holding hands together. His wife gently rested her head on David's shoulder as they looked at the drawing together with smile on her face.
That morning, Dianne prepared breakfast for David and Darla. Doly was happily eating the meal that had been placed on the floor.
"Dad... You can take me to school, right?" Darla asked while eating breakfast.
"Y-Yes... I can, Darla..." David replied somewhat hesitantly. Darla cheered while his wife brought over the breakfast she had prepared for him, smiling brightly.
After breakfast, as he prepared to drive Darla to school, David paused to look at the photographs displayed in the living room. There was a picture of the day he proposed to Dianne, another from their wedding day, a photograph of himself wearing a formal military uniform beside his wife, David placing his hand on Dianne's pregnant belly, one of him carrying baby Darla, and another of him helping toddler Darla learn to walk. Once again, David found it difficult to believe that he had truly lived a life like this.
"Darla will be late for school if we take too long... You can look at them again later, my dear..." Dianne held his right hand and smiled. David simply nodded.
Outside the house, he briefly noticed the neighbors living next door. They looked surprised when their eyes met. David ignored them and got into the car. Throughout the drive, he stared at the unfamiliar city around him. Although everything appeared normal, with people and vehicles moving through the streets, it all felt strange to him.
"Dad, are you okay?"
David's thoughts were interrupted by Darla's voice, and he glanced toward her.
"Y-Yes... I'm alright..."
His daughter smiled faintly before turning her gaze back to the road ahead.
When they arrived at school, Darla kissed her dad's cheek, said goodbye, and ran cheerfully into the school building. David remained sitting there for a moment, touching the cheek she had kissed, unable to understand what he was supposed to feel at that moment.
After returning home, David looked once more at the family photographs, trying to search for the memories and emotions that were missing. Dianne approached her husband again, held his hand tightly, and looked at him with an expression that still carried concern. David met his wife's gaze once more.
"Darling... Do you still miss your old job?"
"M-My o-old job...? W-What was it...?"
Dianne let out a long sigh, lowered her head, then looked back at David, trying to maintain a smile even as her eyes became watery.
"Come on, I'll take you to your private room..."
David simply followed Dianne, still confused that he apparently had a room of his own. As they entered, David was greeted by a room resembling a working space with a single bed. However, what truly left him staring in astonishment was everything inside it.
His military belongings were displayed throughout the room, along with photographs of him with other soldiers during various military operations, and a computer desk complete with its chair. David walked closer and examined them one by one, from the photographs, his combat uniform and formal military dress uniform, to the various military awards such as plaques and medals. He noticed one plaque bearing his full name and his former position.
[Major J.J. David, Delta Zero Task Force Squad]
"My David, dear... I'll tell you now. For almost a month, you've often isolated yourself and cried here for no apparent reason. You even yelled at Darla and me, which frightened your daughter and made her gloomy quite often. Perhaps you've been wanting to return to your old job. But remember this as well, my dear. You committed a very serious violation, and because of that, you were dismissed from old job." Dianne explained.
"What was that...?" David turned around to face his wife. Dianne let out a long sigh again.
She began explaining that David had once been one of the most secretive elite forces, renowned for his countless achievements and even feared by his fellow soldiers within the unit. However, one day David became involved in a major incident. It had begun when he argued with an Army colonel over an operation to eliminate notorious terrorist organization in a conflict zone. David insisted on carrying out the operation even if he had to do it alone. The colonel repeatedly refused and even snapped at him. Provoked by anger, David punched the colonel hard in the face, nearly knocking him unconscious and leaving him with several facial fractures. Dianne had accompanied David through several lengthy military ethics hearings and quite a number of people wanted him dishonorably discharged. In the end, the military court decided to transfer David to the Space Force.
"When you first met me and eventually chose me as your life partner, I remember clearly that you said you didn't want to spend your entire life as a cold-blooded killing machine, my dear. Deep down in my heart, I was grateful that you were able to transfer to a job that no longer had to keep you going into the battlefield. I know you could never accept having your military career come to an end because of this..." Dianne explained.
David immediately lowered his head, his eyes growing somewhat vacant. His wife wrapped her arms around him. A moment later, David embraced Dianne in return.
Toward noon, David remained in his private room, using his computer to browse through his personal documents, most of which consisted of combat records from the operations he had led while serving in that elite unit. When he opened the files related to his new assignment, he discovered that he held the rank of Captain in the Space Force. Suddenly, the door opened, and it was his wife again.
"Dear, One of your subordinates has come to visit. He wants to invite you to watch a football game." Dianne said.
"W-Who?" he stared to her.
"Mr. Murphy..."
David walked toward the doorway, where Murphy greeted him and repeated the invitation. He nodded, got himself ready with his wife's help, and left in Murphy's car. Throughout the drive, David repeatedly glanced at Murphy as he drove. He could not remember at all that this man had been one of his subordinates in the Space Force.
"Sir David, even though I've only been serving under your command for a few months, I'm truly grateful to have met someone as remarkable as you. I know the stories about your accomplishments in Delta Zero, and they've been my motivation to keep achieving more in my own unit, the Blue Berrett..." Murphy began.
"But all of that changed when I became a team captain during a military operation in another armed conflict zone. I ordered one of my men to escort a hostage to the extraction point, but instead, he killed the hostage by kicking him off a cliff because he believed the hostage was an enemy spy in disguise. I was furious, and I failed as a commander because of that. I then resigned from the Blue Berrett and requested a transfer to the Space Force." Murphy continued.
David remained silent as he listened to his men's story, and it reminded him of his own recent conflict that had resulted in his dismissal from his former unit.
When they arrived at the stadium, Murphy spoke to David once again.
"Sir, you already know that the Space Force is still a brand-new unit, and we still have no idea what kind of threats we'll be facing in the future. It's different from when both of us served in our respective special forces. I can't even imagine what kind of enemies we'll have to fight. But I'd like to ask you something that might be rather personal. Even though I'm no longer a team commander, I'll still protect the other men in my team. As our captain, will you also do your best to protect us someday?"
David looked at Murphy for a moment.
"Yes... I will protect all of my men..."
Murphy thanked him. After that, they got out of the car and headed toward the entrance gate of the stadium.