A/N: This piece is titled "Il Silenzio". The poignant melody will definitely suitable for this chapter, while still fitting with the military theme of this story.

Tokyo, July 4th, 2018. Kaori's grave.

Today is her birthday. 

2nd Lt. Kousei, accompanied by Emi, Tsubaki, and Watari, all in their daily working dresses are currently in Tokyo to visit both Kaori and Saki's grave. They also already bring flowers. As they entered the cemetery, all of them fell into silence, the only sound is their footsteps and summer breeze, blowing against their faces. 

Being now military personnel instead of civilians, they saluted, military-style, before putting flowers into the grave as a sign of respect. Speaking of deployment, both Kousei and Emi's squadron, the 4th TFS, and Tsubaki and Watari's one, 2nd TFS, are now deployed at Yokota Air Base, formerly an USAF base which was handed-over to the JSDF ownership in 2011 (1). For weeks  they have been trained in responding to mostly airborne threats, while Tsubaki and Watari have one addition; anti-shipping and other usage of precision-guided munitions such as GPS-guided JDAM, supplied by the USA beginning in 2009.

They arrived at Saki's grave first. Kousei is the first to step forward and pay his respect.

" Hello again, Mum. Emi, Tsubaki, and Watari also with me. North Korea attacked us and guess what? The government has instituted a draft. And you must be surprised that I also got drafted into the SDF. I am now here, in uniform of the Koku Jietai as pilot. God's plan is a mysterious thing, am I right? But you can still be happy that when I'm in training, the base has a piano so me and Emi can still play. In fact, I can still remember your saying; The piano is you. If you touch it gently, it will smile. If you touch it with force, it will become enraged . I found that saying also viable when you are flying a plane; The airplane is you. If you touch (i.e. manipulate) the controls gently (and properly) it will smile, but if you doing it with force (or improperly), it will become enraged and it will kill you."  Kousei smiled upon finishing the last sentence.   

"Remember Tsubaki and Watari? They also fighter pilots now, along with Emi." Kousei continued.

"Indeed, I'm also join the SDF with him. As his lover, I swear to watch his back for you when we are doing our mission soon" Emi added.

"Despite what you have done to Kousei in his past, I will make sure that your memory will still there when we fly to protect the skies." said Tsubaki, when Watari is close to crying while putting his own flower.

After the quartet done with Saki's grave, they continued into Kaori's one.

As with Saki, Kousei is the first to put the flowers in front of Kaori's headstone. "Kaori, happy birthday to you. You are still there in my memory. Yes, I pressed the reset button to love Emi wholeheartedly. But I will always dedicate a space in my heart for you to live inside. You are lucky up above, Kaori, as Japan is now at war with Communist North Korea and all of us here, me, Emi, Tsubaki, and Watari are drafted. We are changed, We are pilots now. If you were still alive you definitely be proud at me, willing to sacrifice my dream to defend my loved ones. Watch me from above when I, along with Emi, Tsubaki, and Watari fly our birds of steel!" Kousei ended his sentence with a newly found optimism.

"It has been three year since you left me and Tsubaki. Trust me, I still missed you. A lot. I don't know what will happen to me if Tsubaki, Kousei, Emi, and my own parents won't care about it. As Kousei said, we are at war. Today we might feel the taste of it once more after that missile attack. If you are still alive, would you still be my friend after we are changed and molded to become killers? Yes, if we don't kill, we will be subjugated. But I will never know what's your feeling about this, Kaori.. Until we meet again. You will be with us in our hearts as we do our duty." said Watari, his voice almost breaking as he fought back tears accumulating in his eyes.

Tsubaki's turn. "Happy birthday Kao-chan.. You will always be remembered and I believe you are now happy, with Kousei's mom, playing together. I'm not Kousei or Emi or Takeshi, but your own violin still reverberate inside me. Kousei's doing well. Emi helped him much back in the day when he is in Okutsu, along with his father, his stepmother, and his half-siblings. While in some occasion when he felt down I saw him cry in his bed, in most of the time I can see he is happier now. I will always missed you, my friend. Look at me when I fly!"

Last, Emi. "Happy birthday, Kaori. As you remember, we never know each other well enough before you left Kousei. You help him to be more colorful.. In fact. I still feel your presence when I played together in piano duets with Kousei. Many times, he played for you, beautifully, while in others, for me and only me. And I believe you also helped him mentally when the draft come. As the result? He's thriving in the pilot training by your memory. Yes, part of me is jealous. But I know if you weren't exist back then. I don't know what will happen to him, and I'm dead serious. I promise that I will be a good wingman to him in our upcoming mission and ensure your memory lives in us as we are fighting for our homeland."

The young pilots soon walked into the cemetery gates to return to Yokota AB.

"We need to be hurry as the commander suggest that we might be sent to Korea today" Kousei said as they arrived in the nearby train station. 

As they entered the base again, before they went to their ready room to do their watch, with Watari and Tsubaki went into the base's football pitch just for some physical as they are not in ready schedule yet, Kousei stopped in front of the door of the room.

"Kousei? What's wrong?" asked Emi in a quite concerned look.

"Well, just I want you to know. We survived the boot camp and all the flying trainings, and now, I promise you, Emi, that I will protect you. We will survive this together, not just survive, but win. Let's make our parents and other loved ones proud.."

"Together, Love Sorrow?"

"Together, Red Wing."

---

Notes:

(1). In real life Yokota AB is still under US Air Force ownership but since this is an alternate history I took liberty and have it returned to the Japanese Government, while retaining access to it. 

(2). This picture below is what JASDF officer working (camo) uniform looks like. Ignore the USAF (United States Air Force) officer inside. (Source: Stars and Stripes)