The Age of Triumph dominated the festivities of the City; citizens celebrated Guardians’ victories against the Darkness. Children turned their old stories of nightmares into tales of hope by dressing up as Crota or Aksis, and Guardians and pretended to battle each other and cast their Light in ways only they could imagine. I don't remember if I dreamed of being a Guardian when I was younger, but it was quite a sensation to know that I--we--had given the next generation of humanity hope, even when all hope seemed lost.     “Alan?” Kourtney asked me as we walked down the street.     “Yeah, what's up?” I asked in reply. I knew what she was referring to; I never had a good poker face.     “What's going on?”     I shot her a look, but there was no point in hiding it. “This doesn't feel… normal to me, not anymore. I mean, I don't remember what life was like before Colt revived me--"     “Probably very boring,” my ghost interrupted.     “What, what--why are you here?” I asked. “I thought you were staying at the apartment.”     “I was, but the tv screen broke…” Colt replied.     “How?” I asked, rhetorically of course.     “I don't know; it's a mystery to me too,” my ghost replied.     I scorned him and shifted my jaw around. “Get out of here…” Colt shrugged parts of his shell then nonchalantly flew away.     “He's not going to change, is he?” Kourtney asked.     “I doubt it,” I replied. “Anyways, for the last three years, it's been nothing but constant war. Peacetime just feels… surreal, now.”     “Well, at least you got to spend this birthday without having to worry about Fallen or Hive,” Kourtney replied with a smile.     I held the door open for Kourtney, then followed her into the restaurant. Blake and Dakota sat on one side of a long table, and two people and an exo sat across from them. Before we took a seat, the man shook our hands then sat back down. “Now that everyone is here, we can get started,” he said.     “What do you have for us, Edward?” Dakota asked.     Even though the question wasn't literal, Edward had a literal response; he sat two engrams on the table and slid them over. “Someone--I don't know who--delivered these to us.”     “Whoever [i]it[/i] was, apparently knew that we had connections with you all,” Edward's wife, Gale Hayes, said.     Dakota inspected the engrams, then let his ghost, T.C. decrypt them. As the husks began to dematerialize, two dead ghosts were revealed: one was white with a red X across its core, the other was bright yellow with green highlights. We all stared at them, but Blake was purely awestruck. They were Susan and Pinea.     “I assume they're close to you,” Edward said somberly after seeing the packages he delivered.     “Yeah,” Blake choked up. “They were my best friends…” His eyes drowned in tears as he inspected Susan’s faded paint. Light began to bend around the normally emotional stable titan as void radiated from him. He jumped out of his seat then bolted out of the building. T.C. transmatted the ghosts, then he and Dakota chased after Blake.     Edward and Gale, and Kourtney and I shared looks of grief and sorrow. Eventually, I mustered the courage to speak up. “Nearly two years ago, two members of our raid team--James Deacon and Morin Hov--died on the Dreadnaught, giving us an opportunity to escape… Those were their ghosts.”     “I'm sorry for the loss,” Gale said.     “I didn't get to know them that well… It's Blake I'm worried about,” I replied.     A ghost with a camouflage shell appeared above Edward's shoulder and whispered something into his ear. The man nodded, then turned to us. “There was one time when Kelly was killed; arc blade right through her core. With some help from the Speaker, I was able to bring [i]her[/i] back, just as she has for me.”     Before I had time to think, the pessimist in me took control. “I don't think miracles can happen twice,” I said bluntly. I could feel Kourtney’s gaze burning into my temple; I closed my eyes and rearranged my thoughts. “I'm sorry, that was rude. But those ghosts had been lost on the Dreadnaught for nearly two years; no one could find them, and now, they're just here… Handed to us. Any Light they could've had, it's faded.”     “Well, maybe fate just wanted your team to have a memento,” Edward replied.     “I'm sorry to interrupt,” Monica said as she appeared. “Alan, Kourtney, T.C. is hailing me. It seems the Speaker is hosting a funeral at the Tower.”     “All right, thanks,” Kourtney replied.     “Well, we'll be off then,” I said as I stood up from my chair.     “Perhaps we could accompany you,” the red ghost, Drake, said as he appeared.     “Drake…” Gale scorned.     “I don't see why not,” I replied.     The sun had set behind the western mountains, and most of the lights around the Tower were dimmed. The ominous clouds moving from the east didn't help either. The Speaker, still hidden behind his white mask, deployed two glimmer projectors, which then created images of James and Morin. All of Wolf Pack, all of ARC, the Vanguard, Lord Saladin, and many other Guardians gathered around.     The Speaker held up an orb of Light like all of us, then began speaking. “Guardians are not measured by the foes they vanquish, nor the artifacts they reclaim, not even the amount of Light they can control... but by the courage in their hearts. Countless months ago, before the SIVA plagued our lands, when the darkest threat loomed over us, two Guardians gave their lives and their Light to defend all of us from a Hive sect bent on usurping Oryx’s army. Despite their fear, despite their challenge, their courage led them to sacrifice themselves so others may live.     Today, their ghosts came home. Today, Susan, the ghost of James Deacon; and Pinea, the ghost of Morin Hov have returned to the last bastion of the Traveler. In the presence of the Traveler, we may honor and remember these brave ghosts and their brave Guardians the way they deserve.”     The Speaker stepped away from the podium, and Dakota took his place. “Many decades ago, I was lost to the Vex within the walls of the Vault of Glass. With my Light drained, my ammo depleted, and my will shattered, the Vex surrounded me. But during that fleeting moment, James Deacon, and his partner Blake, had come to my rescue and together they carried me to safety. I owe them an unpayable debt, a debt that I failed to deliver.     Morin Hov joined our fireteam to serve the Queen when the Reef turned their backs against him. He was loyal to the Queen, but he was one of us; always with us and engaging the enemy head-on. When the Taken attacked, he was honor-bound and prepared to avenge the Reef; he did just that. When the Shattered Suns invaded, he was ready to face them as well. When the odds seemed against us, he did the unthinkable…” Smoke began to rise from Dakota’s shoulders. He couldn't continue, thus walked off stage.     Blake approached the podium next. “James and I were not related, but he was my brother. We were not revived together, but we always watched each other's back. We graduated the titan academy, and one of our first assignments was wall duty; that would later be known as the Battle of Twilight Gap. We felt inseparable afterwards.     But it wasn't just James. Susan: she wasn't just his ghost, she felt like my second ghost. She watched both of our backs. She was just as engaged in the battles as we were, helping us stay alive when we were clearly getting in over our heads. Susan was there to make the impossible times bearable.     Morin was a different kind of person. Every strike we came back from, he was opening a root beer and crackin’ jokes. We never knew what he was going to say. Then when Morin lost his true family--the Reef--it was only fair that we followed him in what he thought was right. The Queen--wherever she is--would be proud to know that even an Earth-born Awoken, whom she cast aside, was still willing to die for her.” Blake wiped tears from his cheek then walked away.     The Speaker held up his orb of Light and let the wind carry it away; the rest of us did so as well. A warlock exploded into a radiant display of solar Light, then ignited the two glimmer statues and let the fire burn them away. Lastly, seven gunslingers aimed to the sky and fired three times in sync. Down below, the faint glow of lanterns illuminated the rooftops of the City; the final passing of Guardians were rare and devastating, and everyone mourned.