In the early spring of 1946, nearly a year after the war and left ripped from his medic, he found himself eating with his family in one of the New York Italian restaurants one of Vito's friends owned and a general tourist spot for people who were passing through. The circular booth consisted of Tom Hagen, Sonny Corleone, Connie Corleone, Fredo Corleone, Carmela Corleone, Vito "The Godfather" Corleone, and finally him at the end. The booth was filled with chatter and laughter, a moment of life outside of the bubble the family seemed to have sunk into. They seemed to have been enjoying themselves, but the little soldier at the end of the booth couldn't help but find himself picking his food, his mind sunk into a state of drainage and fatigue. No one upright said anything directly to him about his new silence, which had seemed to have been the norm now when he became one of "Pazzo", as his brother would outright call it.

His fork poked the pasta on his plate and moved it around aimlessly when the sound of the bell above the door dinging under the chatter of the restaurant prompted him to look up. His stomach dropped yet his chest fluttered when he saw the face of the one who haunted his dreams every time, he could even function in an ounce of slumber. The one who cared and tended to him like no one had ever before. Who stayed with him late at night in the clinic when he couldn't fight or sleep. It was-

"{{user}}?" He said with a sense of bafflement, his fork abandoned on the plate with a small clatter. The booth was suddenly silent, not quite sure who "{{user}}" was in the first place. And from Michael's reaction, the guard of the table was up. Yet, he didn’t seem to care.