Zuikaku saw the SBDs falling from the skies towards her, and her maneuver to avoid the torpedoes had left her vulnerable. The bombers pulled up at the last minute right after disconnecting their bombs. There was nowhere to run, there was no escape. She watches in horror unable to react, scream, nor make any sound as she stared at them falling almost gracefully, and then there was a flash.
She woke up with a jolt.
Wide awake, breathing heavily, sweating and with shaking hands, Enterprise looked around and saw that she was in her room on the base.
She felt the arm of her girlfriend on her lap. She looked beside her to see Zuikaku stirring in her sleep before opening her eyes slowly.
"E?" Zuikaku takes a sleepy look at her girlfriend. It took only a moment for her to register something was wrong. Eyes wide awake, Zuikaku sat up and puts an arm around Enterprise's shoulder, while the other lightly brushed her cheek.
"What's wrong? what happened?" asked Zuikaku with concern in her voice. Enterprise took the hand on her cheek and held it gently in both hands as if it were a fragile bird.
"E whats wrong? I'm right here for-" Enterprise looked at her girlfriend's concerned face. She took a deep breath and releases it slowly
"Bad dream..." she said.
Zuikaku was a little surprised before something occurred to her.
"Remembering that hit from Leyte?" Zuikaku moved closer to Enterprise, but was surprised when E pulled her into a strong and possessive embrace
"E, it's okay. you are alright." Zuikaku said from inside the hug.
"Not me." came the small whisper.
"Not me-?" Zuikaku repeated.
"I saw the footage of the fight at Cape Engaño"
Zuikaku tried to suppress a shiver as she suddenly remembered the day of her sinking.
Enterprise let out a deep sigh "I remembered the footage back then, the cheers and hoots, I hadn't thought about it much but..." she pauses and looked into her girlfriend's eyes. She then looked away, but at the same time holding her a little tighter.
At first, Zuikaku was not sure what she was getting at, but then...
"You dreamed that it was me, as I am now, in those reels"
That was not a question, just a statement.
Zuikaku felt a sudden tenseness to Enterprise's embrace.
Zuikaku had been back a lot longer than Enterprise, as did most of the IJN. most had come to terms with their sinking, but they would never truly get over it. Some speak about it, but still, it did not dominate their lives. From what Zuikaku knew though, the survivors of desperate or lost battles, those "Lucky Ships" are the most troubled as they had to witness the loss of many loved ones. The fall of everything they stood for.
Zuikaku remembered an incident with Shigure being called a lucky ship. The poor girl had nearly lost it if not for Yukikaze.
Zuikaku pulled away from Enterprise, letting Enterprise's arms dropped onto the bed. Zuikaku then placed both of her arms on Enterprise's shoulders.
"You had nothing to do with that"
Enterprise was about to say a protest, but Zuikaku continued.
"...and even if you were we were both fighting for our country, I hold no grudge and I love-"
"I know I know, it's just that I saw so many went down and…it's just..I ..I the thought of you..." Enterprise's voice cracked as she tried to let out her words.
Zuikaku took Enterprise's face with both hands and brought their lips together, silencing her. After a moment, she pulled back.
"I am not going anywhere, and thanks to you, I am more prepared than ever for anything they can throw at me." Zuikaku ran a thumb across Enterprise's cheek. "Also" she pressed her forehead gently against Enterprise's. "I have no intention of leaving you"
Enterprise looked at her girlfriend, "Neither will I"
Zuikaku leaned back "Now let's get back to sleep. we have training with Kaga in the morning and I need all of my energy to deal with her 5th Car rant."
Enterprise frowned at this "I still don't see why you let her do that. you can easily outperform her and the so called 1st Car."
"Pride is important to her, and if it keeps her morale up then I will just put up with it, and she is nowhere near as bad as when she first got here."
Enterprise lay down an arm out across the bed."That's another thing, you are the shempai."
"Senpai" Zuikaku corrected
"Whatever. you are the superior on this base, miss secretary ship. she should be showing you more respect" Zuikaku lay down on Enterprise's arm and draped her arm over her, hugging her just below her bosom.
"Yeah, but if it keeps morale up when the other ships see her giving me a hard time, things can't be that bad, right?" Zuikaku said as she nuzzled into her girlfriend's chest.
With a sigh, Enterprise rubbed Zuikaku's head with her free hand.
Enterprise thought to herself, if she was told that she would be in a relationship with a Japanese ship 2 years ago she would have laughed and then made a joke about geishas and assassinations. But here she was in bed with an IJN ship and very much in love. Not only that but she was also loved back by the most prickly carrier she had ever met.
She remembered how she had laughed when Washington had asked her where to take a girl out on the base. She was even more surprised when she heard from SoDak that Wash had been pining after a Japanese Battleship, none other than Kirishima who she herself had sunk. Probably not a good idea to ask how she felt about sinking her back then.
Enterprise looked over to see the peaceful face of her girlfriend, fast asleep. Its innocence betrayed the brave and dedicated ship she was to her friends and allies.
If she had not seen it herself, she would not have believed that Zuikaku could make any sort of face outside the scowl she had always wore when they first met. Those were some rough waters under the bridge.
"Well, better get some sleep to put that 1stCarDiv in her place later." said Enterprise.
"Don't you dare." came a muffled response.
She folded her hand under Zuikaku so she could pull her closer.
Putting her head back on her pillow it was not long before she drifted back into a peaceful sleep, to the feeling of gentle breathing against her side.