"I have returned!" Solace as she pushed the empty wheelchair inside of the room. "I hope I didn't have you waiting too long, Arizona. I had to corner a few staff members before I could finally get one for us to use."

"It's fine, it wasn't even that long of a wait!" Arizona said hastily, adding a laugh right after. She was still nervous and confused about a lot of things but the friendly aura of Solace was helping her nerves ease bit by bit. Her face had taken a more quizzical look as she looked down at her hospital gown and then back at Solace. "Uhm...Will it be alright to see the commander in these clothes?"

A commander, defined as a person in authority. Even though her knowledge was temporarily limited, she knew that she was a ship and as a ship, she had a commander, a commander who held some kind of authority over her. It felt weird for her to arrive in their presence wearing nothing but a gown.

"Don't worry about that." Solace answered. "They're used to freshly operated girls coming into their office wearing their gowns. You're not exposing anyone so don't feel too bad about it. Anyway, ready to go?"

"Yes!" Arizona said with a nod. "I'll get into the chair right away then!"

Oh no.

Solace visibly panicked, rushing towards Arizona and holding her hand outward to grab at her. "Arizona, no! You shouldn't!"

Arizona threw the covers off of her and then placed her feet on the cool tile floor. In this short moment, Arizona became aware that the transition from being a battleship of steel to a human girl was a transition that was far more different than she assumed.

Once her feet were firmly on the floor, her knees started to bend and her legs buckled. She was like a sheep who had just been born, possessing legs that didn't know how to walk. Arizona's legs gave way under and she fell forward, only to be caught by Solace who grabbed her before she hit the tile.

The hospital ship exhaled a relieved sigh and looked to Arizona. "That was close~. Your legs aren't exactly stable yet so it'll be hard to move around for a few hours. You should have full mobility by the next day however so it's not too bad."

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking properly." Arizona said as Solace helped her in the wheelchair. "Then in the meantime, I will try to keep myself uninjured and leave my navigation to you, Solace!"

"Of course." Solace said as she grabbed the handles of the wheelchair. "I'm a hospital ship, it's my job to handle all of my patients, no matter what."

[ o ]

While they were traveling down the halls of the hospital center, Solace had decided to give Arizona a brief rundown of the situation. She told her that they were ships given human form, reborn once more, and were reborn through a desire to protect humanity from the enemy known as the Abyssals. It was nothing new as this was information that she could've gotten from a poster plastered outside but she hoped it would give some clarity to Arizona.

"So we've been called to defend humanity against these things called Abyssals?" Arizona then placed on a finger on her chin. "I don't get it then. We could've been brought back to our old ship forms, right? We could've just fought them like that instead of these forms."

"It's strange that we've been reborn as humans but this form seems to be the only way that we can put a fight against the Abyssals. I've seen the Abyssals tear right through the ships the humans have now and it's nuts. I heard that the cost of firing the weapons once that those ships have cost millions of dollars!" Solace said. "Plus, I think that the humans find it troublesome trying to reconstruct all of our ship forms after the World War."

A World War.

In the inner workings of Arizona's mind, a once vague memory had suddenly been made clear. The Second World War, the war she was supposed to fight in. The image of that man she remembered had become clearer by a bit. She still couldn't pin down his identity but she could remember the dark fabric and details of his service uniform.

She silently cursed her memory being so cloudy. If she was capable of remembering her past life completely, she would be able to tell who that man was and why he suddenly decided to show up in her dreams.

"Arizona?" Solace waved her hand in her face. "Is something wrong? You're spacing out."

Arizona blinked twice, taken out of her train of thought, and immediately turned her attention to Solace. "Sorry, Solace! I was just thinking about something when you mentioned that war. I know that we were in it but my memory is quite cloudy around it."

"The second World War. The sequel to the first Great War, a sequel that was more bloodier than the last one." Solace said as she thought back to her times when she was still a boat, constantly on the go as she carried injured soldiers and hurried to get to them to proper medical help. She found it lucky that she wasn't torpedoed like a few unlucky ships like her. "There was a lot of times where it felt like the war was going to swallow us up but the shining blessing of hope carries us to victory in the end."

"Was my battle record helpful in that regard?"

With one question, Solace could feel her heart stop as the once tame atmosphere between the two was filled with underlying dread and panic. Everyone knew what happened to the Arizona. Everyone knew that the Japanese came to Pearl Harbor and sent their planes to destroy her when they realized the carriers were there to play. Everyone knew that Arizona sank, her hull floating at the bottom of Pearl's waters.

Everyone knew...except Arizona. She was freshly reborn, her memory fragmented and vague, and Solace felt her heart break at the mere idea of telling her, this girl now staring at her with bright eyes of curiosity, that she was nothing more than a target.

As her grip tightened on the handles, the hospital ship swallowed hard and then made a decision. She was Solace, she was a ship whose name meant comfort and she would give it to Arizona. She would tell her a lie, just a small little white lie so she could feel comfortable, feel comfortable in the belief that she did something to end that cursed war.

If everything went right, she would just accept it and be on her merry way, never bothering with it again.

"Your battle record? Why, you were amazing, Arizona." Solace answered. "In fact, you were one of the many stars in the war. You were the first ship that fired towards the Japanese when they tried to perform a sneak attack, the one that gallantly led the other fine ships into the war for the United States."

It wasn't a complete lie but it wasn't the truth either. She just wanted Arizona to feel like the others: valued.

"I can't believe it, I was the forerunner of the Navy?" Arizona put her hands on her cheeks as they burned bright red. "Wo-Wow, I don't know what to say really. I didn't expect myself to be such a big deal back in that war, especially for something that feels like my job." She then exhaled a deep breath. "To fire the first shots...what an honor."

"It is quite the honor but Arizona, please don't get so hung up on that." Solace said. "We're in the present now so you don't need to worry about your past."

And she prayed to God that she didn't.

[ o ]

The automatic doors of the hospital slid open as Solace pushed Arizona outside and then took a brief look around before she made an exasperated sigh. "Ugh. I swear I told that woman to get out of the office an-"

"ARIZONA!"

From the heavens above, a person had launched themselves towards Arizona with a loud shout of glee and the force of a speeding locomotive. The scream startled Arizona who made a sudden jerk backward while Solace immediately moved to protect her patient.

"You are not doing this again, Pennsy!" Solace shouted as she grabbed the person before they could even make contact with Arizona and placed them firmly on the ground of the hospital's sidewalk. She then pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed before she turned to the person, arms crossed. "Pennsylvania. I am rather tired of you deciding that every ship girl is warranted for a first-time scare."

"I do not scare them!" Pennsylvania gawked, offended at her words.

"Then explain the several instances where I've had to deal with Fleet Girls getting the daylights spooked out of them by you."

"Those are just coincidences!" She then put her hands on her hips. "Besides, I came here for a reason. Is this girl really her? Was Maryland telling the truth when she said that this girl was my actual dear sister?"

"Yes." Solace. "This is Arizona who just summoned, might I add."

Pennsylvania had let out a loud, high-pitched, squeal as she tackled Arizona into a hug, threatening to tip the wheelchair over. "Oh my dear sister, it's been so long! Finally, we're reunited once more!"

"Pennsylvania." Solace said in a strained voice. "I just said that she was summoned. I am not in the mood to admit her back here when she hasn't even had her first sortie yet."

While Solace was busy scolding, Arizona was so overwhelmed by Pennsylvania's sudden reactions that she didn't know how to react besides a wide-eyed stare of bewilderment. From what she saw, Pennsylvania was a tall woman with sandy blonde hair and dark eyes. Her clothes were not the prim uniforms of the Navy but a casual outfit of a baggy sweater, grey plaid skirt, and a lopsided beret.

"You are...Pennsylvania?" She said slowly. "My big sister?"

She didn't expect her sister to be so loud and direct, especially during their first interaction.

Noticing Arizona's tone, Pennsylvania let go of her and backed away. "I should formally introduce myself." She then gave her a salute with a wide grin. "I'm BB-38, the lead ship of the Pennsylvania-class battleships! You can call me Pennsylvania, Pennsy, or Big sis. I don't mind which name you give me!"

"If it was up to me, I would call you a nuisance." Solace said, her lips a thin line.

Pennsylvania's eyebrow twitched at Solace's comment and she quickly grabbed onto the bars of Arizona's wheelchair. "Anyway, I think I can handle taking care of you well enough." Her brow then furrowed. "Seriously, don't tell me they're going to have you fight in that gown? I refuse to let my sister fight in such a gear!"

"First of all, she's new. She isn't going to sortie for awhile and her combat clothes aren't ready yet." Solace said. "Secondly, I thought I requested for Maryland or West Virginia to come here and take her to the commander for her briefing."

"The commander's out, you know that." Pennsylvania said. "Both of them are busy so they told me to come and fetch Arizona instead!"

"What are they busy with?" Solace said, voice raised. "Are they actually continuing with that plan? I thought we weren't planning to attack until much later."

"You know how they are. Ever since the commander left, they've been the ones in charge and they're doing all of the planning for the next big operation. Not to worry because as Arizona's big sister, I'll be able to take care of her!"

"Fine, if they let you worry about her then I'll let her go." She then narrowed her eyes at the blonde-haired woman. "I just don't want to see her back because of one of your antics, Pennsylvania."

Pennsylvania pouted. "Why are you always so hung about that? It was only a few times!"

"Because I'm a hospital ship and it's my job to take care of my patients, even after they left my care." Solace said sternly. She then turned to Arizona and relaxed, giving the battleship a small smile. "Arizona, I'll let your sister take care of everything now. Hopefully, she won't let you get into too much trouble while you're still new to everything. Your ability to walk should come around today and by the time tomorrow comes, you'll be all set with combat clothes." She then put her hands on her hips. "If you need anything, just come by and visit alright?"

"Of course, Solace!" Arizona said with a nod. "Thank you for everything! I'll be sure to do my best as a Fleet Girl! If my sister was put in charge of me, then I trust her to take me to Maryland."

"Well, I hope that she takes you there almost immediately." Solace said. "Maryland is very strict when it comes to punctuality and it's important that you get everything straight there or else, you might get hurt."

"I know about Maryland and her whole "everything has to be done on time" shtick." Pennsylvania said flatly. "Honestly, that can wait for another time. I have more important things...like showing Arizona the base and her new dorm! It's the perfect time to do so!"

"Pennsylvania..." Solace said in a stern tone of warning. "I just said that Maryland is strict about first meetings! If you don't get Arizona there quickly, you both are going to hear a mouthful!"

However, despite how right Solace's words were, Pennsylvania had decided to tune her out and was already leaving with Arizona in tow. With a long sigh, she rubbed her temples, already feeling her nerves pushed way past their limits. She needed to calm down, perhaps this was a good thing. If Arizona can get accustomed to the base fast enough, she'll have less of a chance of constantly questioning that lie. She just hoped her big sister wouldn't do anything to mess things up.