[AUTHORS NOTE] Hi guys! Wow this month has gone by really slow, and I couldn't help but upload early. But I have been a little disappointed about the lack of feedback I've been getting, but I guess it can't be helped. But Thank you so much to the people who have left me feedback!

This chapter is quite important, although there is quite a bit of humour to keep you entertained.

Anyhow, ON WITH LE CHAPTER!

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"So you're finally awake Liberion," Gertrud sighed, in her hands a tray of food was held, it was still slightly warm. Shirley blinked a couple of times before sitting up in bed. Her body was heavy and she felt a little out of it.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked.

"Only a few hours. Nipa is already awake and out of here. But I suppose a lazy solider like yourself would want to sleep a while longer." Gertrud sighed. Shirley pulled her pillows up a little higher so she could sit up comfortably. Her eyes widened as memories entered her mind.

"Ah Lucchini!" The busty teen jumped up from her bed, naked as a jaybird. Gertrud began to blush uncontrollably and almost dropped the tray while trying to cover her eyes.

"L-l-l-l-l-l-l-Liberion! Put someone on for the love of Karlsland!" She shrieked. Shirley paid her no attention and ran to Lucchini's bed.

"Lucchini? Lucchini! Wake up!" Shirley almost slapped the girl, but her arm was gripped tightly.

"Get back into bed, and cover yourself!" Gertrud started steering Shirley round and back to the bed, and she heard a small voice.

"Onee-chan?" Gertrud froze.

It happened again.

"It's not fair! Onee-chan gets to touch everyone except me!"

Gertrud turned around, whipping her neck so hard Shirley thought it would actually snap.

Lucchini was sat up in bed, smiling innocently.

"Stop playing with me!" Gertrud ordered, raising her voice. The smile disappeared of Lucchini's face and tears welled up in her eyes.

"O-onee-chan is being mean!" Francesca started bawling. Gertrud's heart skipped a beat when the small girl looked at her through the gaps in her fingers. Cautiously, as if she was expecting Lucchini to prank her any moment, she crept forward. A little too far forward. Lucchini leaned over and attached herself to the waist of Gertrud.

"W-what is this?" Gertrud looked over at Shirley who was just enjoying the show.

"She's your little sister," Shirley grinned, showing all of her teeth. Despite being stood their naked, she didn't have a care in the world. Apart from the fact her best friend seemed slightly amnesic, but that made for a good laugh about Barkhorn.

"Little... Sister..." With those words, the proud Captain Barkhorn fainted, blood flowing from her nose.

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"Oho... Who's the lazy one now, Captain?" Shirley grinned down at the captain, her eyes sparked with mischief. Sluggishly the brunette sat up, and rubbed her head. Gertrud had been half dragged half carried back to her room by Shirley, Georgette had wanted to keep the infirmary as empty as possible, as Sanya wanted to sleep. Shirley had been discharged, for she was just bruised. Even in her state, Gertrud frowned at the mess Erica's side was in. The Karlslandian breathed in through her nose, only to discover that her nostrils had been stuffed with tissue, not the usual sandpaper kind that would be found in the toilets, actual soft tissue. A cloth was on her forehead, wetting her bangs slightly. Her clothes were also missing.

"Urgh... What happened?" Gertrud asked, not particularly wanting to know the answer.

"Your complex kicked in when you were called 'onee-chan'" Shirley explained, her teasing grin growing wider by the minute as the Karlslandian was trying to make sense of her own confusion. It took a moment to realise that the Liberion had insulted her.

"I DO NOT have a complex," Gertrud huffed, looking away to hide her blush. Shirley leaned over further to try and get a glimpse.

"She's not even little sister material, how could she even call me onee-chan?"

"Awww! Of course she's little sister material! Lucchini is adorable!" Shirley giggled before continuing,

"And besides, she's amnesiac."

Gertrud turned back around, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yeah. It's weird. Georgette wanted to keep her in a little longer to try and heal her, but healing powers don't work on amnesia..." The busty teen was thoughtful for a second.

"She doesn't remember much at all... She's not even grabbed my boobs once whilst being awake, not once!"

Gertrud thought back to the time her chest had been grabbed by the young girl. It was a strange sensation, but Lucchini certainly knew where to touch. At the time Gertrud had been frozen in panic, but since then she had not let her guard down around Lucchini. The Karlslandian shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"Whatever then..."

For a few minutes, the two sat in silence, each thinking about different things, wanting to ask different questions, but neither knowing where to start. So it got awkward.

"... Isn't Georgette supposed to be leaving soon? And that striker smasher... Katajainen?" Shirley asked, thinking Gertrud would know the answer.

"I think so. She's been here long enough... And apparently they predicted that Katajainen would break her unit, so they sent a spare out for her..." Gertrud lay back down, but continued the conversation, closing her eyes slightly. "Georgette is a good healer... I can't believe what she's done for Minna..."

Shirley interrupted, causing Barkhorn to open a single eye and give her a dirty look, "Yeah, she's been taking Miyafuji through some important things too."

Gertrud's mind ran into a daze about her 'little sister', Miyafuji Yoshika. Shirley frowned slightly as she saw Gertrud's smile.

"Miyafuji came to visit you too. She left not long ago actually."

"Ahh... She's sweet like that..."

Shirley pulled on Gertrud's cheek, jerking the witch from her peaceful resting position.

"You need to keep that complex under control!"

"Eh! I don't have a complex!" Gertrud reached up and took hold of the side of Shirley's face. The two stared each other in the eyes for a minute, growling slightly.

"Am I interrupting something?" Minna poked her head round the door. Shirley dropped her merciless teasing and Gertrud released the face of her fellow witch.

"Of course not Minna..." Gertrud looked away slightly, averting her gaze to the corner of the doorframe. Minna raised her eyebrows knowingly, but didn't make a remark. Things became a little awkward though when nothing was said, so Minna decided to state the purpose of her visit.

"I know this is a little sudden and all, but the meeting scheduled with my superiors was pushed forward, and I was only just informed today."

Gertrud sat up, looking slightly alert, frowning as she asked her question,

"When are you leaving?"

"Tonight. They are sending a plane as we speak, and the meeting is taking place tomorrow." Minna frowned and stepped fully inside the room, closing the door behind her.

"I understand that the wing is a little unstable right now, as there is two unwell and two on house arrest, but I need you two to keep everything in order."

Before Minna had even finished her sentence fully, Barkhorn climbed out of her bed and began to dress herself. Her clothes had been draped over her chair in a tidy-ish fashion. Not wanting to keep Minna from talking, Barkhorn nodded for her to continue.

"There have been no Neuroi warnings for these few days, so you should be okay battle-wise, but it's the emotional status of the group in worried about. Especially after what has happened to Lucchini, as well as what went on between Eila and Perrine."

Shirley had heard off Yoshika what had gone on between the two, and had been surprised greatly. Perrine was not one for embarrassing herself like that, and it took a lot to actually break Eila. Shirley took a peek at how Trude was doing with dressing, and it appeared that the Karlslandian was fully dressed and prepared for duty. Well almost, she was just pulling on her panties.

"Anyway, that's what's going on, the others have already been informed and Mio is currently telling Perrine, and I presume she's going to do Eila too. I'll see you when we depart." Minna left the room in a hurry, not leaving time for questions or requests. Shirley scratched her head in confusion and then shrugged.

"Hm. Well Captain Discipline, we should probably-" Shirley turned around to see Gertrud had gone. Confused as to how the latter had disappeared without so much as a sound, the former checked under the bed real quick.

"Eh?" Shirley spun round again, and the door slammed shut, signalling that the Karlslandian had already taken off.

"What a bother..."Shirley sighed and stretched her arms out, breathing in relief as she refreshed her bruised joints.

"Ah well. She'll come back sooner or later." Shirley flicked the light off and left the room.

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The planes propellers roared as two figures walked towards it on the runway. The engine buzzing was a normal sound to the two witches, but that didn't make it any less intimidating. On the other end of the runway, a group was gathered ready to wave the Major and her girlfriend off. As they walked, Minna gripped onto Mio's arm a little tighter than intended, but the fusan didn't say a word and actually enjoyed Minna's more vulnerable side. The only ones that weren't there to wave, were Eila and Perrine, for they were on house arrest and whether they wanted to or not they had to stay in their rooms. Even Sanya had wrapped herself up in her coat and scarf and come out to wave the duo off.

When Gertrud had disappeared from her room earlier, she had chased after Minna and questioned her about the meeting. Minna didn't have many answers to give, but that made the brunette worry about her commander more.

Ever since Minna had been shot down, Gertrud had been extremely over protective. Too overprotective. She worried constantly about Minna's health and made sure she did the exercises Georgette had set for her.

This meeting with the superiors had been on Gertrud's mind for as long as she had known about Minna's pregnancy. She didn't want her best friend, and commander, to leave the 501st, especially not permanently. Maternity leave, Gertrud could understand, but deep in the back of the brunette's mind, she knew Minna wouldn't return to the military after having her child. It's not that the redhead wouldn't want to give up raising her child to fight if it meant the child would be safe, it was the fact she wouldn't be strong enough. There had been reports of giving birth wrecking havoc on witches bodies, even slightly younger witches (16-17 years), who had a good four years left in service, had lost all aspect of magic power since having a child. So that was why it was a general rule for Witches to not have boyfriends, but as Mio was indeed female, she was an exception.

Once they had approached the plane, Mio stood to the side and gave Minna a lift up. On a normal day, Minna would have given Mio dirty looks and ordered her to stop, as she wasn't helpless. But even though she was wearing her corset underneath her uniform jacket, her back was still dodgy and Minna was feel especially vulnerable. When Mio turned to take one last look at the base before she left, she noticed a face in one of the windows. The slight reflection of light off a pair of broken glasses, informed Mio that it was Perrine. After the talk Mio had given her, Perrine had perked up a little. She was still a bit upset and hurt, but she was better and had even said she'd apologise to Eila. Eila's room on the other hand had the curtains closed, which wasn't unusual for she shared with Sanya, who was of course a night witch, but Mio still felt a little disappointed she was still sulking in there.

The fusan gave her comrades one last wave and clambered aboard the buzzing plane. It was a lot nicer than most military planes that were sent out. Instead of the hard wooden benches it had been equipped with actual seats with proper material covers and everything. The floor had some kind of covering on it, covering the usual plain metal that was hard and cold to walk on. In general it was a lot more pleasant to sit and ride in. But one thing that bothered Mio was the lack of windows, making the area they were in feel like a box. There was a small window by on of the seats, and one more on the door they had entered through, but that was pretty much it. The room was brightly lit, so lighting wasn't a problem, it was just the fact Mio couldn't see the base as they flew off, nor their comrades.

For most of the journey, Mio sat by the window, with a Minna sat next to her, resting her head on Mio's shoulder. The warmth that Minna's head emitted was smoothing for the Fuso witch and let her clear her mind for a while.

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"Minna-dietlinde Wilcke, Commander of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing" Minna announced her presence with a salute to the three people sat in front of her. One was a doctor, who was very well versed in a witches body having studied them and their magical power for years, despite not being a able to be a witch herself. On the far left was a figure Minna had met once before when trying to get the 501st back together after the warlock incident, Adolfine Galland. Even though the Karlslandian was already 21 and didn't even have enough magic to fly, Adolfine had a massive impact on the Karlsland Military forces, being a main general. Galland was sat there with a slightly amused look on her face, and her gaze seemed to be focused on Mio.

"Major Sakamoto Mio of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing!" Mio said broadly, her voice loud and clear. Minna cringed slightly as Mio said her name in the Fuso way, instead of the western way.

In between the female doctor and Adolfine, a man was sat. He was clearly an older man, as grey hair peeked out from under his hat, and his face looked as thought it was set in stone. He didn't look too impressed at what was stood in front of him. With a stern look, he shuffled through the papers in front of him.

"Commander Wilcke, Major Sakamoto, you are clear of what rules you have breached for the conception of this child, yes?" He began. Mio hesitated before answering.

"Sir, we have right to believe we have not breached any rules. The handbook states sexual relationships with men are forbidden, it had nothing on sexual relationships with other witches." Minna stated, taking the words from Mio's head and speaking them out loud. The man looked surprised, as if he had expected them to answer with a sharp yes to his previous question.

"They aren't wrong" Adolfine interrupted, a small smirk on her face. The man glared at the Karlslandian General before continuing.

"Normally we would request you to get an abortion, but since you're here we can make a deal," A sly smile was infiltrating the old man's face, wrinkling all his skin, "We will let you give birth and raise this child, in return you have to give it up to the military when it turns ten years of age," he finished.

"Is that all, sir?" Mio asked sharply, wanting to be free from the room's dreadful aura as soon as possible.

"Commander Wilcke, we still expect you to manage the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, until your maternity leave at 25 weeks, however we forbid you fly on your own magic power until you have given birth," At last the doctor spoke. He had a deep calming tone to his voice. Neither Mio nor Minna was surprised at the fact the latter was still to command the unit with flying restrictions.

"And Major Sakamoto," The man continued on, " We have been informed that your magic power is nearing its peak,"

Mio tensed up; she was still not ready to stop fighting. Minna gave her a sideways glance, hoping it would warn the major to keep her cool

"Normally we would get the second highest ranking officer to take command of the unit at a time like this, but because of your age, we are going to disband the 501st,"

"What?!" Minna almost shouted.

"We were putting Captain Barkhorn down for a promotion, surely she could command the unit?" Mio put in, trying not to sound too rude and angry,

"Unfortunately for you, the decision has already been made. When you are off on your maternity leave, the others will be transferred to different bases,"

Next to the old man, Adolfine looked grim. Even though she was one of the most influential Generals of the Karlslandian army, this was the one man in charge of everything, and not even she could overrule his authority.

Minna had lost all ability to speak. She couldn't believe what was happening, even though it wasn't the worst possible case scenario, it was almost there. Mio as growing rather red in the face, biting her tongue, trying not to blurt out what she thought of their plans. Instead of snapping, Mio clicked her feet together and saluted the three at the table, before marching out to cool herself down. Minna stood awkwardly for a second, not knowing what to say, until the man spoke up.

"The paperwork is here, and you are expected to inform your unit of the situation, when and where they are going, understand Commander Wilcke?"

Minna nodded dumbly and responded with a weak "yes sir" before collecting the papers from the old man. She then left the room, unsure of what to do.

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Mio sat by the window, looking outside at the rain pouring down. It drizzled miserably down the window, and the winds howled outside the base. Even though the thunder was rumbling and lightning was flashing, the base still stood sturdy in the storm. Minna and Mio were sat on a soft chair together, watching and listening the raging storm around the base. Minna was leant on Mio's shoulder with her eyes closed, just listening to the racket outside. Mio on the other hand was staring out the window, look gormless. One hand was snaked around Minna's shoulders, pulling her closer, and the other rested comfortably in her lap. The two could almost hear each other's thoughts. They were mainly thinking about the same thing; The 501st. Or rather, the disbanding of them. Like lead balls, the man's choice weighed on Minna and Mio.

Mio was trying to play calm, and pretending her rage earlier never happened, at the same time as emotionally stabling Minna.

The two jumped when another entered the room. Adolfine Galland smiled wearily at the two. Neither Mio nor Minna smiled back.

"The plane can't fly in this, you can stay here for the night," she offered casually, almost sounding apologetic about the disbanding of the 501st. Mio looked down at Minna, who was feeling down about what had been said in the meeting. Deciding it was for the best, Mio accepted.

"Minna," Mio said softly. The red haired commander looked up, "I'll go and call the base and inform them that we will not be returning until tomorrow."

Minna nodded, and Mio stood up gently.

"Where are the phones or radios?" Mio asked Adolfine.

" I'll show you, how about both come with me so, afterwards I can take you to your room," Adolfine said. Mio offered Minna a hand and the commander accepted, allowing her girlfriend to help her up. Arm in arm, they followed Galland out of the room, and down the long hallways.

Minna examined the walls closed around her. What was unusual about the base, was that the long halls were lightly decorated with pictures. Most of which were witches who had previously been stationed at the base, but one picture caught her eye. The picture was Adolfine, but she looked younger, possibly fifteen? Sixteen? Minna wasn't sure, but the girl beside her in the picture looked about the same age. Surprisingly, General Galland was actually smiling in the picture, and had her arm round the shoulders of the other girl, who appeared slightly shorter. Minna stopped walking to get a better look, causing a chain reaction for all of them to stop.

"Minna?" Mio asked, tenderly touching her lovers arm.

"Who's that?" Minna pointed to the girl in the picture. Adolfine moved closer to get a better look, but stopped when she saw the photo.

"Just a witch I used to work with," Adolfine looked away, her voice wavering slightly. The other girl certainly didn't look like 'just' another witch. She seemed to have a ever close bond with the General. She was smiling cheerfully at the camera, but both of her arms were wound round Adolfine's waist, embracing her tightly. Adolfine herself looked pretty happy, and was looking down slightly at the girl around her waist.

"What happened to her?" Mio asked carefully, treading in dangerous water. But the answer Adolfine gave wasn't bitter nor angry, just sad.

"She was shot down over Gallian waters four years ago,"

"You must miss her." The words just slipped out of Minna's mouth, and it was too late to take them back. Minna held her breath, but Galland simply looked away.

"Let's go," she muttered.

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"Ehhh?! What do you mean Sakamoto-San?" Yoshika almost shouted into the bulky phone.

"What wrong Yoshika-chan?" Lynne leaned over and tried to listen in on the phone conversation. Yoshika placed her hand over the receiver and relayed the message to the older girl. Yoshika took her hand off and continued the conversation.

"Yes. Yes Sakamoto-San. Yes I'll tell her,"

Lynne listened intently to Yoshika's answers and tried to make out what she was talking about. When Yoshika put the phone down, she turned to Lynne grimly.

"So Sakamoto-San and Commander Minna aren't coming home tonight?" Lynne asked.

"It appears not. The storm is too much, so they are staying out at the General's base,"

"The General? You mean THE General Galland?!"

"I think that's who they said." Yoshika trailed off.

"Let's go and tell the others," Lynne suggested. Yoshika nodded enthusiastically.

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"It's a little awkward like this," Minna stated, removing Mio's hand from her shoulder. The couple were lay face to face in the small bed, each afraid of moving out of fear of pushing the other out. As they hadn't planned on staying the night, they had nothing to wear to sleep in, thus them being stark naked in the bed together. They hadn't packed any sleeping clothes for the journey there, as they would be flying the whole time and it would simply be inconvenient to change, so they had just slept in their clothes on the plane. Minna was blushing heavily as she could feel Mio's breath against her ever so slightly.

"You're right." Mio shuffled around in the bed a little, pulling the covers off Minna.

"Wait a second. Just let me turn over," While Minna fumbled around in the bed for a moment, trying to get comfy, an idea sprang to Mio's mind. Once Minna had stopped moving, she pressed herself tightly against her girlfriends back, earning a surprised squeak from Minna. The blush that had littered Minna's face was back and stronger than ever as the redhead could feel her lovers large breasts against her bare skin.

"Is this better?" Mio asked innocently.

"It is. Put your arms back around me." Minna ordered playfully, enjoying the feel of Mio's warm body.

Minna started to space out a little, "I wonder if Sanya and Eila do this..."

"Huh? It wouldn't surprise me. Those two are as close as ever." Mio chuckled, but inside she felt a little guilty about the fact she had banned Eila from leaving her room, and therefore it meant Sanya could not enter.

"We will just have to watch and make sure they don't get carried away though..." Minna muttered softly. "We can't have this happening to them."

Even though she didn't specify what 'this' was, Mio already knew Minna was talking about their unborn child.

"They aren't of age yet though,"

"I know that. But Sanya especially seems to have matured a lot in the time she has been in the 501st," Minna had a small flashback of the timid girl who had the presence of a ghost when she had first joined them. Sanya was still very quiet, but she was a lot more social than when she first joined.

"So you've noticed too?" Mio snuggled into Minna's back a little more, trying to gain more of her lovers warmth, "I thought it was just me."

"Maybe Eila's influence?" Minna suggested.

Mio had a thoughtful moment, before throwing her idea in. "I don't think so. Eila tries so hard to protect Sanya from receiving Lucchini's 'treatment' and keeps her mind pure."

"Yeah. You're probably right. It'll just be the atmosphere we work in. As witches we are expected to protect the world, and we are expected to grow up quick and learn the rules."

"Ah but we have to slow down a little when we get near twenty!" Mio said, reminding herself of her own declining magic power.

"Mm. Actually, going back to the subject of Sanya's purity, I have caught her reading certain books from the shelf."

"Our shelf?"

"Well you know it's not just ours,"

"She's a little young for all that though isn't she? It's pretty hardcore..."

"Oh! Not those ones!" Minna tried to avert her mind from the collection of smutty books kept on the top shelf of the bookcase. It was one shelf her and Mio were pretty familiar with. Minna was sure most of the older witches occasionally borrowed a book or two from there if they were in heat and needed to relieve some others would gradually learn of the shelf as they grew up a little more.

"I meant the ones about relationships between witches, witch pregnancy and all that." Minna stuttered.

"So she's being careful at least," Mio whispered into Minna's ear, sending a shudder down the Karlslandian's spine.

"Do you think Eila and Sanya are already doing it?"

Minna almost choked on her own breath when Mio asked the question. Normally Mio would never think or imply something like that, but when the couple were alone, a different side of Mio would come out.

"T-this is hardly an appropriate conversation to be having about our subordinates!" Minna stammered.

Mio fell silent.

"... But do you?"

"If it really matters, then yes I think they are."

"What makes you think that?"

Minna sighed. "I don't know."

"Is it something to do with their makeout sessions in the hangar when Sanya's setting off for patrol? Or maybe how close they get while showering- huh? Minna?" Mio stopped talking when she noticed the change in Minna's breathing. The Fusan realised that her lover was sleeping.

"Ah. Good Night, Minna."

Leaning over slightly, Mio planted a light kiss on Minna's cheek.

"I love you."

[NOTES] Thank you for reading, please stay tuned for the next chapter!