There is so much that I want to write but most of it is for many chapters to come, like for chapter 20 or smth and I actually want to die. So many ideas but I can't write them yet :( *angery Kekled noises*

Honestly, I'm not sure if I should make another story that continues their Uni life from this and we get to see them go through adulthood but I think this fic will be coming to an end pretty soon.

There are a last few things I need to tie up before we move on though, so don't worry about it ending too soon.

The average book/novel has around 90,000 words in it, and this will probably hit 85,000 after this chapter so I might do an extra chapter or two to finish off.

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"I don't think I'll live not being able to see you for two months." Darjeeling and Jason sat in a cafe, the same one as their first date, and this will be the last date in Japan. There are only two more days of school and then most third-year students will be packing up and leaving. The sad thing was that the lovely couple would be flying different airlines. One is going to London Stanstead and the other to Edinburgh, so once they departed from Tokyo Haneda they wouldn't be seeing each other for a little while.

"Aye, ye'll be 'right, I'm upset about it too. But... I have to visit my family before I can do anything else."

"I understand. You do what you must, but for not having seen them for over a year I would have thought you'd spend more time with them."

"I know, but I want to do what I do best: being a tank commander. I heard Oxbridge has set up a university team for the new semester." Jason hinted to Darjeeling that she should join the team, as he knew that she had applied for Cambridge University.

"I'll be signing up on the first day, don't you worry." Darjeeling smiled warmly at her partner, but then it faltered, "but aren't you going for an apprenticeship? You didn't apply for a university?"

"Aye, I'll be an instructor for colleges. They're already asking for trainees and I've applied to a few."

"That's brilliant! How exhilarating, Jason's going to become a teacher." Darjeeling cupped her face with her hand, contently looking out the window as she thought of Jason teaching lower year students.

"Don't get ahead of yerself, Darj, I haven't been accepted yet," Jason stated, pulling her out of her second-long daydream.

"Mm, I know, but there are high chances and I'm being positive."

"Cheers, darlin'."

"Of course," Darjeeling gave him one of the sweetest smiles he'd ever seen, and he wished he could capture it and frame it and show it off to the world. It was a smile to protect and love, a smile that he'd never get bored of seeing. Jason pulled his coffee cup to his lips and took a shallow drink, watching the blonde beauty across from him closely.
"You're staring again~"

"Sorry, but you're too gorgeous to look away from." Jason leaned on his free hand and took another sip of his coffee

"When did you become such a smooth talker?" Taking her eyes off the street outside, she looked at the red-haired boy with a raised eyebrow.

"Hm, I'm not sure actually." Jason chewed the inside of his cheek in thought, looking up at the ceiling. "Remind me, when did I first meet you?" Both Jason and Darjeeling let out a small laugh, with Jason grinning afterwards as he saw a growing blush on Darjeeling's cheeks. The slight touch of pink on her cheeks made her evermore so cuter than before, merely adding to her 'divinity' that Jason liked to apply to her. Moments passed and the two of them basked in the comfortable silence that had set in, staring off into random distances idly internalising the sweet early-spring weather.

The other customers in the cafe were in low, quiet conversations, or reading, or writing, or eating. People were getting on with their daily lives and the scene itself seemed natural. The young couple couldn't imagine a moment much better than this. School had only just finished for the day and the commander couple decided a date was preferable to the alternative; preparing the underclassmen for the next year.

"When we've finished our drinks, shall we head back? No rush, of course," holding her teacup in both hands, she angled it up and took a short sip of the hot liquid.

"Sure, I've got some final checks to do on the tanks that are going to be shipped," Jason flapped the newspaper he was reading, not taking his eyes off it as he spoke to Darjeeling.

"You were supposed to do that this morning," Darjeeling's voice wore a hint of irritation within it.

"Aye, I was. But you come first," taking his gaze away from the latest news, Jason cheekily winked at Darjeeling.

"That's... hmph..." A familiar blush adorned the cheeks of Darjeeling, causing her to look away once again.

"Are you saying you'd do the work first?" Jason folded up the paper and dropped it on the table in front of him with a quiet flap, leaning forwards and squinting his eyes slightly.

"I... No, I wouldn't. You've got me there," Darjeeling looked back at her sly boyfriend, seeing a huge grin appear on his face.

"There you go then," stretching his arms out and leaning back into his chair, Jason wrapped his fingers around his white coffee mug and picked it up. "English Lit, yeah?"

"Yes," immediately understanding his random question, Darjeeling smiled to herself, "and philosophy."

"Philosophy? You do much thinking with that then?" The silly comments continued, and it only widened Darjeeling's smile.

"Yes, a fair amount actually. However, most of it is studying thinkers rather than thinking for ourselves."

"Shame, but I'm sure you'll be top of your class."

"May-" Darjeeling began, but was suddenly interrupted by someone rushing into the cafe. A short raven-haired girl dressed in the uniform of St Gloriana glanced around the room. When her eyes laid on Jason, she made haste to speedwalk over to him.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your time together, but there's something incredibly important that needs to be seen to at this moment in time. Jason, there's an urgent call for you back on the ship, you need to hurry!" The girl rattled off and her speech was hardly intelligible, Jason was only just about able to understand most of what she said. The girl was short of breath and desperately trying to recompose herself.

Darjeeling gave her boyfriend a worried look, and he returned it with a confused look. Accepting the black-haired girl's statement, Jason quickly got out of his chair and kissed the top of Darjeeling's head. Smiling warily at him, she briskly squeezed his hand.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, don't you worry." Regrettably letting go of her hand, he turned away and hurriedly left the cafe.

"I hold it against you if you don't..." Darjeeling watched as the girl and Jason climbed into an army Land Rover waiting outside. As soon as they were in it turned around on the street and drove away, leaving Darjeeling by herself in the cafe.

Closing her eyes, the Commander of St Gloriana sipped her tea.

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R: This is... not exactly what I expected to happen but...

H: But?

R: It's given us better results than what we had planned.

H: That's a good thing, right?

R: Concerning the fact that not only did Charles die but so did seven others, I'm still figuring that out.

H: We knew and they knew that someone was going to get hurt, I don't see-

R: Hurt, exactly. They expected hurt, not pain. They were on the edge because they knew Erik was, and still is, an extremely dangerous person. They brought their guns because of him. That match was set up to fail, and it was never an experience made for the girls, it was made by the Boss so those four crews would fight. There's no other way of looking at it other than that.

H: I see where you're coming from but it's not like that.

R: Then what is it? What, pray tell, could it possibly have been other than slaughter for those boys! They didn't deserve any of it, not even Erik and his crew.

H: I... I can't tell you.

R: You can't tell me? Am I being kept out of a loop here or something?

H: I'm sorry, Regina.

R: Huh? Wait, Ha-

*R HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED*

H: I'm sorry...

B: It's time to get things started, Harry, we have no time to lose.

H: Yes, Boss. I'll get on it right away.

B: Don't think about her, if you do it will only slow you down. I'll bring in another.

H: Yes, Boss.

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"The caller? Did they give their name?" Jason sat worriedly in the passenger's seat in the car, bouncing his knee up and down from the anxiety.

"No, she only said that it was urgent and she needed to talk to you. She sounded quite desperate to talk..." The black-haired girl was sitting behind and between the passenger and the driver, leaning forward so it was easier to talk to Jason.

"Right, I'll be back out after I'm done with the call," the Land Rover stopped outside of the reception office to the school, allowing Jason to hop off and jog inside.

"Ok, there's no rush if it's an urgent call," the ravenette called out to him before he entered the building, getting a short wave in acknowledgement from him. Jason didn't have a clue who this person could have been, and all the people he'd met so far other than Darjeeling wouldn't call him and say it was urgent, so every possibility was chucked out the window for him. Reaching over the receptionist's desk, Jason grabbed the phone and put it to his ear.

"Hello? This is Jason Stevenson speaking."

"Ooh Jason! Ye finally picked up the phone! Ah've ben soo worried 'bout ya! Ah 'eard the news that ye got 'urt! Ye were in the hospital! Are you aw'right?" A loud, Scottish woman shouted through the phone, causing Jason to pull away from the phone from his ear and angle his neck the opposite way. Her babbling and question-asking continued even after Jason pulled the phone away.

"Mum?" Guessing who it was, and how they reacted, Jason interrupted the caller and assumed them as his 'mother'.

"Aye? Wat is et, Sweetheart?" Her voice suddenly calmed in an instant, her voice was focused and clear compared to her earlier unintelligible rambling.

"I..." Jason couldn't think of anything to say to his 'mother', he had no attachment to her, but the previous Jason did. Rudy's words echoed in his head as he thought about it, he wasn't who he thought he was anymore and all he could do was remember the memories of the body he inherited. Jason had no clue of what to do, and suddenly there existed a spark in his eyes.

An instantaneous twinge of a searing pain hit him deep in his head. He dropped the phone and tightly gripped his head. Shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth, the pain was something worse than being shot or being burned. Excruciating, brutalising pain stabbing Jason's pain brought his down to his knees.

"F-fuck!" In the fear of the pain, he doubled over and firmly clenched his fingers around his head, hoping in some way that the pain would end and his hands could protect him. Jason's fight-or-flight instincts kicked in and he began sprawling away from the receptionist's desk.

"Jason!?"

His mother's words penetrated the pain in his head and a blinding flash of colours and lights smacked his thoughts.

It all came to him, after hearing the voice of his mother he remembered everything his body experienced before he went to Japan.

Everything.

17 Years of someone's life uploaded to his brain in seconds, and the pain from it couldn't be compared to anything recorded by humans.

Yet it was only for a moment, but for that moment Jason thought he would die.

"Jason? Are you ok? Jason!" His mother, the mother that cared for him for seventeen years was calling for him, checking if he was ok. Jason, now breathing rapidly and through desperation trying to slow down his heart rate.

He could remember being Captain Jason Montgomery Stevenson, son of Robert and Olivia, but also Jason Stevenson III, son of Jay and Sophia, born in separate times but somehow joined together. One person has become the other. However, Jason's life continued on from the War and he got married and had kids, causing all of this to happen.

"What if it'll come back to you, like how we learned about all of this technology and how to just go along with it?"

How did Rudy know about all of this?

Jason shakily got back up from the floor and took the phone in his hand.

"Jason? Are you alright?" Worry was clear as day in his mother's voice, ounces of fear could be heard from it too.

"Aye, Ma. I... I'm alright." The pain had subsided but he could still remember it, sweating now from the anxiety.

"Thank goodness! What happened? Did you get hurt again?"

"I... No. I think I'm alright, Ma, don't worry about it," Jason massaged the right side of his head, leaned against the desk and continued to try and catch his breath. The heaps of confusion had already set in but this was unbelievable, he couldn't catch up to his own mind and the levels of disbelief he made in himself was more than baffling.

"If ye say so..." His mother paused for a moment, "how is Japan? I hear it hasn't been treating you that nicely,"

"Aye, well... I've had a few cuts and bruises but other than that, it's been..." Remembering the common hospital visits and the mental breakdowns, Jason couldn't say that this was a good time for him. He had Darjeeling, of course, but he thought she was the only good thing that came out of this. He didn't ask for anything else to happen, but it definitely isn't in his control to manipulate the world around him.

Then he thought about last week, and the gunshots and the blood and the death. And Charles.

"Sweetheart? Are you sure you're alright?" His mother was still concerned, probably from the long pause Jason took.

"Uh... yeah... Don't worry about it."

"As stubborn as yer father, can't get much out o' ya hey? Anyway, I got a message from the Federation saying that you'll be coming home soon?"

"Aye, I will be."

"I'm so excited! Ye'll have to tell me all 'bout yer time in Japan when ye get back!"

"Yeah... a lot has happened over the past year so we could be there for a while..." Jason's eyes diverted down to his boots, trying to push the images of Charles out of his head.

"Ah, thas aw'right. It's ben too long since I talked to mah wee boy, I wouldn't mind sitting down with ye to listen."

"Thanks, Ma."

"Anyway, I called because I got some papers from the hospitals you've been in."

Shite

"I don't know how many times ah have to tell ya, but ye need to look after yerself! Yer body isnae a punching bag nor a test dummy!"

"Aye, Ma, I know."

"Then explain to me how ye've ben in the hospital five times in the past year!"

"Accidents..." Jason took a deep breath and continued under his breath, "mostly..."

"Accidents? Is tankery that dangerous?"

"No, just my crew and I being too careless, all the girls were a lot more careful because they know of the dangers."

"And ye didnae think to take after them and look out fer dangers?"

"No, n-"

"Ah! Speaking of girls!"

Oh no

"Did you find someone? A Japanese girl? Is she pretty? What's she like?"

"Ah didnae say nothing and ye just assumed!"

"Aye but yer such a handsome lad, et's expected to see ye with a girl?"

Is it? Jason frowned, knowing that he personally had never been with a girl before it's strange to hear that. "Right... Well, if ye must know I have found someone..." After saying that, he wasn't so sure if it was a good idea to tell her. In response, she cheered incredibly loudly over the phone, causing Jason to pull away from the phone again.

"Wat's her name?"

"Darjeeling, and she's... an amazing person."

"Ye sound so lovestruck, sweetheart! Awww, et's too cute! I bet she's gorgeous, isn't she?"

"Aye, she is," Jason smiled to himself as he pictured Darjeeling right now, sitting in the Cafe with the light from the window highlighting her perfect figure and illuminating her soft blonde hair.

"Is this her last year in school too?"

"Mhm, she's going to Cambridge in the new semester."

"Ooh, so she's a brainy lass?"

"Yes, she's a 'brainy lass'. Top of her classes in everything."

"And you? How have your studies been?"

"Eh, so so. Not bad but not as good as her. Getting C's and B's."

"You need to do better!"

"Yeah, I know."

The two girls in the Land Rover outside waited an extra hour and a half for Jason to leave. His conversation with his mum went on for probably too long and the ravenette had actually fallen asleep in the back because of his lengthy chat. He left with neither a grimace nor a smile, but a facial expression that said that he was content and satisfied with the conversation he had. Taking his seat back next to the driver, Jason drummed his fingertips on his knees.

"How'd it go?" The driver asked after a few minutes of silence, driving in the direction of the bridge that connected the school ship and the port.

"Hm? Oh, right. I'm sorry I took so long..." Reading the clock from the cockpit of the car, Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise from the sudden change in time.

"That wasn't what I said,"

"Yeah, it was good."

"What was so urgent about it? If you don't mind me asking of course."

"It was just my mum worrying about me, she over-reacted about my hospital visits."

"Ah, that makes more sense now. I'm surprised at how quickly you can switch languages though."

"Hm?"

"What? Earlier she didn't speak Japanese so I had to use my awful English to try and calm her down. That was embarrassing..." A light flush of pink arose on the girls' cheeks as she remembered her own terrible attempt at a foreign language.

"Eh, well... It comes naturally I suppose."

"When did you start learning Japanese then? You speak it like you've lived here your whole life."

"I had a really good teacher," Jason guessed, but he never remembered being taught how to speak or write in Japanese, but somehow it came to him as easily as the alphabet.

"That makes sense. Ah, Darjeeling has probably been waiting for you all this time and she didn't know when you'd be back." The truck was nearing the cafe that the couple had been at earlier, just turning onto the road that it was on.

"She knew it was urgent, but I should really make it up to her for taking up so much time..."

"Good thinking, she is the Commander after all, she deserves it."

"Yeah... thanks for the ride."

"No problem, it gave me something to do." The driver stopped in front of the cafe and allowed Jason enough time to hop off to just speed away straight after. The ravenette in the backseat never made a sound the whole journey, and she was still asleep.

Jason saw Darjeeling through the window, her back turned away and her nose buried deep in her book. Her teacup looked empty from where he was. Perhaps he could make it up to her by bringing her over for dinner.

He walked up to the door and pushed it open, the bell above the door rung and was hardly loud enough to bring Darjeeling to look over her book. This gave him a chance to sneak up on her, and from previous experiences, this was a terrible idea and one that never worked. His steps were light and he never saw her eyes shift from her book, so maybe this was his chance.

He crept up behind her and through sheer stupidity or clumsiness, he kicked a neighbouring chair, causing it to creak loudly and scrape the floor.

"Hello, sweetheart. Were you trying to creep up on me?" The divine angel that sat before him barely moved, barely reacted, barely did anything, and she was already obliterating him with her words.

"Pft, no. Where'd ya get tha' idea from?" In a higher-pitched voice than normal, Jason tried to play off his clumsy stupidity with ignorance.

"You were lighter on your feet and you were keeping away from my line of sight, so I assumed you were trying to. Also, that wasn't a very believable lie,"

"Ah wasnae lyin', what a horrible assumption ta make," Jason seated himself in the chair he just kicked, but it was now situated next to Darjeeling.

"Mhm? I think I've read your tell for when you lie, I think I should watch out for it."

"Eh? My tell? Wha' the hell's tha'?"

"How I know when you're lying. At the moment, it's quite an innocent, cute lie, but... hm... nevermind." Finally peeling her eyes off the book, Darjeeling looked at her boyfriend with those warm, ocean-blue eyes.

"Aww, come awwwnnn. Ye cannae do tha' to someone!" Jason inched closer to the table and leaned his head on it.

Darjeeling simply just giggled, putting her book down and trying desperately to stifle her laugh. It was infectious, and she was fucking adorable when she laughed, so Jason couldn't help but chuckle along with her. Darjeeling slotted her bookmark between the pages and closed the book, then pushed it to one side and turned her full attention to the sleepy-looking redhead.

"The call, how was it?"

"Change o' the subject huh? Well, it was just from me Ma, checking up on me."

"Checking on you? It seemed a lot more urgent than a check-up..."

"Aye, well... me Ma likes to over-play things, it's her 'thing' that she does. She was more worried about how many times I was sent to the hospital..."

"I'm not the only one then, thank goodness."

"Ah didnae tell her 'bout last week. She dunnae need to know 'bout it until I feel ready to tell her. She knew Charles' family quite well..."

"I see... I'm here for you, and I will be for as long as you need me."

"You're a saint, you know that?"

"You seem to have an affinity for such things, and I don't mind being your saint, my love," she extended a tender hand to the side of his face and smiled endearingly at him. His face looked tired, and she knew that he hadn't been getting much good sleep recently because of how early he'd be for classes. Always dishevelled and raggedy-looking, the redhead never seemed to be late. Darjeeling later found out that he was never late to school because he always got up early, or didn't get much sleep, or any sleep at all.

"You're too good to me..." Jason wrapped his arms around Darjeeling's waist, burying his head into her shoulder.

"You'd do the same for me, I know you would," Darjeeling carefully caressed the back of his head and leaned her own into his. Their closeness let each other know that they felt safe with one another, that their insecurities and troubles would be handled together, as a team, as a couple.

"That goes without saying..." a long, exhausted sigh escaped the Scot's cracked lips.

"How about you go to bed, hm?" Leaning back slightly to look at him, Darjeeling slid her right hand down his head, neck, then his shoulder and found a warm place on his upper arm.

"Mm... but... I've still got stuff to do," Jason pulled his head away and looked at Darjeeling, his eyes half-lidded and dark.

"I'm sure taking the rest of today off for some rest won't hurt, you need it Jason, and I don't want you to come to school tomorrow looking like a zombie," there was a friendly sternness to her voice, a kind of tone that said to him that she cared for his well-being.

"Yeah, maybe. Rukiriri would be pretty upset if I just ditched checking the tanks."

"That's fine, I can talk to her."

"You sure?" Jason's eyebrows raised as much as they could go, the surprise was very clear on his face.

"Of course, she wouldn't mind too much. I can't just ask someone else to cover for you for today."

"Ahh, you're a saint."

"And you need to go to bed, mister."

"We're no' even on the ship?"

"Then let's get going."

"Only if you carry me."

"Ha ha."

Jason and Darjeeling paid for their drinks and left the café, walking hand-in-hand down the path towards the school ship. Some would say it was an unlikely match; a six foot, problematic redhead from a foreign land and a 5'2", sophisticated blonde girl. They made it work, and they didn't care about what everyone thought of them because all they cared about were each other and the ones close to them, no one else.