"Roon, are you alright?" Warspite asked softly as they sat on the deck of her ship.
"I hurt the Kommandant." Roon said softly, realizing how bad the situation could get.
"From what he said, it doesn't seem like he blames you." Warspite said as her own mind flooded her thoughts with guilt.
"But I do. We worked so hard on the way from Bermuda. We worked on controlling my anger. And yet, when I thought I had lost you, I lost control." Roon explained as she hugged her knees to her chest.
"I feel the same, Roon." Warspite said as the Ironblood cruiser looked at her.
"What do you mean?" Roon asked.
"I came here, not only as your escort, but to serve my Queen... but when I fell in battle... she was the one to pay the price." Warspite said.
"What?" Roon asked, quickly scanning the port, unable to find the other Queen Elizabeth class battleship.
"If you're looking for her..." Warspite said as she produced Elizabeth's Scepter and Crown.
"Warspite..." Roon spoke as she realized that her pain was nothing compared to her friend's.
"To think she would give up her life to save mine." Warspite pondered as she looked into the sky.
"I'm sorry." Roon said softly as she awkwardly looked at Warspite and wrapped her arms around the Royal's shoulders.
Much to Roon's surprise, Warspite didn't push her away, in fact, she relaxed to the Heavy Cruiser's touch.
"I think I found something you do better than controlling your anger." Warspite joked softly.
"Really?" Roon asked.
"Yeah... I don't know why, but I feel... warmth from this hug." Warspite said as a tear rolled down her face.
"I am sorry for your loss, Warspite." Roon spoke softly as she hugged tighter, holding Warspite to her ample chest.
"Roon, I'm not the only one you have to apologize to." Warspite said as Roon suddenly looked guilty once more.
"I know..." Roon said as she let go.
"Even if you get angry, you cannot hurt the Commander. Without him, we have no direction." Warspite said as she stood and helped Roon to her feet.
"But are you okay?" Roon asked.
"Honestly? No. I'm not okay. Her Majesty's cubes were used to heal me and bring me back to battle. Her vessel was used to make mine. These items of hers were found on the bridge. Everywhere I look, every breath I take, every shell I fire reminds me of the fact that it should be Her Majesty who should be here and not me. I should not have survived this battle. My wounds should have killed me and allowed me to move on. But yet, here I stand, Leader of the Royal Navy, and drowning in the footsteps of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth." Warspite said as more tears rolled down her face.
"What did the Kommandant think of it?" Roon asked.
"I heard voices while I was dying... he's hurting just the same, if not more." Warspite said as she looked at Roon with a look of realization on her face.
"Why?" Roon asked.
"Her last words to him were a confession of love." Warspite said as Roon went wide eyed.
"She... loved him?" Roon asked.
"Those were her final words, and given their history, she was practically already his." Warspite admitted.
"History?" Roon asked.
"She met him when he was working in the Union. And she decided to diverge from the Union's way of treating men like him. She treated him just as she would anyone else, not any different than one of our own sailors. And apparently, they forged an astoundingly strong relationship during their time together." Warspite explained.
"So, not only did he lose a friend, but he lost someone who cared deeply for him?" Roon asked.
"He cared for her as well. So it wasn't one sided." Warspite said as she looked at Roon.
"And I have made things worse... because if he is injured, he can't work. And if he can't work, he will fall into thinking about losing her." Roon realized.
"Yeah... that's a bit of a mental leap, but it is still very possible. We should go and check on him." Warspite said as she walked to the gangway and into the port with Roon following close behind.
"When should he wake up?" Arizona asked.
"Arizona, you have helped administer this drug plenty of times by now, you know they typically tend to be out for the entire day after injection." Alice explained as Arizona looked at Penny.
"Oh... right." Arizona said, embarrassed by her own oversight.
"You okay, sis?" Penny asked.
"When were you going to tell me that you and him were moving towards being a thing?!" Arizona cried.
"Didn't I say something about it?" Penny asked.
"NO!" Arizona exclaimed as she ran over to her.
"What's the big deal about it? He's cute, strong, humble, and already has plenty of raving reviews from the ones wearing rings." Penny said as she pointed to Norfolk, who had blushed immediately.
"But..." Arizona started.
"What? You like him too?" Penny asked as Alice pulled up a chair to listen.
"Well... I... I'd be lying if I said he didn't look good. After all, this isn't the first time I have treated him... he has a good figure, and he cares about us... a lot more than the others of the Union." Arizona reasoned.
"My point exactly. Look what he did for Texas. Did you see her vessel?" Penny asked.
"Yeah. He made her brand new guns and she turned it into a brand new ship." Arizona said as she looked at Isaac.
"And Richthofen. What about Warspite and 13? Look at what he did for Rosie when she was lost. He cares about us, Ari. He cares about all of us. He even has swayed several sirens to our cause. There's something about him that I just want to get to know. And with looks like that, I wouldn't mind being the first Union girl to float in those waters." Penny said, causing Arizona to blush heavily.
"Penny! You can't just say things like that!" Arizona said as everyone in the room looked at Isaac's sleeping form.
"Ah, dreamland. You know, it's getting bad that I can tell when I am actually here, my love." Isaac said as he turned to face a very awake Shinano.
"Perhaps I can alter it to make the real world and this one seem more alike, and haze the borders between to give you a bit of excitement." Shinano said sarcastically as she sat down next to him.
"Nah. It's a good thing, being able to tell when I'm dreaming." Isaac said as he petted Shinano between her soft silver ears.
"You saw something out there, something while I was awake. What did you see?" Shinano asked.
"What makes you think I saw anything?" Isaac asked as his memory of the battle became the background for their black canvas.
"Hey! That's cheating!" Isaac complained.
"All is fair, Isaac. Now, tell me, what did you see?" Shinano asked as his memories played back. With a swipe of her hand, the memory froze on an image of a black furred Kitsune standing on the water. The same one Isaac had seen.
"Who is she?" Shinano asked as she tried to see what the child was saying, but was unable to read the lips.
"That... is what I believe our child will look like." Isaac said as Shinano looked at him, her expression one of pure shock.
"But, her fur is black." Shinano exclaimed.
"And if I were somehow made a kitsune, I'm sure my skin color would affect my fur color. Maybe she picked up the black coloration from me?" Isaac said.
"And her rigging... it's like mine, but different somehow." Shinano said.
"Maybe she is something we have yet to see." Isaac said.
"Hmm?" Shinano asked as she searched his eyes for her answer.
"Well, Vengeance became something new, a hybrid carrier, or a Battle-carrier, as I would like to refer to it as. So who is to say? And it seems by the looks of it, our child will have the abilities of a Kansen. Speaking of, I have to ask Zeppelin if that's the norm..." Isaac said as he looked troubled.
"What seems to be the matter?" Shinano asked.
"I need to ask Graf... but I know that I'm going to be out for a day at least." Isaac said as Shinano smiled.
"So how about I put her to sleep?" Shinano asked.
"You can do that?" Isaac asked.
"The little ones of the Sakura always enjoy naps on my tails. They say it helps them fall asleep with much more ease than even a Kotatsu." Shinano explained.
"So what, You're just going to kidnap her and put her on your tails?" Isaac asked.
"No... but I could. In all seriousness though, she's already asleep, so I can just pull her in." Shinano said as Zeppelin materialized next to them.
"What the..." Zeppelin said as she turned and looked down at Isaac and Shinano.
"Ah. The Dreamwalker." Zeppelin said as she accepted her fate and sat.
"Don't worry, I have no intention on keeping you here for long, but Isaac wishes to speak to you." Shinano said in a cheerful tone.
"Oh?" Zeppelin asked.
"Your daughter, is she a Kansen?" Isaac asked.
"No. Human through and through. Why do you ask?" Zeppelin asked.
"That girl, with the black tails and rigging... that's our future daughter, or so we believe." Isaac said as Zeppelin searched the image before them before spotting the fox child.
"Huh. I don't know. As far as I know, I am the only Kansen that has given birth since our creation. So I know just as much as you do, and that ain't much." Zeppelin said.
"Ah... I see. Sorry to take up your time." Isaac said with a sigh.
"I'm asleep. It's not like I'm doing anything important." Zeppelin said as she disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Well... we know what she looks like now, Isaac. What do we name her?" Shinano asked.
"Hmm. I don't know. She looks more Sakura than Union if you know what I mean." Isaac said.
"I think I do, so you are hoping for my input?" Shinano asked.
"Well, yeah." Isaac said.
"Hmm. It might be a little narcissistic, but what about Yume?" Shinano asked.
"Yume?" Isaac asked.
"Yume means Dream in my native language. Kind of fitting, no?" Shinano asked.
"It does. I like it. Yume Garner. It feels weird to say, but it has something that just feels right." Isaac said.
"It truly does. For the first time, I feel... anxious. I can't wait for her to greet the world." Shinano said as she leaned on Isaac.