Yet Still We Sail
Part 6

Leaning heavily on her soon-to-be sister ship, Tally limped into the summoning chamber. It was thankfully fairly quiet, but there were familiar faces scattered around the room. Kay, Louise, and Sachi had gathered on the bleachers and were chatting merrily, Nicholas was discussing something with a violently Irish girl, and Hornet was chatting with a blonde cruiser of some description. Her Evil Twin was here somewhere too, but she didn't know where. That was usually a bad sign.

The chamber itself… well, "summoning chamber" was a bit of a misnomer. It was a moderately sized room in the shipgirl quarter of the base, with a pool in the middle and bleachers scattered around. Supposedly, to get a successful summon, there had to be two important things present, at least for the Americans: people, and music. Sasebo hadn't tested that theory yet, but had designed the room to specifications that had been hammered out in the 'States.

"So, what, all I have to do is go float on that wooden pallet, let the Admiral say a few words, play some music, and the magic will happen?" Tally asked.

"Yes and no," Faye Faith answered. "There's a whole lot more going on, like the offering of materials and a few other steps that the support crew are handling in the background. All you have to do is float on the wooden pallet and be ready. Hornet said it was quite the experience, but I have no idea what she meant."

"Well, she was Harriet Yorktown long before she was Hornet, so that may have something to do with it," Tally did her best to shrug without falling off of Fletcher's careful support. "Us manifestees have a whole human life behind us, while you just have your lives as ships."

"Makes sense," Fletcher agreed. "Come on, let's get you off your legs until the manifestation."

With the destroyer's help, Tally made her way down to the bench right on the pool's edge. The base doctors had given her some splints to help stand on the broken leg, but every step still felt like her leg wanted to strangle her. At least they'd declared her sprained ankle safe enough to walk on.

"Nervous?" Fletcher asked as Tally sat down.

"How could I not be? Even with the reasons I explained earlier, I'm still ultimately going into something that will undoubtedly change me in unexpected ways," the redhead spoke softly. "When we talked, earlier, Lou and I were both concerned about coming back as completely different people. If… if Evans isn't Tally, I… please, help Louise. I don't want her to lose who she is."

Fletcher smiled and patted Tally's head. It was a good feeling. "Of course. You're a good big sister, Tally. I'd love to meet your actual sisters someday."

"And I'm sure my family would love to meet you. All of the girls who have become my adopted family. Maybe not all at once…"

The blonde laughed. "Meeting all 175 of us at once would be rather awkward. God, I can already imagine the food bill!"

"Even Auntie Nat would balk at that, I think," Tally said with a smile.

"What's she like?"

"She's great. Probably the greatest aunt I could ask for," Tally's smile only grew as she started talking. "She runs a small bakery back home, and would always bring freshly baked goodies for Marie, Sasha, and I whenever she stopped by. She's also the one who got me into manga and anime, and therefore inadvertently is the reason why I met all of you. She's kind and generous, but more than willing to put someone in their place if she thinks they deserve it."

"Sounds like she was an inspiration to you, judging by how you're acting in support of Lou and the others."

"Funnily enough, she's actually the youngest of all my aunts. Sophie and Yvonne are both older than her."

Tally let the time get away from her as she talked with Fletcher about her family. There was an almost bittersweet smile on the destroyer's face as they talked, but she was more than willing to keep talking despite that.

More and more people crowded into the room as the hour drew nearer, and for a moment Tally swore she watched Jane Richardson enter the room with a red-haired battleship. However, the two disappeared into the crowd before Tally could do much more than notice them.

"We're almost there, aren't we?" Tally asked, looking over the crowd.

"Almost. You should probably chat with Kay and the others one last time before it all goes down," Fletcher suggested.

"That's probably a good idea," Tally agreed. She scanned the crowd and zeroed in on where Kay, Lou, Sachi, and Jane were all chatting, and waved her friends over.

Lou, already facing the general direction of Tally, was the first to notice the waving girl. Alerting the other three to that, the group of four walked over to the blonde destroyer and her redheaded soon-to-be-sister ship.

"So, ready for the big moment, are we?" Kay greeted in her usual energetic tone.

Tally looked around the chamber at the sheer amount of unfamiliar faces who would be concentrating all directly on her. "Gonna be honest, I'm terrified right now. I've always hated crowds and being the center of attention."

In response, the blonde Saunders team commander gave her girlfriend a big, comforting hug. "Don't you worry, Tally. We're all here. Always."

"Hadley couldn't make it because of patrol duty, but she wanted me to tell you something," Jane added. She cleared her throat, and started a passable impression of the Sumner, "And I quote; 'That day off Okinawa, at Radar Picket 15, we made a promise to each other. We've always got each other's backs, no matter the storm. Whatever you choose, I'll be there, in spirit if I can't make it in person because of this freaking patrol duty!' End quote."

Tally returned Kay's hug. "Thank you. Thank you all so much, just for being here."

A wave of "No problem" and its variations were given in response by everyone. Or, almost everyone. A certain brunette didn't say anything.

"Louise?" Tally asked. "You okay?"

As the other girls stepped aside, the young Tuckerman stepped forward, looking at the redhead with a look of nervousness, sadness, anxiousness yet pride in her eyes.

"So…" she began, looking around the summoning chamber, "this is it?"

"This is it," Tally confirmed with a nod.

Looking around for just a bit more, the brunette's eyes finally returned to look into the redhead's.

A few seconds passed.

Then, Louise stepped forward, gently and quietly embracing Tally. Once again, the shipgirl-to-be returned the hug, this time patting the younger girl on the back as she did so.

After a comfortable amount of time, Lou gently broke off the hug. "That was just in case. See you on the other side, or I will never forgive you," she smiled.

"I'll see you all on the other side," Tally agreed.

"I… Yeah, no, this is not goodbye," Lou commented defiantly, her smile growing into a confident, determined grin. "All the best!"

And with that, she finally let go of her friend. "I'll look forward to the good news."

"Alright, it's time," Fletcher stated. She stood up, and with a little help from Kay, got Tally back onto her feet. The wooden pallet was floating right in front of them, and the shipgirl helped Tally down onto it before hopping into the water and towing it to the center of the pool.

The lights faded until the only illumination was the ones centered on her. The small band began playing their first piece, an old Saunders favorite: The Battle Hymn of the Republic. As the Admiral began speaking, the world faded…

She was a Proud Ship. As she watched the men file aboard for what might be their final voyage, she knew how proud they were of her. Of their ship. A part of her longed to join them, but the young tanker knew her place was somewhere else… or so she thought.

Something called her to join them before the ship cast off, and she rushed forward, barely managing to get across the gangplank in time. Though the men almost instinctively walked around her, not a one of them seemed to notice her. And yet… she knew that they would all lay their lives on the line for her and the ship.

As they sailed, she explored the decks for a short while. She'd ended up at the ship's bow before she realized with sudden clarity that she knew where they were. That island was Okinawa… they were sailing into harm's way.

Ahead of her lay a familiar ship, and she suppressed a shiver when she realized how right she was. Not just into harm's way, but one of the most active, most dangerous stations at Okinawa. The crew was scared, she was scared. But she could not rely on their bravery alone. Bravery was not an external feature.

It came from within. She would be brave for them. And she knew the ship would be, too.

For a moment, the scene blurred. The sky was afire now, planes as far as the eye could see. The proud ship and her crew were fighting as hard as they could, but she merely shivered and hid within the ship's bridge as terror struck her. Kamikaze planes struck the ship in rapid succession, and despite her fears, she sprung into action, helping the men with damage control. They battled, not with the planes above, but with the ship's damage, and with the ever consuming seas.

A sailor regarded her with a salute and a "Ma'am," before getting to work next to her, everyone fighting to save the ship. More joined the first, and a sense of dread overtook her even as the battle was won. The fires were doused, the flooding contained. Above, the ship's guns went silent. Yet, as she emerged back onto the ship's deck, she could only cry. They'd saved the ship, but 32 good men were lost before it was done. All 32 stood before her and saluted.

She cried because she knew that even though they'd saved the ship, it hadn't been enough. Even as they were towed to safety, she knew the war was over for her and her crew. She could feel it into the deck beneath her feet, that much like the crew, the ship was battered and worn.

Not just that, it felt like. She could see torn metal everywhere, from the long gone kamikazes and the damage they had inflicted. It even felt as if the ship's metaphorical back had broken as they arrived in safe harbor. She wouldn't sink here, but she would sail no more.

She was proud of her crew, and they were proud of her, but even as hasty repairs were conducted, everybody knew, deep down, that there was no repairing her. Not after this much damage.

She was only good as scrap for the heap. A sailor comforted her as she watched herself get scrapped, regaling her of stories of his time aboard her as well as other ships he had served upon. Finally, as the ship's scrapping was finished, she too faded.

Years went by as if a dream, and more crewmembers fell. Every time, a young man would find her and salute her, and give her a warm hug, as if they'd known each other their entire lives.

One by one, more rejoined her crew, til only a few remained to carry on her memory. She made sure that when each man finally joined her, they were welcomed with open arms. There was a Proud Ship waiting for them, eager to cruise to new heights.

A young woman regarded her curiously. This was not any young woman, but herself. The one whose life and death she had just lived through. She knew those blue eyes, that same pinkish-red hair, that nervous tapping of her foot, though the uniform was all off.

"Evans," she greeted, offering a hand to the spirit of the destroyer.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Tally," Evans said, shaking her hand. "They need our help?"

"They do," Tally confirmed with a nod.

"Together, then," Evans said, and side by side they marched towards where the Admiral was waiting. Two slowly became one until they emerged onto the water once more.

The music faded, and the lights brightened. She smiled confidently at her friends and sister over on the pier before she took a quick moment to inspect herself and her new uniform. She was wearing a black Navy peacoat that hid a navy blue seifuku and the darker gray skirt that matched it. Brand new armored boots came up to her knees, her screws acting as spurs. A small headset rested in her head, the microphone just poking into the edge of her vision, and an ornament shaped like her Mk. 37 held down the end of her braid.

In her hands was a Thompson SMG, with one of her main battery guns mounted to its top. Resting on her back, however, was the most curious new change. It felt a lot like a backpack, except it was seemingly weightless, though it most certainly had weight to it. Her other four guns were arrayed all around the rigging that wrapped protectively around her waist, as well as her two sets of torpedo tubes and arrays of AA weaponry. There was a holster for her Tommy Gun on the interior of her portside rigging, and when she set the weapon down into it, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the gun mounted to the SMG was emerging out of her deck like the other four turrets, ready to fire if need be.

With her hands free and her inspection done, Tally looked up at the Admiral and snapped a salute. "USS Evans, DD-552, reporting for duty!"

"At ease, Evans," the Admiral said with a nod. "And welcome back."

"Thank you sir, it feels wonderful," Tally broke off the salute and after a moment of confusion on how sailing as a shipgirl actually worked, she drifted over to the edge of the pool and climbed out.

As soon as her feet found dry land, the shipgirl's rigging disappeared, though her new uniform stayed present. The most weird part of it was the boots, which stuck around, but also now had a weight to them that hadn't been present while her rigging was out. Her radio headset also disappeared, but the charm hanging on the end of her braid was still there when she glanced down.

Tally's smile only grew into a grin as she approached her friends… friends and family, now. She stepped forward, and a familiar blonde mimicked her. That was all the encouragement Tally needed, and she darted forward the last couple of feet to pull her girlfriend into a tight hug.

"Tally?" Kay asked, her normal cheer mixed with a healthy dose of caution.

"It's still me, Kay. I just feel… amazing!" Tally cheered. "I… don't have the words to describe it. I still feel like me, but just… more. I really just don't know how to describe it."

"Destroyer pile!" a familiar voice called, and Tally managed to look up in time to see her Evil Twin lead the charge in pulling both herself and Kay into a pile of hugs. Henley was the first, but Fletcher, Nicholas, and a dozen more destroyer girls all piled on.

Being on the receiving end of a destroyer hug pile was one of the best experiences Tally had ever had, and she'd gotten to test drive a Hellcat once! There was just such a warmth and familiarity, even with girls she'd never met before today. But the most important person in the hug was still Kay, her ever present girlfriend, being her rock in times of trial, and lifting her up in times of triumph. Kay being here was a greater gift than even the horde of sisterships and the various classes of predecessors.

"U-um…" a soft, familiar voice called out amidst the laughing and cheering. It almost went unheard, nearly drowned out by everything else, but it still shone through nonetheless.

"Alright everyone, give her some space!" Fletcher called, and the hug pile lessened until it was just Henley, Kay, and Tally herself. Henley gave the two one last squeeze before she too let go. Most of the destroyer girls took this as their cue to go back to their own business, while Tally's close friends and family stuck around.

"Hey Lou," Tally said, moving through the crowd to find her friend. That didn't take long at all, and very quickly the redhead found the brunette just a short distance in front of her.

Lou had a look of awe, confusion and worry written on her face, remaining silent for a few seconds. "T… Tally?" she asked concernedly, sounding as if she was ready to duck and run at the answer. As if the girl was trying to find hints of her friend in the newly-manifested shipgirl, treating the redhead in front of her as a completely different person. A stranger.

"It's still me, Lou," Tally answered. "At least, I think it is. It's only been a couple minutes."

Louise gave a small, worried frown. "That doesn't help at all…"

"Well, at least I still think your attempts to upgrade our team are misguided at best," Tally joked.

"..."

"I mean seriously, we don't need a T29 heavy tank," Tally pushed onwards. "It's complete overkill against any team that isn't KMM, and getting it just to fight KMM is going to be a waste of time because we'll need weeks of training time before each match!"

There were a few more seconds of silence.

"... And as I've said, I call that 'insurance'," a wide smile of relief and joy came to the brunette's face as the younger girl lunged forward and threw a hug over her friend.

"Insurance my ass!" Tally laughed as she embraced Lou.

"Language!" Henley shouted cheekily.

"Oh thank god it's still you!" Louise laughed in relief. "It really is you!"

"I never doubted for a second," Fletcher said proudly.

"Only because I was the only version of, well, me that you've ever known!" Tally retorted.

"Man, when all that was happening just now when you were out there I thought that was it," the brunette sighed as she broke off the hug, opting to look the redhead in the eye. "I'm so glad… Waaait…" she muttered before a blush grew on her face. "S-so, earlier today… all my crying…"

"It was still good to get everything off of your chest," Tally said, smiling at Lou. "And off of my chest, too."

"Yeah, that's true," the brunette nodded softly. The redhead reached forward and gently patted her friend's head.

Lou blushed happily in response. "Ehehe…"

"You made it through just fine, Tally," Fletcher said, interrupting the moment. "How about you, Lou? You don't exactly need to run for the hills anymore."

"Well, things did turn out alright after all," Lou shrugged, a relaxed smile on her face, "I'm hardly in a position to disagree!"

"So what, we just put Lou on the pallet and do it all over again?" Tally asked, looking at her sister.

It was weird to think of Fletcher that way, even if it also felt right. She'd met the destroyer at the beginning of the school year, and while they'd hit it off right away, they'd only really ever been friends. And now, Fletcher was her big sister.

As one, the group turned back to the summoning pool, where the shards of the wooden pallet floated.

"Uh… we'll need a new pallet," Lou commented. "Is there anything else that has to be, well, reset?"

"Shit, you're right. There is," Fletcher said.

"Language!" Tally called, half-heartedly. Such a little thing just didn't feel as important anymore.

Fletcher gave the newly-minted destroyer a curious look before shaking her head. "We'll reconvene here in 3 hours. Word of Hornet."

"That's… that's a really nice uniform," Lou commented shyly.

"Thanks!" Evans said cheerfully, pausing to admire the uniform for a moment. "I quite like it myself!"

While the summoning chamber was being reset for Lou, most of the crowd had proceeded over to the mess, Lou and Evans included. The two girls, along with their friends, were currently seated at a table, everyone chatting, laughing and all in all having a good time with each other.

"I-it definitely is cute!" the brunette smiled sweetly before blushing. "... T-that sounds weird out loud, sorry…"

"There's a lot of weirdness going around right now," Fletcher commented, "so a bit of awkwardness can be forgiven."

"Yush!" Evans agreed with a thumbs up. She quickly chewed and swallowed her bite of salad. "It would probably feel weird if we just carried on as normal after all this. I mean look at me! I'm a shipgirl now, and I didn't even know they existed until last week!"

"Me neither," Lou smiled sweetly as she took another bite of her burger.

Speaking of which…

The brunette stared at the plates of the other shipgirls, save from Tally's. "... Uhh…"

Her eyes glanced between the shipgirls and their… substantial portions. Each of them had six full-sized burgers, counting the one they were currently eating. There was one plate that had ten, though that one…

Lou stared deadpan at the owner of that plate, who was happily munching away at her current burger. Kay paused when she noticed Lou's stare, and smiled at the brunette. "What? I'm hungry!"

"Really, Commander, ten…?"

"As I said, I'm hungry!" Kay's smile turned into a grin.

"Psst! Hey, Fletcher!" Tally said in a loud whisper, loud enough for everyone to hear. "What kind of ship do you think Kay is?"

"Heavy cruiser for certain," Fletcher commented with a shrug. "New Orleans-class is my first guess."

"Please," Henley interrupted, "she's totally an Alaska!"

"Did you just call me fat?" Kay asked, holding a hand against her heart with mock offense.

A shadow loomed over the table, and the snickering from various destroyers went silent. Well, most of them. Henley was still giggling to herself.

The shadow's source moved over to stand right behind Evans' unsuspecting Evil Twin.

"Is there something you'd like to share with us, Miss John D. Henley?" Miss Hornet smiled. Though, of course, that smile could only be described, by all accounts, as "dangerously sinister".

"Uh…" Henley stammered, jumping in her seat when the carrier spoke. "We were just theorizing what class of ship your daughter might be, ma'am!"

"Oh? Well, if I may," Hornet continued smiling, putting a hand on Henley's shoulder, "would you mind running me through the various choices you girls have narrowed it down to?"

"Well, uh, Fletcher said she's definitely a heavy cruiser, and guessed New Orleans-class," Henley said, clearly trying to throw some of the attention away from herself. The blonde in question merely rolled her eyes and went back to her lunch.

"And what other choices are there?" the looming Yorktown-class carrier pressed on, her grip on the redheaded Fletcher-class destroyer tightening just a tad bit.

"I… uh, well… um…" Henley stammered, clearly looking for a non-existent way out. "I suggested an Alaska -"

The grip on her shoulder suddenly tightened significantly, enough to get Henley to wince.

"- s-since she's got a similar appetite to t-them and gives great hugs!"

There were a few seconds of silence.

Then, Hornet chuckled, releasing her grip on the destroyer. "Well, fortunately, none of my daughters are shipgirls," she clarified, walking over to Kay and Sachi and putting her hands on their shoulders. "And I'd like them to be just as they are now, away from danger."

"Oh, Mom…" Kay beamed as the mother and two daughters shared an embrace.

"Which is why I'm now more determined than ever to fight against the Abyssals," the mother continued, her face darkening in anger. "They shelled my daughters' schoolships. They all turned out fine now, yes, but that is a transgression that cannot be forgiven."

"Never incite a mother's wrath…" Lou commented quietly to herself.

"You're like the momboat we all wish we had, ma'am!" Fletcher commented with a grin.

"Thank you, Fletcher," was the warm smile from the carrier before her eyes moved over to a certain destroyer's plate. "Are you sure that's enough, Evans?"

"Huh?" Evans asked, looking up from her salad. "This is more or less what I usually have for lunch."

"Well, that won't do anymore," Hornet replied. "As a shipgirl your intake needs are drastically increased compared to before. That is why your sisters have stuffed their plates full of burgers," the blonde woman explained.

"Huh," Tally huh'd. "I thought they just had weird eating habits, like Kay does."

"Nah, I only got it from Mom," was the reply from the blonde Saunders team commander. "You should see her portions!"

"That much is expected of a capital ship," the carrier nodded, a little proudly. "But Kay, you've always been eating this much, even before I manifested."

"Moooooom!" Kay groaned as Sachi laughed. "Don't call me out like that…"

"You're just weird, Kay!" Tally teased, elbowing her girlfriend good naturedly.

"That much is true, yes," the Yorktown-class carrier chuckled. "I remember one time when she was five, she-"

"Mom!"

"Alright, alright, I'll not talk about it," Hornet chuckled. "Well, I'll leave you girls alone then. Enjoy your lunch! We've got another newcomer to welcome later," she winked at Louise before she walked off.

"So, how much do I have to eat, exactly?" Evans asked the table, looking down at her comparatively tiny salad.

"A lot," Fletcher intoned. "It's worse after your summoning or after battles when you need to repair or resupply, but you'll either need to greatly increase the size of your meals, or be snacking literally all day. I recommend the former, rather than the latter. Capps learned that one the hard way. Six burgers is a good lunch for a casual day, we'd be eating Kay-sized portions if we'd been fighting."

"What happened to Capps?" Lou asked curiously.

"We ran out of snacks halfway through the afternoon."

"Oh. Yeah, that's not good…" Lou mused. "Wait… so, if you guys eat this amount, and if Miss Hornet's portions are substantially larger, then would St. Louis' be larger than what you guys take…?"

The experienced shipgirls at the table looked between themselves for a moment before the quiet Irish girl, O'Bannon, spoke up. "Light cruisers usually eat meals that are roughly 50% larger than destroyers. Could be more, could be less, depending on the specifics."

"... Oh, crap, my allowance…" Lou sighed, resting her head on her hand.

"We can always increase it for you, though!" Kay smiled reassuringly. "Especially for reasons like this!"

"R-really?" the brunette looked up.

"Plus, my food truck is free for shipgirls!" Fletcher added.

"It is?"

"Of course!" Fletcher confirmed with a cheerful nod. "We may ask you to help man it every now and then as payment, but there's a reason we always have so much food ready and on hand. Shipgirls need food, and we make enough money off the non-shipgirls - and Kay - that we don't need to worry about it."

"I see. Well, glad I wouldn't need to worry 'bout that then," Lou lightened up.

Still…

"What will Gramps say…?" she muttered to herself. A bit too loud if she wanted to keep it within herself, though.

"What was that, Lou?" Tally asked, looking over at her friend.

"Oh?" Lou looked up. "Well… I was just wondering if I really should fight… I mean," she quickly clarified, "yeah, of course I should! But… I feel like I might be disappointing someone…"

The redhead smiled softly, and put a gentle hand on Lou's shoulder. "There's nothing saying you have to fight."

"I know, but like I've mentioned, responsibility," Louise returned the smile. "Then again… well, actually, Gramps might jump in if he's in my shoes. In fact, he already had."

"Oh?" Tally asked.

"Yeah, you know, World War Two."

The brunette noted the curiosity on everyone's faces, except for Kay's.

"Yep, they don't know," the blonde team commander waved as she held her burger up. "Wanna tell 'em?"

"Of course," Louise nodded. "Well, yeah, my grandfather was a tanker, fought in the European Theater. When he landed at Normandy he was a gunner, but after that M4 was knocked out and most of the crew was injured enough to not be able to return, he was promoted and given command of his own tank, along with his own crew. That tank was soon named 'Ace of Spades'," the young Tuckerman shared proudly.

"So that's where Ace's name came from…" Tally observed.

"Yep, it was a bit of a mouthful, so they just practically rolled with Ace. Ace returned to the frontlines just in time for Operation Lüttich, and once that was done she raced across France along with the rest of her platoon. Somewhere fairly near Paris they were told to break off from the rest of the division and investigate something near my hometown, which they did. That 'something' turned out to be a King Tiger waiting in ambush. Only my grandfather walked out of that encounter alive."

"Yikes," Henley winced. "No wonder Kuromorimine chews you guys up and spits you out."

"Nah, they're getting their asses kicked this time," Lou grinned confidently, ignoring Tally's interruption of "Language!" "Ace is now here to turn the tide, after all! But yeah. My grandfather had been drilling this into my head up until he died earlier this year: war is hell. And I've learnt that lesson well. I'm constantly reminded of that when I'm with Ace, too; not just because she's my Gramps' tank as well, but also because his crew actually died in her. Thankfully, though," she relaxed, "sensha-do is not war."

Tally raised a finger, confusion written all over her face. She brought it back, clearly pondering something.

Naturally, that did not go unnoticed to the Easy-Eight commander. "Look, I admit I'm serious about sensha-do, but seriousness in the sport's nowhere near the same as treating it like war!" Lou giggled. "Massive difference right there, Tally!"

"Be that as it may, we still don't need to win harder against most of the teams we face," Evans said, her hand now moving to fiddle with her braid.

"Like I've mentioned, it's-" Lou nearly went back to the same argument she had been dueling with Tally in for a good while, but she stopped herself. "We're missing the point, there's something far more important. Yes, Sensha-do is not the same as war. But this, the battle against the Abyssals, is. And with that drilled into me, I don't know if I'm making Gramps proud or disappointed," she sighed, putting her hands together and pressing her lips over them.

"I'm sure he would be proud of you no matter which direction you go," Tally said.

"I like to think he'll be, yeah," the young Tuckerman smiled.

Evans' belly rumbled, and she looked sheepishly at her empty plate. "I… am gonna get more food."

"Oh boy, we're about to be real fun at buffets," Louise chuckled.

"Yuko took me to an all-you-can-eat breakfast once, when we did our brief stint in the M6. I'm pretty sure the both of us have since been banned from there," Tally said, laughing softly. "But anyways, food."

"Food, magical food, wonderful food, marvelous food~" Lou sang cheekily. With that, the redhead grinned as she stood up from her seat and walked back to the buffet line.

"So, uh…" Lou began to ask as she looked at the floating pallet in front of her. "All I have to do is stand on this?"

"That's all you have to do," Hornet confirmed with a nod.

"What does it feel like? Other than the obvious physical floating."

Hornet shrugged. "It's different for everybody. But it will be like a vision, or a dream."

"Oh," the brunette nodded. She turned back to the pallet. "... Almost time now, huh…"

"You'll do great," Hornet said encouragingly, gently patting Lou's shoulder.

The younger girl gave a smile back. "I hope so."

At that moment, a question popped up in her mind. "Say, Miss Hornet, the music they played during Tally's- I mean, Evans' manifestation… is it decided for us?"

"Mostly," Hornet said. "Though the band is willing to take requests if you have a particular song you'd like to start with. They played Colonel Bogey for me, and Evans asked for the Battle Hymn of the Republic."

"Oh, so that was a request…" Tuckerman nodded. "Does the choice matter?"

"Not as far as I know, no," Hornet shook her head. "But, we have only had two manifestations here at Sasebo, so far."

"Got it… Well, nonetheless…" Lou looked up, something in her mind. Moving closer to the carrier, she whispered something into the blonde woman's ear.

She stepped back. "If there's one I can pick, it has to be this."

"Of course. I'll relay the request to the band. Give me one moment," Hornet smiled. She then raised a hand to her ear. "Northampton, Hornet. Louise has a request for the band, please relay it to them," Hornet said, presumably into her radio, before she passed on the actual request. "Thank you, Nora."

"Thanks," Lou smiled. "That one means a lot to me."

"It's no problem, dear."

The brunette turned back to look at the pallet for a few seconds. Though, feeling something, she turned back to look at the crowd that had regathered.

So many faces she didn't know amongst those she recognized. And then amongst them are those that she actually knew.

Sachi was waving happily at her.

Tally gave a thumbs-up and an encouraging smile.

Kay pumped her fist in the air.

The destroyers she had met over the past days were giving her various positive reactions.

Encouraged and emboldened by everyone, Lou turned back to Hornet. "Alright. I'm ready."

"Step onto the pallet, then. I'll tow you to the center of the pool when you're stable," Hornet said.

Nodding, the girl gingerly stepped onto the floating piece of wood. The pallet wobbled a bit under her weight after her first foot went on, and Louise hesitated. But only for a few moments; her other foot soon left the safety of the platform and onto the pallet.

"This thing is stable, right…? What if I accidentally fall off?"

Hornet considered it for a moment as she hopped onto the water next to Lou. Her usual uniform was replaced by her shipgirl uniform, and the minimalistic rigging of a Yorktown-class carrier appeared around her. "If you fall, I'm sure everyone will have a short laugh as I help you back onto the pallet. A little embarrassment, nothing more."

"Guess that'll work…" the brunette nodded gingerly as she readied herself. Just in case.

With that, just like Fletcher did with Tally, Hornet dragged the pallet out to the center of the pool. Giving one last look to the young Tuckerman, the blonde woman gave the brunette an encouraging thumbs-up before she moved back to ground.

Man, I can see everyone from here… Lou thought to herself as she looked around.

There was the Admiral, whoever he was, standing at that pedestal behind that stand.

Everything still felt so surreal.

The lights around her began to dim, though the ones shining on her remained just as bright.

Oh my god, is this really happening?

As the last of the outside lights dimmed to nothing, she could no longer see anyone in the darkness, the only lights now shining right down on her brightly, almost blindingly.

Still out there were her friends, watching her.

What's waiting for me?

She heard the band begin to play that familiar tune. The one she went through so much with.

She heard the Admiral begin to speak.

She tried to follow what he was saying. She really tried.

But way too quickly, at the moment he began to speak, everything faded to nothing.

The sun was red.

No, really, it was red. Sitting just above the horizon, the crimson rays shone over the blue ocean surface.

An ocean surface littered with debris.

A sinking Japanese destroyer floated past, burning and abandoned. Plumes of black smoke rose to the air as the wreck leaked oil into the blue Pacific water.

Blood-red oil.

Then more came. Destroyers. Cruisers. Aircraft. There were so many of them on the Pacific waves, dying the normally-blue waters the bloodlike color of their oil.

But amidst the wreckage, slipping quietly through the mangled remains of the enemy, the black silhouette of a ship stood above them all.

Unlike the twisted remains of those ex-ships around her, she was American. Fifteen Mark 16 six-inch guns in five triple turrets, three at the bow and two at the stern. Eight Mark 12 5-inch guns in four twin gun turrets made up her secondary armament, while various small turrets carrying differing models of light anti-aircraft guns complimented them.

She grew up and stopped playing around at Pearl Harbor.

Thin wisps of steam and smoke from her two smokestacks were blown away into the air by the wind as the light cruiser continued to sail ahead, her eight boilers pumping high-pressure steam into her four turbines.

The horrors that she had experienced continued to plague her mind. Torturing her. Warping her.

The vessel made a gentle turn, avoiding the wreck of a Japanese cruiser.

For a time, she handled it well. She told herself the problems will pass. She told herself she was far stronger than she thought she was.

Another wreck passed by her port side bow.

Then it happened.

Nothing could prepare her for that.

Through the pitch darkness of the night, illuminated by her own searchlights, there she was.

Her sister. Her poor little sister. Sweet, innocent, determined, hopeful despite everything.

That was her bow pointing towards the night sky.

Honolulu restrained her, dragging her away from the wreckage of her sister. Their sister. Telling her that they had to withdraw or the Japs will find them, amidst the hysterical screaming as she desperately tried to free herself from her grasp.

Radford and Nicholas would handle it, she said.

But that was no consolation at all.

Helena is gone.

That night, something broke in her.

Her radar beeped.

In the distance, underneath the red sky, a massive fleet of dark ships were approaching. Blanketing them from the skies were planes. So many planes.

Brace yourselves, for even the heavens will tremble when a saint goes to war.

The light cruiser's guns rotated and trained on the incoming enemy.

They took everything from her.

Even her.

She was done being nice.

They.

Will.

PAY.

As everything died down around her, darkness returned.

She felt the spotlights shine over her shut eyelids.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, a steely gaze staring out at the crowd in front of her.

They moved slowly from one end to another, observing every single one present in the room.

Awe. Surprise. Shock. Confusion. She saw them all.

Her gaze went down to her own body.

She was dressed in her old uniform now. A sleeveless white half-coat rested loosely over her more tightly fitting star spangled black, white, and blue shirt. Eleven stars, in fact - each one well earned - were spread around the sides and middle of her shirt. A metal waistband held white coattails in place, flaring out over her blue with red skirt. Black garters held up her black and white stockings.

Attached to her waist was her rigging; the center piece included two smokestacks mounted side by side. The rest of the rigging branched out like the limbs of a great tree: two metal bow-like structures flanked her side, each with two six-inch turrets mounted on the decks, supported by her 5-inch secondaries and smaller AA weaponry. In her arms was a 6-inch turret mounted to the body of a Browning Automatic Rifle. Noticing a mount on the right side of the rigging, she inserted the rifle-turret sideways into it. Thus did Turret C emerge from the right side of that part of her rigging, fully capable of rotating and firing if the light cruiser decided that she didn't want to use it in BAR mode.

On her head was a large headband shaped like her bridge structure, complete with windows and all. Down at her feet were her metallic footwear; a large bow-like section covered up her ankle areas and lower half of her shin and calves. Attached to each high heel was a rudder, and to the sides of each footwear were two four-bladed brass propellers, one closer to the rudders than the other.

Placed in a mount of the metal band of her left stocking was her "fishing" priest, which was something that could be described as a metal pole 12 inches long, complete with a grip covering the bottom third of the "stick" and expanding thicker on the top third part. This would come in handy in certain situations, but as a melee weapon it was only going to be effective during more critical times.

Despite everything feeling right, something still felt wrong. Her hair didn't change. Her breathing was normal; the soft hissing of steam coming from inside her as she breathed was not out of the ordinary. Her hull was still the same.

Then she finally noticed.

Her hull was still the same.

"... This is a mistake."

Silence.

"Sailor, report!" The Admiral called from his podium.

Those cold eyes shot up to him. "My hull dimensions are all incorrect. Hydrodynamic efficiency and structural strength are not satisfactory. I require an immediate refit to correct these problems."

"Did she just call herself short?" Evans whispered from the sidelines.

A cold, angry stare from the newly-manifested ship was what she received in return.

"Oh my god, she did!" Evans continued, refusing to wilt under the cruiser's glare.

A few moments passed.

The new shipgirl closed her eyes, breaking off her gaze. "I will deal with you later," was the soft, cold tone of the light cruiser as she opened her eyes again, looking at the Admiral. "Light cruiser St. Louis, reporting."

She didn't even salute, instead putting her right arm on her hips, leaning her body in the same direction at the same time. "Well, you've certainly taken your time, haven't you?"

"Welcome back, St. Louis. Get yourself over to the mess hall and stocked," The Admiral said with a nod.

"And my refit?"

Hornet stepped forward, off to the Admiral's side. "We currently lack the facilities and manpower to conduct any refit, let alone one as significant as the one you are requesting."

St. Louis' glare was one of dissatisfaction. And for a tiny bit, it almost looked like it was laced with resentment.

But a few seconds later, the light cruiser relented. She rolled her neck backwards, cracking it. "My time, my pace," was the curt reply as she moved herself to the edge of the pool, stepping out. The moment she left the water, her rigging disappeared, but her new uniform remained. Parts of her footwear, namely her propellers and rudders, also disappeared, leaving behind simply the boot-like high heels. Her headwear remained as well, while the soft sounds of steam from her breathing stopped as well, leaving behind the normal sounds of breathing.

Metallic clicking came from her heels as she walked ahead. Not that she ever minded, of course.

"Lou?" Kay ventured as the cruiser approached.

The brunette stopped. "Yes, that is me."

"You okay?" Kay asked. "You're acting kind of strange…"

"I'm alright," was the simple reply. "Thanks for asking."

"Ooookay then…" one of the redheaded destroyers commented, stepping out in front of Lou. "Alright, prove to me that you're you, then. I did it for you."

The light cruiser sighed, almost sounding annoyed. "Not running a few more potent tanks is a mistake that will bite Saunders in the ass in future. Just because we get new tanks doesn't mean we need to use them every single time. Is that good enough?"

Evans didn't respond with her usual reprimand, instead fidgeting uncomfortably under the cruiser's gaze. She refused to falter, though. "That sounds right, but you're not acting like you..."

"Oh I assure you, Evans, it's still me. Thanks for the concern though, but now if you'll excuse me, I've got somewhere to be," Lou dismissed the destroyer, resuming her walk out of the room, headed for the mess.

As Lou left the room, she overheard one of the two redheaded Fletchers make a comment. "Is it just me, or is she turning into a massive bitch?"

"Language!"

The light cruiser immediately stopped in her tracks.

She turned around, a death glare emanating from her eyes.

Slowly, she advanced, staring Henley straight in the eye. The destroyer returned the stare, unflinching.

Both shipgirls were right in front of each other now, their gazes locked.

A few tense seconds passed.

Then, St. Louis raised her hand…

… and proceeded to gently dust off the destroyer's uniform.

"Look out for yourself more," Lou commented, a smile forming on her face. Though, that smile was, quite badly, hiding something.

And then it was immediately dropped. "You'll need to."

She hit her fist on the redhead's chest. Not hard enough to cause any real damage, but hard enough to get her message across.

"Ah!" The redhead exclaimed softly as she rocked back slightly under the blow of the cruiser's fist.

"Shitter."

"Hey!" Evans interjected, moving between her twin and St. Louis. There was a clear look of betrayal on her face.

Seeing this, St. Louis rolled her eyes. "Pff. Destroyers. Always thinking they mean something."

And just like that, the brunette turned around and left.

As soon as Lou was out of earshot, Henley turned to her sister and friends. "See what I mean?"

Author's Note:

Hey all, I just wanted to take a moment to point out and share the poem I used for inspiration for the Tally/Evans manifestation dream. It was written about the USS Evans by the son of one of her crewmembers.

Proud Ship

Men lay their lives on the line,
A ship sails in harm's way.
Bravery is not an external feature,
It comes from within one might say.

The battle is fought, the battle is won,
Though good men are lost before it's done.

The ship, too, is bent and worn,
Her back is now broken, her metal torn.
Though her pride her crew does keep,
She winds up just scrap for the heap.

As the years go by, more crewmembers fall,
Till there are but a few to remember them all.
But when the last man passes and the crew reunites,
A proud ship will be waiting to cruise to new heights.

They will be remembered by those left behind,
When we think of their sacrifices in our minds.

(by Michael Staton)

Salo's Note:

Oh Shenandoah,
I hear you calling.
Hi-oh, you rolling river!
Oh Shenandoah,
I long to hear you,
Hi-oh, I'm bound away,
'Cross the wide Missouri.