A night out
"You needn't worry about Liberty, we'll take care of her." Saratoga reassured Enterprise, who was getting ready for her date. This will be the first time since childbirth that Enterprise and Edmond were going out.
"You will let me know the instant Liberty starts taking a turn for the worse won't you?" Enterprise stated as she adjusted her skirt.
"Of course we will, but you needn't worry, the new special rigging is working fine at keeping her stable," Saratoga replied. "I can make adjustments as needed if things start getting problematic."
The two walked into the next room where Edmond was explaining to Liberty what would be happening that night. Liberty was still a little unsure about both her parents not being there to say goodnight but accepted that Mommy and Daddy needed time to themselves occasionally. Enterprise kissed Liberty on the cheek and then accepted Edmond's hand in hers. The couple went to the front door of their home but, before opening it, they turned around one last time.
Speaking in unison they said, "Remember, if Liberty starts showing any signs of….."
"Just go already!" Saratoga retorted, "We've got this!"
Finally, the couple left. "Do they really get so stressed because of me?" Liberty asked.
"It's not that. They've been so concerned about your health and development that it added on top of their other worries." Saratoga reassured her. "But now that you are a lot better, they can be more relaxed with you and each other."
The pair spent most of the afternoon and part of the evening playing games at the house before having an early dinner and then Liberty insisted that they head to the ocean. Liberty loved being at sea and felt more alive on it because it made her cube push out more of its power which in turn made her feel better. While Saratoga could have fun at sea, she wasn't as interested as Liberty was at scooting back and forth. While she and Liberty raced about, Saratoga saw a small commission fleet engaged in a buoy inspection and figured that it was the perfect opportunity to play a prank on them. She also noticed a group of Fletcher-class destroyers on their way to play a game and figured it might be okay to offload her charge on them for a little bit. So after calling Liberty over, Saratoga steamed over to where Thatcher, Aulick, Foote, and Spence were preparing a bunch of floats that were tied together with a rope and a ramp. "Hey y'all. What are you guys doing out here? I thought this was a dedicated class training day for destroyers."
"We just got out early and were going to play a game to blow off some steam," replied Thatcher. "I see you are looking after Liberty this evening."
"Would you like to play with the Fletchers, Liberty?" Saratoga asked. "I feel it would be a great opportunity to show them what you can do."
"I don't know about this," Spence stated nervously. The last time the Fletchers played with Liberty, she had collapsed due to her body's problems processing energy.
"Don't worry Spence, my new rigging will help keep me in the game. In fact, it's good for me to stretch myself on the sea, so long as I don't do it for too long," Liberty happily replied.
"See, there's nothing to worry about," Saratoga affirmed, "so you all play happily and I'll be back later to make sure Liberty is doing alright."
As Saratoga left Liberty with the Fletchers, she reassured herself that this was alright. She would probably find some way to convince Liberty to not tell her parents that she temporarily abandoned her just to prank some Royals. Besides the Fletchers were dependable girls who could be trusted to look after Liberty.
"What do you mean you lost Liberty?" Saratoga yelled. Crestfallen, the Fletcher sisters looked down at their feet. "We were all playing but then this fog showed up out of nowhere," Spence sniffed, "we all scattered in a panic and we thought Liberty able to follow us using her navigation."
"Liberty's rigging is still a work in progress; it doesn't have proper navigation systems," Saratoga replied, "she wasn't meant to take to the seas unsupervised. And how did you not notice this fog until now?"
"It just came on us suddenly," answered Aulick, "I'm not sure if it is natural. It could be a new Siren threat."
"We have to find her quickly before the Sirens, if there are any, find her first. Looks like we will all head back into the fog and start searching for her."
"Are you kidding?" replied Foote incredulously, "we barely made it out. There's no way we can search for something there."
"What's going on?" A new voice came from behind Saratoga. She turned and faced Gangut, the current secretary ship, who was surrounded a small squadron of various other girls who happened to be on duty at the time. Upon hearing Saratoga's explanation for what had happened, Gangut ordered the other girls search around the perimeter of the fog for what could be causing it while she would go right inside the fog and search for Liberty.
Liberty rubbed her arms to keep warm. She had given up calling for the Fletcher sisters and was trying to find her way out. While Liberty did well to be out on the water, she had been told not to be on it for too long otherwise she could get tired and sink. She could barely see in front of her due to the sparse equipment on her skeletal work-in-progress rigging. As panic continued to rise in her chest and her eyes begin to water, Liberty suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around and laid eyes upon a white-haired woman with aircraft carrier rigging. The stranger wore a long dark blue dress and had kind gentle eyes. The rigging she wore looked rather familiar. Despite the fog darkening everything around them, Liberty could still make out the patterns on the flight deck. It looked rather like her mothers'. But that couldn't be right. Her mother was one of a kind. In spite of everything, Liberty felt like she could trust this woman, as if there was something familiar about her.
"Um, Hi. I don't think I have seen you before."
"Well I feel like I've seen you before. Which is strange seeing as I've never encountered your rigging type before. Who are you?"
"Oh my name is Liberty. I don't follow any real class but I hope to become a strong shipgirl one day. My mommy's name is Enterprise."
"You are Enterprise's daughter?" The stranger was surprised but then her expression warmed. "You really shouldn't be out here. It's not safe right now. I can lead you back to safety."
The stranger took Liberty's hand in hers and began to lead her through the fog. Her hand was really cold. Had she been out here for a while? Liberty began to notice that it was getting increasingly harder to move and keep afloat. The stranger looked at her with concern. "Is something wrong little one? Is it a struggle for you to keep moving?"
"I haven't ever been… onthe water this long," Liberty replied unevenly, shaking herself to be more awake. "My rigging is…almostalways having to be adjusted so it's…. incomplete. Can't even turn into a full size ship yet. Mommy and Daddy are always worried about me….feel so tired….thought I could do better."
"Just hang on. You will be safe soon" The stranger appeared to be calm but there was an edge of panic in her voice. Liberty could barely make out some strange noises coming from behind her but the stranger's hold on her wouldn't let her turn around.
A loud deep voice suddenly boomed in front of her. "Comrade Liberty! Comrade Liberty!"
"This is where we must part. That one will take you to safety." The stranger released Liberty's hand and gently pushed her forward.
"Thanks miss!" Liberty lurched forward in the direction of the cries, which were getting closer.
"It's okay if you don't remember me." The stranger's reply sounded a lot more distant than it should have. When Liberty turned her head back, she couldn't see her anymore. The second Liberty looked forward, her vision was obscured by a white fluffiness as two powerful arms wrapped around her shoulders. She looked up into the anxious face of Gangut.
"Comrade Liberty! Are you hurt? You had us all worried."
"I'm….alright. I ran into a friendly carrier and she looked after me." Suddenly, Liberty's head slumped forward. Gangut couldn't believe it. The girl had fallen asleep right in her arms. It was time to leave. Before she could turn to leave, two shapes appeared from the direction Liberty had come in. They were humanoid Sirens. Gangut fired her batteries at them before they could react; landing critical hits that sunk them both nearly instantly. She looked down at Liberty and, to her amazement, found that the girl slept through her barrage.
Liberty was gently shaken awake. She looked up into the faces of Vestal, Gangut, and Saratoga. "What happened? Where's the fog?"
"Fog, what fog?" Saratoga replied nervously. "You passed out suddenly when we were playing on the ocean. I brought Vestal over to you and she helped revive you."
"But what about the fog? I thought I got lost in it. And I met this carrier who kind of looked like Mommy."
"Well it appears that you dreamed it when you passed out. You were twitching a fair bit when I was trying to revive you. Are you feeling all right now?"
"Yeah just tired and drained," Liberty looked disappointed. "I thought I had gotten better. And that Mommy and Daddy didn't have to worry about me anymore."
"There there, you are fine now," Vestal kindly reassured her, "it means that there are still some adjustments to be made. Now let's get you off to bed so I can give your rigging a proper looking over."
After Vestal took Liberty away, Saratoga turned to thank Gangut for rescuing her. Before she could speak, Gangut gave her a sharp look and said, "You are indeed fortunate that we were able to resolve things as well as we did. If Enterprise and the Commander found out about this, they would punish you severely."
"Good job that they won't find out then," Saratoga replied nervously.
"Which is why I will be punishing you tonight," Gangut gave her wicked grin. "After all you abandoned your sickly charge to those who lacked the know how to take care of her. Which nearly led to her sinking. I cannot let such an act go unaddressed so I shall gladly carry out the important duty of judge, jury, and rehabilitator!"
The next day
Enterprise walked in the kitchen rubbing her eyes and yawning. It had been a great romantic evening that both Edmond and her needed. They had gotten back rather late so they didn't tuck Liberty to bed but Saratoga, who had seemed rather shaken for some reason, assured them that everything had been fine. Edmond had already left for the day but Liberty was still at the table drawing pictures. "You are looking peppy today, did you have a good night?" Enterprise asked whilst biting into her still-warm buttered brioche.
"Yeah Mommy," Liberty replied, "I only had a little problem with my rigging but Vestal said I should be fixed now. Anyway I've got see Nimi for my tutoring."
Liberty kissed her mother goodbye and left. As she lifted her bowl of coffee to her lips, Enterprise's eyes happened to fall on one of the drawings that Liberty had made.
It was of a white-haired woman with a rather familiar long dark blue dress.