I'd hoped that Scharnhorst would come around, but as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks turned into months, I let that hope fade and sputter away, burying it beneath the dull ache that had replaced it. Taihou had been sent on a two-week patrol, and once she'd returned, had promptly reconfined herself to quarters, rarely leaving it unless she was assigned to an exercise or a patrol. Part of me still felt bad for hurting her like that, but she brought it on herself. The rest of me was hurting from Scharnhorst's dismissal. Almost every day I didn't think back and wish I could have done things differently, or wonder if there was any way for me to make amends. She was probably the best friend I'd had in years, and it was killing me that I lost her to my own stupidity.

Gneisenau continued to excel as my secretary, and while none could truly compare to Taihou, she was no slouch. When Gneisenau was needed for a patrol or sortie, Belfast filled in for her. I'm sure Scharnhorst would have had something to say about that, if we were still speaking. Her sister would occasionally fill me in on how she was doing, either on her own or when I asked about her. She seemed to be doing well, training hard and throwing herself into the thick of every battle. Sometimes she'd come back worse for wear, but nothing Vestal couldn't fix so far. I still wondered why she threw herself into combat so recklessly, but resigned myself to the fact that I would probably never know.

Instead of our lunchtime sparring sessions, I usually took my meals at my desk, grabbing a bite to eat while I pored over the book she'd given me. While the translation into English helped immensely, it was still written in a very archaic fashion, and it took me some time to try and figure out what the author was trying to say. I'd normally kept it hidden away in my drawer, but today I'd forgotten to put it back and left it out on the corner of my desk. Which, as fate would have it, was the best thing I could've done.

Albacore had arrived at the office to turn in her report on the day's training exercise with the submarine fleet, and, as usual, was poking around to see what mischief she could get up to. "And in conclusion, the exercise was a complete…" her voice trailed off as her eyes settled on the book Scharnhorst gave me. "What's that?"

Before I could grab the book and hide it from her prying eyes, she swiftly scooped it up and danced out of reach. "Recital on the Chivalric Art of Fencing," she read aloud. Gneisenau perked up at the mention of the title, looking up from her paperwork. Suddenly acutely aware of the attention it would bring from Scharnhorst's sister, I quickly got out of my chair and tried to snatch it away from Albacore.

"A book," I snapped, "You've read them before. Give it back."

She effortlessly dodged my attempts to reclaim the tome and continued to examine it. "Never seen a book this fancy before. Like you're some kinda wizard." Still staying away from me, she flipped it open and made a face. "Why's half of it in gobbledygook?"

"It's German. That's the original text and the stuff in English is the translated version. May I please have it back now?"

Ignoring my pleas, she continued. "Ooh, this sounds fancy. 'Young knight, learn to revere God and love women; thus your honor will grow'..."

She finally slowed down enough to allow me to snatch the book out of her hands and tuck it securely under my arm. "It's from the Fifteenth Century, so yeah, it's a little formal. It's also a gift, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't go grabbing it without permission."

Understanding blossomed in Albacore's eyes and she let out a quiet gasp. "Is that the gift Scharnhorst gave you? The one you went dumpster diving for?"

Now Gneisenau decided to fully enter the conversation as she pulled the lollipop out of her mouth and asked, "Dumpster diving?"

Albacore eagerly nodded to her. "It's where you jump into one of those big metal dumpsters like the one out back to find stuff. Taihou tossed the book in the trash so the Commander wouldn't find it and when I told him, he ran outta here like he was on fire to go get it."

Gneisenau peered over her red-rimmed glasses at me, and I turned away from her inscrutable gaze, not wanting to face her for the mistakes I'd made. "Thank you for the report, Albacore," I quietly said to the mischievous submarine. "You're dismissed."

"But I didn't finish…" she objected.

"You're dismissed," I softly repeated. Her smile died, and she looked between Gneisenau and me before she gave me a proper salute(rare for her), and headed out the door. With all the resignation of a doomed man, I walked back to my desk, put the book in its drawer, and fell into my chair. When I looked up, just as I had expected, Gneisenau was on the other side of the desk, staring me down.

"Mein Kommendant," she began, her voice less accusatory than I thought it would be. "Is it true?"

"Is what true?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"What Albacore said. That you engaged in this…'dumpster diving' to retrieve Scharnhorst's gift to you?"

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"I see." Her tone was neutral, not giving me any idea how she felt about that. Was it pity? Anger? Contempt? I didn't know. "Was this before or after you came to see us that night?"

"Before," I said softly. "I wanted to find it before the dumpster was emptied and I'd lose the gift forever."

"And you've been reading it ever since?"

I shrugged, still not able to look her in the eye. "On and off. It's a bit hard to read at times, even in English."

"I see." Once again, she wasn't giving me any hints as to how she may have felt. There was another moment of agonizing silence. "Permission to speak freely?"

As much as I wanted to tell her no, I wasn't going to run from this. I put on my poker face, turned back to look her in her eye, and nodded. "Granted."

"Sir, you've been cooped up in here ever since the...incident with Taihou. You go between here and your apartment and nowhere else. You need to get out, take a break, get some air and clear your head." She paused, and when I didn't say anything, she continued. "There is a Lunar New Year festival being held by the Dragon Empery this evening, and I think you should attend it."

I didn't exactly feel in a festival sort of mood, but I didn't want to dismiss her out of hand. "I don't know, Gneisenau, I-"

She curtly cut me off. "That wasn't a suggestion. Sir."

Her forceful tone caught me off guard, and I almost flinched at her sudden demands. "Alright, alright," I said, holding up my hands in surrender. "I'll go. No idea what I'll do there, but I'll go."

"Relax, perhaps," Gneisenau said with a wry smirk. "Enjoy the fireworks. Oh, and pick up a box of candy from Ping Hai and Ning Hai's stall, if you don't mind, Commander."

"To bring back for you?"

"No." Her denial was almost playful, and I could see the corners of her mouth tugging upward ever so slightly as she tried to keep a straight face. Just what was going on in her mind, I wondered. "Now go and get ready. I think I can manage an hour or so without you, sir."

I looked at the reports, then at Gneisenau, and I saw from the look on her face this was an argument I wasn't going to win. "See you tomorrow, then, Gneisenau."

"Guten Nacht, Mein Kommandant."


The festival was much as I expected. Paper lanterns lit the streets of the Empery district, and several stalls and booths had been set up along the way. Kansen happily chatted with each other as they partook in games, or snacked on festival treats. Well, most of them.

Yat Sen and Anshan rushed by, talking in hushed voices and practically ignoring where they were going. I barely managed to dodge out of Yat Sen's way as she barrelled past, catching just a fragment of what they were talking about. "We need to find him, and fast. We don't want anything to go wrong tonight…"

That rather odd and cryptic statement, barely caught, piqued my interest, and I came to a stop, debating whether or not I should follow them. On the one hand, it seemed like an interesting scenario was brewing, on the other, I was supposed to be relaxing and if Gneisenau found out I wound up helping to run the event rather than enjoy it, there may be hell to pay. I resigned myself to the fact that I may never know what was going on and carried on towards my original destination.

Ning Hai and Ping Hai's food stall was busier than usual, which wasn't surprising considering the festival, and I found myself waiting for a few minutes before I could even place my order. Once I got to the counter, I found Ning Hai waiting for me with a bright smile. "Glad you could make it out tonight, Commander! One candy box, right?"

For a second, I wondered if Ning Hai suddenly gained psychic powers or if I'd been thinking out loud, both of which were troubling possibilities. Sensing my concern, she giggled and explained, "Gneisenau called ahead to have us set one aside. Which was smart of her, because this is the last one."

I was slightly stunned by her foresight and her generosity. "Y-yeah," I muttered as I pulled out the coins to pay for it. "Wasn't expecting that."

The cruiser's smile grew brighter as she took the coins and set the black lacquered box on the counter. "She's a pretty top-notch assistant if you ask me, and her sister's fun to train with! Really gives it her all!"

The mention of Scharnhorst caused a twinge in my heart, and I suddenly wanted to just go home and forget the entire evening. I forced a smile and nodded in agreement. "She's a hell of a woman," I admitted. "Would we all be so lucky to have her drive."

Ning Hai nodded eagerly before she spotted something over my shoulder and leaned to the side a bit to get a better view. "Speak of the devil," she smiled as she waved to whoever she saw. "Hey, Scharnhorst!"

My heart immediately shifted residence from my chest to my throat, and my stomach decided it was going to imitate a pretzel as I spun around to confirm it was really her. Sure enough, it was Scharnhorst, but Scharnhorst as I'd never seen her before. Instead of her uniform, she was wearing a beautiful black variation of cheongsam, with crimson and gold trim, and a sheer window over her chest that exposed a great deal of cleavage. Her tail was up in a ponytail, and she wore black silk stockings and gloves to complete the outfit. Simply put, she took my breath away.

Scharnhorst caught sight of me and froze as well, although I suspect it was more out of surprise than being taken aback by my outfit. After a moment, she composed herself and nodded over to Ning Hai. "Gneisenau sent me to pick up a candy box," she announced, doing her best to ignore me.

The Dragon Empery girl gave a sympathetic smile and shrugged helplessly. "Sorry, all out. The Commander there got the last one."

And then it suddenly clicked into place. Gneisenau's sudden insistence I go to the festival, picking up the candy, calling ahead to make sure there was only one when I got here… I glanced down at the box in my hand, then over to Scharnhorst, who was now looking at me. "I think your sister just played us," I stated with a wry grin.

I was expecting scorn, fury, anger, the cold shoulder, or any combination thereof from Scharnhorst, but instead what I saw on her face was hesitation and fear. But fear of what? Her eye looked up from the candy box in my hand and there was a flash of realization before she slipped into her typical appearance of general disdain. "So it would seem. Well, if she's so intent on us talking to each other, let's just get it over with. Lemme call the cat over real quick, first…"

"...cat?" I mumbled as she whistled sharply. What rounded the corner was technically a cat in the same way a sailboat and a battlecruiser are both ships. A massive snow leopard padded around the corner, looking around cautiously before sidling up to Scharnhorst, rubbing his massive head against her thigh.

It took everything in my power to stay calm and not take several steps back as the snow leopard approached, and I really didn't start to unclench until Scharnhorst reached down to pet it. "Found him wandering around, decided to call him over, give him a few pets, and next thing you know, I made a friend," she said with a smile. "He's pretty good as long as you don't provoke him."

"I'll keep that in mind," I replied, not taking my eyes off the large predator for too long. Behind me, I heard Ning Hai gasp.

"Oh, Yat Sen was looking for him!" she said softly, "He got out of his enclosure this afternoon and she's been worried sick about him. I should go find her so they can make sure he's safe before the fireworks go off. Just...wait here!"

Before Scharnhorst or I could answer her, the girl took off like a torpedo, racing down the street. We both watched her go for a second, then turned to look at each other. I gave a nervous, awkward chuckle and shrugged. "Kids. While we wait for her, you wanna share some of my candy?" When she hesitated I gave her a reassuring smile. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to. Or if you wanna talk, but not here, I can wait. We can do small talk for now."

She snorted derisively but took several steps toward me. "No, you can't. It's physically painful to listen to you even try."

I shot her a hurt look, but the grin on my face belied how I really felt. "Oh, come on. That's just mean. Besides, it's been months since we've last spoken and I've been practicing."

A wicked grin split her face as she nodded sagely. "That explains why Gneisenau comes home crying every night…"

"Funny," I dryly replied before a stray thought ran through my head and I looked up from the box as I pried open the lid. "Wait. She's not, right?"

Her peals of laughter echoed off the walls and even startled the snow leopard. Fortunately, a few scratches behind the ears from Scharnhorst settled him back down. "God, you're so easy sometimes, I swear…" she grinned at me. "And no, she doesn't. If she had, you and I would've exchanged words. Or shells."

"Good to know you're still being the protective big sister," I smirked as I managed to get the lid off the candy box.

"Always will be," she grinned. "So, go on. Impress me with your amazing new small talk."

I straightened up, theatrically cleared my throat, and said, in an over-the-top "normal" voice. "Good day, madam. Are you enjoying the nice weather we are having? Yes, I too am also enjoying weather."

Her blue eye rolled back in her head and she let out a dramatic sigh. "God help me, I think I actually miss 'because dinosaurs'..."

Now it was my turn to laugh uproariously. Again, the leopard was startled, but this time, I reached down and gently scratched his head. To my great surprise, he nuzzled back against me with a happy rumble.

"Huh. Didn't think he'd take a liking to you," Scharnhorst said, almost begrudgingly. "Maybe you're not so bad after all…"

"Maybe," I conceded with a small, but hopeful smile.

Her own smile faltered, and I could see the anxiety in her eye once again. "Later," she said, her voice subdued. "Not here."

"Okay," I whispered and held out the candy box to her. "Care for...whatever this is in the meantime?"

She peered down at the contents of the box, mostly candied fruits and nuts, before she shrugged and plucked a large red disk of some kind. "Yeah, what the hell." She lifted it up, examined it, and popped it into her mouth. "Not bad," she finally declared after a few seconds of thoughtful chewing.

I nodded and picked up a small white wedge of what I guessed was candied melon and took a bite. While I'm not sure what fruit it was, exactly, it was sweet and tart and all-around delicious. "Yeah, pretty good."

"Think we should save some for Gneisenau?"

"I'll leave that up to you," I said after some thought. "Pretty sure she used the candy as an excuse to get us to meet up like this, so I don't think she was expecting to get any. But this is really good so she deserves at least some of it."

Scharnhorst listened, and I could see her going over it in her head before she shrugged again. "Alright, least I could do. Even if she did force me into coming out here."

"You, too, huh?" I grinned wryly.

Her eye widened in surprise and she was about to say something when our attention was drawn to the sound of footfalls rapidly approaching. Yat Sen, Ning Hai, and Anshan were all bolting towards us, slowing down just before the snow leopard noticed them. A huge smile of relief broke out across Yat Sen's face as she approached us.

"Thank you so much, Commander," she exhaled as she leaned over to gesture towards the large feline. "Toshiko here was giving us all quite the fright, weren't you, big guy?" Like any unrepentant cat, Toshiko nonchalantly got up, languidly stretched, and slowly plodded over to Yat Sen, pressing his head into her hand as she scratched behind his ears.

"Don't thank me," I said, inwardly cringing at the cliched line I was about to finish, "thank Scharnhorst. She's the one who found him."

Scharnhorst shook her head and gave a casual shrug. "Really wasn't a big deal. He was there, he didn't bite so I decided to just keep him around for a bit."

"Well, in any case, Miss Scharnhorst, if there's anything we can ever do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

"Uhhh...sure thing."

I smiled a bit at her sudden discomfort, savoring the moment for a bit before I decided to rescue her. "Not to hurry things along, but I think we need to go find a good spot before the fireworks start."

Yat Sen smiled politely and nodded to each of us in turn. "Of course. Have a wonderful evening and enjoy the show!"

We both smiled politely back before we turned away. Scharnhorst looked expectantly at me, her anxiety creeping into her voice. "So...where we headed?"

I gave her another smile, although I'm sure it was riddled with the same unease as her voice. "I know a good spot where we can view the fireworks and have a conversation in private."

Her perfunctory and humorless reply of "Lead on, then," told me just how much she wasn't looking forward to this conversation. To be fair, neither was I, but if it meant repairing this broken relationship, it would be worth it. I just hoped I wouldn't have to get shot again…

A/N-A faint hope blossoms! Will the Commander and Scharnhorst be able to talk things out, or will she kick him to the curb…permanently? We'll just have to wait to find out! Oh! Also, that surprise I'd mentioned: That's coming next week as well instead of Dec 19th. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!