"It was about you."

I froze, my hand on the doorknob as I slowly looked back at Scharnhorst. Her head was bowed forward, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. "What do you mean, 'it was about me'?"

"I...sir…" she faltered, fidgeting. "Kurt, please...don't make me do this."

While her use of my first name told me just how serious this was and how much she didn't want to tell me. Although I found it strange that she was being so reticent, she had to know I couldn't drop this. "Look, I have to know. I'm sorry, but you need to be straight with me right now."

She shook her head and took a deep, shuddering breath. As I walked back around to face her, I stopped when I saw her face. She looked to be on the verge of tears, and there was a desperate, pleading look in her eye. "I just...I…" Her hands balled up into fists and she slammed them against the armrests of the chair. "Dammit, this isn't how I wanted you to find out!"

"I get that, but that ship has sailed, unfortunately," I said softly. "What happened?"

She took another breath and turned away from me as she told her story. "A-after the...look we shared, I went and found Shangri-La in the mess hall to talk with her about...you…" Her voice became very quiet, very subdued, and I almost didn't hear the last two words. "...and me."

My heart was doing backflips, thundering in my chest. She was entertaining the possibility of a romance with me? I managed to keep a cool, professional exterior and pressed her, albeit gently. "You mean, romantically."

She nodded, and I thought I heard a sniffle. "A-as we were talking it over...Taihou must have overheard because she came over and s-said 'As if the Commander could ever love a scarred failure like you…' and laughed and I just...I just...I snapped."

For a second, I thought she was going to fully break down and cry, but she managed to hold it together. Mostly. While she tried to get herself under control, I tried to find the right words to say. In the end, I simply surrendered to my heart and said what I felt.

"She's wrong," I whispered.

Scharnhorst's head whipped around, desperate hope in her teary eye. "W-what?"

"She's wrong," I repeated, more insistently as I knelt down and placed a hand atop hers. "You are...a beautiful, strong, passionate woman, and I have loved nearly every second I've spent with you. You challenge me, you push me out of my comfort zone, and I honestly need someone in my life like that. You're one of the best things to come into my life in a long while. Hell, you may be the best thing to come into my life, period. I don't know if what we have is love, but I'm damn sure willing to find out."

Her reaction...wasn't what I expected. She slowly got out of the chair, her hands balled up into fists, her face contorted with rage. "Why the hell didn't you say so before?"

"Because I didn't know before!" I cried out. "Why the hell didn't you say something?"

"Maybe I was scared!" she shot back. "Maybe I didn't wanna look like a damn hypocrite after crapping on love all the damn time! At least you know what love feels like, or you damn well should!"

"Maybe I was scared!" I shouted back, my volume rising to match hers. "Like you said, I've been in love before so I know how this could all end! Badly! And if you didn't feel the same way then I've lost my best friend!"

At this point, we were practically screaming at each other. "Well I do, so now you've got a best friend AND a girlfriend!" Scharnhorst yelled.

My heart practically burst through my chest with joy. "Yeah?"

"YEAH!"

"WELL, I THINK THAT'S GREAT!"

"YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT IT'S GREAT!"

"YEAH, WELL, I'M GONNA KISS YOU NOW!"

"YOU GODDAMN WELL BETTER, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

We didn't embrace so much as crash into each other, wrapping our arms around each other as our lips met in a passionate, if somewhat clumsy, kiss. Months of pent-up, unrealized ardor released in a sudden flurry of caresses, gropes, and kisses. When Scharnhorst broke the kiss, I almost cried out in denial, only just barely managing to contain my disappointment before I began planting kisses on her neck.

"Gneise-ah!-Gneiesnau said you kept the book on your desk," she breathed, her fingers running through my hair.

While I wasn't sure where this was going, I decided to answer her as quickly as possible to keep things moving. "Keep it in the desk when I'm not at lunch," I mumbled softly.

"Oh. Good."

Without further preamble, she sweeps everything off my desk, sending reports, folders, pens, photos, and anything else not nailed down hurtling to the floor. I began to object when I suddenly found myself in what has become a regular position: on my back, looking up at the ceiling with Scharnhorst atop me.

"Seems familiar," I quipped. "Although much more enjoyable than usual."

Scharnhorst grinned wolfishly at me as she playfully licked her lips and said, "You ain't seen nothing yet…"

I grinned back as she lowered her lips to mine, meeting in another passionate kiss. Time lost all meaning, washed away in the soft gasps, gentle groans, and searching hands as we explored one another. I don't know how long it had been, but suddenly, we heard a knock on the door and the handle began to jiggle. We both stared at the door, a surge of fear shooting through both of us as we expected it to open.

Fortunately, it stayed shut. "Admiral," Belfast's muffled voice came through the door, "are you quite alright? I heard a commotion in there."

Scharnhorst and I let out a quiet sigh of relief, and she grinned as she shoved me back down onto the desk, gently kissing and nuzzling my neck.

"F-fine!" I managed to call out in as normal a voice as I could manage as Scharnhorst's tongue sent a shiver up my spine. "Just…uh…'debriefing' Scharnhorst on her behavior. Sorry if things…g-got heated!"

Scharnhorst let out a sultry chuckle as she whispered into my ear. "Debriefing, huh? It'll take more than one little confession to get into my panties, Herr Kommandant," she whispered sultrily into my ear, punctuating it with a playful nibble on my earlobe. My hands gripped her hips as I let out a quiet groan, trying not to alert Belfast as to what was happening.

"Well…if you say so, Master," the head maid finally relented. "If you need anything, I'll be right here."

I suppressed another groan as Scharnhorst continued to kiss and lick at my neck, teasing out as many gasps and shudders as she could from me. "Uhhh…ah!...Actually, I think we're g-gooOOod here! You can go ahead and take off and let Gneisenau take it from here."

"...are you sure, Master?"

"YES!" I shouted with a bit more enthusiasm than I should have, much to Scharnhorst's amusement.

There was another pause as we could practically hear Belfast debating whether or not to object to my orders. In the end, her devotion to duty won out, thankfully. "Very well, Master. Have a good day."

"You, too!" I called back, and we waited for several long seconds to make sure she was gone before I grinned up at the battlecruiser.

"You are such a handful," I playfully scolded her.

Mischief twinkled in the clear blue eye of hers and she grinned wickedly back at me. "Oh, I'm much more than a handful. Play your cards right and one day you'll find out just how much more…"

All I could do was lay my head back down on the desk and let out a low groan of desire. "Scharnhorst, I swear…"

"Mmm, good…" she chuckled. "Get used to saying my name…"

I chuckled as I reached up and pulled her down to me. "That's enough out of you…"


About twenty minutes later, our makeout session was interrupted by the sound of someone trying the door. We paused but didn't think anything of it until we heard the following sound of jingling keys as the door began to unlock. Scharnhorst and I looked at the door, then back to each other as we realized who it was on the other side.

"Gneisenau!" we whispered in unison. Scharnhorst quickly got off me and pulled me to my feet before we each tried to straighten our uniforms to look like we hadn't just been partaking in a major makeout session ten seconds ago.

Just as I buttoned the last button on my shirt, the door swung open and Gneisenau stepped inside, unaware of what had just transpired moments before. She must have figured it out pretty quickly, though, as she came to an immediate halt after about three steps in. Her blue eyes coolly took both of us in, scanning us up and down.

"I see you two have finally realized your feelings for each other," she matter-of-factly stated, and I felt my cheeks burning red from being called out.

"Uh…yeah," I sheepishly admitted, glancing over at Scharnhorst, who was also looking similarly mortified.

Despite her chastised expression, she picked up on something Gneisenau said before I did. "Wait…what do you mean 'finally'?"

"I've known it for months now," she answered with a nonchalant shrug. "Ever since you two had your split. You both looked so devastated, and it was clear neither of you could move on."

Again, Scharnhorst beat me to the punch. "So why the hell didn't you say anything?"

Gneisenau sighed and peered over her glasses at her sister. "Because you wouldn't have listened. You asked about him, but any time I broached the subject, you shut down. I needed something I could use, something to prove to you he was still carrying a torch for you." She looked over and gave me a thin smile. "When I discovered he had kept your gift, I simply arranged a meeting between the two of you and hoped you would be able to finally sort things out. After that, it was simply a matter of time until this happened. Faster than I expected, to be honest…"

Her sister simply grinned back at her and shook her head slowly. "Didn't expect my own sibling to be so damn devious. Were you taking lessons from Friedrich or somethin'?"

"Just trying to be efficient," Gneisenau demurred with a soft smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe I left something in the CIC, and it will take me approximately…five minutes to grab it before I return." She nodded to each of us in turn. "Admiral. Scharnhorst."

"Gneisenau," I nodded back, trying to suppress the smile on my face. As soon as the door shut behind her, I let out a huge sigh and glanced over at Scharnhorst. We shared a look of embarrassed relief before breaking into a nervous laugh.

Once we'd gotten the nervous giggles under control, Scharnhorst looked at me with a serious expression as she ran a hand through her hair. "Well…what now?"

I looked around at all the papers and folders strewn around my desk and sighed quietly. "For starters, we need to clean up the office…"

Scharnhorst gave me a brief scowl. "I meant about us."

"Ah," I replied. "If you're as serious about this as I am, then I'd like to make it official, take you out on a date."

She nodded slowly, thinking things over. "Okay. Where?"

That was a good question. I thought it over for a bit, and considering the unpleasantness that was about to occur, I decided to defer to Scharnhorst. "Well, you mentioned me getting out of the office, so how about a hike up to the overlook for a picnic dinner tonight?"

Despite her surprise, she still smiled, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "Okay…yeah…I can do that. You gonna do the whole 'pick me up at my place' thing?"

I smiled softly at her subtle enthusiasm. "I can, yeah. If you want me to."

She pretended to give it some thought before nodding slowly. "Yeah…yeah…if we're gonna do this, I want to see what all the fuss is about."

"Alright, alright," I chuckled. "I'll give you the full romantic experience. No soft soap."

"No soft soap," she agreed with a grin.

I grinned back, but only briefly as I needed to get this unpleasant part of my duty out of the way. "Speaking of no soft-soap...you've got to go back to the mess hall and help clean up."

While she didn't look entirely happy about it, she still nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah…will do."

I braced myself for the coming barrage as I continued. "And you're on KP duty for the rest of the week."

"What?!"

"And whenever Taihou reemerges from her apartment, you've got to apologize to her."

She went from smiling to livid in about two seconds. "Are you serious? After what she did? Kurt, come on!"

"Look, I get why you did it and I'm not absolving Taihou for her part in this," I began, trying to keep my voice calm and level, "but you were the one who flipped a table, which is awesome, by the way, and decked another member of this fleet in full view of half the kansen on base! As the CO, I can't ignore that and if word gets out that we're a couple, it's going to torpedo any credibility I have. Nobody's going to trust me if they think I'm going to give you free rein to violate regs."

Scharnhorst looked like she'd just swallowed a mouthful of cod liver oil, but she sighed and tilted her head back to the ceiling. "Fine," she droned. "Just hate giving her the satisfaction."

"I get you," I acknowledged soothingly as I took a few steps toward her. "She's not my favorite person, either. Just remember that you're the one I want to be with, not her."

That smug smirk of hers slowly crept across her face as she wrapped her arms around my waist. "Yeah, you lucked out pretty good there…I'm a way better catch."

"Couldn't agree more," I grinned as our lips met in another tender kiss. And as much as I wanted it to continue, I forced myself to break away from her, a rueful smile on my face. "As much as I want this to keep going, I think we're gonna have to save this for later. If I don't get this office picked up, Gneisenau's gonna kill me."

"Wouldn't want that," Scharnhorst grinned, although it quickly faded. "And I should probably go and get started on my penance," she sighed before giving me one last, soft smile. "See you tonight, then?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," I smiled back and gave her one last kiss. "Go on, then."

She grinned and headed out the door, leaving me to gather up my desk and get it back in order.

I had just about finished it when Gneisenau returned, her hands suspiciously empty. She looked around the room and nodded satisfactorily before she headed over to her desk. "Did you grab that thing you forgot?" I playfully asked, calling her out.

In a rare display, she gave me a wicked smirk and shrugged. "It must not have been very important."

"Yeah, guess not," I agreed, playing along with her for now. "It's almost like it was less of a forgotten item and more time for Scharnhorst and me to clean up without you awkwardly hovering."

"That, and I was hoping you would also straighten your uniform out," she pointedly glanced down at my shirt. "It would seem you missed a button."

I glanced down at my shirt and saw she was right, and quickly rectified it. "I have no idea how that happened," I said with a nervous chuckle.

"A complete mystery," she deadpanned in response. "But…I am happy for both of you. Have you decided what to do about it? Beyond attempting to make your office not safe for work, that is."

I self-consciously coughed as I felt my cheek begin to burn once again. "We were, ah, going to go on a hike today and have a picnic dinner up on the overlook."

"That sounds like something right up her alley," she said with an approving smile.

"Thanks."

"And what about Valentine's Day?"

For a second, my heart stopped beating. "Say again?"

"Valentine's Day," Gneiesnau repeated, giving me a concerned look. "It's next week."

I quickly tossed aside several papers, undoing some of my hard work(much to Gneisenau's annoyance), and cleared a space for the calendar on my desk. Sure enough, Valentine's Day was just five days away. "Oh, man," I muttered. "Starting out at the deep end here…"

"So it would seem…" my secretary slowly said. "What are you going to do?"

I wracked my brain as I tried to think of something, anything to do that would make our first Valentine's Day together truly special. Then I remembered something Scharnhorst had said the night of the festival…

"Gneisenau," I began, looking up at her, "Scharnhorst said you and her had the same measurements, is that true?"

She raised an eyebrow as she pulled the lollipop out of her mouth. "Close enough. She won't wear that, though."

My cheeks burned as I shook my head. "Why does everyone always think I'm trying to get her into that outfit?"

The eyebrow climbed higher. "Are you saying you wouldn't want to see her in it?"

The blush grew more intense, and I looked away from her. "Didn't say that, just…not what I'm looking for right now."

Gneisenau relented with an intrigued smile. "Oh? And what did you have in mind?"


The sun was slipping beneath the horizon as we crested the top of the overlook, bathing the ocean, harbor, and base in a beautiful golden light. I paused at the top to both take in the sight as well as to catch my breath. I glanced over at her, watching for her reaction as she saw the view. That happy, carefree smile of hers never fails to warm my heart.

"You bring a blanket this time?" she asked as she turned to me with a playful grin.

"First thing I packed," I smirked as I hoisted the basket I'd brought with us. "Actually used it to help wrap things up, keep them from breaking. I hope."

"Oh? What'd you pack, Romeo?" she teased. "Champagne flutes and a bottle of bubbly to kick things off?"

I set the basket down as I shook my head. "Nah, didn't think you were a champagne and caviar kinda gal, wanted to do something a little more your speed."

"My speed?" Scharnhorst peered over my shoulder as I began to unpack the basket, pulling out several containers and setting them aside before I gingerly lifted the neatly folded blanket from the bottom. It wasn't dripping wet, which I took to be a good sign that the precious cargo survived intact.

As I began to unfold the blanket, I eagerly listened for her inevitable reaction, and I was rewarded with a quiet gasp as I pulled away the last bit of cloth to reveal…

"Iron Brew!" she exclaimed as I handed her one of the bottles full of amber liquid. "How did you get this?"

I couldn't help but smile as I finished laying out the blanket. "One of our convoy captains is an Iron Blood ex-pat, and he's always stocked with food and drinks from Iron Blood territory. Bought a few things off of him, give you a little taste of home, as it were."

Without further ado, she flopped down onto the blanket, cracked the bottle open, and knocked it back, draining half of it in one go. I could only watch in amazement as she lowered the drink from her lips with a satisfied sigh. "Damn, that's the stuff. So, what else did you get?"

"You'll see," I winked as I sat down next to her and carefully went through the containers. To my surprise and relief, they were still warm as I handed her two of them.

Scharnhorst gave me a curious look, but carefully pried the lid off of the larger one and let out another gasp. "Bratwurst!" She leaned down and inhaled the aroma that was wafting up, and her smile broadened. "With a beer sauce? That captain's got some serious cooking skills."

"Ah," I sheepishly began, "he provided the ingredients, I did all the cooking. I was originally going to enlist the galley's help with this, but…"

Her smile dimmed somewhat, but only a fraction. "Yeah, yeah, I'm serving my time. Must've thrown you for a loop. So how'd you make this?"

"Very carefully," I chuckled. When she narrowed her eye at me, I continued. "I had the recipe and the ingredients, so I just made it on my own. Never did this before, so I'm praying that everything turned out okay."

She gave me a reassuring smile as she laid her hand atop mine. "Hey, you've really gone out of your way to do this for me, and even if this all flops, it'll still be worth it as far as I'm concerned. Hell, you had me at Iron Brew."

I couldn't help but laugh and nodded to her. "Thanks, Scharnhorst."

"Anytime, Kurt."

I raised my bottle of Iron Brew to her in a toast and said, "To new romance. May it be the last one we ever know."

"And the first," Scharnhorst grinned as raised her bottle in salute, lightly tapping it against mine. "To new romance."

A/N-FINALLY! That scene has been living rent-free in my head for nearly a year now, and boy, does it feel good to get it out on paper(metaphorically speaking). It's a nice counterpoint to the historical fact that today in 1943, Scharnhorst was sunk by the Duke of York at the Battle of the North Cape. In other news, the poll currently has Takao still in the lead with 11 votes, AvP following with 6, and then Intrepid with 3. Less than a week to go now, so anything can still happen, but in all likelihood, it'll be Takao next. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!