Before I knew it, Valentine's Day had arrived, and I found myself eagerly awaiting my secretary that morning, hoping she had good news for me. As soon as she opened the door and stepped in, I was already on my feet, a hopeful smile on my face. "So?" I asked, abandoning any preamble in my anxiousness.

Gneisenau smiled at my enthusiasm and nodded once. "Finished it last night, she's going to look beautiful."

I felt a huge weight lift from my chest as I let out an audible sigh of relief. "Thank you so much, Gneisenau," I breathed as I sat back down at my desk. "I really owe you one."

The Iron Blood kansen peered over her glasses at me with a bemused smile. "I believe you owe me several at this point."

"Fair enough," I chuckled. "And I'll make good on all of them, I promise. It's well worth it for her happiness."

"Indeed it is," she agreed as she sat down at her desk. "So, where are you taking her?"

I couldn't help but smile as I answered. "There's a fancy little restaurant out in town. Haven't eaten there, but I checked it out after making the reservation and it looks beautiful. Candlelit tables, intimate atmosphere, the works."

Gneisenau raised an eyebrow. "Ah, that explains the dress. Although…I still wonder if this is the best course of action for my sister…"

"She said she wanted the full-court press when it came to romance," I replied with a shrug. "Nothing's more traditionally romantic than a candlelight dinner."

"So I've heard," Gneisenau dryly remarked and I cringed inwardly at my carelessness.

"Sorry," I replied. "Didn't mean to…"

"It's quite alright," she interjected with a sad smile and a shake of her head. "I'm not one for romance."

"Neither was Scharnhorst," I smirked, and Gneisenau chuckled.

"True, but she has always been…passionate," she said delicately, "And that passion can extend to more than just combat with her, she just doesn't care to admit it."

"Fair point," I conceded. "Why is she so obsessed with combat, anyway?"

The younger sibling looked surprised, a lavender eyebrow raised as she looked at me. "She hasn't told you?"

I shrugged and shifted nervously in my seat. "She's told me a bit, but I keep getting the feeling that she hasn't told me the whole thing. She's pretty good at deflecting."

"Having an armor belt helps with that," she grinned, earning a chuckle from me. "But if she hasn't told you, then it isn't my place. She'll tell you when she's ready, in her own due time."

"That's what worries me," I wryly muttered. "No other choice than to wait it out, though." With a resigned sigh, I shrugged and got to work. The sooner we were done here, the sooner I could go get ready for the big night.


I straightened the tie of my suit for about the hundredth time, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. It wasn't long before Scharnhorst answered the door, and when I saw her, she took my breath away. Gneisenau had indeed come through for me, making a beautiful dress for her sister. An elegant black satin evening gown, with sheer sleeves embroidered with beautiful flowers. I caught the golden glint of an earring amidst her lavender hair that flowed down her back. For a second, I just stared at her, dumbstruck, before my mind re-engaged and I held out the bouquet of roses to her. "Uh…hi," I weakly greeted her. "Got these for you…wow, you look amazing!"

After a moment's hesitation, she took the flowers from me, briefly inhaling their scent before she laid it down on the end table by the door. Once her hands were free, she crossed her arms over her chest as she grinned at me. "I take it you're the one who put her up to this?"

I nodded slightly, still taking in her beauty. "I did, and I have to say, she exceeded my expectations on this. You look stunning!"

Her cheeks flushed red, and she looked away for a moment. "Yeah, yeah…dunno why you're so eager to see me in this getup anyway."

"Because you look beautiful, for starters, and because you wanted the full romantic experience, right?" I asked rhetorically. "What's more romantic than a beautiful, candlelit dinner at a fancy restaurant? And don't say blowing stuff up."

"Well, it is!" Scharnhorst snapped back, the grin on her face taking the bite out of her words. "But I did say I wanted this. Speaking of romantic…" She reached behind the door and produced a heart-shaped box with a ribbon on it. "Here you go," she muttered as she thrust it out towards me. "Gneisenau said it was something couples did, expressing their feelings with chocolate. Though it's a strange custom, I can understand the sentiment behind it. In any case, I made some for you. No need to be shy."

For a second, I stared down at the box, stunned by the time and effort she must have put into it. "That's…that's really sweet of you, Scharnhorst." I looked back up and met her gaze, staring into that beautiful blue eye of hers. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she smiled shyly, "And thanks for the flowers." There was a quiet pause until Scharnhorst perked back up, her vulnerable self slipping behind her confident mask. "So, where's this fancy restaurant at?"

"The town just outside of the base," I answered as I offered her my arm. "I've arranged to have a car to meet us outside the base gates and take us there."

"Damn, Kurt," she said with an approving smile as she took my arm and pulled me close. "Pulling out all the stops tonight."

"Hey, it's Valentine's Day," I shrugged. "Besides, no soft-soap, right?"

She threw her head back and laughed, the noise echoing down the quiet street. "No soft-soap."


The drive over was quick and mostly quiet. We made small talk in between feeding each other pieces of Scharnhorst's chocolate, which was quite good. She tried to demur, to put most of the credit with Gneisenau, but I felt she deserved a good deal of it, even if she had help.

The restaurant, from the outside, was an unassuming building just off the main road for the town. If it wasn't for the people coming and going dressed to the nines, one might have easily overlooked it, or just assumed it was another run-of-the-mill eatery. As the driver pulled up to the curb, I thanked him, slipped him a tip, and exited the car, quickly trotting around to help Scharnhorst out from her end.

"Fraulein," I smiled as I extended my hand to her as she moved to get out. She paused for a moment, staring at my hand before giving me a sly smile as she took it in hers.

"Such a gentleman," she purred, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek as she got to her feet, her arm wrapping around my waist. I responded in kind, feeling the curve of her waist beneath her dress.

"Anything for such a beautiful lady," I whispered back, causing her cheeks to flush once more.

"Sheesh, Kurt," she scoffed, trying to play it off, but the smile on her face belied her true feelings. "Laying it on kinda thick, aren't you?"

"Maybe," I shrugged, "but it's fun to watch you get all flustered like that. It's cute."

"Cute?" she hissed, her cheeks a deep crimson now. "Oooh, I am gonna do things to you when we get back to base…"

"Oh my," I playfully grinned and winked at her. "Do be gentle, it's been a while."

With a final sigh of exasperation, she rolled her eye and let it drop as we approached the maître d'. The tall gentleman smiled at both of us and said, "Good evening sir, madam. Do you have a reservation?"

I nodded and smiled cordially in return. "Table for two for Fraser."

After a quick check of the ledger, he smiled up at us again and gestured for us to follow. "Right this way, please."

As we trailed behind our host, Scharnhorst leaned over and whispered, "I'm not that insufferable, am I?"

Misunderstanding the question, I whispered back, "Not at all. I don't think I've ever heard you say madam once."

A light hip check from Scharnhorst told me that wasn't quite the answer she was looking for. "Not him, I meant you being insufferable a few seconds ago?"

I laughed softly and shrugged again. "What can I say? You must be rubbing off on me."

"God help us all," she deadpanned, and I had to stifle my laughter, lest I cause a scene.

Once we were seated, the maître d' bid us a pleasant meal and departed back to the front of the house, leaving us in a quiet corner. Just Scharnhorst, myself, and a candlelit table for two.

Scharnhorst took a moment to look around and admire the decor before she nodded approvingly. "It's not Iron Blood perfection, but it's pretty damn nice," she declared. "If the food's as good as the decor, I think you did good, Kurt."

"Thank you," I said with a dramatic half-bow. "I aim to please."

"I'll hold you to that," Scharnhorst grinned wickedly, and it took me a second to figure out what she meant. When I did, I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and she laughed. "Finally got you to blush!"

I grinned bashfully, grateful for the quiet corner we were tucked away into. "Can't take you anywhere, can I?" I teased.

"Nope!" she grinned back proudly. "Well, except fighting." Her eye widened as she remembered something, and she perked up considerably. "Speaking of, I'm going out on patrol tomorrow, you should come with us! Just a short one, a few hours out and then back."

Excitement, worry, and duty all tugged at my heart, and I shifted uncomfortably. "Ah, I don't know if I can go on such short notice…" I began.

"Yeah, yeah, base to run," Scharnhorst finished for me as she waved her hand dismissively. "But surely the base can run itself for a few hours. Any important meetings tomorrow?"

I did a quick check of my itinerary for tomorrow before shaking my head. "None."

"Any vital paperwork?" Before I could answer, she quickly added, "And don't tell me it's all vital!"

"You know me too well," I laughed before I shook my head.

"So what's the big deal? Belfast is going to be your secretary tomorrow since me and Gneisenau are gonna sortie, so just ask her to mind the store while you engage in important maneuvers. It's been what, five months since you've been on the open sea?"

She had a point. It had honestly been far too long since I've been out on the ocean. As much as I love it, it can become far too easy to find yourself shackled to the desk, bound by mountains of paperwork. "Yeah…" I said with a resigned sigh. "Maybe you've got a point."

"Damn right I do," she shot back, "So c'mon, what's the harm in saying yes?"

Something was holding me back, a not-so-small concern in the back of my mind, but I knew bringing it up would spoil the mood, so I simply pushed it aside for now. "Let me think about it, enjoy dinner, and we'll talk about it afterward, alright?"

"Fine," she sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "But don't think I won't let this go."

I laughed softly as I shook my head. "I wouldn't expect any less of you, Scharnhorst. Your stubborn drive and dogged determination is something I love about you."

Her cheeks flushed and she looked away. "Gah, there you go again. You gonna keep this up all night?"

"I can stop if it bothers you," I answered honestly, my tone becoming soft and serious. "Does it bother you?"

I could see the conflict written on her face as she tried to put her emotions into words. "It's…weird…" she slowly began. "I don't feel comfortable with it, but at the same time, I…like how it makes me feel. If you didn't mean it, yeah, I'd want you to stop. Don't butter me up with false praise, but…if you really mean what you say, keep saying it. I'll get used to it. Maybe."

I reached across the table to take her hand in mine as I gazed into her eye. "I'm sure you will," I said softly. "Part of me hopes you won't, though, because you look adorable as hell when you're flustered."

She groaned and rolled her eye, but her smile stayed on. "Yeah, well, that goes the same for you."

"And I get the feeling that you'll still be able to get me to blush years down the road," I grinned.

Her eyebrow slowly raised and she gave me a playful look. "That's a rather optimistic view of things, don't you think?"

"Maybe," I shrugged, "But the more time I spend with you, the more I want to spend time with you. And given what we've been through already, I don't see that changing anytime soon."

She squeezed my hand as she nodded. "Neither do I. Like I said, it's a weird feeling for me sometimes, doing something other than fighting, but when I'm with you, I think I could get used to it…"

Before I could say anything else, our waiter arrived, a bottle of wine and two glasses in her hands. "Compliments of the house," she explained as she set the glasses down in front of us, answering my question before I'd even asked it. "It's not every day we get the base commander and his girlfriend here, after all."

My cheeks were burning red now, and I suddenly felt very self-conscious. I glanced over at Scharnhorst and I could tell immediately she felt the same way. In the end, I put on my best smile, cleared my throat, and replied, "You're too kind, thank you."

She smiled as she poured the wine and set the bottle down between us. "You're very welcome. Now, are you ready to order?"

Both Scharnhorst and I chuckled nervously as we realized we hadn't even so much as looked at our menu yet. "Ah, I think we'll need another minute," I smiled weakly up at her.

A consummate professional, the waitress kept up her cheery demeanor. "It's no problem, I'll check back in a few."

I nodded graciously as she turned to leave and waited for her to get out of earshot before returning my attention to Scharnhorst. "That was unexpected."

"Agreed," she murmured as she watched the waitress go for another few seconds before turning her attention back to me. "I thought you said you'd never been here before."

"I hadn't," I answered, somewhat more defensively than I intended, "Don't know how they recognized me."

She thought it over for a second, picking up her wine glass and sloshing the red liquid around slowly. "What name did you put it under?"

"Admiral Kurt…" my voice trailed off as I realized where my mistake lay. "Oops."

"Lesson learned I guess," she giggled and shook her head before she raised her glass. "To a wonderful evening out, may this last for years to come."

I raised mine as well, tapping it against hers. "To a wonderful evening."


We slowly made our way back down the street to Scharnhorst's apartment, happy and sated from our night out. Although a growing part of me was becoming uneasy with the uncomfortable questions I was going to have to ask her before I gave her my answer. Scharnhorst, blissfully unaware of the coming storm, happily hugged me to her, humming a tune I wasn't familiar with.

"So, Kurt," she suddenly spoke up, changing her tune. "You gonna come out with us tomorrow?"

And here we go. "Yeah, about that," I sighed, "I've been…thinking it over, and I've got a few questions."

The sudden change in the tone of my voice brought her to an immediate halt. "I don't like where this is going…"

"You probably won't, but if I'm going to sail with you, I need a straight answer." I took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. "If we're out there, we run into a fight we can't win, and I order a retreat, will you follow that order?"

Scharnhorst recoiled as if struck, but I could see in her eye what her answer would be. "...No."

I sighed and sadly shook my head. "Scharnhorst, if we run into trouble, I can't have you going off half-cocked in some…suicidal quest for glory! I know you keep saying retreat isn't in your dictionary, but I think it's time you got an updated version!"

I could see the hurt and anger in her voice and on her face as she shot back. "Hey, I can handle anything those damn Sirens throw at us!"

"No, you can't," I countered, perhaps a little too harshly. "That's how you wound up here, remember? And while I am eternally grateful for that chance meeting, if you do that again, and I'm on board, there's a pretty good chance one or both of us won't make it! I get you want to show everyone who fearless you are, but-"

"It's not fearlessness!" she angrily cut me off. "I've never retreated - not because I'm fearless, but because I've always had a reason to keep fighting!"

"What's the reason, then?" I shouted.

She balked, and turned away from me, muttering something I couldn't hear.

"Scharnhorst," I insisted, "you've got to tell me. If you've got a reason, I need to know."

She muttered something else again, a little louder now.

"I still can't hear you," I said, and she whipped around as she practically screamed her answer.

"I don't wanna be scrapped!"

Her sudden confession was like a gunshot, and I took a step back, stunned. "...what?"

"I don't wanna be scrapped," she repeated, her voice steely but quiet. "I don't want to fight and struggle and bleed only to get led away like some lamb to slaughter when they're done with me. I'd rather die on my feet, guns blazing, charging forward to protect the people I care about than be cut up on the whim of some politician!"

"They wouldn't-"

"Don't even finish that sentence," she bitterly spat. "You don't know. Your shipgirls got converted into carriers after the last naval treaty. Sakura Empire lost two of their own. Don't tell me it'll be okay."

I took a deep breath, steeled myself, and quietly replied, "But it will be okay."

"How the hell do you know that?"

"Because I will make it okay." I took a step towards her, taking her hands in mine. "I promise, for as long as I live, I will make absolutely certain nobody gets scrapped. Nobody. I will fight HQ and the politicians and anyone and everyone to make sure that every single kansen has a future when this war is done. Especially you."

Scharnhorst peered at me, the same way she stared at me when we first met, a piercing gaze that tried to divine if I was truly on the level with her. I held that gaze, unafraid, open to her. I meant every word of what I said, and I wasn't going to hide it. Her next question was soft and quiet and full of fear. "...and what if you don't survive this war?"

My expression hardened as I answered her. "Then my last orders to you are to fight. Fight all of them, be it Sirens or High Command or the government. Fight for your life, for your sister's life, for your freedom. Fight with every last ounce of strength, every last scrap of courage. Fight until the last shell."

For a moment, she just stood there, staring at me, into me, and I wondered what was going through her mind until suddenly, she pulled me into a tight embrace. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her as tightly as I could, although not half as tightly as she held me. "Thank you," she whispered. "You don't know what this means to me."

I nodded slightly as I continued to hold her, one hand gently stroking her long hair. "Maybe not," I whispered back, "But I think I'm getting a good idea of how much."

She chuckled softly and sniffled as she nodded. There was a moment of silence before she softly asked. "Does this mean you'll come with me tomorrow?"

I grinned to myself and answered with a question of my own. "Does this mean you'll fall back when I tell you to?"

Regaining some of her old attitude, she groaned and I could practically hear her rolling her eye. "Fine," she begrudgingly conceded. "But don't expect me to like it."

"I wouldn't expect any less of you," I smiled, turning my face to kiss her softly on the cheek. "Now let's get you home, it looks like we both have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow…"

If only I had known just how true that would be…

A/N-Only one chapter left! Until next time, fair winds and following seas!