"Observer Alpha did you see that battle? They fell right into the trap just like you said. I wish you would have let me engage them myself though. None of them would've survived then.' a girl with vibrant yellow eyes and ashen hair shouted. At her back was a massive floating hammerhead shark rigging. It was black with shining yellow accents and numerous guns. Two smaller, secondary gun turrets floated around her as well.

The girl she spoke to, Observer Alpha, lounged in a bed of black and yellow, bio-mechanical tentacles that wrapped themselves around the many cannons of her rigging. Like her counterpart, her hair was ashen white, and her eyes were bright yellow. Her long hair flowed about behind her as she toyed with one of the tentacles near her feet.

"Of course it worked! I made the plan! Don't do anything stupid Purifier, and you'll get your chance." Observer Alpha ordered the other woman. She started watching footage from one of the planes that remained after the fight. It stayed at a good distance and watched the ship-girls retreat to port.

There, as one of them started to flag, a figure jumped off the dock and into the water to assist her. The girl that was starting to slow dropped her charge to the other woman and sped up to the dock. The woman who dove in began swimming using combat rescue techniques the humans had created.

If this was a ship, she would be on top of the water, not swimming through it, dragging her comrade behind her. Even still, this seemingly human-woman was hauling a damaged cruiser with heavily damaged rigging all on her own. Then, her eyes went wide as she watched the woman solo-carry a cruiser up a rather tall ladder. A wicked grin settled on Observer Alpha's face, this one was hers.

She warned her fellow Siren, "Purifier, I just found a new toy among them, I want to see her squirm a bit, be sure not to kill her." She sent the woman the data on her new pet. She looked strangely familiar, but Purifier couldn't remember where from. She shrugged, if it was important, she would remember. If it wasn't, it was probably something she had killed.


Shoukaku eventually quieted, leaned back and fell asleep. Nanami, her shoulder very wet, stood and walked out of the curtains. Zuikaku was there, waiting dutifully. As soon as she saw Nanami, she stood up and walked over to her.

"Thank you for being our Commander, and for having a good heart. I don't want to think what would have happened with another Commander. I think she'll heal now, even if it may be slow," she thanked, wrapping Nanami in a hug. Nanami burned a little red at the compliment, and at having her face pushed into Zuikaku's chest. Luckily, with her face covered as it was, nobody could see her blush.

Once Zuikaku let her go, Nanami took a needed breath and protested, "I did nothing more than tell her the truth, that hardly means I have a good heart. She is a resilient woman. She will heal, but she will need our help. She is lucky to have such a wonderful sister as you. I have to go now, take care of her. I'll visit tomorrow." Once she said goodbye, she turned and walked out. But she stopped, noticing once more, the destroyer that had been majorly injured.

She turned back to Zuikaku who was watching her leave and asked, "Zuikaku, what is the name of this destroyer?" A pained look crossed the carrier's face.

"That is Hibiki, and Akatsuki-class that was part of 6th Destroyer Division," Zuikaku elaborated. Nanami thanked her again, and went to the destroyer. Grabbing the free hand of the girl, she offered a prayer to the gods. She was not sure if they existed, but she felt she would need their help going forward if they did. She softly placed the girls hand back on the bed before leaving. On her way out she looked over to see Atago still sleeping on Choukai's bed.

The bond that these girls had with the other ships of their class, their sisters, was incredible. She remembered that her older brothers had always been over-protective of her, but she could not remember being close to them. Especially not as close as these girls were.

I guess bonds forged during war time are just that much stronger, she realized. And the more she thought on it, she already felt bonds with these women she was to lead into battle. And those bonds had formed in only a few short days. She wanted this to last, but she knew that a storm was brewing. One that would sweep them all away if they were not strong.

"What am I thinking...since when have I been so poetic? Just like those things I said to Shoukaku..." She questioned herself, and her face burned remembering the things she said. She was suddenly pulled from her thoughts when she heard someone speak.

"Poetic things you said to Shoukaku? Why, I would love to hear these poetic things," Amagi cornered her prey. Nanami burned even redder.

"Those were for her ears only," she shot back, trying to end the conversation. This answer only made things worse.

"Oh? For her ears only? In a hospital of all places?" Amagi teased further. At this point Nanami's face was so hot that one could almost see the steam rise off it. But Amagi wasn't done there.

She continued, "Enterprise wouldn't you love to hear her say poetic things to you?" Enterprise, who had to this point avoided Amagi's teasing, was suddenly dragged into it. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, so she blushed and panic-waved her hands in front of her. Sensing both of them were about at their limit of embarrassment, Amagi left it there while Nanami desperately tried to change the topic.

"So, we are clear to go. I will be visiting again tomorrow, but I think it is time for us to go home and get some sleep," Nanami suggested. The pair of advisers agreed, and took up their spots on either side of their Commander. They guided her to her house, and as she went in, she turned around to say goodbye. She found them both following her into the house.

"Did you two want to come in for a while?" She asked, not realizing what they had in mind. Enterprise's face should have told her that what was about to happen was Amagi's idea.

"Yes, we would love to spend a little longer with you," Amagi replied with a radiant smile. By this point, Nanami had spent enough time with Amagi to know that something might be up, but she had nothing to go on. So she invited them in, apologizing for the lack of slippers once more.

Once they were inside, they three of them settled down in the sitting room, and began to talk. Enterprise did not speak much, but she did have one particular thing to tell Nanami.

"Yorktown wishes to take you shopping in the morning for casual clothes. She says you can't possibly come to the cookout in your uniform," Enterprise relayed. Nanami sighed, she figured something like this would happen, but she had forgot about it in the events of the day.

"How about it Amagi? Want to join us for some Eagle Union food? Since we forced Enterprise to join us tonight. It is only fair," Nanami tried to convince the Sakuran woman to join them. Amagi didn't need any convincing though.

"You do not have to convince me. I would love to. It is a great chance to interact with our allies and rebuild burnt bridges," she answered warmly.

"I suppose we have our plan for what to do after my visit to the infirmary in the morning," Nanami decided.

"You two seem to have grown close the last few days. Either that or I did not notice you were close before we met," Nanami noted aloud.

Amagi smiled slightly mischievously, "We have grown close, you're right. We had mutual respect, from the first, despite the fact she once sank my sister. And we have come to realize that we have much more in common than we initially thought. Isn't that right Enterprise?" Enterprise looked up from her spot on the couch, it was obvious she hadn't been paying attention, but she answered anyway.

"Oh..yes. Exactly as Amagi says," she affirmed. Amagi raised an eyebrow, and Nanami could not help but giggle. She had yet to see Enterprise this distracted. Both Amagi and Enterprise's breath caught for a moment, their eyes wide.

Someone so serious has such an adorable laugh? How can she be so cute? They both thought at the same time. Nanami meanwhile looked at the two staring at her curiously.

Did I do something odd? She wondered, tilting her head and waiting for them to break out of their trance. The head tilt cost her a few more seconds, as Enterprise had to suppress her desire to hug Nanami. Suddenly, Nanami let out a yawn, and Amagi smiled.

"I think it is time we get to bed," Amagi said.

Nanami stood and nodded, "Ye-wait...we?" Nanami was utterly confused, but Amagi and Enterprise moved together. They approached and picked her up.

"You didn't think we were going to let you sleep alone and possibly run off to do work in the middle of the night did you? We know slept in your office the first night. You can't keep going like this, you need real rest more than once every few days," Amagi explained, her tails wrapping Nanami in a fluffy heaven.

"Fair enough, but can you at least let me get the uniform off? It is uncomfortable to sleep in..." Nanami trailed off. She might as well have just admitted she slept in it recently. The pair of advisers let her down in her bedroom and she began to strip down to a shirt and panties.

The other two stripped out of their heavier outergarments, and proceeded to get into bed with Nanami in between so she could not escape. Being in the presence of others while sleeping was oddly comforting to Nanami. After the exhausting events of the day, she fell asleep almost instantly.


When Nanami woke she blearily opened her eyes. The light told her it was still extremely early morning. She was so comfortable. More comfortable than she had been in a long time when she was away from the ocean.

There were two pairs of arms around her...her eyes shot open. In front of her, she was hugging Amagi, and her head was nestled in her ample cleavage. Amagi also clung to her, and her tails rested atop all of them. Behind her, Enterprise had wrapped her in a hug just under her chest that pressed her breasts against the back of Nanami's head.

Nanami could not determine whether this was heaven or hell, but she allowed the softness of these two demonic women carry drag her back under the waves of sleep.


When Nanami awoke for the second time, she smelled eggs. As she opened her eyes, she noted that Amagi was gone, but Enterprise was still there, wrapped around her midsection. Though the Commander was still incredibly comfortable, it was time to get up, so she peeled Enty's arm off her and rolled out of the bed. Looking back, she saw Enterprise's face scrunch up. She was so cute when she slept that Nanami couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face.

She walked into the kitchen in what she fell asleep in, because she did not really have much else to put on, and hadn't put it away anyways. All her clothes were in the living room in her bag.

"Good morning Amagi. That smells wonderful. Where did you get the ingredients? I didn't think I had any here," Nanami greeted the cooking fox-girl.

Amagi kept her focus on the food as she answered, "Good Morning, Nanami. I used your phone to call someone trusted to bring the ingredients here. I apologize for doing so without asking you first, but you looked so cute sleeping with Enterprise I didn't want to wake you." Nanami looked at the food, and saw that it looked nearly done.

"That's fine. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of cooking for us. Should I go wake Enterprise?" She assured Amagi that she was fine cooking.

"That would be wonderful Nanami," Amagi replied, finishing up the final omelet and rice. Nanami spun on her heel and walked back to the bedroom where she found Enterprise still deep asleep. She almost didn't want to wake the serious woman. However, she did her duty.

She crawled back onto the bed, and began shaking her softly, but that wasn't working. So, she crawled closer and leaned in, her face fairly close to the carrier's as she shook harder. Suddenly Enterprise wrapped her in a hug. Nanami struggled which finally woke Enterprise up, and she panicked upon seeing Nanami.

"Ah! N-n-nanami! Wh-what did I do? Oh, I'm sorry commander," Enterprise stammered out an unnecessary apology. Nanami smiled and waved her hands to calm the woman down.

You are fine, you just hugged me while I was waking you up. Amagi made breakfast for us and is waiting in the kitchen," Nanami reassured the panicking carrier. She calmed down somewhat, but still seemed a little on edge. Though Nanami decided that was to be expected when awoken unexpectedly.

With Enterprise awake, Nanami returned to the kitchen with the woman on her heels. Amagi had already plated the food, and placed them around the table. When she sat down Nanami appreciated the good looking omurice.

"Thank you for the meal," they said in unison. Enterprise had learned the Sakuran etiquette the day before, and the training clearly stuck. Nanami enjoyed the food, which made it clear to Nanami that Amagi was a good cook. Usually food was just nutrients to her.

As she ate she thought about Shoukaku's fleet, the full Sakuran fleet, and then came to a realization.

"I do not want to ruin your morning with talk of work, but may I ask what decision was made in regards to the Quick Response Fleets? I ran over it in my head, and with the ships leaving on escort duty, how are we fielding a fourth QRF using Sakura forces?" Nanami asked her advisers. With her incapacitated last night, they and Akagi were the ones making the decisions.

"I wondered how long it would be before you spoke of work. You are as bad as Enterprise," Amagi teased the both of them.

She continued, "However, to answer your question. We can't. We choose Hiei to lead the new fleet, and it was chosen from among both the Sakuran and Eagle Union forces. It will be our first true joint fleet. It is made up of individuals who have a friendly disposition and are likely to get along." Nanami nodded, that was a brilliant idea.

"You two are incredible. That idea is perfect. Hopefully their efforts will bring both sides closer together. Thank you for running things during the time I was knocked out," Nanami complimented the pair. They really had done amazing in the time she was out. Amagi smiled, because she knew that was not all, but Enterprise was the one to deliver the rest of the news.

"We also talked to Hiei and invited her, along with the Sakura ships that are joining her fleet to be part of the cookout tonight," Enterprise informed Nanami. She seemed happy to Nanami, but it was often hard to tell with how neutral her expressions were.

"Wonderful, which girls from the Empire will be attending?" she inquired.

Amagi fielded this question, "Hiei leads with her sister, Haruna. Next, the three Mogami-class light cruisers Mogami, Mikuma, and Suzuya. Sadly their fourth sister, Kumano, was not brought into this life. Then Ayanami and Fubuki of the Fubuki-class destroyers." Nanami had unfortunately not been formally introduced to the cruisers or destroyers, but she new both Battlecruisers. There was a problem though.

"No carriers, I take it that we are using Union forces for carriers and to fill out the fleet?" Nanami asked, trying to figure out the fleet composition.

"Yes, Pennsylvania-class battleships Arizona and Pennsylvania are going to provide additional fire support. For Carriers, two of the Essex-class sisters, Bunker Hill and Shangri-La, along with Independence-class light-carrier Bataan running fighter support. We have added light-carriers equipped solely with fighters to every fleet to prevent a repeat of last night's events." Enterprise explained. It was long, but she still wasn't done.

She kept on, "The Portland-class heavy cruisers, Portland and Indianapolis give more strength to the vanguard forces. Finally for destroyers we have Benson-class destroyers Kalk and Laffey." Nanami was impressed again, they had really thought this through while she was out.

"Quite a large fleet, but with Hiei's experience organizing banquets, I have no doubt she is capable of getting them working well together," Nanami commented. Nanami stood to pick up her dishes, and Amagi stopped her.

"You get dressed and go visit the girls in the infirmary. We have shopping to do, and Ashigara and Myoukou's sister Nachi is coming with us. She loves fashion, so you will be in good hands," Amagi shooed her away.

"Yorktown is bringing Marblehead as well. Apparently when she heard we were taking you shopping she got so excited she insisted she be allowed to come," Enterprise chimed in. Nanami smiled, because that definitely fit the girl she had sparred with.

"All right, thank you both for everything. I guess I will get dressed and be off," Nanami stood and went to change. She put on her only casual civilian clothes, a simple pair of jeans and a light-blue blouse. Then she went to leave.

She was part-way out the door when she heard Amagi speak from the kitchen.

"Be back by eleven dear...Commander!"


A/N: Thank you all for the reviews once again! ¡Gracias por las reseñas! Having all this feedback is great! That includes you guest reviewers!

I injured my back, so sitting long periods is difficult for me right now. I do not expect this to affect my writing, but I figured it would be best to notify everyone about the possibility. This is an old injury that has resurfaced.