Summary: Enterprise finds herself in a dastardly dilemma as the reality of life forces Belfast and her to part ways. Parting is always sweet sorrow but maybe... the universe in its intrinsic design has other avenues of possibilities to carve out if they just try to stay together. A ship was able to become a human, so anything is possible, right? The wave of the future will soon descend on the Azur Lane base and that wave brings hope for a clearer azure sky.
[Dual Hope]
"Miss Enterprise... It looks like this is it."
"Yeah... It is..."
If one could describe the melancholy tone of Enterprise and Belfast, it would be akin to a wife seeing her husband off to war, with the grim concept that they would never see each other again.
Blue skies filled their world with beauty and color yet that could not reach the two that continued to longly stare at each other, a type of sorrow visible between them.
In the harbor, they stood various feet apart from each other as a transport cargo ship loomed behind the head maid of the Royal Navy.
They were afraid to speak what was truly on their minds, and their silent gazing acted like their only means of comfort in this situation.
Belfast had fulfilled her duty and needed to move on, while Enterprise's new purpose would inevitably consume her life. As much as they wanted to stay together, they couldn't see the validity of such a selfish wish.
A group of giggling and happy Royal Navy shipgirls past them, cutting their mournful atmosphere while breaking their silent yet meaningful stare. An unsung blush painted both of their faces and they made a good job in hiding it from the other.
Belfast made a series of small, disgruntled moans as she looked behind her at the transport ship and frowned hiddenly. "I think that's the last of the girls who will be returning to the Royal Capital. I should depart as well."
The woman wearing naval attire and a captain's hat nodded, forcing a smile to carve itself across her face. There was no reason to be sad, she told herself that, yet every cell in her body screamed lies. Her expression truly betrayed what her heart was screaming at her to do… to say.
This ship... this gentlewoman of a maid in front of her, that showed her how to be human and how to live a proud and noble way of life was leaving, and she wondered if she'll ever see her again. It was a big ocean out there and they were merely a drop in the grand conflict against the Sirens that span the globe.
They both knew this would happen sooner or later. When one or both would have to depart wherever they were needed. This time around, it was Belfast that had to answer to her duty.
Belfast giggled her sweetly seductive and calming giggle. It was not for herself but for the carrier that stood before her. "Cheer up... Commander Enterprise. I'm sure will meet again soon. Just remember to smile, stand tall, and embrace life with the human qualities we possess for it holds many wondrous things."
Belfast paused and let what she said sink in. It was highly newsworthy: A Ship... a commander?! That would be the headline that would gather the many. Yes, Enterprise was the new commander of the Azur Lane base after her valor and victory over the Siren Orochi warship that threatened all of humanity.
In that darkest hour, Enterprise became the catalyst that joined hands and minds across the factions, and everyone came together to deliver the decisive assault. Words could not describe how proud she was at the carrier that stood before her, and it made her heart ache that she would be departing this new home she had grown to accept.
A disapproving mild groan filled the air. "Bel... Enterprise is fine." She paused and fondly reflected on the maid's speech about being human. "I don't think I'll be able to forget what you taught me... when you've beaten it into my head." Enterprise would not say it openly to herself, but she had one human quality that she slowly began to see as an unyielding comfort to her. It was one of many human qualities the maid helped bring about and one that soared above all else.
With the lighthearted tone to her joke, they laughed heartfeltly and the horn of the massive cargo ship intruded their warm moment.
Belfast inhaled anxiously and forced a smile to keep herself strong. "I best be off. Her Majesty will probably have another assignment for me."
Enterprise swallowed a keyword in that sentence. Assignment. That's right, she was nothing but another assignment for her, and the carrier lowered her eyes as this fact permeated her mind and brought her to a cynical dark place.
"Miss Enterprise, stop it," resounded the light cruiser with a decisive frown that cut through Enterprise.
"Huh?!" The carrier felt as if she was underneath an intense spotlight, and she produced a sweatdrop on her cheek.
The maid pulled back her frown and like the sun piercing through the clouds, she turned it into a warm smile. "I can read you like a book. You are thinking that you were nothing, but an assignment thrust upon me by Her Majesty."
"I...!" It was amazing how much the maid understood her, and it made it all the more real that she was indeed special.
Belfast cutely held a finger up like a teacher explaining something to a student. "I saw it like that in the beginning, but things have a way of changing. Please know that you are a wonderful companion, and I was honored to be your maid, even if briefly. You'll just have to settle being my friend then." She finished with a fake smile that did more to hide her true feelings of anguish.
"Friend..." Enterprise processed that title and she both agreed and disagreed. It left her in a whirlwind of confusion as the wind blew gently across her hair. Whatever conclusion she reached, she reluctantly accepted with a bitter smile. "Right, thank you, Belfast. I enjoyed you waking me up every morning and enduring my difficultness. You are indeed my friend."
It was Belfast that lowered her eyes and her mouth grew sad, expecting the joy she thought she would feel from hearing that. Regardless, she was honored to be called a friend to the Eagle Union carrier. "You have my number and I have yours. Let's meet up somewhere soon."
"Yeah, definitely!" The eagerness in the carrier's eyes was like that of a child getting promised an ice cream later. She exhaled softly when it came to focusing on how free and high, she metaphorically sored from that promise.
Belfast bowed, picked up her luggage, and turned away from the carrier.
Panic washed across Enterprise's face like someone witnessing a trainwreck, only this proverbial trainwreck was her life without the maid by her side. She winched with one eye closed, and her mouth trembled. Down came her jovial expression with a fatal gasp. It crumbled as she had not been ready yet to see the royal turn away; she wasn't ready to see her go. "No... Belfast!"
"Huh...?" The head maid immediately stopped and glanced behind her.
Enterprise donned an endearing frown that also appeared like a pout. "I don't… mean to sound ungrateful for your friendship but that's not what I want... particularly."
"Miss Enterprise...?" Belfast lowered her luggage and ignored the second warning horn of the transport cargo ship.
The carrier stepped forward and caught the light cruiser off guard when she took off her hat. The light squeezing motions she did to her hat clearly showed her level of anxiety. Her eyes darted left and right, never looking at Belfast as her cheeks turned a shade of crimson. "You showed me how to be human and to be happy but… I think a huge part of my happiness comes from you."
Belfast's upcoming words crushed into her throat, and she was left utterly motionless. A part of her wanted to pinch herself to see if this was a dream.
The purple eyes of the carrier finally looked her way, and a resolve that Belfast had only ever seen when the carrier was in a serious fight graced her vision.
Enterprise fitted her hat back on and spontaneously held the hand of the head maid with both of hers. "What I'm saying is... stay. I still have a lot to learn about being human and... I need you." Her inflection was soft and intimate, spelling out the true desire in those last words in both of those sentences.
The blue eyes of the head maid widened. "Enterprise... is that a Commander's order?" Her eyes shifted side to side, never missing any changes in the carrier's face as she wanted to know what proverbial page they were on. For her, stay, I need you, and something other than friendship. Those three orbited around her and comforted her.
Their reflection of each other showed in their eyes of the other, and no words were needed to understand in what way they wanted each other.
Enterprise somberly shook her head lightly and warmly gaze at Belfast with the indication that this was motivated by selfishness, and nothing related to work or duty.
It wasn't hard for her to decide and in the end, she subconsciously wanted to hear how much the carrier needed her for herself. She had a duty but when faced with the reality she grew to understand she wanted, that small difference in amount overshadowed her duty. Just like the carrier, she wanted to be selfish with her. Her smile widened and she held back a tear of joy. "How can I not now? It's my responsibility to see this through… for us." This was her being selfish. The woman before her had opened her heart for her to get a glimpse, and she would be mad if she refused to venture deeper.
Responding to the steadfast words of the carrier, she placed her other hand on top of the archer's hands.
They ended up watching the transport cargo ship leave from the harbor of the base, their hands still interlocked with each other.
Belfast turned to Enterprise and witness a soft smile; almost a self-induced whimsical and blissful. It was one that she had never seen before as the carrier watched the cargo ship leave as if knowing she had changed her own fate.
That day had been a few weeks ago, and needless to say, they grew closer from that day.
On this current day, out on the warm sand near the ocean, a giant umbrella stood firmly planted against the shining rays of the sun.
Aside from protection from the sun, the umbrella provided the privateness and peace for two ships against those with curious eyes since they were at a lower elevation, and anyone seeing them would be from above near a grassy cliff.
For detail, they had their daily outfit except for Enterprise's black coat, hat, boots, and leggings. Those were neatly placed behind them on top of the beach towel they brought.
For Belfast, her white stockings and elegant heels were placed next to them, along with her arm sleeves and gauntlets.
There was a kind of nuance to them letting themselves bury their feet into the warm sand and enjoy the sounds of the waves on a peaceful level.
"Miss Enterprise... hand me a slice of watermelon." Just as she said it, she placed a hand on her mouth, the slightest red ever so visible on her cheeks.
The Eagle Union carrier reached into the cooler that they brought and handed it to her. "Here you go, Miss Belfast," she said with a playful tone to her gentle voice.
The head maid smiled slightly and checked to see if it was true teasing from the other woman. "That's new..." In honesty, it didn't sit well with her, and her eyes said it all.
Enterprise smiled triumphantly, which warmed the light cruiser. It didn't matter in what form, but she loved it when she smiled. "You made your point, sweetie. It's just a force of habit." She took the fruit and took a bite from the cold and delicious fruit.
It was the carrier's turn to blush as she quite enjoyed the affectionate title her girlfriend said at the end. "It's okay, sweetie. It's just that it feels weird you saying it now." Her voice was small, yet her smile was big.
The maid lowered her watermelon slice and turned her gaze to the sea while still attentive to the carrier to her side. "I see that now when you so playfully reversed it on me. Hmm, sweetie. I like the sound of that more now," she said with contentment.
Enterprise glanced at her subtly and joined her with her gaze out at sea, finding it easier to speak from her heart than looking at the maid. "Is it okay to act formally around each other? I... was only playing around, Bel."
The maid softly smiled and fully turned her gaze toward the carrier. This, in turn, caused Enterprise to acknowledge her with a shy smile. "Stop being modest, Ent-Ent," she said while grabbing the carrier's arm and hooking it around her neck.
Enterprise blushed wildly both from the sudden new nickname and the commandeering-like affection.
Belfast sighed happily and leaned against her girlfriend's chest. "Hmm, I can see that it bothered you. It also bothered me, and if there were anyone I would want to show intimate informality with, it's you."
"Bel..."
Belfast smiled flirtatiously and gazed into the woman's eyes with her head turned upward. "Bel… I like that nickname when it comes from you, Ent-Ent."
"D-Ditto," calmly and happily said Enterprise. She leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
After Belfast had intentionally missed her transportation back to the Royal Capital, life stayed the same for them on base. Belfast would greet Enterprise every morning and help prepare the still waking carrier into her coat and hat. This rhythm had not changed from their first meetings and becoming friends.
There were stark differences though. The difference between them as friends and as lovers was that they would kiss each other good morning and good night. Another would be how intimate Belfast would fix her tie for her and how they would use that time to stare into each other's eyes.
In the present, their chemistry and familiarity in this new role for them no longer felt new and shaky ground. With more time to cultivate their new relationship, they began to lay their cards out on the table and allow the other to see versions of themselves that no one else had seen. Them being on the beach with an umbrella granting them privacy was their triumph to how far they come as a couple, as Enterprise truly felt at peace in a place that would have gotten her anxiety to flare. It was all the help from the maid that pushed her to improve.
This was not lost on Belfast as she grew determined and leaned her head close to the carrier. "Enterprise, you are my significant other now. We should feel comfortable dropping formalities when we are alone like this. We've made so much progress in showing each other the depths of our love, and formalities are just another milestone for us. "
"Agreed. I want to show you the new me you helped bring out. The one that knows how to love and smile."
"That version of you was always there, I didn't do much," said the maid.
"Now who's being modest? Regardless, you were and are, my lighthouse guiding me." Her lips were then silenced by a finger.
"Not another word or else I'll devour those poetic lips of yours with a kiss that I fear might take your breath away."
Feeling confident and relaxed around her girlfriend, the white-haired Eagle Union remembered a retort she overheard from Wales when the blonde had been talking to Eugen who was also secretly dating each other. "Is that a threat?" Her gentle and soothing voice told Belfast that it was a playful question.
"Enterprise, I... I love you. You are the only one I want to intimately show the woman behind this maid."
Enterprise was caught off guard. Here she had been trying to act cool and her girlfriend quickly knocked the wind out of her anyway.
Belfast had said it first, making this the first time that they used the L word for each other, and she knew no jokes were needed to help her with her response. "I love you too. I wasn't able to say it back then even though I was pouring myself out to get you to stay."
Belfast smiled happily and if told, she would say that a massive weight had lifted from her body. "Oh, darling… you didn't need to say it. Stay... was enough."
They leaned their foreheads together and smiled infectiously.
Enterprise pulled away and nervously played with her hair. "So, I was thinking that maybe tonight we could watch a movie for dinner—just you, me, torpedo hotdogs, and some oxy-cola," said the Eagle Union carrier.
The maid grew sad from hearing such an exciting date night plan. "That... I'm afraid I won't be able to. I was trying to find the right time to tell you this but I'm being sent off on an expedition with Miss Warspite and some of the other maids. We are leaving first thing in the morning, and I must do some preparations tonight."
Enterprise's heart plummeted like a rock. "Expedition?! Is it Siren related?" She felt more confused that she wasn't told about this considering that Belfast was technically under her care as the base's commander, but with everything, there was always faction wiggle room and secret ops that Royal Navy would do.
"It's up in the air. It's an observation first before anything in truth," said Belfast, watching closely how her girlfriend was taking this news.
"Let me go, I can help." She held onto Belfast's hand and conveyed determination that was hard to refuse if only the situation was different.
"It's a Royal Navy matter as a group of Sirens had taken out an off-shore refinery that the Royal Navy had control over. As commander, you must stay here and oversee the other ongoing operations before you. If I remember correctly, Long Island's fleet and Langley's fleet are constantly updating you with orders based on the sensitivity of their mission. Don't even forget Hermes whose so in the thick of things, she's relaying coded chatter back to you."
Enterprise looked away, unable to argue with her and in truth, with herself. Her allies looked up to her for guidance and naval tactics, and she needed to deliver as the commander. "She is making outstanding progress. I have a hard time understanding it at times, but she and her fleet seem to be in a Siren singularity called the shadow realm. Theirs an odd set of rules in that reality but Hermes says she feels right at home, which worries me if I'm honest. Her last message was this morning, saying what kind of trouble she could summon up. She then laughed and said Gotcha before ending the message."
"Oh my. All the more reason to be here to instruct them when they stumble upon obstacles that your guidance will be needed," said the head maid.
A silent pause happened, loudly conveying how sad the carrier was to be hit by the cruel reality that went against her personal desires.
Belfast lovingly placed a hand on the carrier's knee. "Ent-Ent, there will be times that I will have to fulfill my duties. I owe Her Majesty for agreeing to my request to be permanently deployed to the Azur Lane roster we got here." She paused, still feeling confused as to how easy it had been.
When she hurriedly headed home a week later after she and Enterprise became a couple, and when Enterprise had a mountain of paperwork on her new desk that left her chained to her new office, she had a multitude of convincing things to say to her Majesty to both apologize for her absence and to sway her to stay on base.
Her steadfast heart and counter-filled mind were ready, but she was not ready when Her Majesty merely sipped her tea out in the garden and said, "No worries, I'm happy you have grown to like the community there. Granted. And remember… remind and teach the royal girls there to maintain grace and elegance for that immaculate base will shine radiantly soon."
Belfast raced back to base, with a smile on her face, and it was now fully dawning on her that there were so many things that she and Her Majesty glossed over, like her maidly duties in the Royal Capital, and her presence in other fronts of the Royal Navy.
From outside her internalizing, Enterprise cupped her cheeks and showed a vulnerable smile that hid nothing. "I am happy about that. Honestly, I stayed up at night when you told me you would be departing in a week back to the Royal Navy once the situation with the Orochi incident settled down."
She gazed at the woman with wide blue eyes, seeing how much Enterprise depended on her. Belfast connected her heart with hers by gently placing her hands on the wrists of her girlfriend, who was still holding onto her cheeks. "I would never leave you. This will be just a momentary parting."
Enterprise sighed with reluctance and smiled at her, nonetheless. "Okay, give them hell, Bel."
They let go and sheepishly giggled softly. "Oh, I will most certainly do so. I make sure to give it my all so that one day, we can be free from their presence."
"That's a day I would love to see," she said somberly.
Belfast confidently locked her hands with Enterprise. "We will see that day. Things won't always stay the way they are now—they will only get better," she giggled, easing the mind of the carrier.
"A world without Sirens... sounds like fantasy." There was a melancholy tone to her voice, wishing for a future like that, but knowing the road there would be hard.
"Enterprise, do you have any plans after that day comes?" Casually stated Belfast while resuming with eating her fruit that had been neatly placed to her side.
"W-What do you mean?"
She swallowed and smiled. "I mean, do you have any aspirations or goals like seeing the world, for example?"
Enterprise stared at her blankly, finding it hard to fully understand where her girlfriend was getting at. "I have seen the world, Bel."
The royal maid made a face that spelled out incredulous, especially from all the stories Enterprise had told her about the different ports and bases she had been stationed before finding roots in Azur Lane's newer base. "You've seen it from the oceans and ports like someone looking through a window, but have you ever gone somewhere you always wanted to go?"
Enterprise frowned and looked guilty. "Well... no. My future goals have always been how to be more efficient when the next Siren attack happens. You might hate this but... I only ever thought of war as my life. Everything else kinda fell to the wayside."
Belfast saw her girlfriend pull back her feet from the sand and bring them in closer to her chest. "I don't hate that response. I guess I should have expected that..." She spoke calmly and placed a tender hand on the carrier's knee to inform her that she didn't see her any differently.
Enterprise smiled lightly. "Bel, it's different now because I have you. I'm not sure what I want to do when they are dealt with but being by your side is something that I can see."
"… I like that answer, but could you just dig a little more...? Isn't there some place you would love to go see?"
The archer placed a hand on her chin, genuinely giving it thought as she could see her response meant a lot to her girlfriend. "I would like to go somewhere far away from the ocean. The ocean is my present, and I'm confident in saying that I don't want it to be my future unless I'm needed."
It was a simple response and one that was beautifully conveyed by the woman that accepted her faults. "I guess I can work with that. Promise?" Belfast then lifted her pinky toward the carrier who looked stunned. It was a pleasant startle as Enterprise quickly connected her pinky with hers, and they softly smiled at how childish and free one would see if it wasn't for the umbrella.
Enterprise, filled with love and happiness, spontaneously placed her hands on her girlfriend's hips, earning her an excited giggle from the maid and the two fell backward onto the beach towel.
"Ouch…!"
Worry and fright filled Enterprise as she saw the pained face that the head maid made. "What's wrong?! Am I heavy…?" She said mournfully and self-consciously.
Belfast let out a breathy pout. "No… you're not heavy. I think a crab under our blanket just pinched me."
"Oh, bad crab then," replied the carrier yet there was obvious relief in her voice. Internally, Belfast desired to probe and understand why the carrier thought she was heavy but that was a topic for another time.
Belfast hopefully stared at the purple eyes of her lover with affection. "Promise… that you will take me somewhere far away from the ocean." She laid out the promise fully and watched the reaction of her lover.
"Isn't that what our pinkies were for?" Asked the archer with confusion.
"But you didn't say it…" said the maid with furrowed brows and a cute pout.
Enterprise gazed into her blue eyes, knowing her girlfriend had given her a reason to motivate her. The royal knew her well that if it was a promise made only onto Enterprise, then chances are she would flake on it. However, if the promise was made to Belfast, then the carrier would move mountains to fulfill it. "I promise... I will take you somewhere far away from the ocean," she said warmly and was somewhat impressed that her girlfriend had taken a desire of hers and spun it around as a promise to herself.
(The Next Day)
That day had ended and the light of tomorrow dawned. There was a lonely feeling in the air as Enterprise stood in the harbor, after seeing Belfast off with the other Royal maids. It had been an hour and she still had her feet firmly planted. She scoffed at herself imagining herself like a sad dog waiting for her master to return home.
"Good grief, am I really this destitute and clingy now?" She sighed, hopelessly in love and not truly unhappy about this feeling. It was better than isolation and a generally bleak outlook on life.
However, in the current situation, Belfast was gone, and for the first time since the light cruiser had opened her curtains into a world with her in it, she had felt lonely.
"Hey! Sis, what's got you so gloomy!?" From out of nowhere, Hornet had snuck up behind her and hooked her arm around her older sister, causing Enterprise's hat to fall as she was brought downward. She winched and dumbfoundedly looked at her younger sister, or so she tried since Hornet's chummy arm-hook around her neck was absolute.
"Hornet... you could have given me a heads up," she said with a sweatdrop on her forehead. She glanced over to see Cleveland, Javelin, and Laffey waving at them with an equal sweatdrop to hers.
"Sorry, Ent—or should I be calling you commander?" She paused, showing an honest pained expression of thought. She wouldn't say it out loud, but if she was forced to call her older sister commander, then that was just another barrier between them. She had managed to skirt around the name title for this long, but today felt special, and she couldn't push it away continuously.
"Well, I'll leave that up to you," said Enterprise, quietly struggling to break free from the sisterly neck hold.
Cleveland came up to them with a worried smile. "Sorry, Commander—I mean, Ent! Oh… ahem. Hornet was already on the move when we saw you looking very sad."
Cleveland was a good girl with a good head on her shoulders, so Enterprise didn't mind what form she could address her as. Simply enough, the blonde light cruiser went with the tried-and-true answer: Enterprise or Ent. They were friends and that took precedent over formalities in her book, just like it did with Belfast no longer referring to her as Miss.
"Are you okay, Miss Enterprise?" Spoke Javelin with a hand to her mouth.
Enterprise relaxed and smiled, despite still being locked around her younger sister's arms. "I'm fine, just lost in my thoughts."
Hornet grinned. "You don't say... it wouldn't happen to be because of a certain... proper and dainty little cruiser, right?"
Enterprise's face turned crimson, and she locked eyes with her sister. "You...?!" She stopped herself, still blushing madly while seeing Cleveland looking apologetic as she also knew what the other Yorktown carrier was referring to.
"Hehe, did you think a colorful umbrella perfectly angled to block anyone looking down onto the sandy beach from above would be enough?" She said with a mischievous wide and happy grin.
"Huh? What are they talking about?" Said Laffey with a tired yet inquisitive look in her eyes.
"Hornet. Come on—that's enough. Your teasing was enough already," said the blonde light cruiser, her red eyes sternly conveying to keep Enterprise's secret safe.
The sister of Enterprise sighed. "Yeah, all right. Sorry, sis. Teasing you was just too hard to resist. Hey, don't look so down and always look forward." She let go of Enterprise and proudly grinned at her.
Cleveland crouched and picked up the fallen hat. "Ent, it was perfect timing that we saw you. All of us are going to get some sundaes, you should join us. That is… if you don't have any commander-like work pending." She extended her hand with the hat toward Enterprise.
"I… actually, the only thing of that topic is in wait and see mode from our allies," she stated with a monotone voice.
Hornet crossed her arms, knowing that one should never give Enterprise the option, even if she did have work to fall back on. Everyone needs a break after all. "Scratch that, you will join us. I'll even pay for yours," finished the blonde carrier.
Enterprise fixed her tie that got disheveled from the arm lock and accepted her hat from Cleveland. "I can pay for my own," she said defiantly and still somewhat bitter or uneasy about the fact that Hornet knew about her relationship with Belfast.
"So, you're coming—great!" Laughed Hornet and she patted her sister on the back.
Enterprise lagged, narrowing her eyes that she had carelessly agreed in a vain attempt to rebel against her younger sister.
Sometime later, all of them were inside an ice cream shop within the shopping district of the base.
They ended up meeting Z23, Ayanami, Unicorn, and Hammann there. Everyone in the now bigger group minus Hornet and Enterprise was still getting their sundaes worked on with the toppings table being the next destination for them. One could see it in their eyes that they were ready to concoct a monster sundae. The Manjuu workers behind the ice cream counter were already getting overwhelmed by their orders and they were going to have a monster of a headache for what was to come.
At the reserved table that the Yorktown sisters were saving for their friends, Hornet and Enterprise were sitting across from each other, eating their ice cream without any toppings.
Hornet had gotten a plain bowl of mint ice cream while Enterprise had chosen a bowl of strawberry ice cream.
Enterprise silently ate her first bite with a small spoon, and softly smiled at the impeccable taste. "It's a first for all of us to be together like this." She spoke warmly and with a held-back tone of excitement. The only thing that would make this better was if Belfast was here with her. She widened her eyes subtly, imagining her eating from the same bowl, and then her thoughts traveled to the idea of licking the ice cream off her cheek. "These thoughts…" She dispelled her exhilarating thoughts that brought her face to heat up and by internally counting prime numbers, she was able to regain her composure.
Hornet, being none the wiser, perked up from her sister's previous statement and casually raised her spoon, pointing it at her sister. "Well, you never showed interest when I would encourage you to join in stuff like this."
A frown formed on Enterprise, ceasing her internalizing numbers chant. "I did?" She searched her mind and remembered the times her sister had mentioned some kind of social event. She grew depressed, hating herself for how right her younger sister was. "I did... Hornet..."
Hornet bit the inside of her cheek, feeling awful about pivoting the mood with her statement. "Khh... stop, you're here now and it's no big whoop." She gave her a carefree smile and winked happily as she took a bite of her frozen and creamy dessert.
Enterprise would not allow her past actions to be so easily forgiven. "No, it is a big whoop. I've been a terrible older sister. I just never saw myself as the older sister... even after Yorktown..." The spoon dropped and the sweet strawberry taste in her mouth grew sour.
Hornet also frowned while her spoon was still in her mouth. She was adamant about not wanting this conversation. "Sis... I get it. Just let it be." There was a sternness, indicating how fed up she was, yet it was undeniable that she had a curiosity as to where this was going.
Enterprise tensed her jaw and a sorrowful gaze hit the blonde carrier. "No, Hornet. I kept my distance from you all this time when I should have been there for you as a sister. I grieved alone, not even considering your feelings."
Hornet wanted to laugh, play it off by feigning a smile. Yet, the words her sister was telling her sparked sadness and a cruel realization that she had been deprived of it. It also made her look at her older sister with pity in her eyes when looked at the other side of this sad spectrum. "That's the thing... you grieved alone, Ent," she spoke somberly while placing her spoon on the bowl.
Enterprise widened her eyes and remained quiet while Hornet continued.
"You didn't have a shoulder to lean on as I did with Vestal and Hammann. I don't think I ever saw you in such a light that my older sister refused to comfort me. You were always the serious one while York was the motherly one. I was the jokester and I always thought I was the weakest one mentally. Maybe I should have been the one to aggressively comfort you, like Belfast."
Enterprise stood quiet at the mention of her secret girlfriend that had become the anchor that kept her from drifting off into a cruel, cold, and heartless ocean that was her mindset. "... could we start over? Hornet, let me be the older sister I never was. I want to be someone you could talk about your feelings and rely on."
Hornet gazed at her older sister with shaky and surprising green eyes. There was an unhealthy balance in her heart that teetered on whether she wanted to smile jubilantly or cry her heart out. She took in a collected breath and a tear cascaded down her face, probably making her look uncool. "Damn, Ent... I... I guess. I would like that."
They both smiled ignoring the overly happy cheers from the others in the process of creating their masterpiece or monstrosity sundaes.
"D-Do we have to hug?" Said Hornet nervously, her eyes darting left and right. It was all to lighten the mood between them and after a few breaths, the blonde would be ready for whatever sisterly act they chose to do next… probably.
Fondly gazing at her younger sister's awkwardness that she always masked, Enterprise let out a small giggle. "Maybe not this time, but I have plans of doing it soon. You should mentally prepare yourself," boldly stated the archer as she resumed her ice cream.
"Huh!? That sounded like a joke. You made a joke! Belfast must have really done a number on you."
Enterprise smiled and remembered what Belfast said. "No, these feelings were always inside me, and I just didn't know how to process them until she came into my life."
Hornet grinned proudly. "Well, I approve with flying colors, sis. The way I see it, she's already family and I'll be sure to call her big sis the next time I see her."
Enterprise nearly choked on her ice cream, coughing relentlessly. "Hornet, isn't that going a bit ahead of things?" She gasped with one eye closed.
"What? You don't see what you guys have as long term?"
There was the urge to say a resounding yes, but time was like water, how it always flowed so fickle and without thought into different streams of possibilities. It was up to her to tend to the passages she desired and lead it to the future she saw with the royal. "We only just said the L word to each other, and we're still... trying to figure things out. The last thing I want is to scare her off." She looked down, anyone able to see the blush on her face.
"Hmm, okay. I can get behind that and you do have a point. Since you just said the L word to each other means that you haven't done it yet, which is good since it's all downhill from there. Keep getting to know each other first, and all that," she laughed happily.
"Doing what?" Asked Enterprise with a tilted head.
Hornet perked up and her face turned crimson with a hesitant face. "Well... you know! The rocking of the bed and all that stuff. Oh my god—I'm really having this conversation with my sister."
"Rocking of the bed? Why would my bed rock?" Hesitantly asked the archer.
Hornet looked beyond incredulous and stood up with her hands on the table while leaning dangerously close to her sister's face. "Ent, stop joking. Are you telling me you don't know what sex is?"
Enterprise didn't answer it, feeling that either way, she would disappoint her sister. Her side glance with a sweatdrop on her cheek also didn't help the flared realization from the blonde.
"Looks like it's the younger sister to step up to the plate." She took a breath, very courageously, and sat next to her older sister, whispering a very long conversation that had Enterprise slowly widening her eyes the longer it went on.
Hornet leaned away and casually tried to look cool despite the heated red blush on her face. "... Now do you see? It's what you do to yourself but..." She laughed helplessly and coughed loudly. She then sternly held her expression with closed eyes. "Ahem...she does it to you."
"I... see." She said while uncomfortably shifting in her seat.
"Well, you'll thank me later. Honestly, the butterflies in your stomach and the unyielding attraction you have for her must have given you an idea, sis."
"I... had my conclusions, but you explaining things more clearly has made me rethink them." She smiled and placed a hand on her heart. "So, these feelings are natural and I wasn't being weird. Thanks, Hornet."
Hornet donned a displeased face, not knowing if she should take pride in this. "Yeah... don't mention it—literally. Like, it would be weird if you didn't have those urges and still liked her," teased the blonde.
All these feelings and thoughts that she had for Belfast related to them doing acts beyond kissing, handholding and playful interactions of affection were normal. Even the sickening private things she would do behind closed doors to relieve stress were also normal. They were all human concepts. It calmed her mind because she felt uneasy about coupling her sickening private things with her girlfriend. She often wondered what she would think, but it just donned on her that most likely she did the same thing. It was part of being human and that concept made it all the more manageable. "I still have a lot to learn about how to be human then," softly smiled Enterprise.
"Stop being weird, sis!" She didn't know how detached her sister had been from life or even her human side until this conversation. "You should probably do some reading in the near future, just saying. It doesn't look good when the younger sister has to be the one to explain things."
"Is that how you learned?" Genuinely asked Enterprise.
"Umm, I learned through... well, the other more experienced shipgirls that wouldn't shut up about it. It pays to listen to people and learn a few new things."
Both sisters suddenly stopped when Cleveland drew a gasp of breath. "Whoa! Talk about a seventh wonder of the world..." said the blonde light cruiser.
Hammann, in her typical over-the-top manner, also looked stunned. "Whaaa! Are you kidding me, Laffey?!"
Hornet and Enterprise stood speechless to the sugary monstrosity resting between the destroyer's hands. Laffey leaned her head sideways as a babel-like rainbow tower teetered quietly, yet ominously side to side. "Javelin and I are going to share it..." She said softly and tiredly toward Enterprise and Hornet who were just wide-eyed and without words. Javelin joined Laffey with an eager spoon that was ready for combat. Impressively enough, their bowl of towering ice cream accommodated hot fudge, sprinkles, and bits of melted marshmallows.
Both Yorktown sisters quickly made space for their friends and the true monstrosity of that day. Their topic of conversation quickly changed to the concerning brain freeze and stomachache Laffey and Javelin would have.
(Belfast)
A long and arduous two weeks had blown by as the head maid finally touched land once again at her new home away from home; the base of Azur Lane.
The distinct smell of sea air and the sounds of the birds in the air all worked to welcome her back from her time away. However, her main and unmatched reason was all she needed, and her heart had been deprived of it for too long if asked.
With quick steps, she moved across the concrete of the harbor with grace and purpose toward the one that had only been a reminding comfort to her. She was finally going to see her beloved Enterprise again.
The selfish love-fueled thoughts sent her on a multitude of ways to surprise her girlfriend, and she settled on the tried-and-true method of surprising her with a quick covering of the eyes. Of course, things never played out the way one wanted.
"Miss Belfast! Hellooo!" A frantic hand moved across the royal's blue eyes, sending those blue pools into a fit of confusion.
Belfast turned her head and acknowledged Queen Elizabeth who had also touched firm ground. "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
The queen puffed her cheeks and tilted quizzically at her head maid. "Bel, please tell me you haven't forgotten about the super important tea party?"
"The tea party?" Like a lightning blast from the sky, Belfast's whimsical fantasies of greeting her Eagle Union lover came crashing down, and what stood above those remnants was the duty that she had promised to her Majesty.
"Oh my gosh! Are you feeling ill, Miss Bel? You never tend to forget anything, especially a request from yours truly."
Belfast ignored the bragging nature of her queen as her eyes caught wind of a head of white hair moving against the rampant harbor activity of newly docked shipgirls, Manjuu staff, and transport carts.
It was as if fate was testing her and had created a situation where the Eagle Union archer had yet to see her. Belfast squinted and noticed Enterprise had a small bouquet of mixed florals in her hands. Her heart tightened and her smile became the embodiment of the sun as she understood what each flower the carrier had picked meant.
It was three distinct types of flowers in small bunches that composed the overall bouquet. The first one, dahlias, symbolizing a long-lasting commitment and bond between two people. The second was lavender roses, symbolizing enchantment and love at first sight. Was Enterprise referring to something deeper with those? She asked herself. Lastly, pink roses, conveying sweetness, admiration, joy, and gratitude.
Belfast subconsciously took a step forward, ready to sprint into the arms of her girlfriend who had no doubt done some romantic homework just for her during her time away. But her mind kicked her in gear and she acknowledged Queen Elizabeth once again.
The blonde battleship had her hands on her hips, awaiting a response from her seemingly forgotten question that Belfast quickly unburied from the internal wasteland of discarded information within her mind. "You asked if I was feeling ill?" She regurgitated that parroted question which made Queen Elizabeth raise an eyebrow.
"Yes, I'm happy you remembered as you seemed to have paused for a full minute."
"Yes, I'm perfectly fine, your Majesty. And I haven't forgotten the critical tea party that's scheduled for today." She apologetically bowed.
The royal blonde smiled and felt at ease that her head maid looked fully back in mind. "Great! I want to impress our guest so let's go regroup with the other maids and start clearing out the royal dorm building at the back of the academy." She held a firm hold on the head maid's arm and the two began to walk away from the general direction that Enterprise was coming from.
Belfast was torn beyond measure. A voice that sounded like her but naive and younger pierced through her internal storm of thoughts. "Are you seriously going to leave her stranded like that? She's literally holding the incarnation of her love in her hands—ready to present it to us. To you!"
While the head maid nodded silently which earned Queen Elizabeth to stare at her oddly, another voice that sounded more like her current self replied. "Bel, keep walking. She hasn't seen you yet and if you bump into her with her Majesty in toe, things are going to get complicated to explain! And the last thing you want is Her Majesty to catch wind of your relationship."
Belfast shriveled emotionally and tore herself away from her lover's endearing search for her. "Yes... let's go," she said with a heavy heart and had become a double reply to herself and Queen Elizabeth.
(Enterprise)
The chattering in the crowd was deafening and chaotic, causing Enterprise to feel discombobulated like when she would be at the receiving end of a jamming radar and communications tactic. She ignored some of the curious and shocked looks she got from various shipgirls as she continued to press on. Her bold action to express how much she had missed her girlfriend was a stark contrast to the last date they had on the beach.
With sorrowful eyes, she reminisced about how the umbrella idea had been hers and hers alone but when her sister had pointed out how feeble it had been for her, she asked herself again why she even tried to hide her relationship with Belfast.
Belfast was the ruler of her heart, and it only took two long and slow two weeks without her to understand that she should be embracing their love. Having privateness was all good but something like this was a shining light in her darkness that had no business being limited. The sweet tranquility of privacy was only a dorm room away after all if they desired it.
The agonizing days she had spent away from the royal had brought a new perspective into her mind that worked to accept the gazes of the others if it meant she and Belfast could walk together in public like a couple.
Guarding this newfound realization close to her heart, she continued to press forward until she got to the end of the harbor where nothing, but the expansive ocean greeted her. "Did she... already dock?" Her hand lowered and she somberly sighed. A shadow of worry, sadness, and dread conspired to attack her heart and visually, it was merely her lowering her head until her hat covered her eyes.
(A few hours later)
On the academy grounds, there stood a lone dorm building created for the Royal Navy. The dorm was a two-floor building that stood on top of a small hill or higher elevation at the back of the academy grounds and overlooked the blue ocean.
This royal ground was where Royal Navy shipgirls would rest and return from their long day of naval training, field assignments, and academy lectures that further reinforced the teachings of elegance and grace that was pivotal in both life and on the battlefield.
On the opposite side and away from where the dirt path that led back to the main academy grounds, just slightly down the back slope of the hill, concrete stairs invited one to a gaze at a secluded grassy meadow that blended seamlessly into the sandy territory of this particular beach section of the base.
Focusing on the grassy half section, a gazebo stood with Edinburgh, Sheffield, and Dido frantically scrambling to complete the immaculate royal tea party that Her Majesty was adamant about.
"Bah! How come the table isn't set up with the finest Royal napery?" Shouted Queen Elizabeth with Sirius standing beside her with a clipboard.
Sheffield and Edinburgh froze in mid-table construction while they solemnly drank in the disappointed and frazzled shouts from Her Majesty.
A maid with pale blue hair and pale magenta highlight tips quizzically raised an eyebrow while she organized the porcelain tea ware on top of a small portable metal table. "Napery? Is she really pulling out the fancier talk to impress our prestigious guest?" Her words sounded like she had asked her fellow maids but in reality, she uttered that question to her broken doll she took everywhere with her.
"Miss Dido!" Do you have something to say!?" Stated Her Majesty with vicious frantic teeth that petrified the maid.
"Ah! No, please—I beg your forgiveness, your Majesty! Please do not discard me like this broken doll."
Queen Elizabeth and Sirius both sighed, feeling their energy evaporate from the fragile talk.
Elizabeth scratched her cheek and realized that she might have sounded too aggressive. "Ahem... sorry about that, Miss Dido. My emotions are all over the place." She calmed her breathing and glanced back at an empty ocean, making sure that the one she expected wasn't here yet.
A red-eyed and white-haired woman with pale hints of red smiled warmly at the self-deprecating maid and nodded to Her Majesty's words. Her name was Sirius, and she was the second in command of the royal maids. "Honorable Sister, no one is going to discard you, and please refrain from such sorrowful talk. You have been selected for this most honorable tea set-up were you not?"
Dido smiled warmly and bowed apologetically.
Her Majesty pivoted sharply around, and her energy reignited once more. "All right—all right, enough of this touchy respite. Sheffield and Edinburgh, are you done with the table?"
"Not yet, your Majesty," politely responded Sheffield while holding a table leg in each hand. Edinburgh had the same idea as well.
"I urge you to hurry it up as if you were chickens without heads," colorfully stated the blonde queen with a twitching of her left eyebrow.
"We prefer gracefully hastening as a much better turn of phrase," remarked Edinburgh. Worth noting that they haven't even moved a muscle during this whole conversation.
It was not lost on Her Majesty, and she nearly blew her lid off. "Grr... please just set up the tablecloth— I mean napery before our guest arrives!"
"Ah… Your Majesty... I think I see an approaching ship vessel making its way to the harbor," said Sirius after moving out of the shade of the gazebo and using a hand to block the rays of the sun from her face as she gazed intently at the singular capital ship.
Queen Elizabeth pivoted so much that she got whiplash. Turning back to her servants, she merely saw them utterly motionless as they too were gazing at the incoming capital ship that was sure to dock any minute.
"Why are you spacing out?! Hurry! Belfast... get the queen's chocolates, sandwiches, and scrumptious teacakes!"
A full harrowing pause lingered for more seconds than the queen wanted to admit and she comedically darted her eyes left and right. "Where is Miss Belfast!?"
The maids looked around and were equally confused that amidst the commotion, they had surprisingly ignored the obvious elephant in the room— that being a lack of Belfast.
Inside the dorm building, a good set of minutes earlier before the commotion outside in the gazebo had reached critical levels, the light cruiser had just walked into her room, looking very deep in thought. She originally came here to grab something that now eluded her memory, as the events from earlier still plagued her mind. She had rejected Enterprise's greeting that should have been a wondrous sight for them both, and now she sneaked around like a ghost. She didn't even want to entertain the second wave of worries she brushed aside that had manifested during her two weeks departure from the base. She rubbed her forehead and took in a deep breath to compose herself.
This was not the way to go about it and there wasn't any elegance or grace in her actions, they were cowardice at its height.
"Oh, the head maid has returned from her duty... and back to her nest, I see."
The voice of another made her freeze, turning her blood icy, and her heart rate anxiously rose to new heights. She alarmingly pivoted behind her, as her hair whipped frantically to face Ajax of the Royal Navy.
"Ajax... that tone of inflection when you said nest is unbecoming of a Royal Navy shipgirl. And frankly, I don't have an ounce of understanding of what you mean by that."
"Really? Because it looks like your blood is pumping something fierce to get affected by something that you apparently don't understand."
"I get passionate in my lectures as it is my duty to correct the mischievous behavior from a royal who revels in it." Belfast maintained her defenses and refused to let a single crack birth from her curious worries to what the mischievous light cruiser knew. From her tone when she said "Nest" Belfast needed to play this carefully. "If you have any hidden emotions, I suggest you speak your mind, so that we may clear up any misunderstanding."
The purple-haired light cruiser rolled her eyes at how robotic the maid before her sounded. It seemed that was Belfast's way to keep her cards close to her chest and not show any intense emotion. "Don't get the wrong idea, Miss Belfast. I'm merely fooling around with you and I'm proud of what you chose."
Belfast hesitantly feigned ignorance and remained quiet. Inside her mind, her eyes were wide, and her heart was beating rapidly, desiring to know what this shipgirl knew.
This caused Ajax to pout with her arms folded as she was unaware of the opposite reaction Belfast internally faced. "Fine, be that way! As if I would go and tell Her Majesty that the reason her head maid missed her ride back to the Royal Capital was that she fell head over torpedo for Miss Eagle Union's strongest."
The head maid swallowed and placed her hands in front of her, a defense mechanism to retreat deeper into her maid mindset to avoid her face from cracking. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I apologized to her Majesty, and she benevolently accepted my request to remain as a staple unit of the Royal Navy within this Azur Lane community. Just like you and so many others, this base has grown on me, and I wish to help advance it into the shining base it should be."
Ajax smirked playfully and ran a finger across the left side of the doorway ever so gently. "Hmm, I wonder what part of this base has grown on you more, but anyway… I wish I was there to see you work your magic and persuade Her Majesty."
Belfast paused, remembering vital revealing truths that she learned from the various maid chatter when she had been away for those two weeks, the same truths that related to her worries she had for Enterprise. The guest that Queen Elizabeth was so enthralled with, the reason she was allowed to stay, and the future of the base circled her mind. "It wasn't much to persuade her as luck would have it, this base is about to become a pivotal defense against the Sirens. Of course, I don't need to tell you that, Miss Ajax."
"Yes, it is. I guess you have to thank that new up-and-coming commander that will be our acting commander on this highly immaculate base." She paused and gave her another smirk. "I wonder what Enterprise thinks getting quickly demoted after becoming commander herself after the Sirens' last failed plan."
Belfast cracked and her eyes cast down at the reminder of what she had heard from the other maids during her expedition. "Enterprise had been demoted and was no longer the commander of the Azur Lane base." She refused to believe it and she couldn't contact Enterprise as her mission had so many restrictions. Those rumors quickly turned truthful as much as she hated to admit.
"It wasn't her scene, and she happily stepped down... I'm sure." That was one thing she wanted to confirm with Enterprise. When she made her plea with Queen Elizabeth to stay on base it was as if the universe had favored her love. Her Majesty had graciously allowed her to be one of the first to be hinted at the vital future that the base will have going forward, but she did not expect a change in command especially when Enterprise was doing a remarkable job. Who else had more field experience than the one with the most battle stars ever?
In truth, Enterprise being the commander of the base had cemented herself as a founder within it with permanent residency. Meaning that she wouldn't be moved around, and they could work side by side. She hoped that her theory was correct, and Enterprise would still be vital in the new landscape of things. The thought of her being moved out was unbearable and she refused to entertain such thoughts unless they grew real. "I'll… decide my future…" She internally motivated herself.
"Hmmm... I'm sure you would know," she said casually with a vixen's smile, bringing Belfast back from her chasm-deep thoughts.
Belfast shakily remained fixed toward the other royal. "What is this all about? I'll have you know that I'm in the middle of gathering something important, so I politely ask you to vacate my room, Miss Ajax."
Ajax was about to refuse and hunker down and double her efforts on squeezing the maid out of more juicy information but the shouts of two other shipgirls halted her.
"Ajax, we're going to miss out on the campfire s'mores by the beach if you dilly dally any longer up there!"
Ajax turned quickly around; her face wide at the realization of the plans that she had seemingly pushed aside when she knew she had an opportunity to interrogate Belfast. "Ah! Coming Leander and Achilles! Well, let's chat next time, Miss Belfast." She winked at her and skipped out of the room, not all that displeased that she didn't get the juicy amount of information from the other light cruiser.
Belfast shakily exhaled and planted herself on her bed to give her a short breather. "She knew about my relationship with Enterprise..." She had many questions but hardly any time to grant herself the moment to reflect on them. Whether this was an approaching storm that would surely bite her was left to be decided.
Her thoughts refocused and she lifted herself steadily to make her way to her closet, now realizing why she came here in the first place. At the top of the closet, she found what she had set out to look for before she had been interrupted. Reaching high, she brought down her coveted exotic loose tea leaves that were sealed airtight in a tin canister. "Perfect, Her Majesty, and that commander will love this," she said jubilantly. Despite all her worries, her personal stash of tea leaves always cheered her up as she cracked open the canister to breathe in the delightful herbal aroma that never failed in relaxing her.
"Hey..."
On impulse, considering she just had dealt with a mischievous Ajax, she froze with a void behind her blue eyes once she registered the voice she eagerly yet least wanted to hear at this crucial moment.
The head maid finally acknowledged the identity of the voice and quickly turned around. "Enterprise..." She ultimately uttered as a shipgirl with a head of white hair and a captain's hat greeted her.
The Eagle Union carrier stood at the doorway with the magical bouquet in her hands. "Belfast... I've missed you." She flashed her a shy smile and nervously stood in the doorway.
"How did you get in here?" She asked urgently and without thought. Her heart then tightened when she saw the crestfallen expression from her girlfriend that caused the hand that held the flowers to lower. "Smooth, Bel…" she sarcastically uttered in her mind.
Enterprise straightened her posture to address her girlfriend. "Umm... Ajax told me to go right in ahead when I greeted her and the others before they ran off. What's going on? I didn't think this dorm was restricted in any way."
Belfast sighed defeatedly, knowing that Enterprise encountering Ajax with flowers would be the decisive blow in confirming what the mischievous light cruiser already knew. "It isn't... Ajax," she scornfully mumbled under her breath. "It's not restricted but today, all the Royal girls have been ordered to clear the premise for a few hours while Her Majesty has her tea party with some… commander type." She mournfully wanted to look away when she said that, yet desperately wanted to know what her girlfriend felt about it. If anything, she would comfort her as that was her duty as both her maid and girlfriend.
The predicted look of distaste and anger never came, and Enterprise softly laughed while she closed her eyes as if reminiscing. "Ah, Commander Brea..."
Belfast perked and relaxed her shoulders. "Are you and him acquainted?" She asked, a stain of jealousy growing from the look her girlfriend had done. There was a fond light in her purple eyes that seemingly made them more vibrant than usual, and only Belfast and a select few, mostly family, had ever done.
The carrier cleared her throat. "Her... actually. I guess I had to be since the last time she was here, around the first week you and the other maids had left, they were telling me that I had performed an exemplary job as the base's commander and Commander Brea would be spearheading all operations going forward once her current tasks were completed. So, she's finally here, huh?"
"My darling… I'm so sorry to hear that."
Enterprise softened her gaze, seeing the troubled look that she could only hint at the reason. "Don't be, I was a bit taken aback but nothing's changed. Commander Brea turned out to be an interesting woman and I'll—we... will be working under her."
Belfast recoiled lightly yet smiled with overjoyed enthusiasm to hear that Enterprise wouldn't be going anywhere just like her. The distance they perpetuated became unbearable and the head maid moved forward to correct that error.
That was when Enterprise shifted her feet a step back, her face retaking the troubled look she had at the harbor. The energy in the air was heavy and her eyes harbored uncertainty. "Bel, how long have you been back on base?"
The light cruiser weakened and lowered her head. She could almost feel the heat of a lamp in an interrogation scene and she knew she needed to make peace with this feeling of deception and guilt. "Since this morning..." As those words left her mouth, she grew cold all over, causing her to defensibly hug the tin canister that she carried close to her breasts.
Hurt and dejection reflected across the carrier's eyes and her posture lowered despairingly. "Bel, did I do something wrong? I've been looking for you until I decided on checking out your Royal Navy Dorm on a whim. Why didn't you tell me you were back? I thought something might have happened." Her voice was fragile and small which made the maid gaze upon her as if she was looking at a wounded puppy; a wounded puppy she helped bring about.
"Please, don't think I have been avoiding you, Enterprise. It's just that things are tense right now with Her Majesty and this Royal tea party. She wants it to be perfect for the commander and she has us all running around. I'm still the head maid, and my role has demanded a lot of me." She made a small audible sound of contempt against herself. She wanted to tell herself that she was half lying about avoiding her lover at the very least, but she had been avoiding Enterprise; it was the cold hard truth.
"Is there any way I can help? Two heads are better than one," warmly replied the archer, signifying that she forgave her.
The sad blue eyes of Belfast humbly looked back at her girlfriend. Seeing that smile from her girlfriend brought her back just like all the other times. It uplifted her spirits and eased her tired mind and body. It was also that selflessness that she adored about her. "Thank you for the offer but it's just one of those events that only the Royal Navy has a hand in. I dare say that Her Majesty has taken a liking to our new commander."
"I see," said Enterprise.
"Let's talk about something else instead of work," quickly interjected the royal maid.
That snapped the carrier into gear, and she looked down to remember that she had the bouquet held firmly. It was almost a crime that they both forgot as they were so engrossed in heavy topics from new commander to elusive girlfriend.
Belfast giggled infectiously and moved closer to her lover and Enterprise lowered her guarded heart to embrace this closeness. "So, why have you been chasing me from one end of the base to the other?" She joked, now thinking that maybe it was too soon to make a joke like that. Comedy was tragedy plus time after all.
Enterprise blushed and exhaled with a laugh. Nevertheless, she smiled happily and handed the flowers without saying anything.
Belfast eagerly accepted their beauty and fragrance. Her eyes softened and grew joyous like there were no worries in her world when she gazed at them.
This brought Enterprise into a state of wonder and bliss, feeling happy that she got the reaction she dreaded not getting. "Besides wanting to see you after you've been gone for so long, well... I was thinking about what we talked about and..."
From below on the first floor of the dorm, the piercing hysterical cries of Queen Elizabeth resonated. "Belfast! Code red— repeat—code red! We need the tea party completed and tea on the premise asap before the commander gets here!"
Like a gut punch from reality, the head maid shot her gaze down to see the canister of loose tea leaves she had. "Her Majesty...! You need to go."
"Eh?" Enterprise was shades of confused and she stood motionless, letting the words sink in slowly and methodically.
Her girlfriend was on the opposite spectrum as she moved like a woman possessed and checked out of her doorway for indications of Her Majesty.
Light yet purposeful stomps moved across the wooden flooring, and they spiked in clarity once they began to go up the stairs.
She turned around swiftly, causing Enterprise to be captivated by her hair in motion briefly until the serious eyes of the maid approached her. "I'm so sorry Enterprise but just trust me."
To leave. It hit her again and she was still in a whirlwind of confusion. "But... " The worry in the maid's eyes cut her rebellious thoughts and she exasperatingly sighed. "Okay, I do trust you." She gave her a small smile to ease the maid and dispel worries but that only made Belfast feel ashamed of herself more.
The carrier began to move toward the door and the light cruiser's body blocked her as their chest connected with each other.
"Huh?" Aside from her confusion, she couldn't help but find it endearing that Belfast's hands were full, one with flowers and the other with a canister of tea leaves.
Belfast's stern gaze lowered to a sad reluctant gaze. "Not through the door... through the window!"
"What are we—teens?!" To say the carrier had reached her patience and compliance was an understatement. It wounded her to be told to go out the window like some intruder or thief.
Belfast held her sad gaze, telling her that it would mean the world to her if she did what she was told.
Maybe Enterprise should have hunkered down, but in her agonizing front row view of her girlfriend's almost puppy dog eyes, she was whipped to agree.
"Fine... this is the second floor as well," she mumbled under her breath.
She loved her. She absolutely loved the carrier before her to be doing such an extreme move just for her, and she hated herself with no limitations that her selfishness and fears had forced her into action. "I just don't want Her Majesty catching you here." She hoped Enterprise would understand.
She didn't and the carrier made a stinging expression. "Why? Do you care more about what the queen thinks than what I think?"
"I... you're one to talk. Weren't you the one who wanted our relationship to be kept a secret?" Belfast froze, feeling as if her stomach turned inside out and she wanted to hurl violently. If it wasn't bad enough, seeing Enterprise's conflicted face hurt her to an unbearable degree. Her eyes grew despondent, hating that she allowed those words to cut across them both. She wasn't ashamed of her relationship with Enterprise, but the queen had a way of using people like chess pieces if a valuable gain became possible.
Enterprise was not without fault as she felt another type of discontent with what she said toward Belfast's queen. "I didn't mean it that way!" Both of their responses overlapped the other and like a light in the darkness, their mirrored apology brought them to relax.
"Belfast!" They both heard queen Elizabeth getting closer and Enterprise knew what she needed to do.
"I'll go now." The carrier defeatedly pulled her body halfway through the window to the point of her resting on the bottom of the frame. She made sure her hat didn't fall off her head when she suddenly felt a cling to her other shoulder, causing her to glance back to see Belfast.
"I'll make it up to you... tonight," she said with her amazing smile and hopeful eyes.
The sweet sound uplifted Enterprise and she attentively gazed at her. "You promise?" She asked stoically, trying to regain ground and sound stern.
Belfast giggled and kissed her on the cheek. "I promise, Ent-Ent."
Enterprise turned her head down to see the height she would be falling to, and her expression grew worrisome. With a shaky breath, she turned to her royal girlfriend. "Bel, I love you."
"I love you too, my knight." The head maid winked which caused Enterprise to take in the charming title that her girlfriend would always use to play around with her. She didn't like it more than Ent-Ent, but it was a nickname still exclusive and given to her by the one she loved.
A second went by, and the sounds of the queen's footsteps informed Belfast that she was just beyond the doorway. She turned sharply and gazed at the royal battleship that had just arrived.
"Belfast! What are you doing?! Ugh... how do the girls get up those stairs?" Elizabeth stood in the doorway, haggardly breathing and using a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead with closed eyes.
In a flash of a second, Belfast quickly placed the bouquet behind her and glanced at the now empty window. She swallowed and wondered if her carrier had stuck the landing. Her attention went back to Her Majesty, and she composed herself for a smile while her other hand presented the canister. "Apologies, your Majesty. I figured that tea leaves from my collection would impress the commander."
Queen Elizabeth opened her eyes clearly and her smile brightened. "Oh! I like your thinking! Now close that window and let's get brewing!" Her Majesty exited the room and Belfast hid the flowers under her bed. Under the bed was the last spot she wanted to put these heavenly and pristine flowers, but she just couldn't get a vase in the short time before Her Majesty noticed she wasn't being followed.
Outside the Royal Navy dorm, Dido went up the stone steps with the elegant tea ware on a tray. "Miss Belfast, you better have some tea ready, or else we'll all be discarded!" She delusionally moaned as she passed a large bush.
The bush rattled and out came Enterprise, unceremoniously rubbing her backside. Leaves and sticks snagged in her long hair, tie disheveled, and hat lop-sided. "Khh... love sure does hurt." She fixed her hat and fixed her tie casually. Her eyes landed on the now-closed window of the dorm she had ghostly exited out. "I hope I didn't make her mad with what I said." The victory of giving her the flowers eased her and she concluded that she needed to hurry out of the hot zone. "Khh…!" She recoiled when she felt tension and pain on her backside, causing her to walk stiffly back to the main academy grounds.
(Nighttime)
Hours had rolled by, and in the dorm room of the Eagle Union's strongest, Enterprise was wide awake. It was quiet outside with the sounds of crickets ruling the darkness. The lamp on her desk cast light across her face that showed a deep pondering of the events that happened just before sundown.
What she said to her girlfriend lingered in her mind, causing her to grow restless, and close the book she had on her desk with a heavy slam. "She had a point... I did want to keep our relationship a secret, but I don't see it like that anymore. Bel... how do you see our relationship?" In compliance with her restlessness, she decided to crack open her journal and begin to write.
It had been one of her new hobbies that she picked up after trying to distract her mind from Belfast's absence. In a counter-intuitive way, she ended up thinking more about the head maid as she wrote numerous entries about what she did on that day, and how the light cruiser would react if she was there with her. At least she had a new hobby.
She smiled grimly and placed her arms behind her back while leaning on her chair. "Bel... love sure is confusing." The jolt of pain from before flared from her backside to her spine and she winched lightly.
She shifted her body, and the light of the lamp revealed an orange cushion that looked like a life preserver. After the impact on her rear, this cushion that Vestal had given her a long time ago came through for her.
The sound of a light tap hit her window, causing her to almost fall out of her chair.
"Enterprise, open the window please."
It was Belfast, and she was standing outside her window. Standing up too quickly for her own good, she crawled over her desk and fiddled with the window. Enterprise lifted the window glass up and peered to her left into the darkness of the night.
In all her elegance and grace, the head maid stood straight and proper against the wall of the building with her hands to her front. Her eyes were closed while a faint and gentle smile appeared. There was something cat-like, alluringly dangerous, and burglary-like in having her girlfriend shrouded in the cover of the night and looking as courteous as ever. Her blue eyes then sensually gazed at her girlfriend with a head tilt, and her smile grew lightly. "How teen does this feel right now?" She joked happily.
Enterprise chuckled and stood aside to let her girlfriend do her thing. Agile like a cat, she gracefully vaulted through the window and tapped across the desk in her rapid momentum. However, she botched the landing when her foot shifted from her jump down off the desk, but luckily for her, the carrier grabbed her securely before she face-planted the floor.
"I think the only thing missing is some beer pilfered from the local shopping district," humorously teased Enterprise with love in her eyes, remembering a movie she saw the other day with Cleveland.
Belfast blinked a few times and shot her head up. "Oh, say no more," she detached from the carrier and pulled out a flask that made Enterprise stare at it like a foreign object for a few seconds until she overlapped her hand with the maid's hand. "That was a joke, but we can save that for later."
Despite their love for one another, there was the obvious proverbial elephant in the room that caused a division in both. This was most noticed by Belfast as she had been the one to cause the sudden gap between them.
The maid's eyes randomly glanced at the bright orange life preserver on Enterprise's chair, and she widened her eyes. "Darling is your backside all right?!"
Embarrassment painted the carrier's face while she masked it with a shaky smile. "Y-Yes." There was no point in answering, as the maid placed her hands around Enterprise's hips, and for a second, the carrier thought they were going to do some spontaneous form of slow dancing.
Without taking her eyes off the archer, she sneaked her hands to the back of her girlfriend's skirt and Enterprise moaned painfully. "That sounds like a no, darling," stated Belfast with compassion in her eyes.
Minutes later, Enterprise's face was crimson red and buried in her pillow while Belfast was above her. Her girlfriend's hands expertly massaged her backside, earning the maid the wonderful rewarding sounds of the carrier highly and lowly moaning. "Someone's going to hear dear," she seductively stated.
"Grrr… we… wouldn't want that would we?" Said Enterprise. Her voice was heavy and bitter, and despite it all, it was a slip of the tongue that she immediately regretted.
Hurt flashed across Belfast's face, causing her to stiffen. And it was not lost on Enterprise who grew even more mortified. Despite it all, the maid dutifully continued her healing assault with tender fingers. In retrospect, she admired the harsh honesty she received since she deserved it for her part in their fight.
Enterprise sighed and shifted back to the topic of her backside. "This is embarrassing. My body has felt the harshness of war and a fall from a second floor injured my butt?"
The maid giggled and confidently applied pressure on different points. She learned something new tonight; Enterprise was quite sensitive down there. With each pressure point she attended to; she received a moan depending on the sensitivity. This became her guide to find the epicenter and she struck true the further she continued. "Hmm, the body can be unpredictable at times, sweetie. It's my fault you had to go through that. Please relax and let me nurse you back to health."
Enterprise gripped her pillow and shut her eyes. "Bel... it's too much..." Her pain was abundant, and the sensitivity forced her to haggardly breathed but her girlfriend wouldn't let up. She was so close to biting her pillow yet settled for merely digging her fingernails into the softness of it.
The maid's mindset was geared to that of her wanting to expunge a stain from a carpet. Coldly, determined, and calculated, she relentlessly applied her pressure, knowing that Enterprise's discomfort would soon cease. "Hold on... yes... I believe I found it." The maid's fingers played her like a piano and Enterprise inhaled a sharp breath.
"Argh…" She quietly and slowly released the controlled sound of pain like someone letting out air slowly from a balloon. The pain itself struck fast and true, forcing her to cut her flow of oxygen. Her quiet sounds of pain became apparent that they were ramping up like magma shooting out from the ground. However, her pain immediately subsided, leaving her in a cobra pose that she now realized, and with no air in her lungs to continue her upping of sounds.
"You pulled a muscle dear," cutely giggled Belfast in the wake of the carrier about to hit a high note. Luckily, she didn't for the sake of every other shipgirl that was sleeping soundly.
Enterprise harmoniously exhaled and inhaled, feeling her lungs back up with rich air. She could not deny how blissfully lightheaded she felt and dropped her upper body back onto the bed. "I feel old..." She grumbled under her breath while her face was buried in her pillow.
Belfast playfully shook her head. "You're only two years older than me, Enterprise."
The carrier turned to look at her with defensive eyes. "Khh... about a year and a half, thank you very much."
The light cruiser felt the offended aura of her girlfriend who vocally expressed that she didn't like what she said. "My mistake, dear." She said with a humble smile.
The archer swallowed her sour pout and rested her head. "It's fine, and it's not like it matters really now that I think about it."
Belfast lifted her weight from her girlfriend and leaned next to her on the soft bed with focused eyes. "Oh, I kind of like it," sweetly proclaimed Belfast in no way as an insult.
"Thanks, Bel. I feel a lot better." Shyly spoke Enterprise as they both stared at each other. They were silent for a while as both blue and purple eyes met, finding what the other was thinking.
The head maid spoke first. "It's my duty as your girlfriend, Ent-Ent. And I enjoyed the light moans from you anytime."
The carrier blushed and lifted herself with her exposed elbow. "Bel, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that you valued your queen's opinion more than you do mine. The Royal Navy is your home and family. You being a maid is a part of your duty and personality that you take seriously, and I know it brings you a lot of pride and happiness. I never want to put you in a situation where you have to choose them over me, that's just too selfish on my end."
Belfast gazed at her with transfixed eyes and a hollow feeling appeared in her heart. "Enterprise… you're not being selfish..." She paused, afraid to speak the words that could incite a shift in their reality. The words she had in her mind, weren't inherently bad or malicious, it was just that she wasn't ready for them to come out, and she wasn't ready to feel that exposed.
Enterprise gazed at her girlfriend and chose to not pry deep into what she meant. "Let's just put that mess behind us. Couples fight all the time... so I heard."
She admired Enterprise's caring attitude, but she didn't want to merely bury this. Her girlfriend had valid reasons for feeling this way. They were a couple now, everything they did going forward would involve both of their input and they would have to both agree without regrets what they wanted. For now, she reluctantly agreed. "Indeed, we were both at fault in the way we acted but what's important is that we can look at each other in the end and say that our love is stronger."
Enterprise got up from her bed and tested her backside by sitting down on her chair. "Oh, you've done this before have you...?" She said with jealousy laced in her words. She could only wonder if another had the privilege to feel the intimate pain and relief that she sustained.
"Hehe, you are the first, darling."
They exchanged silent smiles in the dimly lit room of the carrier. That silence lingered and they soon found themselves without any momentum to follow up their conversation. It wasn't awkward at all, that's how comfortable they were that they could rest silently and understand each other.
Enterprise cleared her throat and Belfast perked up from the sound. "Did the tea party go off without a hitch? How was Commander Brea?"
Belfast smiled and placed a finger close to her mouth, pondering the events. "She... was very down to earth, and reminded me of you. Kind, honest, humble, and with a sense of strength that you could tell she carried. Her Majesty suddenly felt overdressed despite the medals the commander wore. She did humor Queen Elizabeth by partaking in tea and the snacks she made, but I don't think she fully appreciated my brew of tea," said the maid with a light laugh.
Enterprise softly smiled and felt more at ease. "Yeah, I'm happy that we got a good human being with morals instead of someone who sees us as chess pieces."
Belfast took in the subtle fears that lingered in her girlfriend's tone. "Enterprise... yes, working with her will be interesting. I have my work cut out if I wish to impress her to be put into her fleet since you happened to be her flagship." Sharpness could be felt by the maid's words that told her that piece of information would have been good to hear from her lover instead.
Enterprise rubbed the back of her head and gave her a sheepish look. "It happened suddenly..." She didn't celebrate the implication of more fighting, but she felt at ease with this commander if she was the one giving orders.
Belfast understood her girlfriend and could see the light of hope in her eyes. "She mentioned you and how much she looks up to you, which made Queen Elizabeth somewhat jealous if my eyes weren't deceiving me."
"Brea..." That name flowed organically out of the archer like someone casually berating a long-time friend.
They talked a bit more like Belfast going into further detail about the tea party and how it was a private debut for the commander's unofficial first day on base from the Royal Navy's side. Tomorrow would be her first official debut where everyone on base would get better acquainted with the new commander.
"I'm interested to see what she is going to do for this base. In hindsight, a ship should have never been a commander, and I know some of the girls on base are still a bit sore about me being demoted. I hope they don't give her a hard time because of that." Enterprise suddenly felt the air change and she had briefly closed her eyes when she went into her speech. Opening them, she saw the concerning eyes of her girlfriend as Belfast had moved upon her.
"Enterprise… while this commander might have experience and is an honest human, don't sell yourself short. You are not just a ship, and I'll keep reminding you that until the end of time if I must."
"That… you will. Sorry, Bel. It was a reflex from an old habit. I meant it as I would rather be out there if it meant protecting those I love. Sure, I'm qualified, but being on the sidelines or at a desk is not me at all. I prefer to be moving around just like all the others," she said with a smile.
"Hmm… sometimes it's hard to get mad at you when you nobly speak like that, it reminds me how far you've come along." They left it at that as Belfast knew her girlfriend made all the sense in the world. Besides, she reminded herself of the topic that never came to be when they were in the dormitory and didn't have to search hard to see in her girlfriend's eyes that she was trying to find the right time in asking her. "So, can I hear what you were so excited to tell me earlier?"
Enterprise widened, happy to hear that Belfast had remembered. She held onto the light cruiser's hands and got up from her chair, pulling her along with her. Enterprise walked barefoot with her until they both sat down on the bed. "Yes, you see, I requested some shore leave to start next week and the commander agreed. Well, I requested it for myself when I was still commander those two weeks you were gone, and the commander was nice enough to carry over that wish. I wanted to show you instead of telling you. So… are you free to travel next week?"
"Travel with you...?" Belfast held a hand close to her face and she lowered her eyes in deep thinking. An infusion of sadness and hesitation soon graced her face.
The carrier despondently sighed. "Oh, I don't like that look you have..."
Belfast tore her gaze from the floor and directed it at her lover. "Her Majesty is going to be holding another social gathering back home. She wanted me to host it..."
Enterprise said nothing, and her lowered eyes filled with disappointment, which was not lost on the light cruiser. After a long silence, she let out a soft smile. "You should go, what I want can wait, so no worries, Bel."
The maid recoiled and was without words for a second. Enterprise was indeed understanding and patient. "Hold on, don't assume that my mind is already made up!"
A hopeful expression appeared on the carrier's face, yet she tempered her emotions, not fully knowing what the maid might ultimately decide. "Fair enough. Regardless, I'll put my feelings out there and say that I'll be going to NY city next week. I'll wait for you in the harbor the same day next week in the morning. I'll understand if you can't make it, but you'll have to make time for me next time around, okay?" She took a page from her sister and grinned, trying to convey that she honestly didn't mind if she got stood up.
Belfast bitterly smiled. After a silent pause, she purposefully got up, making Enterprise tilt her head in confusion. Without words, Belfast walked in front of her and placed her hands on the carrier's shoulders.
Enterprise's voice crashed into her throat as she felt the weight of the maid's hands push down on her shoulders and Belfast scooted closer toward Enterprise until she was sitting on her lap with her legs wrapped around her lover's waist.
The carrier got jumpy, and her breath severed from her lungs for a mere second.
Seconds went by with both merely gazing into each other's eyes in such an intimate position. "You're way too kind, you know that?" Spoke the maid with a loving tone of voice. She then caressed a hand across the soft cheek of her lover, and she gazed at her fondly.
Enterprise stifled her blushing, having a hard time tearing her eyes away from her girlfriend's breasts that started to fill her with that blank-like stare and get her hotly bothered. She pushed through the messages her body was sending to her brain and cleared her throat. "I don't think… I'm pushy enough. All of this, is still new to me, Bel." She said nervously.
Belfast scanned her eyes and it donned on her that she had just done something new that they rarely did. If anything, that day on the sand was the closest, but Enterprise had been the one to pull her down and there was space still between them.
During the massage, she was the one that was on Enterprise, but most of her general weight was on her legs, unable to feel anything intimate on her end.
This was different from those times. Their lower bodies were connected together like a puzzle. And without space, they could both feel the heat of how excited they were both feeling in their cores, making this a new milestone for them. The little devil-like Bel inside her that promoted all the deeply guarded fantasies in the maid's mind urged her to move her hips and see where things might go, but she didn't, seeing the nervous look on her girlfriend despite the arousal her body was giving off.
Belfast had followed her heart and it led her to straddle the carrier. This was the spot she wanted to be in, where she felt safest and loved. "Am I… being too forward?" She had not made this action lightly. Regardless, she respected Enterprise to know how much shock she had given her, and she agonizingly started to remove herself. Hands shot up and held her back into her perfect fit that made Belfast moan under her throat at the decisive forcefulness. In her most private thoughts, it excited her.
"N-No!" Enterprise then did the unexpected and smothered her face into the maid's breasts, giving Belfast a surge of stimulation that she had secretly craved. The carrier caressed her cheek against the softness of the light cruiser's chest, eliciting a euphoric moan that told Belfast this was where she wanted to be. Her purple eyes glimmered with a fire of love and passion for she could feel the heartbeat of her lover and how it spiked. "Bel… It's fine. While it's all new to me and a romantic relationship was something I never gave much thought to, I don't mind if the forwardness comes from you. It's always been something I love about you. If this is what feeling human truly means at its peak, then call me fatally human." Her words came out half-muffled because of how her face was angled and buried in the maid's chest, but Belfast had received it loud and clear.
The royal slowly brought her girlfriend's face up to look at each other. The light source of the lamp on the desk provided enough light for Belfast to see the beauty of her girlfriend's face. However, it didn't say much compared to their physical connection. Through their joined bodies, the other could feel their heat and pulse that elevated because of their position. It said nothing less than eagerly happy, and the maid, even though she didn't have her head close to her heart, could tell it was beating strong and loud because of Enterprise's pulse.
She leaned closer to the carrier's face, smiling profusely, absorbing those words of decisive victory from the human side of Enterprise vs the machine side. "It's new to me, too, and fatally human doesn't sound too bad, my love."
Her whisper of a voice sent chills down Enterprise's back and the two kissed passionately, causing Belfast to pounce forward, and topple both onto the bed.
(One week later)
The horns of vessel ships that casually cruised through the local waters of NYC, either transporting people or cargo, filled a lone white-haired woman's ears. The welcoming rays of sunshine filled the sky with an array of yellow, orange, and blue that told of a promising day.
The lone woman—Enterprise, sat on an empty black oil drum while admiring the city buildings that loomed just outside the harbor area she was located. This place was the pinnacle city of her homeland, and it brought a smile to her face that it continued to stand proud and strong despite the conflicts in the world. In her past, it had always felt like another backdrop to her as she gazed upon it from the window of a base or port, but this time, she could admire it for she now had something to compare this beauty to that made her understand how beautiful this city truly was. One could say, she now understood its elegance and grace.
Some of the things that made NY city truly a marvel to be in were hearing the endless cabs, seagulls, water waves, and people chattering about that filled her mind with calm.
Footsteps were heard behind her, and she eagerly glanced back only to find her fellow Eagle Union shipgirls moving about after touching harbor. Her spirits lowered and she faced her original direction with a sulk. It lingered like this for a few seconds until a peaceful smile graced her lips, and she lifted her coffee cup close to her mouth. "This is the fifth time you've done that this morning, Enterprise," she spoke to herself with a casual self-deprecating voice. "Well… I did say it was okay for her to ditch me."
Yes, she had told her girlfriend to perform her duty instead of responding to her feelings by coming to NY city, and she didn't feel betrayed. Or so she thought. In the end, it was hard to not feel some semblance of dejection. Her fingers anxiously flexed around the styrofoam cup and her smile began to crack.
"Pardon me, you wouldn't happen to see a tall and attractive white-haired Eagle Union with a captain's hat around here, would you?"
The heavenly voice came from behind her, lighting her eyes up with hope and excitement. She had been so engrossed in her inner thoughts that she found herself completely lacking in her spatial awareness. Enterprise's heart tightened and she quickly jumped off the oil drum to see Belfast dressed in civilian clothing. Her outfit consisted of a tweed red coat, a pink top, and a black skirt that sent the carrier's heart racing.
"B-Belfast..." The weight, similar to when her eagle once sat on her chest to take a nap suddenly vanished like vapor.
The head maid giggled and blushed while looking over the carrier. "You look good outside your uniform, Ent-Ent." Her gaze was warm but looked longer, and one could see a sultry expression playfully paired with it.
What she had been referring to was the civilian clothing that Enterprise wore. It was simple dark blue jeans, a black slick turtleneck, and a dark blue jacket over said turtleneck. Gone was her hat and replaced with tinted aviators for extra style points.
The royal maid seeing her girlfriend dressed so confidently informed her that the carrier had further improved in many aspects of her life, bringing a positive sign to her overall well-being.
Enterprise smiled shyly while rubbing the back of her head. "I figured I would look silly dressed in my uniform while off duty." She sighed happily more interested that her girlfriend was here. "You came..."
Belfast smiled and stepped forward to hold her hand. "I never let down Her Majesty when she needed me but there's always a first for everything…" There was a somber smile that lingered, telling Enterprise that it had been a difficult discussion when talking with the queen. She could only imagine how much Belfast had revealed.
Belfast had more to say which was evident from the uneasy and lingering pause. A hopeful smile pierced through her gloomy expression, and she determinedly gazed toward Enterprise. "… and I didn't want me standing you up to be my first with you."
In all honesty, since she would be stationed in the base of Azur Lane going forward, it was time for Sirius, her second in command, to get her time in the limelight. Perhaps Her Majesty could depend on her as she has with her.
Nothing needed to be said anymore and Enterprise brought Belfast close for a kiss. Neither no longer cared who saw them kiss as they boldly expressed to the world that they were a couple. They took a cab to their destination and throughout the whole ride, Enterprise kept playfully evading why they were there.
When the vehicle stopped, their destination was a cozy old fashion street with a pizzeria tucked into the corner, a small mom and pop food store across from it, and the sight of neighborhood kids playing on the streetside.
"You bought an apartment unit?" Belfast marveled at her surroundings which were nothing short of a warmly atmospheric vibe of brown shades of brick buildings and white windows.
Enterprise joined her on the sidewalk once she paid the cab fare. "Yeah, I figured I needed a starting point where I could plant my roots for the future," she said with a smile. Without wasting another minute, she moved toward the concrete stairs of one of the brown buildings and held the door open for Belfast.
One elevator ride and a walk down a hallway later, Enterprise opened a door to an apartment. "What do you think?"
Belfast twirled slowly around the small yet inviting home that on initial sight, contained a fireplace, two couches in an L formation, a kitchen, and a balcony. "It's very cozy and the atmosphere has that old-world charm." She felt a pull toward the double doors that led to the balcony, and she was rewarded with a wonderful view. "Oh my, breathtaking in every way."
Enterprise joined her outside and the two gazed at the scenery of a perfect meld of green trees and city buildings that never felt like one overpowered the other. The carrier fiddled with the metal railing of the balcony in a nervous manner that caught the light cruiser's attention. "I thought hard about what you said. You know, about the future and where things will go once the Sirens are no more. I know it isn't much but It excites me that I have a place to call home away from… home. Now I don't have to crash at a base or harbor when I get some time off. Like this, I can detach myself from the toils of war and rest not just my body but my heart and soul."
"I'm so proud of you, darling," said the maid enthusiastically that she could almost cry.
They went back inside and that was when Belfast noticed an open door at the end of a hallway to her right. Curiosity got the better of her in what she saw, and she heard a playful laugh from Enterprise.
"Don't worry. That's something I want to show you." They moved through the hallway, only seeing one other door, which was probably the bathroom. This place was clearly a single apartment abode for either one or one intimate couple.
They went into the single bedroom and the head maid was greeted with a large map of the world above a desk, containing red thumb tags in various locations.
"Oh..." She moved toward it with a fixed gaze and scanned all the key places that were jotted down. Some even resided within her homeland of the Royal Navy.
"I did some research while you were gone. About places that I might like. I didn't think I would find it interesting, but I found some cool ones. One of those being this place out in the country that has the world's largest ball of yarn." Her comment had been designed to make her girlfriend smile considering she had animated hand expressions where she was pretending to convey the area of a sphere
Belfast politely covered her mouth to suppress her giggles, but it didn't make Enterprise feel foolish as that giggle gave her life and happiness. It seems that you already have a lot of traveling to do. You know, we don't have to wait for the Sirens to be dealt with to visit some of these places. Why don't I personally take you to a few within the Royal Capital next month?" She lovingly linked her arms around Enterprise's neck and in return, she felt the protective hands of her girlfriend around her waist.
Enterprise nodded in agreement. When they pulled away after sharing a quick peck on the lips, Enterprise pulled out a key from her jeans, catching the attention of Belfast. "Bel, this place isn't just my new home… it's yours as well. I want you to think of this as a place you can call home too. This is ours." She handed her the key and Belfast accepted with eyes that conveyed that she was holding something second to none. This was more than just mere metal; it was a trust filled with promises given form. To always be there for each other, to always have somewhere to fall back to when the world grows heavy, and to always choose the one they loved above all else. The last one felt like the most provocative as the threads between right and wrong could twist and leave them in a wasteland of empty assurance. They could only hope that they were never in a situation where lives were hanged in the balance and one of them was in danger.
On a much lighter internal topic within the mind of the maid, she grew decisive and the conversation they had that night about Enterprise never wanting her to choose between duty and her love greeted her once again. This time, she no longer feared her own words that her selfish side always wanted her to say. She welcomed them and knew that they were a part of her. "Enterprise, being a maid has always been a part of me. A part that I leaned in for order and discipline I richly craved. I'm not blind to see that I've always had a highly obsessive need for maid duties." She giggled and Enterprise respected her by staying attentive and quiet, seeing the pause they held meant that her girlfriend had reached an understanding within herself. "… but I won't always be a maid. I see that now when you and I grew to know and understand each other. In time, I would like to be something more than just a maid. Something that can hold the both of us rather than just me—and yes, this is me being selfish, my love." She held the archer's hand, conveying with blue eyes a future that shined brightly for both. One that had doves, bells, and beautiful white dresses.
Enterprise let out a steady breath after soaking in those words. Once again, her wonderful and radiant girlfriend had knocked the wind out of her, and all her worries of thinking if maybe things were going too fast, especially after literally giving her a key to her new apartment were nothing but dust in the wind for she also had the same dream. Enterprise squeezed back and alleviated her girlfriend's fears. "I promise, Bel."
The maid smiled radiantly and freely as she jumped into her girlfriend's arms.
They spent the rest of the day sightseeing, eating amazing food, laughing, and being together until the sun went down. When it was time to retreat from the world, they giggled and freely blasted through the door with their lips intimately stuck together. They ended up having a few delightful drinks but not enough to sully their genuine and collected emotions relating to their love. It was more of a boosting effect of confidence that helped propelled the next thing to come.
"Bel… I'm ready… to give my everything… to you. This is our first night together… in this home, and… I'm ready if you are…" Her breath was heavy and husky as her lips seductively continued to peck at her lover's lips between words.
Belfast met her in those urges, and she gripped the shoulders of her girlfriend, expressing how ready she was. "Ent-Ent… I want that too, but… are you absolutely sure?" This would be their first time and that notion was not lost on them. That night in Enterprise's room didn't go any further other than aggressive making out.
"I'm ready. Bel…" She paused and detached herself from her lover's lips, and Belfast could see the out of breath and flustered expression of Enterprise. The carrier had something she wanted to say, and the light cruiser could read her like a book. "No, Enterprise. I can happily say for the first time that I lack experience in this task before me. But… I do have second-hand knowledge about what to do if you let me lead," she seductively said into her ear.
"Second hand…?" Enterprise blushed even more if that was humanly possible, and she wondered in what way that was supposed to mean.
The head maid playfully took the aviators from atop the carrier's head and wore them with a seductive grin. "It means, that I've read up on it, Miss Enterprise," she cheekily concluded.
"Oh! I… too have been reading up!" There was an embarrassment on her face as she had taken Hornet's advice and learned a lot about her human side that drew these urges.
Belfast lowered the aviators from her eyes very inquisitively. "Then let's learn even more together."
Clothes dropped as they made their way to the bedroom backward, their mouths exploring the other with each step they took. A tweed red coat plummeted, a dark blue jacket soon followed, a pink top discarded, and a black turtleneck silently dropped onto the doorway of the bedroom.
In their room, a world where it belonged to them and only them, the light cruiser ran her hands through the silky white hair of her lover. Her urges became unchecked and the maid within that held a standard of being proper and elegant discarded her ideals, and let the wild and naughty depths of her soul reign.
That's how much she loved this woman, this Eagle Union woman that drove her wild and made her feel comfortable to express these unbecoming urges. Only for her, only she would see all the layers of her that night.
Enterprise gripped her firmly from the backside, eliciting a happy moan from the royal. Her hands then changed, smoothly traveling underneath her skirt and feeling the warmth and softness that was the maid.
Belfast moaned, almost growling hotly as she threw her whole self toward the carrier, causing them to hit the dresser violently behind Enterprise and potentially breaking something, if only they had the initial thought to stop and turn on the lights.
From this hit, her carnal desires were severed from her mind, realizing how rough she had been with Enterprise, and the maid within forced herself to resurface to tend to her lover, ultimately acting as the lowered curtain of their display of passion.
But it didn't play out like that. Tender hands continued to support her and lips graced her with love all over, leaving her spellbound with wide eyes. From the moonlight of the room, Enterprise's eyes remained full of love and no ounce of pain flashed across them. "It's okay... you don't need to hide. I can take it."
Enterprise knew her girlfriend's nature. She had always been assertive and strong-willed and translating that to love-making wasn't a stretch of the imagination. This raw and destructive passion meant a lot to the carrier as she knew that the light cruiser was comfortable in letting her hair down, in a manner of speaking.
Belfast softened her eyes, and joyful tears cascaded down her face, only nodding and nothing else. Her skirt came fully off along with her red lace bra and matching panties followed by Enterprise's white bra and form-fitting jeans that had been giving Belfast a wonderful view all day. She was now completely naked and only one thing stood between them and total vulnerability.
Enterprise tried to hide her burning face from Belfast as she was gently laid out on the bed shortly after having a mini red hot meltdown from seeing her girlfriend in nothing but her birthday suit.
The royal effortlessly stripped her off her last article of clothing, that being her white panties that now left them fully exposed to each other. "Ent-Ent, you also don't need to hide from me." She seductively crawled over her and lined herself in the spot that brought their cores to touching.
Enterprise gasped softly and removed her hand from her face, gazing into the love found in her girlfriend's eyes.
Belfast with tear-stained eyes grinned beautifully and her hands reached out to the hands of her lover.
Their fingers perfectly overlapped like gears in a machine that perpetuated the metaphorical love machine that was working overtime within the both.
The archer jolted in sexual awakening when her girlfriend began to move her hips. Their lips harmoniously soon connected, making them feel arousal on two fronts.
Up in the sky, no clouds dared to block the moon from continuing to bathe the dark room with a ghostly light via the window, and their romantic magical atmosphere persisted.
Belfast nakedly stood over her lover while they held onto each other's hands and their faces were mere inches from each other.
Excited, heavy, and purposeful moans filled the room like music to the other's ear. The head maid of the Royal Navy, which might not be a title she would carry for long, rhythmically moved her hips, causing her back to arch slightly given her position, and the woman that ruled her heart followed her lead as she buried her head deeper into the pillows.
Recovering from that wave of pleasure, Belfast sensually lingered her smoldering gaze below, seeing the blissful and defenseless expression that protected nothing for the Eagle Union's strongest.
Enterprise didn't need to bring up a front or guard herself as the woman she loved would keep her together while she went through shattering stimulation after shattering stimulation in her crash destination to melting orgasm. "Belfast… I love you… I love you so much…" she weakly forced those words out and she wrestled away from their joint hand lock to bring the maid down for another kiss, while also stopping their hip motions.
They kissed, exploring the mouth of the others in a methodically and passionate battle for dominance. Enterprise felt her breathing give out and it seemed like Belfast had the higher lung capacity to keep going.
The royal sensed the discomfort that her lover was putting herself through and they parted, creating a strand of saliva that complemented their steamy kiss. "I love you, Enterprise." She lovingly smiled and in the moonlight through the window, Enterprise could see all the beauty and elegance that hypnotized her, and she asked herself that no woman could be this painfully beautiful.
Funny enough, Belfast was emulating the same thoughts, seeing the messy long white hair of the carrier spilled on the bed and beads of sweat from their earlier motions that elevated the carrier's equally voluptuous chest. The devil-like Bel within the maid, who she would only entertain because of this private and intimate moment, cheekily possessed her to begin moving her hips again, sending Enterprise to a light thrashing motion with her head jerking left and right.
With closed eyes, the carrier let out euphoric light and breathy moans through her smiling. Fully embracing her human desires, she grabbed her girlfriend's hand and playfully bit on her index finger before giving her sultry eyes and shifting to the ring finger implying something with the way she tended to it lovingly. The waves of pleasure and bliss assaulted her relentlessly, but the finger gnawing helped her focus on something outside of their cores joining as one under a banner of pleasure.
They stopped and Belfast fully lifted herself to a seating position on top of her lover, her finger still in use by the archer. "Enterprise, what a cute quirk you have. Would you prefer nibbling on something else?" Breathily uttered the maid.
The Eagle Union let go of her finger and her hazy eyes landed on a particular set of twins that had always teased her, especially with the way the maid's uniform in the past had always suggestively hinted at a lack of bra.
A faint tint of blush appeared on the royal's face and she pridefully placed a hand on top of her heavy bosom, keeping eyesight with her as she loved the attention that only she could extract from the carrier. "I see. They belong to you Ent-Ent. It's up to you if you wish to go gentle or not."
Enterprise's eyes burned with desire, and she followed her heart by assertively bringing herself up to meet the loving gaze of her girlfriend. In the next second, she gently closed her mouth around her teasing girlfriend's left nipple. The royal threw her head back and immediately changed tunes, wailing like a demon in the night.
Enterprise cutely mumbled a speech that came out like that due to her refusal to detach herself from her girlfriend's nipple. "Quiet or the neighbors might hear you."
The playful grievance that shouldn't be taken seriously resonated out of the busy mouth of the carrier. In a way, she got her payback for the jab the light cruiser said during the massage.
Belfast sensually looked down, a bright teeth smile appearing faintly across her face as the right side of her hair covered one eye. She was not mad and understood that Enterprise's comment was all fun and games, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to partake in it. "Hmm... you're so cruel. Especially when you're the one... suckling on me like a baby. Maybe I should wean you off—" she hissed, moaning happily at how her girlfriend reacted. Instead of using words, she sucked more thoroughly and tenderly, until she grew bold and bit ever so gingerly, making the pleasure linger for as long as she could.
Enterprise let go with a pop sound and her pleading eyes cast upward toward her girlfriend with the most vulnerable side to her that no one had ever seen. Her mouth opened inaudibly, then she smiled faintly before moving her lips again. "Never leave me, Bel." Her words were like that of someone who knew what she wanted and had gained a bit of healthy selfishness.
With her mouth slightly in awe, the maid giggled joyously, and a tear cascaded down her cheek. She wrapped her arms around Enterprise's head, bringing her in to feel her heartbeat. Then she adjusted her legs to wrap around the waist of the carrier. They were back in the same position as that night and a smile formed across Enterprise's face.
"You're stuck with me like gum, Miss Enterprise. Your loneliness will never be a thing again."
Enterprise reunited her lips with Belfast and they both continued to explore every inch of their bodies into the long hours of the night. No sleep was granted that night, but they had the rest of the next day for that.
This one-shot went through a few changes while planning it out, and I really did have a blast writing it. The tricky part about this one was the title, which eluded me so much. Originally, it was going to be called "Roots" as the idea of Enterprise making an effort to carry out her promise was front and center, and she wanted to find a starting ground to set that goal going. But then it started growing and changing, making that plot thread minor for it to carry that title.
The other title I had in mind was going to be called "The Love Dilemma" since Belfast was at a point in her love life where she was choosing between duty and love.
That one felt more in line with the overall story but then I added the commander into the story, and I started to think that one didn't do all that justice. Belfast choosing between Enterprise and her duty would be something I would like to explore more and flesh out for another one-shot in the future, so maybe that title will get used one day.
I settled with "Dual Hope" for the title because when writing this, I felt very uplifted and hopeful for their future with the commander being there to keep them together since this story starts very somberly with the implication of Belfast departing. The dual hope comes from the commander being there for them, and Belfast motivating Enterprise to look ahead toward a bright future.
Before I wrap this up, there are a few things I want to get input from you all. I referenced the presence of the commander in this story as I do want to include them in different stories. My commander will be female and I was curious to know if that's something you all would like to see? Like funny interactions with her, Belfast, and Enterprise. And her being like a type of wingwoman for Enterprise.
Also, as I write these, I try to stay truthful about how the characters would act, and if anyone could give me pointers or voice their thoughts, I'll appreciate the knowledge. Enterprise sometimes feels a bit tricky. I like to write her with a blend of both her personalities in the anime and the mobile game. With how the anime ended with her being more hopeful in her place in life and how her mindset had changed, I try to convey Enterprise as one who is always trying to better herself and is aware of her faults.
Story ideas! I have my own that I will write and already have my next one that will be a little different than the three so far, but if there's any story, you'll like me to make please feel free to ask me.
That leads me to my final note. I do have an idea of Enterprise and Belfast being parents as an awesome reader brought it up. So, my question is, what kind of parent style would you like to see Bel and Enty? Should I make it as little Bel and little Enterprise being like surrogate daughters (or sisters?) for them or should I make it where, under odd situations, one of them finds themselves pregnant?
On this road of Coffee Leaf, I'll be doing both sooner or later but whichever you all will prefer more would be the one that will come out first. That's pretty much it and I'll end it here. Thank you all for reading and I'll see you next time!
