A/N: A random thought turned into an introduction to a possible story on the way home from work?
Not entirely sure where I'm going to go with this, really. I hope you all enjoy what I have so far.
Hope I portray things right.
She burned brightly that day, the culminations of naught but a few moments and hundreds of lives wiped from the USN in mere moments. It was a flash of heat from within, birthed from a wound made from the heavens, a bomb that ignited her and tore her apart. One thousand one hundred and seventy-seven souls erased from the world in a flash of a moment and in a way, to carry those deaths felt heavier than any burden she had come to know since being born again in this world at the edge. A vessel remembered for tragedy, never given an opportunity for vengeance and eventually it had become an icon of patriotism... of anger.
She had been beautiful once, but now she saw naught but ugliness, a face and body ruined by the beating heart of nationalism belonging to an empire now dead and ground to nothing. Yet, to her it felt hollow, like her passing never truly mattered. It drew up memories of her summoning, a sterile and almost medical scent that lacked the salt of the sea where she truly belonged. She had heard what the repair vessel had told her, that something went wrong that somehow the Arizona was marked by the past and while some couldn't bear the thought of looking at her, she learned the extent of her scars.
After the scars came the dreams of fire, of blood, of sweat and water. She had felt a waking nightmare of sinking into a shallow abyss to be honored for doing naught but dying at home. Now, given a second chance, she found herself in a dwindling Navy with an officer's commission and now on loan while other, more effective vessels stretched across the coast. To protect the United States and her shores while she played liaison with the nation that had sunk her, had scarred her, had ruined her. Was it hate that she felt for this verdant country at the blade's edge of ruin? She couldn't tell, not in full... at least not yet. Yet something crossed her mind, the errant thought of someone deep within her hull as she sank.
Remember me. Avenge me.
"'Mam." A voice invaded her thoughts, causing her head to turn slightly towards the young petty officer that acted as her escort. "I believe we're behind schedule."
"They can wait." She answered, a voice softer than newly fallen snow. "Think they'll let me sail?"
Her escort said nothing.
"My apologies Petty Officer, we shouldn't keep our Japanese allies waiting any more than they have already." She turned to face him, her cover obscuring most of her features.
"Yes, Lieutenant Commander." He answered. "Permission to speak fre-"
Arizona cut him off as she began walking back towards the sidewalk, leading away from the ocean's edge. "Granted, but I've already told you, I would rather have your candor than wait for it every time you feel the need to say something."
"Yes, Lieutenant Commander." He answered immediately. "Your rigging was brought to the Yokosuka Naval base, I was informed of this an hour ago, I... I didn't want to interrupt you."
"Was I standing there for that long?" She asked him off-handedly, ignoring the fact that she had been granted her equipment. "Only felt like a few minutes."
"Two hours and thirty-seven minutes, 'Mam." He answered curtly.
"Sorry." She voiced an earnest apology. "I didn't mean to leave you standing there for so long."
"Don't worry about it, Commander." He replied swiftly, the taps of his dress shoes filling the silence between the lapping ocean waves. "It does me good to think about stuff once and awhile."
She didn't answer the petty officer, if only because there was nothing further to add towards the conversation and much of their talks ended in this fashion. Arizona was aware of mild personal details, that he was dating someone and soon to be married, his contract was up in a year and that he wanted to open a business back at home. Simple details, really, nothing too outlandish and nothing too outstanding. Arizona preferred it to be that way, if only it made it easier for her to let others go and while she had been on American soil, it was hard for her not to feel protective for others. Yet such feelings only caused her pain or moments of it and more often than not, she considered such wishes and wants to be fleeting. In her eyes, she was unproven but she also served in a logistical capacity, being as crippled as she was. There was naught else to do and naught else to say, this was his last posting before he would be on his way home.
A quiet departure is what she wanted for him, rather than a violent one.
Admiral Saito reviewed a missive addressed to her from the newest representative from the United States, detailing that their arrival would be delayed. It was a curious thing to review, if only for the fact that it was a delayed arrival, having missed their initial arrival time by two hours! Frustration spread across her face as she read through the missive's details along with the manifest of equipment that was delivered. Not that she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, having been quite excited for the newest addition, the Admiral had taken notice of a few details of their new arrival, particularly the ship class and their name.
Closing her eyes, she drew in a breath and spoke up. "Kaga, I think it's time we had a bit of a talk about our newcomer."
"Of course." She said with the poise and dedication afforded to her station.
"While I doubt it will be of any trouble, I feel it should be made known that our American allies have decided to gift us with a ship." She began, her eyes studying the carrier quite closely. "BB-39, the USS Arizona will be attached to Yokosuka base in order to better address the supply line logistics."
She observed Kaga's reaction, as minute as it was, the Admiral could see it. No doubt memories of the war crossed through her mind and while several American ships were already apart of the fleet, it was odd to have some semblance of autonomy, though the vessels on loan with the JMSDF fell under the provisional command of the Admiral herself and whomever she assigned into the command structure. The missive had several letters of recommendation and another letter addressed to both herself and high command which had initially made her brow furrow. As formal as it was, she saw no reason to deny the request itself, though she wondered as to why the USN didn't want her participating in sorties.
"I-I'm sure it will be of no issue on my part, Admiral." Kaga answered coolly, maintaining her legendary attitude, or at least she was attempting to maintain it.
"I'm certain it will be of no issue, regardless." She said, agreeing, as she stood up and grabbed her cover as she headed out of her office.
The two of them stepped through headquarters and out into the compound proper as the sun beamed down into Saito's eyes. The Admiral scanned the general area for a moment, seeing what vessels that milled about were up to and much to her relief there was little in the way of commotion. She had half expected Naka to have been worked up about throwing some kind of welcoming party or some-such, perhaps the kami were smiling upon her or perhaps they weren't. Regardless, it mattered little as her and Kaga made their way across the base towards the entrance where the Arizona was slated to meet them.
Hopefully, things would be alright.
Aoba had caught wind of a new arrival and having caught wind of something even remotely interesting uncovered where she was to show up. Though it wasn't hard to guess from where this newcomer was from as there had been talk between some of the American ships and while all of them were excited to see this living mystery, there was a literal ocean of mixed feelings. She overheard Iowa speaking quite candidly with Kongou about it and the sheer amount of uncertainty that surrounded the whole ordeal had interested her quite greatly. Even so, she felt as though she needed to chase down the truth and it seemed that the truth was fast approaching, having caught the outline of USN dress blues.
Yet as the figure approached, something felt slightly off about her appearance. Still, Aoba would not be dissuaded from a potential scoop! Was this mysterious kanmusu some famous vessel from the war? Her curiosity was brimming and almost boiling over with the potential excitement of a new story, what was the reason that the Americans were so conflicted ove-...
Then she saw it, a glittering flash of reflected sunlight from a left hand and as she got closer, the limp was more and more obvious. Shame overtook her senses as she dropped her pencil and notepad as her eyes were fixed upon the Kanmusu's approaching form. She wore traditional naval uniform, but the long coat made her seem apart of command staff and the cane she carried with her seemed almost ornate in nature. Details mirroring military tradition and design, with countless notches across the cane itself. She had assumed it was a sword at first, but the way she moved, the gait, it was all wrong and the shame was just overwhelming.
"Aoba?" A voice came from behind, causing the Kanmusu to spin around, caught in the act as the Admiral approached.
Already Saito seemed to have assessed the situation and finally caught sight of what Aoba had been fixed on. She could see that it was indeed the newcomer to the base, their liason and strategic planner so to speak. Out of her peripheral, she caught the immoveable Kaga's gaze averting as though ashamed as others seemed to gather about to look on at what was happening. Regardless, the admiral steeled herself, her expression hardening for a moment as she stepped towards Aoba and placed a gentle hand on the Kanmusu's shoulder. She leaned towards the cruiser and whispered words of wisdom that snapped her from whatever trance she was in.
"She will notice if you stare too intently." She said in a hushed voice. "Don't worry Aoba, she'll be fine."
"R-right..." Aoba stammered out. "I-… I'm sorry Admiral."
"I know..." She replied as Aoba retreated from the scene, looking over her shoulder at the approaching battleship.
"USS Arizona, I presume?" The Admiral greeted the battleship as she stepped forward, extending a hand in welcome. "Welcome to Yokosuka."
"You didn't need to come all the way to the entrance to welcome me, Admiral." Came the battleship's response. It was professional, firmly rooted with military bearing and a level of seriousness common among higher echelons of officers. "But thank you."
Much of Arizona's features were hidden by the officer's cap she wore and while the weather was quite hot today, it seemed that Arizona felt nothing of it. Instead, the Admiral began to converse with the battleship about the base itself and the amenities it had to offer, even an offer to allow her to room with other Americans if it offered the comfort of home or at least being around some who were familiar.
"I'll be fine." She answered, almost immediately as they stood in front of headquarters. "If you need me to room with another vessel from another nation, feel free to do so."
"We can talk about lodgings later, then." Saito said coolly as she held the door for both Arizona and Kaga.
As the two Kanmusu stepped through the doorway, Arizona took her cover off, revealing that half of her face was horribly scarred to the point of where it wouldn't be far off to call her two faced if one was so rudely inclined. The scarring was quite extensive on the right side of her face, burns that extended from her hairline, across half of her right eye, curling around her lips and extending into her clothing. It was impossible to tell just how extensive her scarring was, but it wasn't something that others were used to seeing. Sure, repair could be done, but what had been done to her? It seemed permanent. Regardless, she caught Kaga's brief moment of mortification or something similar to being confronted to something so visceral.
It was painful to look at and yet for some reason, the Admiral found herself appreciative that Kaga had been out of Arizona's peripheral when she removed her cover. Her eyes attempted to find purchase elsewhere as she looked down to the missive still in her hands before her mind snapped to the present and she shifted her footing, guiding both the Lieutenant Commander and Kaga through the winding halls into her office. The Admiral herself cursed that Arizona had gotten looks along the way, but she couldn't help but wonder just how bad was the scarring really?
"I did have concerns about the chain of command regarding your fellow vessels." She started, watching Arizona as she took a seat while Kaga attempted to make herself appear busy. "If you don't mind me asking."
Arizona remained standing as she stood in a relaxed position, bringing one of hands to her chin, leather brushing against her jawline. "I would assume you to be in overall command for combat operations. I'm just here to smooth things over, really, but if I were to be candid, I think they wanted me out of Hawaii."
"Even so, that is a relief to hear." Saito commented softly as she sunk into the chair further than normal. "Everyone does their part, but I think it'll be good to have another officer on base, regardless, I think proper introductions are in order."
Arizona straitened and decided to speak in a more official capacity as she offered a gloved hand. "Lieutenant Commander Arizona, BB-39."
"Admiral Meika Saito of the JMSDF, Commanding officer of Yokosuka, this is my Secretary, Kaga, if you need anything please approach us." She said as she gestured towards the regal carrier as Kaga offered the once sunken warship a respectful bow. "If there's anything you need, even if it's just for comfort."
Kaga watched as the Admiral and Arizona spoke with one another, offering what greetings they could and while she felt no need to apologize, it was difficult to look at her. It was one thing to sink a ship and to know it had been done by your pilots and she took pride in their accomplishments, the sinking of the Arizona among them. However, to simply look at her, was to see the true effects of the war. It hurt in a way as she finished her duties for the time being and organized deployment records to be delivered to high command and as she excused herself from the room, she found that the hallway was far lonelier than she originally thought it to be. Sure, there were mental scars, but physical afflictions? That was almost unheard of.
As the Admiral's secretary, she felt almost duty bound to ensure that everyone was taken care of but how was she to do that? Did she have any right to approach her? Her thoughts swirled through her mind as she stepped into the communications office and handed off the required documents, informing the staff to send the encrypted transmissions as soon as possible. After such, she stepped out and caught sight of Arizona as she limped down the hall and all she could do was watch, yet for a split moment, she thought she caught Arizona's eyes fixed on her in some kind of glare.
"She doesn't hold a grudge." A voice came from behind, prompting Kaga to turn to see a scantily clad Iowa. "I don't think she could even be angry with you or any of the others."
Kaga thought for a moment before speaking to the fast battleship. "Though it is none of my affair, I would ask why?"
"Not sure." Iowa said almost to herself. "I know she said she doesn't hold it against you or Hiryu, but I think it's because she accepts what happened."
"Her appearance, her limp, is that our doing?" Kaga asked, almost not even wanting an answer.
Iowa offered little comfort as she replied to the Carrier's question. "Dunno. No one will talk about it... or at least they don't want to."
Kaga simply watched as Iowa muttered something as she left. "Not that I'd ever want to find out.."