A Fresh Start Chapter 2, an azur lane/碧蓝航线 fanfic

Part Two – Settling in

After our adventure at the cattery, Algérie walked us back to my quarters, sighting that she still had not had that drink with me yet, Cassidy seemed happy to have the company. During the walk, I spotted a pub and I asked the two that were with me, "Anyone hungry?"

Cassidy spun around on the spot and grinned at me, I never needed to ask, she could always eat. I looked to Algérie who smiled at me and said, "I'm okay, but go ahead, we could have that drink another time Commandant."

Cassidy tugged on Algérie's arm, giving her puppy dog eyes, making her lower lip tremble as she asked, "Please!"

Cassidy is a master with that look of hers, she's used to it get her way more times than I'd like to admit, seems that Algérie isn't immune to it either as she crumbles and says, "Tu es tellement adorable! Oui, I'll come along… So long as you are sure it is alright Commandant?"

I give a nod as I say, "I wouldn't have offered if it wasn't."

Both of them link arms and head off towards the pub, forcing me to catch up. I hope that this is the start of Cassidy being really happy and not just the novelty of the new location that has her in such a good mood right now.

After dinner I'm tucking Cassidy in for the night after she had demanded a story from Algérie, thankfully Algérie had indulged it. Just as I hug Cassidy good night she says to me, "I like Miss Algérie, she's nice."

Smile at Cassidy and say to her, "She sure is… Good night sweetheart."

I click off the light, close the door and head downstairs where I see that Algérie is still waiting on my couch, mason jar of wine in hand. She smiles at me and says, "You are good to tuck her in."

I give a weak half-smile as I take my own glass, she pats the couch next to her let me know to come and sit. As soon as I sit down, I look at her and say, "Thanks for indulging her with a story, it's something she's going to remember for the next little while."

"Non, non, I was happy to. It was fun to do something...so normal." She said to me, taking a sip of her wine.

"Still, thanks for tonight, I can't really remember the last time she went to bed this happy." I say to her, sipping my own wine.

Algérie leans forward a little to look at me and she smiles again, crossing her knees so that they could point at me a little and uses her free hand to fluff out her hair in my direction, if I didn't know better I think she was trying to send me signals of some kind. I sigh inwardly; I'd been out of the game so long I wasn't sure if I was reading things correctly. I think she picked up on my confusion as her smile faded a little before she patted me on the knee and leaned back to finish her wine, once it was gone she stood and said to me on her way to the door, "Bonne nuit Commandant."

I knew that one! I stood and followed her to the door and said to her once it was clear she was ready to go, "Good night Algérie, I look forward to spending more time with you."

I see a slight blush come to her cheeks as said that, what surprised me however was she leaned in and kissed my cheeks, her lips felt so soft and I could smell flowers on her… I forgot how nice women could smell. When she leans back she gives me a shy smile before saying "Bye, bye." and heading out into the night.

I close the door and sigh, leaning my forehead against the inner door and wonder if I screwed up somehow already…

XXXX

A couple of weeks have gone by and we're starting to get things figured out, the mornings are the roughest, having to get Cassidy up and fed before we head into my office. But she's been good about doing some school work while I go through my own duties; I stop and help when I can. From my office couch, I hear Cassidy groan out, "Ugh! This sucks…"

"Cassidy!" I call out when she says that, I've been doing my best to curb some of the language she uses that isn't appropriate to her age.

She gets off the couch and brings over her datapad and puts it in front of me, pointing to her assigned classes from her old school, I spot the problem quickly, a class that I can't help her with… Then it clicks for me and I use the intercom, "Dunkerque, can you come in here? I have something I'd like to ask of you."

A few moments later my door opens and I see the warm smile on the Battleship as she asks, "Oui Commandant?"

I wait for her to close the door behind her and I take a deep breath, I hate to ask this, but really, this is a fantastic opportunity and I ask, "Dunkerque, not to put you on the spot and this is something you can decline as this is a personal request and it would be a favor to me…"

Dunkerque crosses the room and takes a seat in one of the chairs across from me, her head tilted to the side and I continue, "Cassidy has to take a second language class and she was assigned to learn French. My own French is horrible; I took one class about twelve years ago…"

Dunkerque smiles at me warmly, tapping her chin with a finger. I get the idea that she already knows what I getting at with actually asking, she looks to Cassidy, giving her a bigger smile as she said, "Oui, I can help with that."

I relax like I was feeling tenser about this than I had thought, Dunkerque looked back to me, her rose-colored eyes looking so softly at me as she says, "In return, I wish for you to try out some new recipes I've been thinking about."

Before I can say anything Cassidy gleefully exclaims, "Done!"

I watch as both Dunkerque and Cassidy leave my office to go and work on some French language skills, perhaps this will give me a chance to really buckle down on some of the tasks I need to get done now.

Before I knew it, lunch had rolled around and I get out of my chair and head to the door, when I open it I see Dunkerque in the kitchenette, she smiles at me as before the timer goes off on the stove and she takes something out of it. I look around the room and don't see my daughter, I'm about to ask when Dunkerque answers the unasked question, "Bouge came by looking for someone to play baseball, they needed one more of even teams… Cassidy seemed very enthusiastic to play."

I sigh inwardly and worried she'd be alright, the kansen had a physical advantage over humans. Dunkerque seems to pick up on how I'm feeling, she says to me while plating up what she took out of the oven, "She will be fine, it is good for her to play… Bouge, despite her appearance, is very responsible."

She walks over to me and hands me a plate with what looks like a rolled-up ham and cheese sandwich that had been baked in an oven, Dunkerque pats me on the shoulder as she says, "Rouleau de poulet cordon bleu."

I watch as she walks into my office and takes a seat on the couch, using the table to support her plate, I shrug and follow, as I sit across from her, I watch as she uses her fork to break apart the item and I feel a little awkward as I watch her slowly draw her fork out of her mount between her lips before she smiles and says to me, "I think this is one of the things I enjoy most about having this body, being able to enjoy food."

That reminded me, that she's still new to having a body like hers, I see her lean back against the couch, her legs crossed at the ankles, she gives me another soft smile, a slight pink hue to her cheeks as she asks me, "Commandant when was the last time you did anything just for yourself?"

Wow, what I question. I lean back in my chair and look at the dish that Dunkerque had given me. After a few moments, I lean forward as I say, "A very long time ago… Before Cassidy was born."

"Small steps then, go to the eastern beach this weekend, enjoy the sun and relax Commandant." She said to me, a big smile on her lips, how could I say no to that?

XXXX

It was shortly before dinner and well I was starting to get a little worried, I hadn't seen Cassidy since this morning, but I reminded myself what Dunkerque had said, she was with Bouge, still, it was strange to not hear from her by now. I take out the pizza from the oven to let it cool down a little just as I hear the door open, and I let out a breath with my built-up tension. However, my curiosity perks up when I hear two voices I don't know along with my daughter's. I lean to look down the hall and I see Cassidy standing with a girl that could pass as her sister and another blond, but this one had yellow eyes. Cassidy spots me, points at me and she says, "That's my Dad."

Both of the kansen girls stiffen up, Cassidy catches on and she says, "Don't worry, he's really nice."

I give the three of them a welcoming smile and ask, "Do you two like pepperoni pizza?"

I see the two of them look at each other like they're not sure what to say or do. Cassidy pushes them from behind towards the kitchen as she tells them, "He's inviting you guys in for dinner."

I sit back and let the three of them devour the pizza in short order and regale me with stories of the game they played and the exploring of the island that they did after. Once the two of them left for the night I turned to Cassidy, she had a big smile on her face as she said, "I managed to make a couple of friends today; maybe this place isn't so bad."

I hug her and realize I was more worried than I needed to be. Really being on the base was the safest place in the world right now and I knew that the kansen would do everything they could to keep her safe… maybe I need to loosen up a little. Once the hug ends, I kneel and ask her, "What do you think about going down to the eastern beach this weekend?"

Cassidy smiles and asks, "Can I ask Bouge and Maury if they want to go too?"

I smile at her and say, "Sure."

Cassidy leaps at me and wraps her arms around my neck, giving me a tight squeeze before she lets go and says, "I'm going to go and get into the bath, I was sweating a lot today… Playing baseball was really hard today!"

As soon as she's gone, I hear a knock at my door, I turn and open it to see Dunkerque standing there, a basket on her arm and she smiles at me as she says, "Bonsoir Commandant, care for some company?"

I step back from the door as I say, "Sure, though I'm sure Cassidy will be joining us once her bath is done."

Dunkerque gives me a warm smile as she enters, taking off her shoes and crossing to the living room where she put down the basket; she looked over her left shoulder at me as she said, "I'm glad to hear that she made it home safely."

I laugh as I come and sit down, she takes off the cover from the basket to show some wine, bread, and cheeses, I look at her and smile as I said, "She came home with two new friends, I was happy to feed the three of them…"

Dunkerque took the items out and started to make a little picnic on my coffee table, and then she sat beside me, reached over, and poured herself some wine while she put some cheese and meat on some of the bread as she said, "Good, I knew she would be fine."

I nod, as I copy what she had done, I take a sip of the wine while sitting back, I look down at the glass and sigh before I admit to her, "You were right, I need to stop worrying… the base is the safest place in the world I could have her at right now."

"Oui, but what about you?" she asks me, twisting slightly to look at me.

"What I need doesn't matter; Cassidy being happy and healthy is what matters to me." I say to her.

"Commandant, it is admirable that you put her first, but you need to take time for yourself." she says to me, touching my leg as she does so.

My right thigh tensed at the unexpected contact, I was about to say something when I hear footfalls on the stairs, followed quickly by Cassidy exclaiming, "Miss Dunk… I mean Mademoiselle Dunkerque!"

Dunkerque took her hand off of my leg and smiled at Cassidy as she said, "Très Bien."

Cassidy grinned bigger as she plopped herself down between myself and Dunkerque as she said, "Merci!"

Sighing inwardly at the interruption I ask Cassidy, "What's up sweetheart?"

Cassidy looks to the clock and sighs, "I was coming down to let you know I'm ready for a story… but could I bug you, Mademoiselle, to read one to me?"

Dunkerque looked like she was taken by surprise at the request and Cassidy added with a grin as she said, "Mademoiselle Algérie read me one the other night…"

I see something flash through Dunkerque's eyes for a moment before that normal warmth returned to them and she took Cassidy upstairs with but one word, "Oui."

That was my first clue that something was going on that I wasn't totally in the loop about and that maybe I had been reading the signals right the other night. After a while, I'm pulled from my thoughts when I hear Dunkerque say to me "She is asking for you, I'm going to head home now Commandant. I will see you both in the morning."

I give her a hand packing up and say to her, "Good night Dunkerque, thank you for all the help you've given me."

She smiles at me and kisses my cheeks before she says "Bonne nuit Commandant."

As the door closes I sigh and head upstairs to finish tucking in Cassidy. Once I get up there I see my daughter sitting up in her bed, her brow knit together like she's trying to figure something out so I ask, "What's up sweetheart?"

Cassidy looks to me, still looking like she's trying to figure something out as she says, "I don't understand…"

I take a seat at the end of her bed and ask, "Don't understand what?"

She draws her knees up to her chest and rests her chin on her knees as she says, "Miss Dunkerque was asking if you and Miss Algérie were doing any 'grown-up stuff' the other night… I said that you two were drinking a grown-up drink… Miss Dunkerque didn't seem to like that answer too much. I hope she's not mad at you…"

I shake my head and reach over to ruffle her hair as I say, "I wouldn't worry about that. Now, where is that book we were reading?"

She reaches under her pillow and pulls out an old worn copy of Thea Stilton and the Tropical Treasure, I crack the book open to where we had the bookmark and start to read her the story.

XXXX

When we got into the office the next morning I was surprised, and maybe a little worried when Dunkerque gave what I thought was a forced smile as she told us both, "Bonjour Commandant et Cassidy."

We both greeted her in turn and I ushered Cassidy into my office, telling her to get started on her math and science classes. Once she had closed my office door, I took a seat across from Dunkerque, I may have been out of practice with women, but I knew enough to know when there might be a problem. Taking off my cap and placing it in my lap I ran a hand through my closely cropped light brown hair, closing my eyes and readying myself for what every may come as I ask, "Is everything okay Dunkerque? You left rather abruptly last night."

She is quiet for a moment before telling me, "Oui, everything is fine."

Fine… damn. I learned fast that whenever Cassidy's mom used that word everything was not fine. I sigh and look down at my cap before I ask, "Did I do something?"

"Non, as I said Commandant, everything is fine." She insisted.

Pinching the bridge of my nose I say, "I know enough to know that when a woman says 'everything is fine', it's anything but fine."

I see her blush, likely out of embarrassment that I knew enough to know the real meaning of the word 'fine' in this context. She sighs, leaning back in her chair, folding her arms under her bust, and looking off to the door to my office and I say, "Look be mad at me if you need to, but please don't take it out on Cassy. But I'll understand if you don't want to help her anymore with French."

That seemed to snap Dunkerque out of whatever she was thinking at that moment as she turned her rose-colored eyes on me and said, "Non, non. Cassidy did nothing wrong… Neither have you, Commandant."

I lean back in my chair and I ask, "Well I know you're mad about something, so what is it?"

Again she blushed and tried to avoid eye contact as she said, "It is a personal thing between me and Algérie."

I sit a little more forward in my chair; I feel a little more relaxed knowing that it wasn't something I did and I ask, "Is there anything I can do to help smooth things over between you two?"

Dunkerque looks down and away as she smiles a little and says with her heavy French accident, "That is very sweet of you to offer Commandant, but non, this is not something you can help with."

I sigh inwardly; there is nothing I can do if she won't let me help. Getting up from the chair I cross to the door to my office, just before I enter I say to her, "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."

"Of course Commandant." She says to me with another smile, this one felt a little more genuine than that first one had.

Closing the door behind me, Cassidy turns to me and asks, "Is everything okay with Miss Dunkerque?"

I give Cassidy a warm smile as I cross the room, and sit beside her to start going over some of the math work as I say, "It's nothing you need to worry about sweetheart."

Cassidy brings up her tablet as she says, "She just seemed so off last night after I mentioned Miss Algérie, I was worried I did something wrong… I like Miss Dunkerque and I don't want her mad at me."

Sitting down beside Cassidy I draw her into a hug as I say, "She's not mad at you, she's not mad at me…. Something is going on between her and Algérie, but she won't tell me what it is. Now, let's get a look at these math problems."

XXXX

Just before lunchtime Bouge and Maury came by my office looking for Cassidy, seeing how happy it made her seeing them both, I couldn't bring myself to not let her go and play, besides we can always meet the target deadlines that her teacher laid out for the week by doing a little work after dinner. I sigh and spin my chair to look out over the port and start to think about what could be going on between Algérie and Dunkerque, both were lead ships of both their classes and… oh. I spin back around and bring up the data on the Vichya detachment to see who the default leader of the detachment is.

I just got the profile to come up when my door opens and I see an irritated looking Dunkerque glaring at Algérie from behind. Algérie walks into my office, looks over her shoulder at Dunkerque just before she uses a hip to close the door behind her. I tilt my head sideways and start to wonder what might be in the basket she had on her arm, a smile played at the edges of her mouth as she asked me, "Commandant, would you like to slack off with me for a bit?"

She giggled, bringing her left hand to her lips as she added, "I won't tell anyone if you do."

I sit back a bit and turn off the monitor as I say to her, "I could use a break."

"Bien." She said to me with a smile on her lips as she sat across from me and started to take out some sandwiches, placing one down for each of us.

Algérie leaned forward in the chair, resting a hand on the side of her face as she asked me, "So Commandant, what have toy been up to these last couple of weeks?"

She is so very pretty I remind myself and I'm a little surprised that she's interested in hearing what I've been up to. Maybe she is taking an interest in me beyond just me being her commander… This puts me in a difficult spot, doubly so after hearing what Dunkerque was asking Cassidy about last night. I give her a half-smile as I say, "Nothing much really. I'm working on getting a balance between work and Cassidy's needs… I'm thankful that Dunkerque has been willing to take on teaching Cassidy the French language."

For an instant I see irritation flash through her purple-blue eyes, it really makes me curious as to what is going on in the Vichya fleet. However that flash was quickly replaced by the warmth I'd gotten used to seeing in them, and based on how Dunkerque had answered about it, I decided not to press the subject with Algérie… at least not right now, so I turned around and asked her, "Any plans for this weekend?"

"Non, none that I can think of, why?" she asked me, putting down her sandwich and leaned forward.

"At Dunkerque's suggestion I'm going to take Cassidy to the eastern beach, I know she's going to have Bouge and Maury along…" I said to her, leaning a little forward.

I see a little smile start at the edges of her mouth as she teases me with, "Why Commandant, are you asking me out?"

It was my turn to blush; I hadn't really thought about it in that context, more that I enjoy spending time with Algérie and that Cassidy seems to like her too. Then again, the same can be said with Dunkerque, I like spending time with her too and Cassidy has really taken to her. When I don't answer right away, she giggles a little and defuses the situation by telling me, "Oui, I'll come along, even if as a friend for now."

I found that I was smiling at her answer, however, my attention was turned back to my computer when it made a noise, telling me that an important message had been received. I gave her an apologetic smile as I turned my attention to it, giving it a read I'm sure I must've looked confused. Algérie tilted her head to the side and asked, "Is there something wrong?"

I shook my head as I said, "I'm not sure… I've been told to expand my dock space to accommodate a detachment from the Iris Libre that is going to be joining is us in just over a month from now."

Algérie leaned back in her chair and blinked at me a couple of times and silence filled the room.

XXXX

Chapter two done… I have a funny feeling that this one might expand beyond the normal 4/5 chapters I've been doing lately, mostly since I'm laying the groundwork for something larger at play.