Author's Note: Sorry for the delay as I had College's Finals to do. I should theoretically be able to update more frequently now that summer break is here, but I need to prepare for my final year of college. I guess I will find out if I ended up being too busy.

Also, I am not too sure about this yet, but I think that I will not work on my Kantai Collection fan fiction called Birth of Paradox for the moment as I am currently doing more real-life location research before I write Birth of Paradox again. This is because the place where Paradox awakes up is an actual place located between Korea and Japan. Since this is an actual place, I would like to do more research before I write about a fanfiction about the place that Paradox has ended up.

Don't worry though, I will continue to work on my Sunrider fan fiction called Simon's Paradox. I also think that I may introduce another fan fiction I was thinking of doing to replace Birth of Paradox while I am researching the latter, but this is not certain yet.

Also, it should be noted that this is fan fiction. That is why any difference you may see is intentional unless I made a mistake.

I also fixed grammar mistakes for previous chapters.

Anyway, Enjoy my second chapter of Simon's Paradox!

Chapter Two: Calm Before the Storm 2

Simon's point of view

After Maray and I left our parent's mansion in order to report for duty, we headed for one of four Cera City's military bases called Tortoise (the other three bases are called Dragon, Vermillion Bird, and Tiger). Those four bases serve as four guardians to our planet's capital. That is why those four bases are regarded as one of the most important bases on our planet. Of course, other military bases are just as important in Planet Cera, but bases that guard our planetary seat of power are deemed so important that they rival four main military headquarters located elsewhere in Planet Cera.

Anyway, the reason why Maray and I were headed to a military base called Tortoise was because not only this is where we get in a space shuttle to transport us to our military ships out in space, but this is also the place we will meet up with Ava; my fiancé.

It has been a long time since our parents planned to pair Ava and me together when we were 18 years old. We are now 33 years old and it has been only one year ago when our official engagement was made public. It was honestly a political engagement, but I personally didn't mind that. This is because I was already attracted to Ava by this time. That is why I was relieved that my parents weren't against my desire to marry Ava as they were in fact pushing for it.

My wish to marry Ava should have been impossible under normal circumstances. This is because Ava and I represent the future of two different parties in Planet Cera. This is natural as we are heirs to two most prominent military families in Planet Cera: Shield and Crescentia family.

Shield and Crescentia family have always taken opposing stances regarding Cera's planetary policy. For example, Shield family has always advocated for expanding our influences beyond our planet while Crescentia has always advocated for staying isolated on our planet. Shield family advocated for a bigger government while Crescentia advocated for smaller government. Shield family advocated for a big heavy military which emphasizes overwhelming enemy forces while Crescentia family advocated for a small mobile military which emphasizes efficiency and versatility. If the Shield family made their decision based on morality, Crescentia family made their decision based on principle. It would take too long to list every policy that Shield and Crescentia family have different views on, but it is no exaggeration that our family is a natural foil to each other.

That isn't to say that all of our family's policies differ from each other. The third party led by Prime Minister ensures as arbitrator that our two families reach an agreement on something that our two families can universally agree on. Like how we agree on supporting gay marriage, legal abortion, no death sentence unless there is a special circumstance, progressive tax, basic services like education for everyone, vaccination, polygamy (this is allowed only for rare cases or emergency), and so on.

Either way, even if Shield and Crescentia family do have few things that they can agree on, we are ultimately representing two sides that often disagree. That is why this union between Ava and me would normally be unthinkable as long as our family's ideologies differ.

Thankfully, due to how our two families need to be united in order to survive the upcoming Galactic War, this engagement was politically possible. Of course, some compromise still had to be made between two families as there can no longer be any division behind each issue. This can be seen when the Shield and Crescentia family had to compromise on Cera Fleet's compositions and military doctrine. For example, Crescentia family had to accept that Cera had to expand both in military and government in order to exert its influence beyond our planet and can't stay isolated anymore. Shield family had to accept that Cera can't afford big heavy fleet which emphasizes overwhelming enemy forces and instead rely on the small mobile fleet which emphasizes efficiency and versatility. That is why except for my ship called Paradox, all new capital ships were Sunrider class Assault Carriers.

Anyway, this was what I was thinking about when Maray and I saw Ava arriving on time. Ava was also wearing the female version of Cera Military officer's standard uniform like my little sister Maray was. That is why there was no difference between what my little sister and Ava have worn. I, however, have a different impression of Ava compared to my impression of Maray when she wore the same uniform.

This is because although the military uniform tends to look professional and serious, Maray was so bratty and yet adorable that her military uniform almost seems out of place. That is why I still feel like Maray is not part of the military although I logically know that she had enough skill to be a captain of her own ship.

Ava, on the other hand, looks and acts like a professional soldier. She is a stern, serious captain that runs her ship tightly. That is why I think that military uniform doesn't make Ava into a soldier. Ava instead makes the military uniform something that a real soldier wears.

Anyway, Maray reached Ava first and hugged Ava happily. Although Ava was embarrassed about Maray's display of affection, it seems like Ava ultimately liked it. This is because Ava and Maray really got along. Maray always saw Ava as her older sister while Ava also saw Maray as her little sister. I remember how Maray always talked about how it would be nice if Ava was officially part of the Shield family. That is why Maray always tried to get me and Ava get together as a couple in the past. Now that Ava and I were officially engaged and about to marry soon, Maray was so excited about how Ava is her sister-in-law now.

While I am glad that my little sister and Ava got along, I fear that they get along too well. This is because they agree on a lot of things and they think that I should behave more maturely either as her older brother in Maray's opinion or soon to be husband in Ava's opinion. I think that the way I behave is fine, but they think otherwise. That is why they often team up if they ever need to win an argument against me. I swear that although I adore my little sister and fiancé, what they do can annoy me sometimes.

This was what I was thinking when I noticed that Ava finished greeting my little sister and turned to face me. Ava gave her right hand towards me as she intents to do a handshake with me, but I was having none of that. This is because we were not strangers who need to do a handshake as a formal greeting. We are fiancés who are about to get married. That is why after grabbing her right hand with my right hand, I pulled her in. Ava lost her balance as she didn't anticipate my move, but I caught her by hugging her. That is not the only thing I did, however, as I also kissed her as well.

This is everything that I could have hoped for as I am embracing and kissing the woman I love. Our initial relationship wasn't as smooth as it could have been as our personalities couldn't be any more different. She was strict while I was easy going. She was academically smart while I was street smart. She was very diligent while I was a bit lazy. She was unpopular due to how she was unsociable and stuck-up while I was popular because I knew how to get along with others. That is why it initially seems so weird that Ava and I come to love each other, but the only thing I can say is how opposites attract each other.

This may sound so cliché, but I think that there is some truth to that. This is because we each covered our weaknesses while we supported each other with our strength. If I was too lazy, she would get me back to work. If Ava didn't know how to solve her problem conventionally, I would come up with a way to solve it unconventionally. If Ava didn't know how to relax or interact with others, I would make sure that she does.

I think this is why we could not only tolerate each other, but also learn to love each other. This is because we each appreciated other's presence and input. After all, we served as a constant counterbalance to each other. Our life is stable due to this and we love each other for it.

This is how I felt about my relationship with Ava as I continued to kiss her. Because my face was so close to her face due to how I was kissing her, I was also able to admire her beauty closely as well.

Ava is a very attractive fair-skinned woman with a slim, toned body. Her body was so attractive to me that I always wondered how her body would feel if I touch her entire body in the past. I now don't have to wonder anymore as I was able to touch and feel her anywhere when I became her fiancé. Touching her soft, smooth body made me think that a woman like her was biologically born to seduce a man like me.

I also love her straight dark-brunette hair that is waist long as her hairs feel like softest silk when I ran my hand through them. I also like how her hair smells great as she smells very sweet. Her smell is so comforting to me that I often hug her to relax.

I also like how her chestnut-brown eyes looked almost cherry-red under the light and I love her confident look. I also enjoy how her eyes show other emotions that others don't get to see while I can because she fondly loves only me.

Also, while she may not have peculiar features that make her stand out, I personally believe that her look is far more balanced and thus more beautiful in her own way. She also doesn't try to be more feminine by putting more makeup or owing more clothes like other girls. I like that because I believe that Ava looks good as she is.

I desire her so much that just kissing wasn't enough anymore. That is why I began to deep kiss her. My tongue penetrated inside her mouth and I began to move my tongue everywhere. I licked her tongue, insides of her cheeks, and roof of her mouth. This brought heighten pleasure and excitement to both of us that even Ava's usually strict face turned lustful.

Even the deep kiss wasn't enough for me though as I want to kiss her deeper. That is why I stopped embracing her body in order to instead hold her face closer. I really enjoyed this moment as I felt very close to Ava. No matter how this felt good for both of us, however, we began to run out of breath. Not to mention how Ava began to regain her senses and realized that this was no place and time to be kissing. Especially since Maray was right next to us. By the way, Maray was eagerly watching me kissing Ava the whole time. I knew that showing such a scene may not be appropriate, but I didn't care. She was already aware of my relationship with Ava and she was already adult anyway. Not to mention how I knew that Maray didn't mind me kissing Ava in front of her and she would in fact encouraged me to do so as she was the type to tease about a romantic relationship. Also, contrary to her innocent looking appearance, Maray is quite perverted. After all, why would she be so teasing if she wasn't interested in romance?

Ava, however, thought otherwise and pushed me away. She then said, "Are you crazy Simon! Maray is right beside us! How could you think about kissing me in front of your little sister! This sort of thing should be done in a private place! Not to mention how we should not do it in the military base where fraternization is frowned upon!"

Although I do get what Ava was talking about, I didn't stand down. I, in fact, wanted to tease her more as I thought that her flustered look was adorable. That is why I replied, "Ava, do you realize that Maray is a grown woman now? She isn't a little kid anymore. She is old enough to know that baby isn't delivered by stork, but through intercourse with the opposite gender. I think that compared to other things that we could have shown to her, kissing isn't the worst thing on our list. Or are you such a pure maiden that you can't even show the most loving act that a couple can do like a kiss? Oh my~ Ava is such a pure, innocent maiden! Imagine how everyone we know would react to this! Everyone would giggle and gossips about this for the rest of our lives! They would sing Simon and Ava sitting on the tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

The reactions to my teasing varied among people. Maray was enjoying this so much that she started to smile and tease Ava. Ava, on the other hand, got so serious that she started to lecture me. Her lecture lasted longer than it should have been as Ava kept repeating her lecture. This wasn't helped by the fact that Ava kept refusing my comment about how Cera military technically didn't forbid romantic interactions entirely. Cera military only "frown" upon fraternization publicly. In practice, the Cera military was mildly military most of the time. As long as you do your job when it was time to work, they were willing to overlook many activities and that included romance. Of course, some serious offense like getting someone pregnant during the duty would result in harsh punishment for the offenders, but some minor offense like publicly flirting was allowed as long as there was no major complaint from others.

Anyway, I told Ava that we can't afford to waste time by lecturing me any longer as we had a flight to catch. Ava didn't like my blatant excuse to escape her lecture, but she knew that I was right. That is why Maray, Ava, and I made our way to board a space shuttle that will take us our of Cera's orbit. The last thought that I had before we launch off to space was how I couldn't ask a better company to travel with.

Author's Note:

I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as I did! Please review this so that I know what to expect! Also look forward to seeing various Ceran ships getting prepared for war! Have a nice day!