Sleeping quietly in his room, enjoying a long night of rest and dreaming, the Commander slowly stirred. Night had come and gone. It was time to start his day.
"Roon," he said, his eyes still closed yet could sense the presence of the Iron Blood woman near the bed "stop hiding in the shadows and come out."
Upon saying that, Roon emerged from the shadows, not at all surprised that he noticed her.
"You know I shouldn't be doing that Commander," she said.
"And why is that?" he asked, eyes still closed.
"Because if someone sees me then I won't be able to do my job and protect you like I'm supposed to."
"There's already someone doing that….. and put my cape back on the chair Akagi."
"But I like how it smells~," said Akagi, swaying from side to side, near the dresser, holding his cape. Then, knowing that he won't object to it, she put on the cape and took in a deep breath, breathing in the scent the cape had on it.
Growling quietly yet knowing that he could not do anything about it, he turned to his right side and opened his eyes.
"AAAHHH!", he shouted upon seeing that he was not alone in the bed "I should be used to this by now," he added, chiding himself for his lack of adaptability.
"Friedrich," he said, addressing the other occupant in the bed.
"Yes dear," she said, smiling sweetly at him, the sheet covering her up to the chest.
"Why are you sleeping in my bed?"
'Huh… there's a question I never thought I'd ask,' he thought, reflecting inwardly.
"Making sure you're safe," she replied.
"How?"
"Well what if a Siren ship appears right above this building, rips out the roof and takes you up? In those times it is important is there's someone close who can protect you."
Ignoring the fact that they had prevented such a scenario from happening, the Commander said "but I already have Akagi and Roon."
"The fox and the snake?" said Friedrich, raising her eyebrow in a condescending way "they wouldn't be able to keep you safe. Not like I can."
"Oy," said Roon, her tone changing and her hostility emerging "I was fine letting you sleep because the Commander looked defenseless when he slept, but now you're making it difficult for him. You need to leave."
"I agree," added Akagi, standing atop the edge of the bed, looking equally menacing "leave Friedrich, the Commander is safe with us."
"I disagree," she said, rising up and exposing her bare back to the Commander while holding a sheet to cover her front "rather than having the two of you keep him safe, it makes sense strategically to have me alone protect him."
"Why were you sleeping naked in my bed," he shouted.
'Huh, there's another question I never thought I'd ask,'
"If you want me to leave," said Friedrich, her weapons forming alongside her "you'll have to beat me first."
"Deal," said Akagi, rising up to the challenge.
"Accepted," added Roon.
Under normal circumstances, three beautiful women fighting over you would be a dream come true. Although they were indeed beautiful, there was one teeny, tiny small issue the trio were overlooking. They were weapons of mass destruction. On a good day, any one of them could level a city block and had the power to take out a small army. Hence, the idea of the three of them fighting in an enclosed space was as bad.
"Wait, wait, wait," but it was too late. The resultant force of their combined attacks, sent him shooting out of the room.
"Hmm, this is odd," he said looking at the hole in the roof.
"Normally I'd wind up with my head inside the beach like usual…. But this time I landed in someone else's room."
The Commander took a moment to survey the area. The room he found himself in didn't look particularly girly, it had some clothes on the chair nearby and some lying on the floor.
"Definitely a lot better than what normally happens," he mused.
Upon further inspection, he noticed the trail of clothes led to the bathroom. His doubts that someone was inside was confirmed when the door opened and through it came a pale-skinned woman with long, flowing white hair and a towel over her head.
The woman rubbed the towel on her head, wiping away any excess water that was present. She lowered the towel and blinked a few times. She then rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming and that the Commander was indeed in her bed.
"Wait," he said, scrambling off the bed "I can explain."
But it was too late. As Enterprise's face became as red as a tomato, she formed her bow and readied her arrow. Just as she was about to fire, the Commander thought to himself that he was better off landing on the beach.
00000000000000000
"You should have seen it Kaga," said Akagi, falling on her overly sized bed and kicking her feet up like a giddy school girl.
"The way he entered like a hero from one of Amagi's books, how he protected Enterprise and I," she added then squealed into her pillow.
"He looked so gallant."
"Yes, yes I know sister," said Kaga, dropping a stack of papers on the desk in her room "now if you don't mind you still need to go over these reports for the upcoming festival."
"But I don't wanna!," she said kicking her feet again "I want to be back on the base with the Commander."
"Consider it lucky that your punishment happened to coincide with the festival," added Kaga.
Because she didn't not stay on the Sakura Empire base for long and was back at headquarters, making her an open target for Omega, the Commander sentenced Akagi to one week away from the headquarters, which was a pretty tame punishment by any stretch of the imagination.
"Think about it like this, the longer you delay over here, the closer Enterprise will get to the Commander," said Kaga and Akagi immediately snapped out of her reverie.
*The following takes place in Akagi's mind and does not represent the relationship between the Commander and Enterprise.
"No, please, don't come any closer," said a slightly effeminate looking Commander, backed into a corner.
"Oh hohohohohohoho," laughed Enterprise, placing the back of her hand near her mouth "now that there's no Akagi here, I can take my time with you, my Commander."
"But Enterprise," he said, meekly "why are you doing this?"
"Because I don't want anyone else to have you Commander," she said, putting her arms around him and pulling him closer to her "especially not that damned fox."
"No, no, please, no, save me Akagi," he cried out.
*and scene
Spurred on by this terrifying, (albeit unrealistic) imagining, Akagi devoted herself to finishing her tasks.
000000000000000000
One of the advantages the Iron Blood brought to their table was their advanced weaponry. These weapons wholly termed as 'retrofits' were studied at length by Langley, Akashi, Purin and Buri in the research lab before being adapted for the rest of the factions.
To put it simply, the retrofits were an upgrade, greatly enhancing the overall effectiveness of the girls and were a necessary upgrade. However, these upgrades could not be applied to everyone in the fleet, due to their difficulty in adapting to these stronger weapons. As a result, the Commander was given a list of women who qualified for the retrofits and had begun gathering the tools and funding required to upgrade them all.
This was why the Commander was staring at his tablet, displaying the overall progress of the retrofit process.
"Well Commander?" asked Belfast, placing a cup of tea on the table next to him "how is it?"
"Better than I feared, worse than I hoped," he replied, setting the tablet down and having a sip of tea.
"That bad?"
"Pretty much. We're lacking the funding needed to finish these retrofits," he said "its not apparent right now, but if I don't figure out a solution quickly, it could mean trouble."
"Then wouldn't it be better to prioritize which girls deserve the retrofits?"
"I'll think about it after all other options have been exhausted. Till then…"
"Commander!" shouted a voice from the other side of the table, startling both Belfast and him.
"Charles," said Belfast "I told you not to shout like that."
"Sorry," said Charles Ausburne.
"Charles," he said, standing up "and the rest of the Beaver squad. What brings you here?"
"We've come to demand a match against the knights of the Sea," declared Charles while Fletcher, Spence, Foote and Aulick all nodded in agreement.
"The knights of the….. wait, you mean Cleveland and her sisters?"
"Yeah," said Fletcher "Columbia's going and telling everyone how Cleveland is the best baseball player in the fleet. But that's not true, Charles is."
"Then why not have Charles and Cleveland face off against each other?"
"More fun this way,"
"Can't argue with that," he said, turning to Belfast, who looked like she could argue with it, but chose not to.
"Alright girls, go ahead. Long as you don't break any windows or hit anyone with a stray baseball, you have my say so."
Hearing this, the five girls high-fived each other.
"Ah but, you'll have to schedule your match next week," he said.
"Huh? Why?" asked Aulick.
"I heard that Cleveland and the others are attending this festival so they'll be busy getting their clothes ready."
Now the five of them huddled together, discussing something. Foote poked her head out for a moment, making sure the Commander didn't eavesdrop then returned to her conversation.
"Alright then," declared Charles "the match is cancelled."
"Huh? Why?" he asked, surprised at this turn of events.
"Because it's the lantern festival Commander," replied Charles "none of us want to miss that."
000000000000000
It was originally a practice begun in the Sakura Empire. At the end of summer, the members of the Sakura Empire gathered on the shores of their beach, where they'd light lanterns on paper boats and place them in the waters. Overtime, the tradition evolved into putting a wish into the boats in the hopes that these wishes were granted.
Each year the number of lanterns grew more and more. Two years before the second war broke out, the number of lanterns were so many, it is said their glow could be seen by all the other factions.
What was special about today was that for the first time, the lantern festival would not be limited to the Sakura Empire alone. Instead it would involve all four factions. This was why the base was filled with decorations, all in preparation for the festival day.
"We'll also be wearing traditional Sakura Empire clothes," added Z23 to the Commander.
"Wait, all of us?"
"Hmm, they won't have any clothes for you Commander. You may as well come as is."
"Awww," he said, faking a pout.
"Now that I think about it," said Z23 "we're going to need to stitch you a set of clothes."
"Huh? Why?"
"Well duh, after the war you're going to look pretty weird running around the base in those clothes. We'll need to get you some casuals for afterwards."
00000000000000000
The Commander now found himself near the beach shore, a little way away from the base, where the sounds of excitement and music could still be heard. He came here because he didn't want anyone to see how troubled his expression was.
'End of the war,' he thought. It was the sort of dangerous thought soldiers were disciplined into never having during their training days. The simple reason being, thinking about such a life, imagining what comes after firing that last bullet, it leaves you open: it allows the enemy to take advantage of those delusions and put a bullet in your head.
When he was in the Navy, he never thought about going home. Hell, he had no home to begin with; it's why he joined the Navy in the first place. One of the reasons why it was easy to mold his mind was because there was nothing and no one waiting for him at the end. At times, he'd sit on the deck of the ship, watching the setting sun, resigning himself to this fate.
Here he was, doing the same thing, but in another world. As he watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon, he thought if such a thing was possible. A life beyond war, what would that look like? Would he have a place in that world? Would he have a purpose in a world like that? What if he didn't? what happens then? So many questions and not enough answers. This was why he was better off alone with his thoughts, instead of being back at the base, where his mood might dampen others. Eventually, he did return back to the base, but quietly went to his room as he was not in the mood for conversation.
0000000000000000
The next day was the day of the festival. The base was filled with decorations, made even better with the sound of music. With everything that was going on right now, everyone needed a break.
"These clothes are so cramped," said Enterprise, looking at her reflection in the long mirror and making sure the sash for her kimono was tied properly "how do those girls move in something so constricting?"
"Don't make such a fuss about this Enterprise," said Yorktown, already dressed and seated at a dressing table, combing her hair "it's not often we get to wear these. And I for one think they're pretty."
"Well, at least we're only going to wear them for one night," said Hornet, looking like she was put in a straitjacket.
"Come on you two," said Yorktown "quit your griping and let's head over to the Sakura Island already."
The plan made and set forth by Akagi was thus: on the day of the festival itself, the Eagle Union, Iron Blood and Royal Navy were to have a party at the main base in the morning. By afternoon, the fleets would then head to the Sakura Island and meet with everyone else in the Sakura Empire. If all goes well, they'd be lighting lanterns and placing wishes into the boats by evening and have plenty of time for dinner.
As per the plan, the girls at the main base were dressed in a variety of different colored kimonos. Much of the morning was spent admiring each other's clothes.
Soon enough, the Commander had finished his work for the day and was also out, taking in the festival mood. He first went to the cafeteria and greeted everyone there. He saw Monteplier, Columbia, Cleveland, Neptune, Saint Louis and San Diego all gathered around one table, engrossed in a lively conversation.
"Hey Commander," said Cleveland calling him over.
"Hey, guys, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" he asked, walking over to them.
"Nah, nothing like that," said Columbia "we're just talking about how everyone looks so cute in their attire."
"That's not true at all," interjected Saint Louis "this garb is very difficult to move in and feels constricting. Plus, I don't like the colors."
"That's a shame Saint Louis," he said, "Purple looks good on you."
Saint Louis lowered her head, not wanting to let anyone see her expression.
"M-Maybe I just needed a second opinion," she said, sounding a lot quieter than before.
"What about us Commander?" asked Cleveland "what do you think?"
"You all look beautiful," he said, smiling warmly at them. Out of everyone here, the one that stuck out most for him was Cleveland. She had a blue kimono with drawings of a Sakura branch covered in patches of snow. On its, own the dress made her look beautiful. However, that beauty was offset by her adorable grin, which made her look less beautiful and more…. cute.
While many in the fleet looked either beautiful or cute, Cleveland was one of those rare oddities that perfectly straddled the line between beauty and cuteness.
"Commander," said Monteplier "you're staring at Cleveland."
"Sorry," he said, immediately looking away, much to Cleveland's disappointment.
Then, he noticed Yorktown, Hornet and Enterprise entering the cafeteria, Yorktown surrounded by her class.
"Greetings Commander," said Yorktown "you look very dashing in your uniform."
"There's nothing dashing about this," he said, "if anything, you its all of you who look radiant today."
"All that's left is the Royal Navy and the Iron Blood," said Enterprise "once they're here, we can go to the island."
"Whoa, Enterprise," said Neptune, getting up from her seat "you look amazing."
"I agree with Neptune," he added "it's nice to see you wearing something else instead of your regular uniform Enterprise."
"Well it… its just for this occasion," said Enterprise "since everyone else is doing it, I didn't want to cause any trouble."
"Oh?" asked Yorktown, purposely opening her small wooden fan and placing it near her mouth "I don't recall you saying that when we were getting dressed."
"We…we should go out and find the others," said Enterprise, in a vain attempt at deflecting the conversation. It did however work, as the group headed outside and met with the rest of the Coalition.
As they were about to leave, the question was raised of who would carry the Commander to the island. Immediately Roon and Saint Louis volunteered, followed by Enterprise, Friedrich, Tirpitz and Belfast. Then, Cleveland suggested that someone create their ship and instead of carrying only the Commander, they could accommodate everyone.
It was a sound idea without a doubt, something that he caught onto and agreed with. However, throughout the journey to the island, the looks that Cleveland got from Roon, Friedrich, Belfast and Enterprise in particular told her it was not her best idea.
When the fleet arrived at the island, they were greeted by a large welcoming committee of Shiranui, Isokaze, Hamakaze, Kagerou, Aoba, Tanikaze, Urakaze and Yukikaze. Following this, the fleet split off into different groups, with one group made up of Enterprise, Roon, Cleveland and the Commander.
"Wow," said Roon, looking at all the food stalls set up "there's so many things to eat."
"The Sakura girls are known for their cuisine," mused Cleveland "then again, their festivals are pretty wild too."
"I've always wanted to come here," said Enterprise, looking at the stalls as well.
"Commander look, look," she said, tugging his arm "they've got so many games here."
Before he could turn in the direction, Enterprise already grabbed him and took him to the shooting gallery. He was later joined by Cleveland, who had a toy mask on the side of her head and held two candy apples. Roon on the other hand, was holding multiple skewers in each hand, taking her time to eat each one of them.
As the team was idling through the streets, admiring the dazzling display of lights and taking in the different smells from the food stalls, they all became taken in by the festivities.
So much so, that all three of them failed to notice how one of their members had been abducted right under their noses. It was only when Enterprise was about to pull him towards another game stall did, she notice that he was missing.
As they were about to fan out and search for him, they heard two familiar voices arguing in the distance.
"But Kaga, I haven't seen him in an eternity," said a familiar voice.
"It's only been a week," said another voice, sounding tired
"But it feels like an eternity to me."
Enterprise, Roon and Cleveland was not surprised to see Akagi and Kaga at the source of the voices, the former carrying the Commander.
"What's gotten into you Akagi," chided Enterprise "you can't just kidnap the Commander like that."
"He's probably bored out of his mind going around with you," said Akagi, taking a step back when Enterprise tried to grab him away "besides, I know this place better than anyone else so I'm the best choice to show him around."
"Actually Akagi," stated Cleveland "aren't you in charge of everything?"
"Yes, what's that got to do with anything?"
"Well it would look pretty bad," said Enterprise "if the leader of the Sakura Empire didn't put on a good show when her Commander was here."
"Yes that's right," said Roon, adding more fuel to the fire "he might not think you're much of a leader and spend less time with you."
"Actually I'm fine on my own…."
"Damn it you're right," said Akagi as she begrudgingly set the Commander down.
Just as he was about to set his feet on the ground, a black form rushed through the group and grabbed the Commander before anyone could process what was going on.
"Seriously?" asked Enterprise to Akagi.
"I honestly have no idea what's going on"
"You can bicker and fight all you like," said a voice from on top of one of the game booths. The group turned up and saw that Belfast holding the Commander.
"Thank you for your hard work but the task of accompanying the Commander through the island and leading him to the beach shall be handled by his maid," she added.
"What?" shouted Akagi, "but you don't know anything about the place."
"On the contrary. I have already done the necessary research and have found the optimal route to provide the Commander more information about the Sakura Empire, while leading him down the fastest route to the beach."
"Rest assured Commander," said Belfast, smiling to him similar to how a newly-wed does.
"Could you let me down please?"
"No," she replied.
"Get back here you stupid maid," shouted Enterprise but it fell on deaf ears. Enterprise, Roon and Cleveland then chased Belfast around the island, while Akagi continued her work.
000000000000000
After a long bout of cat and mouse, everyone assembled by the shores of the beach, each of them holding a lit lantern. Then, one by one, they placed their lanterns into the waters, with their wish and watched the waves take it away. Some wished for peace, some wished for the war to end quickly, others wished for happiness and some of course, wished for love.
As the Commander set his lantern on the waters and watched it leave, he thought about his wish and if it would be granted. It was a simple one, but at the same time it was a difficult wish to grant.
His attention then turned to a few streaks of light rising up against the night sky before exploding in a dazzling spectacle of lights and colors.
"Fireworks," cried out Enterprise, "wow, they're fireworks."
"Amazing," said Yorktown.
"They're even better than I thought," added Cleveland.
"Well Commander?" asked Belfast, standing beside him "was this festival everything you imagined?"
"More than that," he said "it was incredible."
"Good. But there's plenty more excitement to be had so come along now."
Being pulled by Belfast and joining the crowd to admire the array of fireworks on display, he thought back to the wish he made and how it was already granted. Running away from home, joining the Navy, getting discharged and being brought to another world. It sure was a long journey, but at last, he found what he was looking for.
A place to call home.