Mingo grew quickly on a diet of fish and warm milk. In just 1 month, she had almost doubled in size. Going from a beagle sized sub to a lean machine the size of a Mastiff! One thing that remained constant though was her sweet personality. Mitzu had taken to cuddling her almost constantly and she'd picked up on that, learning to adapt her own body for snuggles. While the perfect kid around Mitzi, Mingo was terrified of strangers and would always hide when the soldiers came. Nothing Mitzu did could get her to come out and eventually she went along with it. It did make sense to hide the fact that she was harboring an enemy submarine. Mingo was only a baby, but the boys at Kempei would disagree she knew. And perhaps Mingo knew that as well. Did she know she was surrounded by her country's enemy? The same enemy that had killed her mother? Something told Mitzu that she did know and that made her all the more glad that Mingo didn't see her in the same light.
By April, Mingo had grown big enough to enter the water. Mitzu snuck down the shore one night, breaking curfew in doing so and she knew she'd be in for it if she was caught. So it was a very good thing that Mingo was stealthy. In fact Mitzu was impressed by her stealth. She moved with the shadows, becoming one of them. Becoming one with the darkness. It was scary in a way. Scary in that Mitzu knew just what havoc her fleetmates could play against Japan once their skippers could get their shit together and BuOrds got their heads out of their asses and fixed the damn torpedoes already! Mitzu lost count of how many times shipping could've been lost but wasn't due to those defective things. Mingo was born with a full compliment of weapons, just as all submarines were and Mitzu had examined one fish just for the hell of it. She'd been blessed with a mechanical ability. Not very girly, but it came in handy now and she quickly found the problem in the outdated primer fuse. She applied the same fix on all the other torpedoes in Mingo's arsenal and the submarine's natural regenerating ability would take the fix into account and reproduce the torpedoes with the new fuse.
Reaching the water's edge, Mitzu gently encourage Mingo into the water. The submarine was reluctant to try out the new element because it was the one place that Mitzu couldn't follow her in. But eventually she complied and soon found enjoyment in her new environment. She went out to deeper water beyond the surf, testing out her capabilities though she was careful to keep quiet. After half an hour, she returned the shore and a waiting Mitzu, nuzzling her foster mother affectionately. "Good girl." Mitzu whispered, scratching her behind the ear. Mingo purred and followed her back up the beach and into the cabin. Just as they went inside, the patrol came by, making their rounds. Mingo did exactly what she always did when she saw, heard, or smelled strangers. She bolted, diving under the bed in a panicked frenzy. Mitzu went after her, taking care to be stealthy. Some of the windows were open to allow a breeze through. It got hot here in the tropics and Mingo needed cooler temperatures like those in the sea to stay alive. But now the open windows could allow noise to travel to the guards outside.
Mitzu got down on her hands and knees, reaching out a hand to try and coax Mingo out from under the bed. Mingo stared at her. "Come on out sweetie. They aren't coming in." Mitzu cooed. Mingo whimpered and retreated farther back. Mitzu sighed, quickly changing into her nightgown. She climbed into the bed above the submarine, smiling in the dark as she felt the soft compression of the sheets that told her that Mingo had joined her on the bed. She felt the submarine's rough hull as it brushed her arm. Mingo's snout touched her hand as she lay down and Mitzu raised her arm, putting it over her shoulders. Mingo rolled on her side and Mitzu's fingers brushed her soft underbelly. The submarine's happy purrs were the last thing Mitzu heard before she fell asleep.