A Certain Lady Part 15

By Old Iron

The docks were filled with a tremendous hustle and bustle. The kind one would accurately expect on a Naval base preparing to launch a complement of warships out to sea for combat. It would be accurate to describe it as a controlled form of chaos.

In the rather spacious locker rooms, the scene differed only in the participants.

Hiei stood at the center of the maelstrom, barking orders in a manner befitting the Emperor's Ship. Her usually mirthful blue eyes cut a striking edge that commanded an absolute obedience to her word. It was plain as day that she had every intent of coming home along with each and every girl in the room.

All save one.

Off in a corner all to her own, clad in her winter school uniform and bundled up in a coat far too large for her, sat Jane Elaine Richardson. Atop her head rested askew the ensign cover she loved to wear whenever she had the chance. It was the symbol of her honorary rank after all. Regular civilians couldn't simply waltz into the shipgirl locker room. Or the docks for that matter.

Well, in all reality neither could she. But a lot of people tended to give her a bye when she was given express permission by the individuals who used those lockers to be there. And she knew there were some lines she simply didn't evenattempt to cross.

But that was neither here nor there.

Jane pulled the coat closer around her. It wasn't cold in the locker room. And with all the boilers getting up to pressure, is was even a little bit warm. The corner where Kaga was dutifully going over her preflight checks with planes would have made someone think it was midsummer.

The reason she pulled the coat closer was that it comforted her. The smell of steel, powder, oil, and the sea. It smelled like a warship. Like a battleship.

Her bright blue eyes glanced away from Hiei towards the coat's owner: Battleship Arizona.

The littlest Richardson had been handing out snacks for the shipgirls to take with them on the missions when Arizona had stormed in. There was little she could do for the war effort at her age. But a bundle of cookies was better than nothing. And a homemade cookie went a long way for morale in her book.

No one had questioned why the battleship's eyes looked red and slightly puffy. There had only been a nod from Hiei and a salute from Arizona before the latter had been ordered to get ready.

Arizona hadn't said a word to Jane when she marched over and began preparing herself for battle.

Jane had offered up a smile of reassurance and a small bag of cookies, which the standard had taken with a small smile of her own. It hadn't been long before the nine-year old found herself swimming in Arizona's greatcoat. And while she had been ready to laugh and be merry, she had held back after the mirth in the battleship's eyes had faded into a steely resolve.

Jane had only moved from her seat to give Kaga her share of the cookies. And even then, she had returned to Arizona's side with considerable haste.

She loved the Navy.

The people. The places. The ship. All of it.

Even at nine, Jane knew she wanted to join the Navy and follow in her father's footsteps. Of course, she would be a battleship, not just an Admiral. She was determined to be a Fleet Admiral who was also a battleship.

But it was moments like this that made her young heart tremble.

When these girls. These women. When they prepared to put their lives on the line and fight. To march into battle and accomplish their mission knowing full well they might never walk the grounds again. Might never sail again.

Jane hated it. She hated it so much.

She wanted to retain the image of theinvulnerable Navy where she didn't have to worry if she would ever see a friend, a sister, a mother, anyone ever again.

But she hated that she knew real life didn't work like that.

If it hadn't been for Albie, she wouldn't be buried in Arizona's wonderful coat right now. This coat would be adrift or at the bottom of the sea. Arizona would have died. And Jane knew she wasn't so innocent as to believe she was just lost on her way home.

Shimakaze ran by with a determined look on her face, mumbling about depth charges.

If it hadn't been for so many things... Jane knew she would have placed flowers at a lot of graves by now.

Jane shivered slightly and pulled the coat around her even more tightly. At a distance, one might not see anything of her save a few errant strands of hair poking out between the collar and the hat.

She inhaled deeply the comforting scent of battleship steel.

One of her classmates had asked her why she called Mutsu, Mutsu-mama. The same had been asked of Hiei-mama and Jintsuu-mama. The reply had been given in the blink of an eye.

"You call your mama, mama."

Jane knew none of them were her mother. It was a simple impossibility. And she had never known life with a mother for that matter. It had always been just her and her daddy. For better and worse, it was just the two of them. There were times she hated it. There were times she loved it. Perhaps too much of a roller coaster for someone her age, but that was her life.

And then the war started and her daddy became so busy there were days when he didn't sleep at all. Days when she had to remind him to eat. He had managed to always find some sort of time for her, even if that meant she had to eat dinner and do homework in the CIC. And she wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

It was... lonely though. Lonely and really, really hard. Just them.

But one day her daddy came home with someone. She hadn't known what to think even ignoring the fact that person wasn't... completely a person.

Battleship Hiei had been the first. The first to save her daddy from himself. From the war. From a lot of things. Then came Battleship Mutsu and Light Cruiser Jintsuu. And as they saved her daddy, they also saved her.

Jane didn't feel so lonely anymore.

That's why she hated watching them prepare to do what they flat out existed to do. She hated worrying that one of them might not come back. That they might get hurt so badly they couldn't come home.

That one day she'd wake up and Hiei's silly grin wouldn't be there.

That one day she wouldn't hear Mutsu' teasing lilt.

That one day Jintsuu wouldn't correct her for messing up her English homework.

She...

She wanted...

She wanted this stupid war to be over.

She wanted to have dinner with her family and not have to worry when someone wasn't there.

Jane sniffed as she felt her nose start to run and her eyes grow wet.

"Jane?"

The dark haired child looked up at the towering visage of Arizona. She saw Hiei nod in her direction out of the corner of her vision.

"Is... Are you alright? You don't have to be here." Arizona kneeled until she was eye level with Jane. The Admiral's only child's presence had been a surprise. Not unwelcome, but a surprise nonetheless. But not a word had been spoken by her.

"D-Don wanna..." Jane sniffed and tried to look strong. She wanted to look like the strong girl who was perfectly fine. She failed. "I don't want you to go. I-I'm scared."

"...Jane." Arizona reached out with a scarred hand, bereft of the usual glove, and gently adjusted a stray lock of Jane's dark hair. "We have to go. We can't do our duty if we don't. We cannot protect you or anyone else if we fail to stand up and do what it is we must do."

"B-But... Wh-"

"If ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers' hands." Arizona lowered her hand enough to tap Jane's nose, still appearing as sleep deprived and stern as she had been before. But there was a subtle warmth in her tone. "I have failed at many things. I will at least succeed in making sure everyone comes home. Myself included."

"Y-You p-promise?" Jane's innocent question gave even Arizona pause.

"I promise. I will even swear it on Admiral Kidd. The stuffed destroyer, that is." Arizona cracked the slightest of smiles as Jane gave a shuddering laugh before wrapping small arms around her large hull.

"I d-don't want to b-be alone, Ari-mama. P-Please bring H-Hiei-mama an-and Jintsuu-m-mama home safe." No matter how mature. No matter how wise. Jane was still, at heart, a child. "Y-You. A-An me. And Daddy. And e-everyone!"

Arizona could not fathom the depths of Jane's wants. She had hardly known the girl for more than a month and change. And yet somehow this child had become so taken with her. So attached to this old, outdated battlewagon. She tried to form a reply, but a tapping on her shoulder drew her steel gaze upwards and away Jane.

"Arizona... It's time." Hiei's expression had softened considerably since Arizona had first seen it upon entry to the lockers and she almost appeared openly regretful at having to break up the moment.

"I..." Arizona appeared hesitant, not quite sure how to disentangle herself and retrieve her uniform at the same time. Her expression turned questioning when Hiei joined her, kneeling before the littlest Richardson.

"Come on, kiddo. We have to go." Hiei reached out to remove Jane's cover and proceeded to muss the girl's hair in an affectionate manner. "Don't you worry about a thing. We're strong. Really strong! We will march into battle with blazing spirits and come home with our chins held high!"

Arizona nodded in agreement.

Even a few of the other girls in earshot gave resolute expressions as they too nodded.

As Jane watched the fleet take their leave, she felt even more cold than before.

It wasn't until her daddy found her, sitting at the dock and gazing out to sea that she felt warm again.