"You're really excited to get back home, huh, Commander?"

I glanced up from my enthusiastic packing to see Hornet standing in the doorway with a big grin on her face. "That obvious?" I smiled sheepishly as I tossed a few more shirts into my suitcase.

She shrugged before she slowly stepped into my apartment. "Been that way a while now," she answered as she looked around. "Caught you gazing at the picture of her on your desk with that big smile on your face more and more often this week."

Just the thought of her had me grinning like an idiot. "What can I say? I love my wife. Besides, it's been, what, seven months? Feels like an eternity."

As I got back to packing, Hornet leaned up against the wall and watched me work. "And how's she been doing all by her lonesome back home?"

I toss in my socks and start doing a final inventory. "She's been hanging in there. Misses me, but she found a good support group a couple of months ago, and she said they've been helping her out. Apparently, they're helping her with a special surprise when I get home."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

"If I knew, it wouldn't be a surprise," I smirked as I finished my last-minute check and shut the suitcase. "Probably won't find out until the day after I get home anyway, so I'm not going to worry about it too much." In hindsight, I probably should have. I should have worried a lot. "In any case, I'm all packed and ready to go. You good?"

"Why I'm here," Hornet grinned as she pushed off the wall. "Let's get you home, boss!"

Why is it that the closer you get to something you want, the more time seems to slow down? The trip only took four days, but each day felt longer than the last. At one point, I'm pretty sure I saw the clock in my cabin start to go backward. Eventually, after what felt like an entire week, the taxi pulled up to the small house we called home. Before I was even halfway out of the cab, my beloved Rose had already thrown the door open and was practically running down the walkway.

"Darling!" she exclaimed as she leapt into my arms, which I barely had time to open. "Oh, I've missed you so much, honey!"

"I missed you, too, babe," I smiled as I held her tightly, savoring every sensation of that moment. The feeling of her in my arms, her lips on mine as we exchanged a tender kiss, the scent of her tahitian orchid perfume that she knew I loved, that bright, infectious smile she always seemed to have. But as much as I wanted to stay and drink in every ounce of her, I also didn't want to leave the taxi driver sitting there with the meter running. "Let's grab my luggage and continue this inside, but first…"

I reached into the cab and pulled out my little gift for Rose, a bouquet of a dozen roses, yellow and red, and held it out to her. She let out the most adorable little gasp as she nearly snatched them out of my hands. "A rose for my Rose," I grinned, and she rolled her eyes in response.

"You're such a cornball," she sighed as I grabbed my suitcase out of the trunk.

"Yeah, but you love me for it," I grinned back and tipped the driver, who promptly sped off.

"I do," she begrudgingly admitted, before playfully pointing her finger at me and ordering, "But don't tell anyone!"

I wrapped my arm around her waist and gave her a quick kiss. "Your secret is safe with me. Now, let's get inside, set my things down, and you can show me how your garden's been doing."

With a gentle smile, she leads me back up the walkway and into our home, and I feel myself immediately relax. All the tension, stress, and anxiety of the past few months bled away, and I let out a happy sigh as I set my suitcase down by the door.

"Welcome home, honey," Rose officially declared as she disentangled herself from me. "I'll go put these in water and you make yourself comfortable."

I nodded and watched her disappear around the corner, humming happily to herself as she went before I took off my hat and coat and placed them on the old coat rack. I slowly wandered around the living room, seeing if anything had changed. Nothing had, I noticed, as I gazed at all of our old photos that Rose had on the mantlepiece. Pictures of us on our first date, at prom, at our wedding, and on that crazy honeymoon in Bali. I grinned to myself as I unconsciously rubbed at the scar still on my thigh. Totally worth it.

"This is comfortable for you?"

I turned around to find Rose standing there, one hand on her hip, eyebrow raised, and a bemused smirk on her face. "Well, I thought we'd be going out to the garden in a minute so I didn't want to get too comfortable," I explained as a grin slowly crept across my face. "Unless 'getting comfortable' was a euphemism for me to rush to the bedroom, strip down to my silk boxers, and wait for you with bated breath."

Her eyebrow crept up her forehead even further as her eyes drifted down to my pants. "You're wearing them right now?" she asked, the disbelief evident in her voice.

Oops. Cat's out of the bag now, I guess. "Well, it was going to be my own special surprise, but…yeah." I gave her a flirtatious wink and pulled the waistband of my pants down to give her a glimpse of the green and blue boxers she'd gotten me for Christmas last year.

Her eyes went wide, and she bit her lower lip before her eyes met mine again. "I was going to wait until after the garden, but…" She reached up to her blouse and pulled it aside, revealing the lacy lingerie underneath. "...I think the garden can wait…"

I smiled and nodded. The garden could most definitely wait…

Forty minutes later, Rose draped her arm across my chest and snuggled up against me as we both caught our breath. I kissed the top of her head and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. "Mmmm," I sighed happily. "I missed this."

"Me, too," she murmured as she planted soft kisses along my shoulder, "A shame it's only for two weeks…if that."

The resentment in those last two words was impossible to miss and I sighed again, although this one was much less contented than the previous one. "I know, and I'm sorry I had to cut leave short last time. Unfortunately, the Sirens don't have any respect for what little leisure time I get. Hopefully, with everything that's gone on recently, they'll stay quiet for a while."

She looked up at me inquisitively with her brown eyes. "What do you mean? Has something happened?"

I shook my head and frowned. "You know I can't talk about that."

Not it was her turn to sigh, this one a somewhat resentful one. "I know, and I hate it. I'm your wife. There shouldn't be any secrets between us."

"You're right," I quickly agreed. "There shouldn't, but that's the nature of the beast, hon. Trust me, I'd love it if this war was over tomorrow and everything went back to being nice and peaceful. But in the meantime, I've got your letters, you've got mine, and now you've got that support group, as well. How's that working out, by the way? Your letters said they've helped."

Rose eagerly nodded, her frown melting into a soft smile. "They have! Most are either ex-military or military wives, so they've had lots of tips on how to center myself when you're not here. You know, you should meet them while you're here."

"I'd love that," I smiled back. "They seem pretty important to you, so, of course, I wanna meet them. I only wish I could do you the same courtesy and have you come out to tour the base, meet the girls, who say hi, by the way."

Her nose scrunched up as she grinned playfully. "You're a bold man, Paul Bogan, bringing up other women while you've got one in bed already."

"That's because you're all I need, Mrs. Bogan," I grinned back as I leaned down to kiss her softly. "Besides, none of them could hold a candle to you."

"Flatterer," she giggled.

"But is it working?" I asked with a waggle of my eyebrows.

She pressed her face into my shoulder and sighed, "Unfortunately, yes."

"Ha!" I mock-triumphantly crowed, "Still got it."

She laughed and shook her head before she began disentangling herself from me. "Yes, dear. Now c'mon, as much as I'd like to spend all day in bed with you, I've still got a surprise planned for you and you still need to see the garden when there's still light out."

"Aye aye, ma'am," I quipped, watching her get out of bed for another moment, appreciating every curve of her body before I finally got into gear and slipped out of bed myself. "Two surprises, huh? How'd I get so lucky?"

"You married me, duh," she teased as she slipped her dress back on.

I smiled and shook my head as I finally found my pants. "Of course, how silly of me. Although now you have me at a disadvantage, with your two surprises to my one…"

"I'm sure you'll find some way to make it up to me," she purred as she ran her fingers through her touseled red hair.

I pulled my shirt on as I walked up behind her and slipped my arms around her waist. "I think we can come to some sort of arrangement," I smirked as I leaned down and kissed her tenderly. "I love you."

"Love you, too," She smiled warmly back at me. "Now let's get downstairs before this leads to us back in bed…"

She quickly put words into action as she grabbed my hand and began leading me out of the bedroom and towards the stairs. "Now where's the fun in that?" I joked as I let her lead me down through the living room and out towards our small backyard.

"I keep telling you, savor the anticipation, honey," she chided as we stopped at the back door. "But that's for later. For now…" she swung the door open and exclaimed, "Ta-daaaa!"

My jaw hit the floor as I was taken aback by the vibrant colors that seemed to cover every inch of our yard. Vibrant purples, pinks, yellows, reds, and a few blues blossomed in a sea of lush green, and I was awestruck. When I was last here, she had a few flowerbeds that were struggling to even bloom, and now, it was something out of a painting. "This is…wow," I breathed as I stepped through the door. "Baby, this is amazing! How'd you do all this?"

"It's nothing, really," she demurred as she followed me outside. "A few minor changes here and there, some new topsoil, with a few tips from my support group, and voila!" She stopped and put her hands on her hips as she surveyed her handiwork. "Yeah, pretty proud of this one."

"As you should be," I agreed as I continued to marvel at her garden. "These are beautiful!"

"Why thank you, honey," she purred as she came up beside me. "I've been thinking about putting in some herbs, too, maybe see if I can't use those for cooking."

My first question was where she would put them, but then my eyes caught an empty patch of recently disturbed soil. "Right there?" I asked as I pointed to the spot.

"Mhm!" she happily confirmed. "Maybe get some cilantro or parsley growing there."

"What used to be there?"

"Huh?" She sounded surprised, almost alarmed, which I found somewhat odd, but at the time, I didn't think too much of it.

I gestured to the spot once more. "It's been disturbed, so I thought maybe you got rid of something that wasn't working out there."

"Oh, that!" She giggled nervously. "Yeah, planted some flowers that looked decent enough, but the smell was just horrible, like…rotten meat."

I shuddered at the thought. "Eugh."

"Yeah," she said, then shrugged helplessly. "So I got rid of it, haven't figured out what to plant there."

"What about those herbs?"

Rose sighed and looked around her garden. "I'm afraid that even if I only grow a few plants, it'll be more than I need for just myself."

"Could share it with your support group," I offered, hoping we'd be able to just gloss over the "myself" comment. I didn't want to rehash that argument on my first day home.

Apparently, my Rose did not feel the same way. "I could, but I'd feel a lot better if there was someone else here with me, too…" From the tone of her voice, there was little doubt that "someone else" was me.

"I know, and I hate that I'm not here," I offered, pulling her close to me. "But we both knew it could get like this from time to time when I joined the Academy."

"From time to time, Paul, not years!" she shot back, pushing me away. "I'm tired of only seeing you twice a year for four years now. Four! How long will this war go on? Another four? Five? A decade?"

I staggered back, stunned by this sudden outburst. "I didn't ask for this, okay?" I snapped back. "I've got the literal weight of the world on my shoulders and I can't even talk about it with the one person I love more than anything in the world! I don't know how long this will go on, but I know if I walk away, I'd be putting everyone in grave danger. No matter how much I want to, I just…I can't, I'm sorry, Rose."

My wife took a half step back, and then looked at me, a faint glimmer of hope in her eyes. "You…want to leave Azur Lane?"

"I want this war to be over," I sighed heavily as I ran my hand over my face. "I want to come home every night rather than spend it alone reading fuel reports. I want to be with you again, I want to see you more than a month out of the entire year. But…the only way that's going to happen is if we win."

Rose took a tentative step towards me. "And what happens if we win?"

"I either get transferred to a new command or we move you out to the base. Or we could move the base to someplace like San Diego or NYC. Either way, I'll finally be able to spend time with you," I smiled as I took a step toward her.

She took another step, reaching her hand out for mine. "And what about the kansen?"

I took her hand and shrugged as I pulled her close. "What about them? They'll have a new CO or I'll still be working with them."

"Oh." She seemed…oddly…I'm not sure what the right word would have been for her expression. She wasn't quite upset, nor was she concerned. But my answer didn't sit right with her, that much was certain. "I thought they would be scrapped at the end of the war…"

"God, I hope not," I answered as I wrapped my arms around her in a tender embrace. "I know you don't know them like I do, but they're as much people as you or I. They aren't just weapons, and they deserve to live their own lives once this is all over, too." When she didn't immediately respond, I kissed the top of her head and whispered. "Sorry I snapped."

She shook her head and looked up, "I'm sorry I pushed you. I'm just so…"

"Frustrated?" I finished for her, and we shared an awkward grin. "Yeah, I know the feeling, trust me." I sighed as I ran a hand lightly up and down her spine. "You know, I know you've just got the support group going and all, but…maybe we can see about moving you out to…well, not the base, but to the little town outside of the base. Still far from ideal, but at least we'd be able to see each other far more than we do now."

Her expression was pensive as she turned over the idea in her head, weighing the pros and cons. "I…I think I'd need to think on that one for a while, hon."

"Fair enough," I smiled softly. "We've got two weeks to think on it, and then even more time to get approval from Naval HQ, so no rush."

She nodded, absently staring off into the middle distance, until I lifted her gaze back to mine. "Hey, I love you."

"Love you, too," she smiled, then leaned up for a quick kiss. "Not to change the subject, but I think we need to get ready for your second surprise."

That certainly got my attention. "And why does my second surprise require a wardrobe change?"

"You remember Sal's Bistro?" She asked, looking like the cat who'd eaten the canary.

"Yeah, it's that super fancy place that you've gotta get reservations a month in adv-" It suddenly clicked and her grin grew wider as Rose realized I'd figured it out. "Shut up. You did not."

"Tonight at six-thirty," she chirped with an enthusiastic nod. "Got your suit and tie all picked out for you, and I got a new dress just for the occasion."

I slowly shook my head, still unable to believe she'd pulled off a feat like that. "Absolutely outstanding," I grinned. "How'd you manage it?"

Rose shrugged nonchalantly. "The owner is in the support group, said next time you were here he'd squeeze us in as a thank you for your service."

"One hell of a thank you," I exhaled. "Now I definitely have to meet your support group, if for no other reason than to say thank you."

She smiled sweetly and patted my chest. "Oh, I'm sure we will before too long…"

A/N-And we're off! I know, this isn't normally how I do things, but all I ask is a little faith and your patience will be rewarded. Until next time, fair winds and following seas!