Mighty Eagle, Calm Nest

by xT-Zealot

With Enterprise suffering from a crisis of identity brought on by her battles with the Crimson Axis and visions of a dark reality, Belfast has chosen to take some liberties to bring Eagle Union's ace to London to try and restore her humanity that had been smothered by duty. Meanwhile, the overseers of this timeline consider its continued worth and what they can extract from it.

19. Chapter 19

Belfast woke up to a morning that was unrecognizable to her.

After spending far too much time in a medical room, the private quarters of the Drake Academy with its furnishings were a recognizable and welcoming sight - even the bed she lay in despite having been restricted to one for the same, unbearably long time.

But while she was able to recognize the room, she did not recognize the morning.

The morning she knew was the one she had refined to the smallest detail to conform to what her ideal was so that she may be able to meet and perform her duties with utmost perfection. As soon as she opened her eyes, her schedule would be there in front of her mind's eye, with her rising and going down each and every step of her list and completing them in their strictly allotted time, right to the very second. Save for the tiny variations that she would adapt to depending on what was needed of her for a particular occasion, there wasn't a day in her long, long life that she hadn't followed it to her self-prescribed letter.

This should be another such morning, with her days break from it unable to impede her from getting right back to it as if she had never been gone from it.

But for this morning…

Belfast rolled to a more comfortable position, her head nestling deeper into the soft pillow, it and the brushing of the sheets against her naked skin successfully seducing her to settle once she was done.

Her mental checklist had been misplaced and thus was not there to remind and direct her to what she should be doing to prepare for today's objectives. Instead, what occupied her attention was how the bright ray of sunlight beaming through the window served to give the décor a warming splendor that was encouraging a sinking allure of complacency that Belfast was unusually vulnerable to.

She just wanted to remain here, basking in the warmth of the day.

So, this is what it's really like, she considered, the very thought an equivalent to a lazy murmur.

For the longest time, Belfast thought that fulfillment was what she could do for others. That for her, who had been blessed with life and prestige in not only this world but another, ambiguous one that had come before, the correct path to achieve true fulfillment was the dedication of herself to others. Their smiles would be her smiles, their happiness her happiness, and to not only commit herself but to tailor herself as thoroughly as she did with her own procedures and schedules for the sake of this selfless service would lead her to a life void of regrets.

And she had been happy. She had felt fulfilled – this life a gift as much to herself as she hoped it to have been for others she aided.

But she had never felt as…complete as she did now.

To think of why she felt this way was to recall what had taken place on this very bed, with the awkward but eager contact that had then become more confident, more vigorous. The sensation of being so bare, to forego all thought of worry and consequence, and to instead fixate herself entirely to the intimacy that she eagerly returned, whispering and calling out the name of who had become her dearest, a passion that was returned unequivocally.

Belfast smothered her face into the pillow, clutching it tight to mute an excited, embarrassing noise that she couldn't describe but was only one of her impulsive reactions that she had to suppress. Another was the shaking of her feet that was in danger of becoming aimless kicking just so she could have an outlet for these emotions that was making her smile so big and cheeks feel so warm while her heart leaped around within her chest.

I had been so remarkably mistaken, she commented once she settled down.

She did not believe that the establishment and adherence to the strict organization of her life had been in the wrong but, much like Enterprise, there had nonetheless been an uncompromising inflexibility of her course with how long she had remained so dedicated to it. Like with the victories of Eagle Union's champion, there was a mistake ready to be made but Belfast had been unable to see it, undetectable as it was when she had been surrounded by the happiness of others instead of the lonesome company of flaming hulks and ash.

But that didn't make it any less self-destructive had Belfast fallen for it, or how Enterprise could've been caught in it as collateral damage. With hindsight having come to her side, Belfast could look back and see the great folly that she had nearly caused and how she had been saved from it.

It was when she saw the end of her life within the barrels of Purifier's guns that Belfast had come face-to-face with what she had never expected to see: regret. To have sought nothing but the pursuit of elegance and its fulfillment and what she thought to have accomplished for herself, there had been the ugly proof of how she was about to leave this world with an aspect of it that she had discovered but left unfulfilled.

But she had been able to identify what that regret was, and when she had awoken in that medical room with the beautiful culprit herself at her bedside, Belfast had no longer been able to heed to her warnings of caution or advice to set things aside for another, more appropriate time. That 'another time' had nearly been lost, and how could any other time be more appropriate than the one that was now here?

So came those days of ignorant bliss when all she wanted during then was the attention of the one she loved. The dedication that was Enterprise coming and staying with her, pampering her, and Belfast reveling in those indulgences of not only what Enterprise gave but what Belfast shared in response: her faults, her vulnerabilities, and with them her affections that were coming further into the light.

This was the time. This was the opportunity she had yearned for: where the cruiser could decide the appropriate means on how to proceed to an outcome where she had a place in Enterprise's new life.

And yet the longer it went, the less progress that Belfast seemed to be making.

As she healed, as Artifex updated her progress and set the date of her release, what was the normalcy of her carefully managed life began to creep back and reestablish its hold over her. The uncertainties that had been there at the start but temporarily concealed by her risen hopes were there at her shoulder again, whispering in her ear, warning her of the dangers of this pursuit: new, wonderful, but that in itself was where the great risk of the disruption that would befall not only her but Enterprise if she continued down what she had never tried and was so unknown to her.

To go further was to invite the chance of being wrong, and if she was wrong she didn't know how she'd be able to correct it, this far in, where so many additional days had flown by with her in having failed to make any significant strides. And even if her hopes were realized, how would it work? How would it continue when their individual duties would still be there no matter what they decided? Would it last? Could she find a way to manage and compensate? Those questions had not changed, nor the answers she still didn't have. All she had been doing was ignoring them in favor of short-sighted wants.

And then she heard about the Eagle Union recall and realized that the control she wanted to maintain, questionable already, had in fact gone completely out of her hands with her not having had the faintest idea because of how she had been blinded by her selfish desires.

The failure had not only proven her unsuitability to objectively handle the situation but how Enterprise had already been compromised by it.

How much damage had she caused? How much worse had it been getting? Every single second that she had taken in her greed had been another second where she had been doing nothing to realize and fix such a colossal failure. She should've found out, should've known, should've at least picked up a hint of it from Enterprise when she lied but Belfast hadn't because of how it meant that she could still have her for a little while longer. A little more time to keep making a mess of things.

She had made a mistake that should've never happened, and she had to stop and figure out how to undo it all before it was too late.

Trying to take stock of what she had done and what she needed to do, however, immediately became impossible. She had too little time, not with the appointment she had agreed on with Enterprise. An appointment that she was now bitterly remembering of her misplaced fondness for the thought of being free and being free with her.

Enterprise would be on her way soon, looking to see her – wanting to see her, as she always did and what Belfast rejoiced in, every day. There were things she wanted to talk about once they were alone, together, and while Belfast knew of the importance of some of those possible issues, what she could guess…what she could hope…were others that were just as important. And if Enterprise could not bring them up, then maybe she could.

Such lengths her idiocy had misled her.

How was she supposed to recoup from it? What could she possibly say to Enterprise to turn her away from what she herself had hastened her to?

How could she even look at her now?

She no longer had the right to. She shamed her station the moment she had taken advantage of her place beside Enterprise to further her own self-interests and neglecting everything else. She was a liability that could no longer be left beside her.

She had to be removed immediately.

That was what she had decided on, pressed as she was at all sides and needing some way out and committing to the only route that was there for her to take.

She needed time away. Time to think.

She needed to escape.

Sirius had ferried her down it when Belfast asked, the Drake Academy the furthest that her subordinate could go without neglecting her other duties, which was enough for Belfast. If she could have a few hours to herself, away from everything that had been so overturned, then she may be able to figure out how to right it all.

Rather than a plan, it was the unceasing contempt for her own ineptitude that kept bombarding her with questions of how she let this all happen. How did she fail so spectacularly to create this situation where she was being forced to hide? Where had her meticulous planning been? Her careful management? Her impeccable control?

And why, beneath all this rightful self-blame, did she still want Enterprise to be with her right now?

She was without a solution, only the accusations that she was bringing down on herself, and yet how badly she wanted Enterprise beside her to…help her, somehow, with complete disregard of how being with her had led to this and how having her here would only accomplish in making everything worse if that was even possible at this point. Her contempt became loathing in order to shut down this absurdity, the punishment she deserved worsening in severity.

She should not be allowed anywhere near Enterprise anymore. She should keep running, keep hiding, remove all chance of making any contact with her again.

Maybe Enterprise would come to hate her. Maybe that was for the best: hate her as much as she was hating herself so that she wouldn't want to see her either.

Maybe Enterprise would come to wish to never have known her.

Like how Belfast was starting to wish that she had never known of Enterprise if she had been able to spare the both of them from this. Spare herself from all this.

It was when she was hitting the bottom of this lightless, inescapable pit that she was casting herself into that Enterprise had found her and pulled her out in time. Her rescuer.

Suddenly wishing to see her beloved carrier, Belfast turned away from this warm, lazy morning so that she could look to the other half of the bed.

It was empty, but although Belfast had known that, having felt the absence of another evening weight on the mattress, that tiny plummet of her heart at seeing it woke her up. The Royal cruiser lifted herself up, unconsciously holding a sheet over her nudity as she took another look around.

Enterprise wasn't in the room, but Belfast had noticed a clue that was there to circumvent the idea that she had left her as she had unfairly done: their clothes, having been sent with such disarray across the length of the room, had been collected and set neatly upon a desk. Belfast's ensemble was there in its entirety, but although most of Enterprise's was missing, there was her naval cap and her coat that was hanging over the back of the chair.

Listening carefully, the noises that Belfast heard behind the door that led to the conference room comforted her with the thought that Enterprise was close.

Even this minor distance, however, was something that Belfast wanted gone.

Slipping out of bed, her bare feet light and quiet, Belfast crossed over to her uniform and saw the uneven creases of Enterprise's not-quite-perfect folding. Other than forgiving the carrier for it, the imperfections had Belfast checking and seeing that she was in a similar state, namely with her hair; displaced bangs hanging over the one side of her face which she swept aside, tracing them back to the source that was her braid, messily undone.

She should do something about her hair, and there was probably a bit more she needed to take stock of and bring back to presentable order. Grabbing and lifting her bodice, Belfast saw a mess of errant wrinkles that would normally be required to be smoothed out before she could even consider going out in public with it.

Setting the article back down on the desk, Belfast switched over to the chair, an alternative coming to her mind.

Rather than put her arms through the sleeves, Belfast threw the coat over her shoulders. It probably wouldn't have fit her any better than it did for its usual owner, but that wasn't why she chose this. Embracing it against her, the heavy but warm material and how it hung over her was a semblance of what it was like to be held as she had just recently been.

But it was only a semblance of it, and it urged Belfast on to what she really wanted. Holding the front of the coat closed with one hand, Belfast used the other to silently open the door to the crack necessary to peer inside.

Enterprise really hadn't been idle in this rare instance of waking up before Belfast, and the cruiser could see how much their roles had been reversed with the porcelain plates that she was placing on the conference table, the last of the dishes from the cart that Enterprise had used to bring them and the rest to the room where she was laying them out. Belfast could barely make out the yellow of eggs and brown of bacon that were on the plates and after edging the door open a bit more, she could see other serving plates that held toast with vials of jam and a pair of mugs standing by with a coffee pot.

Belfast assumed that Enterprise had prepared it all herself in the Academy's kitchens with a great deal of effort that extended to the very silverware that she was setting down. How she would place them on the table, pause, and then switch one with the other to an order that she was going off from memory or nudging a particular silver piece the centimeter needed to be perfectly in line with the one next to it was done with heavy concentration.

It was very easy for Belfast to stealthily pass through the door, sneak up on her back, and hug her from behind, the press of their bodies becoming the only thing that was keeping the carrier's coat from falling off her while she rested her forehead at the back of Enterprise's neck.

She felt Enterprise lock up immediately and remain that way even when Belfast's arms squeezed around her waist as the maid buried her face into the softness of her hair, breathing in her scent, consoling that ache of having been without her this morning with the strength of her back and the solid feel of her middle; this embrace that she needed and what she may have to consider to be an essential part of her life from now on.

Enterprise was not being quick to return it, eventually straightening but doing little else other than placing her hands where Belfast's arms were folded at her front, their intent not to break the hold but to keep it there. Between that and her nervous shuffling, Belfast could guess that Enterprise was busy with some contemplations of just what she was supposed to say or do after the events of last night.

Belfast was more than happy to let her take her time as long as she was able to stay like this.

She noted the stiffened bunching of Enterprise's neck right before her awkward, "Um…there's breakfast…"

Belfast barely stopped herself from laughing, shaking silently against Enterprise. "So I see." Her nose having the unintended effect of parting Enterprise's hair, Belfast's lips sought and found a patch of skin right above her shirt collar where she planted a chaste kiss. "You worked hard on it."

That got her a shiver from Enterprise, and she could feel the heat that radiated from what had to be a reddening neck. "I did my best," she embarrassedly murmured.

"Mmm…" Belfast hummed against her, that laziness beginning to set in again.

She was leaving Enterprise pretty barren of support – not a new thing, really, with her past teasings – but there was something different here. Something special, the least of which being this boldness that she was so inclined to express; from her state of dress to these sultry attentions.

Enterprise rubbed her thumbs against Belfast's arms, their circular motions the cruiser took as a representation of her mental processing. "I didn't do anything…wrong, did I?"

There was quite a range of ways that Belfast could choose to take that, most of which would come at Enterprise's expense. Tempting though that was, she decided against it but not without at least commenting on the rather humorous take of Enterprise's priorities. "You're asking that now?"

Enterprise's neck receded more towards her shoulders, something that Belfast had to compensate with by leaning her head further down to remain comfortably against her. "I…uh…wasn't really thinking. Or, uh, I was, kind of, but…um…later…"

"In my opinion," Belfast said, "you acted exactly how you are at your best."

Enterprise choked. "I-I…I did?"

Belfast smiled against her. "Mhm. The Enterprise who, when the enemy has all the advantages, at all sides, where the odds are looking so dire, there you suddenly go in a direction that no one anticipates, defying the odds and turning it all around. It's been a while since I saw her, and outside of battle at that."

"Oh…yeah?" Enterprise asked, obviously uncomfortable with the praise. "I almost don't want to say that I was looking at it like a battle." Embarrassed, she added, "Our argument, I mean."

"I know what you meant, and given what I had tried to do I can't really fault you for it." She had, after all, done everything she could to turn it around against Enterprise, corner her, and then when she thought her sufficiently stalled, she would've cut and run.

She had severely underestimated Enterprise, but she was glad of it.

There was a modest period of silence from Enterprise. "I just…felt like I was going to lose something that I couldn't afford to. That if I had let you go, even when you sounded in the right, I would have lost what had become so important to me and that you would be hurt as well. Once I realized that, I couldn't let you go until I did whatever I could to stop it."

Being forced to remember along with her, Belfast squeezed her arms tighter around Enterprise while her cheek nuzzled into her hair, wanting to bury herself in it until she could never be removed. Not just because of how she had nearly lost it all like that, but how she was so touched that Enterprise had been able to pick that up from her; that the cruiser really had been hurting behind her front that she had barely been keeping together until Enterprise had broken through it. "Well, I wasn't right. I was wrong, Enterprise, and if there had been anyone who had to prove it to me, I'm happy it was you."

"You don't…uh…regret, what happened, then?" Enterprise asked. "What happened afterwards…?"

Belfast left her hanging for a bit, but it was more for her own amusement rather than due to the doubts that the carrier was fearing. "I can't say that I do," she then answered.

She felt something unwind in the carrier in open relief. "Oh," she sighed before hastily adding, "Uh, because I don't either. So, I'm…um…happy, too, that I was able to prove it."

"You better be, because that was what convinced me to love you."

The sudden grip on her wrists and picking up the work of Enterprise's diaphragm gave away her quiet gasp. Belfast loosened her hold in expectation, and soon enough Enterprise was turning around.

Other than finally seeing what Belfast was wearing, there had been a small adjustment made at the expense of being able to face her: her coat having slipped down Belfast's shoulders with the cruiser having made no attempt to halt it. It remained, but with it now hanging so loosely from her arms, with the front having come apart to frame her bosom, and the only thing keeping it in place being what little of it was trapped between their bodies, it clearly had an effect on Enterprise whose eyes immediately went wide.

And Belfast, who was far from oblivious, blinked slowly up at her with her blue eyes that she purposely made bigger beneath her disheveled bangs while her lips curved into one of her familiar, teasing smiles but what probably appeared far, far less innocent here.

Her cheeks flaring crimson, Enterprise immediately glanced away.

Belfast had to suppress another laugh, finding the carrier's reaction funny when taking into account of just how much they saw of each other and what they had done…

Experiencing burgeoning warmth at her cheeks, Belfast tucked her head beneath Enterprise's chin, turning her face to better hide it with her one cheek going against her chest, getting a very delayed sense of self-consciousness.

…Maybe she shouldn't be talking.

Enterprise's arms came around her, bunching her coat around her shoulders, and the cruiser snuggled against her, ceasing only when her ear could pick up the thump, thump, thump of her heart. Belfast was barely aware of Enterprise needing to adjust in response to her leaning more of her weight against her, the cruiser potentially in danger of sliding down and falling right to the floor if she didn't, but she hardly cared, being lulled not only by the beating of her lover's heart but how her own was matching in time with it.

Swaddled in her coat, within her arms, with this little duet of theirs playing together…if Belfast could remain like this until the end of time, then it would be well worth it.

"You love me?" Enterprise asked, cautious but very hopeful.

Belfast knew how important it was to Enterprise and her efforts in fixing this morning's fare was most likely something she had done with it in mind. It was one thing to say it during that euphoria that lacked thought but overflowed with emotion and another entirely to say it afterwards when such uninhibited bliss had you questioning if it had all really been a lasting, genuine thing, requiring this aftermath to examine it, confirm it, and - most importantly - to convince the parties involved that it hadn't been a mistake.

It was just as important to her as well, and Belfast had all the proof she needed right here on what she wanted to answer with.

"Yes," she replied. "I love you, Enterprise."

She got a reaction immediately, Enterprise hugging her tight that was short of crushing. She buried her face against the top of her head, shaking and breathing mightily, with Belfast picking up a couple of the cool tears that dropped and were absorbed by her hair.

"I love you," Enterprise breathed out, muffled and gasping. "I love you, too, Bel."

Belfast thought she would handle it better. She was mistaken. Her heart swelled so much and so suddenly that she would've been worried that something was seriously wrong if there hadn't been this abundance of joy – too much for her to have any chance of holding back. She blinked free tears, half wetting a spot at the carrier's shirt, the rest going down her other cheek, unobstructed, until she also turned it so that she could wipe it away with the rest in the soaked cloth.

She refused to let go of her beloved, clinging to her tightly, haunted with the possibility of her grip passing through her when Enterprise would just…disappear. When she would be gone. When this all really did prove to be a dream and Belfast would be waking up in bed again, except this time it was with the knowledge that she was well and truly alone.

She was quite sure that Enterprise was feeling the same until the ace broke out with a nervous, relieved chuckle, having become convinced of what was right here. "I wish that this had been something I learned a lot faster."

This time Belfast did giggle, sharing that relief. "But still right on time."

"It could've been sooner."

"Oh? Do you not find the present conditions from it agreeable?"

Enterprise's face pulled away from her head, the carrier getting a reminder of their 'present conditions' before awkwardly returning, "Ah, well, I guess I do…"

Belfast tilted her head back up, resettling her chin upon Enterprise's chest again as she looked up at her. "Hmmmm?"

"Definitely," Enterprise corrected, flustered. "Definitely do."

It really was much more fun to tease her now.

However, the Eagle girl's expression began to cool, and Belfast could see how she was looking back into a previous timeframe. "Like with London, if I had been able to realize things faster, acted on them sooner, maybe we could've…"

"Still trying to take all the blame for yourself," Belfast chided.

Enterprise grinned shortly. "Force of habit."

"Well one thing we could do is get you to quit, starting by reminding you of how much trouble I was in all this." Belfast lifted a finger and placed it right over Enterprise's lips as they were getting ready to open. "Don't. I was in the wrong and you knew it and I'd rather you not try to belittle how you made me know it. I actually quite liked it, looking back on it." She managed to paint another minor shade of flush on Enterprise's face which Belfast smirked at before adding, "I have just as much blame for dragging it out as much as you think you did, even when I knew I loved you."

Enterprise's brows rose, suddenly interested, and she moved her mouth out from Belfast's finger. "When did you know?"

…Oops.

"…That's not important," Belfast deflected, realizing too late just how ridiculous it would look if she revealed when she knew and had still been so difficult about it anyway. It would be too much, even for her.

Enterprise's embrace tightened around her in a way that was to ensure that Belfast wouldn't escape. "I disagree."

Belfast testing the hold informed her of how trapped she was. "It's really not."

"I still want to know."

"You don't need to know."

Enterprise leaned closer, giving Belfast a full look at the glint of mischief in her eye that was shared in her grin. "Do I need to tickle you?"

Too late did Belfast remember that teasing worked both ways. "Do not!"

Keeping Belfast seized with her one arm, Enterprise dipped her other in a threatening gesture to where one of the cruiser's limbs remained clutched to her side. "I'll do it."

"Enterprise!"

A hilarious struggle ensued, Belfast wanting to keep her weak spot away leading her one arm to spastically move around along Enterprise's side as the carrier tried to claim and assault it. It would've been easier if Belfast had tried to separate entirely from Enterprise, but something kept her from doing so, much like how Enterprise wanted to keep her eyes on Belfast as she blindly grasped for her target.

"Tell me," Enterprise insisted, thinking she had captured the limb with her elbow.

"No!" Belfast rejected, managing to yank it free.

They were both holding back laughter which soon broke out, the two bringing their heads against each other's shoulders as they laughed, holding themselves together on one side while they fought at the other. The pair teetered until one violent action on their combined parts had Enterprise backing into the table, the loud clanking of the silverware and dishes getting them to stop and check to see that nothing had been broken or spilled.

When they didn't see any such mess, they looked back at each other with chastised smiles, their bodies still quaking, faces bright as they were red, breathing labored.

It came when their arms returned to fully embrace the other, the moment right then, they decided, that was perfect for them to lean together and kiss.

The breathlessness of their struggle kept the kiss short but it was enough for what it was meant for on this occasion when they broke away and Belfast saw what had to be her expression mirrored on Enterprise's: the loving adoration that was between them and them alone, confirming their acceptance of each other, their feelings, with their ordeals to get here something that was going further and further into the past as it no longer mattered because it was here that they were now in spite of it all.

There was only going forward from now on, but that direction had its own ambiguities that Belfast could see Enterprise contemplating as her smile thinned. "How is this going to work out from here?"

That was what had caused Belfast to flee and almost condemn this present that they were sharing to never come to pass, and although she felt remnants fidget in the darkness of the pit that she nearly been fated for, they didn't even hold a fraction of the power over her as they once did.

"We'll figure it out," she said, the answer so astonishingly simple. "For now, let's just worry about spending the most with what we have right now."

"I can get behind that," Enterprise agreed, assured by it, and began thinking about how to do that. "I feel like we've went very out of order for this but, if you want, there's our little date to the city that we can still do."

They had gone spectacularly out of order, and something about that made Belfast, the perfectionist who had been so ruled by order, start laughing again as she burrowed her face against Enterprise, the other shipgirl chuckling but failing to find it as funny as her partner did while she patted her back.

It left her to be caught off guard when Belfast rose up and kissed her again, except with a longer, deeper meaning that suggested how the cruiser wouldn't mind remaining out of order for a little bit more as her arms encircled around Enterprise's neck, keeping her in place, with the coat now slipping entirely from her limbs and falling further, becoming hooked by the ones that were still around her as Enterprise returned the kiss.

Enterprise pulled her lips back for a moment, began to ask, "What about brea-?" but was quieted and soon forgot all about her morning's work when Belfast impatiently resumed the kiss.

The carrier's arms loosened, her coat finally dropping and pooling at the two's feet, with Belfast shuddering not only in anticipation brought on by her nakedness but how Enterprise immediately stroked a spot at her back that gave her such a thrill with the more confident, intimate knowledge that her lover now had behind that touch.

This was what had broken her down and finally got her to accept what she had constantly been denying herself. A shipgirl who had thought herself so fortunate that there was nothing more that she deserved or wanted from this life. All her time spent looking for and guiding others to their own happiness, telling them to believe in the beauty that they could find in this world, with their hearts, and she had long since stopped believing in her own.

So when the possibility of her own selfish happiness came, her response was to distance herself from it. When it insisted, she turned away. When it tempted her, she fled. When it pursued, still she tried to drive it away.

All because of how she believed that the one who wanted to find their happiness with her would be better off finding it anywhere else that wasn't with one who hadn't needed it.

It was only when she had been cornered, confessed, and convinced of that love that special someone had for her that she could no longer deny it, finally accepting it, and thus did she finally discover the person that she wanted to be and can only be with the other. To be as happy, to be as loved, and to be as complete as she had been then, as she was now, and will forever be as long as she had her in her life, no matter if it would be right here with her or separated at the other side of the world.

Come what may, this was what she will believe in from now on.

---

The sun was still short of its midday positioning when Enterprise started her travels outside of the Academy. Strolling to the northern side of the island, she used the provided paths and stairs to descend the steep declines to reach a short pier, the wooden planks showing their age with railings that were dull and weathered with creeping rust, but their sturdiness expected to last for a few years longer. Waves splashed upon the surrounding shores which then became the sloshing directly beneath the pier when Enterprise stepped onto it and traveled down to the end.

There a figure stood with her one hand upon the rail, the other raised so that it may be used as a perch for the bird that rested there, his talons affixed to her thin wrist, his plumage as rumpled as her short, gray hair. Enterprise stopped a meter from her back, shrouded as it was by her torn cape.

She didn't announce her presence and the other didn't give a sign of noticing her, staring out at the waters. With this side of the island facing Plymouth, the sun glittered upon the shifting waves and glinted upon the steel and glass of the city across the way. There were a couple sailboats lounging in the bay between the two points with another – a fishing boat – crossing by. A shipgirl soon joined the scenery, her path taking her out from the city and towards either Devonport or some other assignment.

The caped figure suddenly raised her arm and the eagle launched himself off from it, a pair of feathers falling from his messy crest as he quickly flapped his wings to gain speed before smoothing his flight that sent him somewhere ahead.

She didn't lower her arm immediately. Instead, with it still raised, her hand turned upwards, bony fingers curling as if to grasp the breeze, the rays of sunlight, or whatever else that had no substance for her to grip onto but what she persisted on with such vain grabbing.

Enterprise couldn't imagine just how long it had been since she had last felt the warmth of the sun's light, breathed in clean air, or smelt the plain salt of the sea. That, however, may explain why she was still here as Enterprise hadn't expected her to be lingering around like this.

Not for long though, Enterprise noted, faint cube-shaped particles drifting from the ends of the other's hair, the strands shortening even more, with the tears in her cape growing and the fabric thinning.

She was going to pass on, and soon.

She eventually ceased her grasping, this spirit of a deceased reality, and her hand joined her other on the rail. "You didn't change anything."

She was a specter who wanted to deliver her final message. A wisdom attained from her lamentable life and wanted heard, whether as a warning or spite. The least that Enterprise could do was let her have it.

"Everything here is a construct created by the Sirens," she went on. "Yours, mine, and who knows how many others, all built and designed to serve some kind of purpose. Mine just happened to be the one chosen to die while yours was chosen to progress off it. And even if things had gone as planned, they would either use the results in a more important timeline or toss it out if a set of data did not match their expectations. We're just experiments meant to validate their latest hypothesis until they decide to move on to the next one."

Enterprise directed her gaze down to look at her hand when she lifted it up for inspection. She squinted her eyes, they flickering with a particular light, and the skin of her appendage was reduced to its outline containing the rows of numerical lines that were her being.

"You no longer have any excuse now, if you can see it so clearly."

Enterprise looked back up, but rather than reviewing the mathematical reach that went from where she was standing on the pier to the city on the horizon and beyond, her attention instead was on the human-shaped outline standing at the end of the pier, data fragmenting from her disjointed sequences and slipping through her poorer-defined outline. Each set of numbers that separated from her dissolved, proving incompatible to this world's datascape where they were summarily deleted.

The view receded, reconverting, and what Enterprise saw now were lavender eyes peering at her over a shoulder. Without the crimson brilliance that once empowered them, they were faded with exhaustion and defeat.

"It's another interpretation," Enterprise responded easily. "Just because we can see with it and even alter it just like they can, it doesn't make everything less real."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because it's still all real to me."

The Ghost scoffed at her, turning away to stare back out at the light, water, and life.

"You must've felt the same," Enterprise then said. "Probably much more than you're letting on. If it had all been as bleak as you claim it to be, where every second and choice of our lives was all dictated by some grand design made in advance, then you wouldn't have been so devoted to a cause to make something out of it anyway."

To hasten her world's destruction, murdering the surviving inhabitants, to trap them into the core of such a despicable entity that she would then let loose to consume another world to reach its completion. As horrible as her actions were, where the only explanation was her maddened ravings, there had nonetheless been a meaning that she wanted it all to lead to. She had been cursed with the designs that the Sirens had made for her, but she would make something out of them regardless. Not just for herself but for everyone else who had been damned to that fate.

There had been hope there, malformed as it was to the point of being unrecognizable. If there hadn't been, she wouldn't have wailed upon its loss or clawed out from the grasp of her own deletion for the chance that she could save it.

And she wouldn't still be here, as exhausted as her options now were, wishing to spend her last moments where she could've been instead, had things only been slightly different.

"…Let's say that I did," she considered after a period spent listening to the lapping, splashing, and sloshing of the waves. "How does any of that matter now?"

"We're still here, aren't we?"

The Ghost tilted her head up towards the sky. "They didn't waste any time in erasing my world once it was no longer able to serve their purpose. I suspect the reason that yours was allowed to continue was because they wanted to see what they could collect between the two of us when it came to our battle. But now that the outcome has been decided with my loss and your victory…I don't know why this is all still here." Bitterly, she suggested, "Maybe they're waiting for me to finally disappear to be sure that there's nothing to gain anymore and then this'll all go with me."

"Or there could be another reason," Enterprise proposed.

"What does that change other than the minimal amount of time that they'll use to calculate any use they can get out of it?" There was a fractional return of her antagonism. "How many timelines have they gone through? How many worlds did they create and destroy for the sake of a sliver of progress? For all we know, there could've been millions with the only difference being a single action that one of us didn't take in one of their simulations that they then tested in another. How many of us had there been who thought they could prevail over them, only for their efforts to amount to a solitary byte of data that's since been stored in their infinite libraries of research? How can you even consider for a single moment that there's hope of you being able to keep any of this?"

"The fact that they're still trying," Enterprise answered. "Whatever it is they want, they haven't gotten it yet, and they're still looking for it."

"And you believe there's some miraculous chance they'll find it here and spare it? Or, failing that, you'll find some means to defeat them yourself?"

"I have to." Enterprise smiled ruefully. "There are things that I've come to love and want to protect. For that, I'll keep fighting, even if it's that hopeless. It's all that we know how to do."

"Such selfish delusions," she sneered.

"It's our nature; as ships and humans."

There came a noise that was meant to be disgust, but it was lackluster and the accompanying slump against the railing made it more alike to resignation as she set her head upon the metal bar, her arms entangling themselves around it.

Her deterioration hadn't abated, particles having continued to drift away and disintegrate into nothing. A third of her cape had vanished by this point, revealing legs that were losing strength and matter. Her hair was further cropped and the hold she had on the rail was already slipping.

"…There's one thing I want to know," she quietly stated. "During the merging with Orochi…you didn't break free on your own, did you? You couldn't have been strong enough. We both know that."

"I wasn't," Enterprise answered. "I didn't."

"…Yorktown?" she whispered.

"Among others."

She slid soundlessly down to the wooden planks of the pier, her knees folding beneath her, calves mostly gone, her shoulder coming against the upright to keep her up, her one arm still tentatively secured around it while her other hung limp beside her, half-disintegrated, her head bowing low.

"It should've been her…"

The tears didn't even reach the floor of the pier. They fell but immediately dissolved into the grains that sparkled and then disappeared.

"It shouldn't have been me… If it had been her, she would've…"

Enterprise cast her gaze away from the Ghost when she began weeping, pitying her, and because they were the same person, she knew there was nothing she could do to ease her final moments. They had gone too far in opposing directions, the lives they led the same as the worlds they came from. For the carrier to stay beside her here in this place that was taking away the tears and regrets that could not reach those that she destroyed…even being alone was preferable.

Enterprise turned away.

"Just…" came the gasp when she did. "Don't forget… What they went through…who they were… Forget me if you want…but not them…"

A final request. Even from someone who had taken everything from her, a self she hated like no other, she was choosing to entrust what little she had left to her and this reality that the odds say would eventually be lost as well, even if all that was left were memories.

"I won't," Enterprise respectfully promised and walked away, leaving the Ghost to mourn.

When she could no longer hear those cries upon reaching the other end of the pier though she suddenly stopped, surprised to see who was standing there, as if waiting for her. "Bel-?"

She wasn't Belfast. She had the same uniform as Belfast, the same hair, was even smiling the same smile that Belfast would on a face that looked exactly like hers, but she wasn't Belfast.

Not her Belfast.

Overcoming the shock brought on by her appearance, Enterprise hastily corrected her stance to what was appropriate and touched the brim of her naval cap, tipping it and her head to the maid who returned it with a polite curtsy. Then, without a single word being shared between them, they walked past each other, heading to where they belonged.

---

With the knowledge of how far those she tried to save had opposed her, that their deaths had been of their own choosing over the salvation she had tried to deliver them to at the very end, all she could do was weep and long for when this would all soon be over.

The warmth at her face, the breeze in her hair, the smell and taste of the sea at her nose and lips; it was all wonderful as it was damning. She was being taken apart, fading away, this world that was so beautiful that she could not exist in, her coming erasure validating her unsuitability to be here or anywhere else – least of all with those who she had desired to rejoin with above all else.

It'll be over, she assured herself as she felt the bits of her drifting away and dissolving like ashes.

All that she had held in her hands had crumpled like ashes until she had become caked in them; memories that had rotted and made her so putrid even to those she had held so dearly. To be cleansed of this filth, to have her layers of loathing, desperation, and rage purged, was for her to see what was left underneath: nothing.

She had no dream, no cause, no will. Life itself was killing her because there was none left within her. Just exhaustion and futility.

This undead being wanted nothing more than to rest.

"Miss Enterprise."

She didn't respond to the name and not just because she was focused so intently on her own coming demise. On that nothingness that was spreading and her wishing to move faster so that all this could end.

It was because it had been so long since she even thought about that name, nonetheless heard it. The only name that she had ever referred to herself with when she obtained that cube, when she first heard their voices again, when she conducted her grisly work, was Grey Ghost.

Even when thinking of her mirrored self, she had never referred to her by that other name.

Because in the end that name no longer had any meaning to her. No connection to the person who she may've once been, only who she hated, and thus she no longer recognized it.

"Miss Enterprise."

The calm, gentle tone of the individual was as indistinct to her where, even when repeated, she didn't react to it. It was just so foreign to her, not enough to pull her away from the misery she had wrapped herself in and was eagerly waiting for her release from.

"Miss Enterprise."

The third time though, with that patient insistence, at least got her curiosity. She partially turned, a task that was difficult for her with her deterioration that made her think about immediately giving up until she managed to catch a sign of there actually being someone right behind her. She pushed with her one shoulder – the other completely gone – against the upright, able to use enough strength to rotate herself around and slump with her back against the railing as she looked up.

Her tears had all turned and scattered like dust at this point, her vision unobstructed when she saw who it was, but she didn't recognize her.

She did, however, know that she wasn't a denizen of this world.

"You…" she whispered in disbelief, her maid attire starting to feel familiar, her compassionate features stirring the sense further…

But she could not remember her name. She just knew that they were from the same source, and she someone who had been slain by her hand while she had been declaring that she was saving her at the same time.

So it didn't make sense to her when she saw the maid smiling at her before her hands rose and became held out towards her.

"I've come to escort you, Miss Enterprise," she kindly informed her.

She stared up at her, completely confused.

"I'm here to make sure that you are returned home, my lady," she explained, still with that kindly tone. "Such is my duty that I have chosen as your maid and will see it completed."

Lady? Her thoughts were slow and groggy, unable to keep up with those statements. My...maid? But what got her to whisper out loud was, "Home…?"

The maid's lips curved in an alteration that she couldn't describe. It looked sad, almost like the maid was taking pity on her, but there was…something else to it. Assurance. Acceptance. For her? For both of them?

"Our war is over, Miss Enterprise," she softly stated. "There are no more fights needing to be fought. No more battles calling for us. We have all laid down our arms and settled for our rest. The only one missing is you."

Her thoughts had to be fragmenting again, her thinking divided between each piece of what the maid was saying to her but unable to put them together to form a coherent picture.

Our?

Maid?

We?

Lady?

Home?

One bungled their way to the forefront, managing to gain a little more attention with a longer-constructed question.

Why is she calling me that?

Wait…that's right.

Enterprise. That was her name, but it should be long gone, like everything else, including this maid. But here this maid was, using that name, speaking about home, about...'we'.

"Impossible," she murmured.

They were gone. It was all gone. She tried. She tried, she tried, she tried and to have all these impossibilities here right in front of her with this cruiser maid just as she gave up was too much. Too much for her to believe in. Too much to hope for again.

Why couldn't she have just been left alone to her erasure instead of being tormented one last time?

"I am here, am I not?" the maid asked. "And I am here to show you that those who are lost can still find their way home. Like us, like you, and it is you I offer my guiding hands so that you can see for yourself that you are still worthy of peace."

It was her hands that remained held out to her, palms open and waiting.

But they beckoned to her all the same with an invisible promise that was as tempting as any cube and the urgings of its thousands of voices. A promise of peace that was the difference between a surrender to oblivion if it meant escaping from the unbearable and a rest that could provide a measure of tranquility yet possible, even after all that the cruelest of life's masterminds had subjected one to.

And something within her – not yet erased, not yet dead – was swayed by it and lifted higher as she slowly switched between those hands and the maid's kind features.

It was quite easy to forsake hope when it wasn't in sight. But, as it turned out, when a single bit of it became present, it was difficult to refuse it. And when presented alongside an end that she had just been looking forward to, it was impossible to not want to believe in the something of the alternative rather than the nothing of the absolute.

She had already proven herself time and again to be such a fool in pursuing those alternatives. However…

A thin hand that had gotten thinner, with half its fingers gone, still managed to place itself in that of the maid's.

"I want to go home," she whispered, nearly whimpering at how she couldn't seem to stop playing the fool to the end. Had she been able to, she would've shed a couple more tears for being so pathetic.

But the maid didn't judge her for it, instead cupping her hand delicately while the other came on top of it, securing it in her tender hold. "As you desire, Miss Enterprise."

She didn't even know what could even constitute a home though. Anything that she could remotely associate with the word was gone and, even before that, she couldn't think of when or where, at any point, there was a location she had ever felt to be 'home'.

What did seem to have a connection to such a concept though, was the yearning that was inspired by the maid's kindness, by the care of the hands that held hers, the warmth behind her name.

This doesn't seem so bad… she decided, choosing to put her trust on that and the maid's face as she stilled.

They would stay like that for the rest of the time they had left, neither taking their eye or touch from the other as their forms broke apart, deconstructing into those cubed components, mixing and spiraling together, the brighter, stronger cubes aiding and lifting the weaker, duller ones into the breeze where they were swept along by the current, floating out into the bay.

And then they were gone, leaving the empty pier behind.

---

The last few weeks in the Royal Isles were already unforgettable, but the final days were what became really memorable for Enterprise.

She and Belfast did end up hitting the city for their much-delayed date, walking along streets that Enterprise felt she belonged in, dressed in clothes she felt appropriate, and someone at her side who she was sure of her feelings for, where she could reach over and take the hand that was waiting for hers and hold onto it while staring at a beautiful, smiling face as much as she was at the other surrounding sights, if not more.

They dined at a restaurant where Enterprise could appreciate the fine food, viewed a film that was to be her starting point in formulating just what genres she preferred, and then afterwards went to a club that was located at the pinnacle of one of the taller buildings in Plymouth. A kind of club where Belfast's privileges was the key to their entry when she flashed the insignia of the Royal Family, something that she expressed a bit of shame for soon after when she admitted that she wasn't used to using her standing in such a frivolous manner.

It wasn't anything that a couple drinks couldn't alleviate after they took a seat on some plush chairs with the city spread out before them.

Compared to how they spent what they had originally thought were their last days at the Royal Isles, right before the Siren attack, this day alone was much more active and celebratory in nature than any of those. And Enterprise felt there was a lot that had been backed up that they could finally celebrate, a feeling that may've been partially influenced by the buzz of the alcohol that was affecting her as much as it was Belfast, going by the rosy flush developing at the cruiser's cheeks from one too many drinks.

Despite how far she had already come, Enterprise knew that there was still a lot about herself that she didn't know and had been sure she needed Belfast to help figure it out, but this was where she realized just how much the same could be said about Belfast. Getting her to be honest with her feelings had been a gateway to who she wanted to be, Newcastle's words coming to Enterprise when Belfast emitted an uninhibited giggle behind her fingers that pinched her glass that could've had a chance of clumsily spilling some of her drink if it wasn't already more than half-empty, she trying to get a handle of an inebriation that she wasn't used to, the hue of her face shifting to the same shamed quality that she had shown off at the door but still positively merry.

They were shipgirls, living and battling for many years and could continue for many years more, but there was still a lot for them to experience; some more than others, and Enterprise much more than most. In that way, they could still make mistakes with what choices they may decide on in the wake of such experiences, which could include where they were currently: the storm of incidents that had occurred since her and Belfast's first meeting and was very much responsible for flinging them headlong into this brand-new experience.

Maybe, even with all that they had confessed and come to believe in, they were making a mistake and it would occur to them later down the line.

But on the other side, the fact that they were having these experiences for the first time, in all their years, with the two of them specifically and no one else before, also had merits that could ensure their relationship just as much and what they wanted from it.

Call it her most gullible moment yet, but Enterprise couldn't see how it was anything but the latter as she sat in that chair, sipping her drink, with a new city that she had nonetheless quickly become acclimated to beneath her. She felt comfortable, her previous anxieties and unease a distant memory now, and she could really feel just how much she fit in this life.

But where she really wanted to be in this whole wide world that was before her was beside the woman who she loved and couldn't afford to take half-measures with anymore, so when there came a quiet point between them, where Enterprise saw a glazed sparkle in Belfast's eye, she leaned over for a kiss which Belfast met with no hesitation, further intoxicating themselves with the alcohol-laced sweetness of their lips.

Returning to their duties and trying to balance their personal and work life unveiled the same magical quality that had come to them.

While Enterprise went on patrol, Belfast found what work that she could do or oversee, although most of it was fulfilling her own obligations she meant to complete at the Drake Academy before she had been delightfully sidetracked. They would contact and meet up with each other, and though Belfast still stuck to the act as her maid – her wonderful, wonderful maid -, there was an equalizing aspect to it now when Enterprise was willing to lend her assistance to whatever task Belfast was working on and what the cruiser accepted with little appreciative smiles. It was assistance that was in the interest of them being done sooner so they could get together faster, but beneath that there was an affectionate quality to these normal acts of being able to support and be supported by the one they loved: these tiny expressions that nonetheless held deep affections and fulfillment.

Their days did not become contracted solely to each other though, as was made evident when Enterprise had been lured by Belfast to become a surprise speaker in one of the classes to give her experienced input. It was embarrassing for the audience-shy Enterprise who awkwardly answered what questions she could, but when she happened to glance at the corner of the classroom where Belfast was overseeing the whole affair with a barely-visible smirk, the carrier experienced that same sense of gratification of this new instance of her evolving life: of how she was experiencing another new facet and doing it in the company of the one who she loved.

This, in turn, went to moments when members of Enterprise's patrol group wanted to hang out whether at the mess or another location with them insisting that Enterprise could bring Belfast along – an assurance that also involved grins that made the carrier uncomfortable at seeing them. She and Belfast were trying to keep how far their relationship had gone from the rest and although they were successful – she thought – in that regard, everyone was obviously aware of something going on between them and would make comments about such. Although awkward when it did happen, when she and Belfast were out, just the way that Enterprise would duck back and Belfast would come forward to deflect the suggestions far more gracefully than she, and then they'd continue on their merry way with the others, there was just something so good about it.

And, even better, when they were able to sneak looks at each other, perfectly normal outwardly – she hoped – but conveying so much of what they had now and were able to pursue.

Those moments and the guiltier ones assisted in affirming what they had. Limited, but filled with the adoration that they viewed each other with: the restrained but needy touches, and the quick, guilty kisses when they had a break between themselves, all unwavering in their devotion and what they treated to each other preciously when they were finally able to get away.

How Enterprise sorely wished that she had realized and confronted her feelings sooner. It was such a radical change between her and Belfast, and yet the ease of which it had become integrated with their lives to make everything so much better and sweeter now because of how they could be so honest with each other, to have someone to hold and be held by in such loving regard, was something that seemed so inexcusable for them to have kept away from each other for so long. If only they had done it all sooner, gave themselves a bit more time…

But they didn't, as became apparent when New York HQ contacted the Royal Isles to inquire why Enterprise had not been in the Eagle Union fleet that had finally returned to their harbor.

The impression that Enterprise was left with about the exchanges between the Royal Navy and Eagle Union commands was that they had been rather diplomatic, with a distinct lack of accusations from Eagle Union and a painless acceptance when it came to the Royal Navy explanation: 'tumultuous fleet movements'. She wondered if Hornet had provided a testimony that prevented HQ from being able to levy any kind of guilt upon their Royal Navy counterparts.

Whatever the case may have been though, Eagle Union still wanted her back and she was informed of a settlement of how she was to depart on the morning of the following day, buying her an extra twenty-four hours. Being pardoned from further duties, the only thing Enterprise wanted was to spend every second of it with Belfast. She didn't have to look hard, she leaving the office of Devonport's base commander after receiving her orders and finding the Royal cruiser there in the hall waiting solemnly for her, having either predicted or uncovered the news through her own means.

She couldn't risk going far, wary of angering her superiors if she was to delay her departure, unintentionally or not. This was, after all, what they had expected, and she had to do it whether she liked it or not.

And upon that morning, while she was lying on the bunk of her assigned dorm, with Belfast nestled against her side, her head upon her chest, she really didn't want to.

Enterprise spent several minutes lying there, stroking Belfast's hair, trying to prepare herself against what may be the hardest thing she was ever going to do in her life: when she would have to stop these addicting ministrations, pull herself from beneath the weight whose warmth made it so immovable, and extract herself from this spot that was trying to entrap her with the innocent request of just a few minutes more.

But she knew the folly of it. And even if she was tricked by it, she knew who would end up being the one to do it instead.

So, deciding to take that painful responsibility for herself, Enterprise ceased her stroking, her palm going flat against the side of Belfast's head while she glanced down at her face and whispered, "I have to go, Bel."

Belfast's eyes opened as soon as she said it, revealing how she had been awake, and the cruiser sighed, staring at the wall while she quietly replied, "I know."

They didn't exchange anything else after, a heavy silence filling the room as they got ready, where the sliding of cloth as they dressed was unnaturally loud with the significance of what each article that they threw on meant. Buttoning her shirt, tugging on her boots, Enterprise could feel a reluctant sluggishness as she went through each step until she was pulling her tie around her neck. She fiddled with the ends, trying to loop them together, but found her fingers fumbling with it.

Silently, Belfast slipped into her view, all dressed, reaching for the tie, and without hesitation or any sort of word Enterprise let her tie fall from her grip and into Belfast's who began tying it for her.

With nothing to occupy them, Enterprise found her hands dropping and planting themselves on Belfast's hips. And though her gaze was fixed on the carrier's tie, Belfast stepped a little closer.

"There," Belfast dared to break the quiet when she finished the knot and smoothed the collar of her shirt before her hands began to drift away, she pulling back-

And Enterprise's arms suddenly seized her around her waist and drew her back into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," Enterprise apologized before Belfast could say anything, burrowing her face into the crook of her neck while she squeezed. "I was trying so hard but…"

This would be the last time where she would have a morning like this, where something so small like Belfast fixing her clothes and all these other tiny, silent actions that had once started as a simple routine but could now carry so much love and tenderness that Enterprise couldn't bear the thought of ending it without letting Belfast know how much she was going to miss it.

She wanted to say how much she wanted things to continue, spout whatever suggestions she could for the impossible chance that one of them may be feasible: that she could stay here in the Royal Isles, or that Belfast could come with her to Eagle Union, or they could just go somewhere else, away from the fighting, away from their duties, and settle down elsewhere as long as it was a place where they could be together, undisturbed.

But she didn't, and she didn't need to anyway, when Belfast returned the hug, squeezing her just as tight, and her whispering, "I know."

They stayed like that for another minute, until Belfast loosened her embrace and Enterprise was persuaded to follow, the two eventually separating and looking at each other.

"You have to go, Enterprise," Belfast said, just before placing a soft kiss on her lips.

Enterprise sighed when she pulled away, defeated. "I know."

This was what made it so hard, wasn't it? To have someone that you could understand with so few words and actions, and now being confronted with the reality that you had to separate from them.

But that was yet another thing: that such difficulties had to be faced, even this, because of how important it was that they had to keep what had brought them together intact. Not just for their own selfish selves, but also for those who could have their chances to find what they did.

They remained selfless like that, unfortunately.

Enterprise reached back for the handle of her luggage at the same time Belfast opened the door. As the carrier joined her, she held out her hand, and the cruiser promptly took it, their fingers lacing together.

They had previously avoided such public displays on the base like walking hand-in-hand, but neither seemed to care, their grips firm as they walked out through the door and into the hall. There was no one to see it anyway though, the hall empty, and Enterprise would've found it a little unusual, figuring that there'd be other shipgirls waking and preparing for their morning assignments, but it was oddly vacant as they made their way out of the dormitory. However, she was more occupied with counting the number of steps she and Belfast made, knowing that each one brought them closer to what would be their parting, but what she forced herself to look ahead to regardless.

It was harder for her to ignore how the docks, usually ringing with the day-to-day noise of activity and what was another bright morning, were as uncharacteristically muted as well when she and Belfast walked out of the dormitory building.

Enterprise blinked herself out of her fixed stare, glancing around, and she immediately picked up something else that was off. Like the halls of the dorms, the docks themselves were almost deserted compared to how they usually were, having an absence of any significant groupings of dockworkers or shipgirls.

Instead, what seemed full were the various berths, Enterprise taking specific note of how there seemed to be an additional number of warships that had been added to Devonport's fleet overnight. Big capital ships, most of whom were very familiar battleships and a couple carriers.

Enterprise slowed, having a nagging suspicion that there was something afoot. "Beeelll…?"

Belfast didn't answer, and Enterprise's arm was being pulled forward as the cruiser hadn't slowed her pace in the least, walking unabated.

"Bel," Enterprise said again, sure that something was going on as she hastened to catch up. "What did you do?"

Belfast still didn't respond, but Enterprise did see the curved grin tucked at the corner of her face.

Oh, no… Enterprise thought, her gloom suddenly replaced with absolute dread of what could've possibly been planned by the devious cruiser.

An Illustrious-class carrier had been placed next to where she knew her carrier body was, obstructing her from getting a view of what was beyond until she and Belfast were going around it, and then she suddenly froze when she saw what awaited her.

"No," she gasped.

"Yes," Belfast returned, the cruiser tugging her arm.

But Enterprise refused to budge. "I'm going back to bed."

"No, you aren't."

"I'm going back to bed," Enterprise deadpanned. "Barricade the door. Wait until nightfall. Then I'm sneaking out. I won't even stop and say goodbye."

Belfast was glowing with badly hidden humor. "Enterprise…"

"I'm not doing this."

Belfast raised her brows at her. "Oh? So, what? Are you going to turn around and leave, when you can see that everyone has been waiting for you? When they can see you if you do that?"

A very annoyed, incomprehensible grumbling was Enterprise's response.

Belfast giggled, keeping it at a volume where it wouldn't be overheard. "Come along, Enterprise..."

Emitting a final, half-hearted growl, Enterprise very reluctantly let Belfast drag her to the fate that awaited her.

A crowd had formed along the side of her carrier body in numbers that Enterprise couldn't count, staring more towards the ground now as she was led towards it. Not as big as the one that she had been tricked into confronting at the banquet, but on this very open dock and on this cursedly clear and sunny day, it was just as bad.

There were dockworkers dressed in their coveralls, uniformed officers and other base personnel, and shipgirls, each forming their own section of the audience that had been assembled for what Enterprise knew to be a very embarrassing sendoff for her. At the front of it there was a small grouping of the most prestigious members: there was Devonport's base commander, Illustrious, Unicorn, Victorious, and even Hood – in uniform and looking much better, but temporarily confined to a wheeled chair that Newcastle was positioned behind, her umbrella shading them both, with Curlew and Sirius nearby for additional support. There were also a couple human officers in very pristine, very prestigious navy-blue uniforms that had to be of exceptional ranking, going by the medals and other pinned merits.

And at the head was King George V, as brilliantly presentable as ever, and with a smile that, in Enterprise's opinion, was way too big and proud. She couldn't visibly transfer her annoyance to the Knight Commander though, as the carrier soon saw that George was acting as one flank to none other than Queen Elizabeth, with Warspite at her other side.

Belfast had let go of her hand before they had reached them, relieved Enterprise of her luggage, and took a position near to her subordinates, leaving the carrier to face this entire congregation alone as she took what she believed was the appropriate position in front of the three head members, hoping that the smoldering of her face had died down so that the back rows, at the very least, wouldn't see how scarlet it was.

I've done this before, she told herself, trying to cool her face while keeping the shaking of her legs to a minimum. Plenty of times. So what if the love of my life unfairly ambushed me with this without any kind of chance to prepare? Just stand here, choose somewhere to look at, wait until it's over with-

"Yorktown-class aircraft carrier Enterprise of Eagle Union!"

The loud address from King George snapped Enterprise to rigid straightness, arms stiff at her sides.

Wait, should I be kneeling? she thought, internally panicking. Queen Elizabeth is here. She's a queen. Well, kind of, but-

"Enterprise," George continued, forcing Enterprise to decide that she may as well stay where she was, hurriedly focusing on a point to the Knight Commander's left, over Queen Elizabeth's head, and where the carrier could focus on a section of her ship's hull past the line of people. "Your name had been known to the Royal Navy, but only in the Pacific had its subjects bore witness to exemplary feats that had contributed to pacifying the region and creating an opportunity of reunification between Azur Lane and the Sakura Empire. This assembly, however, that has the honor of Her Majesty's presence and members of the Royal Navy Admiralty, is to recognize and award your efforts in the protection of the Royal Isles itself. During a daunting incursion against our beloved home islands, you displayed unusual courage in the unenviable position against a new and unknown weapon deployed by our nefarious foes. To answer a call for aid that an ally had needed of you so swiftly, to prevail in single combat against one of the deadliest of our enemies, and ensuring the survival of a vital territory that had saved countless subjects – military and civilian alike -, truly there are few, if any, accomplishments of a single individual that could measure to what you performed."

This was standard procedure, this embellishment of her achievements to make them worthy of such an excessive commemoration that had happened enough times in her life that Enterprise had thought herself annulled to it at this point. But as George listed this particular set, the carrier was trying very hard to hold still and appear neutral, something that she started failing to do, with her gaze beginning to drift, wanting to shy further away from the Knight Commander.

This, however, led Enterprise to catch the looks of those assembled in the crowd, some of whom she recognized such as Echo, Exeter, and even some human personnel that she retained names of. Seeing their looks of thanks, pride, amazement, and other, similar expressions, she began to question if maybe she should've gone with her previous thought and fled from this.

Why was it becoming so hard for her to get through this?

"As such…"

Enterprise glanced down when it was not George who continued, instead it being Queen Elizabeth who was beaming up at her. Though she had only ever been in her direct presence once or twice, it was one that Enterprise had immediately noted as something beyond her petite appearance, reading it in her stance, with her crowned scepter at her side that was shaped after her mast, and within the deceptive youth of her countenance where there was a more cultured appeal to her that was far more suited to her queenly station, enhancing that same infallible intelligence and wisdom that all Royal girls held behind their opulent fronts and, for Elizabeth specifically, garnered the respect and reverence that she deserved.

Enterprise again asked herself if she should be kneeling right now.

"On my authority as Queen," the diminutive ruler declared, "and with the consent of the Admiralty, I am hereby pleased to present you with a mark of our respect and gratitude for such chivalry."

She tapped the anchor-shaped bottom of her scepter twice upon the dock, it ringing loudly through the air.

Enterprise wasn't expecting it when she saw a patch of red suddenly become hoisted up the mast of her ship, the wind soon catching it and getting it to extend and flap in the air. It was a type of flag, but more rectangular in shape. The entire background was colored in the standard Royal Navy red, and the design featured was a yellow anchor, with a cable running through the ring with both ends descending down over the upper stock, looping once, and continuing their descent to the arms.

"The Admiralty Pennant," Elizabeth presented. "Our most prestigious decoration, and never before has it been granted to a shipgirl outside of the Royal Navy." She lifted her scepter again, but this time she brought the crowned head upon Enterprise's shoulder. "This honor we bestow upon you, noble Enterprise."

Enterprise had no words. Not like her previous award ceremonies back in Eagle Union, when she did not feel a need to express words because she felt no meaning in the new, shiny medal that was pinned to her. No, she was at a complete loss for words. The touch at her shoulder, the gratitude that was expressed at who had all come to be assembled here - many she had come to know - with another nation's pennant flying over her ship, had a genuine significance to it all that she had never felt before and did not know how to react.

Belatedly though, she realized that a reaction was needed when the scepter remained for a prolonged moment at her shoulder, and when she looked at Queen Elizabeth, she saw a raised look of expectance.

Smothering what would've been an embarrassing start to her body, Enterprise immediately acted on the first idea that came to her: her right arm stiffly coming across her front, the other behind her, and she performed a just as stiffened bow to Elizabeth. "I am honored," she said, about to leave it at that, until she added, "Your Majesty."

She really hoped she was as quick as she sounded so that no one noticed.

There came a very subtle noise that Enterprise was surprised to hear and when the scepter left her shoulder she looked up to what she thought was the source: George, who gave no sign of actually having made such an errant thing, but there appeared to be a more discernable amount of pride in her expression then there was before as she viewed Enterprise.

There was no chance to really ponder it though, as the ceremony did not seem to be over yet, with the battleship herself taking back over. "Given our nature, we cannot very well leave you bereft of decoration, so there is another token we wish to present and have fitted it accordingly to particular preferences."

She made a discreet motion of her hand to the line of shipgirls behind her and it was Victorious who came to her side, the carrier holding onto another rectangular cloth, folded, and dark gray instead of red, but it had a similar design of an anchor stitched at the end: smaller, not as noticeable, but recognizing what this garment was had Enterprise suddenly passing a look to Queen Elizabeth's other side.

There, Warspite, with the tip of her blade planted into the concrete stared stoically at her, the thick ends of her scarf nearly touching the ground with her weapon, the more emblazoned anchors shining more eye-catchingly. Their gazes met, and though her features did not change she did dip her chin in acknowledgement to the Eagle ace.

Red isn't my color, after all, Enterprise mentally remarked and thought she saw the same sentiment reflected in Victorious when she returned to her, the Royal carrier giving her a cheerful wink before a slight lift of her hands instructed Enterprise to lower her head so that she could place the scarf on her.

Enterprise was about to, but they both stopped when Belfast suddenly came alongside them.

"If I may?" the cruiser requested, her voice low so that it would not carry, although holding out her hands would tell all who were watching about her intentions.

Victorious was surprised at first, but after looking between Belfast and Enterprise she grinned slyly and promptly dropped the garment into Belfast's possession before prancing back to her original position. Belfast put herself in front of Enterprise, unfolded the scarf to its full length, and then came close when the carrier lowered her head so that she could put it on.

"Royal Navy and their ceremonies," Enterprise hissed under her breath so that only Belfast would hear.

"This was not my idea," Belfast quietly returned, although Enterprise could tell how she was enjoying this as she gradually wound the scarf around her neck.

"You knew. Probably gave some input, too."

There was an airy chuckle from the cruiser. "You know me so well now, don't you? It's taking your mind off more depressing things though, isn't it?" Done looping it, they both straightened, but Belfast lingered, making sure the scarf was neat where it rested down Enterprise's front, the ends going past her waist, with the anchor presentable. "I wanted a happier sendoff for you."

Enterprise was touched and, internally, she had to admit that the gloomier aspects of the mood had vanished. But, out loud, she accused, "You just wanted to put me on the spot one last time."

Belfast used a last tightening of the scarf to lean closer so that she could coyly say, "That was a bonus."

A dangerous spark of inspiration came to Enterprise at the snug feeling around her neck, something that Belfast was unaware of when she began to draw away, or how the carrier's gaze dropped to the dangling chain of her collar.

Bonus, huh?

Enterprise suddenly reached up, snatched the chain, and pulled.

So unsuspecting of the action, Enterprise was very sure that it was a squeak that Belfast had been emitting before her mouth covered over hers, quieting it.

She made out the quaking shock of the cruiser's body and she retained a grip on the chain to keep Belfast from escaping, but if Belfast had any thought of doing so it must've only been an impulse and passed as such with her relaxing as she melted into the kiss.

There were noises going on now: gasps, clapping, a few cheers, whistles. When they did break the kiss, with Enterprise letting go of her collar, Belfast sunk her face into Enterprise's chest, arms winding around tight to hide with the carrier happily taking her into her arms. While they embraced, Enterprise looked over and saw an amusing show of reactions: George's eyes had gone huge, but her smile persisted, Elizabeth had her chin held high, looking rather smug for a queen, while Warspite was turned away, the lower half of her face hidden beneath the folds of her scarf.

One line back and there was Victorious, hands over her face, but her fingers were parted so that she had an unobstructed view of what was going on. Her sister was more courteous, Illustrious shaking with giggles that she hid behind a hand, her eyes closed, while her other hand was placed on the top of Unicorn's head who had darted behind her legs, peeking out one side with embarrassed shock while she covered Yuni's eyes. Newcastle had dipped her umbrella, blocking her own view, but the upturned curling of her lips was just visible, while Hood remained exposed, the battlecruiser leaning back in her chair and eyes turned up, appearing content. Sirius stared with widened eyes and a blush on her cheeks while Curlew looked on, nonplussed.

"That was much too bold."

Enterprise glanced down, unable to look at Belfast, but could see the redness that reached the tips of her ears. "I'm sorry," she whispered her apology, patting her back. "Should I not have done that?"

"…I didn't say that."

Enterprise chuckled as she hugged her, swaying languidly, heart and spirit full.

If only she knew how to actually go back in time, to just a few months, and visit herself as she was about to depart from Eagle Union, her destination the newly constructed Azur Lane Joint Base in the Pacific, and tell her all that was about to happen to her. That she was about to go to what would become the lowest point of her life, that she would undergo a personal crisis, and even wish to sink into the deep blue abyss itself if it meant ending the despair and pain that she was about to be put through.

She would be saved, but she may come to think that it was better if she hadn't, because of how useless she would be afterwards. She would think herself worthless until she was able to fight again, which would bring her to the realization that her life had been reduced solely to the one thing that she absolutely hated, making her see how miserably empty she had become because of it.

But she would meet someone; a very strange shipgirl whose purpose seemed to be to make a nuisance of herself by interfering in her life. Yet she would come to rely on her, and her interference would become an awakening to the world that she had neglected and will only be able to experience through her. She would become more open to it and make connections with the weapons just like her who had found their own personal lives regardless – not as comrades, but as friends. Soon enough, she would desire to make something of herself as more than just a weapon.

And what would be her greatest accomplishment towards that would be when she would convince that shipgirl who started it all to love her.

Then, when she was ready to return to Eagle Union, it would be on a dock like this, with friends she made, with an achievement and its recognition that she was proud of, and the best thing to ever happen to her here in her arms. All hers.

Without a doubt, her past self wouldn't believe a single word and may even threaten to get rid of her with force, thinking her to be some kind of devious apparition conjured by the Sirens. Enterprise wouldn't be able to blame her. Even with everything right here, it was all almost too good to be real. So much, too much.

And to think it was all because of one person.

"I love you," Enterprise whispered. "I love you so much."

Belfast tightened her embrace in response, face still hidden. "And I love you."

"I'm going to miss you just as much."

"As will I."

"But we'll meet again, right? No matter what, I will make sure we do."

"Of course." Belfast exposed her face, still shaded in a reddish hue, but that served to enforce her sincere resolve. "No matter how long it takes. When that time comes, I will be there. I swear it."

They sealed the promise with another, quicker kiss.

It was time. Holding on until the last possible moment, when their grip slowly, reluctantly, slipped away from each other, Belfast would step back and roll her luggage forward. Taking it in her possession, Enterprise would pass under the blades of George and Warspite, the two Knights having raised them in salute, cheers following her during and after she ascended the boarding ramp of her ship.

It would then rise while the mooring lines were undone and tossed, her anchor lifting from the waters, and while she looked over the side at all who were watching her go, waving goodbye to them, it was Belfast who she singled out and focused on.

She remembered so shortly after they arrived at the Royal Isles of when Belfast had asked if there was a place that she called home; a place that inspired a sense of longing to return to when she was out at sea. Enterprise had failed to provide an answer because she had been unable to designate a location that matched such a description.

But as she sailed out and the distance between them came to a point where Enterprise could no longer see her and yet, inexplicitly, knew that Belfast was still there on what had become a silhouette of the docks, watching her go, Enterprise felt it.

She was going back to Eagle Union, to her place of birth, where there was much that needed to be done and, more importantly, much that she wanted to do. Not just regarding the war with the Sirens, but also to her relations with her family, friends, and the very homeland that she had safeguarded so diligently but what she knew very little of on what made it so special to warrant it.

It would be a mission of exploration and discovery, her own personal enterprise, and one she intended to carry out thoroughly, but afterwards…she wanted to come back whether it be here in Plymouth, or London, or somewhere else on the Royal Isles. Maybe it would be miles away from here, or it would come to her in Eagle Union if events were to miraculously align that way.

All she knew was that no matter what the location was, as long as Belfast was there, that was where she wanted to return.

She wasn't sure if that qualified as the nest that she had been urged to find by Yorktown – a fixed, centralized point of everlasting calm and contentment - but even if it wasn't, Enterprise was at least certain that if she was ever to construct such a home for herself, Belfast would be an irreplaceable piece to it.

It was much, much more than what she had ever had at any point in her life before, and as Enterprise moved forward of her deck after she left the bay, turning her attention to the horizon, she would be satisfied with that knowledge until the time came when she would be reunited with her again.

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Author's Note: And with the main part of the story completed, all that's left is the three-part Epilogue that I'll be adding next weekend.