We arrived at the Fatherland later in that evening. It was so different from our naval base. For one thing, there were fewer surface ships than our navy. And the other thing was that there were more submarines. And when I mean more I mean a few hundred submarines.
"Come on let me show you to your rooms," Bismarck said.
Bismarck led us to our temporary accommodation. The room was similar to ours back at home.
"Enjoy your stay," Bismarck said with a smile before closing the door.
Even though I was damaged, I was too tired to go to the docks to repair. I just collapsed on the bed, exhausted from the battle. For the next few hours I slept like a pig. At about 18:00 hours I heard Prinz Eugen saying, "Dinner's ready. Come down to eat." I woke up. My stomach growled with hunger. Fortunately I woke up at the right time, I thought. I went down to the dining hall and my eyes widened with surprise. On the table was German and Japanese cuisine. Pork Knuckle, sausage, sauerkraut, roasted chicken, together with Japanese dishes like sushi and ramen. Bismarck greeted me and said, "Had a good sleep I suppose."
"Yea I did," I replied.
Once the table was filled with food we started to dig in. "Guten Appetit," The Germans said. I tasted the pork knuckles. The skin was so crispy and the meat melted in my mouth. I loved it! The sausages were good too. The spices were fragrant and the sausages were tender. However, I disliked sauerkraut. It was too sour for my liking. So I decided to stick to good old Japanese food for now. The food was delicious! I ate till my heart's content. By the time the meal was over I felt like I couldn't move an inch. I was that full. However I decided to take a stroll with Zuikaku before spending the night at the repair docks.
The night breeze was cooling and the temperature was just right. As I walked with Zuikaku staring at the night sky which was filled with the thousands of stars, I felt a sense of peace. Zuikaku saw that I was staring at the sky and asked, "Shoukaku-nee, what are you thinking about?"
"Ah, nothing much, just that I see how peaceful this place is and I kind of wish it was this peaceful back home," I replied.
"Oh, I see. Well maybe it'll be peaceful soon. Once we get rid of the abyssals once and for all and we defeat the Americans," Zuikaku replied with a sense of hope.
"Maybe. Maybe someday it will. But in the meantime, we've got to fight for the peace. We got to retake our seas from the abyssals and the Americans. Anyways Zuikaku, just look at us, we look like a mess," I said, staring at our torn and tattered clothes and our battle wounds. "Let's go to the docks and repair shall we Zuikaku?" I asked with a smile.
"Sure Shoukaku-nee," Zuikaku happily said.
And with that, we went to the repair docks to spend the night there.