It had been three weeks since the last incident and there was a relative calmness in the fleet. There were no signs of any Siren attacks which gave the girls ample time to rest. However, many of them used this downtime to help the humans on the mainland.
Oklahoma, Nevada, and Pennsylvania often caught more fish than needed and shared it with the humans. Illustrious and Wales had weekly picnics where the children from the fleet played with the human kids. Saint Louis took it upon herself to start training a platoon of soldiers as they were taking too long. The Essex siblings often went to the mainland to help out with construction work, heavy lifting, and other odd jobs.
All in all, the fleet was using this time to help humanity slowly recover and reach a level of normality. Alec finished his daily report to the leaders and decided to go see James. The lack of double-crossing and distrust he found at the fleet meant that he spent more time with there than on the mainland.
He headed to the hospital and went straight to James' room. Usually, he'd first go see Alexis, Blake, and Marie but they were playing a round of hide-and-seek with the kids. Alec entered the room and saw a slightly banded James wave to him with his left arm.
"You're looking good," he commented.
"I feel like normal but Vestal ordered me to stay here for a few more days," replied James.
"I just know that Belfast and the other maids are taking this chance to do more work while I sit around and do nothing," he added.
"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Alec, taking a seat "less work means less stress for you."
"I'm used to being independent. Having others do the work for me is… weird."
"For example, I once told Glasgow that I'll do my laundry and she should take the day off. The poor girl fainted when she heard that."
Alec couldn't help but chuckle a little as he imagined the scene playing out.
"From that moment on I wasn't allowed to do my own laundry," said James "Hmm, now that I think about it, it was around that time that my shirts started disappearing."
"What now?"
"Ah, it's nothing," said James, quickly dismissing the thought.
Just then they saw Akagi enter the room, holding a plate of food.
"Hello sweetie," she said, smiling at James then turned to Alec "I hope he hasn't tried to convince you to help him escape."
"Nothing like that," said Alec "we've just been having an idle conversation. I figured James is going stir crazy doing nothing for more than two weeks."
"Indeed," she said, setting the plate on a table "my husband is strange like that. Loves to keep moving forward, hates standing still."
"Ooohh breakfast," said James, reaching out to the meal only to have his hand slapped away by Akagi at the last moment.
"Why?" he cried while feigning hurt.
"We agreed that I will feed you your meals," she replied.
"We never agreed to that. And besides, I can at least feed myself."
In response, Akagi glared at him while letting out a low growl. James buckled under the attack and lowered his head in defeat.
Alec watched as Akagi lovingly fed him a few pieces of fruits and vegetables while James ate without kicking up a fuss.
"How long have you two been married?" he asked.
"Six beautiful months," replied James
"The wedding must have been fun," commented Alec "I'd love to see the album someday."
"Oh well… we didn't have a wedding," said Akagi.
"YOU DIDN'T?" shouted Alec, a move that surprised the couple.
"What's up with you?" asked James.
"What do you mean you didn't have a wedding?" asked Alec, trying to contain his shock.
"Well, James had a ring, asked me, then put the ring on my finger," said Akagi "after that, there was a glow and I suddenly had on my wedding dress. And after that, we became husband and wife."
"The hell kinda ceremony is that?" was the question Alec shot at James.
"It just happened one after another. I didn't ask questions and went along with it," replied James.
"Oh no, no, no. Absolutely not," said Alec, standing up now "I will not stand for this."
"What are you planning on doing?" asked James.
"We're going to have an official wedding," said Alec "there'll be guests, a gathering, decorations, and all the other crap. You two are going to have a proper wedding not one of those shotgun crapshoots."
"Why are you so enthusiastic about this?" asked James.
"For reasons," replied Alec in a way that demanded James not ask anything further.
"Honestly, this sounds like pointless busywork," he commented "Akagi, speak some sense into the man."
"I don't know, it sounds like a good idea to me," she said, "besides, don't you want to do something that'll solidify our relationship further?"
James paused for a moment then said "I'm pretty sure the stuff we did that night 'solidified our relationship.'"
Akagi immediately became embarrassed as she immediately turned away and tapped her husband on the shoulder.
"Alright," said a now fired-up Alec "I'm going to get the ball rolling on this. The first thing we're going to need is some extra help."
Before James could say anything else, Alec shot out the room.
It wasn't long before the news spread through the base about Alec's plans. This announcement had the effect of getting everyone excited and thinking of ways to contribute to the event. Alec took leadership of the whole thing and began planning every little detail from start to finish.
About a week later and James was finally discharged from the hospital. When he went out, the first thing he noticed was the elaborately decorated courtyard. He also noticed the teams of girls going about decorating the area.
"Ah, there you are," said Alec, coming to greet him "well, what do you think?"
"It's… detailed," said James "you did all this in a week?"
"Actually it was more like four days," he replied "I spent three days planning the event and speaking to the girls on the design. You know, they were pretty motivated when I told them about what I was doing."
"The girls enjoy any excuse to throw a party and have fun," said James "but, it usually takes a week or so to prepare things. This is happening much faster."
"Hello Commander," said Saratoga, noticing him and coming towards him "how do you like the decorations?"
"It's certainly something Sara," he replied, "did you and Lexi also choose the colors?"
"Yep, red to symbolize Akagi and gold to symbolize you."
"Gold?" he repeated "I never thought of myself as having such a vibrant color."
"And that humility is why we all love you, Lexi, where are we with the flowers?"
Before James could say anything else, Saratoga spotted Lexington and went after her.
"There was a pretty big argument brewing over who got to be the flower girl," said Alec "before things devolved any further, I took the initiative and made them all flower girls."
"All the kids?"
"Yeah, they were pretty eager to be part of this so it wasn't fair to leave anyone out. And I really have to hand it to Belfast and the maids. Those girls have been working like hell for the past couple of days."
"Alec, don't you think you're going a little too overboard with this?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"There's nothing wrong with going it simple and safe," replied James.
"Dude," said Alec, shooting James an incredulous look "it's a wedding. No, it's your wedding. No, no, it's your FIRST wedding."
"This is the first time that you and your significant other are going to be joined in holy matrimony. It's an event that celebrates the love between two people. Weddings are fun events that bring a little joy to the world. And between you and me, the world needs some of that right now."
"And besides, haven't you ever been to an Indian wedding? They have elephants."
James understandably saw merit in Alec's argument and decided that he was right. However, the last sentence his friend spoke worried him. Before Alec could take things to absurd levels, James turned to him and said
"There won't be any elephants or animals of any kind at the wedding right?"
"So you don't want us to release a flock of doves to herald your arrival on a white steed?" asked Alec, bringing up a clipboard.
"No," said James flatly dismissing the idea. In response, Alec crossed off a line on the board.
"Gang," called out Alec "we're axing the doves and steed."
"Damn it, I just finished training the birds," shouted Pamiat Merkuria.
000000000000000000000000
That night, Akagi and James were sitting quietly in the room. Akagi watched in silence as James went through some additional work on the tablet and quickly grew bored. To emphasize her point she rested her head on his shoulder and started to slowly nudge him.
Her gestures however did little to catch James' attention as he was busy catching up on the work that accumulated during his stay at the hospital.
Akagi then threw subtlety out the window as she fell on James' lap, took the tablet, and put it on the table next to her.
"Is it that late already?" he asked and she nodded.
"Sorry, got a little sidetracked there."
"Ah, James, I just remembered something. I was talking to Alec and his friends and they said that on Earth, the wife takes the husband's family name after they get married."
"It depends on the location and the culture, but yeah, that's more or less right."
"So, what do you think about the name Akagi Harper?" she asked.
"Huh?" came the reply with a confused expression to top it off.
"Not the reaction I was expecting," said Akagi "but since we're going this far with the wedding, I think it's a great idea if I take your name too."
"Yeah, no, you're not doing that," he said, dismissing the idea.
"What? Why?"
'Because it's a fake name,' thought James but said: "because you don't have to go to such needles lengths."
"But I wanna," she countered.
"Akagi," said James, inching close to her "I don't need you to take my last name to show how much you love me."
Before she could say anything else, James reached for her hand and held it up. Then, he made sure to raise his right hand up.
"This?" he said, nodding to the rings on their fingers "this right here is more important than any ceremony, event or gesture. These rings are proof that you and I are bound together, the last name or not."
His close proximity coupled with that little speech had the intended effect. Akagi's face was now beet red and it was clear that she could not come up with a response. Instead, she leaned forward and rested her head on his chest. It was her way of saying it was time to go to bed.
A little later at night, with Akagi sound asleep, James woke up and stared at the ceiling. He reflected on Alec's words earlier and the importance of a wedding. He personally found a wedding to be a gigantic and pointless endeavor. The concept of marriage itself is a good thing: two people in love with each other and pledging to spend the rest of their lives together and remain faithful to each other. That itself is a beautiful thing.
However, the idea of this couple having a loud and obnoxious event seemed like overkill to him. A wedding should have the couple get married and then go on their honeymoon. James then paused his momentary reflection to consider that he and Akagi never had their honeymoon.
The more James pondered these thoughts, the more he kept thinking about what Alec said. Additionally, he recalled how excited everyone was about the whole thing. Considering that the girls have been going from one fight to the next, a little respite would do well to settle their minds. And what better way for them to have fun than to dress up fancy and attend a wedding?
'Ah that's right, even the kids were excited about the whole thing,' he thought and wondered what kind of dress Sara and Lexington were stitching for Kisaragi, Eldridge, Unicorn, and the rest of the gang.
Then, he turned around and saw Akagi sound asleep, her hands wrapped around his metal arm. When they first got married, James made it a point to sleep on the left side of the bed. That way, if Akagi wanted to hold his hand, she'd hold his actual hand and not the prosthetic one. It didn't take long for her to catch wind of his plan and in response, she'd purposely sleep on the left side.
James quietly reached out and brushed away some of the hair on her face. The moonlight coming through the window shone on them and gave her an almost ethereal glow.
'You know what? Screw it,' he thought 'all I've been doing is rain on everyone's parade. Alec is right, this is a celebration of love so let's go all out.'
'And I know just what to do,' he thought and started planning his surprise.
The next day, the girls went about their work as usual. Alec made it so that more than half of the fleet was involved with the wedding preparations while the rest worked the daily routines. He had a rotational chart in place, that way everyone pitched in.
While he was busy checking things, he noticed Akagi wandering around, seemingly looking for something. Curious, he went over to her and asked what was wrong.
"Well, I haven't seen James all day," she replied, "we had breakfast together but after that, he's vanished."
"Maybe he's busy with work," suggested Alec "oh wait, if it's mid-day then he's probably at the school playing with the kids."
"That was the first place I checked," she said "Unicorn and the others said that they were trying on their dresses and so they couldn't play."
"Ohhh," said a familiar voice. Akagi and Alec turned to their side and saw an eavesdropping Taihou.
"A missing husband just a few days away from the big day," said Taihou "it can only mean one thing. He got cold feet and doesn't want to go through with the whole thing."
"WHAT?" shouted Akagi "J-J-James would never do that."
"Well you never know," said Roon, adding her voice into the conversation "the two of you've been married for six months now. I hear that's usually the maximum duration of the honeymoon period. After that, the hubby gets bored with his wife and starts looking out for other 'prospects.'"
"Not true, not true," said Akagi, covering her ears and shaking her head.
"Can you imagine him strolling through the camp at night, seeking another warm body to keep him company?" asked Taihou with a devilish grin.
Just as Alec was about to tell the pair to quit their joking, Taihou and Roon received a powerful shot to the head, courtesy of Kaga and Friedrich.
"Honestly, you two," said Friedrich "there is a limit to how far you can take a joke."
"Indeed," added Kaga, "head back to work right now, or else I'll tell James how you teased Akagi."
The pair quickly bolted off, leaving the trio thinking of how to calm Akagi down.
"Sister," said Kaga, going first "you should know by now that James is not the type to fool around. He's devoted to you, anyone can see that."
"I echo Kaga's statement," said Friedrich, going second "an Iron Blood is courageous, kind, and loyal to their family. My son would never cheat on you and that's a fact."
"You, you think so?" asked Akagi, slowly lowering her hands.
"I know so," replied Friedrich.
"Then why would Roon and Taihou…"
"Oh you know those two love to play the fool with you now and then," said Kaga "and you shouldn't let it get to you."
"Al-alright," she said.
0000000000000000000000
That night, after everyone had dinner and was getting ready to go to sleep, Alec was busy wandering through the base. He already sent Marie, Blake and Alexis to their rooms and wanted a moment to relax. Alec paused when he saw the venue and smiled a little. Everyone worked together for this event and they were eager to see the results.
As he wandered through the base, he noticed how the lights in a schoolroom were still on. Given how late it was, it didn't make sense that anyone would be there. Curious, Alec came closer and wanted to see who was inside. When he saw the entrance door open, he instinctually hid in some nearby bushes. As he peered through the covering, he noticed a familiar face followed by four others behind him.
"James," muttered Alec to himself. Given that he had not seen the Commander throughout the day, Alec was curious to know what the fleet leader was up to.
"That should be enough for the day," said Nimi.
"Oh boy, I'm beat," said Javelin "practicing this dance routine has made my feet sore.
"I can understand, yes," said Ayanami "we've been at it the whole day, yes."
"Tired, need Oxy cola by the carton," said a Laffey.
"You all did excellent work given that we only had a day to get things ready," said James "I was hoping that the girls would take two or three days to prepare things but I forgot to factor in Alec's efficient planning."
"At least we managed to keep things quiet," said the Nimi "and we even got the kids in on the whole thing."
"I can't wait for tomorrow," said Javelin slightly raising her voice.
"Shush you," warned Nimi "don't forget, everyone's asleep now and the last thing we need is to arouse suspicion."
"That reminds me," said Ayanami "James, aren't you worried Akagi might notice you're not there?"
"I made a decent substitute to keep her busy but you're right," said James "she's probably worried sick she hasn't seen me all day. You don't mind if we close up early?"
"I'm fine with that," said Nimi.
"An early sleep will be just what we need to get ready for tomorrow," said Javelin.
"Alright then girls, let's regroup early in the morning," said James.
"NOOOOO," wailed Laffey.
"Shush," shouted the rest of the group.
Alec was now more curious than ever about what James was up to. However, he could not reveal himself for fear of severe ramifications.
The night passed and come the next day, it was time to start the event. Alec made sure to get up early and head outside. When he reached the courtyard, he saw Friedrich, Queen Elizabeth and Yorktown checking the area and making sure that everything was okay.
"Good morning all," he said, greeting them "I thought I'd be the only one here this early."
"I had a feeling you might wake up early to come here and put on the finishing touches," said Yorktown "that's why I too decided to wake up early and help out. Imagine my surprise coming here and seeing Her Majesty and Friedrich also helping out."
"Yes, well," said Queen Elizabeth, clearing her throat "James has helped me a lot and as the Queen, it is only right I return the favor now and then."
Friedrich quietly gave a coy smile to Yorktown and Alec, indicating that Elizabeth's statement was just her roundabout way of saying she also cared.
While the girls and Alec were checking everything one last time, James and Akagi had woken up and started their preparations too. Akagi agreed that she'd wake up before him and head to another room in order to keep with tradition.
James meanwhile remained in their room and got himself ready. He had a quick shower and didn't take long to get dressed. As he was checking himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but press his ears to the wall. Belfast, Kaga, Sara, and Lexington were in the other room getting Akagi dressed. James hoped that he'd overhear something, but got nothing at all.
"James," said a voice near the door, causing him to yelp and instantly move away from the wall. He turned around and calmed down a little when he saw Kaga standing at the door.
"I was…," he said, trying to quickly imagine an excuse.
"It's fine," said Kaga "Sara asked me to check on you. Make sure you're all set."
"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm all good," he replied and set about tying his tie.
"Hold on, let me help you with that," she said and came forward. Kaga quietly helped straighten out the tie while also checking James' heartbeat and analyzing his demeanor.
"Are you feeling nervous?" she asked, noticing his heartbeat was steady and normal.
"Why? Akagi and I are already married. This is just making a big show of things, that's all."
"You do know that Akagi will be wearing a different wedding dress and not that first one, right?" asked Kaga.
"What?" asked James and Kaga noticed how his heartbeat got slightly faster.
"Yes, Sara and Lexington agreed that her first dress was fine but that flame wheel is worrying. Hence, the pair came up with something different."
"Did… did you see it?"
"Of course I did. I helped her put it on," replied Kaga.
"What did it look like?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" asked Kaga, throwing the question back at him. At that moment, Kaga noticed how his heartbeat rose significantly followed by visible signs of sweat forming on his forehead.
Seeing this, Kaga let out a little chuckle and thought 'he is head over heels in love with her. My suspicious were unfounded.'
"Hey, what's so funny?" asked James, noticing her little outburst.
"Secret," she replied as she playfully tottered out of the room.
James soon enough left the room and headed outside. The first thing that caught his attention was the rows and rows of chairs dressed in red and gold decorations followed by the red carpet in the center. The carpet led to a simple white arch with red spider lilies added to give some color.
Not long after James, came the rest of the guests. Most of the girls changed from their usual clothes to their formal wear. Meanwhile, Purin and Buri took their place by the piano and played a little ambient music while more of the girls entered.
James turned and hesitated when he saw Alec standing at the altar, taking the place of the pastor.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he muttered.
"That's no way to talk to someone on your wedding day James," said Alec playfully "I got ordained last night. Figured it was easier than running around the base trying to find a pastor."
James wanted to say something but then heard a familiar song playing on the piano. The pair turned and saw a parade of kids entering the area, each one holding a basket of flower petals. First was Fletcher and her sisters, followed by everyone from the Mutsuki gang after that came the Z siblings and last were Unicorn and Eldridge.
It came as no surprise to anyone that throughout this process, James was grinning from ear to ear. The sight of his little sisters dressed in their Sunday best was enough to make him smile like an idiot. While the girls were busy completing their duties, Ark Royal didn't miss a beat and took as many pictures of the children as she could. When it looked like the camera memory was running out, she replaced the memory card with the skill of a trained assassin.
Ark Royal then gave a thumbs up to James who understood the message. The pair would view the photos later and gush over them as was tradition.
After the kids took their seats, everyone saw the bridesmaids enter. The bridesmaids wore a sleeveless light-pink dress with a darker pink frill around their waist and white flowers on their side. They had a pair of matching white gloves that extended all the way to their elbow. The girls also wore on-white high-heeled shoes and fake pearls inserted into their hair to complete the look.
Given the lack of male presence of the fleet, there were no groomsmen to stand next to James. So, rather than leave that side alone, Hornet, Cleveland, Bremerton, and Wichita stood there. On Akagi's side were Kaga, Roon, Enterprise, and Taihou.
Finally, Purin and Buri played the song everyone was waiting for. The audience stood up as the bride entered. James' eyes widened in amazement when he saw Akagi in her new wedding dress.
The basic design of the white dress itself bore similar features to the bridesmaid dresses, in that it was also sleeveless, but that's where the similarities ended. The dress had carefully stitched flower petals with pearls to serve at the flower buds. The dress was not flowing like a regular wedding dress. Instead, it gently wrapped around her figure. The front of the dress also had a carefully stitched pattern with pearls placed on it. The gloves she wore had a lacy design while her shoes were pearl white.
With her veil covering her face, Akagi slowly and elegantly glided across the hall. Practically everyone was amazed at what they were seeing. Akagi then reached the end and the audience took their seats.
"Let us begin," said Alec, but paused when he noticed James kept staring at Akagi.
"James, JAMES!"
"Huh, oh right," said James, snapping out of his daze.
Somewhat worried, Akagi quietly whispered to James "is something wrong?"
"No, its… you look so beautiful, I couldn't stop staring. Sorry."
That little comment made Akagi blush and chuckle in the same breath.
Alec then cleared his throat, reminding the couple that they were not alone. He then took a deep breath and began.
"Since the two of them are already married, I'll keep this brief," he said.
"The love that these two share is evident to anyone who takes one look at them. They may have started off on different paths, but now they walk the same road. I'd be lying if I tell you the life ahead is an easy one."
"There will be ups and there'll be downs. Some days you'll be head over heels and the other days you'll be at each other's throats. But, no matter what happens, never forget the love you two have for one another. As long as you remember that, you can overcome any obstacle."
"Akagi, will you continue to love this man for the rest of your life, in sickness and in health till death do you part?"
Akagi in response turned to James, smiled at him, and said "I do."
"And James, do you continue to love this woman for the rest of your life, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"
James nodded in agreement and said, "I do."
"Then, let everyone here bear witness to the official union of James and Akagi. You may now kiss the bride."
James came forward, lifted the veil over Akagi's face, and kissed her. In response, the gather erupted with cheers followed by several party poppers going off. Javelin started crying on Nimi's shoulder, with the latter offering her friend a handkerchief.
"Now then, let's get to the party," declared Alec and was met with resounding agreement.
"Wait, hold on a second," said James, causing everyone to stop and turn to him.
"What's up?" asked Alec.
"Before we start the celebrations, there's something I wanted to do," said James, letting go of Akagi.
As he took a few steps back, Javelin, Nimi, Ayanami, and Laffey left their seats and came to stand next to him.
"Do you know what's going on?" asked Akagi to Alec who shook his head. She turned to the other bridesmaids, wondering if they knew. However, James' actions took everyone by surprise.
"Kids," said James, and the flower girls all stood on their seats "start us up."
Flower girls: La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
(Cue rhythmic clapping from James, Javelin, Ayanami, Laffey, and Nimi)
James: Swore I would never be the one holding your hand
Look at you gazing
Acting like your biggest fan
I used to make fun
Of all the things that they said
Saying never I will never be like that
But then you showed up
Like you have been there before
Was like you knew me
Had me with every word
You saw right through me
Melted me down to the core
I was done when you walked through that door
Chorus (all five together): Well I don't know how you do it to me
You make my brain just stop
Sink my part to my feet
It's like a rollercoaster
But I'm going up
I'm in crazy stupid love
James: You got me flying
Don't want to ever come down
I'm realizing
I kinda need you around
Hard to believe it
I'm that guy holding your hand
And I'm still trying to understand
Chorus (all five together): Well I don't know how you do it to me
You make my brain just stop
Sink my part to my feet
It's like a rollercoaster
But I'm going up
I'm in crazy stupid love
(James then comes forward and embraces Akagi)
Flower girls, Nimi, Ayanami, and Laffey: La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
I'm in crazy stupid love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
Oh he's in crazy stupid love
La la la la la la la love
La la la la la la la love
The music came to an end with James still holding Akagi. The rest of the room was silent, no doubt taking in what just happened.
"OH MY GOD," said Alec, breaking the silence "when did you have time to come up with this?"
"Yesterday," replied James, "it took a while to get the choreography down though, but I think we nailed it, right?"
His response came from thunderous applause, a clear sign that everyone enjoyed the performance.
"Feels pretty good pulling this off," said Javelin.
"Yes, indeed," said Ayanami "we really came together in the clutch, yes."
"So much to process right now," said Cleveland as everyone started crowding the James and his dance troupe.
"But that aside, what brought this on?" asked Alec.
"Well I got to thinking about what you said about how big of a deal a wedding is," replied Alec "and I realized I was being a real wet blanket. So, instead of just going to the altar and doing something normal, I decided to do something different."
"It certainly worked, but what does Akagi think of your performance though?"
James only now noted how Akagi remained silent throughout the display.
"Akagi, sweetie?" he called out to her but she was silent. Kaga then came closer and noticed how her face was buried in James' chest.
"Ah, she blushed so much she fainted," said Kaga, turning to James.
0000000000000000000000000
After that song and dance, the group went to the school auditorium to continue the event. There was the traditional couples' first dance, followed by James having to dance with practically everyone else. Akagi used this opportunity to sit down and rest. Her mind was still recalling the sight of James signing to her while her heart was recovering from James singing to her.
Eventually, Saint Louis and Belfast got James away from the gang and had him rest. Akagi had gone out of the room, seemingly to get some air so James watched quietly as the girls danced to some catchy tune.
Seeing Illustrious dance with Unicorn, Essex and her sisters have a dance-off with Cleveland and her sisters, Hipper teaching Eugen how to dance and Hornet keeping Yorktown away from the drinks made him smile. It was moments like this that he'll remember forever.
"Hey, mind if I take a seat?" asked Alec and James motioned for him to go ahead.
"Thanks, Alec," said James while Alec took a sip of punch "not just for the wedding, but for giving us an excuse to cut loose."
"You know me, I'm just a big teddy bear full of love," said Alec, and James chuckled. "While I have you here, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"Why did you marry Akagi?" asked Alec, to which he got an understandably confused expression.
"I mean, there are plenty of beautiful women here and I'm sure that more than one of them had an interest in you. What made Akagi stand out?"
"It's a pretty long story."
"I've got time."
"Back when I was in the Navy, I often saw my crewmates talking about this great dance they had or I'd see them practicing during their free time. I didn't know what the hell dancing was and thought it was some form of advanced combat. Curious, I asked some of them to explain the thing to me and they did. They told me all about how dancing was this emotional experience and that it's one of the most beautiful things in the world."
"I was interested and asked them to teach me to dance. A few months later and our ship arrived home just in time for the Christmas and New Year Party. Every year, our base and every other military base would hold a dance on these two days. It was an excuse for the officers to have fun, bring their families, and mingle with the people."
"That was also the time I was to have my first dance. The girl I partnered with was pretty nervous. Apparently, it was her first dance too. So, we met, I introduced myself and we started dancing. I followed the moves, stuck to the tempo, did everything right; but I didn't feel anything."
"I was dancing, but that was it. I didn't feel anything like my friends said and there was no swell of emotions at all. It was like going through the motions."
"I tried dancing with others but the results were still the same. It was just a procedure to me and nothing else."
"Fast forward to a party the girls held to celebrate my return. After dancing with more than half the fleet, it was Akagi's turn."
"The moment I held her hand, I felt this sudden jolt of energy surge through me. It was like the music was faster, colors were brighter and at the same time, the world had seemingly come to a halt. I remember everything about her that time: from the color of her lipstick to how soft her skin felt when I held her hand. I didn't want that dance to end."
"It was only then that I understood why dancing was such a big deal. Because, at that moment, I fell for Akagi. She's my dance partner for life."
James turned around and saw a sniffling Alec, wiping a few tears away.
"Dude," said Alec, suddenly grabbing James "when this is over, we're definitely turning your story into an animated movie."
"What?"
"It has everything you need for a beautiful animated feature that'll attract the kids and make parents cry their hearts out."
As James tried to talk Alec out of turning his story into a feature film, outside, Kaga was heading back to the area when she spotted Akagi lying outside, her nose bleeding.
"Sister, sister are you all right?" asked Kaga, shaking her a little.
"KAGA," shouted Akagi, grabbing her sister.
"I don't care what it takes, I'm having a child with that man tonight," she said, with lust in her eyes and a still bleeding nose.
(AN: I swear this is the last time I'm putting a song in.
PS. The song James sang here is 'Crazy, stupid, love' by Cheryl Cole.
PSS. The next chapter will bring us back to the insanity)