Chapter 15: Anniversary

One meeting became two. Two became three. Then four. I honestly didn't know why I was keeping Aizawa in the loop, but ever since Jackal and her girls had captured that U-Boat I had been… having… bi-weekly lunches with him. I could always blame it on the fact that he was caught up in my mess, but that was a shoddy excuse. I was essentially handing him classified information, and for what? Because I felt bad? Heroes were in a near constant state of danger, as impervious as I seemed even I wasn't so cavalier as to ignore that. No, there were two reasons. One was the shoddy excuse; this situation was close to home. The Shark Water Demon was an Abyssal; basically lost relations. It was my responsibility to deal with her, but the HPSC wouldn't let me take the gloves off and deal with this the way it needed to be handled. The other reason was one I locked away to be dissected and studied by my RnD Division. I…

I enjoyed spending time with Aizawa…

Emi told me that I had a crush on him, and despite my friend's… ramblings about romance and me being adorkable—whatever the hell that meant—I still didn't have a definitive answer. I knew what a crush was, by definition, but that couldn't apply to me. Abyssal Princesses… weren't meant for that. I had attempted a foray into the internet, searching for information about intimate human relations, and that had been my first mistake. That day I left my computer so red in the face I could almost be considered human by the coloration alone. The one actual helpful answer I got was that a crush was a prelude to love, and that was a can of worms I left for another day. My RnD Division was overwhelmed enough as it was, adding more existential crises to their workloads would be disastrous. But that, all of that, paled in comparison to the disaster that was awaiting me.

"Are you going to the anniversary gala?" My friend asked me, taking a sip from her glass. I had already forgotten what she had ordered, but for once I knew for a fact that it wasn't alcoholic… this time.

"Anniversary Gala?" I asked in confusion.

"Yeah, the HPSC puts on a gala every so often, usually for big events or to congratulate someone breaking the top ten. There's one coming up this weekend." Emi took another sip, which would prove to be a big mistake.

"Ok, what's the anniversary for?" Because as soon as those words left my mouth the Joke Hero spit her drink out with the same force as a sixteen inch cannon. The sound was so jarring I almost thought that we were under attack.

"Mariana… Dear sweet Mariana, I'm supposed to be the Joke Hero," she laughed, almost nervously. "You're getting better at it though, I must be rubbing off on you! Hahaha…" But at the lack of any response from me she set her drink down. "You're being serious?"

"I like to think that I take most things seriously…" I said almost defensively, swirling my drink. Why was the gala such a big deal anyway? Was it like those USO things that the Americans did during the Big Show?

"Mariana… I mean this completely seriously, not poking fun at you at all, but I thought that you of all people would know about this." At my questioning look she finally revealed the answer; "It's the New Armistice Day… The one year anniversary of the end of the Abyssal War." And like that everything kinda just… faded.

"It's been a year?" I asked, devoid of any emotion.

"Yeah, the HPSC decided that in honor of the lasting peace this year's gala will be all about that."

"It's been a year…" I stated, to myself this time. Had it really been a year? I triple checked by clock and date and sure enough, this Friday would be the one year anniversary of the date I signed the Peace Treaty. Some things started flashing back, briefly I felt ocean spray and the smell of gunpowder and cordite filled my nose. It had been a year since I signed the peace treaty, six months since I had become a Pro Hero. Emi said something but I didn't hear it, my ears rang and I heard the sound of cannons and engines instead. Peace… Was that what I had now? I had traded one war for an eternal one against villains.

I felt Emi's hands close around mine as she sat down in front of me. They grounded me, the feeling of ash and salt went away. My head raised and I found a pair of dark green eyes full of concern and warmth, then the flashes of cannonfire disappeared.

"Mariana?" Her voice brought me back to the present, the sounds of idle conversation and soft jazz replaced the gunfire and screams of pain. "Are you ok?" She asked, no trace of her usual self. It was… funny, that I forgot that behind her persona she had… My thoughts tumbled from there, the grip on my hands tightened.

She had asked me if I was ok… I ran a diagnostic, everything came back nominal. "Green," I supplied. Because…

"No," Emi shook her head. "Are you ok?"

My head lowered. "… No…" Just saying that made me feel so incredibly weak. Wasn't I supposed to be a centuries old Abyssal Princess? A titanic war machine with the weapons and power to take on an entire fleet on my own? "I'm sorry… Not sure what that was all about."

The Joke Hero sighed. "It's surprisingly easy to forget that you're a veteran. Hero work has its own horrors sometimes but… Have you ever thought about getting help?" Help?

"With what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Post Traumatic Stress Disorder." My eyes flared briefly at the notion before dulling. I quelled the rage before it could surface. Emi wasn't doubting me, she was trying to help me.

"I don't think I'm capable of having that? My mind really isn't a mind, body isn't really a body and all that…" Besides… "I don't even know if there's a precedent for that either, for all I know this is the first time this has happened…" A somewhat unreasonable anger welled up within me. If it had really been a year then why was I being affected by this? A full year was plenty of time for me to move on, and I thought I had. I was a Pro Hero, I had a place to call 'home' and all things considered this was probably the best possible outcome. So why was everything coming to a head now? Werwolf, and now this? If this was enough to bring me down then how the hell was I going to bring down a secret military operation?

"You know," Emi started, taking a breath before shakily exhaling, "I went through it as well. A few months before I met you actually, a few heroes and I busted a trafficking ring. Seeing the conditions of the people there, finding the files on what was being done to them… I wasn't ok for a long time, I had to use my Quirk on myself a few times." Emi let out a humorless chuckle before smiling at me. "You're not weak for needing help. And even if it seems impossible to you, you're definitely not weak for wanting to get help either. You're one of the strongest people I know, and that was before I knew everything you've gone through."

Despite everything I smiled. It didn't even feel like she was using her quirk on me either. "I don't think I'll attend," I whispered, looking down at our hands. "Too many memories, I… But at the same time I'm probably going to be expected there. I was the one who orchestrated the peace after all…"

"If you don't wanna go, then you won't. Simple as that!" My friend stated confidently. "Besides, who's gonna force you? All Might?" The image of the Symbol of Peace trying to lift me off of the ground made me snort. Strong as he was, I don't think he would be able to lift an entire Atoll. "There she is~" Emi teased. I might end up being a Therapist's Case Study at some point, but at the very least I knew I had a true friend. I still kept in touch with Dione, but Emi was someone I could physically interact with. Deep forbid those two ever meet… Our little outing, though slightly awkward and emotional, resumed and ended with smiles and laughter.

"Hey man! Are you gonna hit up the Gala this year?" Came the loud and obnoxious voice of one Hizashi Yamada, known to many more as the Voice Hero; Present Mic. He was wearing a black jacket and pants, and his hair was done up in a way that looked like a songbird. Appropriate for his theme, ridiculous as it seemed.

Aizawa spared his friend a tired glance, "what do you think?" He said, boredly. The two teachers, and a couple of others, were all in the Faculty lounge after the classes had ended. Until now they had sat in either comfortable silence or in light conversation while they talked and worked on their classes. Some were modifying or coming up with lesson ideas, some were grading papers and homework. Aizawa was doing a combination of everything at once, bad for his sleep but scores more efficient than working on things individually. But like every year it was time for the same song and dance they all played.

"Weeeell I'm gonna go for the hopeful answer of yes?" The Voice Hero tried, adding a hopeful lilt at the end. Like always though…

"No."

"Come ooooon! You didn't go last year either!" Hizashi protested.

"Or the year before that," interjected Nemuri Kayama, also known as the R-Rated Hero Midnight. Rather than her usual dominatrix styled hero outfit she was currently wearing a turtleneck and slacks. Aizawa shot her an annoyed glance, and while she looked to be focusing on her own work he couldn't miss the small smirk on her face.

Aizawa sighed. "It's a complete waste of time. All it ever turns out to be is people patting themselves on the backs and declaring empty platitudes and promises." He looked at his current paper before grading it with an unfortunate 'F.'

"Or you just don't like dressing up and playing nice with people." That too, but rather than confirm he just glared at Hizashi.

"Hello everyone!" Someone new said. Looking at the new arrival revealed it to be the mouse-like figure of Principle Nezu. 'Mouse-like' because nobody really knew exactly what species he was. "Working hard I see!"

"Good afternoon, Principal." Was their collective response. Scenes like this weren't uncommon after school days, as it was a calm way to wind down after the sometimes chaotic events U.A. could throw at them.

"What's this about Aizawa not wanting to see people?" Nezu asked, making Aizawa's stomach drop. He even had that grin as well, not his usual cheery one, but the one he had when he was concocting some kind of devious plan.

"He's not gonna go to this year's Gala. Again!" Hizashi moaned overdramatically.

"I really don't see what the issue is," Aizawa sighed, grading another unfortunate paper. "It's the same thing every year, not like I'm missing much…"

Nezu hummed, cupping his chin with his paw. "Usually you wouldn't be incorrect, but from what I hear this year's gonna be a little bit different. At the very least the reason behind the Gala is different. It's the One Year Anniversary of the end of the Abyssal War, after all."

Aizawa grunted, "That doesn't interest me enough to go, unfortunately." And that was the final nail in his own coffin.

Nezu grinned. "Well then unfortunately I'll be forced to take drastic measures. Shota Aizawa, in the spirit of what this Gala symbolizes, I hereby order you to attend. And unless you can find a partner to go with you, I will be forced to assign you one! Failure to do so will result in some form of punishment I haven't decided on yet." He said all of this full of cheer, completely ignoring the Erasure Hero's glare.

Eventually Shota sighed in defeat, "you're my boss… I'll get back to you when I can…"

Nemuri smirked and looked over his way, "you know, you could always go with me~"

"Absolutely not."

"You're no fun!"

"We've gotten a bit more out of U-94, some of it was extremely valuable." Rather than our usual meeting place Aizawa and I were taking a small stroll through Mandalore Park. With the chilly weather it was all but abandoned, with one young couple having passed us almost five minutes ago. Unfortunately someone had blabbered about me being sighted in the usual cafe, so we decided to play it safe. "Along with U-94 the Demon brought fourteen other U-boats. An entire wolfpack. We have no idea where their base of operations is. Could be an island, could be a cave somewhere," I shrugged. "But most importantly we learned that the Demon is leading through fear, and that the wolfpack themselves are only here because they're afraid that any sedition on their part will mean their deaths. Once we promised her safety she was more willing to share."

"How can you be sure she isn't lying to you?" Aizawa asked. A fair question, and if I wasn't what I was it would be a genuine concern. Abyssals, especially the Atlantic Fleet, were known for spreading misinformation and lies when they had the chance. An attempt to throw me off of Werwolf's trail was not unlikely, and I was sure that there were already plans set in motion to do just that.

"It's because of my physiology. I'm not just an Abyssal, I'm an Abyssal Princess. Even if she's not a part of my fleet I can still tell whether she's lying on an instinctual level. She wasn't. There wasn't a single moment where I felt that she was trying to deceive me, and when she kept information secret it was only to protect herself. I'm powerful, but even with my promise she's still terrified of what the Demon will do to her when she learns of the betrayal." Though rare, I had experienced what Demons resorted to when they fell to their anger. Basic infractions were punishable by death, and any intervention would usually lead to more killing. A Demon overstepped her bounds and attempted to kill one of my cruisers one time, and it took the combined effort of another Princess and myself to contain her aggression. The two of us came to a stop in front of a small fountain. "That's all I really have, but with U-94 slowly opening up I'll probably have more for you next time."

"Where is she, by the way?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, not because I don't trust you, but because on the off chance someone's actually listening to us I'd rather not reveal her location." An understanding hum was the response I got. So far I had done remarkably well, as for the duration of this walk I hadn't had any abnormalities. All systems were nominal. Maybe I was finally getting over the crush? That would be nice, because it wasn't that I disliked him, there was plenty to like! His eyes reminded me of the Deep, they had a frontal edge that belied their gentle interior. I could also tell that he was a caring person, the way he talked about his students reminded me of my time wrangling my fleet, and it didn't hurt that I just never got bored when looking at him, especially his handsome–

I looked away as a boiler overheated. Luckily a sudden breeze cut through and caused my long braided ponytail to slap my face. I could play off my sudden blush as embarrassment as I wrapped it around my neck like a scarf, smoothing out the snowy strands and readjusting my glasses. Busy as I was, I was unaware that Aizawa had turned to watch me like I had been watching him.

Aizawa was somewhat lost in thought. Why was he here, in this park? He knew the answer; Mariana had invited him out to update him on the current situation about Werwolf, but realistically he didn't need these constant updates. He was completely removed from the situation other than the possibility of him being a target for the Shark Water Demon. It wasn't rational, and yet… Here he was. He thought more about their relationship. The two of them were on good terms, and despite them being polar opposites they actually worked well together. Mariana was a very rational person, despite her eccentric moments. That was a product of what she was as well, and despite having known her for an extended period of time it was still hard to wrap his head around. Mariana, Wake Island, was a centuries old being that had been around long before the introduction of Quirks. She was a member of a race that had, until recently, been solely dedicated to the extermination of humanity. This ancient being was currently wrestling with her braided hair, wrapping around the slender curve of her neck like a makeshift scarf. Again, the two of them were on good terms, maybe he could even call them friends in the near future.

Mariana turned to look at him before an amused smile broke out across her face. "We match!" Aizawa furrowed his brow before he remembered his own scarf. Yes, the woman in front of him was a centuries old being with the same amount of combat experience, but from their brief interactions she could be incredibly childish. He told her as much, voice almost tinged with amusement of his own, "how can you be so practical and so eccentric at the same time.

Rather than being offended she made a contemplative look, "honestly this is a recent development. My boilers have been acting strange for awhile now and my command crew are being… weird. I'll figure it out soon enough." She sent him a reassuring smile. It was a pretty smile, but then again from what he and everyone else in Japan had seen from the Navy's propaganda all Shipgirls were beautiful. It was strange then, that he made a note of Mariana's smile specifically.

He knew what he had to do, because honestly this was his best case scenario. His alternatives were… less than preferable. "Mariana…" She perked up at her name. "Do you have anything going on this weekend?"

The Abyssal Hero blinked before she tilted her head. "I don't, no. Why do you ask?"

Before he could make things more difficult for himself, Aizawa decided to just rip off the band-aid and ask. "Then would you like to go to the Anniversary Gala with me?" Aizawa could almost see the gears turning in her head as she blinked, before panicking when the words finally registered.

"W-What?! Ah- no I'm sorry for sounding so surprised it's just... You don't strike me as the person who'd want to go?"

"Usually you'd be right. Honestly I'm being forced to go, so I decided that if I am going it'd be best if I went with someone who I enjoy spending time with." Both of them blinked in surprise. Mariana for obvious reasons, and Aizawa because the words came out of his mouth without him even considering it.

"I'm in the same situation if I'm being honest. I'm not required to be there but because of the theme there'll probably be some serious backlash if I don't. Well then!" She laughed, "in the spirit of not wanting to go, but being forced to attend the Gala, we'll go together! Who knows, maybe there'll be a small chance that we get a minuscule amount of enjoyment out of it." The Abyssal held out her hand, like they were closing a deal.

Aizawa let out a huff of amusement before shaking it, "Agreed. We'll talk later about the details." And with that the two said their goodbyes.

As Aizawa's form disappeared Mariana finally dropped her guise and slumped against the fountain. Her boilers were bordering on critical, generators were red-lining, her entire command staff in a panic. What in the world had she just agreed to?! She had plans! Her and Emi were going to have dinner! What in the Deep was this man doing to her?! She could always just… No! She forced herself to stabilize, making a determined face. She was the Supply Depot Princess! She could handle a Gala! Besides, with Aizawa acting as a distraction she wouldn't have to focus on the memories. But at the same time… How… was she going to prepare for the Gala… An entirely new panic arose within her. She had no idea how Gala's operated! None of her crew from any period had ever attended a Gala before! She needed reinforcements!

Grabbing her phone she called Emi, the ringing bordering on torturous. Finally though her friend picked up. "Emi! I need help…"

As I stepped out of my car I felt so, so woefully underdressed. Considering that during the war all I wore was an oversized t-shirt, that was definitely saying something. A breeze blew across my exposed skin, and though the chill did nothing to me the amount of skin affected made me self conscious. Before I could get second thoughts though I shook my head and made my way to the venue. It was a large multi-story building in Central Tokyo owned by the HPSC, mainly used for things not meeting the criteria for world-changing events. From the outside it looked rather plain, but from the pictures I had seen of the inside it was very fancy. Brief flashes flickered across my vision; the fanciest venue one of my crew had ever visited was an OSU event in San Francisco in 1940. As I walked some people took notice of me, but no one made a move to approach me. That was fine, great even. I also recognized some of the heroes but none of them were by name, any others looked too different outside of their costumes. Everyone looked fancy though… That was my only notable observation. Before long I ascended the brief set of stairs and after verifying that I was on the list I walked through the main doors, focusing on the soft 'clicks' my flats made. I wasn't wearing heels no matter how much Emi begged…

The interior of the Gala was certainly… ostentatious. There was a large central floor made of some kind of tile in the pattern of a lotus with large columns lining the edges of the room. At the far end of the hall was a stage that would be used for speeches or performances. Creating a large ring around the dance floor were round tables and chairs with gaps meant for moving to the four walls, and on the far left wall was an absolutely massive bar. Alas, if only alcohol had any kind of effect on me… Soft classical music mixed with the din of conversation as heroes, politicians, officials, representatives, and waiters all milled about. I took note of everyone but never took enough of a note to care, as I was only really looking for a single person. After using my targeting scope, I found him. I resisted the urge to brush my unbelievably well-tamed hair—Emi was a miracle worker—and made my way to my 'date' for the night.

Meanwhile across the hall, Aizawa resisted the grimace that was threatening to overtake his face as he pulled at the collar of his shirt. Dressing up and him did not mix, and every second he spent in this suit felt like it was trying to kill him. He had wanted to arrive early but he was regretting that decision already, other than a word with a surprised hero here or there he was bored and uncomfortable. Everything was just so… fancy. There was so much wasted money spent on unnecessary things that even touching the tablecloths made him feel like he was spoiling something. For the umpteenth time he checked his watch. Mariana said she was going to arrive approximately one minute from now. They were originally supposed to go together but she had to deal with something last minute, making that unnecessarily difficult. Finally, he heard a small "hey," and when he turned to look he froze.

Standing there was Mariana, but she almost looked like an entirely different person. The Abyssal was wearing a form-fitting sleeveless black dress that ended just above her calves, and exposed much of her upper and mid back. There was a slit showing off legs, and material over her upper chest was semi-transparent. She reached a hand up to play with her hair but forced herself to stop, and he could see why. Her usually somewhat messy snow-like hair was perfectly combed and instead of its braid it was completely free. He also noted that she had forgone her glasses, and for some reason that resulted in a brief pang of disappointment.

"Emi went a little overboard," she laughed, almost nervous. It was then that Aizawa realized that he had been staring for almost a minute.

"You look good," he said honestly. It sounded so blatantly lame, but it was the only couple of words that he could manage.

"You do too, although…" She tilted her head before stepping in close to him, making his heart skip a beat. Being so close so quickly he inhaled and was hit with a crisp but refreshing scent and a hint of pine. It took him a second but he realized that it was the ocean. Mariana smelled like the ocean, had this always been a thing? Or was it new? If he could he froze even more when her hands found his neck, undoing his tie and freeing his lungs. It was ironic that now he could breath perfectly, but he was still paralyzed. Skillfully she reapplied his tie into a half-windsor and tightened it back to normal, but when he finally did take a breath he was surprised that he could breathe. "Now you look great!" She chirped, stepping away.

"I'm surprised you know how to tie a tie." He said lamely.

"Oh, I have the memories of my crew from the 40's. Prom, dates, college, military uniforms, all of it. It translates to a lot, one of which being how to tie a tie." She gave him an embarrassed smile. "Although most of my information is a few centuries out of date." A speaker then gathered everyone's attention and directed them to sit. So began the series of long-winded speeches by anyone who wanted to hear their own voice.

"I see why you don't go to these," Mariana said, resting her head on her hand. "At least the USO had cute showgirls."

"USO?" Aizawa asked. Mariana turned her gaze on him, though her eyes were unfocused briefly.

"United Service Organizations. Morale boosting events for the Second World War. Basically someone figured out that women were good for soldier's morale and staged shows, events, dances, and other live entertainment. They went everywhere, I think one of my officers went to one in Pearl Harbor." She smiled, "he passed out asking one of the girls to come home with him."

"Sounds familiar," Aizawa said in amusement. He and some of the other male teachers had gone out drinking one time, and he had watched Snipe try to talk up a girl before falling off of his chair. Another minute or so into the speech a server set down two glasses of champagne, and this time Shota couldn't suppress his grimace.

"That's not a good sign," Mariana said, an amused grin on her face.

"Not a fan of champagne. Too expensive and it doesn't even taste that good."

Mariana picked up her glass, narrowing her electric blue eyes on it before taking a drink. Aizawa watched her face remain neutral for a minute before she set it back down. "It tastes angry." Aizawa found himself smiling in amusement as well. He didn't know what he was expecting, but the response just fit her. "Why is it so fizzy?" And he could see the moment the aftertaste hit her, as she made a grimace matching his earlier one.

"I'd say that good quality champagne costs roughly 40,000 yen," he said. The look she gave him was one of disbelief.

"For this–" she held up her glass, "–angry, fizzy… stuff?" He just gave a depressed nod. "What's wrong with people…"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Both of them were shaken from their conversation when the man on the stage finished his speech, and declared that the dance had officially started. All around them people asked their partners for a dance and began flowing onto the dance floor. Soft classical music filled the room, a slow piece if he had to guess. Mariana made no move to get up, instead she fixed him with an inquisitive look. Both of them were here under duress, and she was giving him an out, waiting to see what he would do. Honestly a large part of him was content to sit here in comfortable silence or conversation, but another surprising part of him was urging him to ask her. It was the same part of him that took notice of her smile, that asked her to the dance rather than face Nezu's annoying if harmless punishment. So, defying all rationality he steeled his nerves and looked his 'date' in the eye.

"Would you like to dance?"

I blinked owlishly as his question brought my entire crew to a halt. Did he really just… I thought he didn't want to be here!? Besides, I hadn't even planned on dancing! That was fine, this was fine! All I had to do was politely decline and we could finish the evening in uneventful peace.

I smiled and– "I'd love to." What the hell?! I controlled my face as Aizawa, just as surprised as me it seemed, stood up and offered me a hand. Forcing my internal screaming to remain internal I took his hand and let him gently pull me to my feet. As we walked to an open space on the floor I could feel his heartbeat spike, and honestly I wasn't much better in that regard. I set my damage control teams on standby. My hand intertwined with his and my free hand found its spot on his shoulder, while his found its spot in the middle of my back. I suppressed the urge to stiffen, for some reason it burned even though it wasn't hot. It… wasn't a bad heat either; it was comfortable, if unfamiliar. That didn't stop three separate fuze stations from exploding though. I looked up at him–just noticing the maybe head or so difference between us–and fixed him with the most confident smile I could manage. I cherry picked memories; weddings, proms, social events, anything that my old crews had gone through to give me some kind of edge. And after a moment of standing there we began swaying along with the rest of the crowd.

"I didn't know you could dance," Aizawa said as he led me into a brief twirl. It made sense too, because honestly neither did I.

I chuckled softly, "this is my first time actually, I'm going off of memories." Memories, and the fact that dancing wasn't too dissimilar from a battlefield. A few steps back in time with him, a shift to the left during a turn, followed by a pull into him as I leaned backwards. Swaying, turning, strafing, twirling, leaning, dancing. "You're not bad yourself," I complimented. I've heard multiple times that dancing was like fighting and vice versa, and I could definitely see it. There was momentum, advances, retreats, movement, patterns, and footwork. Honestly though if neither of us had any experience we probably wouldn't have been that bad off. We were skilled fighters. His only response to my compliment was a hum, but I spied a small smile on his face as well. As the dance continued my crew slowly came down from the emergency alert. I was getting more comfortable, less worried, and surprisingly I was feeling… excitement? I was having fun, but why was that such a shock to me? For once I couldn't keep a smile off of my face. Shouldn't that be ok though? There was so much about human interactions that I still didn't understand, there was an integral part of me that had been there for centuries that I was just tapping into. It was the part of me that realized that I wouldn't be having a good time if it wasn't with Aizawa. It was that part of me that made a special note of a bead of sweat running down his jawline and down his neck. These were things that didn't make sense to me, but then I remembered a conversation I had with Kongou.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you." The purple eyes brunette perked up from across the table. "Why… were you so determined to… get close? To your admiral back then?"

"Well duh! It's because I wanted to show him my Burning Love!~" The battleship made a dramatic wave with her arms. "He was the man I wanted to give my heart to, and I was so lucky that he accepted it~" A dreamy and reminiscent look formed on her face.

"But… I'm sorry if this is insensitive but we're… well, we could be called immortal. Why grow close to someone that you know you'll outlive?" But the battleship didn't get angry, she just smiled.

"We, all of us, were given the forms of human women. That wasn't a mistake. Ships have always had the moniker of "She" and "Her" and that was for good reason! We were given the capacity to love, to give it and receive it. We are meant for war, but our ability to love can make us that much stronger."

I accepted her response, but I thought it was foolish. It didn't make any sense to me…

I was a fool to doubt her words back then, even if I lacked the context. Abyssals never tapped into that other part of ourselves. But looking back on it… Maybe not romantic, but Best Jeanist, Dione, my fleet, Emi… I loved all of them in some respect. I couldn't imagine my life without any of them. So when I looked at Aizawa, feeling all of my subsystems going wild, what was the emotion I felt for him? I didn't know… The two of us glided across the dance floor, perfectly in sync. I wasn't self conscious anymore, the only person I cared about right now was my dance partner. Slowly, the song began winding down and eventually right at the end I finally made a small stumble. All it did though was press me right against Aizawa, the space between us becoming nonexistent. Our eyes never broke contact, and neither of us commented on the short proximity. Something… older than my nature was in play right now. We were close, really, really close. I felt his breath against my face, and… the distance was… closing… My crew seemed to disappear, no warnings were sounding, the sound from outside of the two of us had almost completely disappeared. He was leaning down, I was moving up, eyes almost closing.

Someone's voice carried over a speaker, complimenting everyone and bidding us to return to our seats. The spell had been broken, all sound returned like a tidal wave and the two of us backed away. I let out a slightly embarrassed chuckle.

I cleared my throat. "Not bad for my first time dancing?"

"No, you were really good." Aizawa said, looking as awkward as I felt. Still though, we shook it off and took our seats, content to listen to, ignore, and slightly mock the dull speeches being made. In a moment of silence between the two of us I thought to myself. Whatever this feeling was, it was something completely foreign to me. But…

Maybe it wasn't something I needed to be afraid of.

Wow, almost three months? That wasn't supposed to happen! Also I'm approximately five hours late. This chapter had a central theme if you caught it, Veterans Day/Armistice Day. Thank you for your service, by the way, if any of you are veterans for your country. I know that I have an interesting spread of people who read these stories, even if the analytics are still down. So even if your service wasn't much to write home about, thank you regardless.

And as you've also noticed this chapter was a lot less plot themed and a bit more character themed. We're getting closer and closer, but I like teasing. This burn might not be ancient, but it won't be a crazily fast burn either. I love the relationship I've given Ms. Joke and Mariana's well.

Anyways, not much else to say other than the notifications are still down, so I'm going to start posting on X/Twitter every time I come out with a new chapter.

Abyssal_Writer and The Abyssal Writer. It shouldn't be too hard to find me as I have the exact same name and profile picture. Following me isn't required, this isn't a shameless plug in, I'm just letting you guys know that there's another way to get alerts from me. Now! Onto the comments.

NightmareKnight1: It was a Demon Slayer x Mass Effect Crossover, obviously as I've since posted it. If you haven't checked it out yet I hope you enjoy it! There's not much to it yet but I have big plans for it.

Ultima-owner: There's storm clouds over the horizon, I'll tell you that much.

Next Story in the Rotation: Absolute Radiance

Thanks for reading and I'll see you all soon!~