Seeing the META ship stirring, John had only one thing on his mind "Everybody! Get her inside right now!" He ordered to everyone around him. Enterprise, Shoukaku, and Vestal had no complaints and did what they were told. All of them grabbed the gurney Zuikaku META was on and rushed her back into the room were Vestal was treating her in the medical bay. Enterprise then had her bow ready in case the META ship attacked them when she woke up, Enterprise was not going to take any chances with a potential threat to them.
Looking at the META ship, all the occupants in the room could see her tossing and turning around; she was clearly having an unpleasant experience right now. Shoukaku, worried about this version of her sister, went over to Vestal. She wanted to ask her what was going on. "What's wrong with my sister! What's going on, Vestal?" she screamed, demanding answers from her. Vestal watched what was happening and could see an expression of pain on the face of Zuikaku META. Vestal could only come up with one idea. "Shoukaku, I think she is having a nightmare." All of the others in the room looked at the struggling META. They wondered what kind of nightmare was causing her to react like this.
The sounds of explosions and fighting filled the air of the Azur Lane base. The Sirens attacking were relentless; they didn't care about their own lives, and for every Siren the Azur Lane fell, two more would take its place. Zuikaku moved through the fire and smoke all throughout the base, as she did so, she encountered many of her allies who were injured and being helped by their comrades or who were dead. "I have to find them!" she told herself as she moved through the destruction. The KANSEN was searching for some very specific people; she had to ensure they were safe.
Eventually, the shipgirl managed to arrive at her destination amidst all the carnage; it was the Azur Lane HQ building. It had taken damage during the enemy assault; windows had been shattered, and a fire had broken out on one of the rooms at the bottom. This nearly sent Zuikaku into a panic. "Please be okay! Please still be alive!" The crane hoped. The people who were probably inside were whom she was looking for. She prayed she hadn't arrived too late. Entering the building, Zuikaku made a frantic dash to the top floor. She was heading to the commander's office. Once she arrived, she found who she was looking for; she could see her sister Shoukaku and her sisters husband, John. The man looked like he was injured, and Shoukaku was treating his injuries to the best of her abilities. Behind them was their daughter, Tsubaki, and the girl looked absolutely terrified.
Noticing that someone had arrived, Shoukaku snapped her head round to see who it was. Seeing that it was her sister, Shoukaku called her over to help. "Zuikaku, get over here! John has been badly hurt! Check on Tsubaki! I want to know she is okay!" Shoukaku said. Zuikaku did as she was asked and went over to check on her niece. When she was up close, Zuikaku thankfully could see no injuries on the young girl, but wanted to make sure. "Tsubaki! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?" All Tsubaki did was shake her head in response, Zuikaku wanted to do a further check, but with what was happening outside the KANSEN didn't have the time.
Shoukaku then shouted "Is she okay, Zuikaku! Tell me!" Zuikaku replied to her sister "Yes Shoukaku! She is fine! I can't see any injuries!" relieved that her daughter was okay, the white-crane continued treating her husband; however, she stopped when John gave her a look, a look that meant "Tsubaki can't be here." Realizing what her husband meant, the KANSEN stopped treating the man. She then went over to where her sister and daughter were. She then looked Zuikaku in the eyes and told her what she wanted. "Zuikaku, take Tsubaki away from here, get her to safety." Zuikaku was about to protest, but the way her sister looked at her, the KANSEN knew she didn't want to hear anything she had to say. Zuikaku then picked up her niece, which confused the young girl. "Auntie Zuikaku? What's going on?" Shoukaku then looked at her daughter in her sister's arms through teary eyes. This was going to be hard for the crane. "Tsubaki, listen to me. Your auntie is going to take you somewhere safe. I need you to be a good girl for her, and whatever happens, Tsubaki, stay strong. Know that me and your father will always love you."
The girl didn't want to leave her parents. "No, Mama! I don't want to go! I want to stay with you and Papa!" the little girl told her mother, even though she was still frightened by everything else going on. John, from his position, then spoke up. "Tsubaki, listen to your mother! It isn't safe here! You can't stay! Go with your aunt!" Tsubaki was still being defiant; she loved her parents and didn't want to leave. She tried to argue against leaving, but her mother stopped her before she could. Shoukaku didn't want to listen to what her daughter had to say; this was already difficult enough. Shoukaku then looked at her sister in the eyes and spoke. "Zuikaku, promise us you will keep her safe. Do whatever it takes to protect her. I want you to promise me, Zuikaku!" Zuikaku looked at her sister, then looked at John, and then nodded before speaking. "I promise both of you, I will do whatever it takes to protect her, even if it means my life." The sisters didn't have anything more to say to each other. With her own teary eyes, Zuikaku looked at Shoukaku and John one last time before she took her niece to escape.
On her way to the exit, Zuikaku could feel her niece struggling in her arms; the half-KANSEN wanted to go back to her parents and was making it difficult for the crane. "Let me go, Auntie! I want to go back to Mama and Papa!" Tsubaki shouted as she struggled. Zuikaku shouted, "Please stop, Tsubaki! You heard your parents! It's not safe here!" Zuikaku didn't want to shout at the girl, especially with what she had seen today, but Zuikaku needed to get Tsubaki out of there – if she stayed, she would definitely get killed. Zuikaku eventually managed to get to the exit of the Azur Lane HQ with her niece in tow. When she opened the door, she could still hear the fighting going on, and looking around, it was getting worse for the Azur Lane. Zuikaku, with her niece in her arms, ran from the HQ building as fast as she could to find an escape route. However, as she was running from the HQ building, both she and Tsubaki heard an explosion behind them.
Looking behind her, Zuikaku's eyes widened, and she nearly collapsed on the spot. The HQ building had been hit again by the Sirens and had exploded. A horrifying chill went through the whole of Zuikaku's body; looking at where the building once stood, she knew her sister and her sister's husband, the commander of the Azur Lane, were dead. "Mamaaa! Papaaa!" Tsubaki screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw what happened to the building her parents were in. She was fighting harder than before to get out of Zuikaku's grasp. The KANSEN, however, kept a firm grip of her niece to prevent her from escaping. Zuikaku, knowing that there was nothing she could do, started running again with Tsubaki still trying to escape, but once they had managed to escape the Azur Lane base and put some distance between themselves and the Sirens, Tsubaki didn't have the energy left to try and get out of her aunt's arms. All the little girl could do was cry into Zuikaku's shoulder. Zuikaku then knew that it was just the two of them now; Zuikaku, with a hardened will, knew she had to do whatever it took to keep Tsubaki safe. She would do whatever it took to keep the promise she made to Shoukaku and John...
When she woke up, Zuikaku META had tears in her eyes; the day that she lost her sister and John was a day she wished she could forget. Seeing everything happen again, even in a dream, brought up so much pain that she tried to bury, but no matter how hard she tried, she could never do it. The only reason this Zuikaku had kept going was for the sake of her niece and the promise she made. Once she was more awake, Zuikaku META looked around the room she was in and saw people who she thought were long dead. "I must truly be in my own personal hell," Zuikaku META thought to herself. The META ship could see her long-time rival, Enterprise, in front of her, weapon drawn, and with a look on her face that told her she would take her out if she tried anything. Next to her was a close friend of the Grey Ghost, Zuikaku META couldn't remember her name, but she also looked like she didn't trust her by the facial expression she had. The next two people, however, caused Zuikaku META to lose control of her emotions.
Standing just behind Enterprise was John, her brother-in-law, and her sister, Shoukaku. As soon as Zuikaku META saw them, she thought their spirits had come to torment her to remind her of her failure to protect her niece, Tsubaki. Nobody in the room could understand why this META had started crying like this; to them, it seemed completely bizarre. Wanting to find out more, Shoukaku walked up to this version of her sister and started to speak, to find out what was wrong and why she was like this. "Zuikaku, what's wrong? Why are you crying? Your sister wants to help." She said to the META in a calming voice. This did nothing to help; Zuikaku META continued to sob through her tears, speaking to the sister who she thought was dead. "I'm so sorry, Shoukaku! I have failed you and John! I didn't keep my promise! I am sorry! I am so sorry!" Shoukaku couldn't understand. "Why is she sorry? What does she mean she failed me and John? What promise is she going on about?" The white-crane thought as she listened to the META version of her sister.
Shoukaku tried to find out what the META meant and spoke to her again. "Zuikaku, what promise are you talking about? What promise did you make to me and John?" Shoukaku calmly asked the META. The META replied, "Tsubaki! I failed to protect Tsubaki! I didn't protect her! I didn't keep my promise!" Shoukaku was concerned when she heard the META say this; she looked back at John, who seemed equally concerned. "So, this Zuikaku came from the future where me and John still had Tsubaki. But she failed to protect her, that's what she says. I need to find out what happened." Shoukaku told herself. Gathering her courage, Shoukaku asked the META what happened to her daughter in the future. "Zuikaku... What happened to Tsubaki?"
The answer that everyone in the room heard chilled their blood. "The Sirens…The Sirens…They took her…"