Chapter 34
"And with this vacuum tube replaced we should be good to go." I screwed in the titular glass component and received a small electric shock for my efforts. "Yep, definitely live." I winced, pulling my arm back and shaking my hurt finger.
"Is the injury part of the maintenance process?" Sullivan asked with a smirk, and handed me a clean rag.
"Sometimes. Ships can tend to be somewhat temperamental." I grunted, glancing towards the carrier that stood guard at the door to the Ocean Bird's bridge. She gave me a deadpan glare, but soon the sides of her lips curled up ever so slightly.
"I hope you're not talking about me, Shikikan."
"I would never." I replied without looking at her, earning me a chuckle from both her and Sullivan.
"So the radar should be good to go now?" The young mechanic asked as he screwed the metal cover to the console back in.
"More or less once the unit has warmed up. Hands off the metal."
"Ready." A pair of voices answered.
I flicked the switch, and the thick glass screen began to hum. I felt a static discharge trickle down my arm, and the spinning line soon appeared right before I conceded to the mighty need to grab something hard and give the thing some good old tough love, and I was glad Warspite or Hood wouldn't be here to see it. I let the radar do rotations a few times, and I soon confirmed it was working.
"The resolution isn't the best and contacts will be a large blob making it difficult to tell what it is, and your mast isn't overly tall and the array has seen better days either, but you should be able to see what's out there and how far away it is. Air contacts and stuff near a coast will be difficult to see though. Come see."
"Anything is better than nothing." Lucas, the captain of the Ocean Bird and Sullivan's brother stepped forward, glancing over the apparatus. "Are these the rest of the fleet?"
"Aye." I answered confidently.
"And the distance readings… They match. I'd never thought I'd see the thing working again." Lucas' eyes matched Sullivan's. It was easy to tell the two were siblings; Lucas looked to be just a larger version of his brother, even down to the way he kept his hair. "The thing had been broken for months now."
"It wasn't all that bad, just some parts needed replacing." It hadn't taken me long to figure out what was wrong with the radar, I would have had it done hours ago but I made sure to go through each and every part with Sullivan to help him better understand. "A bit of regular maintenance every now and again and it should be good to run for years now."
"I can't express how grateful we are to have you helping us." Lucas offered a hand. "I know next to nothing when it comes to machines, and It's been a struggle to find someone to teach Sully."
"About that…" I took another quick glance at Zuikaku, who gave a short nod. "There's still an absolute mountain of knowledge I could teach him. More than the time we have until we reach San Diego. I've discussed it with my fleet and they–I'd be happy to offer Sullivan a place in my crew."
Sullivan's face lit up. "You're being serious!?"
I nodded with a smile. "You have a natural talent, something that is a rare find in this world nowadays."
I looked back to Lucas, who was expressionless. I quickly followed, trying to reassure him. "He will be fully paid as a member of the crew and Z23 assures me that it won't just be mechanics he'll be learning."
I looked back to Sullivan with a grimace. "Sorry, she seems dead set on creating an entire syllabus." I felt pity for the young lad who would probably end up spending hours being lectured by the destroyer.
"Ah, but…" Sullivan's high spirits dulled soon after, "Then the Bird wouldn't have anyone to work on her. I couldn't just leave the old girl to fall apart."
Lucas chuckled and smacked his younger brother in the back. "Don't worry about this old rust bucket, Sully. Harry and the boys can sub for you until we find someone else, so don't let this opportunity of a lifetime pass by."
"But-"
"Mother would have liked it."
It was a bit awkward to be among the brothers in such a heartfelt moment, but at the same time, it was… refreshing.
Sullivan turned to me, a fire burning in his eyes. "Thanks for this opportunity but I think I need some time to think about it. I'm honoured, though."
I knew it was a big decision and something that shouldn't be taken lightly. "Take all the time you need to think over this decision. We can finalise everything once we reach San Diego, if you do decide to join us."
After one more handshake and more parting words, I left the two brothers to talk while Zuikaku and I made our way across the deck together. She was about to lift me up in her arms and begin our journey back to the Warspite when we heard hastily approaching footsteps.
Lucas had caught up to us. He seemed sheepish and winded. "Hey uh, I just wanted to say thank you again. This type of offer means the world to not just Sully, but also to me."
He scratched at the back of his head, as he clearly struggled to get the following words out. "Our parents passed when Sully was too young to remember them. I swore by their memory that I would do everything I could for him, but I had no idea what I was doing and even working as hard as I could, all I could do for him was offer a life working on an old tattered ship."
"Sometimes that's all that matters." I said with a smile. "You're his brother. Sometimes just being there for one another is all that it takes."
These seemed to be the right words for Lucas, as he breathed deeply and his body relaxed. I figured that was probably the first time he'd been told he'd been doing a good job of looking after his little brother. "Thanks. I will hopefully be able to rest somewhat easier knowing he's learning more about the machines he loves while being all the more safer on one of those impressive warships of yours."
The words of warning I had been given made themselves known in my head. "I can't promise he will be safe with us. Danger seems to follow us wherever we go; that is something I want both of you to understand before coming to any decision. You have my word that I'll do all I can to keep him safe, but I can't stress enough that this won't be a leisure trip. I'm talking Sirens."
He gave a haunted smile. "You say that as if this rusty old mess is the pinnacle of safety. At least your ships can fight back, all we can do is run."
Memories of the Endurance came to mind. I had been fortunate, but countless other crew members on countless other ships hadn't. I pushed aside the thoughts and forced myself to smile. "You shouldn't speak of ships in such an ill mannered way, as I said they can be rather temperamental."
Lucas caught my meaning and nodded before turning to Zuikaku. "My apologies, ma'am. I meant no offence to you or your kind."
Zuikaku smiled. "Do not fret, I'm sure if this ship could speak in the same manner as I she would sing your praise for being such a good captain."
We bid our farewells once again, and I soon found myself in Zuikaku's arms being carried towards the Warspite, which sat at anchor.
"Shikikan. You are a good man." The carrier nodded to herself. "One I am honoured to have pledged my sword to."
"Thank you." I replied hollowly. I don't think I'll ever feel worthy of the praise the girls keep heaping onto me.
A quick jump later and we were standing on the deck of the Warspite. We're going to need to do something about the boarding protocol, or my lower back will turn even worse than it already is sooner rather than later.
I took a look towards the horizon and the sun as it slowly set into the Pacific. "Well, we're finally here. Happy to be back in your home ocean?"
Zuikaku sighed, looking to the horizon with a lacklustre expression. "To be honest, it doesn't really feel any different."
"Well it is just water at the end of the day, can't really be all that different." I reasoned. "I'm sure things will feel different once we get near the Sakura Isles."
"I hope so." Zuikaku answered dejectedly, rubbing her temple.
"Everything good?"
She dropped her hand and nodded. "Just a minor twinge, probably from having nearly all my aircraft out on patrol and constantly monitoring them all day."
"Well, we're all done with the crossing now, just a few ships to get through come the morning. You can recall your planes." I remembered her pledge to keep me safe and the confrontation that had created earlier. "Thank you for everything. Get some rest."
"Hai, Shikikan. I am at your beck and call." Once again Zuikaku bowed and excused herself, leaving me alone to continue watching the darkening horizon.
"A whole new ocean." I reached for my old captain's pendant through my shirt. Despite its small size, the familiar weight of its chain around my neck always seemed to bring comfort. "Never thought I'd live to see the day, cap."
"Should be over here…" Cleveland made her way through the long winding corridors of the Warspite. "Darn brits, always so elusive."
Rounding a corner she soon found herself standing at the door to the ship's main galley, and heard cheerful voices coming from the other side. The Eagle cruiser took deep breaths, hand resting on the handle. Finally pulling her best confident smile, Cleveland opened.
"Ah, miss Cleveland. I'm so happy you decided to come." Hood greeted.
"Uh, yeah. Here I am. What's all this?" The Eagle cruiser was dumbfounded at the sight.
All the ships of the fleet sat around a rather elegant table covered with embroidered cloth, lined with all manners of sweets, treats and pastries arranged with care, most of which made Cleveland's stomach positively grumble. And along the edge of the decorated table was an empty chair between Queen Elizabeth and Z23.
"A simple little informal get together, where we can all speak freely to one another." The Queen explained as Z23 pulled out the chair for her. "We had a few out on deck while crossing the Atlantic but have been ever so busy since. Do join us, miss Cleveland."
The tiny queen motioned towards the empty chair, half demanding and half offering.
"So it's a tea party then." Cleveland sighed as she took the offered seat. "Not really one for tea, but the snacks look good."
"That is fine." Z23 said as she offered a cup, having an identical one of her own. Cleveland was pleasantly surprised by the strong scent of coffee. A look around the table showed that barring U-556 who happily sat with a large glass of milk, everyone did have their own cup of tea.
"Mighty thoughtful of ya. Thanks, Zed." Cleveland thanked, earning a smile from the German girl. She relaxed into the chair, sipping on her coffee and reaching for a rather delicious looking cupcake. "No James?"
"Not today." Hood sipped her tea. "While he would certainly be more than happy to join us, I believe we also need some time to unwind together in a somewhat girls-only type of gathering. Just as it's probably best for us to give him some time alone and not have to worry about us constantly requesting his attention."
"Ish zat sho?" Cleveland spoke with a mouth half full with cake, earning a collective disapproval from the Royal Navy members of the group. She swallowed nonplussed. "Sounds kinda boring. Compliments to whoever made these. What stuff do you all talk about then?"
She quickly reached for another.
"A discussion of proper table manners is a fine place to start." Queen Elizabeth clicked her tongue, scanning over the Eagle cruiser disapprovingly. "Elbows atop the table, that slouched position… One doesn't even want to think what thy legs are doing under. Such actions aren't ladylike, let alone proper, miss Cleveland."
"Probably because I ain't tryin' to act like a lady." Cleveland shrugged. "And if that's the sort of stuff you girls tend to talk about together then these get-togethers must be complete snooze fests." She shrugged. "There isn't even any booze."
The Queen held her tongue and merely drank her tea. An awkward silence followed, but to Cleveland's relief someone came to the rescue..
"How long until we reach San Diego?" U-556 asked.
"If all goes well, it shouldn't be longer than a couple days." Warspite answered. "The passage through the canal was very smooth."
Elizabeth smirked behind her cup, pleased at her own results, while Z23 nodded fervently.
"In no small part thanks to you, Frau Cleveland." The German destroyer nodded gratefully.
A strange silence followed, as Cleveland remained lethargic.
"Um…" The ginger voice of Javelin hummed, and the Eagle cruiser found herself a pincushion of stares.
"Sorry, did you say something?"
"Z23 was just thanking you for your hard work." Hood said, her deep blue eyes looking particularly intensely at Cleveland, who cowered a little at the scrutiny.
"A-ah, yeah. Sorry, just spaced out. It was no biggie, yeah." She responded rather awkwardly.
She chastised herself, but Hood spared her some grace, not one to miss a beat. The conversation thankfully steered in another direction.
"So, how's your progress with the novel, Javelin?"
"A-ah, it's going well." The lilac-haired girl answered sheepishly. "I just haven't had much time to read in between our cooking lessons and everything."
"Keep it up, I'm curious to see what you think about it."
"Oh? What have thine eyes laid upon this time, Hood, and why hath one not been made privy?" Elizabeth chimed in clear curiosity, eliciting a smile from Hood that fooled even the faux sovereign.
"It's just a trite novel about a boy's misadventures in Mississippi." Hood responded, and turned her eyes to Cleveland. "Perhaps the name is familiar to you, Miss Cleveland? Tom Sawyer?"
"Sorry, I'm not a particularly literate gal." She responded, and once again, Cleveland chastised herself.
"Ah, perhaps you could lend it to her when you're done, Javelin?" Hood quickly came for yet another save.
"O-of course!" The shorter girl helpfully added. "If that's okay with you, miss Cleveland."
"Just Cleveland is fine, and uh, yeah, if that makes you happy."
The Eagle cruiser wanted to sink to the bottom of the ocean for her choice of words again, as Javelin's emerald eyes looked downcast.
A long pause followed as the conversation faulted. Thankfully the Sakura Carrier piped up. "Warspite-dono. Now that the crossing is done on our side, would you mind sparring me once again? I would like to keep my skills sharp, and I have yet to best you."
"Mmm? Yeah, as long as I'm free." The dreadnought looked up from her cup. "Are you going to finally stop shifting to my right in an attempt to get past my guard? You should know I am always ready for it by now."
"If by ready you mean swinging your sword out randomly with enough force to shatter stone." The carrier responded intensely. "Sometimes I wish I had someone to train with who treats their weapon with a little more care and respect, I'm starting to feel embarrassed at the fact you always beat me with such brutish attacks." Zuikaku bemoaned.
Cleveland felt excited at finally being able to relate to something, for she had spent a good amount of time with Zuikaku training with her sword, but the words stopped before they reached her lips. What was she supposed to add? That a sword is heavy? Those two were on a completely different level when it came to swordplay. If Zuikaku was a mountain, Warspite was the heavens, so how could she begin to compare? Her foot started tapping impatiently against the floor, only stopping after a glare from the queen, and decided to refrain from joining in with this particular discussion.
She emptied her cup, and began to look for an opportune moment to excuse herself, having felt like a fish, or rather ship out of water for a long time now, but was unable to find the right timing and soon found her cup refilled by a cheerful Z23.
"It had been so easy with Monty," Cleveland thought while staring into the dark liquid, seeing her faint reflection, they could talk for hours about nothing in particular or barely share any words and know exactly what it meant. Without realising she had begun to run her finger against her long strand of silver hair.
"What about you, Cleveland?" A chipper voice asked, rousing the girl from her thoughts. Looking up she could tell it was Javelin who had asked the question.
"Huh, wha?" She stuttered out, realising she had completely stopped paying attention.
Javelin just made her usual bright smile. "I was wondering what stereotypes you've found yourself doing? We have all found ourselves to be somewhat walking types of our home nations. You're the only Union ship here so I'd love to know what you get up to."
"Ah well…" Cleveland tried her hardest to come up with something. "Well I guess, barring my accent. I do have stars and stripes on my socks, so I guess there's that."
And just like that, and much sooner than she would have liked, Cleveland found herself once again out of things to say.
"Ah, as you do." Javelin kept her sunny smile. "You do have a way of pulling them off rather well."
Javelin patiently waited for a response or any form of comment, but continued when Cleveland gave none. "You did seem to be rather lost in thought there while we all nattered away, and I'd hate for you to feel excluded. Is there anything you would like to discuss?"
"Discuss…" Cleveland drummed her fingers against the table trying to hide her excitement.
This was her in! She could have reached across the table and kissed the destroyer had it not been for the sour taste of tea on her lips. Her brain fired on all four boilers trying to find something she could add, something that they all could finally relate over. The narrowest form of an idea struck in her mind and she bet on it with all her worth. "Been wonderin', what's James like in the sack?"
Teacups were dropped, cake was caught in throats, spits were taken, and a chorus of various manners of confusion sweeped over the people present. The cruiser's question caught all of the attendees off guard. Most went wide eyed before abruptly looking away with a blush on their faces. Elizabeth was affected the worst, having been in the middle of drinking her tea when Cleveland had asked, the shock making her partly inhale some of the hot liquid and proceeding to spend a few seconds coughing to clear her throat.
"I BEG YOUR PARDON!?" The tiny blonde exploded, with much of her regal facade slipping.
"Ya know." Cleveland continued lethargically. "What's our dear commander like in bed?"
"S-such subjects are n-not acceptable in open discussion!" The dreadnought stuttered.
Cleveland let out a long breath as her excitement deflated. "You brits really are a bunch of prudes. No fun at all." Her red eyes went over the gathered warships, most of whose faces were bright red in embarrassment as they fidgeted, except for U-556 who just continued to sip at her drink with an entertained look on her face.
"Wait a tick," gears slowly began to slot into place in Cleveland's head, and then she snapped her fingers, unsure if she was amused or disturbed. "none of you have done it with him."
She leaned back into her chair as realisation sunk in. "I can see why you haven't, Lizzy. Gotta play into that namesake after all. It's okay. Nothing wrong with a vir-"
"Why are you so curious?" Warspite interjected before her sister blew a gasket, unaware of the bright blush adorning her own face.
"Eh, just making conversation." She took a sip of her coffee. "You girls surprise me, though. With how much y'all dote on him, it's hard to believe none of you have even considered it."
"Herr Kommandant is our leader." Z23 tried to sound clinical, though her cheeks were also tinged pink. "To engage in such acts with a superior would be a flouting of the chain of command. And our desires aside, there is no way of knowing if he shares such desires."
"He's male, of course he's gonna have such desires." Cleveland deadpanned. "And it's not like this is a real navy anyway, rank doesn't mean all that much."
Cleveland took another sip of her coffee, but a strange silence followed. She looked over the others, and saw realisation sink in. "By my cannons. It hadn't even crossed your minds, had it?"
The silence more than confirmed it, and something ached within Cleveland as she saw her fellow Ship Girls like that. Her own bottled up feelings slowly resurfaced, which she tried to keep under control.
"Look," She began measuredly, trying to steer her frustrations, "I know it really doesn't mean much, but I've been around for a li'l longer than you. And believe me when I say, time is no ally, what you delay today may become a regret tomorrow. Your precious James is only human and there's no telling what may happen. Grasp what comforts and joys you can, you never know when they'll be snuffed out. Hell, not even us are exempt."
She idly traced a finger around the rim of her cup, letting the implication hang.
And did it latch. The room became silent as the mood lowered, bringing the chatter to a dead stop. Cleveland then caught herself, and almost wanted to give herself some slaps. She had been trying for so long to not go back into that dark space, and here she was dragging everyone to it, including herself.
She expected someone–anyone to denounce her, but instead, Cleveland found a hand gently resting on her shoulder. The girl looked over to see Queen Elizabeth giving her a reassuring smile. "Apologies for the outburst. While the manner of delivery was a little… crude… I would like to thank you for your words of wisdom. While these human forms have brought us many joys we must remember the perils that come with them too."
"A-ah, sorry didn't mean to be such a downer. Seems you girls are a li'l too innocent for the more grown up stuff, heh." Cleveland smiled sheepishly. "How about a change of subject?" She quickly grabbed one of the arrayed pastries. "This sure is good, who made it? I'd love to give my thanks."
"Ah, that would be Miss Javelin." Hood answered with an amused smile. "While I am able to create some dishes myself, dessert's are not my forte."
The conversation quickly picked up once again with everyone wishing to purge certain thoughts from their minds, though a bright red blush would remain adorning the faces of a good number of them for a while longer.
A slight breeze blew, stripping away a little more of the day's stifling heat, but it wasn't enough to become uncomfortable. I sat atop the observation post, from where I had a clear view of the moonless sky right from the commodity of the main superstructure. The few clouds around barely blocked the wide array of stars that littered the sky, slowly lowering down to the horizon where they were reflected by the calm sea. The view was helped by the ship being at anchor and barely moving.
I could pick out the numerous constellations that hung in the sky if I wanted. Some were clear and came to mind naturally, but there were a few that would take a little more effort to pick out, but I had chosen to just enjoy the serene silence that had descended upon the fleet, only broken by the waves lapping against the hull and the wind blowing over the ship.
At some point I had seemingly drifted into a half-asleep state and was only roused from my slumber by the sound of climbing below me.
Looking down the platform, a small hand soon appeared with a glass bottle in its grasp. I couldn't read the label, but it was obvious it was beer. I took it, and was soon handed a second one. Then two hands peeked over the edge, followed by pointy tufts of hair.
Warspite's whole head came into view, though she constantly looked down, probably to ensure she didn't lose her footing. I offered my hand and received a glare from the dreadnought. "Take that hand back or I will send you for a swim."
"A bath does sound nice, but no thanks." I just smiled and moved the two bottles out of the way. Warspite stumbled a bit more but eventually got a leg over and rolled herself on, it wasn't at all graceful but she didn't seem to care.
"What's all that working out good for if I can't climb a bloody platform?" She complained between breaths.
"You're up now, aren't you? Better late than never."
"Harhar, very funny. Smidge over a bit. You know I have a crow's nest, right?"
I moved to the side letting her move and rest against the mast. "I know, but the view here is better." There wasn't much in the way of room and it was just big enough for me to sit with my legs fully flat.
I placed the bottles down and searched my pockets. "I think I have something to open these."
"Allow me." Warspite picked up the bottles and carefully aligned the caps against one another, then with a slight twist of her wrist the caps came loose and fell off with only a small amount of the liquid inside being lost, she passed me one bottle before sitting back proudly with her own.
"Rather useful skill." I said I wiped the bottle to stop it spilling.
"I have my uses." She held up the bottle. "Cheers."
"Cheers." We clinked the bottles together before taking a drink. "Surprised you came and found me out, thought you and the others were having a girls' night together."
Warspite finished her swig. "Her majesty and a few others have already retired for the night. And the conversations being had, well…" Warspite looked away and coughed into her fist before taking another drink. "'Twas nothing important. You said you picked this place for the view, hard to understand why you would pick this over any other."
"Well," I sat back and thought of the best way to reply. "I found that if I just sit here and lean my head back then nearly all of my vision is filled with the sky and horizon. Everything else is just out of sight."
Humming curiously, Warspite tried to match where I sat and looked.
"I see. Why though, is my ship really that much of an eyesore?" She said playfully.
"Not at all, you're wonderful to look at. Just by having everything out of view I can block it all away and be alone with my thoughts for a moment." I tried to find better words. "Whenever I see something mechanical my mind can't help but mill over how it all works and is put together, a curse of being a mechanic. But right here there's nothing but the sea and the stars. Feels great after a long day of staring at gears and valves and pulling wrenches."
Warspite shifted. "Ah bugger, I didn't realise you wanted to be alone."
I stopped the dreadnought with a hand on her shoulder. "I never said I didn't want your company."
She thankfully complied and scooted closer. I tapped my hand on the hull. "It's not like you weren't already with me."
"Well, it's different when it's just that part of me. But.." Warspite meandered. "Thank you for letting me stay. To tell the truth I also enjoy being in your company."
We both returned to our drinks and just idly looked out to the horizon. Eventually a particularly cold wind blew and Warspite moved herself even closer to me, almost to the point where her head rested against my shoulder. She let out a relaxed sigh and it was almost as if the ship below me seemed to settle somewhat.
After a while she eventually broke the silence between us. "Say, may I ask a question?"
"Your ship."
"That it is." Warspite chuckled. "I was just wondering, it's the sort of thing my sailors would dwell upon from time to time. it may seem weird but, hypothetically say that come tomorrow there were no more Sirens, nor struggles and strife. And money was not an issue, what sort of life would you lead?"
"Definitely a strange one to ask." I replied, resting my head back to think.
"Trust me, that is one of the cleaner questions they would discuss."
"I'm not surprised. The Endurance wasn't prim either." I smirked. "Hmm… Let me think."
For the longest time I had just been living day by day with no real thoughts for the future, but eventually a scene came to mind.
"If I had to choose, the northern regions back home are filled with bright green rolling hills and lush dense forests. I'd get a small cottage half an hour's walk from the nearest village, with nothing too fancy; just a simple kitchen, a few rooms and a small garden, maybe even a small plot of farmland that I could spend my days working on before retiring for the night and sitting beside a wood fire while reading a book."
"Sounds nice." Warspite mused while tracing the rim of her bottle. She closed her eyes for a moment before tilting her head up to look at me with a mischievous grin on her face. "Guess you see yourself arriving home every evening to be greeted by a doting wife telling you what she made for dinner, a child in her arms with another well on the way."
"Oi, you asked." I dug my elbow into her side, though my face warmed as I gave life to the image in my mind. For a moment I even pictured… I hoped the low light didn't let her see my blush.
"I jest, I jest." She waved a hand. "Though… I do wonder, And know that I do not mean to pry, but thy family back home owns an estate no? If that is the life you desire then it wouldn't be too difficult. Why are you out in dangerous waters halfway across the world? Bad blood between you?"
"It's nothing like that." I shrugged, finishing my drink. "While there were definitely some complaints about their only son leaving home to go to who knows where the moment he turned eighteen, the anger eventually settled. And while they probably don't agree with the life I chose, they still support me and have made it clear there will always be a seat at the table for me. That said," I hummed and looked out at the surrounding sea, "That was just when I was on a small cargo ship barely leaving home waters. I've been informing them by post about our journey so far, but as you can imagine I haven't been able to get a reply, so who knows what their opinion would be."
"As for why I didn't just take the easy route." I continued. "At the time it was just rebellious youth, getting revenge for all the pompous events I had to attend and the years at boarding school. But then it just became pride in being able to forge my own path in life and prove to myself that I could make it in the world entirely through my own hard work, until it eventually just became the familiarity of working day by day on the Endurance. While it wasn't as easy as living in the countryside, it was a life I came to enjoy."
With a wave of nostalgia and guilt I sighed and looked up at the sky. "For three years the Endurance was my home. It's sometimes hard to comprehend how quickly your life can be completely changed."
There was movement, and the next thing I felt was Warspite's hand upon mine. I felt her delicate skin on the back of my hand, and realised she wasn't wearing her gloves. I tilted my hand over and her fingers weaved alongside mine. She gave my hand a soft squeeze and I felt the skin of her palm, it was soft and smooth, a contradiction to how often she trained with her sword.
"I'm sorry for bringing it up." She said softly.
I forced myself to smile and returned the squeeze. "It's fine. It has been hard these last few months, I can't deny there have been some moments that I wouldn't exchange the world for. What brings the question about anyway? Did something happen at the gathering?"
"N-no, I mean–yes. Or rather… Sort of?" Warspite stumbled on her words. "It's just… Some thoughts came afloat, and they remained in me."
"Is everything okay?"
"I… think we're all pulling through. Slowly ahead, but surely."
"I see."
The silence resumed and we both returned to watching the horizon. Our hands still clasped together, giving an occasional squeeze or slowly drifting our thumb against the other hand.
Eventually a curiosity grew in my mind. "I wonder. What about you?"
"What about?"
"What sort of life would you live given the opportunity?" I asked.
"I shall reply, seeing as you did." Warspite scratched her chin. "To be honest I hadn't given it much thought. It's hard to imagine a warship living a life of peace but the alternative isn't favourable either."
"Just try and picture yourself happily living day by day. It doesn't have to be anything special."
Warspite hummed once again, tapping her thumb against mine while she thought. It took her far longer to come up with an answer, but I knew she came across one when a wide smile adorned her face.
"A large castle on the homeland near the coast, not too close that the winds and spray are constant issues but near enough to be easily accessed. It would be surrounded by wide wild fields and a lush green forest." She enlisted dreamily. "A courtyard to train in and a large plethora of rooms to house residents and guests, and a large dining hall for feasts, for all of the Royal Navy to gather." She gestured out with her free hand as if to sketch the outline of what she was imagining. "But most important would be the throne room. The ceiling would stretch high so that many banners tallying victories past could hang from and wide windows to let in the sun throughout the day."
I could picture what she was trying to describe. In my mind I was able to see a feature she had yet to describe. "I somewhat imagine that it wouldn't be you seated upon the throne?"
"You guess correctly." The old warship replied. "I would see her Majesty placed upon the throne, with myself standing at her side as her guard, ready to do anything requested of me, with our sisters also standing by us and our compatriots."
"Guessed as much." I smiled. "Still it sounds like it would be a nice life. A castle would be rather big for the two of you though. Who else do you picture living there?"
"Well my other sisters for a start, wherever they may be. Then everyone else." She said eagerly. "I would see all the rooms filled with as many of our kind as possible. It would become a place where we could all be safe and live out our lives. From spending the days wandering the fields and hunting in the forests before retiring indoors at night spending the evenings beside a fire swapping old war stories."
Warspite sat back with a sigh, her smile tender as she pictured what sort of life it would be. "Ah." She turned to me. "You would obviously be more than welcome too."
"And I would be more than happy to be there with all of you." I replied. "A place where all of you girls could live and call your own…" I mused. "Even if it's not a castle, it's something worth fighting for. You have my word I will do anything I can to give you such a life."
"And you have my oath." Warspite sat up and twisted to fully face me. Her free arm rested against her chest with her face showing a stern and serious expression. "If you ever desire to live your life in the way you desired, then I swear by my sword I will do everything in my power to grant it to you. I will move mountains and forge rivers if that is what it takes."
Looking into her deep lavender eyes and seeing the stars reflected in them I knew the words she spoke were no exaggeration. Bound by her oaths, sheer determination and willpower would see her through any trial and challenge that may befall her.
Compared to her, I found myself wanting.
The seconds she remained there seemed to stretch out into eternity. It was only when her breath tickled against my skin did I notice how close her face was to mine. Her eyes transfixed on mine as we both tried to see one another in the low light. I could feel a quickening pulse in the hand and was unable to tell who it belonged to.
"James." Warspite whispered. And I felt her other hand rest against my leg as she somehow made the distance between us even smaller. One of her bangs brushed against my chest and my nose was filled with the pleasant smell of her shampoo. Lips parting, she almost let her voice again, and if felt like the entire world paused in anticipation. Wordless seconds passed and I felt her grip on our intertwined hands grow pained.
With a long sigh, her grip weakened and Warspite leaned back. "I'm afraid though that the part about having a wife waiting for you is far beyond my power. Even with all my efforts I can't see any woman wishing to remain at your side once she learns how grating you can be sometimes." She joked while returning to my side.
"Hey, I'll have you know I've never had a problem when it comes to such things." I jabbed back, like her trying to keep my mind away from what had almost happened.
"Was she deaf?" Warspite teased.
"Blind."
"Ah that explains things." There was a pause for a few seconds before we both found ourselves laughing, the prior tension slowly dissipating.
Warspite moved her hand and realised our fingers were still interlocked, but she made no effort to let go and neither did I. "There isn't anyone waiting for you back home is there? I mean, I would feel guilty for all of us whisking you halfway across the world while she patiently waited for you."
"Nah, there's no one, you've all got me all to yourselves."
"Ah… good." Warspite shuffled closer before resting her head against my shoulder and looking out at the sky. "I think I understand what you mean, it really is a beautiful night."
"Yeah, that it is."
We sat together for a long time, just watching the stars as they slowly made their way across the sky, eventually I felt Warspite relax and her body weight pressed into me more as the lights on the ship around me slowly went out one by one.
A quick glance showed she had fallen asleep, I considered waking her but decided against it, instead I carefully removed the clasp she wore around her head, letting her hair softly cascade down her shoulders. I then slowly shifted her down to rest on my lap with her scarf acting as an improvised pillow. After ensuring that neither the two empty bottles nor her gloves would fall I got myself comfortable and returned to watching the sky. My free hand unconsciously going to gently pat the dreadnoughts head, resulting in her softly mumbling something before settling with a smile.
I would remain awake all night, keeping Warspite as comfortable as possible while she peacefully slept. Dawn would soon come and the sunlight would soon cause her to stir, prompting a blushing Warspite to say several embarrassed words about why I didn't just wake her.
A single thought occupied my mind the entire time she complained about why I didn't wake her and when we eventually climbed down. She had looked so peaceful and calm during her slumber.
(A/N) gonna keep it short due to the chapter being a long one, especially because this was going to be part of 33 . But I hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it.