60 years.
60 years of marriage, 3 daughters, and many decades of service to both the navy and the community, and I am here, an old man, vision lost in one eye, barely able to stand, and yet my wife, my dear battlecruiser wife has barely aged a day. My full life is coming to an end, and with Haruna by my side the whole way, I could not have asked for more.
Well...I guess I sort of always wanted something. For once, it was something selfish, probably a remnant of the biological imperative.
I have always hoped for a son. I mean, 3 daughters is nice, and after corresponding with other former admirals who took shipgirl wives, I don't think it was ever going to happen anyway.
"Haruna...Haruna is sorry..." she sighs, gaze adverted as she lies next to me, hands crossed limply in front of her. We have always been connected on some level, and as expected, she knows exactly what I am thinking.
"Please, don't be. It was never going to happen, and I wouldn't have done anything differently," I comfort her with a weak smile, running my fingers through her hair as I have done for the last 60 years. "Even if I die tomorrow, I will carry no regrets with me."
"It's...it's not that. Haruna knows of a...method. A biological failsafe built into every shipgirl. Haruna knows how we can have a son, but Haruna doesn't think you will live to see him," she says with a hint of guilt, as if a secret long suppressed were suddenly revealed.
"Surely we can try, it's not like it will kill me," I say nonchalantly.
"It...it will," she stammers, suppressing tears, "Haruna said nothing because Haruna does not want to lose you."
"I don't have much left in me. I have made my peace a long time ago, and if it is my time, it is my time. I just want you to be happy." I wrap both my arms around Haruna, something I have done so many times before, but I no longer have the strength to fully embrace her. "Your choice..."
"Haruna's choice..." she continues as she is holding back her tears. She wiggles out of my arms and crawls under the sheets. I feel her tugging at my pyjama pants. I look under the sheets just as that familiar feeling engulfs my groin. She sucks on me, sensually, more animalistically than she has ever done before, and the feeling is equally indescribable. The pure bliss felt through even my numbing body made time slow down for me, as if I am stuck in stasis, waiting for a time when technology would be able to restore my youth. And yet, as inevitably as the sun rises and sets, this feeling too must come to an end as I let it all out. Haruna swallows it all, as she has always done, but something seems different.
She comes back to lie next to me. "What happens next isn't entirely necessary, but Haruna needs just a little more time, and, well, Haruna wants to spend just a little bit longer with you..." Her voice trails off.
This time, she pulls me in. She licks my wrinkled cheek, my liver spotted neck, just as she did all those years ago when we first made love. All those memories come flooding back to me, just as an unnatural strength courses through my veins, and to one blood-filled organ in particular. With all my strength I push myself onto Haruna, looking upon her timeless beauty with my one good eye as her legs spread beneath me.
I thrust in. She moans in carnal pleasure. I keep thrusting, her body starts to tense and quiver. I feel her gripping, as if holding on to my life force to stop me from going over the edge. Surely this must be part of the process, and maybe if I am to die, I won't mind dying doing who I love so much.
I can feel it coming, the peak, and Haruna may just be peaking too. Haruna reaches up for my face, caressing my cheek, but in a lightning action she pulls my face to hers. We lock lips, her tongue reaching into my mouth, as if searching for mine.
No. It goes in, deep in, deep deep in. It reaches the back of my mouth, going further, further, and yet I still keep pumping, as if all control were lost. And yet through the mental fog, a voice, her voice is clear.
"Together"
I climax, Haruna climaxes, I feel something warm and sticky filling up Haruna's hole, I feel something warm and sticky filling up my throat. I black out...
~0~
My eyes flutter open. It is morning. I am lying on my back, Haruna is straddling me naked. I can tell from her puffy eyes and tear marks on her face that she probably has been crying for quite a while. She notices that I am awake and immediately tries to suppress a sob, ineffectually.
"Haruna, it's alright, see, I'm not dead..."
"No, it's not, you...you should still be sleeping. Haruna...Haruna does not want you to go like this," she blurts out between sobs.
I am confused, maybe it is a hormone thing. I feel slightly nauseous and my throat is uncomfortable, probably just my age acting up again.
"He will be strong, brave, smart, yet kind and compassionate, much like his father," she musters up her strength, "Haruna knows it, Haruna feels it," she says, reaching for my chest, "he will know how great his father was, and how much he is loved by him.
My hand reaches hers. Her eyes meet mine, as we exchange smiles. The emotions well up in my chest.
"It is time, be brave, Haruna loves you."
The emotions are getting stronger, building up, surging, pounding, as if they are trying to break free. Feelings are a strong thing, but far too many people keep them bottled up. I certainly have suppressed a lot of mine, but in Haruna I can find solace. And so I guess if I were to die now, I do want these emotions to be free. I want Haruna to know how much I love her, as if my heart were about to leap out of my chest to pour all my love out directly to her.
"I love you too, darling."