This one references Kaiser Lane: Burning Flags Chapter 2. The general gist of it is Selim being homesick (although GhostPenSix expounds on much better than those two words). One of the things mentioned is Osman being married to a human.

Splendid lands of wealth and power,

I've seen many far and near,

Yet of all are you the flower,

What a wonder happened here!

-Walther von der Vogelwide

Germany was at once very old and very new. She was, of all the great European powers, the youngest, the most recent to unify in a powerful form. Sixty years was not a short time for a person but for a nation, especially in a continent as storied as Europe? France and England were concrete things before a Hohenzollern even ruled in Brandenburg.

And Germany never forgot it. They saw what they deserved, the power that old regimes like France and England had accrued, and in the violence of the Weltkrieg they seized it. They stood as sovereigns of Indochina, rulers in Africa, and as the power in central Europe. With Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Turks by their side, they had seized destiny.

Their victory over the Russians was the Battle of the Ice avenged, a Teutonic victory over their enemies on the Baltic. Whether Muscovite monarchy or Novgorodian republic, Germany would find a foe in the Russians… or at least, that was the propagandist's pitch.

But Russia put itself back together. The French and the English were sent scrambling to their remaining colonies as something new and terrible rose from the ashes. And what a price they paid for it all! The general staff talked among themselves, genuinely unsure if they could manage something like the Weltkrieg again, not with how broadly they were spread. The number of girls down in Ostasia, waiting for the day the Japanese went for it…

It was quite difficult to stay on top, wasn't it?

All Seydlitz could do was follow orders as ably as she could; in this case, she sailed to Haifa to meet with the Turkish fleet. If their situation wasn't bad enough already, the Turks were getting very worried about their subjects, and the last thing Germany needed right now was the Suez getting cut off. Indochina already teetered without adding weeks of time for any reinforcements to arrive, and going the long way around invited almost every enemy Germany had to take a bite out of their commerce.

Center stage in Europe, and they got foes on every side for it. Such was life, she supposed.

Her navel-gazing had distracted her; once she started paying attention again she could pick out ships in the harbor. Battleships, one of which was painfully familiar in construction. Selim. The ship who sat by her side must have been Osman– the one who got hitched to her commander, if rumors were true– and that other one might have been Resad?

She wouldn't have needed to study the vessel recognition manuals for Selim, but Resad looked quite like the King Georges… Funny, how the enemies she had battled at Jutland became allies. Even the monarchy that produced them was more of an ally now, what with the syndicalists in Britain.

She wondered if she might have time to see the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem. Or whatever was left of it, she supposed. Was the one near Haifa… Cafarlet? Of course, none of the old Teutonic possessions were theirs anymore. They had moved to the Baltic, where they would play some small part in the foundation of empire.

That age of crusades was long past, though. When Germans came to Jerusalem now, it was in the hope of cooperating with the Turks to secure the Mediterranean. The Austrians who held the Turks back at Vienna now stood together with them.

(Although it seemed the Austrians were focusing on drills in the Adriatic, cooperating with the Two Sicilies. The great forces of reaction in Italy, if you discounted the Papacy.)

"Seydlitz! It's been so long!" Selim looked glad to see her, at least. They embraced, and Seydlitz could almost pretend this was one of Selim's Berlin visits. You just had to ignore the Ottoman revival architecture and the two strangers who lingered awkwardly behind Selim.

A Brazilian commission passed to the Ottomans and a direct Ottoman commission, both commandeered by the British and then returned to their proper owners. What a story brought those two here…

She wondered if the one with the green eyes was the Brazilian– previously Agincourt– or if that was Erin. Either way, seeing the two of them was quite awkward, considering that their last meeting was during a battle where they were on opposing sides. Well, at the very least, they didn't bear the same names they went by when they went into the fight. Erin became Resad, and Agincourt became Osman.

They weren't even shipgirls at that time, just inert warships, but they were formed by their performance at Jutland, colored and made nuanced by their performance in that fight. Still, they were allies now, and that was all that mattered.

Taking off her cap and dipping a little bow, she greeted them: His Majesty's Ship Seydlitz, reporting to Haifa for naval drills. It's a pleasure to meet you."

(Seydlitz felt a compulsion to say something about following their lead, but technically she was the oldest, the one who had the most experience to impart. Taking a leadership role was a bit… she gulped.)

The blonde stepped forward, holding out a hand. "Ottoman ship Resadiye. It's our honor and privilege to host you." Her tone wasn't particularly inviting, but it wasn't harsh either…

She had a strong grip and a stronger stare. Eyes not like emeralds, instead like the green of a glass filled with something cheap and strong. Seydlitz couldn't dare to say what was behind those eyes. The blonde hair was kept in a braid, little strands of hair having worked themselves loose here and there.

"Resad, could you cut it out with the glower? She's a friend, you know!" Osman had an easy smile and a much warmer attitude. A ring glinted on her finger. Ah, that would have been a good way to tell who was who, but Seydlitz missed it.

"And you must be Osman. Selim has told me about you."

"Good things, I'd hope?"

"Yes. Congratulations on your marriage," Seydlitz smiled. "You're very fortunate."

Osman had a wide, crescent grin. "Ohoho. You think so? Do you find it aspirational, even?"

Seydlitz gulped. "It's… ah, a remarkable sign of how we cooperate with our captains…"

"Leave her be, Osman. She already gets teased for this on the home front," Selim sighed.

"Well, it only makes sense when she reacts like that!"

"I'm sorry, Seyd. Would you like some coffee? I promise, the real stuff is better than the crap we had in the war."

"Are you sure you don't want some, Resad?"

"I'll pass. Thank you, though."

There was a certain romance to the little room where they sat, with broad windows to see the harbor through. The tops of the arches were filled with intricately carved flowers, and a similar pattern graced their tablecloth.

"Thank you, Selim. I hope you'll have some of this ready for tomorrow?" The idea of getting up in the morning through sheer willpower was a nice ideal, but she operated better with coffee in her system, so it was just a matter of ensuring smooth logistics.

"Osman?"

"What?" Osman sighed. "I did coffee this morning. Tomorrow is yours."

"Yours is so much better, though."

"I'll do it, if you get your guitar."

"I would have played for Seyd without you asking."

"Are you volunteering to do more?"

"Thanks, Osman." Selim stood up and went for… wherever her room was.

"Can I grab you anything else, Seydlitz?"

"I don't need much." Seydlitz demurred.

"You're just as much of a trooper as Selim said."

"I'm glad she speaks so highly of me."

Osman shook her head. Was Seydlitz always like this? She hoped this was just Jutland-inspired formality and not how she always was. Maybe she needed to find an ice-breaker… "Do you like candy? We have some good stuff lying around."

"I suppose I could try…" Seydlitz said.

"Alright. I'll have you know I've collected some of the best snacks in the empire." She dipped out, leaving Seydlitz alone with Resad-Erin. Without Osman, there was no one to drive the conversation, leaving the room painfully quiet.

"Do you interact with the Canadians much?" Resad asked.

"I believe there have been some talks…" Seydlitz said, "But God willing, the Syndicalists will stay calm and nothing will come of it."

"Do you really believe that'll happen?"

"... No," Seydlitz admitted. High command expected war, and they knew their stuff.

"Then I'd like to ask a favor of you."

"I suppose, if it's within my ability, but I'm not sure why you would ask me…"

"We're locked up in the Mediterranean," Resad said. "I need you to get something out."

"Are… are you suggesting some sort of smuggling?"

Resad snorted. "Nothing that dramatic. There's just something that needs to get to Canada." She reached up for her neck and pulled at a necklace, one that Seydlitz hadn't even noticed. She unhooked it and pulled a little that was hanging on it off.

It was a ring. Or perhaps it might be more accurate to say that it was several rings, carefully entangled to form a little puzzle. It could fall into interconnected pieces or the parts could be aligned into a somewhat normal ring, depending on what you wanted (if you had the puzzle skills to put it back together, that was). Six fine bands of bronze-ish metal, curving around each other…

"It's lovely," Seydlitz said. She didn't have much of an eye for jewelry, but it was nice, and it was clear that Resad valued it if she wore it so close to her heart.

"Yes. My first captain bought it for me… three days after I was spawned?"

"Really? Are you sure you want to…"

"I'm certain. You feel strongly about your comrades at Jutland, right? Even if they're on the other side of the Atlantic…"

Several of her comrades at Jutland had already been reassigned to far-flung Asian or African assignments, entire continents away from the homeland. This was probably the closest she had been to Sachsen in years, thinking about it. The thought was painful.

"I'll take it." She took both the ring and the necklace, slipping it under her shirt, the metal cold against her skin.

Resad didn't say anything else, simply waiting until her comrades returned. Osman dumped a pile of paper-wrapped sweets on a table and urged Seydlitz to have a few, and Selim pulled out her guitar, going through different chords. It was perhaps a bit extraneous, considering they were warships, but Seydlitz found it quite impressive. She hadn't been ordered to do that, Seydlitz assumed. She freely chose to play the guitar, because it was something she enjoyed doing.

Resad whispered into Selim's ear for a few moments, and Seydlitz wondered if it was appropriate to think of them as sisters. Even if they were of different classes, they had come together in the Ottoman fleet, forming something new… even as they left other things behind.

Selim spent a few moments before reaching something Resad liked. Surprisingly, it was Resad who sang, and she did so mournfully, Seydlitz falling into a sort of awed silence alongside the other girls.

"I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger,

Traveling through this world of woe,

There is no sickness, toil, nor danger,

In that bright land to which I go…

I'm going there to see my sisters,

They sank beneath the churning foam,

I'm only going over Jordan, I'm only going over home…

I'll soon be free from every trial,

This form will rest beneath the sod;

I'll drop the cross of self-denial,

And enter in my home with God…"

I wonder if I'll ever get to a chapter where Three German Officers Crossed the Rhine would make an appropriate epigraph

I think Wearing of the Green could work for Erin as well: Oh "Oh Erin, must we leave you driven by a tyrant's hand, must we seek a mother's blessing from a strange and distant land, where the cruel cross of England shall never more be seen, and where please God we'll live and die still wearing of the green!"