"Well, you've lost a lot of blood, Commander, but I don't think we'll need a transfusion," Vestal said as she worked on patching me back up. Fortunately, aside from the shrapnel wound in my side, I was relatively unharmed. Still, it hurt like hell, even with her anesthetic. "You're lucky reinforcements got there in time."

"You have no idea," I quipped. "A few more seconds and what would have been left of both of us wouldn't have filled a thimble."

"Well, we're all glad Kinu and-"

"Commander, what is this pest doing here?" Akagi stood in the doorway, arms folded over her chest. Vestal peered around me as she paused in suturing my wounds.

"Uh, helpfully removing shrapnel from me and sewing me back up?" I answered hesitantly. She hadn't called anyone a "pest" while they were in earshot for...months now. Even lately, that word had fallen out of her vocabulary, in general, the closer we grew together. But here it was, back in full force.

She slowly strode forward, a strange look in her eyes. "Commander, didn't Akagi tell you that only Akagi can care for you when you are hurt?"

Vestal looked up at me, a quizzical expression on her face, and I shrugged it off as best I could before returning my attention to Akagi. "You did, but I didn't think your background extended to surgical skills, my heart."

That term of endearment bought me some wiggle room, it would seem, as she smiled softly and relaxed ever so slightly. "Hmm. Well, this time, I will let her finish her work, but everything after that will be in Akagi's capable hands, understood?"

"Thank you," I bowed my head. As much as I love Akagi, I wasn't too keen on swapping out surgeons while they were in the middle of literally stitching me back together. She waited impatiently, tapping her shoe while Vestal made the last few stitches and bandaged me back up.

"All done," the repair ship announced. "Now, that cut went pretty deep, so I would recommend that you be SIQ for the next two weeks until the muscle tissue can heal itself."

"Sick in quarters for two weeks?" I objected. "I have a base to run!"

"Soryu is more than capable of handling things in your absence, Shikikan-sama," Akagi helpfully interjected. "Akagi will stay by your side to make sure you get all the rest that you need."

Vestal smiled over at Akagi and gathered up several things, handing them over to the carrier. "Good! Here's what you'll need to change out the bandages. Change about one to two times a day, after the first day or so. Want to keep it dry for the first day, after that, wash with soap and water, as close to the stitches as possible, but don't wash the stitches themselves. If the wound reopens, starts bleeding or oozing, or he gets a fever, bring him back here immediately."

Akagi smiled sweetly at Vestal, "Absolutely. Thank you again, the Commander is in excellent hands."

"Now, if there's nothing else…"

I opened my mouth to object, but Akagi cut me off before I could get a word in. "Nothing at all. Akagi will get him home safe and sound. Please give Hiei our regards."

"I will."

"How is she?" I asked, leaning forward, then back as I felt the stitches tug at me. Damn, but this hurt.

"She's pretty badly injured, but we'll have her up and running in no time. Probably before you're back on your feet." Ouch.

"Good. As Akagi said, give her our regards, and my apologies again."

"Of course." And with that, Vestal exited the room, leaving me in Akagi's tender mercies. I'll never forget the look in her eyes when she turned to me. It was that hungry, hunting look, but taken to that extreme before. Or since, for that matter. I should have known then that something was very, very wrong.

Before I continue, I want to preface this by saying that in the first few days, Akagi was right to do what she did. A lot of my initial resistance was my own stubborn, bull-headed nature and inability to just sit back and rest. It wasn't in my nature to just lay around and let someone else do my job for me. If I could get up and move around, I could work, dammit! Of course, I was being held together with string and tape, so I wasn't in any actual condition to get things done. Akagi, both before and after New Year's, has always been a good brake on me when I try and take on too much work. It's interesting, the way we can curb each other's more...negative impulses. But I digress.

SIQ felt more like confined to the brig for the first few days. Unable to move without feeling a tearing pain in my left side, and with my ego still stinging from my failure to anticipate an ambush that almost saw a good woman and a good ship sunk, I really didn't want to be left alone with my thoughts. Normally, I'd try and lose myself in my work, but Akagi was having precisely none of that. She made sure I stayed put, rested up, and didn't do any work. It was almost maddening at times, but Akagi was always there for me, willing to lend an ear or a hand as needed. And honestly, she was the best nurse I could ask for, being very delicate and thoughtful when cleaning or changing the bandages. After the first few days of my childish resistance being squashed by Akagi's iron will, things settled into a decent rhythm. I began to feel better, and with it, my ability to move around again.

At first, it hadn't been much of an issue. I didn't need as much assistance getting out of bed, puttering around the apartment, that sort of thing, which Akagi was fine with. After all, I needed to be getting better. But once I started talking about leaving my quarters, even for just a short stroll around the building, Akagi became anxious. She insisted that I couldn't leave, that Vestal had assigned me SIQ and I should follow that order to the letter. We'd almost had repeated arguments about it, but I would back down every time because she was technically correct. She had the letter, if not the spirit, of the law and I didn't feel like getting into an argument over something she was more than likely going to win if push came to shove.

Things finally came to a head, however, once the two-week SIQ chit expired. While still pretty sore, I felt confident enough to at least walk down to the medical center and get myself a light-duty chit, if not outright fit for duty. Akagi disagreed. When I stepped outside my bedroom to leave, she was waiting by the door with her arms crossed and a dark expression on her face.

"Where are you going, Shikikan-sama?" she asked in a tone that somehow managed to be sweet and icy at the same time.

I tried my best to keep my tone light and my answers diplomatic. "The medical center. Two-week SIQ chit is up, need to see if I'm ready to return to active duty."

"Akagi already told you that you needed more time to heal. Is Akagi's judgment not good enough for you anymore?"

"I trust your judgment, Akagi, but I still have to follow regulations on this sort of thing. I can't just say 'Akagi said I can't come in today', I need to get re-examined and Vestal will make the call."

"What if Vestal came here?"

"I...guess…" I trailed off. She was acting extremely odd, even for her, and it was beginning to worry me. "...is something wrong? Why are you determined to keep me in here? Did Soryu change all the Azur Lane logos to the Sakura Empire or something? Is everything on fire outside?" I half-joked.

"Akagi can arrange that," she stated coldly, and that's when I saw that glint in her eye. That old, familiar, terrifying glint. Back when we first met, on opposing sides. "Akagi can turn this place into a lake of fire if Shikikan wants."

"Uh...n-not what Shikikan wants. At all." At this point, I was becoming extremely nervous. "Do you want to sit down and talk about this? Something seems to be bothering you…"

For a second, I saw that look falter, replaced by one of sadness and...something else, something I wouldn't be able to place until later. Then it slipped back behind that frightening mask again. "No," she shook her head, a smile on her face. "Akagi is fine, Commander! If my beloved Shikikan-sama will be returning to work, then it is my duty as your secretary to prepare the office for your arrival."

Again, the red flags, bells, sirens, rockets, hell, the whole damn Red Army was going off, and somehow, I missed it all. I should have pushed harder to have that conversation then and there, but in hindsight, our apartment may not have survived it. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Well...alright, then. As soon as I'm out of there, I'll let you know what the official word is. And Akagi?"

"Hmmm?"

"I love you. I really do." Akagi smiled sadly, and for a second, I could have sworn I saw tears in her eyes.

"Akagi loves you, too, Shikikan…" And with that, I left.

As I slowly made my way down to the medical center, I ran into Kaga, who seemed surprised to see me. "What has you out and about ahead of schedule, Commander? Akagi said you weren't going to be up and on your feet for a month."

That was odd. "A month? Why did she say that? I was only SIQ for two weeks."

Kaga shrugged. "I don't know why she said that I only know that's what she told us." She paused, then asked, "Has Akagi been acting stranger than usual around you lately?"

So it wasn't just me who noticed. "Now that you mention it, yeah. She's been against me going outside for any reason for the past two weeks. At first, I thought it was her just being thorough, not wanting me to be an idiot and rupture my stitches, but today...I dunno. It seemed like she was...regressed, I guess. Just before I left she had this look on her face, a smile I haven't seen since...well, since she was working for the Sirens."

Kaga's eyes widened. "You don't think she…?"

"Oh, gods, no!" I exclaimed, emphatically shaking my head. "No, not at all! They just tried to kill me, I seriously doubt she'd start making secret deals with them. If anything, I would imagine she's more hostile to them at this point."

"She was hostile to them before until they promised her Amagi," Kaga pointed out.

"Not quite the same thing," I countered, "Amagi would have passed on from her illness regardless of her fight with the Sirens. Not to mention you can bring back a ship. You can't bring back a person."

"True. And she has always had trouble dealing with loss." Her words hit me like a thunderbolt from the blue. That was the look in her eyes, the reason she had been so protective of me, the reason she didn't want me to leave the apartment. She was terrified of losing me, and I had been fighting her the entire time like an idiot. I leaned my head back and groaned into the sky, prompting an odd look from Kaga. "...Commander, are you okay?"

"No, Kaga, I'm an idiot." When she opened her mouth to ask why, I interjected. "I'll explain later. Right now, I need you to find Amagi and meet back with me at the med center as fast as you can. I really need to get these stitches out, but once that's done, the three of us are going to find Akagi. Now go, hurry!"

Kaga nodded once and took off in the direction of the Sakura dorms. I watched her go for a few moments before hurrying to the med center.

Stitches out, and with a light-duty chit in hand, I rushed out of the med center and found both Kaga and Amagi waiting for me.

"I brought Amagi, like you asked, Commander. Now, what's going on with Akagi?" Kaga asked.

I nodded to Amagi and took a deep breath before laying it all out. "Like you said, she's been acting strange ever since the ambush, and I've noticed it, too, but I wasn't able to put my finger on why. I think she's afraid of losing me and she's willing to do anything to stop that from happening. Her original plan must have been to keep me locked in my quarters so that nothing could happen. Of course, I went ahead and ruined that plan by leaving."

"Which means she's moved on to her next plan," The white-haired fox concluded.

"Right."

Amagi was next to speak up. "So what's her next plan?"

"That, I don't know. If she feels like she can't keep me safe by controlling what I do, and if she can't bring me back if something does happen to me, the only other variable that she can really control is to eliminate that which could kill me."

"Yes, but that would be the Sirens, and she can't possibly-"

"Shikikan-sama, how good of you to find my sisters for me!" All three of us stiffened at the sudden sound of Akagi's voice. I slowly turned around to see her standing there, in her black and red attire, her rigging already at her side.

"You're welcome…?" I began hesitantly. "You, uh, you don't need your rigging in the office, Akagi…"

"Oh, Soryu will continue to serve as your secretary a bit longer," she casually announced. "Akagi has a special assignment to undertake first."

"Assignment? What assignment?" I certainly didn't remember drawing up any assignment for her.

"Akagi will venture out into the sea, alone, in the hopes of drawing the Sirens into another ambush, and when they strike, Akagi will defeat them."

The three of us stood there in stunned silence for a moment. I was the first to find my voice. "A-Akagi, that's...that's suicide, if they even show up. And if they do, they're going to throw everything they have at you! You can't take them all on your own!"

"How else can Akagi keep you safe, Commander? You refuse to listen to Akagi, so now this is what happens when you make Akagi sad…" She gave me a sad smile that shattered my heart into a thousand pieces. "And now, Akagi will prove her love for you and keep you safe."

"You don't have to prove your love, and you don't have to go to these extremes to keep me safe. Just...stay here, with me. Please."

Her smile slipped, faltered for a fraction of a second, and I could see the doubt swirling inside her. Then it was swallowed up by that damned mask of a smile again. "No. Not again. Akagi will not allow someone they love to slip away again."

"Dammit, Akagi, you can't control everything in life!" I snapped. Remarkably, Akagi kept her calm, that same heartbreaking smile on her face.

"Shikikan-sama, do you know what I am called back in the Sakura Empire?"

Thrown off by the sudden conversation change, I numbly shook my head.

"I am called the Red Spider Lily. An omen of death. It is said that when you meet someone you will never see again, red spider lilies will bloom along their path. I have watched both my sisters die before my eyes, and I swear, it will not happen with you, my beloved Shikikan."

"And I don't want to watch you go out and get killed on a suicide run! I will not let you throw your life away in some misguided attempt to keep me safe! You can't protect someone from everything life throws at them!"

"ENOUGH!" Akagi shrieked, and suddenly her flight deck burst into a pillar of fire. A pillar that quickly became a burning dragon that surrounded her, roaring at us. Naturally, neither the shouting or the sudden appearance of a fire dragon went unnoticed by passers-by, many of whom flocked to see what was going on. Kaga and Amagi quickly went to work keeping people away and keeping them calm while Akagi, if she even noticed them, paid them no heed, those ruby eyes boring into me. "You don't understand!"

"I absolutely understand!" I shot back. "My parents are dead, and I never even had a chance to say goodbye. My sister, the only family I had left before you, moved to NYC after she graduated college. She was there when it was attacked! I know what it's like to lose people and I know what it's like to have them in harm's way." I took a deep breath, trying to rein myself in. Screaming at each other wasn't going to solve things. Perhaps it was time for me to be completely honest. "...and I know exactly how you feel because I feel the same way." I paused, hesitant to take the next step and fully admit it. But I found my voice and quietly stated, "I'm scared, too."

Those last words caught her off guard, and her fury wavered, her mask cracking. "W-what?"

"I'm scared, too," I repeated, slowly walking towards her, trying my best to ignore the giant dragon. "Every time I send you out on a mission, every patrol, every fight, a part of me wonders if this will be the last time I'll see you. And you know what? It terrifies me. Especially now. You have made my life so much better since you have come into it, Akagi, and now that we're finally together, now that we know how much we mean to one another, I don't want to lose that. Ever."

"Th-then why…"

"Do I send you out anyway? Because I love you. Because I love you for who you are. You are Akagi, the glory of the Sakura Empire, the flagship of the peerless First Carrier Division, the pride of the First Air Fleet! You are out there because that is what you were born to do, what you choose to do. And if I force you to...not be that anymore, I'm not loving you for you anymore."

"Why? Why would you risk being hurt so much?"

"Because I would rather spend one week of my life waking up with you in my arms than eighty years of safety and security alone. Because knowing your love has been and will be, the best thing I have ever known. And because when I promised you all that I had, I meant it. No matter what physical distance separates us, my soul, my heart, is yours. Entwined together, now and forever, in this life and beyond. Please, Akagi," I pleaded, holding out my hand. "Stay with me."

The firey dragon that surrounded and trapped Akagi roared in defiance, then sputtered and died, the last flames carried away on the wind like autumn leaves, her rigging vanishing with it. Tears streaked down her face as she reached out for me, taking my hand in hers and pulling me close. We embraced, and I could feel her shudder as she wept; the fear, the sorrow, the anxiety, all of it draining out of her. I felt my own tears flowing down my cheeks as I held her tightly, not wanting to ever let her go. "Red Spider Lily you may be," I whispered, "But you are my Red Spider Lily, and I love you."

"I love you, Shikikan-sama," Akagi whispered back between muffled sobs and sniffles. "Forever…"

Things calmed down and got back to normal in fairly short order after that. Kaga and Amagi, with the help of Prince of Wales and Enterprise, of all people, managed to get the crowd under control and dispersed. And after we dried our eyes and composed ourselves, Akagi and I went back to work, hand in hand. It took a while but in time, everyone got used to us being a couple. Well, almost everyone. I think Taihou's going to burst into flames every time she sees us holding hands. Akagi's smug grin doesn't help, either. I still have Model Night with Mikasa every Saturday; we're currently working on a diorama of the Battle of Tsushima. Kaga and Amagi have been nothing but supportive of the two of us, and when all of us are in port we make it a point to have at least one meal together, as a family. And every morning, noon, and night, I tell Akagi how much I love her. After all, it's important to keep your New Year's resolutions, right?

A/N-And so ends the tale of Shikikan and Akagi, at least for now. I may do a few more one-offs, like Mikasa's Model Night or other little slice-of-life bits if the inspiration strikes me, but those will be bundled into a separate anthology sort of thing if I get around to it. In the meantime, I have a 1/350th Akagi that I've been neglecting, so getting back on track with that is my next immediate goal. After that, who knows? Maybe another series like this featuring another shipgirl? Something dark and gothic with our beloved Duke of York? Studying with Shangri-La? Biscuits with Bismarck? Flight school with Yorktown? All of the above? In any case, thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and for all of your kind words thus far. Happy New Year!