When the commander walked back into the lab he was surprised to see Kaga sitting there, staring at Akagi's mental cube.

"Oh, miss Kaga I wasn't expecting you to be here," the commander said.

"Quit calling me that! Where have you been?" Kaga said.

The commander was surprised by her demanding tone. "I was having tea with Hood. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Yes, my sister isn't here, I thought you were going to be fixing that!"

"I am Kaga. I just needed a little break. You know it took a whole day and a half for me to bring you back."

"That's all the more reason you should be getting it done."

The commander walked over to the table, and took Akagi's mental cube out of the safe box. "Ok, I'll get to work. Just be patient."

Kaga grumbled some words in her native tongue. She sat with him until lunch when they both decided to go to the dining hall. Kaga wolfed down her meal and stared impatiently at the commander while he finished his meal.

The commander was getting a bit tired of it. "So Kaga. Akagi seems quite important to you."

"Of course she is, she's my elder sister," Kaga spat.

"Ok, ok. Want to tell me a bit about her?"

"If you finish eating you'll get to meet her faster. Don't you get how important family is? Do you have any siblings?"

The commander stopped. "Uh yeah I do, a twin sister. She means a lot to me."

"Then you should be getting the idea."

"Ok I'll hurry up."

Fortunately working on Kaga's mental cube meant the commander had a much better idea of what he was doing and he didn't just have to rely on his training, which up until now was all theoretical. He figured she'd be out by tomorrow morning if this pace were to keep up. Though his progress was being somewhat slowed by the fact that Kaga was constantly breathing down his neck.

The work was a bit tedious so he decided that talking to Kaga would help ease his mind. "Amagi told me a bit about you two," the commander said.

"Like what?" Kaga asked.

"Like how Akagi is your best friend. So much so that you forgo the idea of blood ties just to call her and Amagi your sisters. I get that. My dad called a friend of his my uncle. In reality they had just known each other for a long time."

"Don't act like you know my personal history with her just because Amagi told you a couple cutesy stories."

The commander sighed. "Ok. I'll try this a different way. What exactly about her do you like?"

"Commander I'm starting to believe you don't really get what she means to me. You may have a twin sister but I'm willing to bet she doesn't compare to Akagi in value!"

The commander remained silent. Kaga wasn't willing to listen. Clearly she only cared about her sister, and at this point there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't blame her; if his sister were on the cusp of coming back to life like this he'd be doing all he could to get her back. As night came about and they both lost track of the hours, Kaga fell asleep on the table. The commander was happy not to have her shooting a death glare at him constantly. As the hours drew on and the commander got progressively more tired he figured he should probably call it a night. But as he looked up at Kaga sleeping across the table from him, his resolve strengthened a bit. He knew he told himself he wasn't going to work impaired but he had to finish this. Regardless of what Kaga said he did understand what family meant. He was going to finish up and get Akagi back. So he ran to his room, made a couple shots of espresso, downed them and immediately went back to the lab to get to work. He said by morning, and he meant it.

When Kaga awoke the first thing she noticed was the commander's coat draped over her. She then looked up to see the commander with his head in his arms, sleeping on the table. She immediately leaned forward and snapped her fingers in his face.

"Hey, weakling, wake up," Kaga said. She then looked around, noticing that Akagi's mental cube was missing. Kaga stood up so fast that the chair she was sitting on went flying back. The clattering of it woke the commander up. She ran around the table, grabbing him by the shirt collar and lifting him up.

"Where is Akagi's mental cube?" she yelled.

The commander was still waking up. "Oh uh, she's done, I just figured you'd want to be there the second she came out," he said. He pointed over to where it rested, on the plate-sized device, sitting on the floor where Kaga had been formed.

Kaga dropped him and ran over. "How do I—"

"There's a switch box a bit to the right," the commander called, still lying on the floor.

Kaga flipped it without hesitation. She watched with great anticipation as the cube levitated, spinning faster and faster, glowing brighter and brighter. After a great flash of light there she was.

The commander finally sat up to get a good look. There stood a woman very much resembling Kaga, though with different coloration and demeanor. The main differences were the color of their tails, their hair, the facial structure, and the eyes. The commander would never tell Kaga, but he thought Akagi wore the look much better. Akagi's eyes were also such a glorious bright red. That wasn't exactly a trait you could find on human women.

"Akagi!" Kaga shouted, jumping at her sister and hugging her.

"Oh my, Kaga, I didn't expect this from you hehe. Where are we?"

"We're at Central Pacific Operations, Amagi made it here along with the rest of them," Kaga said, crying with joy.

Akagi hugged back with equal ferocity. "Oh I am so glad to see you again! Are you feeling ok? I know that was a pretty fierce battle we were in."

"It doesn't matter now, I'm just glad to have you back!" Kaga said.

As they were embracing Akagi caught the commander's gaze. They locked eyes, only looking away when Kaga released her.

"Ahem, I'm sorry to ruin the moment but I need to tell you something very important miss Akagi. You might have even felt it by now," the commander said, stepping forward.

"Oh, and this is our new commander? He's much younger than ours," Akagi said.

The commander thought to himself, "I should start a counter of how many times I hear that."

"Yes he is much younger than she was. I'm fairly sure he isn't nearly as disciplined," Kaga said.

"Now Kaga, no need to be so mean. If we just get to know him I'm sure you'll love him in no time," Akagi said.

"So as I was saying. Miss Akagi, you and your sister went through some serious restructuring. Unfortunately that means your type has been changed. If you could please activate your rigging so I could see to what exactly," the commander said.

Akagi looked curiously between the commander and Kaga. She activated her rigging. She gasped when it lit up and spread like a fire, forming into a red flaming flight deck.

"Woah…" the commander whispered. "It would appear you have ended up the same as Kaga."

Akagi put her fingers together, mesmerized as a set of flower darts flamed into existence. She looked at Kaga. "So, you too?"

Kaga nodded as she activated her rigging, showing the exact same save for the color. "It will take some getting used to, and I doubt these little mosquitoes are going to compare to our gun batteries."

Akagi looked down at the flaming flight deck. "I guess we will see. Well, all that training and instruction from Amagi and Tosa is gone," Akagi sighed.

"Tosa… Tosa isn't going to be happy when she hears about what happened to me," Kaga said. She looked very worried which the commander didn't expect from her.

"Kaga it's going to be fine. I'm sure she'll be grateful that you're alive regardless of what form you take," Akagi said, rubbing Kaga's back.

"I hope so. Well, let's not think of that, Amagi is here and I'm sure she wants to see you," Kaga said.

Akagi gasped. "Oh goodness, Amagi, she must be so worried, we need to go see her now!"

"Come on, I know the way to the dorms!" Kaga said, dragging Akagi out of the room.

The commander walked casually behind them as they ran to Amagi's room. He lost them along the way but he knew where they were going so he wasn't in a hurry.

When he got there the door was left open. The commander walked into the living area following the noise. It led him to the bedroom where Amagi was resting. He peaked around the doorframe seeing all three of them, crying tears of joy in each other's arms. Amagi noticed the commander standing there. She nodded to him and mouthed the words "Thank you."

The commander smiled then turned away, walking out of the room. He started crying. As he was there, overcome with emotion, Enterprise rounded the corner.

"Commander, wha? Is something wrong?" Enterprise asked, running up to him.

Without warning the commander wrapped his arms around Enterprise. "Ah, no not at all. Not at all Enterprise," the commander said, rocking her in their embrace. Well, his embrace.

Enterprise stood awkwardly in his arms, gently patting his back and still not sure what was happening. "Uhh… glad to hear it commander. Nice to know everything is going to be all ok in the world…"

The commander finally let go of her, wiping away his tears. "Sorry Enterprise, I just got Akagi back out of her mental cube and they're all having a little reunion in there."

"Oh that's great news! I know what it's like having one of your sister's sunk so I understand how they feel," Enterprise said.

"Wait what?" the commander said.

"You didn't know? Yorktown sunk with Lexington and Saratoga in an operation a couple years back."

"Did she maintain her status as a fleet carrier?"

"Yes she did. Lexington and Saratoga weren't as fortunate. They went from battlecruisers to fleet carriers, although they adapted to their new roles remarkably well. Which reminds me, did Akagi and Kaga maintain their previous types?"

The commander shook his head. "I wasn't able to do so, their mental cubes were far too damaged for that to happen."

Just then the commander heard footsteps behind him. He turned to see Akagi.

"Commander! I just wanted to thank you for bringing me back to my precious Kaga and my dear Amagi!" Akagi stepped forward. The commander figured she was going for a hug but was caught off guard when she stood on her tiptoes, grabbed his face and kissed him. She held him for a long time.

"We have sent a message to Western Pacific Operations but haven't gotten anything back yet. I'm sure Tosa will—Oh goodness Akagi!" Amagi exclaimed. Amagi and Kaga looked horrified to see Akagi holding the commander hostage with her lips. After what felt like a solid minute to the commander, Akagi, with her tails swishing finally let go of the commander.

"Mhmm, that was… quite the thank-you gift Akagi," the commander said.

Akagi giggled. "There's a lot more where that came from if you want it commander."

"Akagi! I'm so sorry commander she isn't normally like this. This must be because of her restructuring," Amagi said. She grabbed Akagi by her tails and yanked her away from the commander.

"Ow hey!" Akagi said

Amagi then grabbed Akagi by the ear and dragged her back into their room. "Akagi do you know what would happen if you did that to our former commander? She would have had you…"

The commander didn't get to hear the rest because Kaga closed the door. Enterprise and the commander stood in silence for a second, staring at each other. "I think I like her, come on, let's go get breakfast."