Archive of Our Own ^beta

A man knocked on the door of a small cottage and waited patiently. He had been searching for this person for months now, far longer than he wanted to. It had taken him some digging, but through the scarcity of documents and censuses and rumors, he had managed to find out where they were living. It was certainly odd that they had decided to live out in the mountains of Japan far away from civilization, but if the person was really who they were searching for, then… he would be expecting someone rather moody.

Several minutes went by, the only sounds being the occasional rustling of tree branches and chirping birds. The man knocked again. This time, the door opened just a crack, and from it, the gaze of an elderly woman could be seen.

“I don’t want anything you are selling or anything you are advertising. Go away.” said the woman coldly, before slamming the door.

Typically, the average person would have left and moved on, but… the man was absolutely sure she was the one. He knocked again, bracing himself for a visceral response. The door opened again, this time all the way. She met him with her amber eyes, staring just as coldly as before.

“Quite the persistent one,” she said, quite annoyed this time. “What the hell do you want?”

“Am I speaking with Ms. Nanami? I do apologize for bothering you…” the man started, taking a deep breath in between sentences. “But… I did want to discuss some important matters with you. I would appreciate it if you could at least hear me out. If you ultimately say no, I will take my leave.”

The woman paused for a moment, taking in what the man had to say. She sighed and stepped aside from the door. “Yes… I am her, and I’ve decided I’ll listen. You seem genuine in your feelings.”

The man walked inside, taking a quick look at the interior. It was certainly a small cottage, enough for only one person to live comfortably. A kitchen, a bed, and a small table with four chairs were the first things he saw, but he looked the other way and noticed a small shrine had been set up, with the picture frame in the center displaying four women in a group photo, answering all the questions he had until now.

‘This is definitely her,’ he thought to himself, believing he understood why the woman acted this way. ‘She’s been through a lot…’

He turned back to Ms. Nanami, joining her as she took a seat at the table. The man went to sit, only to be stopped by her.

“No.” she said sharply and suddenly. “You stand. If you want me to listen to you, you’ll stand.”

Well, if that’s what it takes…

“Very well,” he said, agreeing to these terms. “Now, I do have some important matters to discuss, as I’ve said, but I do want to ask this of you first. Have you been doing well?”

Ms. Nanami looked at him with a deadpan face. “What kind of question is that? I’m doing well since no one bothers me. Just get to the point.”

The man looked away from Ms. Nanami, his eyes on her shrine. “I… believed it appropriate to ask if one was doing well before advancing to a serious topic, but if you insist, I will.” He then looked back at her. “You know of the current war against the invaders?”

Ms. Nanami scoffed. “Of course I do, impossible to not know with my rare visits into town. What are you really here about?”

“We are struggling,” the man started off. “Our modern weaponry does nothing against them. We can only hold ourselves back for so long. We’ve had to resort to older technology to have a chance at all, but there’s only so much we can do. What I am asking is this: Will you help us, Ms. Nanami?”

Ms. Nanami looked at the man sternly, not saying anything for a brief time before shrugging. “I believe you have the wrong person. I’m just an elderly woman who wants nothing to do with this war. Leave.”

“Ms. Nanami… Are you lying to me?” said the man, looking at the picture on the shrine, walking over to it. “If you are who I think you are, then you have the expertise that we really need if we’re going to have a winning chance.”

Ms. Nanami got up from the table and confronted the man angrily. “Get away from there. I asked you to leave… now…”

The man stood there, unintimidated now. He hated having to do this, but he decided this was important enough to prod into. “If you are not lying to me, then am I right to assume that you are not a veteran of a war from long ago, one where you lost your sisters?” he said, raising his tone of voice.

The woman went wide-eyed, grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up. “Don’t you dare say that lightly! You do not know what I went through!”

“Please put me down, Ms. Nanami,” the man said calmly, bracing himself for what he would say next. “You are the former flagship of Imperial Japan’s 2nd Fleet, 4th Division. Ms. Nanami is a name you took up after the war. Am I right… Takao?”

The woman paused, still holding the man up in the air. She began to tremble, her grip on him loosening as she slowly let him back down. Tears started to stream down her face as she fell back on her chair, crying silently as she looked at the picture.

It was clear to the man that the picture was of Takao, in fact, and that she was with her sisters: Atago, Maya, and Choukai. “I’m sorry… for tearing open a wound. I needed to be sure. My deepest apologies…”

Takao looked up at him, a deep sorrow evident on her face. “I’m sorry… for lying.”

The man simply looked at her, holding his arms wide open. “I forgive you, Takao. Come here…”

Slowly, Takao approached him, embracing the hug as she cried into his shoulder. “I miss them so much… I don’t want to forget them, but I’m pained by not being with them…”

The man stayed silent, allowing Takao to speak her mind.

“I didn’t have enough time to comfort Atago before she slipped underneath the waves, and I was crippled in the same attack. Maya sank in front of me and I couldn’t do anything to save her. Choukai got transferred to another division, and then she got hurt so badly that they had to put her out of her misery.” Takao’s tears were freely flowing down her cheeks, her voice breaking up as she struggled to continue. “Then after the war, they never fixed my ship and just decided to use it for target practice and forced me to move on…”

The man hugged her tighter, letting her cry as much as she wanted. It was clear that all of her despair had built up over the past 70 years and now, she was finally letting it all out.

After a time, Takao stopped, sniffling softly as she continued to hug him. Not too long after, she spoke again. “I’ll help you… I can’t be expected to fight, but… I’ll teach you what I know…”

As the man was about to respond, another knock on the door sounded. This time, however, whoever it was did not wait, calling out to whoever was inside.

“Is anyone home, Commander? Don’t tell me you broke into someone’s house without talking to your big sister first~”

Upon hearing those words, Takao immediately pushed the man to the side, making a beeline to the door. The man was startled, but he could only smile about what was to come next as he watched her open the door. She recognized the voice, but she just had to be sure, and when she opened the door, she nearly collapsed as she saw a most welcome sight. There was Atago, Maya, and Choukai… all standing in front of her.

“It’s been a long time, Takao~” Atago said cheerfully, holding her arms wide open.

From within the house, the Commander decided to leave them be, watching as they all hugged, finally reuniting after 70 years. It was certainly going to be an emotional trip back to base.

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It was Takao’s first time venturing out into the world in 70 years, and now she was being brought back into service, and she wouldn’t be alone along the way. Reunited with her sisters, her bitter, moody demeanor vanished, replaced by a more uptight, dignified one. Stepping out onto the warm docks of Azur Lane Naval Base, she was certainly surprised to find that the world’s nations had joined together to fight off against the so-called Sirens, as she had been informed of.

“I know that being around those who you fought against before can be quite shaky, and they share a similar sentiment,” said the Commander to Takao. “But the truth of the matter is that we all have a collective agreement that we need to band together if we’re going to win. I hope you understand this.”

Takao nodded in agreement. “I understand, Commander. It will just be… uneasy at first.” She looked around, seeing all of the ships docked in the harbor. “Where do I come in?”

“Simple. Follow me please.” The Commander had Takao and her sisters follow him, giving her a brief overview of the base as they walked along the harbor, the multitudes of naval craft almost overwhelming the senses. It had been a long time since Takao had seen so many ships in one place, but this time, they would be fighting alongside each other rather than against one another. The views were so distracted that she bumped into Commander, not realizing he had stopped.

“Ah, taking in the views, Takao?” the Commander chuckled. “It’s certainly a lot to take in.”

“My apologies, Commander. I just couldn’t help but take… in… the sights…” Takao’s gaze wandered onto the ship docked in front of her. Its pristine gray camouflage scrubbed of any barnacles and other sea life, it was as if the ship had just been commissioned. It was her own ship, looking exactly how it did 70 years ago. “My… my ship…”

The Commander decided to stay quiet, allowing Takao to get up close with her sisters right behind her. He had seen this exact scenario play out before, so he decided to sit back and watch.

Carefully, Takao reached out to the ship, placing a hand on its hull. Cold steel was something she was intimately familiar with, and it was here that she showed that she still had it. The ship began to glow a brilliant blue, soon disintegrating into tiny glowing blue cubes as they began to surround the elderly woman in a vortex of wonder. Her gray hairs darkened, her skin complexion improved, and her voice had become less raggedy. Her sisters could only watch as their sister emerged from the vortex, culminating in Takao reuniting with her rigging. 

The Commander had a camera ready for occasions like this, and so, he snapped a photo for the scrapbook: Takao reunited with her sisters and her ship, wearing the brightest smile on her face.