"Twinkle twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high. Like a diamond in the sky. Twinkle twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are."

How long had it been since I last heard that lullaby? More than a decade, probably getting closer to two than one. Probably once my bother stopped listening to it was around the same time I did too. Basically, I really freaking hoped I wasn't butchering the lyrics on this one.

Though, would Luzon know the lyrics of an American lullaby? Wait, was Twinkle Twinkle Light Star an American lullaby in the first place? And why am I asking myself questions I don't have the answer to?

"I'm, I'm not," she cut herself off, letting loose a massive yawn, stretching out her limbs. "Tired." As if I didn't just hear her yawn in the first place. If the time on the clock was anything to go by, she should probably be in bed by now.

"Luzon, if you need to go to sleep, all you need to do is say so," Luzon turned her head back to face me, only to keep going, lightly tapping against my chest, before jolting forward.

"I'm awake, I'm awake!"

I chuckled, shaking my head. Yeah, it was pretty clear it was time for her to go to bed. Sure, having her rest in the pool was probably safe. I'd been out for at least a few days, from what I could gather, and likely would have been out for another. Lacking any wrinkles was a bit of a surprise. But seeing as I was still healing, or as Iowa put it, 'under repair', and Luzon was probably well past the point of being in perfect physical condition by now.

She better be, at any rate.

But I knew human skin did not have a pleasant reaction to being in water long term. Infections and sores? No thank you!

"You need to sleep. I'll dry you off," I extended my hand, reaching towards one of the towels left on the rack behind me.

"No! Stay!" Luzon's arms wrapped around me before her grip slackened. For a few moments, it seemed like sleep had finally taken her, but her grip tightened once again. "Stay!"

"I'd love it if you stayed, Luzon, but I don't want you looking like a raisin come morning," I chuckled, fingers grasping the towel. Was this wait I sounded like when I wanted to stay up late on a school night?

"What's a raisin?" she asked, stifling another yawn as I ran the towel through her hair.

"It's a dried-out grape," there was probably a more complicated process than that, though I'm pretty sure that was the basic idea behind it.

"Why would I look like a dried-out grape if I stayed in the water?" well, at least she wasn't protesting as much as I thought she would. Though, Luzon could simply just be that tried, which wouldn't surprise me.

Luzon curled up in her sleeping bag, muttering faint sounds I couldn't understand, but were adorable anyway before the gentle sound of her breathing took over.

However, I wasn't going to join her in dreamland. Probably couldn't, my track record of sleeping on a moving vehicle was likely going to try and make up for lost time. What Iowa had brought me was exactly what I'd expected, and while I hadn't been lying about wanting something to read to Luzon, there was a lot more that was looking for.

Did I need the additional stress? Probably not. Did I need information? Absolutely.

Even a children's book would have provided something of use, depending on how close to the modern date it was printed in. Whatever that modern date happened to be.

That could be said for just about anything really, but hopefully, the stack of magazines she'd brought me would at least approximate exactly how long this war had been going on, alongside the date and year.

From there? I wasn't sure. Which was exactly why I needed to find out more information about what was going on.

Slowly, and quietly, making sure not to disturb Luzon during her much-needed sleep, I flipped through the pile, looking for anything on shipgirls, mostly based on the cover.

I swiftly realized that all of them seemed to have shipgirl related stuff. Okay, that probably shouldn't be too surprising. Shipgirls would be popular, for various reasons. Alright then, let's start at the top.

Skimming my why through with an eye out for any number that looked like part of a date. When did Abyssal's show up? When did shipgirl's show up? Last I remembered, it was 2020. During September. Go to sleep and boom, wake up in the middle of the ocean. Something like that just didn't happen without good reason.

Did I end up in the future? Some alternate reality? Quite frankly, there was going to be nothing I could do to disprove the later. Okay, maybe there was. I would just need an electronic device that I had no way of accessing right now. The prior would be a bit more straightforward, hence the dates.

Frowning, I continued to look over the articles, not finding much luck. I hope I wasn't missing something, as the last time I'd read a magazine proper was years before this all started. Okay, here's the article that the cover referenced. Iowa, and some person handing her medal? First United States Navy Battleship summoned?

Yadda, yadda, the first battleship returned. Momentous occasion. Important for the future of the country and the world at large. All nice, informative stuff, but I needed dates! Dates! They had to be somewhere in here, right?

I was, already getting frustrated with this. Not a good sign. Letting the magazine rest on my face, I leaned back with a sigh. Honestly, I probably needed more rest of my own. Even if I had been in a medical and pain-induced coma.

God, I'd been in a coma. That's a sobering thought. Yeah, that's the surface of it! I've lost a limb, and I'm somehow growing it back right now because that's apparently a thing now! I'd gone through, well, whatever it was with that thing, and I wasn't going to try and push why I was drawing a blank, giving the last headache. Then there was everything before that!

And how long had it been? A few weeks? A month? More? My fairies burned the logs they'd been keeping, and quite frankly, I didn't trust my own memory-keeping of time, even under the best days. But right now?

I just didn't know. Not knowing? That was scary.

I'd been fighting a war. I wasn't a soldier. But I'd been fighting anyway.

What was my life becoming? I hadn't wanted anything like this. I certainly wasn't cut out for this sort of thing. The fact I made it this far was more due to blind luck than anything else. Maybe not even that.

Seriously, I needed to start getting this sorted out. Where did I want to go from here? Did I have a choice? Was I going to be strong-armed in the military?

I mean, the Absyssal's staying around was something I certainly didn't want. My eyes flickered over to Luzon. They needed to be thrown back into the pit from whence they came for what they did to her. And to me. And probably to the world's population at large.

But what could I do? I was one light cruiser out of how many? That's not even going into my complete lack of training and absolute minimal experience. And calling in minimal felt generous, given how it was probably the naval tactical equivalent of smacking my face into a keyboard.

Sure, training was something that could be worked on. I doubt they'd be incompetent enough to send someone without training into the thick of things. But? I don't know. Was joining up with the navy something I wanted to do?

Of course, that was while ignoring, quite frankly, quite a large issue. One I had conveniently thrown into a closet and ignored for the sake of survival. It was nice to be able to ignore it while I was fighting for my life because I certainly didn't have that luxury now!

My eyes gazed down at my chest, before flicking away.

Yeah, I'm not getting used to that. This was something I just had no idea what to do with. I should be dysmorphic to hell and back right now. I really should be freaking out more about this than I had been. Sure, I cried my eyes out when I first saw my reflection in the mirror. But that was, shock? Surprise? A bit of a mental breakdown? The full weight of my current situation hitting me? But I don't think it was dysmorphia.

That? That was creepy. No, that was freaky. I should be having a complete and utter panic attack about this! There was no reason I should be this calm. A bit weird? Yes. Feeling a bit off? Yes.

But I didn't feel wrong. And that fact I wasn't?

Was setting off the alarm bells in my logical mind, because I knew enough to know I should. Which was a whole nothing can of worms that I could probably never bring up ever because it'd make me seem crazy. Well, crazier than I probably already was.

Quite frankly, the fact I was drawing a memory blank wasn't a good sign either. Even more so with all the pain when I did try to think about it.

Where was I going with this? I wasn't sure. Probably something about giving a Therapist a need for a pay raise sometime soon. Multiple, actually, now that I think about it, as Luzon certainly needed therapy of her own, and I wasn't going to take no for an answer on that front.

Anyway, if I was going to get some sleep, it was probably time to get my brain shut off. Hopefully, reading would help my gears slow down because I couldn't rely on utter exhaustion right now.

Let's actually give this a read, then. I paused for a moment, looking at the cover, my eyes drawn towards the top of the page.

12/13/2021

No. That's. Crap.

The last day I remembered before I woke up here was August. August in the year 2020.

That meant more than a year had passed.

Please. Don't let it be real. I don't want to cry anymore.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

I woke up to a splash, water suddenly ending up all over my face. Goody, I managed to fall asleep after all. When was that?

Luzon let out a giggle as she surfaced, enjoying herself in the warm bath. Did she just cannonball on in here? The water couldn't be deep enough for someone to do that safely? Right?

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"You better have gotten something to eat before you jumped on in here," I chuckled, ruffling her hair.

"I did," Luzon beamed up at me. The rumble of her stomach told me she was lying. My eyebrow raised, almost amused. Though she certainly needed to eat, however. Unlike to be growing fast at all, I doubt she was getting a lot of nutrition back in the Philippines in the first place. Shipgirls tended to eat quite a bit, even destroyers. Luzon was likely no expectation to that rule.

"Luzon," I crossed my arms, trying to my best impression of my own mother. "You need to be eating."

"I have been," she huffed, face turning into a pout.

"We've been giving her the same amount of food she needs. Even if she's a bit of a picky eater," the new voice just about made me jump out of my skin, arms going from crossed in parental disapproval to surprised flailing.

"Please, don't surprise me like that," I lowered my arms as my breathing began to steady. She was a battleship, I think. Same triple guns as Iowa. Those had no right to claim anything approaching stealth like that. How long had she been sitting there? Minutes? Hours?

"Sorry. I didn't mean to alarm you," she looked down at me, giving me a strange look. One that made me want to sink into the water. Though Luzon was already doing that, avoiding the battleship's gaze as she slowly made her way over to me.

"I'll be fine. Surprises are something I generally don't take well," I huffed, voice nearly reaching a mutter. She wasn't lying, or at the very least, I don't think she was.

"I'll keep that in mind for the future," she paused for a moment. "Probably send word to the Admiral is well on that front. I know for a fact a ship back at Sasebo will certainly be trying to throw you a party. Probably several. In rapid succession.

Well. That was. Alarming? Concerning? I certainly would understand why someone would do that, don't get me wrong. But parties, especially large scale, which a military base would most certainly be?

I don't know. Luzon probably wouldn't be up for it, if her current interactions with other people were anything to go by. And I certainly wasn't a social butterfly even under the best of times. Not showing up, on the other hand, was simply just rude. Given the work that probably would be put into it, exceptionally rude at that.

"Thanks for the heads up," I nodded, before frowning slightly. I had no idea who this person was. They seemed familiar, but I just couldn't quite place it. Did I even have a name to put on their face? I, I don't think I did.

"You don't remember me? Luzon's arms wrapped around my stomach once again as the battleship spoke.

"Sorry. I really don't," I paused, trying to push into my memories, though I backed off the moment pain began to flare in my temple.

"It's okay. Vulcan said she expected you were suffering from memory loss," she looked away for a moment, seeming to make sure I couldn't see something. Memory loss though? That certainly made sense. It would explain, well, what I've been dealing with whenever I try to force myself to remember.

"Either way, I was here to check up on you and your progress. And get Luzon something to eat, of course," Luzon immediately began to bury further into my side. "Which, as I can see, is going to be unlikely."

On one hand, Luzon certainly didn't want to leave, and I doubt anything less than a crowbar was going to unlodge her from her current position. Nor was separation likely to really do anything in the long term. As much as I didn't want her to go hungry, Luzon's mental health had to also be considered.

"If she wants to wait, she can wait. I'd ask if you could just bring her food, but there's probably a rule about that somewhere," I frowned. Hopefully, this was the right call to make. Six more hours wasn't going to be that detrimental. Right?

"Unfortunately, yes. Due to several incidents, food isn't allowed in the baths as a precaution," well, the whole multiple incidents part was interesting. Probably a funny story behind it, too. Still, they'd have to be pretty bad if they banned food because of it.

"Though it'll probably take a bit more than six hours before you two would get something to eat."

"Oh? Really? Why is that?" I looked up, somewhat confused at the battleship. What was that supposed to mean?

"The second reason I'm here is that Vulcan wants to run a diagnostic once you're completely patched up. Mostly as a precaution against anything that may have been missed," okay, that made sense. I'd taken a considerable beating, so of course, they want to make sure everything is physically in order before turning me even somewhat loose.

Luzon's stomach let out another rumble, this one stronger than the last. She shifted slightly in the water. Probably her stomach protesting under the fact it would be even longer than Luzon had anticipated before she ate. Was that going to be enough to convince her to get something to eat?

Oh, who am I kidding, she was already clinging back into me by the time the battleship began to raise her eyebrow.

"Well, that was worth a shot. I'll try to find you a change of clothes, given how, you know," she paused as if trying to think of something. Honestly, if so much of a scrap of my old outfit was intact, I'd be impressed. It was a disaster before I got to the Philippines, and after? Honestly, it should be pitched into a fire, if only to save me the embarrassment of seeing what I'd been running around in.

She simply nodded, before standing up to leave.

"Wait," she paused at the sound of my voice, turning around. There was something she mentioned at the start of the conversation. Should have gotten it clarified back then, but I've only just remembered it.

"You mentioned something about Luzon being a picky eater. Can you tell me what that entails, exactly?" Luzon made a squeak, burying herself further into my side. Honestly? I was a pretty picky eater myself. Even if me now being a ship has gone a considerable way into rectifying that issue. Just more than two decades late by my parent's standards. Mom would be pulling her hair out over this, I could already tell.

"We've mostly been having a hard time getting her to eat just about anything. Pineapples are just about the only thing we can get her to eat, and we have been spreading them into other recipes, but there is a limit," I looked down at Luzon, whose head was currently doing its best to reshape my ribs.

That was. Yeah, no. Not going to fly. Absolutely not. I'm not sure how many recipes you could put pineapples into, but certainly, they wouldn't provide Luzon's dietary needs. And as much as she deserved to be pampered, that didn't mean I was okay with potentially taking up the entire ship's supply. The people that saved us deserved pineapples too. If they liked pineapples, anyway.

"I'll think of something," I paused for a moment. I'd practiced a bit of cooking when preparing to set off on my own. Pandemic made the job hunt to facilitate that difficult, however. But I had a few recipients up my sleeve. Most of them were simple. Scrambled eggs. Bacon. Pancakes. Those sorts of things.

But she was already having too much of the latter, and as for the two former? This was a military vessel. They should have both in spades. Right?

I'd have to take stock of ingredients. And maybe consult some type of recipe book. Lasagna probably wasn't the most complex recipe in the world, even if I was working off half-remembered knowledge. Noodles. Cheese. Pasta sauce. There was supposed to be some type of filling? Like with manicotti? Sour cream, I think.

That's why I needed to get my hands on a recipe book. I wanted, no, needed to get this right. In part because getting it wrong likely wasn't going to help Luzon's pickiness. Honestly? It would probably make it worse. Though cooking lasagna from scratch was going to take even more time after the medical checkup.

"I'm sure you will," the battleship hummed for a moment. "Though I do have to ask if you know how to cook."

Strange. For a moment, I thought I saw her shudder. What was that about?

"Enough. I'm not going to give someone food poisoning or light myself on fire if that's what you're worried about," something told me that wasn't at all what she was worried about.

"I'll notify the kitchen staff, regardless. Just as a safety precaution," she frowned. "I'll return once I've finished if you like."

Part of me wanted to take her up on that offer. Having someone to talk to was, well, nice. But, if Luzon was going to be like this? She was going to have to get acclimated to others eventually. But pushing it just seemed like a bad idea.

"Thank you for your offer, but I don't think Luzon will take visitors very well," she snuggled further into my rib cage, but her grip loosened.

"Understandable. I'll leave the change of clothes in the locker room, and send an escort so you can get to Vulcan's office without getting lost if I'm not available to do so," the battleship rose, pulling herself up to slightly shorter than Iowa.

"Thank you," I nodded pausing as she headed towards the door. Wait. Had I not gotten her name throughout that whole conversation? Not even once?

"Thank you, South Dakota."

I think that's what Luzon said. I wasn't quite sure, with most of her face still remaining lodged in my ribs. It was nice to have a name to put to the face, but that still didn't explain why she felt familiar.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"She's really bad at this," Kongo peaked through the door, letting the snippets of conversation filter in through the door.

"Nee-san, South Dakota's going to notice. We should probably wait until someone has time to tell her the war is over. Or at the very least, wait until she's out of the baths," Hiei couldn't deny she was curious about Isabella. It was probably for the best that she be told about the war's end, after all.

"We could tell her ourselves."