The last adventures with Prinz Eugen. Volume 3.

No. 13 Chapter 19

Eugen waited patiently outside one of the base's classrooms for the full hour to strike out its last beltone. It had been quite the day and she looked forward to spending a bit more time with her little counterpart before she got the evening off to spend as she liked.
As the classroom door opened she observed how all the little destroyers of the Sakura Empire , all dressed in their primary school uniforms, left in a troop of enthusiastically high pitched voices filled with joy and delight. Soon followed by the little ships that had been there for nearly two months now. Little Belfast, Renown, Cheshire, Formidable and Illustrious got picked up by the kindly smiling battleship of the royal knights, Revenge. Little Akagi, Taihou and Hiei got picked up by Nagato's most trusted servant, the destroyer Kawakaze. Yet she had to smile as he saw her little version in conversation with little Amagi as she separated from Zeppy and little Graf Spee. Watching the girls pack their things chatting cheerfully allowed Eugen to reflect.

The little ones had come into this world with the knowledge and skills their older counterparts had. Yet their far less developed character and set in stone personality seemed to allow them to get along with everyone. None of them held grudges or had their opinion tainted by bad encounters with the ships of other navies. All they saw was people like them and therefore friends. Perhaps it was true what the humans said, that only the generations to follow may find peace and understanding as they no longer were burdened by the conflicts of their previous generations. Therefore allowing them to truly forgive and forget.
But what would that mean for them? After all, as far as she and everyone else knew the living ships don't age. Or procreate for that matter. Would that therefore mean that none of them would ever be able to truly come to terms with each other, forgive and forget and become friends instead of foes bound by treaties to not tear eachother apart?

"What are you thinking about?" A curious but well known voice asked and ripped Eugen out of her thoughts. Looking up from the children in front of her, Eugen saw their caretaker. The strike carrier Ark Royal, had walked up to her. "The little ones are quite something aren't they?" She asked the cruiser with a kind smile that tried to hide the sadness that rested in the carrier's eyes. "That they are." Eugen agreed. "Who would have thought to see something like it just months ago." Eugen agreed. "It wakes instincts and thoughts one would not have imagined most of us would have or be able to experience." Ark Royal confirmed with a nod. "Some of the others had come and asked me for advice since their little counterparts had come to be." She admitted to the cruiser. "It seems your protective and caring side finally found at least some appreciation." Eugen came to the point that Ark Royal did not dare to make herself. "Indeed. It fills me with some joy that I am at least still useful in that regard." She agreed with a odd hint in her voice. Looking up from the little ones and into Ark Royals face Eugen could see right away what was going on. She could see the bitterness of the carrier's pain in her bad disguise she had put up in a facade. "Are you sure that it is enough for you to hold on?" Eugen asked her after making sure no one was there to listen in on their conversation.
Ark Royals face distorted a bit for a moment as if she had bitten into a piece of lemon before letting go of her attempts to pretend to be alright with a sigh. "I can be alright and happy when I take care of the little ones." She admitted. "That makes me happy to no end and I am so very much delighted that The Commander and Dr. Anzeel allowed me to stay and be the destroyer's tutor." She explained herself in honesty. "But I can't say that I am not missing being out there. I mean I know why I was discarded and mothballed. But that does not mean that I don't miss the purpose of my being." Ark Royal admitted. "I want to be out there running my scout planes and be the strike carrier I was meant to be for the others." The tall woman added as her voice fell more and more into bitter sadness. "There will be an end for all of us." Eugen admitted. "It is not fair to take your rigging and arms from you. But that is a future we all have to face if we don't get scrapped or sunk." Just like Mikasa you get to have that freedom already. Even though it may be more so a punishment to you than the freedom it should be." Eugen tried to show her a different perspective. "That may be so. But that is not the way to go for a ship of the Royal Navy." The carrier answered as she pressed her lips together to not frown and show that she was holding back tears. "If I could I would return to service the second I could. But the way I left after I got mothballed that will never happen again." Ark added with a bitter smile she could manage to produce.

"But that is none of your concern. Who wants to hear their old foes lament their present state." The carrier tried to change the subject with some gallows humor. "It also seems that someone is waiting for you." Ark Royal added as she pointed out that little Eugen was waiting for her adult counterpart at the door of the old academy building. "Seems like I am straining the patience of someone indeed." Eugen chuckled as she saw little Eugen impatiently waiting for her. "I will need to go get the little princess home." Eugen accepted that she had to go. "But if you don't mind, tomorrow Anzeel, a friend of mine and I will head out for dinner. Good company is always welcome." The cruiser offered an invitation to the stunned carrier. "Are you inviting me?" Ark Royal asked, astonished. "To whom else am I talking? Of course I meant you. Unless you have other plans for tomorrow or would prefer other company than the Doctor and my humble self." Eugen smirked her teasing smile. "Let me know till tomorrow." Eugen added as she left the carrier behind her. "And don't be a stranger. I know where you work after all." Eugen teased Ark Royal one last time with a widening smirk before she arrived at the door where her little version waited for her.

As the two Eugens left the bigger one thought about what she had just done. Why did she invite Ark Royal to spend the evening with them? Was ist compassion that made her feel bad for her former enemy that had lost all her friends and purpose? Did it remind her of how lost she felt until her friends came to right her and bring her back on a path that led into the future? It must have been that, Eugen shrugged as she cleared out those thoughts to bring little Eugen over to the Iron Bloods dorm to go get dinner before Leipzig would show up.

After the two Eugens had enjoyed dinner in the Iron Blood dorm, they met up with Leipzig and Nürnberg. The two cruisers volunteered often to take care of the little ships. Eugen suspected that the two more gentle souls liked more being around the little ships than the other Iron Bloods. She could not blame them. None of the other Iron Bloods were like these two in their mentality. Yet they all appreciated them for their kindness and compassion. They were truly great cruisers that served the navy in a great way as training ships, even when their design had meant that they never excelled as light cruisers. And now they kept up this important role by being the two golden cores that all the other Iron Blood ships relied on for caring honesty and kindness. The two of them made great tutors to the little ships as neither of the two really seemed to have the same struggles of adjusting to being alive than many of the other ships had and still have.Eugen was happy to call Leipzig her friend."Are you looking forward to spending the evening with Leipzig?" Eugen asked her little counterpart. "I like her a lot." Little Eugen answered. "But why do you want to be alone with Tristan?" She asked the adult version of her. "I know fully well that you, as the humans say, love him. And I came to like him very much as well. So why does your desire to show affection require privacy?" She asked further. Eugen was taken back by her little copys' surprisingly deep question. "You see. There is a very big difference in your behavior when you get to spend time with someone you are very dear to and whom you adore. You get to show and share in a far more true version of each other that only really gets revealed to these special people with whom such a deep bond is struck. You are far more honest and vulnerable in your actions, thoughts and being than you would be with others." Eugen tried to explain to her little version what she has come to love about her time with her companion. "Being able to be yourself without judgment and still being liked for it is an experience that can't be grasped in words to explain. But it is something very fragile that needs to be cared for and protected. Hence why it is mostly that you can only really share aspects of your true self with some people in a very safe environment. The only people I can trust to be there to be like that are our dear sisters and Tristan." She explained further. "Therefore I do not want to risk this trust and moments of shared company." Eugen admitted. "But that does not mean that you will be excluded." Eugen promised little Eugen. "I am sure Tristan will soon come to like and adore you just as much as I do." She promised. "When that is the case you will see that the human I have so dear will be one of your best friends you could hope for as well."