A/N: I've been sitting on this chapter for almost an entire year and it's been the bane of my existence. My inspiration to write this story isn't gone it's just dwindled since at one point I was putting out 6000 word chapters every week.

But thirty nine thousand of you have decided that this fic is still worth coming back to and for that, I thank you. It means a lot. So, even though this chapter isn't perfect and as long, hopefully it signals the end of a year long hiatus.
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"Remind me again why I let you talk me into this?" The Admiral asked as she looked to the battleship sitting next to her.

"Because I'm several thousand tonnes of American steel and you're an Admiral with a messed up shoulder and bruised ribs. You needed this." She Answered. The woman in question rolled her eyes.

"I'm not sure I needed you, Akagi, and Enterprise escorting me the entire way." She said with a huff.

"Would you have come by yourself otherwise?"

The silence That was brought on by the question answered for her.

"Thought so."

Anya sighed as she looked away from Maryland, down at her own body. Her arm was now in a cast and her side wrapped after the incident the day before with Kentucky. The Admiral wasn't mad that it had happened. After all, she could be blamed for part of it. It's just that any injury of this caliber would lead to her getting dragged against her will to the nearest medical facility, which in this case was a clinic in the middle of Yokosuka.

Glancing over at the Colorado class battleship, who aside from making sure Anya didn't bolt for the door, was flipping through some magazine that they had on hand. Looked to be some naval magazine if Anya could see it right. And given them recent boom in naval interest because of the ship girl's arrival, she'd assume she was right.

Watching Mary, Anya gave a quiet sigh. After the incident that had landed them them in this current situation, Maryland had transformed completely. Gone was the previous care free battleship intent on laying Anya before the year's end, and in her place, a straight laced no shenanigans battlewagon.

It had caught Anya off guard that morning when Maryland had walked into her room at 6 a.m. to help her get ready without even trying to sneak a peek. It wasn't that Anya didn't like this new version. It was still Mary after all. But seeing the usual Lecherous battlewagon put on an air of command was both odd and confusing. But that was-

"Yuudachi, stop raiding their sucker stash." Arizona called from the lobby. "Those are for patients, not because you're feeling peckish." Called the battleship.

Anya groaned at the outburst as she rubbed her temple with her free hand as she got used to the feeling of her arm in the cast. After a moment, she glanced to Mary. "Will you make sure they don't break anything?" She asked. The battleship nodded at that as she put the magazine to the side and stood, walking for the door of the room that they were in, soon leaving Anya alone in the room alone.

Watching the door close, she turned her attention to the window, watching the life outside go on. Sitting across the street, under an umbrella, were Akagi, Enterprise, Shigure, Harusame, and Yamakaze. At first today, it had only been Maryland coming with her. And then the destroyers had wanted in. After that, Anya had known they'd need another battleship, leading to the selection of Arizona. She was supposed to be on sortie today, but Nagato had taken over the lead on that one.

Watching the clouds overhead, she couldn't figure out if they were getting ready to give even more snow than they already had.

"I don't think I've ever seen you more anxious than this." Sofia Answered from the side as she watched Anya. The blonde woman chuckled quietly as she looked to the woman.

"Thinking." She Answered. Sofia arched a brow at that as she leaned against the wall.

"Thinking about what?" She asked.

"Stuff." Anya Replied as she looked back to the window, watching the girls across the street. Sofia arched a brow at that before she shook her head, scratching the back as looked at the woman.

"Look, this wasn't your fault. And it wasn't Kentucky's either. It was just a combination of mismatched happenings and back luck. That's all it was." Sofia told her. "Don't sit there over thinking this. Maryland and Kentucky will be fine. And Maryland's too worried about you to be her usual self. As soon as you start moving around like usual, she'll be back to her normal, admiral-sexual, bubbly self." She told her. Anya only nodded at that, watching the ship girl's outside talk and converse.

She had expected for her brothers to come along as well, but with both herself and Sofia being off Base, they'd elected to stay behind and manage things with Langley. Given that they were both Navy and of some experience helped with that.

"Anya, you cant just stay like this. The girls are gonna want to know that you're ok. And if you're not, they're gonna look for someone to blame and that'll be Kentucky." She Answered.

"Am I Even any good at this job?" Anya asked, still looking out the window.

"What?" Sofia asked before shaking her head and giving a sigh. "Jesus Christ. Anya, don't do this. Look, you're fine at this job. The girls are always in high spirits when you're around and they like having you as their admiral. Good at what? Not leading a fleet into battle? You don't have to be, not with them. They're more accustomed to a naval doctrine that went out of style before the war was even over.." Sofia said as she looked to the woman. Anya only nodded at that.

"I know. It's just sometimes I find myself wondering if I'm really what they need. Sure, I'm an Admiral and I'm their admiral. But I have to wonder if what I'm really what they need at the end of the day. Maybe it'd work better with someone who takes a more stern approach to this whole thing." She Answered. Sofia shook her head.

"Maybe if that had been their first admiral. But that's not the case. You're their admiral. So get over this pouty bull and pull yourself together." Sofia Answered as the door opened, admitting the doctor into it. Surprisingly enough when they had gotten here, she was American, not Japanese.

"Okay Ms. Johnson." She Answered. "Things are good to go. Just try to keep the pressure off that arm and you'll be good to go inside two months." She Answered as she looked to the blonde. Anya gave a nod in return, she and Sofia standing. Thanking the woman on the way out, Anya breathed a sigh of relief as she and Sofia made way out, the captain helping Anya put her coat on over the sling.

Walking out, Anya took a sigh of relief. The staff of the Clinic had recognized Akagi and Yuudachi immediately. Anya hadn't been clear with her occupation, given the fact that the American ship girl's were supposed to remain classified for the time being. And as she was their admiral, she was glad no one had made the connection. At least not yet.

Carefully walking across the street due to the little patches of ice that had formed the night before, the ship girl's present turned their attention to the Admiral, all decked out in their winter gear.

"It's scoliosis isn't it? My condolences Admiral." Enterprise said with a bow of the head. Anya shook her head at with an amused smile, patting the carrier on the head.

"Ha ha." Anya monotoned. "Come on. Ishigara said there's a good ice cream place around the corner and I'm getting the lot of you could use a treat." She suggested. Some of the shipgirls,  Ari and Maryland included, looked to the woman in surprise and doubt.

"Admiral, you do know there's snow on the ground, right?" Shigure asked as she glanced at the white stuff covering the entirety of the ground. Anya nodded.

"I'm aware.  And I'm also aware that none of you know how good it is to have ice cream while it's snowing. It's a tradition my family had growing up in Maine and I see no reason not to continue it here with you all." She Answered. "I may have an arm in a sling and bruised ribs, but I still hold the rank of Admiral." She said. However, some of the girls still looked somewhat unsure at the recommendation.

"But shouldn't you be getting rest?" Harusame asked. "The doctor said-"

"Technically, taking you all out for IceCream instead of spending hours behind my desk is actual rest if you think about it." Anya retorted, watching the destroyer. Harusame went to counter the argument, but found herself frowning when she couldn't come up with a sufficient reply.

"Alright.... you may have a point there." Harusame Answered.

"Why are we arguing about this?" Enterprise asked. "It's a chance for ice cream." She stressed the words. "Why are we not taking this chance here and now?" The carrier inquired, Akagi nodding in agreement. Harusame sighed before giving in, prompting Anya to nod before gesturing for the group to rise.

When the two battleships, two carriers, and four destroyers had finally gotten up, they began to lead the way, the destroyers in front, the carriers behind them. As Anya and Sofia walked along, they had Mary and Arizona behind them. And as the two officers walked on, Arizona looked to Maryland.

"Are you and Kentucky gonna be able to get along after this?" She asked. Before Mary could answer, it was Anya who spoke up.

"They'd better. I'm not going to deal with any sort of hostility on Base because I got hurt. Doesn't matter who was or wasn't to blame. I'm not going to be the reason for you guys being at one another's throat." The admiral said, glancing back at the two. Mary watched the admiral for a moment before shrugging, looking to Arizona in response. Arizona rose a brow at this.

"What? You're speaking for one another now?" She asked, eyes darting between the two. Mary and Anya shrugged in sync, causing Sofia to arch a brow as well.

"That's really weird." She Answered. "I know Kentucky bruising you didn't knock you into the same wavelength as Maryland." She Answered.

"Who knows." Anya Answered as she walked along, Mary falling in step next to her, leaving Arizona and Sofia to trade a glance with one another before shrugging and catching up with the two.

Twenty minutes later found the group of humans and shipgirls encroaching on the Ice Cream place they'd selected. And to no surprise,  Akagi and Enterprise were already standing at the front of the line.  And since people knew of Akagi's existence, she and the other Japanese ship girls had stepped off to the side somewhat to handle pictures and autographs. All except Yamakaze, since the public hadn't been told of her existence just yet.

As Anya and Sofia kept an eye on the Japanese girls as they were handling the public, this gave Arizona, Mary, E, and Yamakaze a chance to order.

"You know what you want?" E asked as she looked down to the destroyer, tilting her head somewhat. Yamakaze once again looked at the menu for a moment, as if trying to decide if she actually knew what she wanted. But after a moment, she looked to Enterprise with a shake of the head. The carrier in question smiled, placed a gentle hand on the woman's head before looking back to the woman behind the counter.

Five minutes later, Yamakaze was sitting down with two scoops of strawberry and vanilla swirl as selected by E. The carrier herself was enjoying her four scoops of Neapolitan as she and the other still classified ship girls watched those of the Japanese finish up with their autograph and picture session with the places customers.

Ten minutes later saw the group completely seated and enjoying their treats as it began to snow once again, lightly adding to the already present white stuff.

"So we're getting Germans at the New Year then, hmm?" Enterprise asked, leaning on Akagi somewhat as she looked to Anya and Sofia. The two women nodded at that as Anya kept thorough work on her chocolate scoop.

"It's looking that way thus far." She Answered as she looked to Enterprise. "We should have some German ship girls on Base by the sixth of January." She Answered. "But I don't know who or what their admiral is going to be like. Last time we checked, they hadn't actually selected on so far." Anya said with a hum as she took a lick of her frozen treat.

"Well, don't you have any idea? Are they not discussing this with you and Ishigara?" Enterprise asked. Anya shook her head.

"Why would they? Who Germany sends as acting admiral is not any of our concern or call." She Answered. Enterprise shrugged at the idea as she did so.

"I dunno. I just figured that they'd check with the Base to see what works best with the shipgirls. Hell, we have one of their shipgirls and Tirpitz seems more than content to be on base with us." She Answered. Anya shrugged at that as she took another bite of her ice cream.

She only wondered in what the next few months would hold.