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One of the mysteries of Azur Lane was where the child ships came from. Of the four currently at the base only Amagi-chan's origins were somewhat known, thanks to Akashi shooting a Siren weapon at Amagi. As to how that took Amagi and made a younger, super cute double, that was still unknown to the R&D teams. As for the other child ships, well they all just popped up one day.
Little Bel was the first, she appeared on Belfast's launch day inside the bowels of Big Bel's ship. The sudden sensation of someone on her ship confused the older Belfast, a confusion that only grew when she found a miniature version of herself. Fortunately, Little Bel wasn't a Siren trick and she earnestly wanted to be like her older self. It also helped that she was the cutest thing anyone had ever seen.
Zeppy was more of a hassle when she appeared in the middle of the base one day. Inheriting a chunk of Graf Zeppelin's anger, she ran around trying to escape the base and sail to, well not even Zeppy knew where but damnit, she was going to go somewhere. After levelling a few trees in her way, she ended up stopped by Roon and hauled like a struggling sack of potatoes to Bismarck and Graf Zeppelin.
Little Illustrious was the most calm arrival, she simply appeared in the Illustrious class dorm and declared her love for her older self and Victorious. Formidable and Indomitable were based with the Home Fleet at the time, but their next visit proved interesting.
Which brings us to a certain cruiser couple's new dorm room.
Given that it was their day off today, the pair had opted to sleep in today. Well, after their enthusiastic and energetic activities throughout a large portion of the night, no one would blame them anyways. Currently Cleveland had taken on the role of big spoon and was slowly waking up, enjoying the feel of Helena wrapped up in her arms.
As Cleveland slowly became more aware, she noticed an odd weight at the foot of the bed. Helena was quite clearly at the head of the bed with her, neither of them had placed anything on the bed after last night's activities so what was it?
The blonde cruiser opened an eye and glanced towards her feet. Something had wrapped itself up in their spare blanket. Carefully so as to not disturb it, she gently whispered into Helena's ear.
"Hey, wake up, something is in bed with us."
Helena stiffened and opened her eyes, turning enough to look at her girlfriend. "What? What is it?"
"Dunno, it's wrapped up in our blankets."
Helena's eyes went wide and she peeked under the blanket. "Darling, we're still naked."
Cleveland chuckled and kissed her neck, "Kinda why I woke you up first before trying to figure out what's hiding in the blankets. Can you reach my cape please, I think it's on the floor near you."
Helena shuffled forward and found the cape on the floor, handing it back to its owner. Cleveland fastened it on, giving her some modesty as long as she didn't stand up. Helena sat up and held the blanket to her chest, nodding at Cleveland who moved towards the mysterious lump under the spare blanket.
With a quick tug the blanket was pulled back to reveal two small girls curled up and sleeping together. One had blonde hair and a familiar outfit, the other one had blue hair with purple tips and another familiar outfit.
Cleveland looked back at Helena, "Do you see this too?"
She nodded, "This seems similar to what Illustrious experienced with her younger self."
Cleveland turned back to the kid versions of themselves just as they began to wake up. The pair slowly sat up and stretched before realising they were being watched. The small blonde looked up and down at the larger blonde in front of her before noticing the cape and grinning.
"Hey! You have a cape just like big bro! Are you one of the knights too?" She said excitedly.
"Big bro? I'm not a boy." Cleveland said, "I am one of the Solomon Knights, lead ship of the Cleveland class light cruisers, Cleveland!"
The smaller girl's eyes went wide, "Wow! I never thought I'd get to meet you, big bro! This is so cool! Hey Lena, it's my biggest brother!"
Cleveland shot a look at Helena at being called a boy again, her girlfriend just giggled and kept watching. The small blue haired girl looked around in confusion.
"Why are all these people in my room?"
~~~
After explaining the situation to the kids, who went by the names Lena and Clevelad (much to Cleveland’s exasperation), the cruiser couple directed them to the bathroom so they could shower and wash up. Once the kids had run off, Helena and Cleveland took the opportunity to finally get dressed and start breakfast for everyone.
"You know, when we talked about having kids one day, I didn't mean this soon." Helena teased, mixing the pancake batter.
"This wasn't my fault!" Cleveland exclaimed, blushing and frying some grilled cheese sandwiches. "And I don't think Vestal finished her research yet anyways."
"Well in the meantime, we have kid versions of ourselves to look after. What are we going to do?"
"I think we'll tell our sisters first, mine are closer and we can meet up in the new common room then head upstairs to Lou and Lu's room."
Helena poured the batter into the pans waiting for her. "We'll have to fill in New Jersey and the Commander after that. Probably Ark Royal too?"
Cleveland nodded, "Oh and Langley, they'll have to join the academy. If we get the chance today I want to tell Enty too, if she's not with NJ."
"Sounds perfect. I do hope our sisters don't tease us too much about this."
"I wish but you know how they are."
"True." Said Helena before she called their younger selves over.
Clevelad came out of the bathroom and sat at the table, Lena instead came up to Helena and tugged on her shirt.
"What did you need, Lena?" Helena asked when she looked down.
"M-my hair's a mess, can you help me please?"
"Ok, I'll meet you in the bathroom. Cleve, darling, can you watch the pancakes for me? Lena needs my help."
"Sure, no problem. Hey Clevelad, what do you want on your pancakes?" Cleveland shifted over to the fridge to look for toppings. "We got raspberries, blueberries and some of the maple syrup the Commander gifted us."
"Can I have all three?"
Helena laughed as she entered the bathroom, Lena was perched on the edge of the bathtub holding a brush in her hand. She took the brush from her and started brushing out her younger self's hair. A few times she found a tangle and brushed it out, earning a wince from Lena each time.
"I'm sorry, Lena, I've never brushed someone else's hair before." Helena said after another tangle was pulled out.
"Oww, can we stop?"
"Let's go see St. Louis after breakfast, she's brushed my hair many times, she can help you fix yours up."
Lena thought it over and nodded, quickly putting her hair into two twin tails and following Helena to the table.
~~~
After a delicious breakfast that Clevelad declared was the best one she ever had, the cruiser family headed out to meet up with Cleveland's sisters. Clevelad was excited to meet more of the knights causing Lena to be curious about them too.
"What are the Knights like? I can remember a little bit about them and some of the others."
"Hmm, well big brother here is the leader of the Knights, we're all the Cleveland Class." Clevlad excitedly said, "I'm not sure if anyone else was part of the Knights besides that."
"Back then it was just us, now we consider the Independence Class as part of the Knights." Cleveland explained, "Then there's other legendary fighters, like the Wonder of Kula Gulf."
Helena blushed a bit, "Too bad that's where I ended up sinking…"
"But you've done well in your battles in this life. St. Louis and Honolulu make sure to know where you are at all times."
"Don't forget yourself and your sisters too." Helena leaned closer to Cleveland, giving her girlfriend her best doe eyes.
"I will always be there for you." The cruiser couple tenderly kissed as their younger selves stared blankly.
"Huh, wonder what that was about." Clevelad said, looking at Lena.
The blue haired girl shrugged, "I have no idea, isn't that just what Knights are supposed to do? Keep everyone safe?"
"Yup, so this touching mouths thing is weird."
Cleveland and Helena broke apart from their kiss, resting their foreheads together as they quietly laughed at their younger selves.
~~~
Between the new section of the dorms and the original building was a large common room that was added with the expansion. Denver, Columbia and Montpelier were lounging about waiting for their oldest sister to show up, curious as to why she wanted to see them when she originally had plans to spend the day with Helena. Montpelier was the first to notice the couple arrive, hopping off the chair she was sitting on to give Cleveland a hug.
“Morning, big sis, what did you want?” She asked.
“Oh nothing much, Monty, just wanted to show you three something neat.” Cleveland turned and gestured behind herself to the two kids looking around.
Montpelier’s eyes went wide, Denver grinned and hopped over while Columbia’s bubble gum popped with her surprise. The trio gathered around the younger version of their sister, who gazed at them in awe.
“Wow, it’s my sisters! It’s so cool seeing more of the Knights!”
Denver knelt down in front of the small Cleveland, “Wow, you look just like Cleve. What’s your name?”
The small cruiser grinned and puffed out her chest, “I am Clevelad! I’m training to join the Solomon Knights just like big bro!”
All three sisters broke out laughing with Denver actually falling over. Helena and Lena joined in while Cleveland shook her head and sighed, Clevelad just looked around confused. In between giggles Columbia finally tossed out the question that was on everyone’s mind.
“S-so how did you t-two get around to h-having kids already, ehehehe.”
“We didn’t, we woke up to them sleeping on the bed.” Cleveland said, patting her younger self on the head.
“Mmm hmm, suuure.” Said Columbia, even Monty was giving Cleve an unbelieving look.
"Well it's always nice to have another sibling, welcome to the family, Clevelad." Said Denver, finally getting up off of the floor.
“Eheh, thanks big sis!” Said the small cruiser, “Oh! I almost forgot. This girl here is my best friend, Lena!”
Lena squeaked a quick hello and hid behind Helena, Clevelad shook her head and turned back to Denver. “She’s shy cause her hair is messy she said. I don’t know why, it looks pretty cute.”
A gasp came from behind Helena as the small blue hair girl hid herself even more. Clevelad stood there confused as everyone else laughed.
“I think we should go see my sisters pretty quick here, Lena really wants her hair sorted out.” Helena said, patting her smaller self on the head.
Columbia nodded, “Yeah we’ll see you guys soon, the small ones can bunk with us whenever you need a private night.”
Cleveland blushed as her sisters giggled, “Ha ha, very funny. We’ll let you know what the room arrangements will be like later on.”
The couple and their younger selves waved goodbye and headed down the hallway towards the stairs. St. Louis and Honolulu’s room was on the second floor, Lou having moved into her sister’s room as she was only stationed at the base until Brooklyn’s return in a couple more months.
As Helena went to knock on the door, it flew open and St. Louis dashed out and scooped up Lena. “Oh you are so cute! I don’t care how you did it but I’m glad you have a kid now, little sister.”
“Pwaaa, I’m not her kid! I’m Lena, your sister!” Lena said while struggling to free herself before Lou smothered her in her bosom.
“Aww, you're not her kid? That’s too bad~”
Helena shook her head, “What do you mean that’s too bad? You have another sister and we both know you’d be upset if you didn’t get to pamper me while I was pregnant.”
Lou grinned like a shark that found its next meal, “So you do want kids and for me to pamper you.”
“Grrk.”
Cleveland and Clevelad looked at each other, the older one motioning to the younger to keep quiet and out of sight. A disgruntled sigh could be heard from within the room.
“Louis, are you going to let them in or not? I don’t want everyone to gawk at my doorway.”
The group entered the dorm room, the Clevelands sitting on the couch near Honolulu who put down the magazine she was reading. Helena walked over and gave her sister a hug while Lou took Lena to her room to sort out her hair.
"They do look like you and Cleveland." Said Honolulu as she looked over Clevelad, "Where did you find them?"
"When we woke up this morning, they were curled up at the foot of the bed." Helena explained.
St. Louis poked her head out her door, "Hey, Big Lena, I can't teach you if you're not in here!"
"Yeah! Get in here!" Parroted Lena.
Helena shook her head and stood. "She already corrupted her in less than a minute."
"She put a pack of Howe's cookies in her room, it was probably just a bribe. I have some here, too" Honolulu said with a sigh.
Helena quickly joined her sister and younger self for some hair lessons, while Honolulu gave a couple of cookies to Clevelad. Cleveland walked over to stand behind the brusque cruiser and started massaging her shoulders.
"Mmm, how are you so good at this?" Lulu asked, slightly less grumpy.
Cleveland put some pressure on a knot she found, "I do have a couple of sisters with sizable torpedo bulges, and my half sisters in the Independence class. As the oldest, you pick up some skills to help them out."
"I'm surprised you do massages for the Independence girls, Independence herself is good at them." Lulu sighed as the knot loosened.
"Who do you think taught her?"
"Fair enough." Lulu looked at the miniature Cleveland sitting nearby, "And what's your name?"
The small cruiser swallowed the last of her cookie, "I'm Clevelad, I'm training to be one of the Solomon Knights like big brother!"
"I'm not a boy!" Wailed Cleveland.
~~~
In St. Louis' room Lena was standing on top of the bed with a brush in one hand and some of Helena's hair in the other. After St. Louis sorted out Lena's hair, the pair decided to use Helena as a practice dummy for Lena to learn how to brush someone else's hair. Helena sat on a small stool, silently accepting her punishment and trying to not wince too often from Lena's rough brushing.
Thankfully Lou noticed her discomfort, "Gently, Lena. You don't want to hurt her like she accidentally did to you."
"Sorry. But how do I get the tangles out?"
"Like this, watch closely." Lou grabbed a second brush and a handful of Helena's hair, giving a gentle brush from roots to the tips. "Now if there's a tangle, hold her hair like this, that way when it tugs it won't hurt."
"Mmm, like this?"
"Perfect, just like that. Now you keep going and I'll supervise."
Following Lou's expert guidance, Lena managed to brush out her older self's hair without any trouble. Then the Helena's swapped places and Helena got her practice in, giving Lena a new hairdo. With a hug to St. Louis as thanks for the lessons and cookies, the trio returned to the living room and a semi happy Honolulu.
"Well you look chipper, Lulu." St. Louis said as she sat beside her.
"Hmph, I'm not always grumpy." Grumped the cruiser, "But I think I'm going to keep Cleveland after that shoulder massage she gave me."
"Hey! No stealing my girlfriend!" Helena protested, Cleveland gave an embarrassed laugh.
"Well I think you should talk to Kashino about her workouts. She does have a similar situation to you." The blonde cruiser suggested, watching Clevelad stare at Lena. "Do you like her new hairdo, Clevelad?"
The little cruiser nodded dumbly, "It's super cute, Lena."
Lena blushed and squeaked in embarrassment, hiding herself behind a pillow. Clevelad looked confused once more.
"Putting aside your younger self's smooth moves, I guess I could go see Kashino." Sighed Lulu, "If it doesn't work, I'm going to use you again for a massage, Cleveland."
"Ahaha, I guess as long as I'm not otherwise occupied."
"Oh? Were you planning to only use your skills on Helena?" Lou purred teasingly, causing the cruiser couple to blush. "Ahh, I love that no matter how confident you get your still easily flustered, Helena."
"L-lou!"
~~~
After saying their farewells to Lou and Lulu, the cruiser quartet made their way to the far end of the building where New Jersey had her office. Under normal circumstances they would have met her in her office but it was undergoing remodelling to fit in a holo table. New Jersey was currently stuck sharing Enterprise's office for the duration.
The Big J was using Enterprise's desk while the Big E made do with the couch and coffee table. Both looked up when Cleveland and Helena entered the room.
"Didn't you two have the day off? Or have you come to help us with paperwork?" Asked New Jersey.
"Hell no, I've done enough paperwork already as Wales' secretary, I'm going to enjoy my retirement from that." Cleveland replied with a grin. "But seriously we got something to show you two."
As the pair stepped aside, Clevelad and Lena stepped forward, the pair looking around the office.
"Whoa, that was fast, congratulations you two!" The battleship said, standing up and walking around the desk.
"It's not that, they're younger versions of us, like Little Bel and Little Illustrious." Helena explained, nudging the younger cruisers to introduce themselves.
"H-hi, I'm Lena."
"Heya! I'm Clevelad, I'm training to be a knight!."
The battleship and carrier both stifled their laughter at Clevelad's name, New Jersey held out a hand to the pair. "Hey, I'm the Indomitable Black Dragon, New Jersey!"
Lena looked at Clevelad, "Is she as good as the Knights?"
"Naw, I think she only participated in a couple of battles at the end, she's too young to be as good as the Knights."
"Kid's got jokes, I like her." New Jersey muttered as she stepped aside for Enterprise.
"Well I'm Enterprise, it's nice to meet you two."
Lena and Clevelad looked at each other excitedly, everyone knew the Grey Ghost.
"Wow, even I know she's more legendary than the Knights."
"She's the only one I don't mind losing out to, but I'll catch her one day!"
The battleship sighed in defeat, once more no match for the Mighty E.
“And I’m assuming you two wanted to let us know about our new arrivals in the dorms, and sleeping arrangements?” Enterprise asked, causing everyone to stop and stare at her.
“What? Did you think Bel wouldn’t drill some of her Head Maid habits into me once I told her I would be NJ’s second?”
The young cruisers tilted their heads to the side, neither knew who Bel(fast) was yet. The adults looked at each other and shrugged, it wasn't a surprising idea once they thought it over, of course Belfast would give some organisational tips to her girlfriend.
“Well that is what we came over for, we haven’t discussed sleeping arrangements yet but between our room and our sisters’ we should be covered.” Cleveland said.
Enterprise nodded and jotted down the information on a piece of paper, “Well let us know if you need a room for just them.”
Helena smiled and nodded, “Thank you, Enterprise and New Jersey.”
New Jersey waved over Lena and Clevelad as she reached into one of the desk drawers and pulled something out, handing it to the eager young cruisers. Their eyes lit up upon seeing the chocolate bars the battleship gave them, swiftly thanking her and tearing into them.
"Mmph! So gud!" Hummed Clevelad around a mouthful of chocolate, already having eaten half of the bar.
Lena at least remembered her manners and voiced her agreement, "Where did you get this chocolate from?"
"Oh? Don'tcha know that Enterprise's girlfriend made that chocolate?"
The pair spun around and ran up to an Enterprise that was giving the battleship the stink eye. "Can you introduce us to your girlfriend!? She makes great chocolate!"
The carrier patted their heads with a smile, "Not right now, she's busy with her work but I will soon, all right?"
"Thanks Enterprise!" The pair hugged her legs and rejoined their older selves, ready to head out again.
"No problem, I'll see you two again later."
The young cruisers grabbed Helena's hands and dragged her out of the office. Cleveland gave a quick wave and hurried after them. When New Jersey tried to leave with them, a hand on her shoulder told her there was no escaping the Grey Ghost.
"Eheheh, mercy?"
~~~
The quartet of cruisers headed outside next, making their way to the Command Centre. The younger pair were excitedly looking around at everything in sight, guessing as to what each building was for.
"That castle must be the Royal dorm and that one with the gardens is the Iris."
Lena tilted her head to the side, "Are you sure? That building is pretty big for just the Iris."
"Maybe it's shared with one of the other factions?" Clevelad suggested before the Iron Stronghold caught her eye. "Ooh! That must be Iron Blood's castle!"
"That one definitely looks like Iron Blood. Right, Big Sis?" Lena looked up at her older self.
"That one is actually the Northern Parliament, they like the stronghold look and keep the temperature low like back in their homeland."
Clevelad slumped her shoulders a little bit. "Aww, what about the tower?"
"That's the Command Centre, the Commander will be up there on the third floor." Helena explained, giving Clevelad a pat on the head.
"What's the Commander like?" Asked Lena.
Helena thought it over for a moment, "Well he's friendly and always trying his best to help us out. He's also a lunatic and comes up with insane ideas."
"The Commander is a boy? Does that mean there's two boys on base?" Clevelad asked.
"I'm not a boyyy!" Wailed Cleveland once more, unsure if her younger self was unable to listen to her or doing this on purpose.
The group reached the doors and headed through, Helena explaining each floor as they headed to the stairs. "The first two floors are all for the hospital, the third floor is the command level and the fourth is vacant."
Lena posed another question to her older self. "Why isn't the fourth floor being used?"
"Well it was built like that in case we needed more space than what the third floor could hold. But so far we haven't needed it." Cleveland explained, "One of the previous Commanders used it as her home instead of the house on the base, along with her three wives."
"Woah, you can have multiple wives?" Clevelad asked, not catching the slight blush and glare from Lena.
"I mean yeah, if everyone involved agreed to it. There's no rule against it, even Richelieu has no problems with relationships and marriages among multiple people."
Clevelad nodded then frowned. "Darn it, if all the Knights weren't my sisters already I could have married all of them."
Everyone stopped walking and stared at Clevelad for a moment before shaking their heads. Fortunately for the suave cruiser they were just outside the secretary's office, and a shrill scream came from within. Dashing forth to investigate the quartet saw a pair of cats in large flowing kimonos flailing about the office. The secretary for the week, Vampire, was sitting at her desk with an amused look, the Commander stood there watching the cats flail about with a massive grin on his face.
"Milord, it's so cold!" Whined Yamashiro as she thrashed about, trying to get at something on her back.
Fusou was in the same state, although less frantic than her sister. "Milord, why did you do it?"
"Because I enjoy a good prank, what else am I going to do with all of these ice cubes?"
"Not put them down our backs, Milord!" Yamashiro pushed past the Commander and into his office, shutting the door behind her.
A sigh of relief was soon heard, Fusou pausing in her flailing and looking at the door. "I suppose that would work. Yamashiro, move away from the door, I'm coming in."
The Commander blinked and shrugged, he may have lost his office but any excuse to get out of paperwork suited him. Vampire cleared her throat and nodded at the new arrivals, Cleveland rubbing the back of her head while Helena sighed.
"So what brings you two here? You usually avoid this place on your days off."
"We got some new members of the fleet to introduce you to." Helena said as Cleveland nudged their younger selves forward.
"Hello, my name is Clevelad! My dream is to one day join the Solomon Knights! I'm working hard towards that goal every day!" The blonde cruiser said enthusiastically.
"Make sure your big brother helps out!" The Commander joked, ignoring Cleveland's whine at being called a boy again.
Lena stepped forward and gave a little wave. "I'm the Brooklyn-class light cruiser, Lena. I'm good at anti-air, and I like dressing up."
"Good thing you have a sister with an eye for style." The Commander said with a smile. "I am Commander Joshua Davidson, Commander of this base here in balmy Bermuda. And my partner in crime for this week is Vampire."
The destroyer had come around the desk and earned a couple of wary looks from the young pair. "Are you an actual vampire? You're not going to drink our blood are you?"
"Don't worry thine head about it, doth thou thinketh that I wouldn't ask for permission. Well if I didst indeed drink blood~"
"That doesn't answer if you drink blood though!" Said Clevelad, putting herself between Vampire and Lena.
The Commander knelt down before them, undoing a button and pulling his collar to the side, exposing his neck "Well do you see any marks on me? We've been in the office together for the last couple of days so she would have drank my blood by now."
Clevelad and Lena came closer and examined his neck, seeing no bite marks or puncture wounds. The pair looked at each other and nodded, satisfied that Vampire wasn't an actual vampire. Vampire chuckled and held her hands out for head pats, which the young cruisers took to with joy. The Commander meanwhile wrote down some quick notes on the new base arrivals and got the room arrangements from Helena and Cleveland.
After a while Clevelad pulled back from Vampire's hand. "Ehehe, thanks Vampire! That was great."
Lena nodded in agreement. "Sorry we thought you were going to suck our blood."
"Haha, tiz all right, thou didnst know what I am like. Now you should hurry on to the next stop."
Clevelad and Lena grabbed their older selves' hands, heading to the door before the Commander stopped them. "Hold on, I need you ladies to do me a quick favour before you leave.
Turning to his now open office door, he gestured at Fusou and Yamashiro as they exited. "As young Knights can you please escort the shrine maidens to the cafeteria for lunch?"
The pair saluted and ran up to the battleships, standing on either side of them and following them out of the office. Cleveland and Helena followed behind, both quietly sneaking some pics.
Once the group had left, Vampire turned to the Commander who sat down in her chair. "Didn't want to tell them that I can heal minor wounds?"
"Na, well at least not on their first day." He replied, looking over at the destroyer slowly moving closer. "Hungry again?"
"Always, thine blood is most delectable." Purred the vampire, leaning in close to his neck.
"Fine, just bring me some lunch afterwards, please."
~~~
Escorting two aviation battleships on land and in the middle of a friendly base turned out to be extremely easy for the young cruisers. The biggest challenge they had was worry about Yamashiro's clumsiness, though to be fair to her, she only tripped twice during their journey.
"Owww, my butt hurts." Whined the clumsy cat after falling the second time.
"Do you fall often, Miss Yamashiro?" Asked Lena.
"I'm a very unlucky ship, in both lives even!"
Clevelad thought for a moment and walked up to the battleship, eyeing her cat ears with interest. Lena looked up and caught onto the blonde's idea, the pair advancing up close to the still sitting cat and simultaneously petting her ears.
"Nyaaa! That feels good~" Yamashiro said as she half melted into a puddle of bliss, encouraging the pair to keep rubbing her ears. "Fusou-nee, this is so great~"
The elder sister watched with amusement and a slight hint of jealousy. Cleveland and Helena shared a look and pounced on Fusou's ears, giving her the same attention as her sister. Fusou protested briefly about keeping up appearances but quickly gave in and enjoyed the ear rubs.
"Fwaaaa, that felt amazing~" Yamashiro said when the young cruisers finished rubbing her ears. "Can I keep them, please?"
"They're not pets, Yamashiro. But I'm sure you can babysit them if you ask." Fusou said, standing up. "Thank you for the petting, Helena and Cleveland. Shall we continue heading to lunch?”
With help from the young knights Yamashiro stood up and allowed herself to be pulled towards the cafeteria. Once inside, Lena and Clevelad stood in the doorway looking around in amazement at the size of the room and all the people inside. They were quickly pulled away from their staring when Fusou and Yamashiro thanked them for escorting them.
“No problem, that’s what us Knights are here for!” Clevelad exclaimed, Lena nodding beside her. “Have a good lunch you two!”
Following their older selves, they found a table to wait at as Cleveland grabbed lunch for everyone. As they waited, a cheerful cruiser bounded up to them with a small kitsune in tow.
“Heya! Are you new here too? I’m Blücher and this is Amagi-chan! We’re new here too!” She said excitedly, Amagi-chan bowed in greeting.
“I’m Clevelad and this is Lena. We just got here late last night!”
“Ooh! Super cool!” Blücher turned to Helena, “Hey, Helena, is it ok if Amagi-chan and I hang out with them? We’re gonna go see Friedrich too!”
“After lunch you can all hang out. Blücher, have you seen Ark Royal today?”
“She’s out on patrol today, that’s why we're gonna go see Friedrich. Did you want us to tell her about our new friends for you?”
Helena smiled, “If you could please, it would be greatly appreciated.”
Cleveland returned with lunch for everyone and Blücher and Amagi-chan joined in, excitedly telling Lena and Clevelad about their favourite places around the base. As soon as lunch was finished the younglings followed Blücher out the door and around the base. Cleveland and Helena took the opportunity to find Langley and fill her in and get their younger selves enrolled in classes.
~~~
At the end of the day, with their younger selves staying with Lou and Lulu, Cleveland and Helena retired to their room. While the day had not gone as they had originally planned, both were glad for the new family members they gained.
"That was a fun day today." Cleveland mused aloud as she washed up in the washroom. "Lena sure reminds me of you when we first met."
"I'm glad she doesn't have the nightmares that I did." Helena said from the bedroom. "It's interesting how they're us but don't have any of our memories from either life."
"And the R&D team still has no idea why that is. For now, I hope Clevelad finally stops calling me a boy."
Cleveland stepped into the bedroom and stopped, a blush darkening her face as she saw Helena standing there naked, hiding something behind her back. The blue haired cruiser sauntered up to her girlfriend with a devious smile. "I kind of like it, your reactions are fun to watch."
She leaned in close to Cleveland's ear and whispered, "Don't you think so too, Clevedaddy?"
Cleveland felt her heart skip a beat as her face burned a hefty scarlet. Helena pulled back enough for Cleveland to see her equally red face, a glance down at her girlfriend's hands confirmed what Helena wanted.
"I-I think I can make that work." She stammered, shutting the bedroom door and following her girlfriend to the bed.