The Next Day...

(Y/n) was now on the port, with Wisconsin crying in front of him, begging for his forgiveness because of what happened yesterday.

"I'm so sorry, (Y/n)! Please, I'm so sorry! I'll do better next time, so please don't send me to Brazil!" Wisconsin begged.

"What the fuck are you talking about? Calm down, will ya?" (Y/n) said, resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. "No one's gonna send you to Brazil."

"But you got sent to the infirmary because of me..."

"I'm fine now, so don't worry."

"...Are you sure? You're not angry at me?"

"I'm not." (Y/n) assured her.

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Really?"

"Yes." (Y/n) repeated.

Wisconsin hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad you're my husband."

"You've done your best, my dear." (Y/n) gave her a headpat. "Anyways, I'm heading out today. Commander gave me a mission."

Wisconsin broke the hug. "What mission?"

"Reconnaissance."

"I'm coming with you."

"I'm sorry, but this mission requires me to go alone." (Y/n) informed her.

"...I knew it. You're still upset with me." Wisconsin sulked.

"What? No, I don't. This mission really needs me to go solo." (Y/n) clarified. "I'll come back quickly. I promise you."

Wisconsin kissed him on the lips. "Be careful out there."

"You know I always do." (Y/n) said and equipped his rigging.

The male kansen jumped to the water and sailed off to Farbanti Isles.

Halfway to the trip, he decided to launch his F-35B's to do a scan on the area. Once done, he maintained contact with his jets, and found nothing unusual on the radar.

"This is boring." He thought aloud. Thinking of things that might cope with his boredom, he decided to sing. "Lo right, lo righty la lo~ Lo right a lefty right la lo~ Momma told Johnny not to go downtown~ Marine Corps recruiter was hangin' around~ I forgot the rest of the song..."

After a few minutes, he finally arrived at Farbanti. He activated the recorder disguised as a badge and moved on to the island.

The buildings were completely torn apart, while those that managed to still stand had many holes on different parts of their structure.

He heard an eagle screech overhead. He looked above as the bird circled around for a bit before flying northwest, on which he assumed where the girl who wanted to talk to him was located.

After following the eagle, the scent of burning wood and roasted fish tickled his nose. Tracing where the scent came from, he finally found himself standing a few meters away from the same white haired girl.

The girl glanced over to him, and he could see the small subtle smile forming on her lips. Her eyes also had a small sparkle of joy before it died down just a second later.

"You're finally here." The girl said, a small hint of happiness evident on her voice. "Take a seat."

(Y/n) looked at the flat stone on the opposite side of her, then to the girl, then back to the stone. He went over and sat down, staring at her cautiously.

"You know that I can easily destroy your Lightnings above, right?" The girl declared blankly.

"I just put them there to make sure that no Sirens would attempt to sneak up on us." (Y/n) retorted, unsummoning his rigging as his ship materialized a few kilometers away from the island, all of the cannons pointed at port side. "I can easily take you on. And don't forget that I almost died because of you."

"How so?"

"The kiss."

"Oh, right... I hope the whole Iowa-class didn't torture you?"

"Fortunately, they didn't." (Y/n) answered. "Wait, how do you know them? Ah, I know now. You came from another timeline like me."

"That's why I called you here – to explain everything." The girl added, then hands him a stick with a roasted fish on it. "Here."

"..." (Y/n) looked at the food suspiciously.

"I didn't put poison in it, so don't worry." The girl guaranteed.

(Y/n) took the stick, then took a bite on the fish. "Hmm... this is good."

"You're the one who teached me how to cook." The girl said. "As you can see, I am the Alter Enterprise or Alterprise for short."

"...And then?"

"You're not surprised?"

"Enterprise– or Alterprise, was it? I can't do these names dude, are you serious? Do you have a nickname at least?"

"Just call me Ash." Alterprise said.

"Right. As for your question on why I'm not surprised, I'm not dense and oblivious that I can't differentiate how you and Enterprise in this world look." (Y/n) explained.

"See this ring?" Alterprise raised her hand to chest level to let him see the promise ring on her ring finger. "You're the one who gave this to me."

"...I see. Then?" (Y/n) asked and took another bite.

Alterprise frowned. "We had a child, (Y/n)."

(Y/n) almost choked on his food, but he managed to regain his composure. "Come again?"

"I said we had a child."

"Let me guess – CVN-65?"

"Yes. But please don't call her that. Her name is Eliza."

"...Where is she now?"

Alterprise's eyes began to swell, until tears began to stream down her cheeks. "She... She died..."

(Y/n) grimaced. "I'm sorry..."

"No, it's not your fault. It's me who you should blame." Alterprise wiped her tears. "I didn't manage to protect her."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

"It was June 16, 2052. Eliza is already 21 at the time. She's about to get married to her fiancé."

"Who's her fiancé?"

"BRP Jose Rizal. Surprising, isn't it?" Alterprise said with a smile. "A Filipino frigate marrying an American aircraft carrier? A nuclear one at that?"

"Well, as long as they both love each other, who am I to stop them?" (Y/n) said.

"Agreed. Actually, it was Eliza who fell in love with him when she was deployed in the Philippines to help the Philippine Navy push back the Sirens that were threatening to step on their soil."

"Love at first sight?"

"Yeah. Both were coincidentally at the Subic Naval Base, then Eliza saw Jose writing something in his notebook at the cafeteria. They talked with each other, then the rest is history after that."

"Went from zero to one-hundred real quick."

"But hey, Jose is a strong and very experienced fighter. He even bested Eliza on hand-to-hand combat." Alterprise continued. "Anyways, back to the main story. You were sent out to seek a high-value target. You agreed to do it, and you went out at exactly 0300 hours. Three days have passed and you didn't return to base nor sent any radio communication."

"Where was I sent?" (Y/n) asked.

Alterprise scowled. "Area B7R. The Round Table."

"..."

"..."

"Who am I ordered to search and destroy?"

"Empress." Alterprise said.

"Did you search for me after I haven't made contact?" (Y/n) pressed on.

"Yes."

"What happened after?"

"..." Alterprise was silent.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I understand." (Y/n) said.

*beep*

*beep*

*beep*

"Hmm?" (Y/n) recieved a transmission from one of the two F-35B's in the air.

"What's wrong?" Alterprise asked him.

(Y/n)'s rigging materialized once again, alongside his sword. "Get ready. We have company."

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Word Count: 1238 Words