The Bonds That Mend

Old, Yet New Faces

The Commander gave her a room in the dorms and told his prisoner to stay there until further notice. King George V in disbelief, not only she was offered to stay at the base, but she even got a room of her own. It's a foolish thing to do, especially for a commander, if it was her old commander, she would not be treated so kindly. If anything, she would have been interrogated to the point of death. That was what happened to many of the Sirens that came into his custody. He also treated his ships in a similar way, those he liked were treated as if they were royalty and the others... They were 'retired'.

She was lucky... Many others did not get the same treatment as her.

King George V explored her room to pass the time. Upon opening a drawer, she saw a water bottle and a bar of chocolate. It almost seems like the Commander prepared this room for her personally. As she munched on the chocolate bar, she checked the closet, she was taken aback. There, in front of her, was her old uniform, everything almost seems like it was all brand new, from the cloth of the coat to the buckles and buttons made out of gold. This world's King George V must be lucky. She had to toss her old uniform away after her commander refused to get her a new one, stating that it was 'too expensive to maintain'.

Her thought process was then interrupted with a knock at her door, which startled her as she got into a defensive stance. After taking a few breaths to calm down before her visitor entered the room.

To her surprise, a familiar face entered the door. A face that she thought she would never see again.

Wales slowly entered the room. "Hello." She said with a bow. "I hope that the accommodations are to your liking." She then inspected her sister's reaction. "Uhm... Is everything alright? It looks like you have seen a ghost."

"You... Have no idea..." King George V said as she suddenly hugged Wales tight.

Surprised at first, Wales gave King George V hugging back.

After remaining in the hug, King George broke the embrace before wiping the tears out of her eyes. "Wales... Why are you here?" she asked after taking a deep breath to hide the sob that nearly broke out.

"The Commander wants to see you. He sent me here to escort you to the cafeteria." Wales replied as she started to walk.

"The cafeteria? Should we not talk in his office?" King George V followed beside her.

"Do not worry, he has something planned for you." She said. "I am guessing everything is not well in your universe?"

King George V paused. "That is an understatement. I do not believe there is anything left in my universe, the sirens destroyed most of everything, what remains either died or left completely."

"I am sure it was not easy to leave."

King George V nodded. "It wasn't... I... Rather not speak about it."

"I understand, dear sister."

King George V paused as she processed what Wales just said. "Did... Did you just called me your 'dear sister'?"

Wales quickly cleared her throat. "Anyways, we are here." She said as she opened the door.

What greeted the two sisters was a table filled with food from Royal Navy and Sakura delicacies to Eagle Union and Iron Blood staples. The smell of the food almost overwhelmed King George V, but regardless, she managed to restrain herself from gouging all the delectable food laid in front of her. "W-What is all this?"

The Commander suddenly appeared from the kitchen wearing an apron and oven mitts as he gently placed a large chicken at the center of the table. With an accomplished smile, he stood proud at all the food before shifting his gaze at the guests. "Ah! Just on time!" He said ecstatically. "Take a seat!"

"Commander... This is not really necessary..." King George V wearily said. The longer she stared at the food, the more appetizing it got.

"Please, just call me Allen." The Commander said with a smile. "And nonsense! I see how hungry you are, that stew didn't fill you up in the slightest." He said before turning his attention back to the kitchen. "Time to eat you two!"

Howe and a female Commander left the kitchen. The female Commander suddenly stopped in her tracks at the sight of Wales' sister. "Oh my god." She uttered out her shock. "I thought this was an intervention for him..."

"Really Penny?" Allen was clearly disappointed in his counterpart. "I know I'm crazy, but I'm not that crazy."

"So you say," Penny said before walking behind Wales and kissed her on the cheek before taking her seat next to Wales. "It does not seem real."

Howe sat next to King George and inspected her to see any differences, fortunately for her, Howe managed to find one. "You... Keep your hair unbraided?" She asked.

King George V went and felt her hair upon Howe's remark. "Ah, I suppose I do. I just never found the time to actually braid it."

"Well, why not braid it now?" Howe asked.

"I... Rather not... I am sure it will be hard for the other King George V would not take too kindly to me looking too similar to her. Where is she anyway? I have not seen her around." King George V said as she looked around the cafeteria.

Allen paused for a few seconds before he took a deep breath. "She is... On a long sortie. I am sure she'll come back soon enough." The room suddenly went silent, Penny stared at Allen, concerned about what Allen just said. Before long, Allen cleared his throat. "Anyways, let's just eat. I can't be the only one that's hungry!"

Everyone nodded as they started eating. Allen was right about how King George V was. If it wasn't for her need to maintain a formal posture, she would have destroyed the table.

When King George V took a glance at Allen, who stared at her in some sort of admiration as she ate...

Who is this man?