What Fate has in Store (Hood, Azur Lane)

Meant to be

As the Commander awoke he rolled over slightly with a smile, expecting to feel the warmth of Hood next to him. However, as he noted her absence his eyes shot open and he sat up violently.

"Hood?" He asked as his eyes darted around the room, coming to rest on a small piece of paper resting where Hood had laid just the night before.

He quickly snatched it up and opened it, softly reading it aloud to himself.

"Commander, I'm sorry to leave you like this. Especially after a night that I'll never forget for the rest of my days. I know you didn't want me to go today, and that you worry for me, but I have to. It is my responsibility to be an example to the others. So it's with a heavy heart that I leave this note to you, I pray that I'll see you again. With love, Hood.'"

Upon finishing he slowly lowered the note before him and slumped down slightly in the bed. Feeling his heart begin to pound incessantly.

"Hood..." He muttered through struggled breaths, closing his eyes and picturing her lying beside him last night. Her smile warming his heart. He let out a sniffle as tears ran down from his eyes.

"Please be safe..."

---Hood POV---

"Surely we must make contact soon..." Hood whispered to herself as she made her way towards the last known position of the new Iron Blood warship that she was hunting.

"Wait..." She added as she heard a familiar sound, letting out a short breath for a moment before everything seemingly went black...

---Timeskip: Commander POV---

"What do you mean 'unconfirmed'?! Has Hood made contact with the enemy or not?!" The Commander asked in an angered tone as the staff of the base seemed to not have any clue of her whereabouts or her status.

"We're unsure of the situation at this time Commander, please be patient while we wait for reports to come in"

The Commander let out a long sigh as he began to walk out of the command room and past the intelligence officer and out onto the dockside overlooking the ocean.

When he got there he looked out to sea with a worried expression, feeling tears well up again as he feared the worst.

"Hood..." He muttered as he began to sob quietly...

---Hood POV---

Hood let out a pained groan as she struggled to stay afloat in the water, taking in deep breaths as she tried to recovered from the large and damaging shell that had hit her just moments earlier.

"I'm sorry Commander..." She whispered to herself as a single tear ran down her face, preparing to be destroyed by the next barrage.

However, nothing came, her enemies guns appeared to have fallen silent. She sniffled slightly as she looked off into the distance with a confused expression, noting an unfamiliar figure emerging from the haze before her.

She let out a short cough as the figure came into view.

"So you're Hood?" The ship cloaked in black asked, receiving a nod from Hood in reply.

"And you're the one I was sent to track down" Hood responded, noting the attire of the ship before her to obviously be that of an Iron Blood ship.

"So it seems" The figure responded as she looked Hood up and down.

"I was expecting my shell to kill you"

"You nearly did..." Hood responded in a melancholic tone, her mind once again drifting to her Commander, imagining the feeling of being in his arms from the night before.

"You seem distressed for some reason other than your own mortality"

Hood let out a slight chuckle at her words, trying and failing to rise to her feet.

"Very astute. I'm just thinking of my Commander..." She muttered, trailing off as she thought there was no use in it. Surely her enemy would not understand her feelings.

"Your expression, you love your Kommandat do you not?"

Hood let out a short surprised gasp as the ship before her spoke, "Yes..."

Upon seeing Hood's reaction the Ironblood ship let out a sigh and reached down to help her up.

"Ah..." Hood muttered as she tentatively took her hand and was quickly lifted to her feet.

"I understand how you feel, I too have strong feelings for my Kommandant"

"You do?"

"I do, and I know he'd want me to treat my enemy with the same respect I'd expect back"

"Go then, return to your beloved" She added, waving her hand back towards the way Hood had come.

"But you're... and we're..."

"Not today, today we're kindred spirts"

"Hood nodded slightly with a smile in response.

"Bismarck"

"Sorry?" Hood asked in response.

"My name, Bismarck"

"Thank you for everything then Bismarck, and goodbye" Hood responded as she quickly turned around and sped off towards her home port...