The night air of Honolulu was cool, the sun having set over its towering mountains and lush landsacpe hours ago, leaving the island paradise to be watched over by only the stars above.
Pearl Harbor was still busy as always, shipgirls coming in and out, unloading things, heading to their dorms for the night, etc etc.
But they always made sure to pay their respects to the white monolith that stood above the water's surface as they past, what lies under the clear sea a hunk of twisted and rusted metal, a reminder to an event that had passed many, many years prior.
Yet the woman to whom the respects were paid had no concern for them, not right now anyway.
Concealed away up the island, looking over the naval base, sat a building, a mansion, a palace even, its mix of modern and older architecture contrasting with each other in the best ways.
Its driveway leading to a garage filled with luxury cars, old and new, all of the highest models. Blue led lights illuminated a pool from under its water, jets on each side providing a consistent fullness, the rocks around it glistening.
Visible from that pool was the back patio of the luxurious home, a large couch sitting on its wooden deck, a various assortment of blankets and pillows laying on its cushions. Behind the sofa sat a projector with a dvd player attached, the expensive piece of technology aimed towards a screen, pulled down from the roof.
Conecting to the patio was a sliding door, the glass giving view into a kitchen, but more interestingly, a woman who stood in said kitchen.
A woman who deserved all of this and more for what she had to go through...
Arizona leaned against the kitchen counter, shuddering slightly at the cold marble against her forearm as she watched the brown bag spin through the small window their microwave granted.
It was nice out tonight, so she just wore what she always wore to bed, an oversized shirt, and some panties. If it did somehow end up getting chilly, it wasn't something some blankets and snuggling couldn't fix.
Her fingers tapped rhythmically against the appliance, listening to the slight metal echo highlighted by the slight sound of popping.
Her green eyes reflected ever so slightly against the window as she gazed into it. Arizona never knew what to think about her eyes. They were pretty, sure...
...but they always filled with tears, blurring the emeralds, hiding their beauty from the world.
She sighed in mild impatience as her gaze flicked towards the timer, watching it tick down slowly, then back to the bag, watching it puff up slowly.
She wondered what was taking Mo so-
"Gotcha!"
Arizona nearly jumped out of her skin, a loud yelp escaping her as two arms suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her back against their chest, Ari's head finding its way between two firm mounds.
She blushed in embarrassment due to both the position she found herself in and the sound she made. She turned in the arms to get a better view of her attacker, whom she could already hear laughing. She looked up, now chest to chest with the other woman, and was met with two crimson orbs.
There was one person who could wipe those tears and use them to shine such a beautiful gem.
Missouri.
"Are you alright?" The taller woman's inquiry, despite being spoken through a fit of laughter, was genuine. Missouri didn't really want to give her wife a heart attack, after all.
The dreadnought just pouted, or tried to, as she was held closer, Missouri's embrace, making her want to never be let go of. She wished her arms could stay snug around her forever.
She couldn't be sad, not ever, not when Mo was around.
"No. You scared me, you jerk." She mumbled into the taller woman's shoulder as she was finally sat down by her wife, the feeling of her barely feet against the cold floor almost making her want to be held again..
Missouri laughed and kissed her cheek before moving past to their closet of a pantry, in search of candy and snacks. "Sorry, but you were just in your own little world. I couldn't help it."
At the voice calling from the pantry, Arizona could only roll her eyes in fondness. Mo was just so... beautiful, so amazing, so successful. Arizona almost felt unworthy to have such a wonderful woman by her side for so long.
Even in just a T-shirt and shorts she was so attractive.
God, here she was thinking about her wife like a schoolgirl with a crush. She felt so silly.
Unworthy? Maybe. Lucky? Definitely.
She was jolted out of her daydreams by the beep of the microwave, giving the signal that their popcorn was done. Arizona opened it and took out the bloated brown bag, making sure to hold it at the corners in order to not burn herself.
She couldn't help but raise a question as she sat the bag on the kitchen island, now looking in the cupboards for a plastic bowl, "So, going off your scaring attempt, I'm assuming you picked a horror movie tonight?"
The response that came to Arizona's surprise was a simple "Nope."
Significantly caught off guard, Arizona tilted her head back towards the other room as she poured the buttery goodness into the red plastic bowl that had become standard for their movie nights.
"Oh... uhh... is it a thriller, then?"
"Nuh uh! It's one of my movies!"
Arizona was only more intrigued as she watched Missouri exit the pantry, arms filled with boxes of M&Ms and little crunch bars, blood red hair flowing behind her as she walked to the sliding door, "So you just scared me for no reason?"
Mo snickered as she slid the door open using her shoulder, flashing a grin back at Ari before continuing outside, "It wasn't for no reason... It was to see your cute face."
"You're terrible." Arizona mumbled, though a blush laid sprawled on her cheeks. But she blinked as she looked out at the patio where Mo was setting up their things on the couch, her words setting in.
"Wait, one of your movies? Haven't I seen most of them?"
"Not this one!" The Iowa-class called back before jogging back up to the door.
It was true. Arizona had seen almost all of Missouri's flicks, usually at their premiere. The events were always so nervewracking to her, though with time, she'd find more joy in walking down the red carpet all dolled up, even if Missouri always assured her that she was the most beautiful woman at the event.
"You were sick during its premiere, so you weren't there, and I guess we just never got around to watching it." Missouri shrugged as she passed the island and opened the fridge, "What do you want?"
"Cream soda." Arizona answered as she lifted the popcorn bowl and made her way outside, ignoring Mo's joke about her creaming in her, before setting the bowl down on the glass table in front of the couch and calling back, "You sound really excited about this."
"I am! It's one of my favorites!"
Those words made Arizona's skepticism rise even more, looking at Missouri with a raised brow as she brought their drinks outside, a cream soda for herself, and a coke for Missouri, "Now I'm even more concerned," she chuckled, "is this a good movie or a "fun" movie?"
Ari's question earned a chuckle in response, "Can't it be both?" Missouri questioned back with a smile, sitting their drinks on the table before turning on her heel to go back inside and finally fetch the movie in question, leaving Ari to plop down on the couch, leaning back into it.
Well, that answered Arizona's question.
Mo had done a lot of good films that were praised and had won awards. Films that paid for their, well, everything. But she also took a lot of roles for fun. Parts that she thought she'd get a kick out of playing, no matter how mediocre the film.
And after hearing such cryptic words from her wife, Arizona can only assume that they'd be watching the former.
Not that it was a bad thing. They'd watched bad movies galore for the fun of it. A good movie was good, sure, but nothing beat laughing at and critiquing a bad movie with the love of her, especially if said love was in said movie.
"I got it~"
The sing-song tone caused Arizona to be pulled from her inner musings, sitting up to look at Missouri, sliding the door closed behind herself and waving around a Blu-Ray case.
Arizona raised a brow as she looked at the cover.
Three men and one woman were above the title, the woman on the far right, seemingly holding a gun.
Under the title, in the foreground, was the familiar silhouette of an Iowa-class shipgirl standing on the ocean's surface, hair flowing with her guns aimed(Gee, Arizona wonders who that is), and in the background of the ship sat something raising from the waves, looking like a mountain, red lights peering off what she assumed to be its head.
But then their was the title in bold silver letters that piqued Arizona's interest.
"BATTLESHIP"
Arizona's skepticism and amusement were raised even more as she looked over her shoulder at Missouri, now turning on the projector, "I think I remember hearing you talk about this a little bit. Are you the lead?"
Her inquiry was met with a "so-so" gesture as Missouri popped open the case and inserted the disc into the player, swiftly snapping it shut and moving around the couch, sitting down next to Arizona and pulling blankets over both their laps, "You'll love it, I promise."
At the bold declaration, Arizona only smiled sweetly, pulling the bowl of popcorn in between the two, watching as Missouri navigated the menu with the remote, clicking down on the play button.
"I'll hold you to that."
---
"Oh my God, this is about aliens, isn't it?"
Missouri nearly died laughing at the words of disbelief from her wife next to her, but eventually contained herself, not her enjoyment, but herself.
Mo leaned back against the couch, tossing some popcorn into her mouth. She looked down at Arizona curled up into her, "You couldn't tell from the cover?"
The older warship just shrugged, her emerald eyes locked on the screen, watching as the camera went through space, "I dunno. I kinda just thought it was meant to be a superweapon or something, but aliens?"
"Don't worry, it's not scary."
"Shut up."
Missouri's wolfish grin only widened further at Arizona's blushing cheeks and dismissing of her tease.
"I'll hold you if you get too scared."
"Mo, shut it." Arizona pouted as she leaned back into the taller battleship, pulling her knees up and sipping on her soda some, listening to the scientist speaking over the scenes.
She was actually finding this opening pretty interesting so far.
---
Her previous sentiments didn't last long, however.
"Mo... you were in this?" Arizona questioned quietly, her eyes fixated on the screen, definitely entertained, but for all the wrong reasons.
Missouri held back a snicker as she watched the long-haired man on screen land back first on a shelf, some sauces shattering and splattering over the convince store floor, "Yeah, is that so shocking?"
"Mo, you've won awards."
"Is this not Oscar worthy?"
"No."
The fast battleship couldn't help her audible amusement anymore at such a quick and blunt answer, a snicker escaping as she looked back at the brunette next to her, "Ari, you're being too harsh."
"This dialogue is atrocious." Arizona answered back, though she couldn't keep herself from matching her wife's contagious grin. The sight of the man on-screen getting tazed didn't help either.
Arizona quickly continued, "I mean, what's this got to do with battleships? Or the navy for that matter? It's just some guy making an idiot of himself in a bar."
The redhead leaned forward, grabbing her coke from the table and taking a sip, "Just give it a chance. It gets better."
"This is really one of your favorite movies you've done?" Arizona questioned once more, glancing back at the other woman, trying to make sure this wasn't some big joke in order to get the two to watch a bad movie.
"Yes, really. Now shush." Missouri reaffirmed with a finger to her lips and a smile on her face.
---
"Oh! There you are!"
The dreadnought's arm shot out from between herself and the other warship, finger jutting out and pointing towards a certain crimson haired woman sitting in a section with some veterans, her youthful appearance a stark contrast to their older presence.
Arizona did this with every one of Missouri's films, weather watching at home or at the premire, albeit a bit quieter at the latter. She felt a bit embarrassed by it, that it was childish, but she couldn't help it. Mo was a movie star, and seeing her on the big screen just made Arizona feel giddy.
"Damn, I'm a beautiful woman." Missouri muttered under her breath and whistled, Arizona unable to suppress a giggle in response.
"Did you see who else is in it?"
That caused Arizona to pause, bringing a finger to her chin. "Hmm, I saw Reagan, obviously. I think I saw John Paul Jones and a few other destroyers. Oh, and a Sakura destroyer, too."
At the look she earned in response, Arizona tilted her head, a bit confused, "Oh, are they leads too?"
Missouri nods, a smile on her face, "Yeah, I'm more of the third act hero. But don't worry, I steal the show."
Arizona giggled at the dumb grin Missouri gave. The Iowa-class was a bit of a diva, and a showstopper for sure, but Ari wouldn't have her any other way.
"I don't doubt it..."
---
Missouri snorted as she watched Arizona's expression go from bright at the sight of a child interested in warships and history to looking like a sad puppy at the words Hooper spoke to said child.
"I-i..."
"...Dinosaur?"
It's safe to say Arizona didn't have the best relationship with the lead so far.
---
Green eyes watched intently as black and silver monoliths arose from beneath the waves. Panels shifted, and appendages outstretched before finally being topped off by glowing red dots, imitating eyes.
"Oh, those look cool."
"I know, right?"
Arizona's interest was now peaked, and that interest only continued to rise as the rest of the scene played out.
Her eyes lit up as one of the extraterrestrial ships launched what seemed to be bombs, the canisters soring through the air towards John Paul Jones, most taken down in the air, but one striking the side of its bridge, the explosion causing the dreadnought to jump.
"Oh!"
Her hand remained over her mouth as she watched it continue to play out, curled up into Missouri, the other battleship's arm wrapped around her shoulders.
Arizona's eyes did eventually widen even further at the sight of Sampson taking a full broadside of the missile/bombs, all sticking into her before eventually exploding, with the lead's older brother looking out before the ship was rendered in pieces.
"No, Sampson!" She couldn't help but call out.
The gesture caused Missouri to smile a bit, rubbing Arizona's head lazily, "It's just a movie, Ari."
The tease earned a pout from the brown haired woman, her gaze flicking back to Missouri, "Obviously, but it's still someone we know in real life. I'm aloud to be a little sad."
As the scene went on, Arizona's shock only grew further as she watched Myōkō take a direct and fatal hit to her bow, but that feeling was quickly replaced by displeasure.
"What? Why's he still going for them? Is not going to try and save the survivors of Myōkō?" She questioned, watching as the grey haired Sakuran shipgirl in the water tried to help her survivors, clearly in a bad state herself.
"He's reckless." Mo simply chimed in, watching as Arizona's eyes narrowed at the screen.
"He's stupid." Was the dreadnought's firm response. At least she felt a little better when John Paul Jones changed course to help pick up Myōkō's survivors.
---
Missouri smirked as she watched the screen inside the destroyer show coordinates, the smirk only growing into a grin as it clicked in Arizona's head what was going on.
"Oh my God, they're playing battleship."
Missouri only laughed as Arizona leaned back against her in disbelief, "Come on, it's clever!" The Iowa-class battleship insisted, shaking Arizona slightly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Arizona rolled her eyes but still smiled as two misses hit each of the alien ships.
It was stupid. But fun stupid.
---
They both watched attentively as both the Sakuran and Eagle Union leads jumped from the stern of the John Paul Jones, crashing into the water beneath.
"No, Jones is gone now." Arizona pouted at the loss of the destroyer in the film, Missouri nodding in return.
"Yeah, she actually took to acting really well. It was fun showing her the ropes." The redhead's words caused Arizona to pause, her head turning towards her partner.
"Speaking of yourself, when do you show up? I'm surprised you didn't make the whole movie about you from start to finish."
"Hey! I don't have to be the center of attention all the time!" Missouri barked, a blush spread on her cheeks before coughing into her hand and looking away from Ari's surprisingly smug look, "B-but, I am about to show up."
"My, stealing the main role from an up and coming actor? Mo, I didn't know you could do something so horrible." Arizona tsk'd and shook her head, wagging her finger in front of Missouri's face, red eyes following the digit's every move.
"Hey! I'm supposed to be the tease! Cut it out!" Missouri's exclaimed slowly dissolved into giggles halfway through, Arizona joining in with her.
---
Arizona's finger clicked on the pause button abruptly, freezing on an image of Hooper looking down at Missouri standing on top of her B turret, ACDC's Thunderstruck being cut off along with the picture.
Missouri blinked, speaking through a mouth full of popcorn, confused, "Is something wrong?"
Arizona just looked back at her like she was dumb.
"A day, Mo? Not even a day, just a few hours, and you're operational again?"
The Iowa-class quickly pouted, swallowing her popcorn and washing it down with the last of her drink before responding, "Hey! I could absolutely get back to fighting shape in a day!"
Arizona just sweatdropped at Missouri's continuous defense of what she probably found to be the silliest thing about the film so far.
---
"Let's drop some lead on these mother-"
"Fire!"
Arizona just watched in stunned silence as her wife just drifted into a point blank broadside before unleashing all 9 of her 16in guns on the alien flagship, doing more damage than any attack before, and looking hot while doing it.
Arizona didn't like fighting, sure...
But something about seeing Missouri firing her guns at an extraterrestrial spaceship just scratched an itch in her brain she never knew she had.
"..."
"..."
"...Mo, have I ever told you that I love you?"
"All the time." Missouri grinned back, snuggling up into Arizona.
The dreadnought couldn't help but wince as a shell landed a direct hit on Missouri's C turret, knocking it out of the fight and injuring the on-screen Missouri's thigh, before the battleship continued unleashing hell.
"You really couldn't dodge that?" Arizona questioned, watching as the infinitely more powerful shipgirl hid her face in her shoulder, all the wind sucked out of her sails, embarrassed at her own failure to simply move out of the way.
"...I mean, I'm sure I could if I didn't have people on board." She mumbled, the act leading to Arizona petting her in order to make her feel better.
---
"So?~" Missouri purred, turning her grin away from the credits towards Arizona, laying on top of her, the two both now on their sides.
The older shipgirl rolled her eyes before simply responding, "It was silly and made no sense..."
"But..." Missouri coaxed before the memorial shipgirl finally gave in.
"...But it was really fun."
At the smile, Missouri laughed, taking it as a win, and pulled the other woman closer under the blanket. The slightly chilly air bit at them both, but their combined body heat prevented it from doing any real harm.
Both just laid their for a moment, under the stars and clear night, just listening to one another's breathing before the calm silence was eventually broken.
"...You also looked really cool." Arizona admitted, causing the museum ship to sleepily raise a brow, "Really?"
Arizona nodded into her shirt, feeling sleep softly rapping at the door of her brain, "Yeah... really strong, too..."
Missouri smiled softly as she watched the two green orbs shut out the word, leaning her own head back until it hit the armrest. Following the emeralds' example, the two rubies slowly embraced the darkness of unconsciousness.
"I have to be strong."
"So I can always protect you."
"Sleep well, Arizona. I love you."