The Last Day.

Enterprise awoke from her fretful sleep with a groan. Her years of service in the Navy had trained her body to wake up naturally before dawn, even when it wasn't necessary. She remained in her bedroll for several minutes in a futile attempt to fall back asleep, before eventually giving up.

"We really need to stop sleeping on the ground" she said aloud as she sat up, stretching in an attempt to release the kinks in her shoulders, before turning on the small electric lantern beside her. The shackles around her ankles clanked their response as she stood up and looked around the bare metal room, though she knew the only things left inside were the few possessions she had brought with her.

"Well, today's the big day, so I'd better look my best." Enterprise thought to herself. "Alright you fat bastard, I'd like to wash up now." She said, crouching and wrapping the chain of her shackles around her right hand and picking up the lantern with her left. Her ball and chain didn't respond, of course, as she dragged the heavy iron sphere across the floor to the bathroom.

The "bathroom", just like her cabin, had been stripped clean of everything it contained weeks previously. It was little more than a steel box, the plumbing and even the door had already been salvaged. Instead of a warm shower, Enterprise was forced to settle for a bucket of cold water and a washcloth. Enterprise striped down to her underwear and wiped herself down thoroughly, despite the chilly water and unheated cabin. "At least it's easier to avoid rusting my locks together this way." she thought as she cleaned the slightly bruised skin on her ankles, carefully avoiding getting too much water on her shackles.

After drying herself off, she returned to her suitcase in the main room. "I think I'll go with my full dress uniform." she thought as she unclipped the latch and opened her case "Though I'll need to switch the pants for a skirt." It's impossible to wear any kind of pants with a ball and chain, something Enterprise was painfully aware of.

After she was dressed, Enterprise picked out the Medals she'd wear that day. "While it's tempting to just wear all of them, I think these five will do." Enterprise decided to keep it simple, pinning on her four silver Battle Stars and her Victory Ribbon to her chest. As she put away her medal case her eyes fell across the three pictures she kept pinned on the inside of the suitcase's lid.

The first was a picture of she and her sisters, taken when they were little. Her older sister, Yorktown, had just gotten a growth spurt and proudly stood half a head taller than her younger siblings. Yorktown had her arms around Enterprise and Hornet's shoulders, something Hornet had taken exception to at the time.

"Don't treat me like a baby! I'll catch up and be taller than you soon!" Hornet had shouted.

Enterprise was smiling smugly to herself."I'll get my growth spurt first, then you'll see whose tallest." She had thought. The picture was taken in that moment of happy squabbling.

Enterprise brushed her fingers across the picture, feeling the familiar pang of regret. This was the only picture she had of the three of them together. Yorktown had always been the one who cared about those kinds of things, and her photo collection had sank with her.

Enterprise wasn't sure when the second picture had been taken, Gridley had snapped it without her knowing. It was a picture of Enterprise herself, carrying a sleeping Vestal on her back. The petite repair ship's head was resting on Enterprise's shoulder with a peaceful expression on her face.

"You always pushed yourself so hard Vestal... you deserved better than me." Enterprise addressed the photo in her friend's stead.

The final picture was quite famous, it appeared in newspaper headlines and even a special run of "VS Day" postcards. What most people didn't realize was that the photo had been heavily altered to make it more "suitable for the public". Enterprise's copy was one of the few unaltered versions.

The photo was of a large group of shipgirls, standing just in front of the second turrets of the USS Nevada. A banner reading "Victory" was strung between the turret's barrels above them. Nevada herself stood front and center, proudly striking her younger sister's favorite "V for Victory" pose. The tears on her cheeks and the gray streaks in her hair had been removed in the official release.

Enterprise, Vestal, Cleveland, and the other surviving members of Enterprise's escort stood to Nevada's left. Beyond them, past a group of other Battleships, Pennsylvania stood alone. "She looked so tired..." Enterprise remembered. The old Battleship stood definently on a crutch, her thigh wrapped with a bloodstained bandage. She saluted the camera with her free hand. The Navy had seen fit to edit out her injuries before releasing the image.

Saratoga and her escort where on Nevada's right, along with a gaggle of Fletchers. Portland stood among the crowd of destroyers. Her hair was disheveled and it was clear she hadn't changed her clothes for a few days. The lifeless, hallow expression she wore on her face haunted Enterprise to this day. The sensors had ended up completely scrubbing Portland from the official image, to preserve morale.

Enterprise sighed as she closed her suitcase. Almost everyone in that picture was gone now. "Lost at the Crossroads" or scrapped because of the fallout from the incident. She and Portland were the only ones left, and she hadn't heard from Portland in several years.

Enterprise rolled up her bedroll before tucking it under her arm before picking up her suitcase and the lantern. She walked over to the door, pausing at the threshold to look back at the empty room. "I haven't forgotten anything have I?" she asked herself, before shaking her head. "Just the bucket and rags in the bathroom, and those can be someone else's problem."

Enterprise stepped into the deserted hallway, but hesitated for a moment before continuing. "What cabin was I in again..? Ah! It was the flight commander's old room." Enterprise had been sleeping in a random room every night, just to spite anyone who might come looking for her.

Having regained her bearings, Enterprise set off. She knew her ship better than she knew the back of her own hand, so the total lack of directional markers didn't slow her down at all. The silence of the empty ship made the grinding and clanking of her ball and chain deafening, the sound of metal on metal seeming to echo throughout the darkened ship.

After walking for a few minutes Enterprise reached the stairs that lead up to the flight deck. She hefted her suitcase, and mentally prepared herself for the challenge of dragging a heavy iron ball up the stairs with her hands full. "I suppose I could leave the bedroll, I won't be needing it." Enterprise turned the lantern off and left it on the hook beside the stairs, then leaned the Bedroll against the wall and considered her suitcase. "No, I can't leave my medals and those pictures behind. Someone will save those at least."

CLANK, screech, CLANK. The Iron ball dragged across each step before banging against the next as Enterprise painstakingly dragged it up the stairs with her free hand. The open hatch above her seemed to glow as the morning light shined through. "At least if looks like it's going to be a nice day." Enterprise thought to herself.

At last Enterprise reached the top of the stairwell. She paused for a moment to catch her breath, before turning and stepping through the open hatch and onto the flight deck. A dark sense of foreboding fell over her, as if she had just left her hull for the last time. She quickly shook off the dark feeling as she looked across the empty deck at the sunrise.

Enterprise turned and set her suitcase down beside the hatch before gingerly tugging at the shackle around her freshly bruised ankle. She stood up and stretched, only to freeze as she spotted a figure standing on the deck. "Impossible! The deck was empty!" But there the figure stood regardless.

The figure shielded her eyes as she watched the sunrise, her long white hair seeming to glow in the glare of the morning light. Enterprise approached her gingerly, her ever present iron ball grinding against the deck as she approached. As Enterprise drew closer more and more of the figure's features became visible against the glare.

Waist length white hair flowing in the wind. A Navy Blue battle-coat and white armband bearing the Eagle Union Seal. Sky blue platform shoes with black leggings. Enterprise felt a growing sense of disquiet as she slowly recognized the woman before her.

"Yorktown?" Enterprise couldn't believe it. "Is it really you?" The figure turned, a smile lightning up her face.

"Enterprise! I've missed you!" Yorktown greeted her sister as she stepped forward to close the distance between them. She initially raised her arms to give her sister a hug, but restrained herself into maintaining a respectful distance. "I realize this must be quite a shock." Yorktown said sheepishly.

"How is this even possible?" Enterprise asked. "No, never mind that! Why are you here? Why now?"

"Can't I just come and visit?" Yorktown expression turned somber. "I'm here because we both know what's going to happen to you today. I'm here because I thought you might need me." Yorktown leaned forward and placed a cold hand on Enterprise's shoulder, squeezing gently as she spoke. "I'm here to tell you everything is going to be ok"

Suddenly, Enterprise felt like a little girl again. There she was, being comforted by her older sister after getting lost during training. All the feelings she'd buried for the last few years came flooding back. The uncertainty, the sadness, the loneliness, and the fear all boiled up inside her. Yet even as she failed to crush her emotions back down she felt Yorktown's arms close around her in a cool, but nonetheless comforting, embrace.

"I'm scared." Enterprise whimpered, the words escaping her. She felt pathetic, like a whining child, to say the truth out loud.

"Of course you are! How could you not be?" Yorktown voice was quiet, nearly a whisper, as she spoke into her sisters ear.

"I'm supposed to be strong! The fearless heroine!" Enterprise's voice quivered as her emotions began to spill over. "I can't be weak, for everyone's sake!"

Yorktown hugged her sister tighter before speaking. "You don't have to be that person anymore Enterprise. There's no one left to see you. Everything is going to be ok."

Enterprise's vision blurred as the dam she had built inside her heart finally burst. She hated the strangled sob that escaped her. Yorktown felt her sister tremble in her arms as she finally broke down into tears. "Shh, let it all out. It's OK."

"I don't... I don't want to die." Enterprise struggled to speak through her sobs. She clutched desperately at Yorktown's back, as if her sister was a life preserver in a stormy sea.

"No one wants to die. But we all have to face death someday." Yorktown tried to remain truthful as she comforted her sister. "Vestal wanted me to tell you that it will be like falling into a deep sleep. She said she didn't feel any pain. She just quietly drifted from life to death"

"Vestal...I'm sorry..." Enterprise's tears continued to flow. "I should have fought for her. I should have protected her like she protected me." The tightness she felt in her chest was nearly suffocating. "I just stood there. I just stood and watched them take her away. To her death!" Enterprise could never forgive herself for her own inaction. "She must hate me. I betrayed her..."

"Vestal doesn't blame you Enterprise. She worries about you endlessly!" Yorktown replied.

"But what about everyone else!" Enterprise cried back "Vestal wasn't the only one they scrapped! I've let so many people die, abandoned them to their fates! I abandoned Hornet! I even abandoned you!" Enterprise slumped in Yorktown's arms, as if her outburst had drained her strength. Her voice fell to a whisper as she continued. "Those were just my friends. I've seen so much death..." Enterprise paused, searching for words "...I've dealt so much death. With how many I've sent to their ends... How dare I be afraid? How can I ever face them? With hands as bloodied as mine, how can I ever expect peace or forgiveness."

Yorktown released Enterprise from her embrace, and pushed her younger sister back to arms length. She looked into her sisters fearful eyes, red with tears, for a long moment before she spoke. "I can't claim to speak for everyone when it comes to forgiveness, only myself." Yorktown's face fell as she continued. "Shouhou found me one day. She said she wanted to meet the one that had... defeated her. We sat and talked for hours. About the war, about what we fought for, and what our dreams were. We also talked about less serious things, our favorite foods, our home ports... stuff like that. She's such an upbeat and energetic girl, and so excited to be an adult... I took that all away from her."

Yorktown smiled slightly, nodding to herself "I started to feel the more we talked, the guiltier I felt. Perhaps she sensed that, or maybe I let it show on my face. Shouhou reached out and took my hand, and then she looked me in the eyes and said "I don't regret what happened at Coral Sea Miss Yorktown, and I'm glad I've gotten to know you now." Yorktown leaned forward, touching her forehead to Enterprise's "She forgave me! I'd go so far as to call her my friend."

"It was that easy?" Enterprise began to feel a glimmer of hope "How could she just forgive you, just like that?"

"I can't be sure why. I can only tell you of my own experience." Yorktown closed her eyes, recalling another memory. "Shouhou and I shared the occasional meal together, so we could talk from time to time. She became just another part of my life. But meeting her had planted a seed... a feeling that grew inside my heart."

Yorktown opened her eyes, looking at Enterprise with a new intensity. "Hiryu. I wanted to...no, I neededto see her too. To know who she was." Yorktown looked ashamed as she continued "A big part of me hated her Enterprise, but I couldn't stay away." Yorktown exhaled slowly, hesitating before continuing. "I wasn't as tactful as Shouhou was. Rather than simply approach her, it's more accurate to say that I cornered her. I forced her to face me." Yorktown admitted.

"Our talk was more akin to an interrogation in a way. But the questions I found myself asking... they where the same Shouhou had asked of me." Yorktown continued her confession. "Why did you fight? What did you want to accomplish? What do you regret?" Yorktown's expression became thoughtful. "As she answered, it was like she transformed. Before, she was like a target. An enemy I had failed to kill. Now she had become a person. A girl who loved her sister, just like I did. A warrior who fought for a more peaceful tomorrow, as I had."

"And so I could not hate her. I wouldn't consider Hiryu a friend. I can't even say that I like her at all. But I don't hate her." Yorktown finished.

"So you were able to forgive her too? After everything that happened?" Enterprise asked, surprised her sister could simply set aside all that she had suffered at Midway.

"I don't know Enty. I really don't. I think I still feel resentment, deep down." Yorktown admitted "In the end though, it's like the fire has gone out. Hiryu and I both suffered so much, so what's the point of hurting her again? But is that really forgiveness, or is it just some kind of apathy?" Yorktown shrugged as she whispered to herself "I don't know..."

Enterprise had mostly regained her composure, so Yorktown took the opportunity to wipe the remaining tears from her younger sister's face. The two then silently shifted their positions, instead of facing one another the two moved to sit side by side facing the harbor. Enterprise leaned against her sister's side as they watched the bustling harbor for a time.

"I just hope... I can be at peace." Enterprise broke the silence. Yorktown put her arm around Enterprise before speaking.

"There is more than one kind of peace, and people don't always enjoy peace in the same way." Yorktown responded.

"What do you mean by that?" Enterprise asked.

"Well...it's difficult to explain." Yorktown pondered for a moment. "Take my cute little Hamman for example. While I tend to think of Hiryu's finally strike as having killed me, in reality it was a submarine that finished me off. She was the one who got Hamman too. Her name was Iroha. Ah, that is to say, I-168. I remember my first meeting with her well."

Yorktown chuckled at the memory. "I nearly screamed when Hamman dragged her around the corner! The two of them looked like they'd fallen into a wood chipper! They were covered in cuts and bruises, their clothes were completely ruined! Hamman had the start of a nasty black eye too, it was just starting to swell. Before I could react, Hamman threw the little Sakura girl at my feet and screamed "Apologize! Apologize to Miss Yorktown you bastard!" Iroha was defiant. "Never!" She yelled back, she even went so far as to spit at Hamman too."

"Hamman probably didn't take that well." Enterprise said, siting up. She knew her sister's escort was incredibly high strung.

"Hamman sucker punched her in the side of the head, naturally." Yorktown punched her hand for emphasis. "Iroha responded in kind of course. The two of them were screeching like a pair of cats, beating the hell out of each other, right there in front of me!" Yorktown was a little flabbergasted just recounting it.

"You broke them up right?" Enterprise knew her sister wouldn't just stand by and watch them fight.

"It was all I could do, just to drag them apart. I managed to separate them, but Hamman tried for one last punch." Yorktown touched her hand to the side of her jaw. "Hit me right about here. It was a solid punch too!" Enterprise winced sympathetically. "I may have lost just a tiny bit of my temper after that...hehe"

"A tiny bit? I thought it was all or nothing with you." There were few things Enterprise truly feared more than being the target of her older sister's ire. Yorktown was one of the most even tempered persons she knew, with seemingly bottomless patience at times, but she was terrifying to behold once angered. Striking her, especially her face, was one of the few ways to earn Yorktown's wrath instantly.

"OK, so maybe I screamed at them a bit more than necessary. I think they're both a little afraid of me now." Yorktown admitted "I marched them straight to the repair bay after that, and Akashi lectured them even more than I did. Then she hit them with an exorbitant "wasted my time with pointless injuries" fee." Yorktown smiled to herself "She had them under her thumb for months after that, working off their debts. I think the hard labor is what convinced them not to fight."

"The two of them have a weird kind of friendship now." Yorktown chuckled "But that's what I was trying to explain, I think people just need to fight it out sometimes. Hamman and Iroha still compete constantly, each looking for a chance to one up the other. That's how they've made their peace." Yorktown glanced sideways at her sister. "There's definitely going to be a few people who want to beat you. Don't be surprised if you get challenged to a duel on your first day, in fact, I'd say you could count on it!"

"I'd hoped that being dead would save me from the debt collectors." Enterprise commented wryly. "This Akashi sounds like a devil."

"You'd certainly want to stay on her good side." Yorktown agreed "But she's one of the reasons everyone gets along too. No one wants to end up in debt for fighting."

The sisters settled back into a comfortable silence, content to simply enjoy each other's company. The two watched the harbor together for quite some time, before Yorktown eventual sighed and stood up. Enterprise looked at her quizzically.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I have to go back now Enty." Yorktown said, as she adjusted the hem of her dress. "This is basically like going AWOL you know? It's not like I got permission." Yorktown walked back towards the ship's bridge as she spoke.

"Wait!" Enterprise's shackles rattled as she jumped to her feet. Her sister was several yards away, intently looking up at the ship's bridge. "Please, don't leave me behind" again.

Yorktown flinched at the unspoken implication as she looked over her shoulder to answer "I'm sorry Enterprise." She said sadly "I have to go. Be strong for one last push. I'll see you again soon."

Yorktown's form seemed to flicker as she faded away. Enterprise lunged forward in an attempt to grab her sister's hand before she disappeared completely.

CLING. The ball and chain attached to her leg shackles snapped tight, effectively sweeping Enterprise's legs out from under her.

"Oof!" She exhaled sharply as she crashed to the deck. "York...town!" Enterprise gasped, calling out to her sister as she recovered from her fall. But when she looked up, her sister was gone. Enterprise was alone once more, laying on her empty flight deck.

"No..." Enterprise couldn't help but whimper softly as she dragged herself into a siting position. She heard her ball and chain grind across the wooden deck as she drew her legs forward.

"Be strong Enterprise" she repeated her sister's words to herself as she gazed up at her bridge.

There, just below her struck through hull number, was the mark of death. The word "SCRAP" was scrawled across the side of her bridge, the red letters like a splatter of fresh blood. "Property of the Lipsett Corporation" was written beneath.

"One last push, and it's over."

Author's note: This was my first real attempt at fan-fiction, I hope it's not to hard to read... I've had this story mostly written for a while, but decided to finally finish it up due to the quarantine. The original inspiration/idea was to have a meeting between USS Independence and USS Enterprise, as the two shared a pier in 1958 while Enterprise awaited her fate at the New York Naval Yard. The old, kinda bitter veteran Enterprise would have to deal with the fresh faced and excitable Independence. I decided to scrap that idea and use Yorktown's Ghost instead, partly because I wanted to have more natural conversations about other Azur Lane ships (who would now be sunk or scrapped) and party because of my massive amounts of pro-Yorktown bias. I have some ideas for a part 2, but I also think this is a decent ending, so I guess I'll wait and see how this goes over before continuing.