A few more days had passed and activity from the enemy was minimal at best. Both enemy forces barely ever came out since what was dubbed "The Curry Incident" by many immature seamen, and Hiei was subsequently banned from the kitchen by the fleet admiral as he saw just how lethal her cooking was.

"If it can get an Abyssal sick, it can get all of us sick, and I don't think we need any bathroom clogs." Was how the fleet admiral worded it. Hiei was down in the dumps to say it lightly but she recovered enough to accept that fact and leave the cooking to her sisters.

"I never expected anything like THAT to happen." Jack says as he and the others relax in the common room. This time Kongou is resting in his lap, using his folded up jacket as an impromptu pillow.

"You two are so cute together!" Linh and Felicia giggle.

"Thank you dess!" Kongou says.

"Yeah, thanks." Jack chuckles as he fidgets a little bit.

"What's up?" Vinh asks. "You look a little nervous."

"Well we've fought together for so long so you can imagine just how much we've trusted with one another." Jack replies. "Even before I became admiral many of my sorties coincided with hers."

"And he was really good with the other seamen!" Kongou adds. "You should have seen it, whenever we went without too much battle he would always be the one rallying them and getting them hyped up, he was there for those that needed it, and he once said to all of the seamen to hear that he would go down with the ship if he needed to just to make sure everyone got off alive if they were hit!"

"Of course I've seen it. I was there for that last part." Vinh replies.

"Don't mind me Kongou I'm gonna head into my office, I just realized I have some leftover documents to look over." Jack says and Kongou sits up, freeing his lap, before he walks off into his office, making sure he locks the door behind him so nobody tries to barge in and realize exactly what he's looking over. "I literally just got this today from the fleet admiral..." He says to himself as he looks at a single paper and a small velvet blue box containing a ring that a certain battleship would love.

"You've been around her for so long, and even before you got to this high ranking I always saw you making small talk with her. I saw how well you two got along and well, considering what's been going on as of late, you might not get the chance to do this later on." Were the fleet admiral's exact words. "Go get 'er cowboy."

"That might not have been the best way to word it, but I'm more than glad." Jack chuckles as he looks down at the lines. Kongou has already signed her part, not knowing that it would lead to this, and with careful, elegant strokes Jack signs his part. "There's this sort of magic that comes along with these shipgirls." He mumbles to himself as he finishes signing, and the document begins to glow with a strange light. The document then vanishes as this light then engulfs the box, and it slowly opens to reveal two rings- one for himself and one for Kongou. Jack slowly puts on his ring and it seems to give off an ethereal aura for a few seconds before the box closes by itself. "I don't know what kind of magic this is, but it's pretty cool in it's own right." And with that Jack picks up the box and stows it in his pocket before walking out.

"Whoa what happened in there Jack? You look like you're on cloud nine." Vinh chuckles.

"Kongou..." Jack begins. "I've got something that I think you'll love."

"What is it?" Kongou asks. "I had a talk with the fleet admiral earlier and he had me sign something, and he looked so happy for some reason..." She says, not quite putting two and two together yet. Linh and the other admirals on the other hand give Jack a very sly grin as they know exactly what he's hiding in his pockets.

"Looking back at when I first joined, I never thought I would come to meet someone like you." Jack begins. "We fought alongside one another for so long yet not a single word was uttered between us. That was until I decided to take a little time out of my life to get to know you better, and would you know it our bonds began to strengthen."

"Wait... Jack?" Kongou asks.

"It wasn't long before I became admiral and you were assigned to me, but I think our fleet admiral knew what was going on before that. Even then our bonds only strengthened more and more until we come to now." Jack chuckles. "I've never met a woman quite like you and I'm glad to say I've made an oath, with you." He says as he reveals the box containing the ring, and the realization hits Kongou like a truck.

"Oh my goodness..." Kongou says, realizing exactly what Jack is doing as he opens the box.

"This is my promise, to you." Jack finishes.

"Then, I accept." Kongou replies, fighting back tears as Jack takes the ring out of the box and slowly slips it onto her ring finger. Just like Jack's ring it shines with an ethereal aura for a few seconds, solidifying their bonds. "Oh teitoku! Thank you!" She shouts with joy as she tackles Jack to the ground and peppers him with kisses. "I'll never let you go!"

"Congratulations!" Felicia and Haruna say.

"May the days ever be brighter for you two!" Vinh chuckles as the fleet admiral watches from a distance.

"I should have expected this, son." The fleet admiral chuckles to himself. "Congratulations to you and Kongou."