Awa Maru 4
darthcourt10
Well worn.
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Weaver
Saturday, 31st August 2013
For the second time in his life Dan found himself going to a naval base and he was once again wearing his suit while nervous. This time though the nerves were on someone else's behalf.
"You sure about this Mum?"
His mum twisted around slightly in the front passenger seat of the family car and smiled at him.
"I'm as sure as I've ever been of anything. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Dan just nodded.
The last week had been both busy and weird, so much so that he'd barely thought about the fact that he'd be back at college on Monday. After Awa Mari had left a few hours after dropping the bombshell about his mother his family had stayed up late into the night discussing it without really getting anywhere. The next morning they got a phone call from Hartlepool that lasted for over an hour and on Monday a naval officer and a woman who he recognised as HMS Mauritius arrived at their door. He'd sat on his mum's left side and his dad had sat on her left while Mauritius confirmed what Awa Mari had said and she and the naval officer had explained everything, including that it was entirely his mum's choice as to what she did about it. Of course, his mum being his mum there wasn't really that much of a choice. She'd always wanted to do her bit and now she had the opportunity to do so more than she had with her volunteering. They'd still told her to think about it and then they'd asked about her siblings since apparently being a ship was something that can strike more than once in the same family. His mum had told them that she had two brothers and that while she'd had an older sister, Pamela, she'd died of meningitis when she was eight.
After the officer and the shipgirl left Dan and his parents had talked it over, then his mum phoned her mum and her brothers to let them know. So of course they came around as soon as they could and there'd been more talking, before his mum reached the decision that everyone knew she would and announced that she was going to get awakened. His Uncle Dave made some bad joke about seafaring being in the family, his Uncle Keith had just nodded and given her a hug, and his gran had cried and hugged.
So on Tuesday morning his mum had phoned the naval base to let them know her decision. He'd finally got around to telling his friends on Wednesday and they'd taken it more or less in stride once the initial shock had worn off. Meanwhile his mum had gone to the naval base for a meeting and come back with the news that she was most likely the WWI Pathfinder-class scout cruiser HMS Patrol and that she was in the early stages of awakening on her own. The day after that he'd seen Awa Maru off at the airport, wishing her good luck and promising to let her know what happened.
Now he was sat in the car with his parents and gran while his uncles followed in Keith's car. Noticing that they were approaching the base's front gate he sat up straighter and took a deep breath. His mum patted him on the knee and then lightly squeezed his gran's hand.
"I'm going to be fine."
Half an hour, numerous introductions, a lot of words of thanks from various people, and a final check that yes, this was what his mum wanted to do later Dan found himself in the summoning chamber with his family, his mum standing on a rather flimsy looking wooden platform floating in the summoning pool with a nervous expression on her face.
The ceremony started and whatever the difference was between a summoning and an awakening Dan didn't notice it, he was too busy looking at his mother. As the ceremony progressed he felt something build up in the room as he had before. Then, as it reached its peak, he saw his mum's eyes widen before the platform under her feet broke apart and rigging appeared around her. After almost losing her balance on the surface of the water she recovered her footing and examined herself. Letting out a breathy laugh, she looked up at her stunned family, a wide smile on her face.
"Well? How do I look?"
Dan was the first to find his tongue.
"Awesome. You look awesome Mum."
A/N: Points if you spotted the foreshadowing.
Saturday, 31st August 2013
For the second time in his life Dan found himself going to a naval base and he was once again wearing his suit while nervous. This time though the nerves were on someone else's behalf.
"You sure about this Mum?"
His mum twisted around slightly in the front passenger seat of the family car and smiled at him.
"I'm as sure as I've ever been of anything. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
Dan just nodded.
The last week had been both busy and weird, so much so that he'd barely thought about the fact that he'd be back at college on Monday. After Awa Mari had left a few hours after dropping the bombshell about his mother his family had stayed up late into the night discussing it without really getting anywhere. The next morning they got a phone call from Hartlepool that lasted for over an hour and on Monday a naval officer and a woman who he recognised as HMS Mauritius arrived at their door. He'd sat on his mum's left side and his dad had sat on her left while Mauritius confirmed what Awa Mari had said and she and the naval officer had explained everything, including that it was entirely his mum's choice as to what she did about it. Of course, his mum being his mum there wasn't really that much of a choice. She'd always wanted to do her bit and now she had the opportunity to do so more than she had with her volunteering. They'd still told her to think about it and then they'd asked about her siblings since apparently being a ship was something that can strike more than once in the same family. His mum had told them that she had two brothers and that while she'd had an older sister, Pamela, she'd died of meningitis when she was eight.
After the officer and the shipgirl left Dan and his parents had talked it over, then his mum phoned her mum and her brothers to let them know. So of course they came around as soon as they could and there'd been more talking, before his mum reached the decision that everyone knew she would and announced that she was going to get awakened. His Uncle Dave made some bad joke about seafaring being in the family, his Uncle Keith had just nodded and given her a hug, and his gran had cried and hugged.
So on Tuesday morning his mum had phoned the naval base to let them know her decision. He'd finally got around to telling his friends on Wednesday and they'd taken it more or less in stride once the initial shock had worn off. Meanwhile his mum had gone to the naval base for a meeting and come back with the news that she was most likely the WWI Pathfinder-class scout cruiser HMS Patrol and that she was in the early stages of awakening on her own. The day after that he'd seen Awa Maru off at the airport, wishing her good luck and promising to let her know what happened.
Now he was sat in the car with his parents and gran while his uncles followed in Keith's car. Noticing that they were approaching the base's front gate he sat up straighter and took a deep breath. His mum patted him on the knee and then lightly squeezed his gran's hand.
"I'm going to be fine."
Half an hour, numerous introductions, a lot of words of thanks from various people, and a final check that yes, this was what his mum wanted to do later Dan found himself in the summoning chamber with his family, his mum standing on a rather flimsy looking wooden platform floating in the summoning pool with a nervous expression on her face.
The ceremony started and whatever the difference was between a summoning and an awakening Dan didn't notice it, he was too busy looking at his mother. As the ceremony progressed he felt something build up in the room as he had before. Then, as it reached its peak, he saw his mum's eyes widen before the platform under her feet broke apart and rigging appeared around her. After almost losing her balance on the surface of the water she recovered her footing and examined herself. Letting out a breathy laugh, she looked up at her stunned family, a wide smile on her face.
"Well? How do I look?"
Dan was the first to find his tongue.
"Awesome. You look awesome Mum."
A/N: Points if you spotted the foreshadowing.