Tour of Good-Will: Daitō

[Beatrice]

With the assistance of a tug HMY United States manouvers to dock at Shinkyō.

With quite an eventful series of, at times, unexpected events before the Tour had even officially kicked off the Empress was pleased as the United States settled into her berth for the next few days, Shinkyō. Both the capital and largest city of the Empire, and one which had faced horrors inflicted upon it at the hands of the Ardian Empire, Sutāraito couldn't help but think of some of the shared historical experiences they had and how, despite their similarities and experiences, one man could find the right wedge to attempt to drive them irrevocably apart. Her initial meeting with the Emperor had been a stroke of fortune; certainly she had sought ambitions beyond what even her closest advisors said was possible and yet somehow they had found a way to come to fruition. As she often did during their traverse of local waters and dockings she found herself on the port bridge wing, curious onlookers abound would receive a wave from the Empress as the transit and docking were completed without issue.

It would not be since the Dunwich Summit the two had last spoke in person and she hoped that she would prove to be a welcoming and attentive host for an honoured guest of the First Empire. For their first day she had arranged some light activities, opportunities that would allow them to get to know each other on both a professional and personal basis; if her reports were accurate the Emperor didn't have much time to partake in fly fishing these days so she had arranged for Olympic's former and now future tender, Traveller to depart from Rokkenjima as to arrive roughly at the same time as the United States. While not ideal for the task at hand she would serve their purposes greatly beyond the practicality of any attempt from the United States.

She hoped that the Emperor would then take an invitation to helm Traveller and show her some of his treasured sights in the area, a further opportunity to learn from each other on a more personal basis. Following their fishing and sight seeing the Empress would welcome the Emperor to the State Dining Room for a spread of Rokkenjiman-Daitōjin dishes, and they would retire before the next day which would see the addressing of some matters of state. For her part Sutāraito had been working on a proposal for a project which would be jointly completed and worked upon; while the bid had failed to host the World Cup she felt they could still take an action which would symbolize and accomplish the spirit of their joint bid. She was truly excited to share that with Eijirō and hoped that he would be supportive of her proposal. The third day of the visit had been allotted an open schedule for the Emperor to determine events on Daitōjin soil, something the Empress looked most forward to.

When the time came for the Emperor to board the United States the Empress said with a smile "Your Majesty, welcome aboard the United States. I am honoured that the first stop in my Tour of Good-will is with you; I feel as if it's been a bit of a long voyage to this point, what with my stops abroad even prior to its official start. I think I've prepared a day of leisure for us both to relax, better get to know each other, which are important if we're going to be working together for a great part of the future yes? I hope you don't mind, and I apologize that the vessel isn't quite ideal, but I've made arrangements for us to start off with some fly fishing aboard Traveller; aside from the Olympic she is one of two vessels of the original incarnation of the Blue Star Line left in existence. Now I've never been great at fishing in just about any capacity so I'm sure I'll learn a thing or two from you. When you're ready, we shall proceed," she concluded with a warm smile.

[Daitō]

   The United States was hardly the largest vessel which Eijirō had seen or been aboard, the Daitōjin Emperor thought as he watched it slowly enter the port of Shinkyō. Despite security concerns, owing to the relatively recent attack on Awara, he had seen fit to personally greet his Rokkenjiman counterpart so as to instill a sense of normalcy among the public, many of whom were still bitter over the recent conflict with the Rokkenjiman Empire over the Tokara Islands less than a year prior. Regrettable business, that. But time had a strange ability to mend wounds, albeit aided the works of man, which was the reason for this meeting. Once the ship had come to rest and had been secured, Eijirō would greet Asuna.
   "And welcome to Daitō." He would say after Asuna had welcomed him aboard. Of course, he got a good chuckle out of the idea that he was any good at fishing; his skill with it was perhaps only matched by his skill with boating, by which he meant that he was terrible at it. "I'm afraid that makes two of us, since I was never much of one for fishing." He added; the closest he'd gotten was attempting to catch an eel in his youth for dinner, but in doing so, the only thing he had caught was a cold. "But by all means, we can proceed at your leisure."

[Beatrice]

"Oh bugger me, look, I'll keep this simple," McKenna would interject with a playful sigh, "I don't have the time or patience to teach two of you fish, not today at least. I believe our time would be better spent if we skipped all the associated frustrations there and instead see some sights, talk over them and, when we're on a visit of leisure, I'd be more than happy to share my insights with you both. Naturally, I give this suggestion with the fullest respect to both of you." After a moment of thought the Empress nodded, "if it's the desire of the Emperor I'd be happy to proceed with our impromptu tour, much can be learned from the sights one finds important enough to share with another, and retiring to the warm spaces of Traveller for some leisure might be the best way to start our visit. May we thus proceed?" she asked Eijirō before adding, "she's older, so do be gentle?" as she motioned toward the Traveller."

[Daitō]

   'Why does everyone assume that just because I was in the navy, I know how to sail a ship?' Eijirō thought, privately, as he considered what Asuna had said. First Uncle Etsuji during the holidays back in '18, then his Father-in-Law in '20, and the Empress of Rokkenjima herself? Sure, he'd taken enough lessons to get his license since becoming Emperor, having generally had the time to do so whenever he wasn't handling the weekly paperwork, but nobody ever asked if he had his boating license. They just assumed. Okay, maybe he wasn't as bothered by this as he thought. Besides, though it certainly wasn't the Mutsu, Shinkyō Bay certainly had much to offer.
   "Worry not, she shall be returned to your hands unharmed." The Emperor said, privately wishing that he had been given command of a smaller vessel. "Now then, let us make ready to depart." He added, signaling for his host of aides and followers to join before he, alongside the Rokkenjiman delegation, went aboard the vessel.A few minutes later...

   As the old vessel steamed along, the various members of both delegations made themselves busy talking about recent events; the World Cup, for one, seemed to dominate many of the conversations held, though it was a subject with interested Eijirō little. He'd never been one for the sport, instead preferring baseball to it, though his interest had been at an all time low after the Emperors' Cup had come to a close not a month prior. Besides, what kind of a tour-guide would he be if he didn't focus more on the tour? And besides, they'd be passing their first landmark soon enough, so he needed to be prepared to speak at just the right moment. He would glance out on the city which he called home, upon the many skyscrapers which dominated its skyline, yet those were not what he was looking for. Not that it would be easy to miss, seeing as they would be passing underneath it, but it nonetheless marked the de-facto start of the tour.
   "Up ahead, you'll see the Odaiba bridge, which connects our fair city to a series of artificial islands out in Shinkyō Bay." Eijirō said, almost as though he had rehearsed the line—because he did—as the ship began to pass underneath. "Built in 1979, it originally helped to facilitate the port here before the district was redeveloped for commercial use back in, oh, '94-95? Of course, I've never actually been to the islands out here, but I've sailed past them more times than I can count. That said, they used to be defensive fortifications that were built by the shogunate around the start of the 19th century, mostly to dissuade the Ardians from trying to attack the city. It worked well enough in that role, I figure, since neither they nor Imperial forces during the Boshin War attacked it by sea, unless you want to count the Grand Canal as part of the ocean." He continued to rattle off. "Look at me, going on about some island I've never cared enough to visit. I've travelled to the corners of the world, and yet I haven't gone to somewhere practically in my backyard? It feels... silly, almost, but I'm sure you can relate. Is there anywhere back home you've never visited despite being so close?"

[Beatrice]

"Seeing your sights, hearing your thoughts, I feel as though I've seen your thoughts through my eyes, thank you," the Emress would add. "You've commanded her well thus far, but let us return this old girl home, and retire to better circumstances." As she spoke servicemembers of the IRN took over the bridge, effecting their return to the United States. "While I had to sign off on the Imperial Rokkenjiman Navy firing upon positions I've, thankfully, kept our forces from direct conflict; our anger arcs in the skies in more ways than one. How can I be of support to your lads going forward?" she would ask.

"It's a hard position," she continued, "we were enemies, then allies, and so much followed that, and here we are, together. I see great potential between us, but the road ahead is rocky, we have much tol navigate before us."

[Daitō]

   "The Allied States went from our mortal enemy of nearly eight-hundred years to a close partner in just six years, Empress." Eijirō noted as the ship turned back to port. "By comparison, we were foes merely a few weeks, and before that, less than a century before the Patriotic War. A mere blip, in the grand scheme of things, and unlike Ardians, we weren't fighting against our annihilation. Just over a handful of rocks which have merely symbolic meaning in the modern day, really. If we could go from such hatred to friendship in such a short span of time, then I see no reason that the same cannot be done now." He added. Truthfully, he'd hoped to show more of the city; some of the new developments out on the water might've intrigued his guests, but there were far, far more important matters to worry about. The war, of course, was at the forefront of concerns, otherwise it wouldn't've been brought up.

   "Honestly, for the time being I think what we've got now is more than enough to effect a change in government. 'Course, we're gonna need troops in the region once the war is over, given some of the requirements in that document that we sent you, the Achkaerinese, the Paechonese, and the Preorians last week for review—" he said, referring to the demands to be sent to the Rangsitpol regime "—and undoubtedly it's going to be a significant investment of time and money getting the new states fixin' to be established there on their own two feet."

[Beatrice]

"And this is why we became such natural friends," she said with a smile and a tug on his shoulder, "good people are easy to identify," she continued. "Even taking the Throne, after all that transpired between our nations I could tell you were a good man, someone who shared my hopelessly bleeding heart, who concerned himself with those outside himself, even his inner circle; you're someone who cares and you take what other people experience to heart and that," she said, pointing to his heart yet without touching him, "is why I had so much faith and trust in you, to mirror what I was doing, to act as I did."

She didnt't speak for a moment as she brought to the Emperor a map. "I know it's still early in our friendship but I had a thought, and if you're on my level of crazy despite our difference of age, I think it could work." She paused for a moment before continuing, "I'm not calling you old there, please don't think that, we establish a "Peach Arch" between our nations; it'd be a location on our border which symbolizes our shared dedication to ensuring the history between our states is one of hope and faith of the First Empire and the Empire towards peace, friendship, even kinship, unto perpetuity. I would weep if our peoples ever again shed the others blood, and so far we've both taken risks to ensure that doesn't transpire. If it's too great an ask I understand," she said as she turned away for a moment before locking eyes with the Emperor yet again, "but it's important to me that today, as you stand where you do and I stand as I do, we make certain our young men and women never, ever, kill each other again; we take this friendship between us, you and I, and apply it to our nations fully and without revocation. We have seen what we can accomplish together already, that should be enough for our People to join behind us in this quest. What are your thoughts on this proposal?"

[Daitō]

   "I'm not entirely certain that I have the authority to approve such a structure." Eijirō said plainly, looking at his counterpart. "It's not exactly something in the constitution, and I can't just go around ignoring it just because it says my position is 'sacred and inviolable.' That just means my role in the government can't be removed." He added before, after glancing for a moment out to sea, saying "But I do agree that war must not come to the shores of East Ardia once again, not within our lifetimes, certainly. That's just not something a monument can do. No. Treaties, diplomatic norms, that's what will keep us from fighting, and you know that as well as I do. It's why Konishi-san pushed so hard for EAFTA and now the ADSN. We need to provide incentives not to fight beyond simply the damage a war might cause." He continued before finally saying "That being said, I do still have some influence in Hatsukaichi, at least. Maybe the Peace Memorial down there could establish a monument of some sort, funded by the Rokkenjiman government of course, and the same could be done in Rokkenjima by ours?"

[Beatrice]

"I understand of course," Asuna said as she looked out to the same sea as the Emperor. "A monument is something the People can see though, something they can physically quantify, they don't think in terms of treaties or diplomatic norms; giving them something to reflect the world in which we both exist, in addition to our ongoing efforts, solidifies things on both sides of the equation, at least that's how I see things. If you do what you can on your side, I will see what I can do on my side," she continued with a smile.

"Looking at things we lead two of the leading economies of Mundus," she continued, "and I think history has shown economic entwinement is also a detriment to the prospects of conflicts between two peoples. Perhaps we may take my "monument" approach hypothetically there, guide our economies toward such entwinement that war between us becomes something that harms either of us greater than any gains which we could hope to realize through conflict? We're both proud of the powerhouses we represent and it's always been Rokkeniman policy framing our region as the economic engine of Ardia, if we build those links and set aside a bit of national pride, I think we can realize the goals of my mother and undoubtedly your predecessors in seeing East Ardia as the gateway to the broader expanses of Ardia. Imagine, Rokkenjiman and Daitōjin ports being the points of entry from those outside of our continent to the broader Ardian market, offering terms our neighbours are incapable of offering, all whilst transferring goods via high speed rail link even to the furthest expanses of Ardia. If we work together in that understanding," she paused again, "that's our true arch, perhaps."