A promise to kill

Chains

When I came too, the first thing I noticed, no, the first sensation was the cold metal against my wrists and ankles, something I thought I'd never feel again. A type of panic set in and tears streamed down my face. 

A dream, it was all a dream. My savior, my ship, my captain, my lover, Killer. It was all a dream. The stone walls, the stone floor, everything is still hear. I can hear the moaning and the groaning of the others all around me. It was all a dream. 

is what I'd thought until I heard a voice calling out my name. 

" Lady. " He had strong arms. They pulled and pushed me back and forth, waking me from my own mind. His voice is rough almost a sort of broken but holds a ton of authority to it. I knew exactly who this person is and I continued to cry, but tears of relief. 

" Lady. " He hugs me to his broken body with his one arm, as I cling to his chest, wracked with sobs. 

" Kid.. I thought it was all a dream.." I hug myself to him as tightly as I can, as close as our physical bodies would allow. 

" I thought everything was a dream." At this point, I don't care about the chains,  just knowing that I am really here reassures me that everything will be ok, he is here, my captain is here. My family is here. I'm not alone. 

I can see him weakly gripping the chains that bind me, unable to do anything but ball his fist around them. 

" Was hoping you wouldn't follow us here. " He gruffly says rubbing his forehead before placing his one arm back down on the top of my head and sinking back against the stone walls. 

" We got ambushed at the hideout by Kaido. bitch one and two who were supposed to be forming an alliance with us, were already allied under Kaido and betrayed us. " I'd expect him to be in a rage as he says this but he looks calm, probably having more to think about, people to worry about. 

" Everything, every fuckin memory is a blur. I don't know where the crew is, I don't know what happened to them, and now damn it, your stuck here too." I can only rub his arm as his body shakes with pent up emotion. Rage, regret, sadness, fear. 

" At least I'm here. if I'm right beside you, you don't have to worry about me right?" I try to lighten the mood and I see a flash of despair, maybe doubt, maybe fear in his eyes before they're shadowed over and he goes completely silent. 

" I'd rather you be lost at sea or where ever Killer is." He mutters. 

" I ain't got the right to claim to be able to protect you.  I aint even know where the rest of the crew is right now. i aint even know if their alive. You might as well be dead alre..." I hold his face in my hands. Years ago, I described this man as pulchritudinous, beautiful beyond outward appearance, so captivating that he pulls at my very soul but here, in this instance, he looks lost maybe a bit broken, afraid. 

" You, Captain Eustass Kid, my captain, my oldest friend, are my hero. Killer may be my savior, my knight is shining armor,  the crew and my brothers are my reasons to live but you, Kid, are my hero. you taught me to fight, gave me a place to belong, a family, a crew. You are the person I look up too, you made my dream come true and now, you are my new dream, for you to become the pirate king, for you to find one piece, your dream, somewhere along the lines my hero's dream had become my dream." 

He looks dumbfounded but a soft genuine smile appears, and slowly, erupts into a grin, then finally into a full blown laugh. He covers his face with his hand, continuing to laugh outrageously. There's no evil in his laugh, not like when he enjoys a fights, this laugh, is more like, a happy laugh, the kind that would usually accompany a group of children.

" My dream.. before I learned what a pirate is, before you were taken from us. My dream as a puny brat, my dream as a weak little punk was to be your hero, to save you from this wretched world; because to me, to that puny little brat, your smile was my whole damn world. You were my world, my friend, to a kid born and raised an orphan, you were my family, my sister.  I damned that dream and my weaknesses. I damned it all to be the pirate king, to find one piece, to be the most viscous, most violent pirate there ever will be... because there was only that for me to become after losing what i thought as my everything. " He paused chuckling under his breath. 

" I never thought, the dream from all those years ago would come back and suddenly come true." He continues laughing t the point that the guards outside are yelling at him to shut up. 

" A hero. I've always wanted to be someone's hero." he finally mutters after going silent for a few moments. 

" I'll get those chains off of you Layla, cause you're our girl, and while your knight is away, you're hero will protect you." 

I smile