Hope In The Morning

10

I don't know how long we were curled up on the bathroom floor. Robin eventually stood and held out her hand to me. I took it and she pulled me onto my feet. "Are you alright?" Her voice was sweet and soft. I sniffed and then cleared my throat, "I think I'm okay now." She took my hand and led me back into the main room of the cafe. The corner booth where my friends had sat was more disquiet. The usual obnoxiously loud had disappeared. "Fae!" Nami was the first to see me and almost tripped over herself as she rushed over and pulled me into a tight, comforting hug. "Fae what happened??" She pulled back slightly and held my face in her hands, her thumbs running over my tear stained cheeks. I could feel my chest tightening with her question. The look in her eyes was quite unsettling. "I..." I take a breath, it hitches. I could feel Robin's warm hand against my back as if coaxing me to explain my pain. To remove the heavy weight from my shoulders. "...suffer from PTSD..."
It was all I could muster. I couldn't bring myself to explain everything. It was just too much and I was beginning to feel dizzy. She pulled me back into a tight hug, whispering that she was sorry. After a couple of minutes, she leads me back over to the table and I rub the back of my neck, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring down the mood." "Let's go to the pool!" Luffy suddenly jumped up. Happiness shined brightly in his brown eyes as he stood in the booth, "We can have a party!" "We just partied last night." Sabo mumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Why don't we make it a day of games and fun?" Ace suggested, pushing his hat out of his face and looked at me, "We can end at the pool and have a night swim, supposed to be a full moon tonight." He leaned over and pulled me into a tight hug against his bare chest, "Besides! You don't ever hang out with us anymore Imouto!" I blush at his kind words as the rest of the group begins to plan out the rest of the day. What did I do to deserve this kindness?

What did I do to deserve this torture?
I sat down against the bench and let out a heavy sigh, "Man, my feet are killing me." We had gone to the arcade and immediately we were spilt into teams. It was a challenge to see which team could win the most tickets but I think it was a bit unfair on guys vs girls. Nami had refused help from Sanji, boasting that the women didn't need any men to pity play on our side. "Don't worry Fae, we are almost done." Koala smiled warmly at me. She had been invited along with Hancock after everyone realized that it was originally three vs like ten.
"What game is left? I feel like we have played every single one." I rubbed my neck and then stood back on my feet, joining the adorable woman as she started to walk towards the group. "I think all we have left is some shooter game." She pointed over to the door that led into the lazer tag arena. I looked over at the area, "This is going to be interesting." The group had crowded around the watch area as there was a game already in progress. I followed Koala over. She broke off to find Sabo and I wandered over to the glass to look inside the room, "Who's winning?" "The red team is kicking some serious ass!" Ace caught me up to speed, "I overheard some teens challenge an older man and his date to a match. The kids bit off more than they can chew." He pointed to the screen displaying the points and he was right. Out of the two players on the red team, the old man had racked up over a thousand points already, the woman not far behind. The teens were struggling to push their numbers above hundred. Honestly it was laughable. "Wow, that is embarrassing." I mutter, taking the empty seat next to Ace. "Go old guy!" Luffy shouted despite the man not being able to hear him through the wall. After about five more minutes, the game ended when the lights came on. The teens slowly left the room, obviously upset over losing, claiming that the game had been rigged against them. Our group crowded the door, wanting to see who the old man and his date was to be so good. My heart nearly lurched from my chest when Captain Smoker and Miss Tashigi exited the room, both had worked up quite a sweat teaching those kids a hard lesson. "That was amazing!" The guys immediately began as they moved closer to Smoker. "That was super!" Franky shouted as he did his familiar stance with the star on his forearms. "You should join our team!" Luffy exclaimed and Smoker gave a huff in response as Luffy explained the challenge between us. "What's the score up to anyway?" I ask Robin and she pulls out the little paper that she had been using to keep track. "Well the boys are ahead of us but only by a couple of lucky points." She held out the paper for the group to see, "And since this is the last game..." "If the boys gets to add the old guy," Nami started, ignoring the "hey" from Smoker, "Then we should be able to add Tashigi with us." Poor Tashigi looked confused. She hadn't been listening. "Is that really fair?" I voice, "They just got done playing the game, can't we give them a break?" "How about this? We have our own game and then we can figure something else to end the competition." Sabo said, "That way the others can take a break." "Sounds like a good idea." Robin nodded. Tashigi pushed her glasses back down her face after she squinted a few times at me, "Fae!" She squealed happily and jumped over, pulling me into a tight hug, "I haven't seen you in years~!! How have you been? How are things going???" She pulled back and looked me over before she pouted, "You promised to call and never did."
"Ah, sorry, Tash, I was kind of busy." I mumble as the group watched the interaction. She gave me more of her pouting face and I winced slightly, "Don't worry, I'll fill you in on everything."