Forever His

Escape to Sea

I quickly took off my dress and untied the bag that was around my waist. Pulling out the roll of bandages, I tightly wrapped it around my chest, concealing my breasts. I threw the shirt on, buttoning it up. Putting the hat on, I made sure that my hair was tucked inside, not a strand hanging loose. Grabbing the boots and jacket from where I hid them, I hastily put those on and exited through the door on the other side.

No one was outside of the room, thankfully, as I silently crept down the dark hallway. I have never been more glad in my life that I memorized the route I would take to get out of G1. Making my way to where I stored my weapons, I grabbed them and strapped them to my body. I breathed a sigh of relief, feeling more normal with my weapons on my body. Just remembering that I had my mother's necklace on me, I removed it and carefully put it away in the bag.

"Quickly, someone find her!" I heard a voice shout. I quickly hid in the darkness just before multiple Navy officers ran by.

I made sure to switch my Observation Haki to active before heading farther down the hallway, following the route in my head. It took me about half an hour to finally reach a small, hidden room that led directly to the shore. I quickly found the small boat that I placed there beforehand and started pushing it into the water.

"Akito!" I heard Koby shout. I stiffened and turned around, facing my friend.

"What, Koby?" I asked coldly. He finally reached my side, looking down at his feet.

"Why?" Was all he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I can't tell you that. I'm sorry, but it had to be this way." I answered, my heart breaking as I looked at his face. He always looked up to me, and I had considered him to be a friend.

"If you tell me, I promise I won't tell anyone I saw you." He pleaded. I sighed and ran a hand down my face.

"Koby, look at me." I commanded. He shook a little bit before raising his eyes to my face. "I made a promise to a good friend years ago. This is me sticking to that. I have to go, and the next time we meet, we will most likely be enemies." I muttered in a low tone, just loud enough for him to hear.

"You're turning pirate? Well, I kind of expect so, since you did commit treason and killed a fellow Marine. Goodbye, Akito. I'll tell them I spotted you on the other side of the island. Take care of yourself and don't get killed." Koby told me, turning his back on me. I inhaled sharply, almost reaching out to him. With every step Koby took away from me, I felt my heart breaking, little by little.

"Koby. Tell Masuyo I'm sorry. Helmeppo, too." I called out. His shoulders stiffened before nodding.

Turning back around, I continued pushing the boat into the water before hopping in and starting to paddle. It was then I remembered that I had no way of locating K, and I started to panic slightly.

"Shit, shit, shit! Where is it?" I muttered, rummaging through my bag. My hands closed around the pendant, and I breathed a small sigh of relief. Pulling it out, I examined it closely and noticed something I never saw before. It was a small, nearly undetectable button.

I pushed it, and the pendant popped open, revealing a picture of K when we were younger and a small piece of paper.

"Oh, K. You've always been smart. You put a vivre card in here!" I exclaimed, laughing out loud. It started pointing slightly to the left, and I adjusted my course. Sitting back, I smiled, knowing that I would be seeing him soon.

Four days into the voyage, a storm hit my boat and I lost all of the food and water that I had stocked. "I have no idea how many days are left of this journey, and I cannot afford to die. Not before seeing him again." I whispered to myself, clutching the pendant close to my chest.