One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy Six [Rewritten]

-Chapter Two Hundred and Seventy-Six-

"Skylar!" I tiredly blinked as I hazily looked around. I was no longer in the pew but was now on the floor as the chapel itself looked to be in tattered ruins as if a tornado had blown through. I could only assume that I had passed out at some point, no doubt a direct cause of the exhaustion from the small breakdown I had suffered earlier. Looking at Sanji, I took note of his tight and protective around Nami as he looked at me in relief.

"Are you alright?" I worriedly asked after seeing the bruises and blood that stained his person—his face twisting up into a look of agony now and again as if it hurt him to just stand there and breathe. His fight with Absalom must have been a rough one...I wonder how much he struggled against someone who he couldn't properly see half the time.

"Yeah, I'm fine" he dismissed, giving me the biggest smile he could muster as he gently sat Nami down on one of the askew pews that were still intact. "Now, let's get you out of these binds" he said, bending down as he began to mess with the rope that bound my ankles together.

-Everybody's P.O.V-

Sanji made quick work of the rope around Skylar's ankles first, having no trouble in removing them as he soon sat her up and turned her back to him so that he could get started on the ones around her wrists...

He froze.

Startled as his breath caught in his throat the moment he spotted the dried blood that painted both the rope and her hands—the skin painfully red and raw with harsh cuts from where she had been harshly rubbing it against the binds over and over and over without any mercy. Further digging them in and forcing them to cut even deeper until they drew blood. Shakily, he untied the rope as quickly as he could without causing her further harm; painfully wincing as he watched how the dried blood chipped away and the cuts began to sluggishly ooze once more.

"W-what happened?! We need to get you to Chopper!" he practically shouted, stumbling over his words as he practically snatched up her bloody wrists. No doubt she was in pain...

Had she wanted to be free that badly?

She didn't seem like it earlier and that's why he hadn't been in a rush to untie her—that's why he had prioritized his fight with that freak first. He knew he could handle Absalom on his own and even preferred it as that was another reason he hadn't been in a hurry to free her from her binds. Heavily preferring that she stay with Nami and rest while he took care of everything like the knight he so badly saw himself as.

"Sanji, I'm fine..." Skylar softly smiled as she moved her arms to the front, silently examining the cuts on her wrists with tired eyes. She didn't react like he felt she should have as she regarded the lashes in the same manner that one would a cat's scratch. "The bleeding will stop and everything will be fine...just like always..." she tiredly muttered, a hazy look in her eyes as she slowly lifted her head and looked at him once more with those sad eyes of hers and that sweet smile that seemed to quiver at the edges as if she was attempting to force herself to keep it up.

"I don't care if the bleeding will stop—they need to be treated!" Sanji frowned as he clasped his hands down on her shoulders, giving them a slight squeeze as if wanting to drive home the point of what he was saying. "If that idiot finds out, he's going to throw a fit!" he watched as her smile finally began to falter at the thought of how Zoro would react to seeing such nasty cuts as if such a thought had crossed her mind 'til now. Soon, her eyes became downcast as her head tilted downwards as if she could no longer bring herself to look him in the eye. Softly sighing, he gently took hold of her wrist and looked it over once more, already knowing that they were most likely caused by the rope scraping repeatedly against her skin at a fast yet steady pace. "You should have just waited for me to come and untie you..." he worriedly muttered.