One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Three Hundred and Six [Rewritten]

-Chapter Three Hundred and Six-

"Skylar!" Brook and Usopp shouted.

"Zoro!" Luffy screamed.

"Stop it!" I cried at the top of my lungs.

"Crap! He shoots beams too!" Franky grounded as I continued to struggle. "How are we supposed to beat these guys?! At point blank like that—he's done for!"

"Stop it! I said leave him alone—don't you dare hurt my Chia Pet!" I screamed, violently kicking one of my legs out toward the Admiral only for it to completely phase right through his body. Almost mockingly, the voices in my head laughed at my pathetic attempts to hurt the man as I desperately continued to kick at him, despite knowing that it wasn't going to do anything...

None of us could do anything I dreadfully realized the longer I failed to land a solid hit.

"Why are you so upset?" Kizaru asked, sounding genuinely confused as if he truly didn't understand why I was reacting the way I was...which I guess really shouldn't have been a surprise. I doubt any of those working for the government could fully grasp and understand my behavior at this exact moment. "After so many years, you're going to be reunited with your parents—shouldn't you be glad?" he asked, causing me to tense. "I do not doubt that you've been scared these last few years—it must have been rather terrifying for you and your brothers being all alone these past couple of years since that silly little joke of yours backfired" I felt my blood boil for a moment at his words...

Our silly little joke...?

I was painfully aware of the story my father had given when the article was printed after my brothers and I ran away from home. I was painfully aware that many people believed that we had just been playing a silly little prank on our parents because we were upset with them that night about something that our father had deemed in the article to be ridiculous and rather childish. I was agonizingly aware of that silly little theory everyone had about how that little joke of ours had backfired and we wound up unintentionally leaving the island and possibly becoming lost...

That we hadn't meant to run away.

How it made my skin crawl recalling the day I came across that article...how it made my vision red with anger at the reminder that because of that article, so many people thought poorly of my brothers and me for our actions. They never stopped to ask why all three of us would choose to run away on the exact same night. They never stopped to genuinely question the Admiral's vague response when asked for the reason why we had run nor had they stopped to consider how much of what the Admiral had said to them was true. No...they were content to believe that we were just a bunch of spoiled brats who had just wanted to punish our parents with a silly little prank that wound up going too far...

"Zoro and Skylar are in trouble! Come on and do something, guys!" Luffy shouted. "Usopp, please!" he pleaded as the sharpshooter stared wide-eyed up at Admiral, his frightened eyes like mere prey caught in the sights of a vicious predator.

"Get away from him and let Skylar go!" he eventually snapped out of his daze as he once again aimed his Kabuto at Kizaru.

"It won't work!"

"He's going to kill Zoro!"

"And you can't do anything about it! None of you can for that matter!"

Loud were the voices in my head as they mocked me, causing me to release a choked sob as all my anger and frustrations seemed to just grow at the thought of losing someone so precious to me. Angrily, I dug my nails into the Admiral's arm—crying out in frustration as I watched how little it affected him.