One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Three Hundred and Twelve

-Chapter Three Hundred and Twelve-

-Skylar's P.O.V-

"Devin, she's been locked in there the whole day—what exactly was in that paper?"

"Just leave her be, Shawn."

"What's with you? You've been talking nonstop about beating her ass and throwing her to the Marines to collect the money, but now you're acting like you're concerned?"

"I'm not concerned! Look, I may detest her, but I'm still a human being! Tch! She'll get over this by tomorrow morning—she's a pirate, remember? This is probably just some trick to get us to feel sympathy for her!"

"How do you know? She looked pretty torn up before locking herself up in there."

"I just know, okay! She's most likely acting this way hoping I'll feel sympathetic for her and let her leave without a fight!"

"But—"

"No buts! Just leave the damn brat alone—everything will be fine in the morning!"

I barely had the energy to blink as I numbly listened to the two argue on the other side of the door. My body curled up into a ball on the bed of my temporary room as I tiredly stared down at the newspaper that I had sprawled out in front of me. My eyes stung, my chest hurt, and there was a large lump in my throat that prevented me from speaking at the moment. A million thoughts were going through my head, most unpleasant as they mixed with the cruel whispers that told a harsh truth.

"None of you were there for him!"

"What kind of crew leaves their captain to suffer?!"

"Pathetic! How can you even call him your captain—let alone friend—when none of you were there?!"

My lips quivered, the corners of them twitching downwards as I sucked in a large amount of air—shakily releasing it as I started to tremble. Once more, my vision blurred as I began to think of my captain...

I needed to leave.

I needed to leave and get back to Sabaody—fuck their deal! I don't care anymore if that sounds dishonorable, my captain comes first before something as stupid as pride.

"Okay, let's say you make it to the harbor without any of the Marines recognizing you—what are you going to do then? The only boats at the harbor currently are pirate ships and fishing boats—neither of which I can see you manning by yourself."

Shawn's earlier statement gave me pause...

He's right.

Marines were swarming this place left and right and the only boats were pirate ships and fishing boats as he said, both of which require a crew to man them for long voyages. If I attempted to steal one, there's a possibility that it'll cause a ruckus that would attract the attention of the Marines—something that I couldn't afford to catch at the moment. It didn't help that I didn't have any money I could use to bribe either the pirates or fishermen currently on the island to convince them to take me where I needed to go...

I blinked, a thought suddenly crossing my mind. One that had me biting my lower lip at just how harsh and almost cruel it sounded...

'It's risky, I'll have to be sneaky and careful not to let them catch on or else he'll probably kill me out of anger' I frowned, curling into myself once again. "They're tough...I'm sure they can manage—I'll only be taking a little and only what I need..." I mumbled, gaze half-lidded as I stared down at the newspaper—tears streaming down my cheeks as I loudly sniffed. "Just hold on a little bit longer, Luffy...I'll be there as soon as I can."