One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Three Hundred and Nineteen

-Chapter Three Hundred and Nineteen-

-Everybody's P.O.V-

Zoro frowned the second he felt Skylar's body tense right up in his lap as the rest of the crew gave their captain curious looks—curiously looking between him to the brunette then back to him with questioning eyes.

"Skylar's father? When did you meet him?" Nami frowned, not knowing when their captain would have had time to meet the brunette's father during these last two years.

"Actually, now that you bring it up, I always thought Skylar's parents were deceased or something since she never talks about them" Usopp confessed, always having believed that the brunette was nothing more than an orphan due to her lack of mentioning family outside of her two brothers. Skylar's head lowered, a lump already forming in her throat as her lips slowly started to twitch upwards into a crooked smile and her eyes stung with unshed tears. Robin frowned, worrying her lower lip as she began to grow concerned for the young woman as she recalled what had happened last time she had talked about her father and upbringing with anyone.

"I should have known...it would make sense that you would have ran into him..." Skylar shakily laughed as she rested her hands in her lap, balling them up as she started to suck deep, shaky breathes of air. "There was no avoiding it—he would have been required to take part in the war whether he wanted to or not."

"War?" Nami frowned. "Wait...are you referring to..." she didn't have to finish that question, the others already knowing what war she was speaking of as the only one that their captain had ever been a part of was the one two years ago. "So your father's a Marine, that doesn't seem like something to be upset over" she said as she noted just how tense her friend's body was.

"He's not just some Marine—he's an Admiral" Skylar softly corrected as she forced her gaze to flicker upwards and look around at everyone.

"A-an Admiral?!" they gaped.

"Admiral Varen Strife is my father" the brunette sighed, sucking in a deep breath of air as she closed her eyes and let her head droop back down before she slowly reopened them. She didn't want to have this conversation with them...with any of them...it was a conversation she would have preferred to avoid for long as possible even if she knew it had to happen eventually after everything that's happened. "What's the message...?" she quietly asked, silently peering up at her captain who frowned before he slowly began to recount his first encounter with her father.

-Flashback-

Luffy knew something was wrong when the bullet that had whizzed by and graze the flesh of his arm made him feel weak for but a second, his gaze rather quick to turn towards his attacker so that he could deal with them quickly and be on his way.

"Straw Hat Luffy, I've been wanting to meet you for quite a while now" the brunet that stood before him calmly said, casually twirling the gun in his hand around his finger.

"Who are you?" Luffy frowned, taking note of the coat that hung off the man's shoulders—a coat that was similar to what most of the higher-ranking Marines and Admirals wore, one that that proudly displayed their position of power and let other's know where they stood in the ranks of their men.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself, I'm just a little excited to finally meet you face to face—you may call me Admiral Varen Strife" Varen introduced, a certain gleam to his blue eyes as he kept a close eye on the raven-haired man before grinning.

"Strife?" Luffy owlishly blink upon hearing the familiar name...in fact, the more he stared at this man, the more similarities he spotted that this Admiral happened to share with his friend—particularly those cold eyes of his...though Skylar's eyes were much warmer and sweeter despite their cold appearance compared to this man's.