One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty

-Chapter Three Hundred and Twenty-

-Skylar's P.O.V-

"Wow! How far down are we?" Luffy asked, noting how dark it was starting to get the further down we went.

"I don't know—it's getting darker and darker..." Usopp nervously muttered as he looked up, taking small steps back up the stairs as he gawked up at the vast sea that surrounded us.

"That's to be expected, the sun can't reach this far down" I said, eyes closed as I felt now rather tired from my earlier crying...yet a content smile was on my face and a certain warmth within my chest from knowing that the others still accepted me even after learning the truth. None of them pestered me to continue, only giving me comforting smiles and reassuring hugs as Zoro eventually forced me back onto his lap where he began pressing soft kisses to my face—mumbling gentle words of comfort as he did so.

"We passed the Euphotic Zone and it looks like we're around the bottom of the Aphonic Zone—about a thousand meters, give or take" Franky estimated, glancing around before he went back to eating what remained of the meal Luffy had been given by the women of Amazon Lily.

"It's quiet and the Sunny itself feels oddly still" Robin remarked, noticing just how eerily silent it had become the further down we went. "It's almost like floating in the sky."

"The sky...I learned so much about the weather up there, but I don't know if it's much use underwater" Nami admitted.

"Hey, look! It's a whale!" Chopper happily pointed as a giant white whale came swimming by with a smaller blue whale swimming right next to it.

"It's just like Laboon!" Brook gaped.

"Nah, it looks more like Whitebeard" Luffy smiled.

"Whatever they look like, they're lovely creatures" I smiled, peeking an eye open as I watched the whale peacefully swim by—taking little interest in our sinking ship. Zoro only hummed as he buried his face into the crook of my neck, sneaking his arms underneath my dress shirt in the process so that they would fully rest against the flesh of my waist. I shivered a little in delight at the warmth of his hands pressed against my flesh—his palms gently gliding around as he rubbed comforting circles along my back before pulling me closer. I relaxed as I enjoyed the feeling of him just holding me—a feeling I had been craving these past two years. I could tell he was no different as he gave a content hum, still pressing soft kisses along my throat as he nuzzled closer to me. It was clear that we were both starving for one another's touch after lacking it for so long.

"I can't think about whales right now, I can't think about anything except the fact that I'm going to die...or at least seventy percent going to die" Usopp frowned. "Why did they tell me that...?" he bitterly grumbled before peering out into the open waters with a pair of binoculars. "Maybe if I keep a lookout, I can raise our chances of making it out of this—better than just sitting here..." he reasoned with himself. "I don't see any big scary Sea Kings or stuff the ship could crash into, so I guess we're good for now."

"I told you, I'm alright..." I softly murmured to Zoro as he continued to snuggle closer to me, his grip only tightening at my words. "All those thoughts are gone now, never to return..." I don't know how true that statement was...but a strong part of me wanted to believe that it was despite a smaller part of me knowing that things were never so simple and those thoughts and feelings I have will probably never fully go away. They'll always be lingering in the background whether I want them to or not.

"I know...but it still concerns me that you even thought that way in the first place..." he mumbled against my throat, his lips twitching downwards into a frown. "It upsets me that I never noticed before that you felt that way and it pisses me off knowing that that bastard had done something like that to you" he growled, frustrated with both himself and my father.