The girl who crossed the sea

A mouse in which it chases

" She's alive!! Someone get me a towel!! Someone go get captain! " There's a voice ordering people around and the feel hands touching me gingerly, as if I would break with too much pressure.

" Captain, she's...Is she.."

" Looks like it."

" She's the one they've been looking for. Joker's fool."

My eyes open slowly to see a man with dark eyes staring down at me. His eyes remind me of the people who had been around me. The people who did nothing. They all had eyes that bore into my soul and dug out the fear from deep within my mind. Eyes hardened by the harsh truths of the world.

" Your in a severe condition. Malnourished, dehydrated, infection. Nothing our Cap't can't fix though!" A bear speaks from besides the man, I let my eyes scan over them for only a moment before blinking to focus my vision.

I can see the smirk growing on his face.

" we'll keep her for now." The dark haired man, who looks down at me with so much contempt, motions towards me with his voice.
"So, which one are you.. Layla-ya or Diane-ya?" Thoughts come to mind. He knows who i am. He knows exactly who i am.

I try to speak yet no words come out. No words form at my mouth. I bring my hands to my neck. It's dry. I feel the cold metal still hanging around my neck. I feel the weight of the chains on my ankles and wrists as well.

" Who ever had you must've never knew you were worth so much. " The man with dark eyes is smirking again in an instant, the chains are off as if it were by magic. A circle had formed around me and my chains replaced with bandages that he swiftly wraps around any bruising from the said chains. I feel bare, being stared at by these men.

" Bepo.. The chains. Get rid of them. They're sea stone. Someone go get her a cover. " The bear replies with a swift 'yes Captain.' and retreats behind the mass of people until he disappears from my view.

I'm lifted into his arms, softly, life a babe. I see a door and my body stiffens on instinct but I feel soothed as the strange man, who seems familiar in a way, caresses my arm in a gentle manner as we make way.

He treats me inside of a room with a single bed. Gingerly wrapping my wounds in white bandages all the while consistently reassuring me that all is well with a simple glance.

" How sad is it that, you of all people become like this.. " He finally speak with a somber tone in his voice. A break apparent in the middle of his sentence.

I let his hands wrap my wrists before his eyes scan my body for anymore as he finishes. He brushes the back of his hand against my skin as he pulls a fresh shirt over my head  and lays me back against the headboard.

" You'll have to wear these until we find something that'll fit you better. " It was true. These clothes were large on me

but i'm grateful.

" Layla, do you remember the town, how we'd get flowers from the fields and bring them back for mum. How they sit on the white windowsill for days until they wilted." He brings places his hand on the back of my head bringing me in for a warm hug and I knew. I knew his name.

Law. Trafargar Law.

In all my time, I have forgotten many thing but I still remember many things, he being one of them. My dear little brother. My poor pitiful younger brother.

I never cried. Not since the man with the smile stole away my sister. Not when man beat me. Not when they chained me. Not when I wanted to scream in pain or anguish but finally, I cried because someone had heard my prayer from long ago. A prayer I whispered for only the waves to hear.
I prayer for the safely of my meek, younger brother. Oh, how he's grown, his hands weathered and rough. His eyes hardened by reality, and his smile no longer sweet, no longer pitiful.

I know.. Nobody knows what we've been through. No one knows what we, the last remaining Trafalgar siblings have gone through. I can only hope that Law never experienced the hell that I've lived through and pray that he never will.

Tears continue to fall and he wipes them away before they leave streaks down my cheeks.

" I cant find Diane. " I whisper. How long has it been since i've let her name slip past my lips.

" Law.. I cant see hear her." I say one more time, each time more painful. He lets me cry.

As the oldest, i was always told to protect the family.

As the oldest, I was to keep the family together nomatter how far we grow apart. I was to use every ounce of my power to bring them back.

As the oldest, I had to be strong.

It wasnt the fact that mother died.

The fact that father was killed.

It wasnt the fact that Diane and I were taken.

It was the fact that i couldnt protect anyone.

It was the fact that i could only watch it happen.

It was the fact that i could only watch my sister being stolen away from me.

I had to be strong. I had to be strong so that i could bring everyone back together no matter how far we got. I had to be strong to fight the insanity growing in my mind. I had to stay strong so that i could protect myself from myself. I had to be strong to stay alive. I had to be strong to keep on moving forward. I had to be strong so that i could hope that my siblings could one day have a place run to.

It was the fact that i was so much in need of power yet... I was powerless.

Powerless.

Yet, here i am. In the arms of my younger brother who i'd thought would be dead. Yet here he is, somehow seeming much stronger, much more reliable than who i remember.

" Law, I'm sorry. "

I was only chasing a dream. I could never had been strong enough to protect my family from them.

From the world

From the bad men

From Donquixote family

The celestial dragons

I was just chasing a dream

She's staring at the wall. Her heteromatic eyes watching for the mouse to come out.. Her whole body still, even the little bell on her collar

" Layla-ya.. Everything will be fine once you rest. I've got you now. "

His words are kinder than those of when he was younger. His face looks more relaxed.

" Law.. Stay until i wake?" He grips my hand..

" Of course. "

His grip on my hand never loosens and the night or day, which ever it may have been was quiet. For once, since that horrible day, i felt at peace, or more so i should say, safe but i know, that will not last. Not as long as there are people in this world and a world for people to rule.
But for once, for the time being, I could feel the hear the calm breathing of another beside me, the soothing rhythm of a heart beat in the hand that grasped mine, the rocking of waves outside. It's as if the world around me is singling me a lullaby and finally, I could fall asleep to it.

She waits patiently by the wall, watching for the mouse to step even closer to the opening it had made itself. For if it does, her claws would sink into it's flesh and never let go. Not until she is certain that it is hers and it will never again run or hide.

But the mouse, the mouse in which it chases never came out. never made an appearance..

It was never caught.

The mouse in which she chases did not exist.