TITLE: Paint the Sky Blue
PART: One-Shot
AUTHOR: Simply Kim
WORD COUNT: 941
CHARACTERS: Kaku, with mentions of Galley-La and CP9.
PAIRING/S: Kaku + Paulie.
GENRE: Angst
DISCLAIMER/S: Such masterpiece is given only to the one who has enough brain cells to create it. Besides, I absolutely lack the ability to make something thoroughly amusing, so no, I don't own One Piece. X3
NOTE#1: Blah or Blah is for emphasis. /Blah/is for conversations over the phone or flashbacks (if any). /Blah/ is for the conscience or whatever inner voice there is talking. Blah is for thoughts or random Japanese words.
NOTE#2: Spoilers for the Water 7 and Enies Lobby arcs.
PAINT THE SKY BLUE
All he remembered were the face of death and the feel of steel embedding in his body.
And he was rendered almost immobile, eyes staring up at the wrecked ceiling of what was formerly the Tower of Justice. He had sliced it in half before, and the battle he immersed himself into depreciated it even more.
Inside this room, he felt confined, almost suffocated. The urge to go out and jump from Water 7's cliffs was strong… but he couldn't since he was a long way from there. Besides, he couldn't even move his body anymore.
He remembered being in the company of Galley-La's ship builders. He had been with them, among them, for almost five years.
He cherished the freedom such association dealt him.
Even now when he betrayed everything they stood for, he still wanted that same freedom that made him teeter on the brink of ecstasy.
"I have a message."
Kaku listened intently, wary of what it was the person whom he lost to have to say.
"From Galley-La's young boss."
A smile adorned Kaku's face at the mere mention of the company… and he knew exactly whom that young boss was. He had been under his care for so long that he could probably trace the outline of his features on a blank canvas.
"He said you guys are fired."
Somehow, he knew that was what the message was. He was actually expecting it. But the twisting in his gut that didn't have anything to do with his current debilitating injuries made itself known. It still hurt even after everything that had happened.
He laughed... a soft yet bitter laugh that made his insides scream.
"Paulie, huh?" Kaku responded quietly. "I see…"
Dear, dear Paulie… the first person he met and became friends with. The same Paulie who had pledged to be his friend until the end of time, just as he did. Galley-La's Rope Master who, during his last birthday, tied him to the mast of the ship they were building just to make him ingest the new and improved cake he had baked.
It tasted like rotten apples then, but if that same cake was fed to him now, he knew it would taste as delicious as the ones in his favourite patisserie downtown.
Paulie.
"I see." He repeated, closing his eyes. "That's going to be a problem." He mused with as much mirth as he could project. He coughed up blood once, and continued. "Being an assassin as a profession… isn't going to get me another job."
"Then why don't you try the zoo?"
Mirth bubbled up his throat and he let out a wheezing snort of laughter. "That's funny!" He acquiescenced as he held out the prized key. It was well-won, after all, and the right number for the captive's kairouseki handcuffs.
But his hand couldn't hold out anymore. The key dropped down with a final clink. Much of his strength was depleted and all he wanted was to just go to sleep. It was a sleep he wished for more than anything, now that he knew he didn't have anywhere to go to.
He failed.
"Sorry about that." He heard the pirate hunter murmur sincerely. Seemed like true swordsmen understood each other after all. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't open his mouth. There was nothing on his tongue but the metallic taste of pouring blood.
He hated failing.
And he had failed.
Not only did he fail himself, but he failed the World Government.
And then there was Galley-La.
Iceberg-san, Lulu, Tilestone…
Paulie.
He had always thought there was no job as enjoyable as being an assassin. The power and the pleasure of playing God were intoxicating. He lived in a world where no one saw through the darkness but him – and the other members of CP9.
But that was before Water 7.
His body felt numb. He could still hear the pirate hunter conversing with his nakama. But all he could do was try not to scrounge up the regrets that had accumulated all the years he had been a shipwright. If only he didn't participate in this craziness. If only he wasn't a member of CP9. If only he never became an assassin.
Maybe he would've ended up content and happy.
He loved Galley-La.
He loved his job.
He loved running in full speed and launching himself down the tall cliffs leading to the marina underneath. He loved being able to laugh and smile all day. He loved being able to laugh and smile together with his own nakama all day.
He wanted to hear Iceberg-san's authoritative voice commanding him to stop pilfering the cookie jar in the headquarters kitchen.
He wanted to see Lulu try to smoothen that stubborn cowlick on his head after napping.
He wanted to see Tilestone as drunk as ever, talking to the nearest lamppost as if they were long-time friends.
He wanted Paulie to tie him on some ship's mast on his next birthday. He wanted to taste that cake again.
He wanted the freedom he had begun to covet a year after associating with them. He would be able to do whatever he wanted during afternoon breaks. If he was free, maybe then he would be able to take up painting as a pastime. He would be able to paint an entire landscape then.
Iceberg-san was the formidable fortress; Lulu was the moustached princess; Tilestone was the land the fortress was anchored on…
Paulie would be his sun.
He would be the sky cradling him.
And maybe, just maybe…
He could finally paint that sky a vivid shade of blue.
ENDE
A/N#1: Feedbacks are greatly appreciated!
A/N#2: Whenever I listen to Boystyle's "Kokoro no Chizu", I cry for Kaku. :(