The Mishaps of Piracy

Chapter Six: Arising

She awoke with a shiver, clutching her bare shoulders, and noticed a pair of golden eyes staring at her, and she flushed, seeing her clothes were in tatters. I was so sure I was dead, she thought. "You're awake." The feminine, childish voice was clearly amused, and she snapped, remembering who the voice belonged to.

"Noah," she hissed under her breath. She shot out her hand, tightening her slim fingers around Rhode's pale throat. Rhode smiled easily, undeterred.

"How rude. And I was the one that brought you back to life." So I was dead, she confirmed.

"Send me back," she said firmly.

Rhode frowned. "Now why would I do that? I have a perfectly good reason for bringing you back."

"'Time stands still for the dead, for time belongs to the living,'" she quoted.

Rhode leaned forward into her seat. "So you don't want to see Walker?" She froze, her heart aching, hearing that name so precious to her.

"…Allen?" She had no business being among the living, but she longed to see him, hold him in her arms again, and softly kiss him. She shouldn't, but she listened to the other female. "I do…" she admitted.

Rhode smiled approvingly. "Good girl," she cooed, offering her a brown hand. "Shall we take our leave?" Hesitatingly, she took the female's hand. I'll just see him one more time, then I'll die again.

Fou…

Fou was in a foul mood, mainly because ever since two years ago over her death, Allen would continue to sulk on December 18th, all the way until the day before Christmas Eve, and on that say, he would force himself to smile the most stupid, completely aggravating smile ever. People didn't dare come near the bright orange-haired girl, not even Bak, and that was saying quite a bit.

But of course, Yu wouldn't know that an angry Fou was a dangerous Fou.

Yu didn't pay attention to the young Chinese woman's grumbling as he clutched a sheet of paper, the script neatly written in ink. "Fou… can you read this to me? I need to know what to buy today…"

"Get Rabi to do it," she snapped.

Yu frowned. "He's not there!"

"So?"

He scowled. "I don't know why everyone is such a bad mood today, but it makes me sick! First Komui, then Miranda, now you!" He huffed. "If you don't tell me, I'll ask someone else."

Fou pursed her lips, sighing as she snatched the list away from him, nonchalantly in a disinterested tone reading the items of food, clothing, and other essentials for the young man to buy. Yu stood quietly for a few seconds, muttering, "There's more than I thought. I'll go ask Aren for help."

Fou shook her head. "He's one of the people that are sulking," she said, "like me." She contemplated on telling the young man the reason behind everyone's behavior, but decided the captain would himself tell the boy when he felt ready, but what was the likelihood of that? Besides, nothing would happen if she hinted at what happened two years ago. "If you must know…" Yu stepped closer, listening intently, "…someone important to the captain died today." Yu opened his mouth in an understanding "oh". She jumped up from her seat on the crate. "We might as well get the groceries. Put on your jacket, boy," she directed roughly.

"But I have it on though."

"Right," she said. She disapproved of her captain once again bringing another stray onto the ship, but like any other member of the crew, she had grudgingly grown to like the young boy as she did with so many others before and after her. One of these days, the Crowned Clown would be too crowded for her stupid, soft-hearted captain to take on any more strays.

Allen…

Allen pressed his cheek against the palm of his hand, supported by the mahogany desk which he was currently leaning on. Snow was falling, and the Crowned Clown was stuck in the harbor amongst the ice in the dock. He sighed every few moments, his eyes half lidded, with bruise-like circles underneath his eyes from weariness and insomnia. There was banging series of knocks, and he dully muttered a "come in". "Stupid apprentice." Allen suddenly felt his headache increase by 10. How he dreaded hearing that deep voice. Surely enough, the man of most of his nightmares stood tally in the doorway to his room/office, his long red hair cascading down his wide shoulders and back in a careful mess.

"What do you want now? I haven't earned much money this past month yet."

Cross snorted. "Who said anything about money?"

Allen narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "If not for money, then what for?"

Cross settled down in the cushioned chair before Allen's desk. "Actually, I'm here to discuss a rather important issue." He leaned over the desk. "It seems the Millennium Earl has been acting up lately." Allen's heart jumped at the name, though he didn't show it.

"And?" Allen prompted. "What does that have anything to do with me? I'm sure you and the others of the Black Order could handle the Earl perfectly fine."

Cross sat quietly for the moment, his one visible green eye glinting. "So you don't wish for revenge." It was stated more as a question, and Allen turned his gaze gradually back to his master's face.

"She wanted to me to be happy," he said quietly. "'Revenge stains a person's hands with blood, so they could never possibly gain happiness.'"

"That's not necessarily true."

"But I believe it's true!" Allen said, close to shout, crossing his arms, looking down at his boots. Allen laid his head against his trinket covered desk, his hands clutching his head. "Listen, Master, can you go away for awhile and then come back? I'm really not in the mood to put up with your codswallop…"

"Rubbish." Cross stood, stepping up with an unreadable expression in his green eye. It was one of those times he like these that Allen often wondered if his master and Lavi were actually related.

Yu…

Yu noticed as Fou suddenly stared up into the distant, grey sky, her eyes slightly worried. "Is there something wrong, Fou?" he asked. The woman pressed her lips tightly together, refusing to say anything. "Ah… if you say so." He held the thick bag of groceries closer to his chest as they continued walking on. He was still a little annoyed that Allen didn't trust him to be able to walk around in a crowd without getting mauled or anything-he had heard from Lavi that it was rather unlikely unless he managed to anger someone. Allen had even recruited the woman to "protect" him. Yu quickened his pace slightly. He didn't want to be treated a s a child. But before he knew it, the young woman was already in front of him.

"Hurry up, boy. You're going to catch a cold if you're any slower."

"Ah…? A… aa." He wanted to linger for a few more seconds, but his feet against his will forced him to speed up. He never understood why he had to obey orders, but he didn't worry, because no one here knew anything about it.

Allen…

Allen stepped out, massaging his temples, for fresh air. The weather was chillier than he had anticipated, and the air was biting, unforgivably, cold. The cold quickly numbed his bare fingers, and he was able to forget about how pale her skin looked against her frighteningly red blood as he blew his breath into his freezing hands. "Silly Allen," a voice said, sweet and high and he looked up, widening his eyes. "I realize it's been a long time," she continued, "but why look so frightened?" I'm dreaming, he thought. He didn't dare believe that she was standing before him as alive as the second before she was shot, and his eyes blurred as they welled up with tears. "Allen," she repeated, but closed her mouth as if unsure of what to say, and opted to grin sheepishly. Her long black hair whipped out violently from behind her as the wind played brutally, and her smile was every bit as warm and loving as he remembered.

"Linali," he choked on her name. It was difficult, speaking the name that had bee taboo for so long. He laughed aloud nervously. "This is a hallucination," he said to himself. "I've finally gone insane, haven't I?"

"No Allen," the dark-haired girl said sweetly, ghosting her fingers over the albino's cold cheek. He gulped.

"I saw you die. You're dead…" His supply of air was cut off as a soft pair of lips covered his chastely. "Ah…" He could hold the tears in any longer, and they spilled freely, streaming unwelcome down his face. Her slender arms wrapped around his waist as she pulled his waist, and he stared searchingly into her dark lilac eyes. "Why?" He whispered. The hallucination felt so real and tempting, and he wondered if he was standing on the edge of the railing, where the mermaids waited eagerly to drown him as soon as he put one foot forward and plunged. Her hands settled gently on his back, pressing her fingers and drawing them in gentle circles, rocking him slightly back and forth in her arms, all the while muttering "it's alright" and "don't cry". Allen's eyes flickered to the sight of movement in the corner of his eyes, and he saw a dumbfounded Fou and a red-faced Yu.