Chapter Nine: Love and Loss
~Faythe~
"I know that's what people say- you'll get over it. I'd say it, too. But I know it's not true. Oh, you'll be happy again, never fear. But you won't forget. Every time you fall in love it will be because something in the man reminds you of him."
― Betty Smith
*FLASHBACK*
I lay there in a crumpled heap on the wooden floor of the ship. Kairoseki handcuffs bound my wrists high in the air as the chain attached to the ceiling rattled quietly with the movement of the ship. Blood trickles down my arms from the numerous stab wounds littering them. My clothes were torn and slashed everywhere. Despite all I had suffered as Blackbeard's prisoner, I still refused what he wanted. My heart sank as I heard his heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.
''Hello, daughter. You look quite lovely in this light.'' He laughed cruelly, eyeing me.
''Every day you ask me the same question… and I give you the same answer. I will never leave Luffy's crew. You'll have to kill me!'' I snarled through gritted teeth.
''That can be arranged. See, we didn't really need you. I don't want you on my crew. You're not strong enough, and you being my daughter means I can't have any other sort of relationship with you.''
''So, you're not above chaining me and torturing me, but rape is going too far?'' I stared into his cold, soulless eyes.
''Well, my men could have you, but where is the fun in that? No. I think it's time we get rid of you.''
''Why? Why are you doing all of this?! If you really are my father, then I wasted my whole life wondering about you for NOTHING. How could you do this to your own daughter?'' I asked weakly, tears filling my eyes.
''You don't know anything about me! I wish you weren't my daughter! She died because of you! You are the reason she left me! You came between us, and I will never forgive you!'' Teach snapped at me angrily, getting in my face.
''That's why you're doing this? Because she died giving birth to me?'' I asked incredulously. This was the first I had ever heard about my mother.
''You don't know anything about the pain that you have caused us!'' He squeezed my arms incredibly tight. I felt the slash wounds on my arms reopening as he grabbed me. I tried my best not to scream, but it took all of the energy I had left.
''Don't worry, though. You won't be around long enough to see what kind of world I am going to create for her.'' He laughed, unhooking the chains from my hand cuffs and dragging me by my hair. He threw me onto the ground.
''Ow!'' I yelled, hearing my side make a horrible cracking sound. Blackbeard lifted me by my handcuffs and proceeded to drag me onto the top deck. It was there that he revealed his plan for me.
''Don't worry. We've already left a trail of bodies for Ace to follow. They'll end with the body of his girlfriend and his capture. He will be so heartbroken he won't know what to do. Ze ha ha ha ha!'' He laughed loudly, forcing my head back so that I could look at the desolate desert island we were closing in on.
''That is Alabasta. It will be your final stop…and the start of our rise to fame!'' He smiled coldly at me.
I remember being thrown onto the hot sand and just left there to die, bleeding out from all of the wounds and nearly passing out from that plus dehydration. I almost gave up. My heart wasn't in it anymore…until… I saw him. I thought it was Luffy at first, in the distance. All I could see was the hat and the dark hair. Then, I realized what was happening and I forced myself to stay alive for him.
''Faythe! Oh, my god! WHO DID THIS TO YOU?'' The rage in his voice would make any sailor worth his salt shake.
''It doesn't matter. Please, you have to get off this island! They're looking for you!''
''Doesn't matter? You're going to die if I don't do something!'' Ace gently took some things out of the pack he was carrying and he lifted a flask to my mouth. The water cooled as it went down my throat, refreshing me and giving me a little bit of strength.
''Come on. I'm not letting you die.'' Ace gently lifted me onto his back, hung his pack in the crease of his elbow and tightly wrapped his arms around my legs to keep me from falling. At this point, I used the handcuffs to help me stay on his back even though I felt like I was going to fall.
''Faythe, you're going to be okay. I promise. I'm going to look after you.'' His words will forever haunt me. He took care of me so well. I was near death (possibly in the process of dying) and then he just comes back into my life and forces me to live through this. What have I done to him? It's all my fault.
*FLASHBACK ENDS*
I jerked upright and just barely stopped myself from breaking down. The other girls were sleeping peacefully, and so I grabbed Ace's hat off the dresser and crammed it on my head before carefully making my way to Sunny's exterior. The moon hung low in the sky, the sun probably not far off from rising. There was a slightly chilly feeling in the air as I climbed onto Sunny's figurehead and sat down to stare at the beautiful expanse of sea stretched out before me.
''You okay?''
''Eek!'' I jumped backwards, forgetting I was on the lion head, and just as I was about to fall off, I felt arms entangle around mine. I was pulled back onto the figurehead and I collapsed, breathing heavily.
''Sorry! Did I scare ya?'' Luffy laughed loudly.
''Baka! You almost killed me!'' I gasped.
''Nope. I wouldn't let you die. You might get really sick, but I would look after you.'' The pirate captain said casually. I fell silent and I couldn't meet his eyes. Even though he is an idiot, he still picks up on things better than most people.
''Did I hurt you?'' He had a confused look on his face.
''He said the same thing….and then he died.'' I said weakly.
''…Ace…?'' Luffy asked.
''Please, don't you die on me too. Even if the price is my life, please don't leave me.'' I begged, feeling the tears prick at the corners of my eyes.
''If the price is your life, then neither of us will die. I will protect you, and I will do it by staying alive, too. I won't leave you. I'm your best friend. Where else would I go?'' He smirked at me. There was that weird feeling in my tummy again, and I realized for the first time that it didn't really hurt. Although, it gave me kind of a nauseous feeling along with it. I still didn't know why it was there, and what it had to do with the straw hat boy.
''Thank you.'' I breathed, giving in to some weird instinct as I fell forward and rested my head against his 'X' scar. There was this moment where lifted his arms up in shock… and then he wrapped them tight around me and he pressed his chin onto the top of Ace's hat.
''You're not going to leave me, are you?''
''Never.'' I replied against his skin. He held me tighter.
''Good…because…Sabo and then Ace…. I can't lose you too.'' He whispered. People always assume Luffy is this idiot (and most of the time, he is) but there is this whole other side to him that he only ever seems to show me. It amazes me how different he can be sometimes.
''Luffy… doesn't it seem, colder to you?'' I asked, shivering slightly.
''It's snowing!'' He gasped with childlike excitement.
''It is!'' His arms loosened around me and I could see the fluttering white snow crystals dancing through the air all around us.
''It's beautiful! I haven't seen snow in forever!'' I gasped, standing up and racing onto the deck, dancing around in the wintry air.
''Look, what is that?'' Luffy pointed off into the distance at a strange glimmering light.
''It wasn't there a few minutes ago! Maybe that's the next island!''
''Let's go wake Nami and make her take us there!'' He demanded.
''Are you crazy? She would kill us!''
''But I can't wait! I want to go see the island!'' Luffy complained, staring excitedly at the lights.
''You're just going to have to calm down.'' I told him.
''Ehhhhh.'' He made a sour face and just let himself fall backwards onto the deck.
''What are you doing?''
''I'm going to sleep.'' He replied in an irritated manner.
''Luffy…. Can you hear that?'' All of a sudden, in the stillness of the night, a ringing filled the air. The sounds of laughter and singing drowned out the silence all around us.
''Music?'' He sat up and looked around.
''That island sure does seem like it would be fun.'' I smiled, listening to the beautiful sounds of bells and child-like voices singing in a chorus. In a bit of a trance, I started twirling around in my night clothes, dancing all by myself to the sounds filling the air.
''So, are we going to wake up Nami?''
''Only if you come dance with me.'' I huffed in reply.
''What!?'' His cheeks turned a cherry red as he just stared at me in disbelief. I gave him the classic, you-heard-me-now-get-your-ass-over-here look.
''I don't know how to dance, and I don't want to learn.'' He folded his arms. I could still see the color in his face.
''Then I guess we just have to listen to this beautiful music and see those mysterious lights until daylight, when they might be all gone.''
''Sometimes, you make me angry.'' Luffy said in a rather ruffled manner before making his ultimate choice and standing up. I t took me by surprise when I was whirling around to the beat of the music and the pirate captain suddenly grabbed my hands and spun me around.
''I danced with you. Now can we talk to Nami.'' He sounded so flustered about this that it was almost cute. Maybe it was a little cute. How innocent could he be?
''Monkey D. Luffy! That's not how you dance with a girl!''
''It's how I dance with my best friend, okay?''
''Your best friend is a girl, you jerk! Put some effort into it!'' I ordered. He rolled his eyes, but he knew I wouldn't give in to what he wanted until I got what I wanted. I wasn't even sure why I wanted him to dance with me so badly. I don't honestly know. It was something about the music that just made me want to! My feet had a mind of their own right now!
''Alright, alright.'' He sulked. I took one of his hands and placed it on my waist, while the other I held firmly in mine.
''Now, we spin.'' I instructed, twirling around slowly in the falling snow. The music seemed to grow louder and it felt warmer as the two of us danced together. Luffy didn't meet my eyes at first, but then, he started to laugh.
''What?''
''This is fun!'' He answered, twirling faster.
''Oi, Luffy!'' I yelled as his hand let go of mine and joined his other around my waist. He lifted me into the air and spun me around. I screamed out in surprise, and then I giggled as he went back to our first way of dancing, spinning the both of us around and laughing until we felt our throats get dry and our stomach muscles were tense. We eventually just sat down, him leaning against the mast and me laying on the cold grass (now lightly dusted with snow).
''I don't know what that was.'' I breathed, brushing snowflakes off my eyelashes.
''I don't either, but it was really fun.'' Luffy smiled in contentment.
''What the hell is going on?'' Zolo's voice startled me a little. He was glaring at us.
''Sorry, we just got caught up in the music.'' I responded.
''Yeah, whatever. Thank you for disturbing the peace.''
''Don't you hear it?'' I asked as he turned to go back down the stairs.
''I don't hear anything! All I heard was you two laughing your assess off. There isn't any music. You're tired. Go to bed so that we can all get some rest. Goodnight.'' Zolo hobbled back down the stairs, muttering darkly to himself. I looked over at Luffy.
''You hear it though, don't you?'' I frowned.
''Yeah, I'm not crazy!'' The straw hat boy glared after Zolo. I was confused as to why we were the only ones who could hear it, but I decided not to worry too much.
''I guess he's right. See you in the morning, captain. And…thank you.'' I smiled at him before heading out to the Women's Quarters.
''Goodnight!'' I heard him call out to me.
As I crawled back into bed, I realized I was still wearing Ace's hat. So, I removed the hat and plopped it onto the pillow next to me before closing my eyes and trying to get some sleep. When I finally managed to sleep, the horrific nightmares of Ace's death that usually haunted my dreaming were replaced with Luffy spinning around with me in the softly falling snow.
~I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter. It was kind of emotional for me to write it, and I put a lot of heart into it. As for the Luffy/Faythe dancing kind of thing, I tried to make it seem like Luffy wasn't OOC, but it's really difficult. Especially since I think he really would act different in situations like this. You have to think he hasn't really been put in those kind of situations before (except for Boa, and well… we all know how that turned out.) So, just let me know how you felt about it because I know that whole scene was a little strange, haha. Anyway, thanks for reading! ~MikkyMouse