The Gulls of Navarone
Chapter 9 : The Beginning of Dissent
Note : The italics are Johnathan's thoughts
Note 2 : Rewrote most of the story to make it shorter. And not as confusing.
Retreat. The farce has played itself out.
Sakazuki-san's voice on the den-den mushi was agitated. A week ago. When it ended.
Here he was now, poor Johnathan. Sitting by the sea somewhere far from Marineford's madding crowd. Reports and hearings still due.
A cigar smoked on in the silence.
Perhaps it was an hour, perhaps more.
"I'm sorry for what they put you through"
He was apologizing?
When there was some more silence, an awkward question was put through:-
"So, how's Jessica?"
Johnathan smiles a bit and finally reacts in a long while.
"Running G8 like clockwork. She's changed the menu just a little to be more steeped in vegetables."
"I see."
You don't. You never care what you eat. Why are you even here? It's not at all like you to...
A gull swoops off with a starfish in its mouth.
Another awkward pause.
"Why...?", Johnathan begins.
Sakazuki sits back in resignation waiting for the obvious. Some things don't ever change.
"Why do we follow the Word Government's orders?"
No. Maybe they do change...
Sakazui's cigar almost fell off. He holds it in his hands twirling it between forefinger and thumb.
There is so much anger in that voice.
Sakazuki keeps staring at the sea unable for once to admonish such blasphemy.
"We're only their damned puppets!"', Johnathan breaks out of his calm self, at last venting all his pent up bitterness.
"Are we?" says Sakazuki blankly, mechanically, scratching his scarred ear.
"YES! All we ever do is follow their orders!"
The smoke is once again disturbed as he raises the cigar to his lips. For once he won't give the correct response. He cannot. It's not the right answer to this unasked question. Besides, something buried deep in him suddenly finds a voice. Something that often pricks him every time he feels discontent with his hindered work. The Marines are employed by the World Government? Bullshit.
"Listen"
Sakazuki's tone is authoritative-no anger, no malice, no resentment - calm and rigid like him, no emotion at all.
This man had no guilt nor self-consciousness. All his life is but a straight path of destruction.
"Every single thing we've done as Marines, we did it of our own free will. Even if the orders were theirs what we chose to do with those orders was our choice and discretion. And that is guided by our sense of justice as Marines."
"Sense of justice?", Johnathan repeats in a hollow cynical voice.
Sakazuki sighs for a bit.
"When you tried to save them, you knew you'd keep them alive. If it had been me, I'd have put them out of their misery just as they deserved. They are criminals by the law. Kuzan would probably save them and then leave them irresponsibly. Sengoku-san...well, he'd follow the Government exactly."
The stony, peevish silence doesn't seem very mollified. Perhaps that wasn't the best way to end the statement.
"Whatever you may say of us Marines, whatever crimes you say we are made to commit - we do it for our pride. For the sake of this establishment - we maintain law and order as it is defined by the ruling government. Do you really think anything will change for long even if the government falls?"
Yes. It will. It will. Saul...Saul the traitor who was frozen into silence. Not the first voice of dissent. Won't be the last. You yourself told me about it - his doubt : not everything is as it was told. Our WG lies.
"And thus we follow those orders exactly and without protest."
No. You do - you're the only one whose beliefs are absolute.
"You mean we follow them silently without protest", says Johnathan, breaking his belligerent silence at last.
Sakazuki takes a pretty long puff like a long drawn dramatic sigh.
"Why don't we begin to resist, eh?"
What?
Johnathan spins around to find his mentor grinning broadly at him. Sincerely, like always. He never was too good at any expression that wasn't direct, serious and sincere. It was the reason nobody ever disbelieved him. Even when he lied.
But he was sincerely grinning. Something had to be wrong! This man wasn't asking a rhetorical question. Nor was he teasing him despite his sudden change to a light tone. It didn't suit him. At all. That evil grin and mischievous smile that ran up to his red-brown eyes, it was wrong somewhere. Very wrong.
And yet, it seemed so much more natural. Almost as if there really was another side to him. A side that was half a wolf - willing to turn upon his master unexpectedly.
His anger that had reached a boiling point suddenly felt as if it was plunged into a bath of cool water. He could feel himself resonate with happiness, a joy lined with something wicked and malicious. And that molten steel, so like magma, was forged into an iron resolve.
Johnathan grins back.
"Why not?"
The only thing he was certain about at the moment was Sakazuki reassuring him that he loved Jessica's cooking since ages and ages ago. That was a given. Even though Jonathan had never seen him show any liking to the usual food he did remember how he'd wolfed down everything at Jonathan's wedding. Besides, his two closest people respected each other even though Jessica would never approve of anyone else who had done the same as Sakazuki and said so quite often. The found their common ground in Jonathan in strange ways.
Jonathan is certain that he just dreamed up a conversation with Sakazuki-san. His dilemma was confusing.
It was a paradox really. His mentor was the one man he knew he could trust. The man was terrible at being dishonest with his allies. Or those he deemed allies rather. But, he was a man incapable of the emotions Jonathan thinks he saw.
Was it because of...guilt?
Jonathan's near empty room shook with laughter at the thought.
No. Sakazuki was incapable of feeling guilt or remorse or the like. He was blindly wed to his duty and had made himself the most faithful husband.
He was glad though that things turned out this way. Not everything was lost just yet.
Note 3 : The stories are set in canon world with non-canon events and this chapter is set in the 2 year timeskip whereas the others from before are set a few years post Roger's execution and a year after the destruction of Ohara. (If I have the order correct that is...) So the three admirals are still vice-admirals for some time to come in them whereas...you know whats here.