DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE. IF I DID, THEN I WOULDN'T HAVE TO WRITE FANFICTION ABOUT IT.

Chapter Thirty-Six

The silence from the man beside me lasted too long. My sniveling and whimpering and hiccupping sounded extremely loud now that someone else was around to hear it all. I mean, I didn't really care all that much that he was listening. I was already crying, and I couldn't stop. I needed to get this all out of my system because I had been holding back for too long.

When I was able to properly form words, I spoke with my face still hidden behind my shirt. "How did you find me out here?" My voice was raspy and raw sounding from crying for so long.

"You're hardly unpredictable, Mara. All I had to do was follow the sound of needless self-pity, and there you were!" I would have snorted if I had the energy to do so. "I mean come on, Mara! She isn't even here yet—Kaeli doesn't even know where you are, so suck it up and go on with whatever you're doing with these damn pirates."

My face scrunched up and I pulled my shirt down, revealing my eyes and glaring over at him. "You're not supposed to talk to me like that, Marue. You're supposed to, like, come and comfort me or something."

"What the fuck is there to comfort, Mara?!" His face twisted up and he balled his fists at his sides, glaring at me with angry eyes. I jerked back in shock, surprised that he was actually yelling at me. He had never done that—well, not seriously at least. He wasn't one to get very angry with me ever. "You're balling up in the forest and running away from your problems like this is some cliché book or something. Get a fucking grip and go back to your pirates! Why would you run? Why would you cry because you found out that she's out and coming for you? Has she found you yet? Does she even know where to start?"

I got up quickly, making sure to not put too much pressure on my palms as I got into a kneeling position, pointing an accusatory finger at the red head in front of me. "You said she was coming here. Coming for me!"

He stayed seated on the ground, not flinching when I yelled back. "It was a general usage of the word 'here', idiot." His low voice seemed to make me jump just as much as his shouting voice. "I meant that she would find you eventually—not that she would find you right away!"

"That doesn't even fucking make sense, dumbass!" I shouted back, throwing my hands up in the air as if asking the universe why he was so dumb. "It's your fault that I got so damn scared! I thought tha she was already on her way here, or that she was currently on the island, asshole! Next time choose your words carefully!"

Marue jumped to his feet and stalked to me, lifting me up by the front of my shirt and pulling my feet from the ground, glaring at me eye to eye. He moved quicker than I ever seen him move, but I chocked it up to my burning eyes, slightly blurry vision, and his anger. "Don't blame your pity party on me, Mara. I swear to everything that I love if you do not suck it the fuck up and go back to the pirates and act like nothing is wrong than I will drop kick you right now." He spoke through gritted teeth and was dangerously close to my face. "Don't let her ruin what adventures you can have like Raven did. Just deal with her when she comes around, but for now, just have some god damn fun for once, please!"

I gripped his wrists so that I could hold some of my weight as well, not having to be held up completely by him grabbing my shirt. "I can't help it, Marue! It's one fucking thing after another! First I have to deal with my almost execution, then I have to go back to the Archipelago and almost get killed by Kuma! Now I'm travelling with Trafalgar Law, who nearly killed me when I snuck off his ship to save Ace! Then I have to deal with Pops dying, as well as Raven attacking me and the Heart Pirates! I can't deal with this anymore!" Tears formed in my eyes and began to spill over, but regardless, his face was still contorted in anger. "I never get a break anymore! I never get to just relax and not have to deal with me or someone close to me dying! It's always been death, Marue! Death is constantly around me and I don't think that I'll ever be able to get away from it!"

"Then grow up and deal with it!" He shot back, shaking me slightly. "Don't be a baby about death, Mara, because everyone deals with it! Do you think that you have a special case or something? Newsflash dumbass—everyone loses people close to them eventually! You're not the only one that lost her family, okay?! At least you were able to save Ace from dying—at least you were able to keep one of the many people you care for alive!"

My lips trembled and my tears spilled onto his hands and wrists. "I never said that I had a special case." My voice was a mere whisper after all the shouting. "I know that people die every day—I know the value of life, idiot. I'm just…I'm not strong enough to deal with it like other people are. I can't handle the fact that people close to me will die before I do. It's just that…" I looked down at his hands and watched my tears slide from his skin to the ground beneath us. "I'm scared…"

"You're scared of death?" I didn't answer, but I didn't need to—he knew the answer just by the choked sound that tore through my throat. With a sigh, he set me back on my feet and gripped the back of my neck, smashing my face into his chest. My sobbing and ugly crying was over. I had gotten it all out when I was lying on the ground. Now I was looking at the trees surrounding us and crying silently, letting my tears soak the front of his shirt. "A lot of people are scared of death, sweetie."

I sniffled and shook my head. "Like who? It's a weak thing to be scared of something so inevitable, but I-I can't help it, ya know?"

"I'm scared of death." He admitted after a moment of heavy silence. "I've never said that aloud before, but I am. It's not that you're weak for fearing death, but it's pretty idiotic to, like you said, be scared of something to inevitable." He stroked my hair comfortingly, and had I known Marue could be so kind and understanding, I may have appreciated him more in the past instead of treating him like a piece of garbage. That thought alone made my heart tear in two and brought an overwhelming sense of guilt onto my shoulders. "But I guess, in a way, death isn't the scariest thing that there is."

This time, I did snort. "What can be worse than death, huh?"

"Nobody noticing that you've died." He answered immediately. "Or, nobody caring that you're gone."

I took a moment to process his words, putting great effort into stopping the flow of tears. He was right, I guess. What would it be like for no one to realize that you're dead? Or for no one to care? My mind wandered to the deaths of my family back on Scarlet. Besides myself, I couldn't really find anyone who was truly torn up about their deaths. Sure, it was sad for children so young to die, and good honest parents to perish alongside them, but nobody went up to speak at the funerals. Nobody had anything really memorable to say about them. Mom and dad hadn't really done much, so the most that they got was when someone said 'They were good people. They will be missed.' Hardly something that one would remember in the long run.

"I… You're right, I guess." I spoke after a few minutes, breaking the silence. "That is the worst." I pulled a dick move and used his clean shirt to wipe my face off, which he protested loudly and shoved me back away from him, frowning on the snot and tears now covering the front of his shirt. "Thanks, Marue. I never knew you could be such a...motivational speaker. In a twisted and mean sort of way."

He rolled his eyes and flicked his braid over his shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, yeah—just shut up and go back to your friends." I almost said that they weren't my friends, but stopped short. They were my friends. They all may not see it like that, but I saw every single Heart Pirate as my friend—even the grump of all grumps, Trafalgar Law. "Make sure you come up with a good cover story for all this mud, though. You look ridiculous."

I gave a small smile, which grew quickly into a full blown grin. "You look just as bad—have you seen your butt?" He looked down at the body part in question and frowned at his muddy bottom. I snickered, but he rolled his eyes once again before smiling back. "What are you gonna do now?"

He then jumped up into a tree and gave a two finger salute. "I have places to go and people to see, but I'm sure you can find your way back. Have some fun adventures and fall in love with Trafalgar Law, please! He's too cute to not—" I whipped a vine onto his face, and he fell from the tree and a solid thud.

I turned on my heel and stalked back through the trees with a burning face, wary of any stray roots so I wouldn't fall down again. I already had enough mud on me, and I didn't need anymore. Marue's laughter was tuned out as I weaved through the trees, and if anyone ever asked, I would deny that I ever smiled at his request.

I would also deny the little twinge I felt in my heart and the pit of my stomach at the words 'love' and 'Trafalgar Law' in the same sentence. I mean, what kind of ridiculous request was that? Someone like Law didn't love people. I couldn't even stand that man, let alone think of the notion of loving him!

When I made it out of the trees and onto the street, I stopped dead in my tracks and looked down at the ground. "I don't even like him!"

"Well, that's good to know, but what the hell happened to you?" I spun around and faced Penguin, who was flanked by Nate and Killian. They all seemed confused, but Penguin's face had a tinge of worry in it as well. "Did you go mud wrestling?" Nate continued to question, a grin breaking free onto his face.

"If you must know, I just wrestled a bear in the woods." They all looked doubtful, but I ignored the looks and grabbed ahold of Penguin's arm, dragging his along with me in the direction I had been heading—back to the sub.

After a little bit of walking, he looked back at Team Medical Supplies before looking down at me. "I take it you wrestled Marue?"

"I fell."

He bit his lips together to keep from laughing. "What happened out there? I heard some shouting, but couldn't make out any words."

I looked up at him, looked back at Nate and Killian, who were staring at us curiously, before looking straight ahead with a smile. "Well, he finally, uh, talked some sense into me." Well, more like shouted, but whatever. "Everything is fine now, so don't worry."

"Are you sure?"

The docks came into view, and I immediately spotted the stupid canary yellow submarine with the Heart Pirate's Jolly Roger painted on the side. I just noticed that the word 'DEATH' was painted on it as well, but I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my lips. I was scared of death, yeah, but who wasn't?

So, with a nod, I patted Penguin's arm and smiled. "Yeah, I am absolutely positive."

[A/N:] So, I was going to post another chapter earlier than this, but my internet was being dumb and I couldn't do anything but write it. So, I have quite a few chapters done, but I am going to post them over the course of the week. I figured I'd do one now since I only started on my laundry after the Super Bowl, and I have to throw it in the dryer still .-.

I was going to have Law be the one to find Mara while she was having a breakdown, but then decided I could do more with it if Marue was the one to find her. I hope I didn't disappoint too many people with this little change, but if I did, then I'm sorry! I actually really like this chapter. I just like the way it turned out, and I hope you guys do too.

I will see you guys in no time! Love you bunches~!

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