Category: Hurt and Comfort
Characters: Carina
Requested By: Anonymous User
Author's Note: Honestly wasn't sure what to categorize this as, because it's a little different than what I normally write, so that's the best I could come up with. XD I hope you guys enjoy it even though it isn't a romance; it was an interesting character study for me, at the least. Happy reading!
As she lounged in a lovely flower-printed blue silk hammock stretched between two palm trees swaying in the continuous salty breeze, her curvy frame clothed in a luxurious white bikini and a piña colada in her bejeweled hands while she watched the glimmering red sun sink slowly below the gently rolling waves, Carina for the first time truly felt like she was in paradise. She pursed her lips in a smirk as she stirred the alcoholic beverage contained within the half-pineapple container; it was the thief's future that she had always dreamed of, retired on a tropical island with more money than she knew what to do with.
After bidding Nami and the rest of the Straw Hats farewell while making off with Gran Tesoro's casino ship, Carina had torn the massive structure apart acquiring everything valuable. It was true that he had no stash of gold hidden within his dreamlike nightmare of a vessel, but there was still plenty of money and jewelry and fine clothing to be had upon it. Once she had acquired everything she had wanted, she sold off the casino vessel and all the contents she did not wish to take with her, and instantly became a multi-billionaire. Perhaps the "ethical" thing to have done was to sink the ship, tainted with the blood and tears of hundreds, into the sea, but she was a woman with needs and material desires, after all. Sometimes, though, when the nice things and hundred-Belli bills were not enough to eclipse her mild guilt, her mind would wander to the ship's fate. Was it now simply an honest casino- or as honest as one could be-, or had it devolved into a slave vessel once more? Carina hoped not. She knew the pain of being owned.
It happened shortly after her departure from Nami all those years ago; she had narrowly escaped the clutches of the vicious pirates they had run afoul of and fled to a boisterous port island along the Grand Line. A small child, homeless and surviving by picking pockets, a human wrought low- she slunk about the streets amongst others of her ilk, raucous and brutish pirates, bloodthirsty bounty hunters, amorous prostitutes, dipping her hands where she would to make off with Belli and valuables. She had managed to acquire the basic things an urchin required in its rough life, a scratchy blanket and flat pillow nestled in an alleyway with a construction of discarded furniture and sheet metal to stave off the pouring rain, a little oil lamp to provide a small burning flame when the nights grew bitterly cold, a picture book she read two hundred and sixty-eight times and told herself she never tired of. Most of her Belli she spent on food, because she at least managed to hold onto enough pride not to dig through the garbage. Of course, she had to defend her humble home from those unwilling to do what it took, and earned herself several bruises, bloody noses and black eyes, broken knuckles and pale white scars. For almost a year she persisted like that, merely getting by- that is, until she was caught with her fingers in the wrong purse. Like a whirlwind had whipped her away to a foreign land, Carina suddenly found herself a slave.
It could have been worse. She could have been forced to work in mines, or serve as the packhorse pulling the nobles and their shopping for the day in their carriages, or worst of all, thrust into the seedy underworld of the child trade… No, Carina was one of the fortunate of the unfortunate; she was a maid. She was of tender age and could not meet the physical demands of scrubbing endless stretches of floor, climbing rickety ladders to dust crystal chandeliers at the peak of domed ceilings, sweeping and mopping and serving tea and cakes- plus, she maintained her rebellious attitude. If she allowed them to whittle her down to an obedient, meek member of the help, she would be nothing. It did not go unrewarded, though; many times Carina lay in her bunk, her face or behind stinging with vicious slaps, her back bleeding from tears from the whip's sharp teeth, her feet blistered and sore from the day's work. Years went on like that, and Carina grew from a disgruntled child to a young woman- but she never forgot, the taste of the open sea and the freedom of the salty wind, the feeling of smooth jewels and the glitter of gold… and she never relented.
She was fourteen when she first stepped foot on Gran Tesoro's grand casino ship. Her owners had of course heard the fuss, and needing to be among the highest of the high and knee-deep in the latest trend, they had booked a week-long extravagant getaway on the sailing resort. Carina had been the chosen of the help to come along, though she could never reason why; perhaps they feared if she was not under careful watch, she would pilfer their home and make off, which was not entirely unreasonable. Still, it was not an awful experience. The suite adjoined to her masters' was quite an improvement over her humble maid's berth in the mansion, outfitted with silk sheets and a down comforter over a mattress seemingly made of the clouds themselves, a full-sized bathroom luxury soaps and shampoos with a claw-foot tub you could sit a giant in, and all the other furnishings from her wildest dreams. Upon one night of staying there Carina decided that she never wanted to leave, and fate answered her wish.
Surrounded by so much money and wealth, Carina's thieving nature began to itch terribly. Her masters were so involved in their own gloating and pandering that their watch waned. If she could procure a gold watch or two, a stack of Belli, a string of pearls, some diamond earrings, anything at all in that mountain of hypocrisy and excess, surely she could buy her way out of her situation. She was actually making some headway, flitting about the slots nicking something here and there, until her masters came looking for her. Carina had panicked then and darted off, laden with her burden of near-freedom- and crashed right into the master of the casino ship. Her goods went scattering, coins arcing through the air, pearls spilling from her dress, bills flying about her like a hurricane. Her heart jumped in her throat, lodged there like the massive emerald brooch that clunked to her feet as she landed on her behind. Her masters were screeching in the background while the people around raised a fuss as they realized their items were now scattered about the lavender-haired girl, but Carina had eyes only for the man towering above her.
It was the first time that someone had truly smiled at her in such a long, long time.
"Are you all right, little one?" The care in his voice seemed so genuine, and the hand that he held out to her seemed so welcoming. Carina felt tears flooding her eyes as she extended her own shaking one to grasp his, and his touch was gentle as he eased her to her feet. Her masters were upon her in an instant, red-faced and enraged, but Tesoro quickly shoved her behind his towering, engoldened frame to shield her from their ire. "I'll buy her from you." Carina's eyes went as wide as china plates as he so easily announced it. Her heart began to drum in her chest. Was she only going to be passed from one slaveowner to another? "I'll buy her freedom." Freedom. The word danced like dissolving sugar on her tongue; how long had it been since its taste had graced her senses? She looked up at her savior with wide, grateful eyes, entranced by him and his generosity.
It had taken quite a while to calm the crowd, who wanted Carina punished severely for her transgression, but after enough money and sweet words had been thrown around, they were satiated and Carina was free- both from their ire and her chains. Tesoro ran a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh as if he had been the one unburdened.
"Why did you do it?" There was no way that someone could be so generous; he had money to throw around, for sure, but there had to be some benefit for him. His eyes flickered down to meet hers and he lifted his hand; so used to a slap being the following action, she flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. Instead of the burning blooming in her cheek, she felt his fingers gently tousling her wavy lavender hair. She cracked an eye open to look at him curiously.
"You remind me of someone I used to know." The sadness in his eyes struck Carina's heart like an arrow, and never left. Even to this day, knowing the monster he was, she knew he had become so because he was burdened with unimaginable pain.
From that point forward, Carina became employed by Tesoro. It wasn't long that she learned the truth of the magnificent, splendorous, tragedy of a ship and began to concoct her scheme to profit off of him and skip out. The Straw Hats had provided a stupendous opportunity for that, and she had gotten to see Nami again, too, and make amends for what she had done to her then. Carina had come onto that ship dirtied by the harshness of fate and her own actions, and she had come away clean, whitened by the promise of a new future.
Thus, Carina's thieving days were done. She was content to lie in her hammock under the burning sun for the rest of her days in comfort and security.
Carina glanced down at the crystalline white sand as her Den Den Mushi began to ring, and she set the drink down to pick up the receiver. Nami's cheerful voice rang on the other line.
"Hey, Carina!"
"Hello, Nami," she smiled as she settled herself comfortably in the hammock. "So, tell me about your newest adventure."
"You won't believe the stupid thing Luffy did-"
Though Carina definitely loved her island home and peaceful life, her adventurous spirit definitely wasn't dead. A girl had to have some way to entertain herself, after all!