Chapter 4 – Halo Jump

The hum of the insects woke Bellemere up. Cicadas; it was summer and they never ceased their screaming. She couldn't blame them. They'd spent years of their life in the underground, blind and sensory deprived.

Only the cicadas were more vocal about it than she was.

Bellemere stared at the ceiling. From her vantagepoint from the floor, it looked pretty dirty.

Another night of drinking, another morning waking up in the same clothes she'd worn the day before.

She glanced at the clock. She made a bet with herself that the 'Gen Lecture Series: Part 213' would begin at half past four. If she was right, she'd have a beer. If she was wrong, she would have a cigarette instead.

Her stomach growled and she pushed herself up. She thought there might be a can of something in one of the cupboards.

Cigarettes; there was half a pack still on the counter. That was a good enough substitute for breakfast. She hunted for some matches and when she found them, she lit up.

She pulled the smoke into her lungs, then exhaled slowly. Much better, she thought. But she could not escape the breaking pressure that had built up in her chest ever since last night.

…they would have been very disappointed in you…

She crushed the pack in her hand. What the hell did he know anyway?

…a lot of what you don't have, girl…

She had lots. Stupid old man. She propped herself up against the counter and counted her blessings. She had this house and this land and…

Bellemere looked around the dirty kitchen, illuminated by the weak light filtering through the shutters. The sink was filled with dishes, her collection of empty bottles were artistically littered on the counter, complimented by crumbs from a thousand rushed dinners. The ashtray was overflowing. Bills were piled on the kitchen table, her clothes were in a pile in the corner. She'd cleared a path to her bathroom; junk covered the rest of the floorboards.

Very slowly, she slid to the floor. The cigarette dangled at the corner of her mouth.

She had lots, she thought perversely.

Sobriety sucked. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the taste of the tobacco and paper.

She couldn't go on feeling like this forever; worthless, tired. It was like she was running just barely ahead of a wave that was chasing her towards a cliff. If she stumbled she would be washed away and drowned. If she didn't make a decision on her direction soon, well, that cliff was coming up pretty quick…

The view over the cliff, her father's favorite place, loomed in her mind. She had stared over the edge many times, watching the surf hit the rocks below, wondering about the temperature of the water, and it always drove her to ask the same question of herself.

To jump or not to jump.

Bellemere cupped her face in her hands. Each time, she walked away from the cliff –

…very disappointed in you…

- hoping that next time she would find the conviction to choose one way or the other.

…what you don't have, girl…

No more putting it off. Now it was decision time.

…disappointed…what you don't have…

Time to jump.

But first she needed to write a letter; her explanation to the others. That was only fair.

==============

Gen had the utter misfortune of having his mother pay a visit to him at the office that afternoon.

"I brought some cookies and my goodness! What happened?" she asked, aghast at the livid bruise on his cheek and the cut on his lip. "Was it a bandit?"

"It wasn't a bandit," he said, pulling the brim of his hat down lower over his eyes.

She jumped to the only other explanation. "Did Bellemere do this?"

He didn't answer.

"Genzo, what did you say to her?" his mother snapped.

He forgot that he was maintaining a stony silence about the whole incident and retorted angrily. "I told her the truth! I told her that her parents would be very disappointed in her if they saw what she had become."

His mother turned white. "Young man, you didn't!"

"I did. And I'd do it again. Someone had to tell her."

She put her head in her hands. "This is my fault. I raised you, so I'm to blame."

"Mom, please." The melodramatics were ridiculous.

She sighed with exasperation and spoke as if she were addressing a particularly dense child. "You don't say thing like that to people you care about, Genzo."

"I do care about her. That's why I told her."

"Correcting her every little mistake doesn't leave an impression of caring," she said gently. She anticipated his retort and threw him a withering glance. "Unless it's from your mother. Correction is a mother's right."

Gen smothered his smile, but his mother caught it. "I didn't catch your father by nitpicking his every fault. I had enough sense to try and change him after we were married, when he couldn't get away."

Gen nearly choked. "You don't actually think that I'm considering…you aren't saying that…that I…me and…that punk kid…"

"Bellemere is hardly a child. She's only a few years younger than yourself and look at you! You're Kokoyashi's village officer."

"She's an alcoholic, violent criminal! And you think I want to date her?"

His mother smiled. "There is that saying about protesting too much, Genzo."

Gen crossed his arms. "This is ridiculous! We are not having this conversation."

His mother glowered at him. "Yes, we are."

Three hours later, he found himself getting ready for a date.

At least that's what his mom was calling it. He was calling it an apology. Doc wasn't calling it anything, but he was on hand, assisting where he was needed. An undertaking of this magnitude needed plenty of back up support – especially when it concerned Bellemere.

Doc looked him over critically, finally deciding that Gen had passed the test. "Your plan? From the beginning, please."

Gen took a deep breath and recited, "I'm going to step in the door before she can shut it in my face, then hand her the flowers. I'm going to ask her out to eat. We'll have our dessert first, an ice cream bribe, then to the restaurant. Then we will go to the docks and we will rent one of those stupid swan paddleboats because the only thing that makes Bellemere happier than when she is causing is trouble is when I am doing something that makes me look ridiculous. There will be plenty of opportunity for me to be ridiculous at that. Especially while looking like this. Please tell me I don't look like a monkey in this monkey suit." He pulled at the necktie, loosening it a bit.

His mother handed him the flowers. "You look fine, Gen."

"She's gonna laugh." He looked in the mirror one more time. He felt uncomfortable out of his uniform.

"She laughs at everything," his mother said, as she tightened the tie back up. She patted him on his cheek and then firmly pushed him out the door. "Good luck, son."

He made it out of town without being seen by too many people. He really didn't want this to get around. It would undermine what little authority he had in Kokoyashi.

As he walked up the path, he noticed that Bellemere's cottage needed a new coat of paint and the unkempt grove was starting to spread to the front lawn. He'd gotten on her case about the mowing around the path, but she never listened to him. Then he firmly pushed his criticisms out of his head. He wouldn't be in this mess in the first place if he could have been more diplomatic.

He gripped the flowers a little tighter and knocked on the front door, praying that she wasn't in.

"Bellemere?" He knocked again, but there was no answer.

He tried to look in through one of the shutters, but found that he couldn't.

He'd reminded her a thousand times about keeping the windows shut when she went out of the house and she'd always laughed at him, saying that there wasn't anything on the island that she was afraid of. She kept those windows opened to spite him.

And now they were shut.

He listened carefully for any kind of indication that she might be inside, but all he could hear was the pounding of his heart.

He took one step back, raised his leg, and kicked. The door slammed against the wall, revealing a dark cottage. He found another mind-boggling sight; the counter was meticulously clean. The empty bottle collection that Bellemere had called her 'company of dead soldiers' was missing. The ashtray that was usually littered with the corpses of cigarettes was clean.

The emptiness about the main room screamed of finality. He charged into the bedroom, fearing what he would see.

==============

Doc saw him from his front porch as he came up the street. Gen was slouched over; flowers hanging carelessly from the hand at his side, the other hand firmly shoved into his pocket. His eyes were firmly on the road in front of him.

Women coming back from the shops and men returning home did not hail their local law enforcer as they usually did. In the space of one short hour, the word had gotten out about Gen's trip up to the cottage and it had already been deemed an impossible mission. The blank and serious look on his face confirmed everyone's suspicions.

Doc stepped off his porch and into the main street as Gen approached. "Hey."

Gen turned up the path and sat on the stoop. He looked as wilted as the flowers he was carrying.

"How'd it go?"

Gen handed him an envelope. It had a dirty sandal print on it.

"What's this?"

"I found it on the welcome mat."

Doc stared at, not knowing what to make of it.

"It's addressed to 'Everyone.' Go ahead and read it." Doc thought he heard a tremor in Gen's voice. With nimble fingers, he opened the envelope and took out the letter, which smelt faintly of oranges and cigarettes.

Dear Everyone,

I joined the Marines. Keep an eye on the house for me. I left the key under the mat.

Bellemere

Doc finally forced the stunning news out of his brain and into the air. "I'll be gobsmacked! The Marines! Bellemere joined the Marines!"

Gen tossed the flowers on the ground, loosened his tie, and burst out laughing. "I'm saved."

===========================

Author's Notes:

First off, thanks for the encouragement everyone! I won't be doing author notes for every chapter, but I figured I should do a little explaining before moving on to the next section.

'Halo Jump' is a parachute jump. It is done at high altitudes above an enemy's radar; the parachutist free falls and opens the chute under the enemy's radar – sometimes falling as far as two miles in free fall. Room for mistakes is nonexistent and its one of the most dangerous jumps to do. It almost always takes the enemy by surprise. Metaphor; I like it.

I am not pegging ages in this fan fic, but I am working under the assumption that Bellemere is between the ages of 16 and 20. That would mean she was between 21 and 25 when she returns to Kokoyashi with Nami and Nojiko and in her early thirties when you know who comes to the village. I think Gen is older by a couple of years, but that they are still contemporaries. If anyone has any information or corrections on these assumptions, please tell me. I like to be accurate.

Part Two – 'The Basics' is in the works. This will take a little longer as I have to read up on nautical terminology and do some in-depth study into real life Marine and Navy training while taking into account the vagaries of the One Piece world.