Hey everybody,
here comes the next chapter. I hope you will like and enjoy it^^
Have a great weekend ;-)
Chapter 6 - Water
The market was huge!
It may have been just Rosinante's imagination, but after the solitary coldness on Minion and the emptiness in Law's room, countless people were on the road here, crowding together, talking to another and over another. Children laughed, merchants advertised their wares, and shoppers haggled, and Rosinante in the middle of them.
Here and now, he found it hard to believe that the world should have changed. This market worked as any he knew, people hardly spoke differently, and although new history seemed to be written, everyday life seemed to have hardly changed for the ordinary citizen.
Some glances fell on him as he walked from stand to stand, comparing prices, and pondering what they might actually need. But he was used to such glances, by his height alone he stood out and between the familiar faces of the neighbors one noticed a stranger even faster. But the people were friendly to him and his much bigger problem was the significantly increased prices, which seem to be completely normal for the people here.
"Oranges didn't use to cost that much, Numnum," complained an old lady next to him, and Rosinante could only silently agree with her.
"They are the same price as every week, Mrs. Ralral, and every week you complain."
He listened to their banter for a moment before the trader turned to him and sold him far too expensive vegetables.
After a while Rosinante had everything he was looking for, and for a moment he was just standing in the middle of the crowd, realizing what had happened and what a miracle it was that he hadn't died. The warm sun shone down on him and finally he could accept the truth as it was.
Unfortunately, it didn't shock him nearly as much as he would have expected that his brother had actually shot at him, but it was a miracle that he had survived. Law had saved him, a miracle he had to wait 17 years for.
Could it really be that after all that they had gone through, what had happened, that the struggles, the wars, the lies, the secrecy, the betrayal, the hatred, the suffering, that all this was over?
At some point, Rosinante would have to return to that world, at least for a while, but until then he wanted to fulfill Law's – and his own – wish and simply enjoy this gifted peace for a little while.
Suddenly, his gaze fell on the old lady from the vegetable stand, who was packed with several bags and baskets, leaving the market; the burden seemed too much for her, as she paused every few steps to place her basket on the ground, before picking it up again, and since Rosinante had nothing more to do that day than to wait for Law, he decided to share his little luck a bit.
"Excuse me," he hollered after her, rushing towards her, "may I carry some of your groceries?"
"Oh, young man, that would be too kind." She smiled at him. "But look at you, you're just as packed as I am."
"Oh, a bag more or less doesn't matter."
"Well, if you insist."
She handed him a basket and a bag, and together they continued their journey, leaving the market and the masses behind.
"I'm glad you're doing better. My husband said that the young Doctor had finally showed a smile this morning."
"You... You know who I am?" Rosinante asked, bewildered, as they strolled along the small town's streets in a leisurely stride. By now, the whisper of a gentle sea reached them.
"Oh, of course. You know not a lot of things happen on these islands, so when someone like the young Doctor settles down here... well, words travel fast."
"Someone like," he asked, while the upcoming houses grew further apart from each other and left room for opulent gardens. It seemed to be a prosperous village. One he might have attacked earlier under the leadership of his brother, due to the low level of security. No one here seemed to expect attacks or pirates, he saw nothing that would protect the port from any kinds of raids.
She nodded swiftly.
"Oh, we are a quiet village, but we also get the newspaper. Of course, we all know who the young Doctor is. Surgeon of death or so they called him back in the days. But before the war life was different. Do you know that my husband was a Marine? Hard times, and back then..."
She kept talking, some things interesting other less, but it was quite obvious that the islanders welcomed both Law and him. This may also be due to the fact that doctors in the area were a rarity, as Rosinante learned – apparently most had been hired by a windy ruler several years ago and few had returned – so that, besides the deceased doctor and her daughter, Law was the only doctor to whom the inhabitants of the surrounding islands could turn to.
For this reason, people were probably more grateful that a former pirate with special skills had settled down near them instead of asking questions about his background. Everyone seemed to know who Rosinante was, or at least that he was the patient Law had brought here a few days ago.
The old lady kept talking and Rosinante listened attentively, asking very little, while regarding the small town surrounding him, noting clean streets with carefully decorated flower buckets, noted elegant houses as well as snobbish ones, noted neat simplicity and braggy pomp.
Suddenly Rosinante stopped. They had walked along a quiet country road, to the left small and larger houses, surrounded by colorful gardens, in the background the treetops of a small forest. To the right was a small wall, just high enough to hide the gushing waves of the ocean, but at the end of the road stood a single house and behind it lay the wide sea.
"Oh, that belonged to the Lesles," the old woman continued, "a great house, isn't it? But like many, the Lesles moved away after the war, it has been empty for almost a year now. Such a shame."
That's it!
He didn't know where, but in his memories - no, in his daydreams of the after - it had been exactly this house. , d,,
"Oh, I know," the woman said suddenly enthusiastically, "ask Mr. Tuntun for the keys. The Lesles will not come back and they asked Mr. Tuntun to take care of it, but he misses the time this house would need. If I am not mistaken the young Mr. Doctor lives in the standby rooms of the practice so far, but this is far too narrow for two people in the long run. If you want to settle down here, you need a true home, not some lunchroom."
"Excuse me?" Surprised, he looked down at her, but she smiled kindly and maybe somewhat knowing.
"Oh, my dear boy. Why do you think I asked for your help? I wanted to show you the house."
"What?" Skeptical, he shook his head slightly. Hadn't he offered her his help and she had initially refused?
"You may not know, but Nannan Paipai is my sister and she asked me weeks ago to find a suitable home for the young Doctor. She said he could hardly cope alone. At first I wanted to house him by a loving family, but as it seems a new home would be more suitable, because you probably intend to stay longer, so voila."
"What are you? A fairy godmother?" Rosinante laughed as they continued their way to a small cottage just a few feet away, which, despite its small size, impressed by its lush garden and fine exterior.
The old lady also laughed and took her bag and basket from Rosinante.
"But no, my dear. It also has a very selfish reason. We want you to feel at home here. It is very fortunate for us that the young Doctor has settled down here, and you seem to be a very kind young man one would like to have in the neighborhood." Then she pointed to an old but well-preserved house next to the vacant one. "Mr. Tuntun lives there, I've told him that you might come. So if you have a moment to spare, take a look."
She winked at him and said goodbye. Bewildered he watched her scurrying over a small path towards her the front door of the small cottage, opening the apparently unlocked door, and disappearing in the depths of the house, way more agile that he would have expected. For another moment he regarded the cottage with its flower buckets and its path of yellow stones, before shaking his head and continuing his way.
Despite all the logic, Rosinante followed the insane proposal.
Yesterday he had woken up in a new time, had faced the adult Law. The previous morning, they had just decided what the near future would bring, and now he should look at a house, which the village had already more or less chosen for them?
He would like to say that he wouldn't fall for such obvious manipulation, but the one and a half rooms in which he had spent the previous day were already tight for Law alone, for Rosinante they were tiny, and this house...
It really reminded him of his daydreams and even if they could no longer become reality, the idea to live here so close to the sea, the beach, on a peaceful island with nice – if slightly intrusive – neighbors, together with Law, was all he could wish for, and he had not even been inside.
So he went to the neighbor's house, who had actually been waiting for him, and handed him the key with the words that Rosinante should only return the key if he did not want the house.
It was a strange feeling how people treated him here, so friendly and so considerate, things fit almost too well into each other and Rosinante had great difficulty accepting it simply as lucky breaks, much more likely seemed to him a trap.
The people here seemed to be well informed about what was happening in the world, and the prices of the goods on the market, as well as the houses and the clothing of their inhabitants, suggested that the citizens of this island – or at least this village – were more of a wealthy category. However, this was contradicted by the fact that Rosinante had not yet seen one police officer, security guard or other form of security, and he had an eye for such things. This meant that this island was either so far away from any civilization that the probability of an encounter with pirates was simply very low, or that they were close to some powerful estate, whose protective hand extended even over this peaceful island.
Given the prosperity, Rosinante suspected the latter, but this left the question of why a centralized, prosperous island with good-natured inhabitants should have trouble finding a decent doctor. It seemed almost improbable that a well-heeled population would knowingly take in a former pirate with a dubious reputation, let alone welcome him.
No, the longer Rosinante thought about it, the more suspicious he became of what these people actually wanted from Law. At the same time, he did not want to be controlled by the years of espionage, by the time with his brother. Law had told him that he had left this world behind, but Rosinante himself had been a part of it until yesterday.
Maybe the people here were just good-natured, or they were simply used to such a high quality, that only few doctors could deliver besides Law, maybe that was reason enough for them to overlook his past. Perhaps some of them even regarded Law as a hero, after all, he had fought in the Great War two years ago and defended the hope of a better future. Rosinante decided to put his doubts aside and to believe in the goodwill of the islanders.
He wanted this quiet life, on a peaceful island, where the only problem would be the annoying neighbors, but nevertheless he could not simply ignore his feelings. Rationally, he could accept what had happened, but emotionally he had to admit that he had not yet arrived on this island, with the possibility of a peaceful life, at least for a few months, with Law, who was no longer a child, but a grown man who was in the middle of life.
Mentally, Rosinante might wanted to trust the citizens, but the tension still stuck to his bones as he walked up the three steps to the front door. But all this was forgotten when Rosinante turned the key around and opened the door.
A bright entrance area with high ceilings and wide windows greeted him. The windows gave a view to a large porch and behind it the wide, calm sea on which he had been travelling with Law for months some time ago. Except for a sideboard covered with a dusty sheet, the room was empty. Slowly he put down the bags and stepped in. The ceiling was high enough for chandeliers, even the doors seemed quite expansively built, so that he didn't feel like the giant he was in most houses. Mrs. Paipai and her sister seemed to have a good eye for such things.
The adjoining kitchen was built generously, like for a person who wanted to spend every minute here if possible. From the kitchen he reached an open room, which could probably serve as living or dining room. Here, too, the wall to the sea was completely replaced by windows, and Rosinante finally reached the creaking porch through a glass door.
He stopped and enjoyed the sound of the waves, the smell of salt water. He felt strange, could hardly put into words what was going on within him. His feelings confused him, his rationality let him down. This situation was simply too much for him, the day before yesterday he had been fighting through the cold snow, worried for Law's life, weighed down by the guilt on his shoulders over his abandoned mission, always wondering when he would finally face those furious eyes of his brother, always wondering when all his lies would come to an end. He had wondered how long he had been cursed to stay silent and when he would have finally been able to break it…
Slowly he took off his shoes and socks, walked down the five steps at the end of the porch, felt his bare feet digging into the wet, cold sand, and just a few steps later, the seawater brushed his ankles.
Silent tears made their way.
He could not remember the last time he had stood in the sea without this overwhelming sense of powerlessness overtaking him, but all he was now feeling was a strange sensation of purity. With each wave, something of the darkness seemed to be washed out of his soul.
It was over!
His brother had been stopped, his intrigues had ended, the world had been freed from his greed.
Rosinante didn't have to fight anymore.
He would take responsibility for the things of the past, but he no longer had to fight.
As his parents had hoped, he could finally lead the peaceful life of a normal person, not on the run, not under a false identity, not surrounded by secrets. But with Law by his side. The boy he had taken in back then, whom he had wanted to protect from the darkness, but who had ultimately saved him from his very own darkness, from his everlasting silence.
He waded deeper into the water, allowing the waves to soak his pants until he finally stood knee-deep in the sea, with each step he seemed to become lighter instead of heavier, free, liberated. His tears became part of the sea hugging him as he watched his blurry reflection in the waves.
He would no longer need make-up to hide his self, would no longer have to stay silent to hide his true feelings. Law was able to talk to him honestly and with a bit of practice he would be able to do the same. With a little practice, he would manage to let go of the boy Law, whom he had to protect from his own but also from Rosinante's abyss. With a little practice, he would allow the adult Law to let him help him beyond his own abysses. Rosinante was no longer alone with this burden, at least not if he wanted to.
If he allowed it, he would not have to defeat his demons alone, he could live a peaceful life here, in this peaceful place, with Law, and help each other heal from their old wounds.
It was true what Rosinante had told Law the previous morning, his suffering seemed disproportionately small in relation to all that Law had to endure, and yet... he too had suffered all those years, all those years before he had met Law, and the time in which he had seen Law suffer, while he had not been able to save him, neither from the disease that had threatened his life, nor from the darkness in his heart.
But all this had passed now, he had been given a second chance, in a new life, in a new place, far from all the things that he hated, but with Law, with whom he was finally on par, because now Law was no longer the boy he had to save from the darkness, but a grown man who could defend himself.
Was it naive to think they could just be happy? Maybe.
Was it presumptuous that he ignored for a moment that Law's feelings for him were so different from his own, and that he still wanted to live a simple life here with him? Probably.
Was it unjust and undeserved that after all that he had done, he could now find his happiness here, led by people who were far too kind to someone like him? Most likely.
Was it selfish that he wanted Law to stay with him, even though he could now live his own life and no longer depended on Rosinante? Absolutely.
And yet, despite everything, despite all the doubts, all the stabs of conscience, all the guilt and uncertainty, despite everything, Rosinante felt so sure.
Here, in this house, on this island, he wanted to live a simple, modest life with Law and perhaps, only perhaps, this dream could become a reality.
With this thought, he decided to go back ashore, turned around at the very moment when the next wave came, and lost his balance.