NOTES & REFERENCES: I am so, so happy you guys like it so far! Thanks to Nix (Guest), mmm-kaitlyn and AmberAnarchy888 for reviewing. Your comments fill me with warmth :D

After the romance, I needed to include a bit more violence, bring Vaas back! Also, a surprising turn of the plot.. or is it?
Let me know how you like the violent Vaas. Too much? Or just enough?

The title is a reference to "Oh, wherefore art thou, Juliet?" from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Part 4 - Oh, wherefore art thou, Vaas?

"Azúcar. Good morning! Wake up!" It was Vaas' voice that woke me up the next morning, followed by his signature chuckle. "Get up, seniorita!"

Still lying in his bed, naked, on the hardest mattress I had ever slept on, I rolled over to face him. Fully dressed - sadly -, he leaned against the table and smirked at me. So last night had not been a dream. For a brief moment, I had considered that it all just had been imagination, a fantasy. But it had been real. I joined in on his smile. "Good morning."
He walked over to me and started a kiss. I grabbed his shirt and tried pulling him closer, in hopes of maybe refreshing last night's experience, but Vaas held back and clicked his tongue mockingly at me. "Well, well, cuero, I got stuff to do! By the way, I take last night's devotion as a sign that you don't want to leave, yes?" – "I'm not leaving." I sat up to get closer to his ear. "I'm all yours, Vaas."
Before answering, he clasped my head with his hands and looked me in the eyes, smiling. "Well, I lied to you. I would not have let you go. Couldn't have wasted you. You…" He did not finish his sentence. "What?" He stroked my face, then stood up. "Shower's in the back. Clothes –" He threw me a bunch of clothing. His smile came back. "Sorry for fucking your shirt up last night. I'll see you in the evening."

While I took a long, well-deserved shower, let the hot water run along my injured body, my thoughts went wild. I was disgusted with myself, disgusted with the fact that I adored Vaas, disgusted with him, I was satisfied from last night, the thought of the murder of my friends unspeakable pains through my body, had it really been the right choice? The egoistic choice, satisfying my fascination with the villain, not behaving morally correct, not dying or having him murder me aswell? Tears ran down my face. I felt responsible for their deaths. Why was it me, being still alive, why hadn't it been my fate aswell, being tortured and murdered? How could I adore, want Vaas so much when he had just brutally taken away all that I had left? How was I to ever live with all of this? With all these thoughts, all this guilt? I knew I would not find answers to any of these questions.
The warm water helped a bit, it cleaned my felted hair and cleared away the dry blood all over my body. I stepped out of the shower cabin and examined myself in the dirty mirror that leaned against the wall. The wound on my temple seemed to have healed quite well already, the one on the back of my head was almost hidden behind my wet hair. My lips were cracked and a huge, now closed up flesh wound on my hip and one on my right rib cage, which had opened up throughout the events of the night, but somehow neither me, nor Vaas had noticed or cared. Bruises and hematomas covered my body; one ran along my left eye, countless were to be found on my chest and my right leg was pretty much one big blue bruise. Under my eyes, purplish-dark circles hinted at the lack of sleep I had been suffering. I was sore all over, but apart from that, I felt fine.
I dressed in a white tank top and some jean shorts that fit me quite well. I wondered where Vaas had gotten these clothes from for a second, but then I decided not to think about it for a moment longer. I probably didn't want to know.
As I stepped outside, the sun was shining in my face, warming my skin, making me feel a little bit better about this island. I decided to take a little walk through the village, where people were cooking, gossiping, hanging up laundry. It was located at a cliff, with a spectacular view over the sea and the seemingly endless jungle.
"Ah, you're Emilia, no?" I heard a voice from behind me. I turned around. It was a woman, hispanic just like all the others around here, smiling friendly, and also a little bit curiously.
"I am." – "I'm Camila. Welcome to our village, dear." She came closer and examined me. "Come, come inside my house. You're hurt, injured, no? You are badly injured. I'll fix you up. Tell you a bit about our beautiful island. Help you find your way. Yes?" I was hesitant at first, but then I slowly nodded and followed her into the house.
I took a seat in the kitchen and Camila handed me a plate of some kind of stew that smelled just phenomenal. She sat down across the small table and watched me eat. "Dulce, chiquilla, it actually amazes me how you are here. It's a great burden to come here not knowing our ways. It's not easy, Vaas is not easy, I mean. You're brave. Not just a hostage." I looked up, into her friendly face. "Is that why I am still here?" – "Yes. He saw something in you. The spirit. You amaze him."
I took a bite. "He amazes me." Camila nodded. "I know. You probably asked yourself why already, no? Vaas is a good guy. Really. He has his problems… as we all do. He's not had it easy in his life. He needs someone like you." She wasn't looking at me anymore. She looked worried, focused on some random spot on the table. "You're the first hostage he has not hurt. He's usually not as blatant with females, but it's been bad before. He's not under any control, not even his own control. With you, he gains a bit of it. Be patient with him." – "He kills people. Tortures them. It's fun to him." I said, and took a deep breath, as the memories of Vaas killing my friends came back. Camila gulped. "I didn't say his ways are understandable."
When I was finished eating the delicious stew, she got out a little case of medical supplies and took a look at my wounds. "Could you lift up your shirt, dulce" she said and I rolled up my tank top, revealing the worst injuries I had on my body. Camila's face turned pale. "Los dios" she exclaimed quietly and started bandaging the flesh wound. "I suppose you're in great pain." – "It's okay" I answered, honestly. Camila looked up and placed her hand on my shoulder. "Truly a brave one. Brave soul. El hombre propone y Dios dispone."
"What let Vaas get this way?" I asked Camila as we exited her house and went to sit down by the cliff. She took a deep breath. "That, Emilia, only he can tell you. What I know are just rumors, even though I have known him almost all his life. He's never told anyone the whole story, he never tells, not even how he got –" She stopped talking and gesticulated at her head, to hint at Vaas' most visible scar.

I spent the rest of the day with Camila, and she told me about the island, how Vaas had taken control over it, about the other "group", the Rakyat, fighting the Pirates and about Citra, their leader. She didn't know any details, as the pirate women were kept out of the fighting, but she gave me a general idea. It got later and later, and the sun went down as I heard a familiar voice yelling from inside the village. "You fuck! What do you think you're gonna do, cabrón? Kill me? Shut your fucking mouth or I'll cut you the fuck up!" We heard a man's voice screaming. I stood up. Camila grabbed my hand. "Don't go there." I took my hand out of hers. "I won't close my eyes and pretend like this isn't happening!" I said and made my way into the village, where the man was still screaming. It ended abruptly just before I could see what was happening: A man was lying on the floor, blood all over him, his throat cut. Next to him, Vaas just stood up and threw a machete on the ground. "Clean up this mess!" he yelled and kicked the body. "What about the other two?" said another pirate. "Hang them up, I'll get to them tomorrow." As the men carried away the dead man's body, Vaas looked up and saw me. He had some blood on his face – the man had put up a good fight. He began smirking at me and waved his hand to get me to come over to him. As I did so, he wiped across his face with the back of his hand. "That motherfucker. Good evening, you look muy caliente tonight." He noticed that I was looking at the bloodstain on the ground, the bloody machete, his bloody hands. "Come with me, cuero." I followed him to the opposite side of the village, a place I had never been before, and I could already hear screams and panting of pain. We entered a big tent. Inside, there were about ten people in handcuffs that were tied to the ceiling. Two pirates were hanging up a "new" one. It smelled horrible, and there was death in the air. In the back, a man was being tortured with an electric rod. He screamed for help desperately, and the pirate torturing him was laughing. "Ola, hermanos!" Vaas exclaimed. "How's it going?" I could not believe what I saw. This was so much worse than what had happened to me when I had been his hostage, and it probably was what had happened to my friends. Vaas approached one of the hostages, holding me close with one arm. "Steve! How are we today? I know, I haven't visited you in a long time, my friend. I want you to meet Emilia." Steve slowly lifted his head up. His eyes were very friendly, and at the sight of Vaas' arm around me, he flinched. "Run" he whispered. His whole body was beaten up. I stared at the hostage and a tear made it down my face. "Ah, you're funny today. You know, cuero, Steve here is the funniest of them all." – "Fuck you, you psycho!" Vaas took his arm off of me and stepped up to Steve. "What did you say, Stevie? You're making me very, very sad, amigo. I hate feeling sad." Without hesitating, he took his hands to Steve's leg and pressed his thumb into a hole where a bullet had hit him. The hostage was in horrible pain, I could tell from his desperate scream. I felt like I was going to be sick. "Vaas, stop" I said. But he did not listen to me. I grabbed his arm. "Stop!" One last push, and Vaas was done. "Alright, chica, alright. Steve has had enough for today. Getting stronger! I will make a man out of you, amigo, you just wait!" He punched him in the belly. I turned around, leaving the tent. Tears streamed down my face. Outside, I hid my face behind my hands. How was Vaas a good man? What could have made him this way? How could I be so fascinated with this monster?
Vaas exited the tent behind me. He grabbed my hips from behind. "You okay, cuero?" I wiped off my tears. Still, his touch felt so good, it almost had me forgetting about what happened in the tent. "Why do you do that? How can you –" – "It is my job. Those people are going to be sold. Teaching them lessons is good. Makes them strong. Makes them obey. And makes me a rich man. Now, let's go, cuero. Enough of this bullshit."

This night, I decided to end the torture. I could not be responsible for all of those people's lives. My friends'. Steve's. How could I be happy with this guilt? All my horrible memories flashed back into my head, especially Maggie's disappointed face, the bullet hitting her forehead, her lifeless body sinking to the floor.
Most of this night, I laid awake, trying to persuade myself into thinking I'd be able to kill Vaas. It would end this dirty business and free the hostages, wouldn't it? It would make up for him killing my friends, take away my guilt. Would I be able to live without him? Probably not. Losing him would hurt me most. He was all I had left, now, all I really cared about. Maybe that was my punishment for letting all of this happen. The island had already taken my sanity away. I had never killed anybody before. Yes, I had combat experience from training with my dad back in the day – but I had never learned to kill someone. Especially not someone I… I loved.
Vaas laid next to me with his back turned to me. I held a knife in my hands, staring at it. It would be easy. Strike out, stab him. And then probably stab myself.
I curled my arm around him, taking a deep breath. Tears ran down my face once again, as I gained some momentum and jabbed the knife in the direction of his heart.