Come back, come back to me 2
Brown eyes fluttered open.
She found herself staring at the sky and bit her lower lip. She recalled coming out onto the deck to stare-gaze, knowing the cool air and beautiful stars would calm her down, but...had she dozed off? She looked down at the blanket wrapped around her and smiled weakly, figuring Luka had put it there for her.
Then she noticed it was red.
Her eyes moved to look at her company. He was snoring softly beside her, his head resting on one of her shoulders, and she smiled weakly despite her confusion. He'd come out there for her? Had he been there...all night?
For her?
He stirred a bit, and she quickly closed her eyes, pretending like she hadn't noticed him. She felt him rise and wrap the blanket a little tighter around her before his footsteps told her he'd left. Sitting up and yawning a bit, she fondly remembering how his head felt on her shoulder and how he looked when he was asleep.
"Maybe Marvelous-san is a bigger softie than I give him credit for," she rose quickly, folding up the blanket and heading in to make tea.
He stared at the two swords in his hands.
He couldn't have them with him while he was gone. Sure, it'd make him more prone to attacking and getting injured. But the pain in brought on his already tenderized heart was unbearable even when he just held them...he'd be less likely to surrive with them.
Drawing a deep breath, he jammed them into a tree and went on walking to a place nobody, not even him, knew.
The Gallen seemed pretty empty, even with the absense of only one. Gai was absentenly flipping through his book while Hakasae fiddled with his gun, andLuka half-heartidly looked at her ring. Marvelous slept in his chair, like usaul, and Ahim's eyes kept glancing up from her tea. Was nobody as worried as she was about their first mate?
That's when Marvelous stood up, heading the steering room. She felt compelled to follow him, and when she did, he was raising anchor and smirking his famous smirk.
"Well, I decided it's time to go find that idiot," Ahim gingerly sat down beside him and watched the clouds part as they headed for the forest.
As said in his note, Joe knew they'd be looking for him. Therefore, he was crouched inside a hollowed-out tree, where he couldn't be seen by their lookout. He figured they'd be looking for him for next two days, then be forced to rest. It would be then he countiued his journey.
It wasn't like he didn't trust them with knowing what he was feeling right now. He just knew if he was around them his emotions would be too unstable. Each of them reminded him of him in their own way. That would just bring pain to his heart, and if he was hurting, he knew the rest of them were, too.
"I won't be gone forever," he looked up at the ship passing over the tree where he was hiding, "just for a little while. I will come home. I promise."
He'd sooner kill himself than break that promise.
Author Note: In the next chapter, you might *wink* start understanding why Joe has run away! ;D