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Chapter 7 – Current: Friendship
"You made me feel alright for once in my life. Now all that's left of me is what I pretend to be. So together, but so broken up inside." – Behind These Hazel Eyes - Kelly Clarkson
Admiral Kizaru's crew knew better than to inquire about the quiet woman leaving his cabin, wearing the admiral's spare coat, but the temptation was difficult to resist due to the fact she wore that over a plain marine uniform. The woman in question sighed as she blew a lock of blonde hair out of her face before turning to the admiral. "How has headquarters changed?"
The logia put a comforting hand on his love's shoulder. "Last I heard, they are constructing an execution platform for Portgas D. Ace but other than that, it's much the same."
"Good," she murmured slightly as she leaned into his hold. "Too much change would be aggravating. I'm already at a severe enough disadvantage."
"How so?" he murmured as he ran his hand through her hair, feeling the silky strands slowly. "Your skills cannot have diminished that much. Also the fact you have become a devil fruit user only makes things more interesting."
"I have fewer connections now. The crew able to vouch for me in any way is dead. The marines likely have gotten more uptight with their standards. Someone like me won't fit in or be accepted anymore," Serenity argued as she shook her head. "I'll just be a burden or a relic of the past and that's the last thing I want."
The admiral could not help but throw his head back and laugh. The action was so exaggerated that he even placed his hands in front of his mouth in an attempt to contain it. Unfortunately, he was failing miserably. "You actually think someone like you is a burden?"
"Stop laughing," she snarled as she lunged forward in an attempt to kick at his side in irritation. A few of the marines on the ship protested loudly but they were waved down by the admiral who caught her leg easily. His good humor towards the situation made a few of the marines sigh but they returned to their posts, albeit unwillingly.
"Stand down. We won't kill each other or do that much damage to the ship," he said cheerily, causing Serenity to snort in amusement despite it all.
"That much? How we met again should prove that you haven't lost that tendency at all."
He released her leg and smiled happily at her, even lowering his sunglasses to look her directly in the eyes with a serious but calm expression. "If it allowed me to meet you again, I don't mind."
Serenity could not keep her annoyance at the admiral any further as she felt the warmth of the statement and allowed it to wash over her. "You're so romantic," she sighed as she slipped out of her fighting stance easily and approached him. He embraced her lovingly and then motioned over to the figurehead.
They think property damage is romantic? Many of the marines shook their heads and were even more determined to keep their distance from the duo as their survival instincts overrode their natural curiosity.
"Why didn't you move on?" Serenity murmured quietly after they sat next to the figurehead for privacy. "I didn't want you to waste away dwelling on me. I don't deserve to have your worry and concern." She almost shivered noticing the tense rage that seemed to envelop the admiral. "I'm not a good person by any means but yet, you're still so happy to see me. How…? Why…?"
"What do you want me to do?" the admiral scowled almost angrily. "Fucks sake, Sere-chan. When you had me make that promise just to vanish right after, it felt planned. To go missing for that length of time however, I assumed you to have cut all ties with the marines… With me… But despite that paranoia, I never gave up looking for you. Would you have abandoned hope if I was in your situation?"
"I would never give up on you," she replied fiercely as she grabbed the front of his suit and pulled the surprised admiral to her with a kiss. His eyes widened momentarily but he relaxed quickly enough before she released him with a blush. "Please never doubt what I feel for you. That hurts a lot more than what happened over the years."
"We both were suffering in our own way," he said sagely but he could not help the grin that took over his face. Serenity never really enjoyed public displays of affection and to give him that kind of kiss certainly made him feel warm with the effort she was putting forth to prove herself. "We'll have to think of a way to explain what happened though. It was difficult enough explaining to Sentomaru after that fiasco…"
-Flashback-
It was a cursing light logia that was scooping up the unconscious woman that finally pulled Sentomaru's attention away from the Shichibukai that he was giving a rather fierce tongue lashing towards. "What the hell happened? She's just a civilian!"
Kizaru watched with curiosity as his subordinate was obviously familiar with Serenity or at least the version without her memory. "If you really knew her, you would know that she is a vice admiral who had been missing for twenty years. From what I've little I was able to gather, a majority of that was without her memory. While you know her, you don't know her at the same time."
The bulky man with the axe sighed as he watched the normally jovial admiral bark orders with a rare show of authority to the other marines. "I do… or at least did if what you say is correct. This won't be a pleasant discussion once I let you know the details…"
Nodding his understanding, they quickly made their way back to where the admiral had ordered his ship docked and quickly placed her within his cabin. Sentomaru noted the care that was taken with even tucking in the unfamiliar woman. "She gets cold sometimes," Kizaru commented before looking her over. "I'll put her in different clothes later."
"Speaking of clothes, that is what she was doing for years from what I know," Sentomaru said mildly as he noted the admiral brushing her hair out of her face slightly. "She made some of the uniforms for us in Sabaody. Mine included."
Kizaru's shoulders shook slightly as he stood up, motioning towards his nightstand before pulling out a small handkerchief. There was a black shimmering material with bright yellow but shining yarn around the edges in a very angular pattern "She actually embroidered this back when we were recruits you know. So that I could take a piece of her with me for when we'd eventually go on separate missions. I… And don't laugh at this… I tried the same. It looked really bad though. Sakazuki couldn't stop laughing but she glared at him and took it all the same."
"You're a lot more romantic than I would have given you credit for," Sentomaru admitted with surprise. "With the reputation you had amongst the ladies of the marines, it is rather hard to imagine you like that."
At those words, the normally happy admiral released a rather astonishing amount of annoyance and murderous intent. "That is something that I don't want discussed around her. I was going to propose to her after her mission. She is the woman I had planned my life around and she doesn't deserve to hear about other women. Even if it was true those years after her disappearance, I was rather unchained in my pursuits of the womanly flesh, it doesn't matter. None of them mattered at all compared to her. And that was years and years ago. You'll find that one day, Sentomaru-kun. The person who makes your heart skip when they just smile at you. She was my reason for continuing on and now that I know for certain that she is safe and at hand, nothing will ever bring me down or take that euphoria away."
"That may be but what have you heard about her amnesiac activities?" Sentomaru replied after letting the logia breath for a few moments. "You see, I had nothing against pirates which made her have nothing against me. Not calling her a pirate sympathizer but to some extent, she did."
"Explain," Kizaru quickly muttered and he was fully paying attention. As much as he loved Serenity, he needed to be the first to know if anything could potentially threaten her standings. Damn it woman, sometimes you are your own worst enemy.
"She was known for being very kind hearted on Sabaody. If someone ran into misfortune, they could show up to her shop and she would provide for them clothing or potentially enough money to get off the island and make a new life for themselves. All out of sheer kindness." As quickly as the compliment came, Sentomaru scowled as he continued. "She however had hid pirates from us as well. Under her shop was a tunnel that she smuggled out pirates who were in over their heads or slaves hoping for a new lease on life. We could never officially prove anything and the pirates she allowed through there were small fry that it was a waste of time and resources to pursue so we didn't look into it much further than her shop door. However, I know her as a good person and to hear that she is the Immediate does come as a bit of shock. I have to imagine how hard this is on her…"
-End Flashback-
By the time the admiral finished relaying to her the details, the female sighed as she paused in the activity she took up to keep her from going stir crazy. She had started smoothly writing out some calligraphy into the air with a feather she conjured out of her wrist once she flicked it. The parts of the air she had flicked the feather upon would glow and darken for a second before vanishing completely. "I'm still trying to mentally sort out the details but it is interesting to hear what I've been doing from another person's point of view. A bit ironic that I was in contact with one of your subordinates for a few years but alas, what can be done? Nothing. All I can do Borsalino-kun is think of the damn pirates I let get away with my own aid. Years that I have been idle and of no use. Years pirates slipped by. But no more. If Sengoku-sensei will have me… If the marines will have me again… I will do that duty denied to me because of those fucking pirates. Those pirates that took me away from you and caused us to live apart for two decades don't deserve their good fortune. I will personally ensure their disposal with everything that I am. I cannot afford to be weak or lax any further."
Borsalino sighed as he pushed back a lock of her hair that had flown into her face as she started into her self-loathing. "You had no choice right? Did you choose to be captured? Did you choose to be apart from me?"
"Never. I would never," she declared adamantly to the point she snapped the quill in her hand in anger. "It's not even fair asking that question. You know the answer."
"But hearing the answer gives me a bit of reassurance, Sere-chan. I have to know that you aren't gone from me. That the stubborn, workaholic woman I discovered is still the same overzealous Vice Admiral that departed those too damn many years ago. I just had to know, my love."
Serenity's brow softened as she released her fist, letting the shattered pieces of feather drift down into the sea. "I'm still here but I'm different. I'm the same but yet I'm more… or less depending on perspective. All I know is that my determination is only stronger. I will not allow piracy to plague the life of others like how mine has been." She paused for a moment to grab his hand tightly. "My love for you however… is constant and unwavering. It has been my strength when I could remember myself. Never fear it being lost again. I will never allow myself to become lost. Too much is at stake now to ever allow that to happen once more."
"Serenity-chan," Borsalino said softly as he tried to pull her into his arms tightly but he tensed as he heard her sniffle. He could feel her tears through his suit as she wept into his chest. "Just let it out. We're together now and that's that."
"Just please don't let me go. I don't think I could take it if I never saw you again."
"Nor I." He felt her hands tighten on his suit to the point he almost swore the threads were going to rip. "What can tear us apart now? Certainly not pirates."
"Definitely not pirates now," she sneered without realizing it. "I won't be lax any longer."
You never were lax to begin with, he thought with worry before he nuzzled her neck as she leaned into his arms. "Just wait til we get to headquarters. You'll get to see Sakazuki and Kuzan again. And even some of our senseis! Sere-chan, things can be better than the old days now. I promise you that."
"And you do keep your promises," she said with a slight smile as she let her eyes close, finally allowing sleep to claim her consciously. As the stress faded from her brow, showing her in peaceful sleep, the admiral gave a small smile and even let himself relax as well. His subordinates were most shocked at how unguarded the logia was but all Sentomaru could do was smile.