Regular text - Story

Italicized text - thoughts

Chapter 15

Sanji 8:20 pm

What an absolute piece of shit. This guy was practically begging for a size twelve upside the head. He was so proud and pompous as he spoke and delusional enough that he genuinely believed every word he said. I could see it in the crazed look in his eye and the wide, menacing grin stretched across his face. He truly believed that he was justified in what he had done to this island and these people, and his explicit pleasure in making everyone in the room uncomfortable and angry was appalling. I could barely contain myself. Adrenalin was making me jumpy. My anger burning so hot it was causing my pulse to thud hard in my ears and grind my teeth so hard, I was afraid I might break them.

Al was trembling, his anger visible in every line of his body. Each word Marcus had hurled at him had hit him like a physical blow. His chest puffed hard, and a harsh flush covered his face and neck. I'd seen anger like that before. I'd felt it before. It was the kind of anger that would either help us win this battle or get him killed. After the display, when we first entered the castle, I was nervous we were leaning toward the latter option. Clearly, he had been planning this night for a long time. But planning and actually putting a plan into action are not quite the same thing, and he clearly hadn't put too much thought into how sharply Marcus could wield his words, nor did he think about how he'd react to how willing Marcus was to twist the knife just to grin in the face of someone else's pain.

Luffy was getting antsier by the second. He was practically bouncing in place, his fists clenched tight, knuckled mottled white. I'd be surprised if his own nails didn't cut into his palm with how hard they were clenched. He kept shooting Nami longing and concerned looks that she returned without hesitation. When we get out of here, I'm going to have to talk with Luffy about these looks. I side-eyed Robin, worried about how she would react to the horrible story Marcus had laid out for us, and found her with her eyes locked on Marcus, her eyes bright with fury. I'd never really been afraid of Robin before, but the look she was giving that piece of shit could melt steel like acid, the scent of flowers heavy and cloying around her like the thickest perfume.

We met each other's eyes behind Al's back when the room was momentarily silent. Each look promised violence and righteous vengeance. Dark excitement curled in my gut as I imagined my foot crashing through Marcus's teeth. The fight was taking forever to get going, and it didn't seem like it would be all too difficult. With most of the guards on a false alert in the village, this should have been a cakewalk. Still, something about the overconfident look on this bastard's face was causing jitters to cut through my earlier confidence.

Marcus had finished his monologue with a pointed look at Nami and the girls lying behind her. At first, I thought the violent, lustful gaze on his face was aimed at Nami, but his eyes just skimmed past her to the ladies on the floor. I watched as the girl missing an ear tightened her arms around her charge. A fine tremble washed through her as she fought to keep her spine straight under that bastard's gaze.

The prone one, the one with the gorgeous periwinkle hair, looked to be passed out, body momentarily lax in her friend's arms. Her face had delicate features and soft angles. It was the kind of face that should have had sonnets written about it and masterpieces painted in honor of their beauty. I knew I was staring too hard, but I couldn't pull my eyes away. She held my attention so wholly that I caught every emotion that crossed her face as she slowly swam back to consciousness. My brain greedily cataloged every second, every ripple across her brow, even the way her cupid's bow mouth pulled into a harsh sneer. Her face suddenly scrunched as if she was in pain, and she let out a sudden piercing wail. A sound I am sure will haunt my dreams for many nights. Her eyes stayed closed, and fresh tears began to fall in heavy drops off her cheeks and chin. The girl holding her gripped her tight, clearly startled by the outburst. Her brown eyes grew wide and frantic as she held tight to her friend's trembling shoulders.

Marcus let out a gleeful laugh and clapped his hands together hard.

She finally wrenched her eyes open and turned her head sharply at the sound, watery green eyes locking on Marcus. The cries slowed, replaced with hiccups, and finally, silence as she stared our enemy down. She managed to pull herself up into a half-sitting position. A harsh grunt of pain slipped from her lips, and it was a real effort to keep from taking a step in her direction. I watched as she pressed a trembling hand to her badly bruised throat, fingers kneading gently. The bruising was thick and black in near-perfect finger imprints. My heart squeezed tight at the sight, fists squeezed tighter, nails digging deep.

Her long hair was sweaty and dusty and hung heavily over her shaking shoulders. She was painfully thin, reminding me of myself in the months after the geezer and I had been rescued from that rock. Her shirt was torn, and a giant blood stain covered almost the whole thing, though I couldn't see any cuts on her person.

I watched a million emotions play across her face. Sorrow, anger, and betrayal flickered across her face as she stared at Marcus, and I watched as some horrible realization shadowed her face. She cleared her throat harshly, her hand resting lightly on her neck, which I could have sworn had been much darker just a few moments before. I shook my head slightly. Must be a trick of the light and the amount of dust layered over her? I watched as she pulled herself away from the other girl in an agonizingly slow motion, pulling herself shakily up to her knees.

She moved her head in several quick takes between Al and Marcus. Her face settled into deep confusion, and then resignation, she said, her shoulders rounded in defeat. "It was all a lie." There was a certainty in her voice that sat heavy in the air. This wasn't said as a question but as a statement of fact.

Her voice was raspy from the trauma to her throat, and it shook hard with smothered sobs on every syllable, but it still tickled something deep in my brain, making me stand up a little straighter and my pulse race a little faster.

Marcus laughed again and sat forward on his throne, elbows resting casually on his knees. "Of course, it was a lie, Lavender—you stupid thing. What, you think I just happened to have your brother in my possession at the exact time I needed him to punish you? Come on, Lav." He let out an amused, patronizing titter. "No. I knew you were almost broken enough to be fun, to be all I needed you to be. You just needed one final push, that last bit of hope of rescue to be doused. And it worked just like a charm. Didn't it? The things you let me do to you after that night." He gave her a knowing, leery smile that made my skin crawl.

I was fighting every instinct I had not to jump the gun and get this fight started. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I could guess from how he leered and the embarrassment that washed over her. I felt disgust deep in my gut and was trying to unclench my jaw when another thing they had mentioned itched along my brain. I moved my gaze from the girls to Al and back. Individually, they looked nothing alike, but a closer look showed a similar nose, eye, and stubborn jut to their jaw. Brother, he'd said. Could these be Al's sisters? My gaze bounced between the two women behind Nami, and it finally clicked. I knew Luffy and Robin must have come to the same conclusion, and when I met their eyes, I saw the same anger and pity swimming behind their eye that I felt welling in mine.

The sister Marcus had called Lavender appeared to be the older of the two, so this must be Wellesley. She flushed bright red with embarrassment and averted her gaze from Marcus, long hair falling over her trembling shoulder to cover half her face. A sharp, pointed pang lanced through me in a way I couldn't quite explain. Her pain was like a heavy pulse around her, and it spread through the room in a wave. Her voice filtered out through her hair, a touch more clearly than before, "Who was it? Who did you kill?"

Marcus gave a nonchalant shrug, "Some bum we found camping in the woods. We never thought to ask his name. After all, you wouldn't ask a cockroach its name before you smashed it, would you?" He and the thug standing next to that weird, undulous black cloud shared a sleazy chuckle.

Wellesley's trembling had stopped. I watched her turn her head back to Marcus, and a new fire in her eyes caused the green to glow. She didn't say anything else. Just let the heavy weight of her distaste and hatred for him fill her eyes. A strange pride swelled in my chest as the smile fell from his face. It was replaced with white-hot rage as they stared at each other. Suddenly, he stood a vicious look aimed at the ladies, and it was like we had been waiting for that, like a cue. Before he took a single step down the stairs, we finally broke from the doorway and made our way into the room.

We'd never discussed it, but as Luffy, Robin, and Al moved toward the throne, I instinctively knew that I was to get to Nami. I almost stumbled once I finally released the tension in my body, but I managed to keep my footing as I made my way to Nami, crossing the distance between us in eight seconds flat.

The clanging of the swordsmen fighting on the other side of the room had been going on the entire time we'd been standing around, and as soon as we moved toward the middle of the room, it came to an abrupt stop. A dark shadow moved at the same pace as I did toward the girls, and without a thought, I put myself between them and threw my foot out and was met with a sharp blade that lodged in the sole of my shoe. We had a brief back and forth where neither of us could gain any ground on the other. A frustrated sound exploded out of me, "Alright fucker, how about you take a step or ten away from the ladies before we get into this."

He let out a low snarl and pushed harder against my foot. He didn't say anything back, no banter, no witty back and forth, as I fought to push him back with just my heel. It made me think of Zoro, which in turn made me wonder where the hell he was. I know in my bones that he is lurking around this castle somewhere, and even with his awful sense of direction, he should have at least heard the explosions and come running. A feeling too close to worry for him churned in my gut. I shook my head to dislodge the thought. It's so not the time to be worrying about that dumb marimo.

Thinking about where that idiot might be, and the odd lingering anxiety over Zoro distracted me enough that my foot slid backward about half an inch. The swordsman used the leverage to throw me off balance and spin us slightly so that he was now closer to the ladies than I was—yet another obstacle between me and rescuing my precious Nami. My opponent had pale white hair; his red-tinged eyes were narrowed to slits, pale skin flushed red as he put his whole weight into his sword. He was strong, but I'd been sparing with Zoro for months, so it was hardly an effort to hold him at bay. Again, I couldn't help but wish the stupid moss-head was here to take the reins on this. I was good, better than him, in my opinion, but I could only hold a swordsman off and protect three unarmed ladies for so long without backup.

He took advantage of my brief laps in concentration to press forward to try and throw off my balance. The second loss of concentration pissed me off. There were literal lives at stake. I had to give this my all. Spinning at the hip, I thrust my non-dominant foot at the side of the blade, knocking him back several inches. He came back swinging. We spared in a tight circle for a few short seconds, him doing everything he could to stay between me and the ladies. Again, we clashed, his sword to my shoe; I used the momentum to push off his blade and put a little distance between us. We jumped apart briefly, and he bounced back to stand directly in front of the ladies huddled on the floor.

I was breathing hard, winding up for a full assault when a bright flash of orange cut between us. My adversary had grabbed her wrist to keep her from getting too far, which made me see red. Nami didn't cry out or try to pull away from him, though. Instead, she looked back at him with a beseeching look. He stared back, unsure and unhappy, but after a short nod, he let go of her wrist and stepped back to block the sisters from my view. She moved forward to stand between us on shaky legs, arms held out to ward us off each other like she thought we'd break from our spots any minute.

"Sanji, stop. He's not one of them. He's on our side. He's been fighting to keep us safe this entire time" Nami's sweet voice right next to me was a sweet relief. I couldn't resist anymore. I was beside her in two quick steps, wrapping my arms tightly around her waist and pulling her into the safety of my arms. She let out a soft sigh and burrowed deeper into our embrace. I could feel her shoulder shaking as she tried to hide her tears from me. A sob of my own lodged in my throat before I spoke. "Oh, Nami. I'm so sorry. I should have been watching you better. I can't believe I let myself get distracted enough that something like this could happen."

Nami squeezed my waist and tipped her face to look up at me with a soft smile across her battered lips. "Sanji, it's not your fault. I wandered off and specifically didn't tell you where I was going so I could do a little shopping. There's no way we could have predicted this. Please don't blame yourself." She fluttered a hand toward the stairs. "Those bastards are the only ones who deserve blame." She gave me a watery smile before she tucked herself back into my chest. I tightened my arms around her and briefly let myself enjoy the embrace before I pushed off with both feet, sending us flying backward several feet. Nami let out a short, surprised shriek in my ear, arms flying up to clutch my shoulders as we flew through the air. "Sanji! What the hell are you doing?"

"After everything that's happened and until I'm absolutely sure he's on our side, I'd like to keep a little distance between us and any more strangers."

We came to a skidding stop. Nami didn't say anything for a long moment, but her arms had tightened around my neck a little too hard on impact. It brought her body flush with mine, and it was near impossible to ignore the way she was trembling or the growing wet patch against my neck and shoulder.

I could feel tears trying to well in my eyes, and it was just through sheer strength of will that I managed to keep them from falling. I pulled back and held Nami's face in my hands, getting a full view of her face for the first time; I'd been too exhilarated to have her back with me to really get a good look before. Her eyes were watery, but tears had stopped falling. She tried to smile but winced as it pulled again at the torn skin of her lip. There were bruises and scrapes all across her skin, and it hurt me deeply to see her so injured. I brushed the last tears from her cheeks and hugged her close.

"Oh, sweetheart. We're here now. It's going to be okay. Come on, let's get you somewhere safe until this is over." The idea of leaving the other two women was nearly impossible, but I had to get Nami safe before I could try to rescue anyone else. If they were Al's sisters, I knew we'd save them eventually, so for now, Nami had to be my priority.

I pressed a quick kiss to her head and tried to pull her toward the doorway, away from all the chaos, but she resisted and pulled out of my arms. Bright anxiety flared when she was no longer in my reach. I tried to grab her hand and tug her toward the door, but she held her hands up by her head and fast-walked away from me, knocking my attempts at keeping her with me away with rapid slapping motions.

"Sanji! Wait! Stop! We can't just leave." When I still went to reach for her hand, she said, "Goddamnit! Listen to me! I promised we would bring them with us. We have to save them. Look at them!"

Frustration boiled inside me. I had already struggled with this, and now she was going to make me say it out loud: "Nami, I came to save you. Of course, we will do everything we can to save everyone, but I can't focus on anything until I know you're safe."

Nami stubbornly crossed her arms and stared meanly at me. I already knew this would be trouble. I'd seen her take this stance with every other crew member but never me, as I usually gave her whatever she wanted. When she spoke, her voice was the snotty tone she usually saved for fights with Zoro. "Well, I'm not leaving without them, so you better figure out a way to focus, Sanji."

She uncrossed her arms and motioned aggressively toward where she had been standing this whole time. "Look at them and tell me you can just leave without knowing for sure that they would be ok." Goddamn it. She knows I probably wouldn't have been able to fucking to do that. I give her what is perhaps the first unfriendly look I've ever given her. She returns it with a stubborn, smug smile. She really knows how to play me.

I let out a resigned sigh, nodded, and turned to take in the scene just a few feet away.

The ladies had moved. Al's sister, not Wellesley but the other one, who must be Celia, was now standing with the pale swordsman. She held one of his hands and gently cupped his face with the other, pulling him down until their heads touched. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but he nodded once and covered her hand with his, one tear slipping down his cheek that she whipped with a tender motion. He, in turn, gently touched fingertips to the swelling on her cheek. The familiarity with each other showed years of knowing each other in only the way a couple can. She moved, and he followed; he felt sorrow, and she was helping to shoulder it. He handled her so gently, and I finally began believing what Nami said about him being an ally.

The moment felt private, so I turned my head and saw that the other sister was still seated on the ground. Nami had retaken her post as a sentinel before her, but other than shifting to sit cross-legged on the cold marble floor, she hadn't made a move to get up. Her bruises had healed, the deep fingerprints and abrasions had faded, and her skin now held a healthy glow. Other than the bloody clothing and ratted hair, you would never know what she had been through. I guess it wasn't just a trick of the light; it must be a Devil thought made me immediately leery of the other strangers in the room. One lone girl who could heal was one thing, but three strange men with unknown abilities could be trouble.

I took a few steps, blocking Nami and the girl from view. I didn't think anyone would make it past Luffy and Robin, but I still wanted to keep a barricade between them and the ladies. I stared at the group heading toward the throne hard, wishing I could be a part of it and help beat the brakes off that King Pin bastard. It was a struggle to take my eyes away from the action, but after a tug on my sleeve from Nami, I turned my back to them and looked at the girl at my feet, taking her in for the first time up close. She painted a hopeless picture sitting on the floor, watching the fighting across the room. Her eyes were a deep emerald green, nearly black, near her pupils; they were red-rimmed and tracked everything moving a mile a minute as she tried to keep track of everything and everyone in the room. I followed her gaze back to the stairs.

Luffy, Al, and Robin had reached the bottom of the stairs and fanned out around the throne. Only the other swordsman with the horrible mangle of scars across his face stood between them and King Pin, dual-wielding his sword and a wickedly curved dagger that had a blade so black it flashed blue in the light, both held in an 'X' in front of him. Marcus was gleeful behind his one guard. No longer sitting in the chair but leaning casually against the armrest, looking far too confident for someone so clearly outnumbered. As I watched him, unease prickled across the back of my neck. I again had the thought that this all seemed too easy.

I stared at that blade in Uglies hand for a long moment. Something about the color, the density, even the way it flashed black and blue, as if some inner light shined through, all seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it from where. Luffy was staring Marcus down in that unique way of his that caused every hair on my body to stand on end, but Ugly just sneered down at him, the sneer stretching that scar into something horrific. Luffy's breath was coming fast and hard as he fought his instinct to punch first and ask questions later. They stood in stalemate as Al and King Pin hurled barbs at each other. King Pin's hurtful words made Al flinch with every syllable.

Nami squeezed my hand, bringing my attention back to her. She motioned with her head at the girl at her feet as if to say, 'Do something.' I returned the nod and moved toward the prone woman on the floor. I tried to keep my steps light and my presence as small as possible as I knelt beside her. She tensed up at my nearness and seemed to be holding her breath, waiting for something awful, I'm sure, and it caused a pit in my stomach to clench tighter with anger. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before I raised my hand as if I'd rest it on her shoulder. I thought better of it when I saw her flinch. Instead, I rested it on the floor near her knee. It was then that I realized she was no longer watching the standoff but me out of the corner of her eyes.

I flashed her what I hoped was a comforting smile. Her eyes widened slightly, and I could have sworn she blushed a bit before she swung her head so that her hair covered most of her face again. The urge to push it away was too strong, and before I realized what I was doing and before I could stop myself, that hand that I had placed on the floor to keep from touching her moved up and pushed her hair back behind her ear. The pad of my thumb grazed the soft shell of her ear, and I felt a zing race all the way up my arm from fingertips to shoulder. It felt like an electric shock, but instead of wanting to pull away, I almost seemed to need to hold on tighter and feel it longer.

It was a struggle, but I pulled my hand back from her so I didn't scare her with more unwanted touches. We stared at each other with wide, stunned eyes for a second before she spoke a hint of shock in her sultry voice. "You're Sanji? The cook from Nami's crew?"

Nami was talking about me! A brief flash of warmth suffused me at the thought. Then, my brain latched on to her voice. It was much clearer this close. So soft, like velvet, to my ear. I wanted to say something but couldn't get my brain and mouth to form words, so I just nodded at her.

She nodded back to me and turned back to the crowd by the stairs, but her gaze was off-center, not focused on Luffy and the others but on the tall man with frizzy grey hair and the black hovering cloud to the left. My earlier thought about those men having possible devil fruit powers reared its head again, and a foreboding feeling washed through me. She continued to stare at it forlornly before letting out a heavy, despondent sigh and turning to look up at me with fresh tears in her eyes. "Can you help us save Zoro, then?"

Shock bolted through me, and I wiped my head to look where she was staring, eyes searching. The cloud was thick; no light was filtering through it as if it was absorbing the light and snuffing it out. It wholly blotted out a space in the room, but as I looked harder, the cloud undulated, and I could catch the tips of heavy black boots and a bright red and white flash of Wado and Kitetsu's scabbards dropped carelessly near the sole of the boot. The tip of his third sword's black blade could just be seen scrapping the marble near his foot, where I assumed he still held it loosely in his hand. The thought that Zoro would hate his swords being treated like that came to me almost immediately.

"What has that moss for brains gotten himself into now?" Nami grabbed me by the arm, and I stumbled a step as I abruptly stopped. I hadn't even realized I had gotten up off the floor, let alone that I was moving toward that black stain in the air. She pulled me back, and it took considerable effort to pull me back those few steps. I didn't quite understand it, but I was having trouble taking my attention away from where I now knew Zoro was trapped. Finally snapping my head around, I gave Nami a heavy look to prompt her to tell me what had happened; I even had to bite my tongue to keep angry words from spilling out.

She sighed sadly, obviously upset with herself for not saying something sooner. She couldn't quite meet my eyes and crossed her arms in front of her stomach. "I don't know what that is. Those thugs snuck in behind us. We turned and found this," her hands waved in the air in front of her as she tried to find a way to describe it, but it was coming up short. "thing rushing up behind us, Wellesley cried out, and at the sound, Zoro just threw himself into its path before it could reach us." More tears filled her eyes. She looked back at the blackness, and a look of helplessness just swam over her face. I immediately felt awful for my earlier anger toward her and reached for her. I pulled her to me and hugged her tight, rubbing soothing circles on her back as she tried to smother her tears.

"It's a fear fog. Fredric, the tall guy beside it, uses his devil fruit to create it." We turned toward the voice. Wellesley was getting to her feet, legs trembling and unsteady. I wanted to go to her and help hold her up. I held Nami tighter and waited for the desire to pass. It felt wrong not to help a lady who was so obviously struggling, but I knew some of what she must have been through and couldn't justify touching her again when it might bring her more discomfort. Standing, Wellesley barely came up to my shoulder, and I again saw how painfully thin she was. Resolve settled over me. When we get her out of here, I'm going to make her absolutely anything she wants. A whole fucking feast just to herself. Her long periwinkle hair hung around her shoulders like a heavy, lank cloak. "It traps you in your worst fears. It usually only dissipates if you die or if Fredric loses interest." She looked at the cloud with that so sad expression. "It was coming for me. Zoro saved me."

She sounded sad again, but it was different. This seemed almost an intimate sadness. Did she know Zoro? It seemed unlikely, given the history of this place and that we were smack dab in the middle of the Grand Line, but the way she gazed at the inky blot seemed heavy and confused me immensely.

Nami moved toward her and wrapped her in a fierce, protective hug. "It's not your fault, Wellesley. It was coming toward us so fast. It could have been any one of us." Wellesley stayed stiff in her arms but did turn toward her and give her a tight smile. Wellesley's eyes widened and flitted around Nami's face, filling with more sadness and something else I couldn't understand: guilt. I watched as she placed her hand lightly on Nami's cheek. Nami jumped at the touch, and a brief flash of pain crossed her face.

For one horrible second, even with everything I had just seen, heard, and felt, I thought we had been wrong, that this sister was actually on Marcus's side and had lured us into a false sense of security. But then Nami relaxed into Wellesley's touch, her body going almost listless as she rested heavily against Wellesley's shoulder. Before my eyes, the bruises and scrapes began to shrink and disappear from Nami's skin, dark purple fading fast to sickly yellow before finally returning to her healthy, peachy glow. A sense of awe fluttered in my chest. This girl is amazing.

Wellesley gently patted Nami's cheek. "I'm so sorry. Sorry I couldn't tell you who I really was, sorry I couldn't have done more to protect you, and so sorry I couldn't have done that earlier. If I'd healed all the bruises, Marcus would have added to them. He would have made them ten times worse, and lord only knows what he would have to you just to punish me for the disobedience." Nami smiled softly at her and swept her into a tighter hug, catching the poor girl off guard.

I met her eyes over Nami's shoulder. They were wide, baffled. I just gave her kind eyes back and a reassuring smile. She returned the smile hesitantly and then averted her eyes, a faint blush across the bridge of her nose. When they broke away, Nami held her gently by the shoulders, and with one hand, she reached up and wiped tears from under her eyes. "Wellesley, it's ok. I forgive you. I can't even imagine the horror you've been through. But I promise it's over." Nami gestured over to Luffy. "I told you he'd come. I told you what they did to the last bastard who thought he could keep me from my crew." Nami leaned forward and pressed her forehead to Wellesley's. "We will get you out of her. We will keep you safe, I promise."

The bright, hopeful look that washed into Wellesly's eyes made my throat tight.

We turned as one toward the pale swordsman and the other sister. The swordsman stepped forward, hand held out to me. "My name is Gunther. I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies for how I behaved before. I went on autopilot when I saw a strange man running toward my lady. We've just been fighting against my brother for so long, working toward this moment for years, and after everything I've learned tonight, I didn't have it in me to ask questions before throwing myself fully into the next fight." He tightened his other arm around Celia's waist, fitting her more snuggly against him.

I stared at his hand for a moment before stepping forward and grasping it tightly in mine. "And your brother is?"

He dropped my hand and looked ashamed as he turned his gaze toward Marcus. He looked back at me warily as if he thought me finding out his relation would make me turn on him. But instead, understanding flashed through me. This was Al's source. It had to have been someone close to the inner circle that Marcus would never suspect. Instead of anger, deep respect for him bloomed from me. As someone who knew something about evil siblings, I felt a strange sort of kinship with this stranger. We shared a look that only people who have lived through similar things can share.

Relief showed on his face. In a calming voice, I said, "Hey, I get it, I really do. Just help us take down these bastards, and all is forgiven." His face morphed into a feral grin, and he nodded, fist tightening on his sword. "Al had told us before we arrived that he had a source inside King Pin's ranks. I'm assuming that was you?"

He nodded, "Yes. I don't believe he knew that, though. I only ever interacted with Arete, and he was meticulous about secrecy, never mentioning that Al was alive to me. I assume this was a precaution in case Marcus ever discovered what I was doing." He looked down at the lady at his side, a flash of misery fluttering across his features. "Celia, my love, had I known I was in contact with your brother, I'd have told you. I would never have kept the whereabouts of both siblings from you if I could have avoided it."

She pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek, "I know, darling. For both our sakes, I needed to believe they were both gone to sell our ruse to Marcus. I'm not upset; I'm just ridiculously happy they are both alive and here."

Nami and Wellesley came to stand shoulder to shoulder with me as I turned back toward the fog surrounding Zoro, worry tightening my gut. I pushed it down as hard as I could. "Alright, first things first, though, let's free that stupid moss head." I had hoped I had covered my worry with enough snark, but from the puzzled way Nami looked at me, I knew I probably didn't quite succeed. Fucking great. Anger tightened my gut as I took one solid step in the direction.

A small hand grabbed mine, pulling me to an abrupt stop; another curious zing shooting up to my elbow. Surprised, I looked down into Wellesley's green eyes and found them swimming with worry and apprehension. "Be careful, Sanji. He fights dirty when his devil fruit isn't enough." Her eyes shot over to the fog, eyes clouded for a moment. "He's just as vicious with a blade." My hand tightened on hers as I wondered how she'd come by that knowledge.

I gripped her hand tighter and pulled her closer, running my thumb gently over her knuckles. "Don't worry, Dove. We'll get that idiot out of the mess he's found himself in, and then we're taking you outta here. I promise."

She smiled weakly at me. "Don't make promises. Please. I," she looked down at her feet, "I couldn't bear it if it got broken."

My heart clenched at the sight she made. Using my other hand, I gently lifted her chin so I could meet her eyes again. "I've never broken a promise. And I'm certainly not going to start now. What kind of gentleman breaks a promise to a lady?"

She smiled again and it was warm as the sun. Her lips parted as if she might say something, but Gunther chose that moment to interject. "Sanji. I hate to interrupt, but it seems Fredric has taken note of us."

Wellesley and I turned as one and took in the tall, scruffy man standing beside the ominous cloud. His gaze was locked on where Wellesly still gripped my hand tight in hers, a snarl slashed across his mouth, showing chipped and rotten teeth. His eyes bounced up to her, and he gave her a lecherously violent look that had my hackles up.

I felt her try to yank away from me, try to take her hand back, but I held it firmly, thumb still rubbing gentle circles against her skin. Her eyes jumped back to mine. A new wave of fear had washed in, and it was now my mission to ensure she forgot how to even make that face. Without thinking, I lifted her hand and gently kissed her knuckles. I had a moment of panic that I had overstepped. This woman probably had not known a gentle touch in a long time, and a kiss from a strange man was perhaps the last thing she wanted.

I looked up, my worry etched on my face, half-expecting her to pull away from me any second or perhaps even strike out. But her face wasn't what I was anticipating. Her eyes glowed affectionately, a pretty rosy blush adorned her cheek, and her slightly lopsided smile revealed a dimple on her right cheek. "I've got you, Dove. Now shall we got get our idiot and get outta here?"

She nodded once, a single tear tumbling down her cheek, though her eyes were now dry. She squeezed my hand and took a step forward, tugging me behind her. A soft chuckle slipped out of me, and I took a step to follow her.

A/N: Chapter 16 should be out in a few days, and I plan to freaking finally have this fight finished by early next week.

Have a great week! -CL