Free Heart

Ch. 21 - I am Not a Hostage.

Crash!

"Miss? Is everything okay?" Emmy asked as she hurried over to a woman who had just dropped her wine glass.

The Baratie had just started lunch service for Emmy and Luffy's fourth day of work. Emmy rushed over to a small table by the window near the front door. A well dressed couple were seated there and they were enjoying a nice meal together until something startled the woman so much that her drink had slipped from her fingers.

"Is there something wrong?" Emmy asked.

"L-L-Look!" the woman whispered as she pointed out the glass, not able to move her neck or eyes an inch away from the view.

It was a very foggy day at sea so it took awhile for Emmy to see what had caught the woman's attention and made her so terribly frightened. Emmy could feel the fear around the room rise as well and she shivered while looking for what it was that had caused this panic.

Finally, her eye locked on the silhouette of a large galleon sailing their way. The fog started to get thinner and soon she could see the jolly roger painted on the black sails. An hourglass...on each side of the skull...Like a countdown to its enemies...It's Don Krieg!

She felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Sanji peering out the window next to her, with his cigarette stuck firmly between his pursed lips. "Go to the back, Emmy-chan. I'll take over the front of house from here."

"But-," Emmy started to protest.

"That's an order," Sanji stated, not tearing his eyes from the ship.

"Oh...Okay..." Emmy said hesitantly. She turned towards the back and then was surprised to find that all the cooks had come out of the kitchen and lined up against the stairwell to get a look themselves. The owner, Chef Zeff, seemed to be the only staff member missing. Even Luffy was crouched at the top of the stairs, trying to get a peek at the commotion. He grinned when their eyes met and he waved her over.

The men were practically leaning over the railings to get a better view so it wasn't hard for Emmy to slip past them and up to the step where her brother was. She sat by his feet and they both peered through the bars in the railing to the floor below.

After a tense few minutes, the front door of the restaurant creaked open and Gin stood under the doorway with a large man leaning against his shoulder. His gray, almost purplish hair was cut short but he left his sideburns long. He wore a fur lined brown coat over his cheetah print button up and purple pants. He also had gauze wrapped around his head and he looked dead in the eyes.

So this is Don Krieg...Emmy thought to herself, But...why is he so weak?

"S-Sorry...Can I have some water and food?" Krieg asked weakly, "We have money...tons of money...I don't even remember the last time I ate. Please...give me some water...and food..."

Gin gritted his teeth and he got tenser and tenser with every plea his captain breathed out. The restaurant was too frightened and focused on this supposedly menacing pirate captain that no one seemed to notice Sanji turning brusquely on his heels and making his way to the back of the room, where the dumbwaiter was.

"C-C-Captain!" Gin cried as Don Krieg fell limply to the ground, "Please somebody help! He really hasn't eaten anything for days. He'll die if he doesn't eat!"

"Pwahahahah!" Patty laughed from the middle of the stairs, "This is good. It's a riot to see the infamous outlaw, Don Krieg, like this!"

"Hey! We have money this time!" Gin shouted, "We're customers!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Patty barked back, "Somebody. Contact the marines right away!"

"What?" Gin gasped.