One Piece (Love Story) [Part Two]

Chapter Two Hundred and Nine [Rewritten]

"Don't go overboard!" Nami snapped, striking the sharpshooter.

"You also wouldn't have a Marine Admiral's daughter on your crew..." I felt my breath get caught in my throat as he scoffed this under his breath, rolling his eyes as if he found what the sharpshooter said to be meaningless. I felt my chest tighten, breathing now coming out sharp and ragged at the realization that at any moment he could rat me out if he so pleased—at the realization that the only thing keeping my secret safe was his disinterest in properly sharing such information with the rest as if he saw no real reason to.

'I don't want to go back! I don't want to go back! I don't want to—' I flinched when I suddenly felt a gentle hand rest itself on my shoulder.

"Skylar?" Zoro worriedly murmured.

"I'm...I'm fine..." I thickly swallowed as I raised a hand to grab his own, giving him a strained smile. My breathing was still shaky and uneven even as I desperately tried to slow it, now squeezing his hand in some pitiful attempt to soothe the panic attack that was threatening to consume me. I wasn't sure what game the Admiral was playing with his quiet remarks—always teetering on the edge of saying something he shouldn't as if wanting to mock me...or to perhaps test to waters. Surely it was obvious to him that the others weren't fully aware of my...background...based on the way they showed only interest in what he had to say about Robin.

"Who we are now is more important than who we were!" Sanji firmly huffed...and although the words were sweet...I wondered if he and the others truly understood that sometimes words were not always enough to convince people. I wondered if they understood that sometimes all words were at the end of the day words and nothing more—their weight meant nothing in the eyes of fear and uncertainty.

"That's right, Robin is our friend!" Chopper nodded. "Don't you dare say anything about her, you hear me?!"

"I see, so these poor fools don't suspect a thing" Aokiji sighed, shaking his head.

"Just get to the point! If you want to arrest me then why not just do it already?!" Robin frowned as she suddenly and perhaps irrationally used her Devil Fruit powers to grab hold of the Admiral—restraining him completely.

"No, Robin!" Usopp fearfully cried.

"My, my, my, did something I say strike a nerve?" Aokiji asked, sounding almost a bit mocking as he raised an eyebrow at the woman's rash behavior. "That's too bad, I must have overestimated how reasonable a woman you were" he tsked.

"And clutch" Robin sneered as she attempted to snap the man's body in half.

"He shattered to a million pieces!" Chopper panicked the second the Admiral turned to ice at the last second possible—shattering like glass before slowly putting himself back together.

"It didn't work—we're screwed!" Usopp cried, already starting to freak out alongside Chopper. "Let's get out of here! Everybody run for your lives!" he frantically screamed, motioning for the rest of us to start running.

"Now, now, that wasn't a very nice thing to do" Aokiji tsked as he tore some blades of grass from the ground—throwing them in the air before freezing them right on the spot. "Ice Saber" in an instant, he created a long and sharp saber from the grass blades he had tossed. "I didn't want to kill you, but now..." he swung the saber down only for Zoro to stop the attack and for Sanji to kick the weapon from his hands.

"Yeah!" Usopp cheered.

"I don't remember asking for your help, Cook" Zoro frowned.

"Funny, I was going to say the same thing to you, Moss Head" Sanji retorted.

"Gum Gum Pistol!" Luffy rushed the Admiral, his fist drawn back before shooting forward as the man grabbed hold of both Zoro and Sanji—willingly taking the full force of the teen's attack to his stomach. "He's cold!" the captain shivered before freaking out when his, Zoro, and Sanji's limbs started to freeze.

"He got all three of them at once!" Nami gasped, causing my lips to curl back into a frustrated snarl. Glaring, I drew one of my swords the second the three were harshly shoved away. "Skylar, stop!" I ignored the ginger's cry, blindly fueled by fear and frustration as I rushed the Admiral and recklessly swung my sword down at him...only for him to instantly grab hold of my wrist and stop my attack.

"So reckless" Aokiji shook his head in disappointment as he bent down until our eyes were locked.

"I don't exactly appreciate you hurting my friends..." I spat as he silently stared back at me.

"That look in your eyes...it's exactly like his—there's no doubt about you, you truly are your father's daughter" fresh tears pricked the corners of my eyes and blurred my vision as my chest grew painfully tight. I felt my lips twitch and draw further back as I viciously snarled at the man in a manner akin to that of a caged animal. "I'd rather not hurt you—your father can be quite the terrifying man when upset, almost like he has a screw or two loose" he heavily sighed, becoming lost in thought for a moment as if recalling something before shaking his head. "But I don't exactly appreciate this hostile nature of yours—it's rather childish."

"Skylar!" Zoro shouted as I painfully cried out at the sudden burning sensation of ice crystals forming over the flesh of my wrist.

It hurt.

It hurt so much that I felt like my arm had been buried underneath a mountain of snow and just left there to freeze. When he was done, he easily tossed me to the side like it was nothing.

"D-don't compare me to t-that m-monster!" I trembled as I grasped my frozen wrist and cradled it close to my chest. "I'm n-nothing like him!" I sneered, breathing still ragged as I hatefully glared up at the Admiral with teary eyes.

"You say that, yet you're practically the spitting image of him—the only difference besides gender is you seem to let your emotions dictate you" he scoffed before raising an eyebrow as he looked down at me in slight curiosity as if amused by my fear and frustration. Angrily, I screamed as I attempted to stand back up before crying out when he suddenly used his foot to gently kick me away. "I don't exactly have time to deal with you right now—you're not my main priority and maybe you should be thankful for that" he shook his head which only made my anger worse.

"He's freezing them solid—I have to help quickly! If they get frostbite, their limbs will start to rot!" Chopper panicked. "Usopp, what are you doing?! We have to save them now!" he frantically cried.

"I want to help, I'm trying to, but I can't seem to move—did he freeze me too?" Usopp shivered.

"No! You're just too scared to move, coward!" Chopper angrily snapped.

"Luffy!" Usopp fearfully wailed.

"Sanji! Zoro! Skylar!" Chopper cried. "Hold on, we'll save you!"

"Robin, run away!" Nami shouted when she saw the Admiral approaching the older woman.

"You have some very loyal friends, but you will never change Nico Robin" Aokiji said.

"No, that's not true!" Robin frantically shook her head in denial.

"Robin, get away from him! Watch out!" Luffy screamed as the man got closer to the older woman until finally, he tightly wrapped his arms around her in what most would consider a mockery of a hug.

"I'm not who—" she didn't get to finish as her whole body suddenly became encased in ice.

"Robin!" Sanji worriedly shouted.

"You leave her alone!" I angrily screamed as the Admiral slowly pulled away from her crystallized body.

"You bastard!" Luffy sneered.