Still Waters

Part 2

Emi buried her face in her pillow as sobs shook her entire body. How dare he accuse Zeke of something like this?! He must have put Carne or Patty up to this. Her heart felt like a fist was squeezing it, and pain coursed through her body. A knock on her door caused her to flinch, and she threw a book on her small nightstand at the door.

"Go away!" she screamed.

She returned to her sobbing after. How could this happen? She would never see Zeke again.

An hour later, Emi fell into an exhausted sleep. As the moon rose over the ocean, the doorknob to her door slowly turned, and someone pushed the door open quietly. A shadow came through the door and crept along the edge of her small bedroom. Emi moved in her sleep, and the shadow froze before she stilled and continued sleeping. The shadow came to the sleeping teen and a hand pressed itself against her mouth, and her eyes popped open. A muffled scream sounded, and Emi struggled as her mind struggled out of sleep.

"Ssh, Emi it's only me" a smooth voice said, and Emi's eyes widened when she saw Zeke kneeling beside her and removed his hand.

"Zeke" she breathed, and threw her arms around his shoulders.

She pulled the man close to her, and he eased himself onto her bed. The two molded their bodies together and she rested her cheek on his chest. Emi felt his lips press briefly on her hair and sighed. The sound of his heartbeat calmed the teenager, and she bit her lip before speaking.

"My jii...he showed me something. Your name and picture were on a wanted poster" she murmured, and felt him sigh.

"I was foolish when I was younger. I did some terrible things that I'm not proud of, and it's the past. I'm trying to move on" he said.

Emi lay there, absorbing his words. She knew he was good...her jii was wrong.

"I want to show you something. Follow me" Zeke said as he stood up from the bed, pulling Emi with him.

"Wha-" Emi began, but stopped when Zeke pulled her out of her room.

They raced down the hallway in quiet laughter and to the spiral staircase. Zeke suddenly put his hands over her eyes and steered her down the stairs, Emi giggling quietly and nervously.

"Zeke...?" she asked as they continued down the stairs, but received no answer.

"We're almost there" he whispered in her ear, and a shiver went down her spine.

"Here we are" he said, and released his hands from her eyes.

Emi blinked when she saw that they were out on the deck, and she started to walk around. She halted when she saw strange men surrounding her, some grinning widely. Her brows furrowed in confusion when she saw the chefs sitting in a circle on the deck, her papa and jii the only ones standing.

"Papa? Jii? What...?" she trailed off as she backed away and bumped into a hard chest.

She looked up to see Zeke grinning down at her.

"Zeke, what's happening?" she asked, her heart pounding.

He grinned, but it wasn't the grin she loved; it was nasty and full of evil. A small voice in her mind screamed at her to run, to do anything but her legs wouldn't cooperate.

"A lovely young woman who lives with a bunch of chefs on one of the most famous restaurants in all the seas? Could you imagine how much money they would give for her return? It was the perfect plan!" he laughed, and Emi's eyes widened in surprise.

"You...used me?" she whispered, and he nodded.

"Of course, all I needed was a few choice words" he cackled, and Emi felt her heart pounding furiously.

Her jii was right...he really was using her. Her eyes burned as she tried to hold back her tears, and her fists clenched. Zeke continued laughing loudly, and that caused the strange men to laugh loudly as well. Sanji lit another cigarette and blew the smoke out, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Emi suddenly raised her hand to smack Zeke, but he grabbed her wrist before it made contact. Zeke squeezed her wrist to the point of pain, and she bit her lip to not yelp in pain as she felt the bones in her wrist grind together. He grinned and tightened his grip even more, and Emi struggled to get away. Zeke forced her onto her knees, and she clenched her teeth as he gripped her wrist tighter. Emi felt a pang of anger suddenly course through her veins and she kicked out, hitting his shins. Zeke howled in pain and released her wrist, and she scrambled back.

"Patty, Carne, show these guests out" Zeff groused, and the two chefs cracked their knuckles.

The chefs of the Baratie then went on the attack, getting their sharpened knives and spatulas out and attacking the men on their ship.

Emi stood up, anger continuing to race through her veins. She could hear the men crying in pain as her papa delivered powerful kicks. She growled and launched herself at the man she thought had loved her. She balled a fist and sent him flying across the Baratie deck with an uppercut to the jaw. He landed against Patty and Carne who stood there with their arms crossed over their chests, glaring down at the man. The strange men all ran to small ships attached to the Baratie, some jumping off the ship and into the ocean.

The chefs hollered and cheered, raising their weapons in victory.

"Emi, what would you like to do this with trash?" Patty said, picking up Zeke with his massive arm.

"Throw it away, Patty" she growled, and with a grin the man reared back and chucked the screaming Zeke into the dark ocean waters below.

Emi's shoulders heaved from the strong emotions going through her. She has never felt this betrayed and heartbroken before, and she could feel her heart shuddering. The chefs continued partying about the victory, and Emi slid inside the darkened restaurant quietly. She walked past the empty tables and sat down at one, resting her head in her arms on top of the table. Her wrist throbbed and her heart clenched painfully. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes, but she didn't fight them as they flowed down her cheeks. It felt like someone was ripping her heart into pieces in her chest.

She heard footsteps come towards her, and she lifted her head while hastily wiping away the tears. She didn't look at who walked towards her, and instead looked out the window at the black ocean.

"Not now, jii" she murmured through her tears.

"Emi" a voice said, and she blinked and looked to see her papa sitting on top of the table in front of the distraught girl.

"Not now, papa" she muttered, angrily wiping away more tears that came.

Sanji sighed and placed a hand on top of her head, ruffling her silver hair.

"We're here and look out for each other, Emi. The old fart was looking out for your safety. You know this now that you're older" he said, smoking away.

Emi was silent for a couple moments before sighing.

"I guess I'll have to apologize to jii" she said, trying to smile.

Sanji puffed out a ring of smoke and smirked.

"Nah, he already knows" he said, and Emi let out a short laugh.

The two sat in silence before Sanji looked down at the 15 year old. He knew exactly how to cheer her up. Even though she was a teenager, she was still the same since she was a toddler.

"I'm trying out a new recipe and I need a taster" he said, and Emi smiled.

"Sounds good, papa" she murmured, and Sanji stood up before walking to the kitchen.

Emi watched her papa walk away before glancing out at the ocean once again.

'We're here and look out for each other' her papas words echoed in her head.

'I'll become better, you'll see' Emi thought as she pushed away from the table and went to the kitchen.