"Get back!" You roar, haki and emotions flaring, pushing Crocodile back despite his desires. "You bastard!" You growl, still moving away from him, pulling off one high heel and then the other.
You were dressed in silk and pearls, elegant and extravagant, the worth of a small island tied up in the diamonds that glittered against your neck. They were heavy and choking right now, you were sick that you had accepted the gifts with a smile on your face and need in your heart.
You rip the precious stones from your neck, the hot sting of skin ripping against the white gold doesn't even make you flinch, bare feet against the pavement. The words echo in your mind, the accusation from the young man was soaked in truth and facts.
You'd taken Crocodile's word all this time, but you couldn't refute his cruelty in the face of the young man's words. Couldn't refute your part in it.
But no more.
"I should've known," tears sting your eyes and your body shakes as you glare at him, keeping distance between you however you can. "I warmed your bed through it all, and I should've known."
"It is unfortunate," he replies, golden amber eyes narrowed dangerously. He was furious, not only at you, but at the fact that you had learned the truth. "Let us talk about this back home."
You laugh, it's full of anger and disbelief, "Big bad Sir Crocodile," you spit. "Can't have the news coos seeing you've lost control of your trophy whore, huh?" You pull the ring free from your finger and throw it at him. It thumps against his chest before he catches it easily. "You used me."
"... Perhaps." He nearly bites the word off. "Come back here and-." He grunts as you push back again, anger and haki flaring in equal measure. If you keep this up you're going to exhaust yourself, but you can't risk going easy on him.
He's not the Desert King for nothing.
"I can't believe I bought so many lies!" You rage at no one in particular. There's no crowd gathering, none would dare. A spat between the King and his Queen was an event no one wanted to witness. "For the small price of my soul." You grunt, body tense, muscles searing with the strain of haki and your own emotions.
"To love as a lie as well," you shake your head, feeling your heart twist.
"My love-."
"DON'T YOU DARE!" You bellow, his words shattered by your anger more than your haki. Despite your waning strength he stands still in the face of your words, giving you more space as you continue to back away.
You use the buffer to collect yourself, keeping a lookout for Daz Bonez, knowing he'd do whatever was necessary to force you into the limo at this point. He's almost more of a danger to you than Crocodile, since he doesn't have any love for you like his boss does.
"I'm not going to just fold to your will and-." Bright lights fill your eyes, a frantic horn nearly drowns out all other sound, but you can hear your voice like fire and ice from his lips.
The impact shatters the final sputtering remnants of your neglected haki, and your world goes dark.
A terrible flood of pain shuts your body down and your mind swims in and out of memories that danced, sweet and sorrowful, along the edges of your consciousness. Muffled sounds and incoherent questions assail you, but nothing prompts you to react.
Exhaustion eats at your marrow, and anger gives way to dull aches and nauseating throbs. On some level you know you're alive, you think, because being dead wouldn't hurt so much.
Time comes and goes in fits. Darkness prevails for long stretches, and muttered voices that are too far away to be understood speak hastily against a steady beep. The stench of cleanliness burns your nose, and the scent of something familiar eases your soul.
Warm. Warm and soft, like hints of citrus mixed with sugar and spirits. Fine like sand, shifting against your feet as you walk along a beach, the scent of the ocean lost to the cigar between his-.
Your eyes open slowly, and the world around you comes into focus for the first time in however long. Hours, days, years, for all you knew you had been out for so long as to be reborn, but your body protests as your fingers twitch.
A warmth against your skin catches your attention, and a large hand carefully, and slowly, moves over your hand, holding your fingers delicately in his.
Golden eyes find yours, and you close your eyes against the intensity of emotions in them for a moment. You don't feel fear, but the relief is almost too much to accept right now.
"Where?" You question softly, voice heavy, dry and cracked like desolate earth. You try to swallow and wince from the feeling of needles in your throat.
"Home." He answers, voice full of authority, relief, and satin. He brings over a cup of water with a straw in it, gloved hand holding it steady for you. "Small sips."
You nod a little, taking a few small drops of water and feeling relief wash through your mouth.
"How?" You grimace against a pain that tears through your head, fingers curling around his, holding on tightly for a moment until it passes.
"An accident." He answers. "Don't stress about the details right now, just rest and recover."
You shake your head a little. "How... long?" You manage. He's not wrong about the resting part, you can feel exhaustion starting to take you and you've only been conscious for a few minutes at most.
"Almost two weeks. You were in surgery for twenty hours, and at the hospital in recovery for ten days after that." He explains, eyes shivering with emotions as he recounted the passage of time. "Once you stabilized, I brought you home. We converted the first floor den, in case you needed to be taken back to the hospital unexpectedly, but you've been steadily continuing to recover."
Knowledge brings relief, and relief brings sleep, and you slip back into slumber with those last few words. You could feel warmth against your fingers, and the soft scent of smoke and citrus cradled you as you slept.
Over the next couple of days you slept like you were more cat than human, waking up long enough to drink some water, maybe some broth, sitting up eventually and having gelatin, only to go back to sleep immediately after. Slowly your ability to stay awake improved.
Your food became more solid, and you had short walks around the manor.
Memories danced down the halls, and shifted quietly through the courtyard, but it was hard to hold onto any of them. They clawed at your heart in desperation and twisted your stomach, but you weren't sure if it was the memories themselves or the guilt of having forgotten.
All you knew for certain was that you were calmer when he was nearby.
The scent that followed him brought you comfort. The sound of his voice soothed your heart and you found reprieve from your turmoil in the quiet sounds of his existence. Comfort was yours to be had in abundance, since he was rarely ever far from your side.
Work kept him busy, but the more you recovered, the more you saw of him, to the point of you voicing concern about his responsibilities. He assured you that his empire wouldn't collapse if he stepped away a little more often than usual.
Bejeweled fingers slipped gently against your cheek, golden amber eyes warm and content as they comforted you.
"Nearly losing you has caused me to... prioritize certain things, my love." He insists, bringing your hand to his lips, bending low so you didn't need to reach far.
You hadn't been able to remember being in a relationship with him, and he'd given you space because of it. Just recently he'd slipped into referring to you with sweet titles, and warm names. You didn't stop him, even before this point you'd understood on some level that he was important to you.
His very existence warmed your heart.
"I..." You pause a little, heat rushing through your body. "I would like you to kiss me." You manage to say the damnably embarrassing words, eyes flicking up to his, before you look away. The surprise on his face was nearly adorable, and you didn't want to let him know.
Warm fingers trace a gentle line against your neck, tilting your head up as he leans down. "All your desires are my pleasure to submit to," he assures you, leaning down closer. "This, perhaps, top among them, desert flower."
Your breath catches in your throat just before his lips brush against yours. Soft and careful at first, he pulls you in a little more, giving you the opportunity to step back if you so desire. Quiet tears slip down your cheeks as pleasure and love swell in your heart.
That you could ever forget such a sweet love was unforgivable.