#*sobbing* i just need my pirates to be happy okay

[alexa-fika]

hey I love your writing so much I had an idea but I’m not good at making stories so the other day I remember that when I was little I used to run a lot so I fell from a boat and you know I was swimming away while my parents almost got a heart attack how about a child reader with red haired pirates it would be funny , only if you want you don’t need to do it have a nice day or night

Take off (Red haired pirates x m!child!reader)

A/N Here we go, guys can you believe this is the last of the requests from APRIL like that’s so crazy to me, I want to take you for all of the requests and for trusting me to bring them to life

Reader here is replaced by Dokucha which stands for Readerin Japanese

Dividers by @/saradika

The Red forced was the same as always, with lively chatter among the crewmates as they partied over their newest conquests, not taking their eyes off the child running along the Deck

“What has got you this happy, Dokucha?” Lucky piped in, taking a bite from his chicken and laughing merrily at the young boy

“Uncle Shanks found a plane in the loot!” He cheered, waiving around said toy around

“Why did they even have toys? The crew didn’t have any children on them,” Limejuice questioned, downing down a mug of beer

“The crew was big on woodwork; they had a couple of pieces here and there littered on the loot,” Shanks answered, joining the group with his own mug in his hand, his first mate not far behind

Dokucha grinned, ignoring their chatter as they launched the toy, beaming as it glided around and rode on the same wind that pulled the Red Force along

“Dokucha, watch where you are going!” Yassop called as the child ran behind the plane, trying to take hold of it

“Don’t w-

His words die out as the floor disappears behind him, and they quite literally run themselves out of the ship. The last thing he heard was the scream of his name as he made an impact with the water, another splash following after his

He gripped onto Beckman’s similarly soaking clothes as he pulled himself over the side of the deck

“Im sorry, Daddy,” he cried, hugging him tighter and sobbing into Beckman’s already drenched shirt as they both sat on the Deck, Hongo crouching in front of the two, checking over the boy, the rest of the crew crowding around the two much to the displeasure of the first mate, a glance to his captain was all the latter needed to quickly dismiss them, leaving only the officers littering the deck

“Everything seems in order; no water seems to have entered the lungs, and no damage from the impact; next time, make sure you pay attention to where you’re running, okay?” He asked, giving Dokucha a small smile as he ruffled his hair and took his leave

Teary eyes glance up at his father, trying to gauge his emotions

He sighed, turning them around on his lap so that they were facing him, as he wiped the tears from the boy, his own dripping hand not making much difference

“I saw the dive you did before you hit the water,” he comments, giving up in the action as he recalls the safety position he had seen them take before colliding with the water

“You told me to do it if I ever fell in the water.”

“You did well; you had good reflexes as well; now we just need to practice keeping our eyes on the path,” he said softly, rubbing his knuckles against his cheeks

“You’re not mad?”

“We’re pirates; we’re going to have our slops from time to time; everyone here has fallen to the water at least once, though not everyone was as gentle as you, ain’t that right, Punch?”

The latter lets cackles as he happily takes over the small boy as he recalls the less-than-proud moments from the crew

“You know, Monster here once fell overboard; you should have seen the little rascal. It was like watching a b….

Beck watches his son regain his previous demeanor at Punch’a stories go on, and he heads to his quarters to replace the now flimsy box of cigarettes lost to the sea

“Shanks,” he called

“Hm?”

“You are banned from giving any Toys to Dokucha.”

“W-What, come on, Beck! We can talk about it,” the captain whined, following after his vice-captain

Uncle privileges revocked 😂

Taglist:

@imaginarydreams

@amethystviolin

@h0n3y-l3m0n05

[short-honey-badger]

Peppermint Tea 27 - Lavender 8

Okay. So I've had this chapter in the back burner for a while. Just fluffing the bare bones of it every now and then. We are introduced to a couple of new characters of my own creation. Forgive my lack of creativity on names and appearances.

Note!! I've posted this part once and then took it down like 10 minutes later when I realized I wasn't happy with it. I apologize to the ones who have already read this part. There have been some changes!

I really hope you enjoy! This plot has definitely thickened, and more drama Llama has come. I'm pulling out all the stops.

Warnings! Drinking and Shanks fucks up big time! A bit of a time skip happens. Also, a SURPRISE!

Masterlist

Shanks is drunk. Far more inebriated than he had planned to be, but the sake and rum were tasty, and he and his crew were celebrating a raid gone perfectly. The hoard that Yasopp had found at the end of the fight, if you could even call it one, had been the cherry on top. The group of organized bandits had been at work for a long time, stealing and taxing the villages of this island until everyone was as poor as dirt.

A child of all people had begged Shanks and his crew to take care of the bandits. The redhead had seen another kid in this one’s place, a big sneaky grin and mischievous eyes, and had easily caved. Lucky Roux had found the trail to the hideout quickly, and it was over after that. The bandits and their leader didn't stand a chance against someone like Shanks.

So now, they sat in the bar that had the most booze, going through the bandit hoard for anything they may want for themselves. The villagers had been adamant that the entire crew took something as payment, and Shanks wasn't about to say no to anything for free. He was a pirate, after all.

The Emperor had caught sight of a beautiful hair clip, one simple but ornate with tiny blue jewels embedded in the silver material. Shanks had thought of his treasure, specifically his Snowflake when he'd seen the hair clip and had swiftly pocketed it before losing himself in the copious amounts of booze that flowed around him.

Now that Shanks was thinking about you, he realized just how much he missed his treasure. It's been just over two weeks since he last saw you and tasted your lips on his. Far too long since he'd been able to bury his head between your legs and bring you to the edge over and over before you were begging him to let you come. Or having you ride his cock until you were nothing but a sobbing mess who couldn't remember anything other than the names of the two men who you belonged to.

It’s been three months since the first time Shanks had gotten the privilege of making love with his little treasure. In his drunken state, these two weeks felt like that long ago, and Shanks sighed dramatically and slumped over the bar, his mug of ale sloshing dangerously over the lip, “Benn when can we go back to _’s island?”

Shanks is far from quiet, and the bar is still filled with other pirates. People are listening in, most uncaring for the drunk pirate lamenting about his want for some woman. But to one, the old man hears your name, and recognition lights his brain.

Benn slaps him on the back of his head, a scowl on his face as he narrows his eyes at his Captain. The idiot was drunk as a skunk, “You need to be more careful, Shanks.”

The redhead pouts at Benn, dark eyes glassy, and then he drunks straight from the bottle of sake he holds. He wipes his mouth, “I know what I'm doing, Benn. No one here could ever beat me in a fight. I can protect _ just fine.”

“That's not the point, Shanks,” Benn hisses at him and tugs his Captain close by his black cloak. He shakes him, trying to knock some sense into the other man. Beckman knows that Shanks could be irresponsible, but this was ridiculous.

“Think for a damn second. If someone overhears and spreads a rumor that an Emperor of the Sea is head over heels with her. It's over. You know her past, you know who would be after her. Not to mention that Mihawk would kill you.”

The redhead sees everything that has gone so well the past six months with you and Mihawk all go up in flames. His treasures would despise him, and he would have no choice but to accept that, because it would be all his fault. Already ruining something good.

He spirals further when he thinks about the news you had shared with him and Mihawk the last time the three of you had been able to get together.

--------

You stand before the two men. Shanks can tell that you are nervous, snow has gathered around your feet, and he fights the urge to pull you close and demand what's wrong. Mihawk sits beside him, concern swimming in his ringed gaze. Hank lays on the floor between the three of you, big dark eyes trained on his human.

You begin to pace, picking up the now massive orange fluff ball and holding him close. You hold Sukuna close to your chest, threading your fingers through his thick fur. They watch you take a deep breath and then turn to them, eyes wide and full of trepidation.

“My period hasn't started yet. I keep careful track of it, and it's been fifty-two days since my last one. I-I’ve been really sick in the morning and feeling weak, and all my books say that I'm probably… pregnant?”

Mihawk nor Shanks like the fear in your voice, but your announcement has both of them star-struck. There was a baby inside of you? Made by one of them? Shanks pictures a little girl with bright red hair and golden eyes, chubby cheeks, and a brilliant smile. It's picturesque and perfect in his mind's eye, a beautiful mix of all three of them.

Hawkeye is the first to stand from the couch and go to your side. He takes your face in hand, calloused fingers holding you so carefully, and then dips down to press his lips to yours. Dracule is a mess of emotions, but elation wins over all of it. Never in his life did he think that he would have this chance, and he vowed that he would not squander it. As he kissed you, Mihawk came to the harsh conclusion that he no longer had a choice in keeping his involvement in her past a secret. The warlord would have to tell you.

Shanks eyes his lovers, a smile playing on his lips as he stands to gather his treasures close. He drops a kiss to the back of your head and sneaks his hand around your stomach, a look of wonder coming over his face as he strokes your belly.

“A kid, huh?” Shanks murmurs, and his haki creeps forth, wrapping around you and Mihawk, “I think we can swing that.”

---------

Shanks seems to sober up a bit at the harsh reminder. He sits straight, frown replacing his easy-going pout. his first mate is right, and his chest feels tight with guilt at his incompetence. Had he really been that loud? Fuck. Shanks doesn't remember. He licks his lips and pushes the bottle of sake to the side, suddenly not in the mood for any more drinking.

How could he be this dumb? Shouting your name to the heavens in a drunken stupor, needing his first mate to come in and literally shake some sense into him.

“Thank you, Benn,” Shanks croaks and runs his hand through his hair, grimacing at the state it was in. Gods, what was wrong with him tonight, “Let's head back to the ship, yeah?”

Benn stands, tossing some berri to the counter, “Best idea you've had tonight, Captain.”

The old man stands to go to the bar and order a drink, watching the two men stumble out of the bar. Though he looks unassuming dressed in regular clothes like a local, it is far from the truth.

Wiseman is an old member of the Big Mom pirates and remembers the destruction of the Nammu Isles and the two members of the royal family who escaped. They knew of the location of one, but to hear the name of the princess who was thought to be dead was interesting news that his Captain would be delighted to hear about.

------------

Thousands of miles away, a man sits at a dingy bar. He wears a navy uniform, and a Vice Admiral coat clings to his shoulders. His white hair is shaggy and unkempt, and a pair of brilliant green eyes stare into the sake he holds in his hand. He is clean-shaven with a sharp jaw, though his face is marred by a single scar that crosses vertically on the right side of his mouth. No one bothers the man, for which he is very grateful.

Today was his baby sister's birthday, and he always made sure to take off from any kind of work to mourn her. She wasn't dead. At least he didn't think so, but it's been twenty-two years since the last time he'd laid eyes on his sister. He couldn't visit her, it was far too dangerous for that, so the best he could do was make this day for her. Just like he used to before their home had been taken.

The officer knows back his sake, and the bartender helpfully refills his cup. He sits there for another hour before his peace is broken by one of his subordinates.

“Vice-Admiral Delemur?”

He sighs heavily, and a scowl crosses his face when he gives the younger man his attention. His crew knew better than to bother him on this date, so this had better have been important, “Yes, Nitchell?”

The young man gulped in the face of his superior, and Delemur cursed whoever had allowed this wet behind-the-wear recruit into his platoon. Wait. Fuck. That had been him. Was he an idiot? He focuses back on the kid when he speaks up.

“Vice-Admiral Smoker is here to see you. Said he would wait for you on the docks, Sir.”

Smokey was here? Well, that changed things now, didn't it? Smoker, and when did he get Vice-Admiral? He'd been a Captain last time they spoke- was one of the two people in the Navy who knew about Delemur's sister. The other was Sengoku, even if the white-haired man wasn't a fan of the Fleet Admiral.

Delemur stands and pushes his cup into the recruit's hands, “Here. Finish that for me. Be a good kid, and pick up my tab, too.”

He leaves the kid blubbering at the bartender and disappears, body dropping to the ground and turning into dust. He flies past citizens and pirates alike until he arrives at the docks. The officer finds Smoker at the end of the docks, and he reforms beside the other man, the scared side of his lips twisting up in a welcoming smirk.

“Hey, Smokey. Long time no see,” He murmurs and the other man gives him a matching smirk, “Nice coat.”

“Tomura, still a smarmy ass, huh?” Smoker drawls, and shifts the two cigars in his mouth to the opposite side. He looks at his old friend up and down, seeing the drunken haze in those green eyes. The Vice-Admiral knows what day it was, it's why he came to seek Tomura out when he found out that the other man was only an island away. Not to mention that he had news that the other man might want.

“You know it,” Tomura quips back dryly. He shifts to look out at the raging ocean, and two pairs of knuckle dusters clink on his belt. He licks his lips and eyes his friend out of the corner of his eyes. While it's good to see Smoker, it's odd that the other man would go out of his way to see him, even on this particular day, “Whatcha doin’ here, Smoker?”

Tomura doesn't know if he is thankful or not that the other man has never beaten around the bush. But he does know that he hates the look of pity that Smoker gives him.

“Someone's been talking about your sister, Tomura. Rumor says that it came from Red Haired Shanks singing her name, which started circulating about a week ago. News travels fast in the Grand Line, but there's not been a peep from him about her since.”

Tomura sober instantly and orders his crew to start packing up the second Smoker finishes telling him about the rumors surrounding his little sister. He can hardly see through the film of red that threatens to block out his senses. His hold on his devil fruit fluctuates, his body a weird mix of dust and flesh.

The G-5 Vice-Admiral wishes his old friend good luck and departs as quickly as he'd shown up. While he'd like to go with Tomura, he unfortunately had orders to return to Impel Down for prisoner transport. Smoker grips his friend by the forearm, hand tight enough to leave fingerprints behind, “You watch out for those damn, pirates. Good luck, Tomura.”

The white haired man books it to his ship, shouting orders to his crew that lingers around the docks. They break into action right away, most of them running to the ship to begin readying it to sail. Tomura goes straight to his cabin, dropping to his knees and pulling out an old trunk that is full of old documents and things from his past. He bypasses everything until he finds the old log pose that would lead him to where he needed to go. Back to the safe house. Back to his sister.

@writingmysanity @djbumblebee @goth-mami-writer @myradiaz @fluffybunnyu @bookandstar @foggyturtleknightangel @browneyedhufflepuff @anastasiyax @jaguarthecat

[loxymoth]

{WHITEBEARD PIRATE'S X READER}

{WARNINGS: ANGST, FLUFF, MENTIONS OF BLOOD, BONES, DEAD BODYS, HOLE IN SIDE, MISSING ARM AND INSIDES}

THIS GENDER NEUTRAL READER!!

"NAME!" Ace shouted as he saw you get hit by a strong attack as you went into a wall

'every thing hurts like a bitch goddamn'

i thought as i just layed there to rest for a few minutes not even prosessing ace yelling my name and the person walking towards me cackling like a crazy person

'why does he laugh like that?' i thought when i heard him cackling

As ace saw you just lay there and not move as the person wallked closer to your body he turned raged he burned the rest of the peaple he was fighting to nothing but ashes and ran over to where you and the person was now standing over you

as i looked at the person standing over me i just realized i might finally be in trouble

As ace now was behind the person already tuning his hand into fire and ready to burn the person

marco swooped down and grabbed my body as he saw what happened from where he was

as the person got distracted by marco picking up your body ace made his fire turning flaming hot and shot fire at the person burning him and hearing him scream as he burned down to nothing but ashes

skip to marco setting you down on the ship and healing the minor injuries on you while you were barly holding on to Consciousness and the nurses running around you while trying to tell you to stay awake

which of course you didn't because you lost so much blood at this point how could you and you were tired

marco and the nurses were cussing to them selfs as you had a hole in your side which had bones sticking out with some of your insides poking out with blood gushing out of it

AND you had no arm which makes that worse because even more bloodloss which were scaring marco and everyone else that you weren't going to make it because it didn't look good untill one nerse came out and everyone was so happy to see her

skip to ace being surrounded by dead bodies of the peaple that they were fighting as everyone was finishing up at ace walked to the ship

everyone was happy to see the nurse who came out rushing to your side as she saw the hole in your side and your missing arm as she sighed and begun healing the hole as that is the part thats the worst one

as it healed up fully the nurses carried her to the kitchen to get her somthing because she used alot of energy on you

as the other peaple begun taking care of your missing arm and getting you to a room to properly heal

as everyone finally got back on the ship ace asked where you were as the nurses triedto calmhim down as they lead him to your room

as i opened my eyes everything stung as i looked at the sealing when i heard the door open ilooked over at a sobbing ace as he ran over to where i was and just held me as he balled his eyes out telling me im okay over and over

"ace are you alright your balling your eyes out alot there?" i said chuckling alittleas he was stunned before balling again saying how sorry he was that he didn't protect you as you tried soothing him

he stayed with you the rest of the day after that but he needed to do his dutys so he reluctantly left as other crew members visited you while you healed

a few weeks later they finally let you out and you were so happy finally

as you finally healed fully the whitebeard pirates watched you more after that

A/N: im sorry if this is bad, this is my first fanfic😅😭

[chenziee]

Lawlu thoughts: lawlu wedding just basically being that wedding kiss scene in pirates of the Caribbean. Shanks could be the one that marries them during a big fight.

Okay but please consider a little modification

Final battle raging all around, pirates fighting pirates, marines fighting marines, death is lurking behing every corner...

Law: I love you, marry me!

Luffy:

Luffy: SHANKS! MARRY US!

Shanks, immediately: Ohhhhhhhhh

Shanks: NICE :D :D

Robin: Aww

Yamato: Oh my god it's happening!!

Chopper: I'll get the rings!!

Bepo: Captain has them in his cabin!

Sanji: So for the cake we need..

Penguin: Wait do we have any booze??

Zoro: We absolutely do

Sabo: Luffy, I'M your best man right? Right??

Barto: *sobbing in the corner, unsure whether it's because he's so happy for Luffy or because he's so mad at Law*

Benn: Are they always like this?

Usopp, crying: Unfortunately

Nami: AREN'T YOU ALL A LITTLE BUSY RIGHT NOW??

Meanwhile...

The marines:

The Revolutionaries:

Blackbeard:

CP0:

Imu:

Borsalino: So... do we give them a moment or do we just continue?

[insertcurrentintresthere]

Anyway, please enjoy an abridged list of the random thoughts I had while watching the PJO finale. Spoilers (duh)

I will not be fixing the spelling mistakes for a more authentic experience

LOOK AT HIM GO

This is making me way too happy

he said the word wrong (riposte) 😔

“whAt” -annabeth

GET HIS ASS

He’s on the ground :(

GET HIS ASS - YEAH!!! - FUCK YEAH - GET EM

he got stuck in a glue trap

Annabeth really clutched thyn pearls

That was sOoOoo cOoOOoL

Oh- he’s doing the doctor who thing

Ooo colors

Awww (where is he)

Okay, the helm is a helmet… Or like- an old scuba mask

Sashay away

GROVER<3333333

“Dude”

Sand… on his face

They love each other

She’s so scared for him

THE NECKLACE

SOBS SONS SOBS

WHAY IS THIS

ITS LIKE IN THOR

Luke is spreading propaganda

SPIDER PHOBIA MENTION

I want to go to there

I’m so excited to see Zeus

Why is he sitting like that tho

He’s impertinent or whatever

Where is poseidon :(

His eyes so big

BOY

YES HES HERE WOOOOO

He’s my father he just doesn’t know it yet (I’m a child of Hephaestus, I have no clue what I was talking abt)

What the flip was that

“Everybody”? Really just left out half of the olympians

He zipped away

“The sea does not like to be restrained” (I just really like this line for some reason)

ARES IS A MORON

NO, STOP

THROWING UP

IM GONNA CRY STOP IT

NOOO FUCK YOU

How did I just realize it’s person shaped

HUG HER BACK DUMBASS

THE FUREWORKS

IT WASNT GTIVER NOOOO

Stop it I’m gonna kill you rick

THR HURT IN HIS EYES

LUKE

MO

STOP

NO NO NO NO NO

I CANT FO THIS

WHERE TF IS GRIVER AND HUS SERVHERS LICENSE

LUKE NO

LUKE STOP

OMG STOP IT NO

HES SO SCARED

It looks like a pirate sword

I love how sympathetic they’re making him

This is great

“This isn’t you babe”

WHERE TF IS GRIVER

“I’m sorry”

ANNABETH!!!!!

HELL YEAB

PERIL

WHAT ABOUT GROVER?!

HIS LICENSE

“Kronis”

He’s impertinent

HEHE

I love Mr. D so much

She’s so pretty istg

THEY LOVE EACHOTJER

YES

GROVER

THE FLOWER

HES SO HAPPY

I LOVE HIM

SEASON 2 FORSHADOWING?!

I need to see him in the wedding dress

SHUT UP PERCY

oh no, not the ominous music

SALLY!!!!!!

YIPEEEEE

NO

STOP

SOBBING MY EYES OUT

WHAT STOP

BITCH GET AWAY

I’m so excited for season 2 PLEASE

why does he talk like that

The mom ever

Grandpa >:(

BLUE

Aw, they didn’t kill gabe :(

Haha… reddick

WAIT HE DIED

BOOM DEVORCS

He’s silly, Silly in the way I wanna punch him in the face

KILL HIM!!!!!

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

14 Dec 2023

Logging this as my personal update because I need positivity in my life right now

Super sappy personal post incoming and also the closest anyone's ever going to get to see what I look like but

GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS

I'M SOBBING

MY DEAR SWEET AMAZING TALENTED WONDERFUL LIL NIECE JUST GOT HER FIRST GUITAR

AND SHE'S GONE ALL GOTH-PUNK OVER THE PAST COUPLE YEARS

AND SHE'S INTO HORROR AND ART AND ANIME AND COSPLAY TOO

AND APPARENTLY SHE TELLS EVERYONE I'M HER FAVORITE AUNT AND THAT I'M COOL AND AND

AND SHE EVEN DYED HER HAIR RED TO MATCH MINE???!!

I'M GONNA FCKING UGLY-CRY

KSKSJDFKSK I mean—

She's my lil mini-me I love her so much omfg 😭

This girl, when she was like six years old she ran up to me with this little drawing and said "AUNT [redacted] LOOK I DREW YOUR GUITAR!!! 😃" just so happy and proud of it, and I have kept it taped to said guitar ever since.

Have to change the tape every few years but I will never ever part with it.

This girl is just so wonderful and sweet and I am so so proud of her, and honored that I was able to raise her for almost six years, and that she's still my mini-me even though she's almost a teenager now.

She has had my whole entire heart since she was born and she always will.

Next time she comes over to visit I'm giving her guitar lessons. And we're for sure going to binge-watch One Piece anime and/or live action together, because she's also getting into pirates now. This is weirdly like I'm watching myself grow up all over again and it's kind of wonderful.

Okay I'mma go cry now byyyyeeeeee 👋🥹😭

[ternfic]

Bluebird

Chapter Three: Space Oddity

Benny was apparently something of a celebrity in Cape Space. He really was the youngest astronaut- a record that, even twenty years later, had yet to be beat- and the inventor of the cryostasis system, just as he’d said. Not only that, but apparently something of a hero, too. The details of that story weren’t particularly clear, but it sounded like he’d saved the lives of his crew when something happened to their ship. Benny would be happy to hear that they had indeed been found, very shortly after splashdown, alive and well.

It also explained the manner of his waking, somewhat.

Metalbeard wondered why there was no mention of Benny’s old crewmates after their initial retrieval, though. Had something else happened to them? He understood that he and his crew weren’t exactly in the need-to-know for that, but he hoped they at least told Benny, he deserved to know.

The residents of Cape Space had a lot of questions for them. Where had they found Benny? How had they found him? Did they still have his stasis pod? What was he like?

There was one other concern Metalbeard had, and after dropping several very specific words, he found who he needed to talk to about it.

Who knew the Director was sympathetic to the Master Builder cause?

“Captain, this doesn’t leave my office.”

“Aye, I understand.”

“Blue’s crew are still alive. Black and Yellow are here, but Red and White had to go into hiding- they started training to become Master Builders shortly after they were all retrieved, I think it may have something to do with the accident. But they never mentioned Blue ever training for it…”

“He didn’t have a very high opinion of us at first, so I doubt it. But I know what I saw- the lad was shapin’ metal with his bare hands. Only Master Builders can manipulate matter like that. I’ve no doubt he be one of us, somehow.”

“I’ll send word to Black, she’s the only one who’ll know how to get ahold of Red and White. They’ll want to see him for themselves.”

“I’d like to see the lad as well.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. Only relatives are permitted to see him right now.”

“What? But ye can let his crew see him?”

Browning quirked a rueful smile at the captain. “They’re the only family Benny has left.”

Benny heaved a bored sigh, toying with one of the few leads still attached to him. There had been so many tests, since he’d been brought to the hospital. So many tests. And they wouldn’t give him the results of any of them. But he hadn’t really received much for treatment, so he supposed he was in decent health. He did get scolded for using his head as a battering ram, though- it was a miracle he didn’t have a concussion. When he brought up the numbers, he only got odd looks. He didn’t bring them up again.

The nurses had told him that his new pirate friends had inquired about him, but no one else had come to see him. His family, he wasn’t surprised about, but his crew… They would have knocked down every door between them, just for a glimpse of him. If they were still alive. He hadn’t been told anything of them one way or the other. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself not to start crying again. He felt like such a baby.

There was a commotion in the hallway, and he wiped at his eyes as his door opened to admit a rather harried doctor. “You have visitors,” he announced flatly before promptly leaving again. Benny tilted his head. There was something familiar about all that racket…

“BENNY!” came a chorus of shouts as a very colorful crowd of four piled through the door, and he lit right up.

“Guys!!” He gave up trying to stop the tears when they crowded around him, practically smothering him with affection. “You’re all okay?!”

“I can’t believe you’re still alive!” Jenny sobbed as she clinged to him. Benny clinged back just as fervently. “They announced you officially dead when we couldn’t find you after a year…! We started to think you got burned up in atmo with the ship…”

“I asked so many times, but nobody would tell me anything about whether you guys were still alive or not…”

“We’re still here, Bluebird, thanks to you,” Ken assured, giving him a squeeze. “We were drifting for just under a day before they managed to pick us up.”

Benny frowned as he realized something, pulling back to look at them. “Hey, why do you all still look so young?”

“I’m assuming they haven’t said a word to you about that either,” Penelope ventured.

“No,” Benny confirmed. “They’ve put me through an absolute shit ton of tests, but not a single word about what they’re for or what the results are. What’s going on?”

“It’s because of the cryostasis,” Lenny answered. “It worked too well. It’s been twenty years since the accident, and yet we’ve barely aged one. And we were only under for about twenty-two hours. Benny… you…”

He drew in a shaky breath. “Just tell me, Lenny.”

“Barring any catastrophic events that would leave you in itty bitty particles, it’s looking like you’ll effectively be immortal. You might even recover lost limbs,” Penelope said. “Your regenerative abilities are off the charts right now.”

Benny gave a wobbly grin as it sank in. “Hey, does that mean I’m the cure for cancer?” he tried to joke.

“You might be,” Penelope answered, all seriousness.

“Oh, God.”

“Hey, it’s not all bad, is it?” Lenny said, giving him a reassuring smile. “You’ll still have us for a good long while.”

“But not forever,” Benny said quietly, miserably. “And what if… What if I meet someone? And fall in love and get married? He’s only gonna have a normal lifespan, I won’t be able to grow old with him, I’ll lose him way too soon…”

“Hey, we don’t know for sure yet,” Lenny soothed. “And even if Penn’s right, they might still wind up finding a cure for us.”

“Yeah right,” Benny huffed, leaning against him. “It was hell trying to figure out how to make the system work in the first place.”

“There’s one other thing, Benny,” Ken said. Benny looked back at him. “You’re, uh. Kind of on Lord Business’ hit list now.”

“What? Why? I’m not a Master Builder!”

“Actually, you are,” Lenny said softly. “Metalbeard told us about what you did to his ship, to help everyone escape. Tell me, have you been seeing anything weird? Floating numbers, maybe?” Benny froze. “You have, haven’t you?”

“How did you…”

“Ken and I are Master Builders now, too. But we had to train for it; how you just up and became one is beyond me.”

“Then why are you guys here? Why aren’t you in hiding?”

“We were,” Ken said. “Soon as Penn and Jenny told us you’d been found, we had to come see you.”

“So that’s what took you all so long…”

“And why no one would tell you anything about us.”

“Nobody here is going to breathe a word about you, either,” Jenny assured. She grinned. “We’re actually here to ‘break you out’, as it were. So they have an alibi.” Benny’s eyes went wide.

“But- but what if I’m not-”

“You’re fine,” Penelope assured. “Like I said. Regenerative abilities. You’re actually cleared to leave now.” She tossed a backpack at him. He caught it and unzipped it; his blue spacesuit was inside. “Get ready Benny, we’re blowing this popsicle stand.”

[phantom-of-the-501st]

TBB Finale Thoughts

Spoilers for TBB Season 2

I feel ill

Well... thoughts I guess...

Yeee they're gonna go and get Crosshair!!!

Echo's got contacts 😌

TECH IS SO AWKWARD I FUCKING LOVE HIM

Phee telling him not to run off with any pirates 😭

Of course this meeting is full of old white men.

AAWWW WE HAVEN'T HAD TECH AND ECHO IN THE COCKPIT TOGETHER IN SO LONG!!!

Just saying, last time they parked the Marauder out of view it got stolen. 😐

I got way too excited over cable cars.

Tech, pls get off the high thing. It's stressing me out. 😬

I would be Wrecker in this situation. Except I'd be doing worse.

At least everyone else has two hands to hold on with, Echo just has his scomp wedged under a pipe. 😭

Hemlock going for the "if I just make all my responses really vague then I won't actually have to answer anything" approach.

EXCUSE ME TARKIN, YOU BITCH! ECHO BLEW UP TO SAVE YOU! GIVE THE CLONES SOME DAMN RESPECT!!!

Echo hasn't been sidelined which is good. 🥰

It's "let's send the child off into a dangerous situation by themselves" time!

Swinging the crane around and knocking everything over seems like something Fives would do.

Or Hardcase. But Hardcase wouldn't do it intentionally.

SAW GERRERA???

Saw, mate. Pls don't blow it up. I don't need to be more stressed about the Batch not making it. 😭

These fight sequences are great!

Oh great. Now they're stuck. 🥲

Remember in 2x1 when it ended with the crate falling out of the sky? Yeah... this feels like that.

And that didn't end well for Tech so now I'm stressed that someone is going to get hurt. 😭

Everything is grey. Why does everything have to be grey? Grey ≠ good.

WHY DOES HUNTER LOOK SO SAD IN THE NEXT EPISODE SCREENSHOT?!

TECH STOP CLIMBING ON THINGS ISTFG!

This has me all levels of stressed out. 🫠

Oh fuck. Now we have ships involved.

Oh fuck fuck fuckety fuck fuck fuck

THIS SITUATION CAN'T GET ANY WORSE

NEVERMIND I STAND CORRECTED

THE CARRIAGES ARE FALLING OFF THE RAIL

TECH NO SHIT HANG ON AAAHHHH

WRECKER GO AND GET HIM OMG 😭

Tech...

Tech what're you doing...

Tech no...

THAT'S PLAN 99

FUCK OFF THAT'S PLAN 99?!

TECH

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

Months ago I said that Tech was the most likely of them to die

THAT DIDN'T MEAN THAT I FUCKING WANTED IT

I feel sick

That might be the sleep deprivation tbf

But omg I actually feel ill

I'm sobbing

Help

I hate this

Why

FUCK

Wrecker calling Tech's name is so much like Fives calling Echo's

Everything hurts

Oh great! This entire sequence is like when Hunter got shot! 😭

CAN'T WE HAVE HAPPINESS FOR 2 FUCKING SECONDS?!

It stresses me out that we haven't seen Crosshair yet 😐

Hey, AZI. Nice to see a friendly face. 🥲

Awww they were so worried about her 😭

Help me

Goddammit, Tech. I didn't need this. 😭

But we haven't seen a body, right? THAT MEANS HE COULD BE OKAY, RIGHT??? NO BODY MEANS THAT HE MIGHT NOT BE DEAD, RIGHT?!

Wrecker has a neck brace. 🥲

OH FUCK

SAD WRECKER

DON'T DO THIS TO ME

"Yeah. Me too."

This entire episode makes me feel like I'm gonna throw up

NO FUCK

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

NOT ECHO SAD

I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS

FUCK FUCK FUCK

NOPE

HE'S ALREADY LOST HIS ENTIRE SQUAD DON'T DO THIS TO HIM 😭

I'm in so much pain rn

I'm suffering

CID YOU FUCKING BITCH!

I HATE YOU

I HATE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH RIGHT NOW

Don't look all sad and regretful

You know what you did

Fuck you 🤬

"Who knew clones were so paternal" 😭

NOT THE GOGGLES

NOT THE GOGGLES

FUCK

I hate this I hate this I hate this

But that means they found him, right???

I refuse to believe that he's dead.

I refuse to believe it.

Maybe they took him.

I mean, that's not good but at least it means he's not fucking dead.

PLEASE TELL ME HE'S NOT FUCKING DEAD

Oh shit now they have Wrecker and Hunter. 😭

ECHO TO THE RESCUE!!!

Oh piss off Hemlock, you slimy git

(I actually really enjoy watching him as a villain though)

(It's a love hate relationship)

(Mainly hate)

Echo and AZI teaming up is making me think of Fives and AZI and now I'm somehow even more sad... ☹️

ECHO IN A WALKER!!!

THAT'S OUR MAN RIGHT THERE!!! 🔥

Scorch, you put Omega down right now!

THEY ALL LOOK SO SAD I CAN'T DO THIS 😭😭😭

Oh Nala Sé can piss off as well. 😒

CROSSHAIR

ALL THIS AND WE GET 5 SECONDS OF UNCONSCIOUS CROSSHAIR?!

And there was us thinking that they were gonna rescue him. 🤡

Well we were right about one thing... they got Omega. 🥲

I DO NOT LIKE THOSE TUBES IN THE BACKGROUND

I VERY MUCH DO NOT LIKE THEM

So Emerie is a clone!

Oh, we've ended on grey. Of course. How else would it end.

I just... what do I say? I don't know what to do. I'm in pain. I feel sick. This episode broke me in every way possible. I don't know what to do.

Me if someone tries to tell me that Tech is actually dead 👇

... at least this means season 3, right? 🥲

@phis-writing @saturn-sends-hugs @eriexplosion @heyclickadee @snarkyfina So, besties... how are we doing? 😃

[ollieofthebeholder]

to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest): a TMA fanfic

<< Beginning < Prev. || AO3 || My Website

Chapter 40: January 2017

“Look, I’m not arguing with you that you don’t take decorations down before the sixth, I’m just saying—”

“No, you don’t take them down until after the sixth, you have to go all the way through Epiphany.”

“Then we should still have taken them down before we left.”

“It’s still the sixth!”

“And we won’t be in until Monday!”

“Which is after the sixth. It doesn’t have to come down on the seventh.”

Sasha sighed. “I think Jon and Martin are just using the whole ‘we don’t want to tip Elias off that we’re all going to the same place’ thing as an excuse not to have to listen to this argument.”

Tim snorted. “You’re just saying that because you’re wrong.”

She swatted him, but he suspected she was too glad he was poking at her to be really annoyed.

He genuinely hadn’t realized how stressed and upset he’d been until he walked into the Archives to find it decked out like it was going to be the site of Fezziwig’s Christmas ball. It must have taken Sasha—and, as he later found out, Gerry—most of the weekend to set up. Even then he’d held it together until Sasha told him why she’d done it, at which point he wasn’t particularly ashamed to admit he’d broken down sobbing and ended up at the bottom of a hug pile.

They were just lucky Elias hadn’t come down to be a dick.

Christmas was over now, or would be after today—Tim was adamant about that—but oddly, he didn’t feel as flat as he normally would when the lights and garlands started coming down. Normally he threw himself into planning for Valentine’s Day or Pancake Day, depending on which was earlier and how much he wanted to torment his coworkers, as a way to distract himself from the end of the season, but this year, there wasn’t a need for that. Partly it was that he still wasn’t entirely recovered from…well, everything. Partly it was that he didn’t feel so much like things were ending—only beginning. Mostly, though, it was that they were busy.

Cinnamon Rose Books still had a wreath hanging on the door, along with a few other decorations, and Sasha took one look at it, then stepped to the far side of the threshold before pressing the bell. Tim was about to ask her why when Gerry opened the door, glanced up briefly, then grabbed Tim, dipped him, and kissed him thoroughly.

“Hi,” he said when he let him up for air.

“Hi,” Tim said, a bit breathless and dizzy. Then he noticed the sprig of mistletoe directly over where he’d been standing. “Oh. How long has that been there?”

“Since we decorated. You just usually don’t stand under it when you knock.” Gerry smirked at him, then stepped back. “Come on in. The others are upstairs. Please get up here before they start playing their damned music.”

Sasha coughed. Tim was pretty sure it was to hide a laugh. “Sinner’s Gin again?”

“No, it’s that fucking steampunk space pirate band. Apparently they’ve got a new album or something coming out in a couple weeks, and Melanie’s heard some of it but Jon hasn’t. I kind of tuned the explanation out,” Gerry confessed under his breath. “They’ve been talking about it for the last twenty minutes.”

Tim couldn’t help but laugh himself. “Lead on, then. Let’s get this party started.”

Something smelled good—like someone was baking pies—and as they headed up into the living part of the shop, Tim noted the garland, tinsel, and small live tree still shedding its needles gently in the corner. “You haven’t taken the decorations down yet,” he said, with a note of triumph. Sasha rolled her eyes at him.

“That’s Neenie’s thing. Decorations stay up until the second of February. You’ll have to ask her about it. As long as she helps with the breakdown, I don’t really care, honestly.” Gerry led them into the kitchen. “Okay! They’re here. Can we talk about literally anything else now?”

“I’m just saying, the evidence is not on the side of a happy ending.” Jon spoke with the air of one scoring a point in some ineffable debate.

“Yeah, you’re right, but I can dream, can’t I?” Melanie looked up from where she was setting the table and offered Sasha a half-smile. “Hey.”

“Hey. Why do the decorations have to stay up until second February?” Sasha gave her a smile that was so obviously an imitation of Tim’s over-the-top flirting that Jon actually snickered.

Melanie shrugged. “That’s just how my mother did it. Decorations go up four Sundays before Christmas and stay up until Candlemas. Don’t ask me what Candlemas is, because I have no clue.”

“Presentation of Jesus at the temple,” Tim said automatically. “It’s the end of the Epiphany season and the start of Ordinary Time.”

“You grew up Catholic, right?” Gerry tossed that off over his shoulder as he headed to the fridge. “Beer, anyone?”

“Yeah, sure,” Tim said, a bit disquieted. He didn’t think he’d ever mentioned that to anyone, and he hadn’t set foot in a confessional since joining the Institute. He and God were on better terms than they’d been after Danny died, or at least he thought they were, but he didn’t quite know where he stood with the Church. “Uh, how’d you know that?”

“Guessed. You said your grandparents came over from Italy during the war. Balance of probability was that they were either Catholic or atheists, and you know too much about religion to be an atheist.” Gerry handed him a stout. “Always a bit jealous of people who had belief in something like that. Something good, rather than…” He waved vaguely, encompassing himself, Jon, Martin, and the general situation they found themselves in.

Tim raised an eyebrow at him and gestured pointedly at Melanie and Martin. “You don’t believe in anything good?”

Gerry smiled, if a bit reluctantly. “Yeah, okay, point.”

Martin shook his head, a fondly exasperated look in his eyes. “Sit down and eat.”

Melanie pulled a box of matches out of a drawer. “Anything come close to you lot lately?”

“Nothing in person,” Jon said, glancing around at the others. “At least not in the Archives.”

“Or the tunnels,” Martin said. “We’ve…been staying to the first level. Haven’t noticed the walls moving around so much.”

Sasha shook her head. “No new encounters for me. What about you, Tim?”

Tim thought over the last few days. “Can’t think of anything. Just the usual, then.”

Melanie nodded and lit four candles—one for the Eye, one for the Stranger, one for the Spiral, and one for the Hunt. They weren’t concerned about the Corruption so much these days, not with Jane Prentiss dead and out of the way; they hadn’t seen anything of the Web since the attack, and if Martin said he wasn’t worried about the Buried, Tim trusted him. Most of the other entities hadn’t really bothered them.

Tim still thought they should maybe be warding off the Slaughter, but both Melanie and Jon insisted they hadn’t seen anything of it since they got back from Sheffield, so he’d dropped that argument some weeks ago.

The gatherings had been Jon’s idea. At first they’d shared information piecemeal, in stolen moments here and there, hoping for times when Elias was distracted or talking around things they didn’t want him to know about, like that Melanie and Gerry were helping them. (It had been a long time since Tim had believed Elias’ nothing escapes my notice to be anything but literal.) After an attempt to have a hurried debriefing in the tunnels during which they all tried to talk at once and Martin came away with a headache so bad he had to lie down the rest of the afternoon, Jon had suggested they move the discussions to a time and place they could be sure of being unobserved, and where the whole group could participate. Gerry had offered up his rooms on the basis that the shop could provide a good cover if anyone wanted to know where they were going—it wasn’t so unusual for people from the Magnus Institute to go to a place like that, especially if they were doing research—and with the wards in place, they could be reasonably certain they were safe.

Melanie, it turned out, had picked up takeaway from a particular restaurant a few blocks away that was, or so she swore, the only place in London that did a proper char siu. Tim observed the way all three of them handled the chopsticks and asked, “Another tradition?”

“Hmm?” Martin frowned for a second, then his eyes cleared as he swallowed the bite in his mouth. “Oh, the meal? No, not really. Melanie just really likes Mr. Zhang’s recipes, so it’s kind of our go-to when none of us feel like cooking.”

“Just wanted to make sure.” Tim was still sorting out what the three of them did because it was helpful or protected them and what they did because it was comfortable and familiar. He was also finding that he liked being looped into their traditions. That, as much as anything else, had gone a long way towards soothing his anxieties and settling his anger over the last few weeks.

They lapsed into silence for a while, broken only by the clinking of silverware against plate. Gerry waited until Melanie and Jon were finished with a playful duel with their chopsticks over a particularly large snow pea before he said, “Right, who wants to start?”

Jon sighed. “I suppose I will. I’ve been going through Gertrude’s laptop.”

“How’d you get into it?” Sasha asked, surprising Tim, who had assumed Jon had asked her.

Jon looked slightly sheepish. “I, er, I posted on a few tech-oriented forums asking about statements. A woman came by yesterday to give one, and while she was there, I asked her to take a look at it. Pretended I’d locked myself out somehow.”

“Probably deleted a bit of code in the administrative permissions. Not hard if you know what you’re doing,” Sasha mused. She caught Tim’s look and added, “I’m the one who told him to find another way in, Tim. It’s not that I didn’t want to know, it’s just, well, I didn’t want to tempt myself to start digging for those secrets instead. Besides, the more Elias thinks Jon doesn’t trust us with his investigations, the more protected we’ll all be from his snooping, right?”

“Point,” Tim admitted.

Martin exhaled slowly. “Christ, Jon, I wish you’d told us…what was it? Her statement?”

“Ah, I’m—I’m not altogether sure, actually. S-something about a parser bot, um, Sergey Ushanka?”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard that one,” Sasha said. “Guy who allegedly tried to upload his brain into a computer to cheat death, managed it, found out it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, and now chats with people and slowly goes mad over the course of it, right? ‘The angles cut me when I try to think.’” She uttered this in a cartoonishly spooky voice, wiggling her fingers dramatically.

Nobody else laughed. Jon nodded, unsmiling; Gerry scowled. “I’ve heard that name. Where have I heard that name before?”

“Your dad’s notebook. The one you used to work out the wards and shanty combos,” Melanie said. She laid her chopsticks down, very carefully, like she was afraid she might break them if she didn’t. “That was on the last page he’d written on. Some shop in Soho he reckoned might have ‘the last piece of Sergey Ushanka’.”

“Right. We never understood what that meant.”

“It’s an old urban legend,” Jon said. “According to Ms. Winters, anyway. She says it dates back to 1983, to the early days of home computers. First the story said he coded his brain onto floppy disks, then CDs, then finally uploaded directly onto the web. I can’t help but wonder if they’re all true, in their own way.”

Martin drummed his fingers on the table for a moment, his eyes going vacant. “Ger, how old were you when your dad died?”

“Four or five. Don’t really remember all that well.” Gerry shrugged, but Tim could see how much it hurt. He reached over and squeezed his hand as comfortingly as he could; Gerry squeezed back before adding, “I don’t remember him writing in it for a few months before he died, though. Mostly I just remember him sitting in his chair. I think he might’ve been sick, which makes sense if he tried to quit.”

Tim cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

Gerry blinked at him. “Didn’t I ever tell you lot? Dad was an Archival Assistant. Worked with Gertrude. I didn’t know that until I met her, but…”

“You told us,” Martin said softly. “Neens and me, I mean, the night you…that first night. You probably just forgot we weren’t all there for that conversation.”

“Probably. Honestly, it’s hard to keep straight who was present for what conversation those first couple days, everything got so damned muddled.” Gerry rubbed his forehead. “Anyway, yeah, my dad worked in the Archives. I know he wanted to quit to raise me, but if you can’t leave…he was probably dying by inches even before Mum killed him. She probably waited until he was weak.”

Melanie snorted. “That doesn’t sound like Aunt Mary. I always thought she liked it better when they had a bit of fight to them.”

“Yeah, the problem with her ‘diversifying her portfolio’ was that she took away the bits from each one she liked, and I think that was the part of the Hunt she liked, was seeing how people reacted when they were cornered,” Gerry muttered. “Flight, fight, or freeze, yeah?”

“Yeah, and you’re an emu,” Martin and Melanie said simultaneously. Tim almost snorted lo mein out his nose.

Sasha coughed into her hand. “Anyway, Jon, you’ve been going through the laptop…what have you found?”

“Very little of any use. At least not about stopping the Unknowing…I gather Gertrude wasn’t much of a note-taker. But I’ve been sifting through her emails.” Jon pushed his mostly empty plate away. Martin silently slid it back, and he picked up his chopsticks again without complaint. “She’d requested a huge travel budget from the Institute, and she got it. Kept all the booking information and receipts for that. She also ordered a lot of, um, sporadic but unusually high-quantity purchases. Petrol. Lighter fluid. Pesticides. High-powered torches.”

Gerry snorted. “Sounds like Gertrude. Fire was kind of her backup plan for everything, but some things you can’t burn, I guess.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard the term ‘burning daylight,’ but I don’t think that’s literal,” Tim chimed in, earning groans from Martin and Sasha and a smirk from Gerry. “She didn’t travel with those, did she?”

“I doubt it. They’d be quite difficult to take through customs,” Jon said dryly. He hesitated, then added, “There is…one other thing. I suppose in retrospect it’s a bit obvious. Gertrude was buying Leitners. She was the one who bought that copy of The Key of Solomon Dominic Swain mentioned finding an auction for—grbookworm1818.”

Martin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of fucking course she was.”

“I’m not surprised, honestly,” Gerry admitted. “She had me run one or two down for her while I was helping her out, but it’s kind of odd she would have bought any in a way that could be traced back to her like that. She wasn’t stupid.” He paused, then added, “Mostly.”

“Hang on.” Melanie pushed away from the table. “Is it still in the same place, Ger?”’

Tim didn’t know what it was, but Gerry seemed to understand—of course he did. “Yeah, I found it last time I needed it. Still there.”

Melanie slipped out of the room. Jon shot a glance at Martin. “Do I want to know?”

“We keep a ledger,” Martin explained. “Known books of power, whether they were his or not, what happened to them. That sort of thing.”

“We thought about calling it our ‘hunting record’, but, you know…” Gerry trailed off as Melanie dramatically flung the door open and dropped a red notebook and pen in front of him. “Why am I the scribe?”

“Because you worked with Gertrude. You find it, you list it,” Melanie shot back at him.

Gerry sighed theatrically. “Fine.” He opened the book, flipped through a few pages, and scribbled a line in the book. “Any idea what she did with it?”

“I’m hoping she burned it, but my luck cannot be that good,” Jon muttered.

Tim watched Gerry fill in the information in a surprisingly neat, practiced hand. He wasn’t one of those people who believed you could tell a person’s personality through their handwriting, but Gerry’s showed that he’d been well-trained and was well-used to doing delicate work with a pen, unsurprising if his mother had intended to teach him how to work her Book someday. “Was that the only one she got? A copy of one of the most famous demonology texts in the world that almost certainly actually worked? Which of the Fourteen would that be, by the way?”

“Probably more than one, honestly,” Martin said. “I really hope she burned that one. I also hope Leitner didn’t keep it too close to any of his other books.”

Tim paused as the possibilities of that filtered through his mind. “You think they influence each other?”

“I’m sure they can. Or at least…egg each other on, maybe? The more powerful the influence of the Fourteen is on a book, or an object, the more likely it is to affect the world around it.” Martin’s voice shifted slightly in tone. “Some will only draw those already Marked, some will draw anyone susceptible. Some will draw those affected by another of the Fourteen, and those are to be feared, because they—” He broke off with a yelp as Gerry leaned across Jon to smack him lightly on the forehead, and it was only then that Tim became aware of the static that had been crackling through the air.

His first instinct was to get angry. He knew Martin wouldn’t do that on purpose, but for him to even be able to accidentally channel the Eye through the wards meant his connection was getting stronger, and if that was happening, it was because Martin was building it, which meant he was drawing on its power and not telling them about it. From the way Gerry’s brows knitted in an expression of mingled worry and irritation, he was probably thinking the same thing, and it was just a matter of which of them was going to yell at Martin first.

Then something over Gerry’s shoulder caught his attention, and he stood, the anger abruptly draining away to be replaced with skyrocketing anxiety. “Shit, the candle!”

Gerry whipped his head around, and Melanie half-started from her seat, but Tim was already on the move. The point of the wards that marked the Eye sat directly behind the door to the kitchen. Somehow—probably when Melanie came back from fetching the ledger—the candle had toppled onto its side and broken in half. Fortunately it had extinguished itself without setting the counter on fire. Unfortunately, it had broken the wards and let the Beholding in without their noticing.

Tim grabbed Gerry’s lighter out of his hand without even consciously being aware he was holding it up, righted the candlestick, snapped the remainder of the wax off the broken candle, and yanked the top part away, leaving a wick too long to burn safely. Right now, though, he didn’t care about safe, just fast, so he doubled the wick over, flicked on the lighter, and lit it from the middle.

Someone was muttering under their breath, the familiar cadence of a Latin prayer, and Tim recognized it as the prayer to Saint Michael; he crossed himself, more out of habit than anything, and started to join in before his brain caught up to the fact that he was the one muttering it. As he reached the final words—divina virtute, in infernum detrude, amen—the long end dropped away harmlessly and the flame settled into a more reasonable level.

Tim took a deep breath, stepped back, and turned to face the others. He focused in on Martin, who was pale as a sheet. “You okay, Marto?”

“I—I think so.” Martin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m sorry, that—I didn’t mean to—”

“I know,” Tim assured him. “I’ll…admit I was about to get angry with you, but it wasn’t because I thought you did it on purpose, it was because I thought you’d got a strong enough connection to the Beholding that it overpowered the wards.”

“I was, too,” Gerry admitted. He held up a hand to Melanie, who had bristled. “No, don’t. You know it’s a valid concern.”

Martin winced, but nodded. “Wouldn’t be the first time I was sneaking around thinking I was keeping you all safe by not telling you what I was getting into. I really am trying to get better about that, but it’s fair of you to think…” He rubbed his face, then turned back to Jon. “We, um, we got off topic. Did Gertrude get more than one Leitner?”

“She got three,” Jon said softly. He reached out and squeezed Martin’s hand gently; Martin turned his hand over and squeezed back. “In addition to The Key of Solomon, she got a special edition of The Seven Lamps of Architecture, by John Ruskin. The other was a 1910 pamphlet simply titled A Disappearance.”

Melanie made a face. “Those could be anything.”

“Yeah, in that case, it probably depends on what they actually do. Last one might be the Lonely, but it could also be the Spiral, or maybe even the Stranger. No clue about the architecture one.” Gerry blew a strand of hair out of his eyes. “Anything else from Gertrude?”

“Not so far, but I’ll keep looking.” Jon sighed heavily. “I’m starting to think the important question is why Elias killed Gertrude, and I’m not sure I’ll find that in her laptop.”

Gerry and Martin exchanged glances. Tim, who flattered himself that he’d grown fairly adept at reading both of them in the past few months, looked back and forth. “You have an idea.”

“Gertrude’s whole…thing was stopping the rituals, right?” Martin said. “And Gerry said the Rite of the Watcher’s Crown was still coming up. Probably.”

“And the Archivist is probably important to it,” Gerry added. “Which means…”

“That whatever his reason for killing her was, it was probably tied to that,” Sasha completed. “Either he killed her to prevent her from stopping it…or because that was the only way to stop it. Maybe it was in progress and he killed her to disrupt it.”

“Or it’s a complete fucking coincidence,” Tim pointed out. “After all, he told Martin he’d kill Jon if he ever told him everything he knows. Elias might have killed her for some reason completely unrelated to the Watcher’s Crown, or any of the other rituals, and we still have to figure out what that is.”

“I agree with Tim,” Melanie said. “You can’t assume Elias even knows anything about any of these rituals, let alone the Eye’s.”

“I think it’s safe to assume he has some idea of that,” Jon said dryly. “He seems to know everything else that goes on in the Institute, just about. I very much doubt he didn’t know what Gertrude was up to by now, even if he’s only been head of the Institute for about ten years or so. But you’re right, that doesn’t mean he killed her for any reasons to do with them. It’s, it’s something I still need to figure out.”

Tim studied Gerry for a minute. “Hey, can I ask a somewhat off-topic question? I mean, it’s at least in the general area of the same topic, but it’s not exactly the same.”

Gerry laughed. “Go ahead.”

“You said Gertrude was trying to stop the Unknowing, and we’ve figured out it’s still coming up. You also mentioned the Watcher’s Crown hadn’t happened yet. Are there any other rituals we should be looking out for?”

“Just the Dark’s, I think,” Gerry replied. “Unless she managed to stop that one in the six months between me dying and her dying. She told me she’d disrupted eight in total in recent years, and since she reckoned they were all going to happen one right after the other…”

“Wait, but that leaves six. What are the other ones?” Sasha asked. “The Eye’s, the Stranger’s, the Dark’s…”

Gerry shook his head. “We’d been doing research into the Hunt’s ritual—she called it the Eternal Chase—and from everything we found, they weren’t exactly keen to start it any time soon. She also said we didn’t have to worry about the Risen War, which I assume is the Slaughter’s ritual, but she never really elaborated on that and I was starting to get really bad about then, so I never asked. And she never found anything on a Terminus ritual. And now that I am…well, you know…I’m pretty sure she was right. Death comes for everyone eventually, and in a world where there’s only death…eventually everything will die out and there will be nothing left at all, and then Terminus would starve. So no, I don’t think we have to worry about that.”

“Makes sense that the Hunt wouldn’t want to start, either,” Melanie mused. “I mean, it’s the anticipation, right? The thrill of knowing what’s coming.”

“We’ll have to keep an eye out for the Dark’s, then.” Jon sighed. “I don’t suppose she said anything about it.”

“Only that it was building slowly and she didn’t think we needed to be concerned about it yet. She also didn’t think it would be as destructive, even if it failed, as the Stranger’s ritual.”

“Would we know?” Sasha asked. “How can you tell if…I don’t know. If a power is rebuilding?”

Gerry pursed his lips. “I think, and don’t swear me to this, you can tell because anything that happens is going to be…lower-powered, and closer to the epicenter of the ritual. She dragged me back to the site of the Sunken Sky, which was the Buried’s ritual—no, it’s okay,” he added quickly, holding out his hands to Melanie and Martin, who had both tensed. “It happened like six or seven years before we went there, and it’s practically on the other side of the world. We just went back so she could get a…feel for how much power was building. She said she could sense that it was starting to spread, but it wasn’t very intense, so she reckoned it was fine. Probably be another century or so before it happens again. She said for sure it had been a hundred fifty years or so since the last attempt at the Unknowing.”

Tim exhaled slowly. “So you’re saying once we stop the Unknowing, we’ll be safe.”

“From the ritual. Not from the Stranger.” Gerry’s voice was gentle, but tinged with regret. “It might not try anything much for a bit, but just because the majority of its power gets dissipated or blown to kingdom come or whatever doesn’t mean it won’t have any influence.”

“Still. We won’t have to worry about it to that extreme.” Tim popped a water chestnut into his mouth.

Martin glanced over at Melanie. “You’ve been looking into the Unknowing, right? Found anything?”

Was it Tim’s imagination, or did Melanie look slightly guilty? “Nothing terribly useful yet. Jon talked to, um, Diana for me and got me a pass to use the library, so…I mean, I know you lot have probably scoured those books backwards and forwards, but—”

“The Stranger wasn’t on my radar until Gerry brought up the Unknowing,” Martin admitted. “Even when I worked in the library, I didn’t generally read many books unless they were relevant to something we had going on, or because I was trying to figure out a connection between seemingly unrelated books that a single person had checked out all at once.”

Tim bit the inside of his cheek. He’d probably read every single book the Magnus Institute’s library had on circuses, and he knew he’d read everything they had on Robert Smirke, but he hadn’t really known what he was looking for at the time, so he doubted it would be of much use. He wondered whether to bring that up, though. He hadn’t yet told anyone—not even Gerry—all the details about Danny; Sasha knew, or at least she knew the basics, but she probably wouldn’t have made the connection between that and his Stranger mark. Or maybe she had, he wasn’t sure. She was pretty smart, and she’d definitely got the hang of all this…crap fast. Still, he wasn’t sure how to bring it up without having to spill his guts at the table. He wasn’t ready for that.

“Anything the rest of us read would have been before we knew anything about the Fourteen,” Sasha said, and yeah, she’d definitely made the connection, something confirmed when he felt her foot gently press his under the table. “Not like we’ve had time since then. So yeah, Melanie, anything you can pull from those books is going to be a help.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Got a few leads, but nothing concrete yet.”

Gerry rapped his knuckles against the table twice, making Jon start slightly. “Oh—that reminds me. Got a shipment in this afternoon, blind lot I bought from an estate out Oxford way. Former owner either had a special interest in Arthur Conan Doyle or in Victorian-era theology and spirituality—there were two professors with the same surname, not sure which one this lot came from. Maybe both, they might’ve been related somehow. Anyway, there’s something powerful in the box. I haven’t really had a chance to deal with it yet, though, short of telling Umberto he’s not allowed to claw it. If you lot want to give me a hand tonight, we can see if there’s anything in it that might be useful in figuring out the shape of the Unknowing, and if we find whatever book it is that probably killed the former owner, we can burn it together, make a night of it. What do you say?”

It said something about how utterly fucked-up Tim’s life had become in the last year that that actually lifted his spirits and made him smile. “Okay, but someone is going to have to teach me a new shanty. I’d imagine you don’t use the same one every time, that’d get too predictable.”

“Well, we do have our standards.”

Melanie got a look in her eye that Tim found familiar in a way that made his heart inexplicably hurt. He didn’t know why until she flicked her chopsticks in Tim’s direction and said, “Debatable.”

Sasha laughed so hard she fell out of her chair. Tim didn’t even mind that it was at his expense.

[saviourkingslut]

okay but curry can we PLEASE talk about how fucking PHENOMENAL like action Mihawk is. Had me on the brink of mental collapse 24/7 bc I kept thinking about his magnificence- he knocked it out of the PARK GODDAMNIT!!! Who's your fave from the live action cast and what are your thoughts?? Personally I think it's very good, I just wish Sanji's arc hadn't been cut (tho Don Krieg sucks as a villain, ngl, kinda happy Mihawk got rid of that bitchboy so easily ☠️☠️☠️), but other than that I'm SO proud of everyone involved, they really put in lov and dedication and respect for the series, I'm looking forward to more!!! How about you??🌸🌼🍀

ok full disclosure lest anyone think i have read the manga or seen the anime: i haven't, it's way long and i've never felt particularly drawn to it. HOWEVER i've seen my fair share of (shounen) anime and when i saw they were doing a live action of one piece i really thought it was going to suck bc the live actions always suck. boy was i wrong. everyone working on this from screenwriters to cinematographers to costume department to the actors themselves clearly love the source material and knew exactly what they were doing, and the vibe is Exactly Right. it's camp and fun and a little stupid like shounen anime tend to be and it fully embraces it and so it feels completely natural. of course the cat-themed pirate crew hiss and wear knife-gloves. of course there's characters with blue and green and whatever colour hair. of course the officers in the marines have personal Themes. we don't need any explanation, the world is just like this. and it's balanced exactly right so the more emotional, serious aspects of the story carry the weight that they need to without feeling out of place.

also, as a someone who hasn't engaged with the manga/anime, i think the series cut away/kept enough of the original material to come out of it feeling well-paced, understandable to newcomers and filled with fun recognisable bits for long-time fans. perhaps this meant, as you say, cutting out some pieces of character development/background that might have been enjoyable, but it's a well-made sacrifice bc it prevented the story from feeling too bloated. i think it was just right like this: gave us background on everyone and simultaneously left room for the story to process, without too many things at once to focus on. you could still sense that it was based on a manga bc of its little arcs - usually two eps with a minor boss to beat each time, and a bigger, badder boss at the end of the season. so i feel like keeping that theme in a narrative sense also really helped to make it reminiscent of the material it draws from and made it well-rounded and well-structured overall.

ANYWAY. mihawk. oh my god. i rewatched his scenes. multiple times. he was gorgeous. effervescent. insert the lady gaga meme. again i haven't engaged with the og material but i know these kinds of manga characters and there's so many ways to do them wrong but steven john ward really said 'i was made for this role actually' and he served absolute cunt. definitely up there among my favourite characters in the show - and that's saying a LOT bc im obsessed with almost everyone in it fr. they made me like the fucking clown (i hate clowns) buggy is genuinely incredible. the main cast? what the hell dude. they just found luffy living irl like... genuinely what the fuck. iñaki was born to play him and he did it so wonderfully - guy who is fatally optimistic but also insane and it works. nami's really cool as well - i've heard/read some stuff abt the writing of women especially in the earlier parts of the manga (woman in shounen main character group syndrome) but i think she was solid here and her interactions with the rest of the cast were great. also usopp! is so cute! so much potential to not have that kind of character work out in a real life adaptation but he's so lovable

and on that note the fucking. interactions amongst the main cast? im sobbing screaming crying they're everything to me. the way they're so supportive and proud and protective of each other and yet they talk shit the whole time too. there's so much chemistry among them and they truly do feel like people from different backgrounds who (sometimes reluctantly) come together and would do anything for each other. like real friends who have fun and make fun of each other too, it's a great dynamic and they really hit the mark there.

as to who's my favourite, well, as i said, mihawk's definitely up there, and im a simple hoe - i love zoro. but i think i enjoyed sanji's scenes the most and not just bc of his ass. heard he's kind of pervy in the og material? well the direction they took him in the live action where they kept the 'imprints on woman' but is overall sweet about it and generally less moody than he is in the anime/manga was a great direction i think. he's supremely enjoyable as a character. the accent? the facial expressions? the smiles? the jokes? im on my bed swooning and giggling and kicking my feet he is so fucking funny and i want him so bad. 'apologies madam i didn't see you there.' 'oooh back for seconds must have liked it' i literally re-watched every scene he was in at least once. his kicks were so nicely choreographed too it was really satisfying to look at, very clean (taz did god's work on his training). sometimes at home ill be doing nothing in particular like ill be standing in the living room and i'll mutter to myself 'cotelette. collier. epaulé. poitrine.' and go on with my day he lives in my brain rent free.

so uhm yea i think the series is really good and 1) sanji 2) mihawk 3) zoro if i had to put them in order i think lmaooo

[law-d-water-trafalgar]

Swapped

Ivankov gender swaps you from being a male into being a woman to confess to your best friend on Kiss Island only to be rejected. Later you meet Law on a undisclosed island.

SFW Law X F.reader, angst, fluff, conflict, tansfobia only a little for the sake of the plot, healing, acceptance, girlfriend to Law, 1,000,000 berry woman, Maybe kidnapping? Up to you, Calm-Calm fruit. I wrote this at 3am fml. Based on a dream I had. I havent seen anyone do this prompt so here it is<3

Flashback

-☆-

"Please I love guys but I cant be gay in this world. They all ridicule me and throw things at me. Please wont you change me into a woman? I've always wanted this" You pleaded with them. After some time of contemplation they speak.

"Only because your absolutely sure about this. But dear theres absolutely nothing wrong with being gay either." Ivankov says.

"I like my best friend please turn me. I wont regret it I just know" you state full of determination. As Ivankov digs their nails into you, you feel a warmth you've never felt before as your magically transformed into a girl.

"Woah I feel so different now" you say in a girly voice.

"Well that's the idea honey" Ivankov says to you. After the rest of the day learning martial arts as your new gender. You all on Momoiro Island, and eat dinner with meats and fruits galore. As your telling Ivankov what your plans are you say

"I'm gonna go back to Kiss Island and confess to my best friend surely he will accept me and then I'll live happily ever after and maybe have a baby" you say full of happiness as Ivankov just nods seemingly thinking about something. After another week of training you say goodbye and set sail for Kiss Island

-☆-

Once back you realize people wont recognize you anymore and you are at first relieved. Then the nerves set in as you meet your best friend at your guys usual meeting spot. Right on time you go up to him but he recoils.

"Who are you why are you here?!" He exclaims deep in the woods by your cabin overlooking a pond with ducks in it.

"Its me dont you realize we can finally be together!" You exclaim as he recoils again.

"I've changed my mind. Your absolutely disgusting I cant believe you went through with it. While you were gone I thought hard about it but I could only think of a guys voice and face not a womans." He states coldly.

"But what about now? I'm a woman now though" you state.

"I all ready told you I changed my mind. I'm only attracted to guys but I'll probably marry a woman just to fit in with everyone." He says somewhat downtrodden.

"Then that means we can be together finally?" You question and he just shakes his head.

"Theres too much history with us I just cant do this anymore just leave me alone forever!" He yells as he runs off into the woods.

"I'm never telling another soul about my sex change ever again!" You sob and fall to your knees. Making up your mind to leave your home town forever like he wanted.

-☆-

One Year Later

-☆-

You became a pirate out of depression and sailed your way alone through the grand line to the north blue. On an unsuspecting island you stopped. With a bounty well over 1,000,000 berries you weren't afraid anymore and you still fought like a guy. You just wanted one thing in this cruel, godforsaken world.. true love. You walk down the long ass dock only to see a submarine docked as well. As you turned your head to stare, you bump into someone.

"Oh I'm sorry I wasnt lookin-" you trail off and look up only to see Trafalgar Law, back turned to you but once you bumped him he turns around

"Watch where you-" he trails off realizing just who you were.

"I dont need any trouble" was all he said.

"Neither do I, and I said sorry didnt I?" You say as you start to walk off looking at him but walking. Then you felt a soft wall in front of you. As you look up you see a standing polar bear looking at you.

"Um excuse me again" you say unsure.

"Its okay hey your really pretty you know?" You blush a deep red as Law looks at you too you just realized no one has ever called you pretty like this before just cat calling and whistling.

"Bepo stop shes one of my generation the worst generation her bounty is 1,000,000 all ready, leave the poor woman alone your making her blush" you hear Law state.

"All right Captain.." Bepo says. As you turn around to Law you say

"1,000,000 is right and bet you couldn't even handle me anyways and who cares if I'm blushing at a compliment he was very polite to me" stating you give him the bird then watch where your going and walk into town for supplies. After some hours of making trips to your boat from town, your back in town and see the so called Bepo and walk up to him.

"Hey what was it Bepo? Your Captain's an ass" you state and cross your arms.

"He was just in a bad mood because someone filled the sub with clouds of diarrhea, that's why we resurfaced to air out for a week." Bepo says cutely.

"Gosh your such a cute bear sorry that kinda slipped out" you say blushing then it dissapears.

"Thank you (n)" Bepo says cutely.

"Um is it okay if I hug you? Your just so fluffy I've never met a talking Polar bear before"

"Sure come here" Bepo says embracing you in a hug as you feel eyes on your back once done hugging your look around only to see towns people.

"Thank you Bepo I needed that" you say happily. As you and Bepo chat for the rest of the day.

"Bepo come now" you hear Law yell at him making him waddle up from the bench to the sub.

"See you tomorrow (n) thanks for talking with me" Bepo says waddling off. Law approaches you then as all his crew mates are inside.

"Dont mess with my crew" he states.

"We were just talking. And you dont own them. How did you and Bepo even know who I am anyways?" You question and Law just says Shambles and poofs your wanted poster into his hand and gives it too you.

"What?! 1,000,000 berries I've never actually seen the poster before just heard it from people" you exclaim as you hand it back to him.

'Why does he have my poster anyways?' You ponder as he walks away to his sub. Gusts of wind started to pick up as it started to down pour really hard so you go back to your ship and cuddle in a small blanket it obviously getting wet. The days went as followed your get up eat once a day, talk with Bepo, then huddle in your little blanket in the night pours until one night you felt eyes on you with your observation haki.

"Arnt you cold and wet down there? You'll cetch a terrible cold. Why dont you go to the inn?" You hear Laws voice soften even for just a bit.

"They refused me they said they didnt want any trouble" you just state back shivering. You felt him walk back onto his sub. The next morning was the last day for Bepo and you. This was the closest you had gotten to anyone ever since that day.

"Awe today's your last day I'll miss you and remember you forever Bepo" you say melancholy sneezing as he hugs you on the dock you giggling. Feeling eyes on you yet again you look around only to see Law staring at you both. Law walks back into the sub as Bepo let's you go.

"Could you please wait for me (n)? I'll be back soon" Bepo states as he waddles onto the sub disappearing into it.

'Too bad I could only get supplies that I absolutely needed. I feel so hot you say as you go back to your boat and lay down on the hard planks. The tiny blanket wrapped around you only halfway as you sneeze again from those many nights it rained cold. Feeling weaker and weaker, through the week, you just layed there and fell asleep. Night came and with nights come cold rain. You were soaked through and through sneezing, coughing and shivering. Suddenly you felt lighter someone picking you up. They felt so warm so you leaned into them not caring if you died anymore. Your observation haki not working as well in the rain you let them take you as you shivered cold, wet, and pathetic to look at. Eyes closed the entire time eventually you pass out from fever.

-☆-

You awaken in what seems to be a medical room with cords attached to you. Feeling much better you sit up only to see...

"Oh so your finally awake you've been out for three days straight" Law states simply as he turned to face you on his rolling chair.

"Why am I here, dont you like, I dont know hate me?" You question as you realize your in his sweatshirt and sweatpants.

"On the contrary, I didnt expect you to be so nice especially with my favorite mink." Law retorted.

"You mean Bepo?" And he just nods.

"Bepo has been begging me all week to recruit you onto the crew. And you were desperately sick I couldn't just let you die. I am a doctor after all. That and your blood work seems a bit off your hormones are quite similar in nature to male and female" he says blankly.

"Here let me do a check up" he states as he unplugs you which causes you to shiver.

"I havent been this close to someone in a long time.." you state quickly.

"You sure enjoyed cuddling and hugging Bepo though." He states coldly a slight blush on his face then it dissapears.

"Bepos different hes so fluffy and so cute!" You squealed catching Law off guard he blushes slightly then it fades quickly. After the check up.

"Your healthy now your free to get up I recommend eating something since it has been three days drink some soup, first at the mess hall" Law states as he gets up and is about to head out the med bay door you grab his hand on accident trying for his wrist.

"Where are we right now?" You question not letting go.

"Were sixty miles of that island we met at" he states as he starts to gain a light blush from the physical contact.

"You fucking kidnapped me?!" You yelled as he tried to unhand himself but your grip was too strong.

"Bepo said you wanted to join take it up with him." Law states and you release his hand his blush disappearing.

'That sneaky big mink' you think to yourself. Getting up you make your way slowly through the subs hallway right behind Law to the mess hall.

"Get her some soup please chef"

"Yes sir Captain" the chef retorts.

"Oh wow you do have manners. Well I guess I should thank you for saving me but I never said I'd join this crew. Your gonna have to ask me yourself Law" you state firmly. He looks at you somewhat annoyed looking to the side.

"(N) will you join us the Heart Pirates?" He reluctantly asks.

"Sure but I'm not wearing that" you point to the boiler suit. With a sigh he says

"Okay deal" then he makes his way back through the hallway.

"Heres your soup miss" chef says.

"My names (N) thank you chef nice to meet you too" you say politely as you turn you spot your favorite polar bear and join him.

"Bepo why did you tell Law that I wanted to join?" Questioning with a red glare in your eyes. Flustered he says

"You just looked so cold and alone I wanted you to join our family"

"Family..." those words you never speak. Your family died from disease long ago when you were five years old that's also when you were starving and ate that strange fruit which you came to know now as a devil fruit. Bepo snapped his paw at you snapping you out of your trance. Sitting down you start eating. Thinking about everything that has transpired. Once done you ask Bepo

"So where will I sleep then?"

"Oh.. you'll be sleeping in my room. I asked Captain all ready before." He says as you smile a bit and hug him.

"Yay!" You squeal.

"Let me show you were our room is" Bepo says as he starts walking you follow. Once inside you realize what little stuff you had was in here, mainly clothes.

'So he brought all my stuff here too. I guess that's sweet.' Thinking to yourself you undress

"Um I wont look dont worry" Bepo says closing the door.

"Oh sorry I was so used to being alone I would just change whenever" you say changing into a white crop top and black shorts.

"I need to return these clothes to him" you say as Bepo opens the door you walk back to the med bay and pop your head in. You see Law doing paperwork. He notices you standing there and questions you

"What is it?"

"I'm assuming these are yours?" You stand in the doorway now holding forward some clothes. As you come into frame he blushes slightly at what your wearing but gets up and takes the clothes.

"Thanks" was all he could muster. As he walked up to his table he said

"Room, Shambles" he teleported out then back into the med bay.

"Woah what devil fruit is that?" You question.

"The Opa-Opa fruit" he goes on to explain what he can do since your part of the crew now and not a threat.

"That's like so super cool you have no idea!" You yell in excitement.

"The way I got it wasnt exciting at all." He states calus.

"Howd you get it?"

"That's enough questions for tonight go to bed" Law states clearly not wanting to talk about his feelings you obeyed after all he was your Captain now.

-☆-

One And Half Years Later

-☆-

You and Law have grown quite close in such a short amount of time. Your like him doesnt want to talk about their feelings, put yourself into work too much, and has insomnia. You've grown to like the sameness though. And youd like to think he felt the same but to be honest you have no idea. You became his medical assistant and fighter when needed but hes never seen your devil fruit before mainly hes never asked. Until one lonely night on the ocean the sub has surfaced with everyone asleep you made your way to the deck no one there so you sat down

*snap*

"Silence" as you start singing a melody deep into it you didnt notice the eyes on your back. Suddenly you hear sobbing quickly you turn to see

"Law? Why are you crying? Come here" you stand quickly and embrace him in a hug rubbing his back.

"Shh it's okay just cry it out" after he can cry no longer you whisper

"What's gotten to you?"

"Your devil fruit .. I didnt know you had one.. it's the same as his." Law stutters out.

"Whose?" You question.

"Don Quixote Rosinante.. he was like a father to me for a short time.. he gave his life so that I could live.." Law stutters as you just rub his back.

"Well I like to think that all the previous devil fruit users are within me so maybe he is still there somewhere inside of me." You whisper in his ear causing him to shiver.

'Hes finally opening up. This feeling though I know all too well what I feel for Law. He would never feel the same not since that day' you think as Law tries to compose himself you both eventually talk about both your pasts, until the sun rises from deep in the night.

-☆-

One Year Later

-☆-

You and Law are almost inseparable, you two are almost always in the same room besides his bedroom. Tonight's the night you'll tell him. You had sworn to never tell another soul again but he had become so close to you. Of course you feared another rejection but you had at least five days before another island before you were alone again. You just didnt want to lie to him. To betray his trust or feelings. Everyday it tormented you, you had to tell him. Another late night the usual meeting spot on deck in the middle of the ocean. You both sitting quietly enjoying eachothers silence until you break it.

"Law ... theres something I need to tell you..." you say quietly.

"Theres something I need to say as well you go first" he retorts.

"Well are you familiar with an island called Momoiro?" He shakes his head yes.

"I know of the queens powers too" he states.

"Well.. their used their powers on me..... I used to be a male ... but I've been a female for many years now boobs and vaginal stuff in all..." he looks a bit taken aback but after a minute to collect his thoughts he speaks.

'This is it I just know it goodbye Law goodbye Bepo goodbye family' you think as you spiral but continue to look at him as if nothing is happening.

"Well that certainly is something I would have never guessed you were male before. I suppose all that matters is who you are now right?" Taken aback from his response you say

"Arnt you repulsed by me?"

"Actually just the opposite. (N) I dont care who you used to be I only care about who you are now. You've proved yourself more than you know .... and i want you to know it doesnt matter to me. I'm a doctor." You both sit in silence for awhile until Law speaks again

"(N) your a woman from now until the rest of your life right?" You just nod this is what you originally wanted anyways.

"So let me also confess.. I'm in love with you (n). You also have Coras devil fruit it must mean something important." He finishes. Shocked you take a minute to yourself as you compose yourself you begin to speak

"I have felt like this once before but was rejected. I confess that I love you too. I just never ever thought that someone like me would find true love" you start to cry and Law wraps a arm around sliding you onto his lap embracing you closely.

"Shh itll be okay. Your okay (n)" he coos to you and after awhile you cant cry anymore. He tilts your head up with a hand and kisses you gently. As you both break for air you both have cherry red blushes.

"Promise you wont tell anyone?" You plead.

"Tell anyone what?" Law says playing dumb. You both laugh gently as he speaks again

"(N) will you be my girlfriend?" Law asks in a whisper as if youd say no.

"After all that we talked about yes of course I'd love that. You accept me for me I cant thank you enough" you plant your lips back onto his as he leans into the bearing you lean into him with his arms wrapped tightly around you.

-☆-

Six Months Later

-☆-

You moved into Laws room leaving Bepo alone but he doesnt mind as long as your happy he said. Being Laws girlfriend you helped him with paperwork, surgeries, foraging, and fighting. You both would cuddle everynight.

"I love you Law" you whisper into his ear from on the bed.

"I love you too (n)" he replys back as he wraps his arms around you cuddling together.

"It feels like an eternity I've been with you but it's only been a short amount of time" he says in a whisper.

"That's what love can do Trafalgar" you state making him blush at the mention of his name as one hand plays with his hair and one hand on his chest.

[endless-oc-creations]

🎶 Guess who’s getting used for the free space on my OC Bingo Card? 🎶

These questions are all about your lovely poly pirate Ace, because I love him dearly and I want to know everything possible about him ♡♡♡.

What song would you consider to be his “theme song”?

Is Ace his real name? If not, how did he come up with it as a moniker?

What is Ed’s favorite thing about him, and what is Stede’s?

If he lived in modern times, what kind of music would he like to listen to?

What would be the title of his autobiography?

Can’t wait to see your answers, and I hope you’re doing well!! 🧚🏻‍♂️✨

*sobs* You're a doll!! I really gotta get his intro post going at some point cause he's one of my precious boys! 😭 

What song would you consider to be his “theme song”?

Answer: Constellations by The Oh Hellos

2. Is Ace his real name? If not, how did he come up with it as a moniker?

Answer: Okay this gonna be way more detailed than needed, but I don't talk about Ace much...at all really. And I never really explained his backstory~ You also love him a lot so here it is!

---

Ace Cooper is not his real name. It's his most recent one. His last name used to be known as the pirate Captain Bartholomew Roberts aka the “Black Bart.”

Side note: I really hope Taika Waititi doesn't create a character based on Bartholomew Roberts's character for season 2 cause then I would have to obviously change things around for Ace. 💀

I wanted to use Ace as an inspiration from the real-life pirate Bartholomew because of how his crew thought of him and his story.

"Roberts was wildly admired by his crew for his adventurist courage, navigation skills, and bravado.  He captured over 400 ships during his reign, and died in a vigorous battle against a British vessel."

Ace's original name was Jonathan Roberts. Since he was a boy 'Johnathan' or John for short had been prepared to serve England by joining the Navy. When he finally set sail, the ship he was on was captured by a pirate by the name of Howell Davis.

Young John was forced to join his crew and not wanting to die, he complied. But quickly learned that a pirate's life really was the life for him. He never felt happier.

So it was official, Jonathan Roberts was dead and Bartholomew Roberts was born.

'Roberts' knew his place on the crew, getting along with the other members, and quickly became the Captain's favorite.

'Roberts' was a favored apprentice of Captain Davis, the two even going as far as to almost have a romantic relationship with each other

He enjoyed Davis's quick wit and tricks on their journey because after all Davis was known to be The pirate of disguise and trickery.

But that happiness was short-lived because Davis was eventually been tricked himself and there was an ambush. During this ambush, Davis had been shot five times by Portuguese soldiers and died.

Roberts ended up escaping with the remaining crew members from the ambush. The crew quickly elected Roberts to serve as their new captain.

In his rage and grief at the death of Davis, Roberts's first order of business so to speak was avenging Davis's death. He and his crew did just that.

The town they tricked and caused their beloved Captain's death was burned and totally demolished.

After that 'Roberts' and his crew plundered many ships, including warships, until being stopped a few years later.

As the crew was anchored, celebrating their recent plunder, the British Navy attacked them, and in the battle 'Roberts' was shot, falling into the sea to his supposed death. And without their Captain, his crew quickly surrendered and were eventually taken to trial where they were all executed for their crimes of piracy.

When Roberts realized everyone he once knew was dead, he felt like a failure and not worthy of the title of Captain so he never took on the reins of one again. Changing his name once more to what we all know as, Ace Cooper.

Ace wasn't even sure he would be a part of a crew again but then he met Stede Bonnet looking to hire a crew.

Stede reminded Ace a lot of his old Captain Davis and he couldn't help but find himself joining his crew.

---

3. What is Ed’s favorite thing about him, and what is Stede’s?

Answer: I feel like Ed's favorite thing about Ace would be how protective and gentle he is to those he cares about and Stede's would be Ace's kindness toward others and his skills and abilities as a first mate.

4. If he lived in modern times, what kind of music would he like to listen to?

Answer: Rock!

5. What would be the title of his autobiography?

Answer: Who is the real me? A Self-Discovery Exploration.

[iloveroblox48]

stuck together ❣︎

❣︎ ➝ Masterlist here!

❣︎ ➝ Tags:being childhood bestfriends with Hanta sero fem reader fluff and angst mentions of bullying

❣︎ ➝ A/n:hi guyss!! this is my first time writing angst so im sorry if its not that good (╥_╥) really wanted to get some sort of practice in this is also motivated by my mootie @miyamoratsumuu (ゝ∀･) anywho back to sero he is such a flipping cutie i just want study him under a microscope you know (^ｗ^) anyways ignore any grammer/spelling mistakes requests open as always enjoy⁽˙³˙⁾

You were around six years old playing under the playground the sunlight shinning through the holes of the playgrounds floor when you heard it.The small sounds of sniffles and sobs,being the little nosey kid you are we went to investigate the nosies.There sat a little boy with black hair,a spiderman shirt draped loosely on him,jean shorts lightly scoffed,he was curled up battered knees to his chest tears dropping freely from his eyes.

“Hey!”you said catching his attention “why are you crying?” you sat down next to him under the playground

“Everyone…Everyone laughed at me,and they pushed me” he told you hiccups coming out every now and then

“Oh..why?”

“They thought i looked…funny because of my elbows…” he looked up at you bottom lashline wet with tears “Do you think i look funny?”

“No! i think they look cool!”

“Really?…thanks” his ears burned red with embarrassment

“I’m y/n l/n! whats your name?”

“Im hanta sero”he said tears staining his cheeks as he stopped crying

“Do you maybe want to play with me? we can play restaurant and i can be the cook!”

“Okay yeah!” he exclaimed glee starting to take over his facial expression.

Ever since that day you saw him you would go back to the park to play with him tag,hide and seek,restaurant,pirates you name it you guys played it! your friendship soon began to go from just playing in the park to playdates over at your house.

“Momma hanta accidentally got us stuck together again”

“Oh dear you guys will always be stuck together huh?” your mom said looking at the two of you connected at the torso with a thin piece of tape

“Yeah me and hanta are stuck together forever” you said throwing your tiny arm around his sholder

“Yeah! together forever”

It stayed that way the two of you, always being together you had grown up together from elementary school,to middle school.Being best friends,or so you thought.

It wasn’t until a random wednesday during the summer when you had got into the high school you wanted that maybe,you had thought wrong about being together forever you guys had different dreams,different paths,different lives.You had walked to his house letter in hand he didnt live far so it wasnt a very long walk.

knocking at the door Mrs.sero answered the door

“Hi y/n whats brings you by?”

“Need to see Hanta is he home?”you panted

“Yes of course dear” she let you inside her home you started to walk towards his bedroom knowing the path by heart.You were so excited to finally tell him the great news.You opened the door to see him sitting at his desk

“Oh hey y/n whats up”

“i got in!!” you said showing him the letter but he didn’t look happy

“Whats wrong Hanta?”

“I…uhm…actually didn’t apply to shiketsu..well i did but i also applied to UA and uhh…i got in..” he said looking at you “I understand if your mad y/n i just wanted to apply to both so incase i didn’t get in one i got in the other but i got in…UA and shiketsu but im going to UA for more opportunities.”

You looked at him lost in a sea of emotions you weren’t mad or anything like that!you wanted the best for him! even if that ment having to be separated you wanted him to follow his dream,his path,not yours or anyone else’s for that matter,even if it ment your that your friendship would soon be torn apart the tape bindings not being strong enough to hold you together anymore.

Tears welled up in your lower lashline at the the idea of being separated.You thought about everything all the years of middle school,the days at the parks,the hang outs at your house all of the memories you guys had.The tears soon fell thinking about this.He got up from his seat pulling you into a hug.

“I’m sorry y/n im so sorry please dont be upset”he began to pat your hair down to try and soothe you

“I could never be uspet with you Hanta” you said wiping your eyes “Just promise me we’ll be stuck together forever just like kids okay?”

“Yeah okay together forever y/n i promise”

you guys had different dreams,different paths,different lives but for now in this life your stuck together by the bindings of maybe your hearts or maybe the tape who knows.You were just stuck together and you wouldn’t have it either way.

[attractive-nuisance-esq]

Hi there, first of all, I want to apologize for trauma-dumping all over your post, but it really struck a chord with me, and it really makes me feel like I’m not as alone as I am. Normally, I’d just thank you and be on my way, but I’ve been sober for about a month now, and I’ve finally realized that I’ll never be able to get help or make friends or start to course correct if I can’t even ask for the things I need, and I just desperately need a friend right now, but I’m just so scared of trying to put myself out there again. The world has never been an easy place for me to navigate, and I have so much grief and rage in me that feels like it is eating me alive. 

I am trying so hard, and I always keep failing and I hate that about myself. I can now acknowledge that my drinking was a coping mechanism and a weapon that I was using to hurt myself. I thought I deserved every fucked up thing in life that has happened to me, I still think that most of the time, I know I’ll never be ‘normal’, but I can’t stop hoping that there’s a place and people for me somewhere..I keep wondering what my life would have been like if I’d been born different, or ‘better’ somehow. I am so sorry, this is all stream-of-consciousness stuff, and I don’t intend to upset you. Your post just struck a chord with me, and I’ve spent the last day basically sobbing because I don’t know how to get this awful poison out of myself. I don’t know how to silence that voice that is always telling me I’ll never be good enough, my life doesn’t hold any value, what the fuck did I think anyway, if my own parents didn’t like me, who would? I don’t know. Thank you for letting me chat at you, and thank you for sharing your story. I just thought it was wonderful and it really hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m trying so hard, and I’m not even sure if it’s too late, but it always feels like I’m screaming into a void and the world would be a better place without me, so thank you for taking a moment to reach out to a stranger. It really means a lot. 

I hope you have a wonderful day, and I am so genuinely sorry if this note makes you uncomfortable in any way.

Babydoll (gn), you don’t need to apologize for taking me up on something I freely offered. If I didn’t have the bandwidth right now to give a little time and a few spoons to someone newly sober, I’d have sent an emoji and moved on. I wrote that post first and foremost for me - almost like a journaling exercise, just to get the feelings out of my head - but I also wrote it for everyone else on here watching Ed and going Through It with him. Maybe someone like you would see it and feel less alone. 🖤 I’m glad we’ve connected through the mental breakdown of a fictional gay pirate; pretty sure that was David Jenkins’ plan all along. 😏

A couple things: I didn’t want to leave you waiting and wondering and worrying about offending me all day, but I am technically “working” right now (I mean. As much as anyone “works” while they’re obsessively refreshing tumblr on new episode days, haha!). I want to give my response to you my full attention and the time it deserves, so I’ll do it properly later tonight or tomorrow at the latest, okay?

The other thing is that I know some of this stuff is really personal and you may not want it floating around as a tumblr post, so if you’d rather chat via DM but felt that was too forward of you, I’m more than happy to move there. But I’m also at a place now where I’m okay with sharing my shit in public, so if for whatever reason you want to keep this conversation going as an ask, that’s completely fine with me, too. Just let me know what makes you most comfortable.

In the meantime, take it one day at a time. And when that doesn’t work, one hour at a time. Sometimes it’s one minute, one second. I hate AA bullshit, but they got that part right. Hang in there until I can whittle you a little wooden shark and hand it over for your safe keeping. 🦈

[soggykookiesandcream]

𝐵𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝒴𝑜𝓊 - 𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒳𝒳𝒱𝐼𝐼𝐼

Taehyung's POV

"I'm home!" I hear Yuna.

"Dear!" I run to her from the kitchen and hug her tightly. This is tough. Being without her for long hours.

"Aww," she giggles hugging me back, "My baby missed me a lot."

"Yes," I grin, "Your baby missed you a lot."

"Gimme a few minutes," she stretches, "I'll shower and get back here."

"Okay," I release my arms around her and she hops up the stairs. She comes down after twenty minutes. I sense her sneaking up behind me while I was flipping pancakes and I bite a smile pretending to not know. She slowly hugs me from behind and I gasp. 

"Baby," she says into my back.

"Hmm?" I smile.

"I love you," she nuzzles against my back.

"I love you too," I flip a pancake.

"It smells delicious," she sniffs.

"Me or the pancakes," I chuckle.

"Both," she swings holding me but I stay put in my place.

"So strong," she runs her hands down my back.

"You like strong men?" I ask flexing my back muscles.

She gasps, "I don't mind if they're not strong as long as they love me genuinely."

I turn off the stove and turn around, "I love you," I hug her by her waist and lift her, "I love you more than anything in this world."

She giggles putting her arms around my neck, "I'm tired, baby."

"Let's eat and head to bed," I rub my nose with hers.

She nods with a smile and tries to get out of my grasp. I hold her tight and she looks at me with her eyebrow raised. I smile and gently hook my arm behind her knees and lift her. 

She gasps, "What are you doing?"

"Lifting my princess," I place her on the chair, "So that she doesn't have to walk and tire her feet."

She blushes, "Princess?"

"Yes," I nod, "Do you like that?"

She hums shyly.

"Shall I call you that then?" I chuckle.

"You can call me anything you want," she replies with a small smile.

I cup her face, "You know you're adorable, right?"

"Stop!" She whines blushing and I rub my nose against hers.

"Eat up," I push the plate to her, "You need energy when you're at Egypt?"

"Energy?" She smirks, "For what?"

I gulp, "T-to work."

"Oh?" She giggles, "Okay."

●○●○●○●○●○●○●○●○

I was in bed snuggling against Yuna, my arms wrapped around her waist, my legs tangled with hers and the blanket, my head resting on her breasts, her fingers slowly undoing the knots in my hair.

"You know?" I start, "I dream about us... Getting married, running away with our child in your belly, living on an island or a ship... Just us, you, me, our kids and their kids and more..."

She laughs, "You want to be a pirate? Our grandkids and more? Do you think we'll live that long?"

"You're full of doubts, aren't you?" I chuckle.

"Well, sometimes I feel I'll die soon," she states.

I clutch onto her waist and keep her closer to me, "No you won't."

She giggles, "It's okay if I do," she says, "And if I do die before you, please don't cry for me. Just move on with life, okay?"

"No," I shake my head, "I'll never be able to move on from you."

"That's what everyone thinks," she kisses my head, "But you'll eventually move on and be happy."

"Why are we talking about this? Stop it!" I reply

"Baby," she hugs my head into her chest, "I'm just, you know... Telling you. I don't want to see you cry. I want you to be happy all the time."

"I am happy," I feel tears stinging my eyes, "I am happy with you in my arms. I am happy so don't go," I whisper, "Please, don't go."

"Baby," she kisses my forehead again when she feels me shiver against her, "I am not leaving."

"Then why are you saying all that?" I sob, "Don't say all that."

"I'm sorry," she cups my face, "Don't cry."

"I won't if you stay," I reply.

"I am staying," she says softly, "I won't leave. But Tae, death is inevitable. We all have to face it."

"Not you!" I yell, "You don't have to face death!"

"Baby," she smiles softly, "Our love will never die even if our bodies are dead and decayed."

"No," tears roll down my face but soon I realise that I can't reveal anything to her yet, "Yeah," I nod breathing in, "Our love will never die."

She smiles, "I love you."

"Can we get married?" I blurt out.

"Oh, uh," she stuttered, "That was very abrupt."

"Can you?" I ask.

"I can but, baby," she cups my face, "You're not in the right mind. When you're calm and in the right state, let's discuss marriage, okay?"

"Okay," I nod frantically breathing heavily, "Okay, but you will marry me, right? You will be mine?"

"I will," she takes my hand, "I will, okay? Now, let's just go to bed."

"Okay," I shiver.

She pats my back slowly and I close my eyes holding her tightly.

Yuna's POV

He was shivering. Slowly his breathing became slow and steady. I assume he's asleep. I stroke his hair slowly and place a few kisses on his head. Why does he react to death like this? Did he lose someone he loved? Is he okay? Questions swirl around my head until I fall asleep but it didn't last long.

I was woken up in the middle of the night by a shaking Taehyung asking me if I was okay.

"Baby? Tae?" I sit up, "Are you okay?"

"No," she shakes his head, "Are you okay?"

"I am okay," I nod, "I am clearly okay. You're the one that isn't."

I get up from the bed to get water but got pulled back down by Taehyung. I fall into his lap with a gasp.

"Don't leave!" He holds me tightly.

"I won't," I assure him, "I was just going to get water."

"I don't want water," he holds onto me like his life depended on it, "I just want you. Only you."

"Baby," I sigh, "Let me just get water for you."

"I DON'T WANT WATER!" He yells, "Why don't you understand, huh? I ONLY WANT YOU!"

"Tae-" I try to wiggle out of his grips but he holds onto me tightly, "Let me go."

"No," he whispers, "You're not going anywhere. You'll stay with me."

"Bab-" I try to speak but he holds onto my mouth tightly.

"You're gonna stay with me," he laughs.

"You're stuck," he grins.

1129 words

A/N- What the hell did I just write? Sorry, I ran out of ideas ;-; I'm gonna go brainstorm better ideas

[storiesforallfandoms]

vulnerable ~ captain jack sparrow;pirates of the caribbean

word count: 1845

request?: yes!

“♥️Hi, I wanted to request something for Jack Sparrow if that's okay? So, I was watching potc dead man's chest, and noticed how at the end where Elizabeth kisses him, Jack is so soft and gentle with her, he barely moves, he looks so vulnerable and small, it touched my heart. So I wanted to ask something like that, where when the reader first kisses him he's surprised and vulnerable, maybe never thought she would like him back. something with angst, an emotional Jack, but a happy ending, thanks <3″

description: in which he becomes vulnerable when she kisses him and admits her feelings for him

pairing: jack sparrow x female!reader

warnings: swearing, an attack that leads to a sinking ship

masterlist (one, two)

If there’s one side of Captain Jack Sparrow that was never shown, it was his vulnerable side.

Being vulnerable only got you one thing when you were a pirate, and that was killed. You had to be tough as a pirate, especially as an infamous captain. Sure, Jack had his less than serious moments, but no one saw that softer side of him. He wouldn’t let anyone see it as long as he lived.

Until (Y/N) joined the crew.

She had stowed away on the Black Pearl the last time they were docked. Pintel and Ragetti had found her hidden among the barrels of rum below deck. They brought her to Jack, expecting their captain to throw the stowaway into the water and leave her for dead.

“I’m not trying to steal!” she insisted. “I was just trying to get away. Please, I can be of some use. If you don’t want me here, I’ll depart when you find land next. You’ll never see me again.”

Jack studied their stowaway. She was small and he could see in her eyes that she had definitely had a hard life wherever she had come from. She wasn’t a threat, and he felt like he wanted to protect her.

“She’s not a threat,” he decided. “She can stay.”

Captain Jack Sparrow had a way with the ladies, everyone knew this. He could get under the skirt of almost any woman he wanted just with a few sweet nothings whispered in their ear. But what he felt for (Y/N) was different. He found his chest would warm whenever she was around, and he’d easily get tongue tied.

He wanted to vocalize these feelings to her, but every time he tried he would chicken out. Instead he would find some way to open himself to (Y/N) more, to show her the side no one else ever saw. In return, (Y/N) told Jack all about herself, and they became the only two people on the Black Pearl to know so much about one another.

Then came the day of the attack.

They were sailing on a beautiful day. Not a single cloud in the sky, nor anything in their sights. (Y/N) was stood at the bow, watching as the Black Pearl peacefully move through the calm water.

“Peaceful days scare me,” she said, startling Jack who had been approaching her.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked.

She looked at him over her shoulder and smiled. “I just knew.”

He stepped up onto the bow next to her. “Why do peaceful days scare you?”

“They are so few and far between that I always expect the worst to happen,” she explained. “Either the weather is bad, or something bad is happening. We have yet to have such a calm and peaceful day.”

“Maybe we’re just lucky today.”

(Y/N) looked up at him with a skeptical look. “Maybe.”

They were silent then, but it was a comfortable silence. Jack looked over at (Y/N), who was now gazing out over the water. The breeze blew her hair slightly, giving Jack a better look at her face. Despite her feelings on peaceful days, her face looked relaxed and at peace in that moment.

Jack’s mouth moved before his brain could comprehend what he was doing. “(Y/N).”

She looked up at him. “Yes Jack?”

He opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by Gibbs shouting. “Captain! Enemies along the horizon!”

Jack and (Y/N) shared a look before racing for the wheel where Gibbs had been standing. Jack took the telescope from his first made and looked through it at the oncoming ship.

“Not necessarily an enemy ship, Gibbs,” Jack said, trying to zero on the flag the ship was flying but was unable to get a good look at it. “Might just be someone else sailing today.”

But then the sound of a cannon rang out and the water beside the Black Pearl shook violently.

“Shit,” Jack hissed. “Get to the cannons! Return fire!”

“Is that a good idea, Jack?” (Y/N) asked. “They’re so far away, we’ll be wasting ammo.”

“We have to show them we aren’t going down without a fight,” Jack declared.

His men loaded the cannons and fired back at the ship. The giant masses landed just inches from the enemy ship, causing the water around it to build up in massive waves and disrupt the ship’s course.

“Again!” Jack called. “Just one more this time!”

As they fired another shot at the ship, another cannonball landed in the water next to them as well. Anyone above deck was thrown to the ground as the ship tilted due to the waves.

“Jack, we have to retreat!” (Y/N) insisted as she tried to get to her feet.

“There’s no retreat,” Jack said. “They’re advancing on us fast. By the time we even turn to get away, they’d be on us.”

“Well what do we do then?”

The next cannonball hit the ship directly, putting a massive hole in the side of it. The Black Pearl began to sink into the water began to fill the deck.

“Abandon ship!” Jack called. “Go to everyone below deck and make sure anyone who can be saved is saved! Abandon ship and swim to the nearest land or boat you can find!”

He turned to (Y/N). There was so much fear in her eyes and she looked close to tears. Jack cupped her face in his hands, trying to remain calm himself.

“Find land, get help,” he told her. “For yourself, don’t look back for us.”

“No!” she exclaimed. “If I get anywhere, I’ll be sending the first boat back looking for you and the others.”

“We’re pirates, (Y/N). No one will care about us. No one will want to save us.”

“I will want to, and I will save you.”

Before Jack could argue further, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Every ounce of fear or worry slowly dissolved then and Jack relaxed into the kiss. He put one hand on the back of her head while holding her body close to his with the other. They were so lost in one another that they didn’t realize the entire front of the ship was submerged in water until Gibbs called out for them again.

(Y/N) pulled away first. Jack gently caressed her face, his face mirroring the fear in her own. Except he wasn’t afraid of the enemy ship or the attack; he was afraid of never seeing her again.

“I will find you,” he promised.

(Y/N) nodded. “I will find you, too.”

The two of them jumped ship as another cannonball landed next to the sinking ship. (Y/N) reached for Jack, who had been next to her moments before, but found herself thrown around in the chaos of the sinking ship and the still attacking enemies. She tried to open her eyes to look for Jack, but the water stung so bad she was unable to see.

She broke through the water a few times, but continued to be shoved back down by the crewmates or by the force of the sinking ship. Finally, she began to swim away as fast as her body could take her. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she knew she had to get away before the Black Pearl took her down with it.

(Y/N) swam and swam until her arms and legs grew too tired to swim anymore. When she was finally far enough away from the chaos, she broke through the water and inhaled the fresh air into her lungs. She could no longer see either ship, or her crewmates. She wasn’t sure if she had swam away that far that she couldn’t see them, or if they had all gone down with their beloved ship as well.

Her body ached, but she did everything she could to stay above water. There were no signs of land or another boat anywhere. Not even any debris for her to float on. Just water as far as the eye could see. (Y/N) felt a lump grow in her throat and all she wanted to do was cry. She had lost the people she cared most about, she had lost the place she considered home. She had lost Jack.

(Y/N) was floating for some time when another boat sailing through the water spotted her. They got close enough that one of their members could reach into the water and pull her out. She nearly sobbed with relief when her tired body was able to relax against the ship’s floor.

“Ma’am, are you alright?” one of the crew members asked, kneeling down to peer into (Y/N)’s face. “Have you been hurt?”

She shook her head sheepishly, still regaining her energy. “I...I was on a-on a ship. We were...we were attacked.”

“Another from the shipwreck!” the crewmate called. He turned back to (Y/N) to add, “We’ve rescued a number of your crewmates, they’re all below deck receiving any medical attention they may need.”

It took a moment for his words to get through her head. When they did, she jumped up as fast as she could and made her way below deck. Many familiar faces were sat together or laying in the beds provided, but not the familiar face she was looking for. (Y/N)’s heart squeezed with sadness as she desperately looked for Jack among her saved crewmates.

She tried not to let her disappointment show as a call was heard from above ship. “We’ve got another! Says he’s the captain!”

(Y/N) turned to watch as the crewmates brought Jack down below ship, his hair and clothes clinging to him from the water. She contained herself for just a moment, waiting to see if Jack needed any medical attention. When his eyes locked on her, however, he broke free from the grasp of the crewmates and ran to her, taking her in his arms and kissing her deeply, there in front of all of his men.

“I thought I lost you,” he breathed between kisses.

“I thought I had lost you as well,” she responded. “When I came down and didn’t see your face. I was so sure - ”

“Shh, love,” Jack said, placing a finger against her lips. “No need to worry now. We’re both alright.”

“Oh Jack, the Black Pearl,” (Y/N) said. “I’m so sorry about your ship.”

Jack chuckled. “My ship? Don’t apologize for that. My only worry was you, and you’re okay now.”

“Well,” came Gibbs’ voice, tearing the two away from their moment. “I never thought I would heard the great Captain Jack Sparrow say he cared more for a lady than his own ship.”

“What can I say, Gibbs?” Jack said, putting an arm around (Y/N)’s waist and pulling her close to him. “She brings out the softer side in me, and maybe I’m much better for it.”