The King of the Sea
The wind blew in from the pier as Atlantis stopped at the door of the bar and cast her gaze to the shoreline in fear. The anxiety in her chest refused to rest even as Benn held onto her hand. Something just didn’t feel right, something was wrong.
She felt the sharp gravel on her feet before she realized she had broken away from Benn’s hand to run into the direction of the pier. Her breath fanned out in front of her harshly as she desperately pulled in air while running as fast as she could in the direction of the pier of Luffy.
The pain in her ankle sprouted once more and traveled her leg but she couldn’t stop. She shook as she fueled her feet in one direction, her path set and her legs unsteady. Unreliable but enough.
Her gaze finally settled on the combined figures of Luffy and Shanks as she reached the pier which was finally in her sight.
Blood.
There was so much blood, so much. Luffy was in tears and Shanks had a smile on his face.
Atlantis stumbled to a stop as her eyes took in the image of Shanks, and the blood. He hadn’t promised. He hadn’t promised. But why, why didn’t he protect himself.
His arm, he had given his arm up once more for their generation. For Luffy. He had placed his bet on Luffy and given up his dominant arm to prove it.
Shanks.
Tears poured from her eyes as she furiously rubbed at her eyes, at least they were alive. At least Luffy was safe.
“Captain!” Atlantis startled as the pirate crew finally caught up to her from their more steady stroll, but the sight of their captain covered in blood sent them into a panic.
“I'm alright,” Shanks shushed as he sat Luffy down onto the sidewalk as he sobbed. Once he was sat on the ground he latched onto Shanks pants in panic to prevent Shanks from running away.
Atlantis pushed through the crowd of pirates to get to the front of the crew and reached for the two. She dodged the hands that would stop her from reaching her goal and pounced in their direction, wrapping her arms around both Luffy and Shanks, ignoring the warm liquid soaking into the sleeve of her dress as she sobbed out turning her sight up to the shocked face of Shanks.
“Shanks!” She cried out while reaching her hands up towards him. He grimaced as he kneeled and used his arm, his only one left, to wrap around them while smiling through the pain.
“It’s okay Princess. It doesn’t even hurt.” He leaned down and planted a kiss onto her nose and winked before turning his attention to Luffy. “Ah come on, look at me, Anchor. Anchor. This isn’t your fault.”
“But your arm!” Luffy garbled out as he blindly reached out his hand, Atlantis loosened her grip on Shanks pants to throw hers out and lock it with his.
“It’s just an arm,” Shanks laughed as he waved his hand dismissively.
Yet Atlantis could see it. She could see the pain in his eyes that he tried desperately to mask in happiness. He wanted to be strong in front of Luffy. Luffy had continued to cry regardless of Shanks words but the tears halted in Atlantis’ eyes as she stared at him in amazement.
Red Haired Shanks was truly an amazing man.
Benn had approached while Shanks tried to calm the two and began putting pressure on the wound. He seemed unaffected but Atlantis could see it. In his eyes, he held worry for his captain, for the man he had chosen to follow around the world. There was fear too. Not much but there was enough for Atlantis to identify it, but he kept a front.
Now that she noticed the way Benn and Shanks seemed to hide away their fear it appeared the entire crew was the same. They all controlled their words and movements. They appeared unaffected as if Shanks had truly just lost an arm and not his ability to defend himself to the fullest.
The entirety of the Red-Haired Pirates was strong beyond words, it wasn't just the desire to be cool in front of children, it was their desire to protect.
As Atlantis gazed at them she turned around and made eye contact with Benn, who had a slip of surprise show. He reached for her causing her to pull Luffy sharped behind her to fall into his arms beside Shanks.
“We will need to hit the waves soon,” Yasopp muttered as he kneeled to take a look at the wound. “It's about time we leave the island anyways.”
The crew moved swiftly as they loaded the ship while Atlantis reached out from the hold Benn had on them to grab onto Shanks’ hand, his only hand. “You'll be okay?”
“Yeah,” Shanks smiled as he brought her hand up to leave a kiss on her knuckles. “I'm a pirate after all.”
Atlantis chuckled bitterly as she climbed into Shanks’ lap to hold onto him tightly.
“One day,” Shanks muttered into her hair with a smile. “One day I will come back for you. I promise.”
Luffy struggled in Benn’s lap before moving to sit beside them with teary eyes.
Shanks laughed as he shook his head, “I didn’t forget about you anchor.” Shanks pulled the hat from his head with a fond smile before he hesitantly placed the hat onto Luffy’s head with a bright smile. “One day… you’ll be great enough a pirate to give this back to me.”
Shank pulled away from them slowly setting them on the pier before moving alongside Benn to board the Red Force slowly.
He turned back towards them as they set sail to watch them cry after him with a fond smile, “One day. I can’t wait for that day to come.”
“You’re insane.”
“Ah, this hurts like a motherfucker.” Shanks whined as he turned to face Benn. “Give me something to dull the pain.”
“Huh? Why should I listen to an idiot?”