Birdie's POV

«Still causing trouble, navy girl.»
 
An involuntary smile bent your lips at that ancient nickname.

«F/n!» Booka shouted seeing the crewmate.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her closer, quickly observing her to assess the damage.
«You all in one piece?»

Still rubbing the dust off her eyes, she nodded.

You could see the pirate took a subtle sigh of relief before wearing his gruff scowl back.

«You have really done it this time, girl.» he rumbled «Let me tell ya: the captain’s not happy. Not at all.»
 
Gun fire, shouts and clangs were all over the deck above you.

«What about you, navy girl? You injured?»
«I’m fine.» you briefly said «Let’s get out of here!»

Before you could do anything, though, a few enemy pirates jumped down from the hole upon your heads, unsheathed sabers pointing your way.

You crouched down, ready to react, but something extremely fast came from behind them, cutting them down in a few seconds.
Their bodies fell on the ground, revealing long blond locks and a familiar mask. You didn’t miss the gasp from the woman beside you.

«F/N!»

In an instant, Killer was in front of her, both his hands on her shoulders.

«Are you okay?»

She swallowed and nodded again, her eyes dropping on the wooden floor.
Killer took a deep breath, all his tense muscles relaxing at once.

«What the hell were you thinking?»

Seeing she was in difficulty, you decided to step in.

«Hey blondie.»
The pirate turned, still not letting go of F/N.
«Y/N.» he took a moment to look at you «You’re bleeding.»
«That’s all you have to say, after months apart? I’m hurt.» you snorted.
«I’m glad to see you. Less glad to see you didn’t change a bit.»
«I did change. They promoted me, I’m captain now.»

Killer sighed before moving his attention back to F/N. You watched in awe as he gently pushed a lock of her hair over her shoulder.

«We’ll talk about this later. Here, your things.»

She attempted a smile, taking back her satchel.

«Yo women! Ya good?» the Mohican happily shouted, jumping in the basement.
«We're good.» you confirmed with a smirk, walking over.

Being surrounded by the Kid Pirates again made all your inner organs tremble in excitement.

Although there’s someone I really can’t meet.

Catching your rifle hanging from the Mohican’s shoulder, you snapped your fingers at him.

«You got something for me?»
«Suit yourself.» he grinned, throwing it at you.

When the weapon was back in your hands, you felt like you could breathe again.

«Sorry guys, they saw me teaming up with F/N. I can’t take prisoners.» you stated, moving the trigger guard.

More suffering screams came from above.

«I’m sure captain Kid is on it already.» Booka said.

They saw your body getting stiff at the mention of his name.

«Very well then. Let’s get out of here.»
 
 
The Kid Pirate’s ship crushed the enemy ship against an atoll. Apparently, Heat, Wire and Kid had already killed most of the Gifters. The frog guy was now engaged by the redhead.

While crawling down the basement, you caught a glimpse of the battle on the deck, eyeing the red fur waving in the wind for a moment.You forced your head to turn immediately.

«Where do you think you’re going?»
The pirate from earlier materialized in front of your group, an enraged grimace all over his beastly face.

Killer lost no time in attacking him, but the Gifter just disappeared again.

The Mohican gasped.

«What the f–»
«I understand your mate is important to you.»
The bastard re-appeared right behind F/n.

Fuck!

You positioned your rifle as fast as you could, Knowing that it was hard to hit him, at least to get him away from her.
Killer dashed towards him.
What you didn’t expect was F/N’s quick reaction.
She must have expected something similar, because she already had a dagger in her hand.
Before the brute could grab her, she crouched down, stabbing his foot in the wood.
He howled in pain.

Smart girl, that’s just what I need.

«YOU FILTHY B–»

So his brain blew up.

«Finally!» you uttered, lowering your rifle.

F/n smiled at you.

«Good job, girl.»
«Guys!»

Booka looked over the railing.

Heat was waving at you from the atoll, arms stained in blood. Most of the crew was down already.The ship was quickly sinking now, the chaos almost gone.

«We need to jump!» Booka yelled.

The Mohican didn’t need him to repeat it, quickly leaping over the railing.

You shook your head.
«Forget it, I’m not like you guys, I’m not jumping from h–DON’T YOU DARE KILLER!»

He dared.

The last thing you saw before shutting your eyes was F/n’s shocked face.

Killer threw you on land before swooping F/n into his arms and following immediately after with Booka.

Luckily for you, the blond had good aim, and you fell right in Heat’s arms with a gasp. His ever-sad smile was looming over you when you reopened your eyes.

«Hi Y/N. It’s nice to see you.»

Your breath was racing.
«I swear… I’m gonna freaking kill your first mate…» you panted, but you relaxed in his bloodied arms, rubbing a hand over his shoulder «…it’s nice to see you too, Heat.»

He carefully let you down.
 
Kai was checking on F/N, Killer protectively standing beside her.

«KILLER!» you shouted, marching towards them «Thank your god I don’t wanna hurt your new girlfriend, or you’d be dead by now!»

F/N turned to him, lifting a sceptical eyebrow.
He stretched his arms.

«It just seemed the most efficient way.»
«I’m giving you the most efficient way!» you hissed.

Wire joined the group. Screams from the battle were still audible from the sinking ship.

«The captain is taking care of the frog guy.» he quietly informed «He made the bad mistake of asking for mercy saying that he just wanted to have some fun with the girls.»

You noticed Killer’s scarred arm tensing up.

«God help him, then.» Booka spat.
Wire shifted his focus on F/N, then on you.
«We made it on time, apparently.»

You scoffed.
«You didn’t have to bother. Everything was under control.»

F/N blinked at you.
Even if she couldn’t voice it, “it really wasn’t” was written all over her face.

Although they didn’t explicitly show it, you caught the other pirates sending glances over her, making sure she was okay. It warmed your heart, but it also made you miss them even more.

You cleared your throat and adjusted the rifle on your shoulder.
«Well, since you guys helped me out, I’m not gonna arrest you… this time.»

«Yeah, because you could totally arrest the entire crew on your own.» Booka snorted, crossing his arms.
«Don’t challenge me.» you smirked, turning then to the shore.

There were some fishing boats aligned there, you could use one to get back to the main island.

«Are you going already?» Heat asked, a sorrowful note in his voice.
Your shoulders dropped slightly.
«I have to.»
Kai moved a step towards you.
«But you didn’t even see…!»
«I have to.» you cut it short.

The crew fell silent.
Before you could run away, though, someone grabbed your arm.
You turned to meet F/N’s big eyes.
You pressed your lips together, unable to shake her off.

«What?»

She released you to quickly rummage in her bag, pulling out the notepad.

<Just a few more minutes?>

You sighed, placing a hand on the notebook and forcing her to lower it.

«I can’t.» you quietly said «…but thanks for bringing me here again.»

You moved your hands on her shoulders, staring into her eyes.
She stiffened at first, but soon relaxed.

«Take care of them, okay? They are big and stupid, they need a woman to look after them.»

Although the pirates could perfectly hear you, nobody said anything. You couldn’t know that, but their throats were as clenched as yours.

F/N nodded resolutely.

With a last glance to the crew, you gave your back to them.

Before he comes, there’s no more time.

«I need to go.»

You had to run, you had to before treacherous tears started to escape your eyes and–

«Birdie.»

You froze.

In a moment, every muscle of your body refused to move, with the sole exception of the heart, which was pounding so powerfully you feared it might burst through your chest.

The sun was going down the line of the horizon, on the shore in front of you.

You couldn’t swallow.
His imposing presence absorbed everything behind you.

Taking the deepest breath you could, you plastered a confident smirk on your face and turned.

«Eustass “Captain” Kid.»

However, as soon as you saw him, you felt your expression crumble.

All those months, there was no day (god, maybe not even one minute) you hadn’t picture him in your mind.

His crazy red hair, the goggles, his massive figure, his pale skin marked by crimson scars, his dark lips, the ferocious look in those amber eyes…
And yet, it was nothing like having him, the real him, right in front of you.

Spurts of blood decorated his muscles, his metallic arm and even his face.
His eyes were fixed on yours.
Everything inside you seemed to hurt.
When he started to move towards you, the air died in your lungs.

You barely had the time to take a clumsy step back.
«K-Kid, wait…»

He abruptly grasped your shirt, pulling you against him. His flesh hand dived in your hair, adjusting the angle for his mouth to devour yours, while his huge metallic hand pushed your torso against his, impossibly tight.

Your gasp allowed his tongue to pass through your defences, entangling with yours.Your body answered before you could realize it. You craved that contact, painfully, each day you had been apart.

You were not even aware if your feet were touching the ground, pressed against him in a burning grip.

Your hands ran on his neck, one crawling in his hair, while you desperately kissed him back.
Who cared if the whole crew was watching, holding their breath.
 
F/N’s hand searched for Killer’s. He squeezed it.
 
When your lips detached (more for a need of air than anything), you buried your face in his chest, fingers clenched on his vest. He nested his forehead in the crook of your neck, without loosening the grip.

You inhaled his scent deeply, and you felt him doing the same.
 
God, when I die, please let it be in his arms.

You didn’t know how long you stayed that way.
At some point, though, you knew if you didn’t pull away, you would have never been able to do that again.

Gritting your teeth, you released his vest and quickly pushed yourself away, breaking through his grasp.

You passed your hands on your face, panting.

«See you around.» was all you managed to whisper before running toward the shore.

You couldn’t look at him, or any of them.
You simply couldn’t.

Kid didn’t move or say anything, arms dropping alongside his sides. He waited til you pushed a boat in the water, far already, and jumped on it.

Then he turned to the ship.

«Let’s go, men.» he quietly ordered.

The pirates slowly started to move back, silent, for once.
 
Killer placed a hand on F/N’s shoulder and gently pushed her.
«Come on.»

She swallowed the knot in her throat and followed her crew.