Sanosuke POV

My heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest as I held the empty syringe in my palm. If Leon was at full strength, I wouldn’t have been able to do that so easily. I thought to myself as I gazed down at Leon’s limp body.

I exhaled a sigh of relief, “I’m sorry, Leon but I had know other choice.” I whispered, putting his arm around my neck. I barely lifted him up before I almost dropped him to the ground. “Crap! You’re a lot heavier then you look.” I spat out through my gritted teeth as I strained to hold him up, dragging him to his room. I slammed Leon’s bedroom door open with bottom of my foot and plopped him down on his bed that hasn’t been used in weeks.

I huffed out a puff of air, staring down at my Captain as his last words still lingered in my head.

~Flashback~

“Leon, the crew is warn out! You are barely running on fumes and we can’t take another battle with the Navy! They have been nothing but relentless since you humiliated them in front of the entire world! We need to recuperate and lay low for a while.” I tried reasoning with him.

“No, we keep going. We don’t stop until I say so.” He said still studying the map on his desk.

'He’s not listening. It doesn’t matter how strong you are. Everyone has a breaking point and we are meeting ours.' I pulled the syringe out of my pocket as I wrapped my shakey hand around the syringe.

'If this doesn’t work, I’m probably going to die but I have to do something or we’re all going to die.'

I sighed, “all right Leon, you win. I’ll tell the crew to keep going.” I said inching towards him. “But first let me ask you something.” I said seriously and just like I predicted, he didn’t turn around to look at me as I stood behind him.

“What?” He snapped and I could see the bulging vein I needed on the side of his neck. “Are you allergic to any kind of drugs?”

“No, not that I’m aware of, now if you don’t mind-" I cut him off when I plunged the needle in to the side of his neck and forced the liquid drug into his vein.

Our ships Dr. said that this drug is strong enough to knock out an elephant instantly, so I’m praying that it works.

He smacked his hand over his neck and he tried to stand up, “what the fuck did you just do?!” He hissed but he fumbled back into his chair. His face landed hard on top of the desk and I could see his eyes slowly clouding over. 'If he was at full strength, he may have been able to put up a fight.'

He was mumbling something and I crouched down next to him to listen to what he had to say.

‘He’s probably saying he’s going to kill me when he wakes up!!’ I sobbed a little but he’s been saying that for weeks and he hasn't so much as lift an aggressive finger towards me.

“We must. . find Fae. . before they do.” He uttered under his breath as he tried to stand again but failed.

“Before who finds Fae?” I asked him without realizing my thoughts fell off my tongue but he didn’t answer my question. I don’t even think he was aware that I was talking to him.

His eyes tried to flutter back open. “Mr. and Mrs. Walker’s. . sacrifice would have been in vain.” He mumbled before passing out. “Mr. and Mrs. Walker? Leon, who are you so afraid of-of finding Fae?” I asked trying to shake him back awake but it was useless the drug has already tooken over and he was fast asleep.

~Flashback Ended~

It was the first time he’s ever said anything about the reason he’s so persistent on finding Fae other than the obvious reasons. I just wish I could have gotten more information out of him, like who Mr. and Mrs. Walker is and why does that last name sound so familiar? I can’t quite pin point it but it’s at the tip of my mind. .

“Captain! Captain! We have a serious problem!” I heard Jugo yelling at the top of his lungs as his foots steps echoed down the hall towards me. I rushed to the door, swinging it open to see what the panic was all about and Jugo spotted me but failed to stop as he slide down the hall on his ass. He jumped back up to his feet and rushed back towards me. “Vice Captain! The Red Hair Pirates are boarding the ship!”

“What?!” I jerked my head towards Leon who hasn’t made a sound or move since I drugged him. Shit! I grabbed Jugo by the caller of his shirt, dragging him into the room. “No one enters or leaves this room without my permission, got it?!”

He shook his head up and down frantically. “Protect the Captain at all cost.” I growl, letting him go and his eyes darted from me to Leon, “but Vice Captain, don’t you think we should wak-"

“No, Captain hasn’t slept in weeks, let him sleep. I can handle Shanks.” I proclaimed but Jugo still looked at me hesitantly. I gently smoothed out his shirt, “do you want to be the one responsible for waking up the Captain when it gives everyone else a chance to rest?. . I can imagine the crew would be quite upset at a certain. . someone.” I said raising an eyebrow at him and his face slowly paled over.

He slammed his fist over his chest, “You can count one me, sir!” He shouted, sweating bullets.

I grinned at him, “good choice.” I whispered, patting his cheek. The truth is, he wouldn’t have been able to wake up the Captain and I don’t need him flipping out and causing everyone else to go into a panic.

I slammed the door shut, locking it behind me. I dashed up the stairs, three steps at a time and yanked open the door to the deck and my eyes were blinded by the sun before they adjusted on a red hair pirate who wore a friendly smile. “Sorry about your crew but most them were already passed out when I boarded.” He chuckled lightly as he rubbed the back of his head. I couldn’t help but take a defensive stance as I glanced around at my fallen comrades.

Sweat slowly dripped from my brow as I met his eyes. His Haki is so unreal! It's nothing like Leon's and I don't stand a chance against him on my own.

“I’m sorry. . I haven’t delivered your cargo. Our Captain is. . Leon is in a dark place right now, so if you’re here for your stuff-"

“Hey now, slow down. I’m just here as a friend, not for the merchandise.” He calmly stated as Benn, Lucky, and Yasopp boarded on our ship to stand next to there Captain.

I could feel my palms sweating. I hope he’s telling the truth because I can only hold them off for so long.

Shanks smiled at me as if he could tell what I was thinking, “Me and Leon have known each other for a very long time and we may not see eye to eye but I still consider him a friend, even if he doesn’t.”

He gave me a smile that reminded of Fae, “I got worried when neither you nor Leon showed up and when I read the newspaper, I knew something was wrong, so I thought I pay him a visit, so where is he?” Shanks asked looking at me for answers.

“I just got him asleep, sorry but he’s not waking up any time soon.”

Yasopp crossed his arms, “Leon is normally calm, cool, and collected and we all know that the newspaper can be over exaggerate but to act out over one girl.” Yasopp carelessly uttered.

I narrowed my eyes at him, “She isn’t some girl.” I hissed and Yasopp looked at me for a moment before he bursted out laughing. “Apparently not but maybe it’s in your Captain’s best interest to let this girl go.”

I balled my fist, feeling my nails digging into my palm’s, “You don’t understand how important Fae is to him! He's pushing himself so hard that he’s slowly going mad and there’s nothing I can do to help my Captain other then to be there for him!” I shouted in anger and Yasopp clamped his mouth shut.

“You say your Leon’s friend but Fae is the most important person in the world to Leon. He’ll never give up on looking for Fae because Fae is his world! He loves only her, he treasures only her and he’ll go to hell and back for her, so no it’s not in his best interest to let her go.” I cried out in frustration.

Shanks still wore a friendly smile as he stepped forward towards me, “Sanosuke, you’re a good friend. Leon is lucky to have someone as loyal and patient as you at his side and I have always commended Leon for trying to put a stop to the World Government’s wrong doings but I have never agreed with his approach.” He sighed deeply, “Leon was a very broken individual when I first met him years ago as a rookie but he slowly put himself back together and I admire his tenacity and motivation for wanting to change the world and I don’t know if it was just the slip of his tongue but he told me he wanted to fulfill a dream for the two people he respected the most in the world that could no longer fulfill it.”

Shanks put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed, “He never elaborated on the dream he wants to fulfill and I didn’t ask but Leon tends to think he needs to do everything by himself and he pushes away the people he cares about by lashing out and saying mean, cruel things to them and I don’t know if that will ever change but I think you know, Leon has been stuck in the darkness for a very long time. He’s lost sight of what he’s suppose to be doing and that’s why he needs friends like you to put him back on track.”

He patted the back of my shoulder. “Don’t be scared to put your foot down. Leon really needs a good swift kick in the ass and it may seem like a terrifying thing to do but I promise, he’ll respect you more for it.” He whispered right beside me, giving me one finally pat before turning away from me.

“By the way, I think you may want to sit down before reading the newspa-" Shanks cut off Benn by lifting his hand up. “It was nice seeing you again, Sanosuke and don’t worry about the merchandise. I only agreed to do business with Leon, to keep an eye on him but don’t tell him I told you that.” He chuckled, waving the back of his hand to me as he and his comrades left the ship.

I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding when there ship drifted away. I sank to my knees and rested my forehead against the cool wooden deck floor. “I’m one lucky son of a bitch.” I laughed to myself, allowing Shanks words to sink into my head and I repeated them again and again until I memorized every word.

Didn't Benn say something about the newspaper? I wonder what that was about? I thought to myself, glancing around until I found today’s newspaper crumbled in the hands of a passed out crew mate. I pried his fingers off the rolled up newspaper and unfolded the paper to the front page. I instantly felt like someone sucker punished me in the gut when I read the headline.

          The Unexpected Wedding! Charlotte Katakuri Finally Settling  
      Down To An Unknown Beauty!

I felt like my stomach was slowly being turned inside out as each sentence I read, continued to getting worse by the second. I felt like vomiting all over the place and my mind was racing out of control when I saw the picture of Fae in black and white.

I have tooken hundreds of photos of Fae but I never seen her smile like this before. I sighed with relief when she stated that the family has been nothing but kind to her and she even seemed to be happy but. .

I ripped up the newspaper into little pieces and dropped it into the ocean. Leon would go insane if he read this. I'm going insane just thinking about what the other half of the article said.

She cares deeply for him? She's agreeing to marry a low life pirate? She's never even been on a fucking date! This is nothing short of crazy! She's not ready for marriage! I shook my head, getting more pissed off by the second. No! Fae would never love a cruel man like him! She has know idea what this family is capable of! Especially this man! He doesn't even deserve breathing in the same air as her and he damn sure doesn't deserve her time and affection! I won't stand by it and I won't allow this-this tittie sucking Mama's boy to do whatever the fuck he wants with her! Fuck no! Over my dead body!

I tried to open the door but my hands were to shakey. "Dammit!" I hit the door shouting like a crazy man as I sat down on the ground, putting my head between my legs and trying to calm my raging nerves.

The only good news is I know were Fae is now. Bad news is we need to stop this  disgraceful wedding before it happens, recuperate the crew, get Leon back to himself, and just hope for more time that we don't fucking have!

Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! We can't rescue Fae until most of those boxes are checked off. Fuck! I slammed my fist down on to the floor.

Big Mama has know idea what's coming to her. If she really things she can get away with this then she has a very rude awaking a head of her!