A Gathering Storm Pt 1 Ch 1

“When are you going to take the hint and stop coming in here.” The old man grumbled as he took another swig from his bottle. “You keep scaring away all my customers!”

“Heh.” The white haired man took a drink from his glass with a grin. “Come on, I’m the only customer you get.”

It was the normal exchange between the two, the bar where they sat was empty as it always was these days. It had become just another relic of the old days when Gol D. Roger still sailed but it still bore the old King’s name proudly.

Raoul grumbled to himself from his table behind the marine, every day that man came in here to steal his alcohol… aye, he did actually pay for it but it was never poured by this man’s hands. Ever since that man took over the marine base a short while ago his customers had become scarce. It’s hard to keep a place going when your best patrons are pirates. “Well enjoy it while you can because I’m closing this place down…”

“That would be a shame.”

A woman’s voice came from the doorway and both sets of eyes turned to see who it was.

“Well I’ll be damned…” Raoul remarked as he set down his bottle, she looked a bit older but there was no mistaking that scar across her nose. “It’s been five years since I’ve seen that face.”

Smoker sat quietly, the glass he was about to drink from hovering over his lips as he tried to maintain his composure but mixed feelings flooded him. He wasn’t sure whether he should be happy or pissed off right now. His eyes looked her over, just to be sure he was really seeing her… but there was no denying it. From the lavender hair to the all too revealing bikini and chaps outfit… it was her. “Temperance.” He said the name in a tone much sterner than he intended but it was hard to control his mood right now.

“Still giving the old man a hard time huh, Hunter-Kun.”

He tensed at the use of the name, he still hated it. He finished bringing the glass to his lips and emptied his cup, doing his best to focus on the dark liquid. “How did you know I was here?”

She walked further in, her large pack slung over her shoulder. “Because you always find your way back here.” She said it softly as she went over to him, setting her pack down with a thud and jangling of metal. The long object wrapped in fabric and strapped to the bag being the main culprit to the noise. “Hey old timer.” She looked over to the barkeep that was still reclined in his seat. “Do you still have a room for me?”

Raoul smiled a little as he set down the bottle. “Always.” He got up with a bit of a grunt and headed towards the stairs that lead up to where his home is and the spare rooms he would occasionally rent out but nobody had been in need of a place to stay for quite some time. “I’ll open it up, how long ya staying?”

She slipped into the bar stool next to Smoker with a sigh. “Just a few weeks if that’s all right, it depends on how many bounties I get.”

Smoker arched a brow at that as he gave her a sideways glance. “You’re a bounty hunter now?”

“You can say that.” She reached behind the bar and found an empty glass, wiping a smudge from it as she sat back down and took the bottle he had in front of him. She tried to stay calm and collected but in truth her heart was pounding, she really didn’t expect to see him so soon but it would be her luck to run into him here.  “Congrats on your promotion.” She said as she poured herself a glass.

He made a sound that could either be a laugh or a grunt as he took the bottle back and refilled his own cup. “You’d be a Captain by now too if…”

“No.” She interrupted him. “I’d still be where I am today.” She took a deep drink, letting the liquid burn her throat on the way down. “I’d have been kicked out sooner or later… never was good at taking orders.” She stared into her glass, memories of the academy coming back to her… memories of smoker being beside her all the while, even as they were being scolded by their C.O… “Good times.” She tapped his glass before taking another drink.

His lips moved to say something but nothing came out other than a large exhale of smoke, he would hazard a glance on occasion but she did nothing but stare into her glass. Why?... why after so long…

“I’ve missed you.” She whispered the words and took another long drink till her glass was emptied.

His grip tightened around his cup, of all the things she could have said it was those words she led with. He swallowed the sudden onset of anger and emptied his own glass to ease his irritation. “You could’ve made contact.”

She filled both their cups with a sigh. “I had…” She fumbled over the words as she set the bottle down and gripped her face. “I had to figure things out.” She knew coming back to this place and talking to this man wouldn’t be easy but it was a hell of a lot harder than she expected.

He was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt but he was having a hell of a time doing it. Granted, she had no obligation to tell him anything. They were never anything official but still… was he wrong to think they were a little more than two people that snuck away from their duties to find their way into each other’s arms? Hell, he thought… he thought she felt that way too. Five years ago she asked him to meet him, they were in this very town on leave… he came… she disappeared. “I waited for you to come back… For a whole damn year I waited to hear what you had to say.” He downed his drink in one go, calming his nerves just a little but not nearly as much as he hoped it would.

She chewed her lip as she fidgeted with her glass on the counter top, she hated herself for doing that… but she couldn’t even begin to find the words. “Can’t even remember what it is I wanted to say…” She paused a moment and downed her drink as well. “Must not have been important.”

He gave her a sideways glance, her expression was hidden by her hand once more as she gripped her face but he could tell… she was lying. He took a long drag from his cigar and exhaled the smoke slowly. “Will you come back… to the Marines?”

She smiled a little at that. “No...” She reached down and rummaged through her pack for a moment, pulling out a pack of cigarettes. “I’m not suited out for that life.” She stuck one in her mouth and pulled out an old metal lighter, one that didn’t like to cooperate.

The sound of flint being struck repeatedly drew his attention away from the task of filling glasses. “You still have that thing?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his own lighter, bringing the flame over to her so she could light her smoke.

She blinked a few times, registering the flame presented to her before she smiled a little and accepted the light. Inhaling deeply before releasing the cloud of smoke to join the ever growing white swirl above their heads. “You know I can’t get rid of it.” She twisted the lighter in her hand as she eyed it affectionately.

“Yea.” He shoved the lighter back in his pocket before picking his glass back up, the tension was finally starting to ease up a little bit. “It was your dad’s… How is your family by the way?” He remembered she would talk about them often, she loved her twin brother and baby sister. Whenever she talked about them she would get the biggest smile on her face…

“Ask me later…”

“Huh?” He looked over to her and she turned her face away but in that brief moment he saw the tears brimming in her eyes. “Tempe?” He caught himself using her old name and paused as he realized his hand was reaching out to turn her to him… Some habits don’t fade it seems…

“Captain!”

A new voice completely shattered the moment before it could even be had and made them both jump a little, Temperance looked over to the door were a girl in a yellow button down shirt and jean jacket was standing. “Heh… she’s cute.”

Smoker shot her a look as he started to stand. “It’s not like that.”

“Captain! I’ve been looking everywhere for you…” Her voice trailed off as she took a few steps in and finally realized that he wasn’t alone. This was the first time she’d ever seen him drinking with someone, let alone a woman.

“Damn it Tashigi, you’re being too loud.” He tossed a few belli onto the counter to pay for the bottle they had slowly been draining.

“Sorry sir but… a few pirate ships pulled into dock…” She adjusted her glasses on her face, feeling really awkward now. She wasn’t sure what she interrupted but the air seemed very tense.

“Heh…” Temperance took another long drag from her cigarette and smiled to herself, some things never really changed. “I’ll see you around Hunter-kun.”

“Don’t leave.” He said to her in a low tone so that only she could hear him. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” With that he turned and began walking out, his face wearing a more serious scowl than ever as he stormed past Tashigi. “Let’s go.”

“Y… Yes.” She said as she followed after Captain, looking back for a moment to the woman who still sat silently drinking. Who was that woman?

Raoul, who had been silently watching from the stairway, walked behind the bar and swept the belli into a jar along with all the other payments that man had ever given him then took the empty glass left by smoker and began cleaning it. “So lass... want to tell me a story?” He had wondered himself what would make her disappear for so long. She left so abruptly he didn’t know what to think, clothes were still in the drawers upstairs and pictures hanging on the wall… he knew she’d come back one day, he always believed it… but even he was curious as to why.

She smiled as she brought the glass to her lips. “I’ll tell you one if you tell me one.”
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Smoker stuck a fresh cigar in his mouth as he flew through the alleyways, his lower body a trail of smoke as he made his way back to Roger’s bar. It had taken multiple attempts to get Tashigi to stop questioning him about Temperance, plus he had to deal with more pirates trying to make their attempt at the grand line only to be stopped with the bare minimal of efforts. It was more of a nuisance than anything but it kept him annoyingly busy and now he was later getting back than he had anticipated.

Raoul saw the smoke before he saw the man, looked like he’d be seeing more of him while the girl stayed… As the Captain walked in there was no normal exchange of words and complaints, he did not even bother to look up to the white haired man. His attention on the glasses he was cleaning despite the fact they had not been used, he needed to keep his hands busy to steady his nerves…

Smoker eyes moved to the counter as his legs formed and boots his the wooden floor… but there was nothing. No sign of her at all, not even her pack. “Don’t tell me…”

A familiar flicking noise drew his attention to the far corner near the stairway the old man used earlier that day, it was dark but he could still catch glimpses of her face as sparks flew from the lighter with each failed attempt to light.

He took a deep breath, calming himself from the mild panic attack that just threatened him. His eyes now focusing on her illuminated face as she succeeded in lighting her cigarette, she had a tired expression on her face as she stared into the flame for a minute longer before snapping the metal lid shut.

She exhaled the lung full of smoke with a heavy sigh. “I was just thinking about going to bed…” She spoke in a drowsy voice as she swirled the dark liquid in her glass before downing it in two long gulps.

He glanced over to the almost empty bottle near her with an arched brow, the brand was different from what they had been drinking earlier which meant she was well into her second bottle at the very least. “You’re drunk.” He said in a stern tone as he sat down, taking the empty glass from her and filling it for himself.

“I’m still working on that.” She spoke as she feeble attempted to take back the glass but he pulled back out of her reach, kicking his feet up onto the table as he did.

“Are you going to tell me what happened five years ago?” He immediately pressed the topic, he didn’t dare chance being pulled away again or having her leave. He needed to know why she abandoned him… no, not him… It was stupid to think so sentimentally… why did she walk out of the marines. Yea… that’s how he should word it…

“Hmmm…” She mused as she admitted defeat over the loss of the glass and took the bottle instead, bringing it to her lips and drinking heavily. “I suppose I could… as long as you don’t go running off again.”

He glared at her from over the rim of his glass. “I’m not the one with a ‘running off’ problem.” He spoke through clenched teeth.

“Shihehehehe…” She laughed that odd laugh of hers that sounded more like a giggle then anything. “Point taken.” She tapped the ash away with a sigh, her mind becoming lost for a moment in the haze of alcohol that had been effecting her for the last hour or so. “You know…” she took another long drag, letting the smoke fill her lungs as she tried to figure out the right way to say the things she had been wanting to tell him for five long years…  “It took my brother two years to find me… because we… I was always on the move being a marine.”

He made a sound of acknowledgment, he remembered that she was part of a relief team. They never stayed in one town for very long let alone on a whole island, hell, the only time he even saw her when they weren’t at the academy is when they met here in Loguetown. When they were on leave it was where they always went…

“Two years to find me in this town… on the night I was going to meet you.” She looked over to the doorway, the phantom image of her brother standing there still haunted her. The memory of first seeing him so scarred and his eye covered with a patch… the expression on his face… that feeling of utter fear filling her…

Smoker brought the glass to his lips again as he watched her, the intake of her breath on the cigarette causing the ember to light up her face for a brief moment and in that fraction of time he could clearly see the expression of endless sorrow before her features faded back into darkness.

“I couldn’t even attend their funeral…”

“What?” He set the glass down as his legs swung down from their perch, his body leaning forward as drink was forgotten.

Her hands twisted the bottle she had been drinking on, she could feel the twinge in her nose that signaled she was about to cry. She rubbed her nose to fight back the urge as she took a few more gulps of the alcohol. “My parents… where murdered by pirates. They came to the island looking for treasure… so many people got hurt. My parents lost their lives… My brother lost his eye… and Lu… Little Lu…” She choked on the words, she didn’t want to say what happened. Nobody else knew the truth because Lu never told anyone… but it didn’t stop everyone from fearing the worst…

He stiffened, her gentle sobs escaped the corner from where she sat. He couldn’t see her but perhaps it was for the best, he didn’t know how to react. She had never cried in front of him before, to his knowledge she never cried in front of anyone so to do it now… the name she said, Lu… he had heard it before tons of times, that was the baby sister she fawned over. He had never seen any pictures of her but the way she talked about the girl he knew how much she cherished her. Their whole family was very close… so to find out they had been killed and hurt, years after it had happened and far too long for her to do anything about it… he couldn’t even begin to imagine how she felt. “Tempe…” He tried to say something, anything… but didn’t even know where to possibly begin. Now he knew why she left so long ago but it still didn’t explain why it took so long for her to come back.

The growing silence from the other side of the table concerned him. “Temperance.” He said a little louder as he reached for his lighter, the flame lit up the area and he sighed heavily as he looked on her… completely passed out. “Still can’t hold your drink.”

His arm faded to smoke and swirled around her body, shoving the lighter back into his pocket as he stood his free hand reached for the pack she had next to her. Slinging the heavy bundle over his shoulder as he brought her body into a cradling position in his arms, now in the light he could clearly look at her face… the streams of tears still on her cheeks. He held her a little tighter as he walked towards the steps, he knew the way to her old room.

It was a straight hallway, her room at the far end of the hall. His feet brought him to her door quickly enough, carefully he juggled her bag and body to fumble with the door handle. Luckily it had been left unlocked and the old man had lit a lamp in here at some point, it was dim but bright enough for him to see the bed against the wall.

Considering how long it had been since this room had been used he half expected the place to be covered in dust but perhaps that old bastard had kept it clean, he always did think she’d come back… He looked down to her in his arms, she felt much lighter than she used to but maybe it was just his imagination. “You really came back…” He whispered as he shook his head and went to the bed.

He dropped the bag unceremoniously on the floor beside the bed then eased her body down onto the mattress. She was really out cold… with a sigh he brushed her hair away from her face, the action causing her to let out a little purr as she rolled slightly onto her side. He smirked a little as he carefully removed her boots, how many times did he do this before when they had all gone out drinking? He set the shoes down beside the bed but paused as something caught his eye, just barely hanging out of the bag was a bundle of envelopes tied together. The letters themselves wouldn’t have alarmed him so much if his name wasn’t written across the front.

Cautiously he pulled the bundle free and inspected it, flipping through the letters warily and each one causing his curiosity to grow… every single letter was addressed to him. There were so many it seemed that she had started writing them shortly after she left… so why didn’t she mail them? What answers could these letters give him?

She whimpered in her sleep and it drew his attention back to her, she seemed to be having a bad dream now. He sat down on the bed beside her, hand stroking her hair affectionately to calm her… she never used to get nightmares… but then again, after what had happened to her family he couldn’t blame her.

With a sigh he put the envelopes back, as much as he wanted to… he wouldn’t read them. He had to trust her and trust that she’d tell him what had happened. He extinguished the lamp and left her to slumber… with any luck, she’d stick around this time.

To Be Continued…