Oh, Sweet Child of Mine (pt. 7)
Platonic Yandere Whitebeard & Reader-Insert
Main|First|Previous
Featuring: Thatch nearly not being yandere before sliding right into it. And Reader showing that they've got both layers and a fair bit of madness. I kept the implied backstory vague as shit, so feel free to project or assume things, I'm kind of curious what you guys will come up with, ngl.
Warnings: platonic yandere behavior and manipulation. If yandere content or anything of that vein makes you uncomfortable, please do block "oh sweet child of mine" as well as any relevant tags for "one piece yandere". Do not tolerate coercion or this manipulative behavior in real like.
Have fun and stay safe!
Word Count: 2,119
There was something to be said about how vast the ocean was. Sometimes, you’d just… look out at the waves and get lost in the ebb and flow of the tides. It was difficult and chaotic at times, sure, but never not beautiful. On the Grand Line, the weather was notably more erratic than anywhere else. You considered yourself lucky that there had only been a small storm while you’d been on board the Moby Dick so far. And due to the vast size of the vessel, even large storms were unlikely to dump you onto the floor.
It had been almost two months since you’d been taken by Marco. By now, the crew was relatively certain you wouldn’t try and make a run for it on your own so you were mostly allowed to run around at your leisure. Meal times were still strictly enforced, as was bed time funnily enough, but outside of that they seemed to want you to integrate at your own pace. You supposed that even your great reluctance was preferred to swinging an ax at Whitebeard’s head—what the actual fuck Ace?!
You sat on the railing, looking out at the ocean.
You felt… not quite homesick but something close. You missed doing drills with the other ensigns. Running gopher for your commanding officer. You even missed Williams, for all that he was an ass. He was somehow the most tolerable one of the many partners you’d had. You spun the fabric around your wrist, thinking about how hard you worked to better your skills as a marine.
It wasn’t all about fighting after all. Procedure and bureaucratic red tape was a massive part of the job. Unless you had a very high rank, you couldn’t just go wherever you wanted and do whatever. You had to transfer home bases, file paperwork, ensure arrangements for payment were made, and a whole host of other things. And though everyone expected to move around a fair bit, there was a sense of comradery in the marines. You all had to suffer the same dorky uniform and insufferable training.
Everyone was working towards the same thing. More or less. And there was an expectation that you would be doing your best to help others.
But here you were. On a pirate ship seemingly fighting as a one-man-army to not be officially recruited as one of them. To stay a marine. Even if you didn’t feel like one very much these days…
“You look like you’re having a lot of deep thoughts there.” You jerked, head swiveling around to find Twin-Blade clambering up the railing to sit next to you. He left a decent amount of space, thankfully. He settled down and looked at you, grimacing a little with a soft laugh. “Look… I know we got off on the wrong foot—hey! Hear me out now! I just… I just wanted to officially apologize for the tea. Most of the time, new recruits are so wound up they don’t sleep the first night and it’s a rough start for everyone. Considering what I’d heard, I thought you’d need a good nights sleep more than most. I should have asked you though. So… I’m sorry.”
You stared at Twin-Blade for a long moment.
“…Bit more than just a night of sleep.” You commented dryly, causing Twin-Blade to wince.
“Y-Yeah… the tea really shouldn’t have worked that much though. You probably did need the extra hours but that doesn’t make it right.” Twin-Blade apologized again. You gave a soft smile before looking back out at the sea.
“Thanks, Twin-Blade.” You sighed, resolving to not tease him so much from now on.
“Is it me?” You paused, looking back at him as he spoke, his eyes serious. “Have you not joined because of me?”
“No. It’s not because of you. Or at least not all because of you.” You explained stretching until your back popped satisfyingly. “I’m still a marine you know. You can’t be a marine and a pirate. Kinda conflicting job titles there.” You gave him a side glance.
“Why do you still want to be a marine? We’re not exactly like other pirate crews out there. We’re a bit rough around the edges, sure, but we don’t do the whole ‘pillaging’ thing. And we have a lot of power and status. What are you losing by joining?” He asked like he couldn’t imagine a world where his crew wasn’t the best option.
Part of this you excused as all of them being just a little bit batshit crazy. And weird. That too.
“I didn’t ask to be here. I didn’t ask to be rescued or recruited. What other reason do I need?” You pushed back and he pouted.
“But we’d love to have you here with us. We have such a big family that anything you wanted to learn or do would be feasible. You’d never be alone. C’mon, isn’t there anything tempting with us?” He pleaded, unable to wrap his head around your persistent but quiet refusal.
You supposed that for most people, the reasons to not join would be few. Most pirates don’t have a lot of options. Unless you’re clever or strong or lucky it’s a tough way to make a living. Ruthless and cruel at times without even the thin veneer of bureaucracy to hide behind.
A fat raindrop fell onto your nose, breaking you from your thoughts.
You sighed wistfully.
“…I think you forget what it’s like to be small. If you ever knew to begin with.” You watched the sky darken to a soft gray as rain began to fall, your eyes fixed on the dwindling blue horizon. “Nothing to hold onto but a choice—shit as it is—to do something. To one day not be so small after all. All I’ve got are my choices, Twin-Blade. There’s nothing left to go back to. And I know I’m not the only one. Maybe as a marine I could keep someone else from having to make a shit choice too. That’s not something anyone on this ship can give me, though. Might not even be something I can give myself. But what else can I do but try?” You lifted up your legs and turned around, hopping off the railing.
Leaving Twin-Blade behind.
--*--
Thatch thought about your words for several minutes as the rain poured, showing no signs of stopping or getting worse.
He… actually did know what it was like to be small. He didn’t like to think about it often—if at all. But he remembered. It made him desperate. Cling to every bright spot in his life like it would leave him if he looked away. The idea that you felt small even now made his chest ache.
He wanted you here because Marco wanted you here and because Oyaji accepted your presence. That was all he needed really. Hell, Oyaji’s word was all he needed for Ace, and Ace was a feral little bastard man trying to commit murder daily.
Joining Oyaji’s side made him grow in a lot of ways from that small boy he used to be.
Thatch grinned, resolutely setting his shoulders as he hopped off the railing and headed back inside.
You didn’t feel like you had any real choices in your life. Any connections or anchors aside from your ‘shit choice’. So Thatch would just have to show you how free life is on board the Moby Dick.
Thatch slammed open Marco’s office door.
“We need to throw a party!” Marco gave him a dry look as he picked his pen back up to finish paperwork. “We need to show them how to live a little!”
Marco perked up the moment you were mentioned, naturally.
“Did someone say ‘party’?” Ace ducked his head under Thatch’s arm with a wide grin.
“Yes!”
“No, yoi.” Marco grumbled, cutting out the fun Thatch and Ace were starting to have. “You’ve got a mission the day after tomorrow and you can’t go with a hangover.”
Thatch frowned.
“I have a mission?” This was the first he’d heard of it.
“A small supply run for medical. Oyaji’s meds are almost out. The island we stopped at didn’t have any. I’d go but someone needs to bully him into taking what’s left.” Thatch grimaced but didn’t protest any further. “We can throw a party when you get back.”
Thatch grinned, brightening up instantly.
“Yes!”
--*--
You made goofy kissy noises at Stefan as you played with his ears. The dog amicably withstanding your teasing as he laid over your lap on the main deck. Whitebeard watched on with an amused stare as you ignored his existence. The Yonko pirate would, occasionally, try and talk to you or draw you into a conversation, but you’d been dodging him fairly well so far.
“…My child—”
“Sea king starboard!” Your head whipped up as you gently shoved Stefan off your lap. Instantly, looking towards the area that had been called out.
Whitebeard glared at the sea, his weapon at the ready.
“Go below deck—” Your eyes widened as the sea king raised it’s head over the railing. It resembled an eel in form with large black eyes. Baby blue scales with vivid pink frills running down it’s spine.
“Baby! Look at you~!” You cried out, darting to the railing to hold out your hand. “What are you doing all the way out here~?” You cooed, rubbing your hand on the shocked creature’s chin. The scales were hard as a rock but undeniably warm and softer than an adult’s scales.
You heard several very startled calls of your name but ignored them.
The sea king opened it’s mouth just barely, a low buzzing sound emitting from it as it lowered it’s head to look at you. You were smiling so wide it almost hurt, admiring it’s beautiful scales.
“D-Do you know them?!”
You laughed loudly.
“Ahah~! Not at all, but who wouldn’t want to know a precious baby like you~?” you rubbed your nail under the ridge of it’s jaw, the buzzing sound intensifying as you laughed, absolutely delighted. “You’re so pretty, baby! Look at this cute baby blue! And the pink ruffles! Ah! You look fancy~!” you praised it gleefully.
The buzzing warbled in shared delight.
“Aren’t you just the sweetest thing~? But where is your pod, baby? It’s not safe to swim alone like this!” You cried out, standing on the railing to cradle the massive sea king’s chin. The sound it made vibrated your bones, a deep rumbling call.
“Not safe for who?!”
“Holy shit is that more?!”
You leaned your head back to see several more sea kings just barely poking their head out of the water. You waved excitedly with one arm.
“Hiiii~! Are you cuties going to come up too?”
“Please don’t!”
“Oyaji, stop them!”
You pouted, glaring over your shoulder.
“You’re being rude!” The pirate gaped at you.
“I-I’m being rude?! Those are sea kings!”
“Duh? And I want to pet them and give them love, damnit! Stop! Being! Rude!” You enunciated firmly, ignoring Whitebeard as he laughed. You turned to the shy sea kings, “Ignore them! I’d love to see you~!”
The sea king in your arms buzzed again, withdrawing to sink into the water until it was eye level with you. Pretty black eyes blinking slowly as the pink frills fluttered, lights like an aurora going down it’s spine. You gasped in delight as it opened it’s maw wide. Rows and rows of needle like teeth on full display. It was big enough to probably eat Whitebeard whole, but the only thing you could think of was how impressive the baby sea king was.
“Mmmaaooo~! Mmmmmaaaaooo~!” You stared in awe as it closed it’s mouth and brushed it’s nose against your front, buzzing long and low one last time for good measure before sinking beneath the waves for good.
“Mao? What a cute name, ahah~!” You laughed, spinning on your heel with a skip in your step. “Mao’s so cute~! I can’t wait to see him again!”
Whitebeard fell back into his seat with a laugh.
“Gurarararara! I’m glad you had fun, my child! We don’t run into sea king’s often, but I’m sure you’ll see plenty more soon enough.”
“Ack! O-Oyaji! No!”
You huffed.
“Don’t get it twisted, Whitebeard! I’m still not joining just because that’s the closest I’ve ever gotten to a sea king!”
Whitebeard just laughed again as his children despaired the prospect of encountering more sea kings willingly.
You didn’t get the drama. Sea kings were just darling, in your eyes. More darling than any of the pirates on this ship at least!
266 notes
·
View notes
five moments when he realized how much he’s in love with you:
Warnings: Mention of suicide/death, very depressed Volo (with bad thoughts), suggested/mild violence.
GN!reader, strong reader ngl, hurt/comfort, the whole thing with Volo.. y’know. This got away from me (it’s long), and I really can’t say much about this besides I wanted to see what Volo was thinking when it came to the one he loves. :’)
1 | when you showed him the new plates you’d gathered
To put it mildly, you were fond of Volo.
To put it truthfully… you were terribly captivated by him.
It couldn’t be helped, you tried persuading yourself, since he was a rather lovely man. He’d been kind to you during all of your encounters, or perhaps it was that the majority of other villagers and Hisuian people had made it easy for you to commend any decently sympathetic behavior, really.
Either way, it was hard to repress your growing feelings for the beautiful, bright, silly little merchant.
You didn’t believe that he was just a trader, not with his ability to appear without warning like a swift spring downpour, drenching you before you had a chance to locate shelter. That was quite like him too, in how he could flood you with knowledge of all the history Hisui had to share, and yet, you still felt as if he knew something you didn’t.
Unfortunately, that only fascinated you even more.
He wasn’t like anyone else in Hisui who you knew.
True, you didn’t know many people here, but there was just something about him which complicated forgetting about him like all the rest.
Maybe it was because Volo treated you gently—like a friend, that dreamy mess of your mind suggested—and after months of being downtrodden and judged without reprieve, that was what you needed to feel alive again.
To feel cared for, to feel loved.
The beginning of your budding attraction had sprouted from his understanding advice, his surely unfounded concern for a stranger like you, and admittedly—although somewhat exaggerated in your opinion—his startling praise.
You liked to think the two of you were friends. To be fair, you knew a bit about him, that he enjoyed exploring ruins and historical sites and poring over ancient artifacts and manuscripts. When you decided on finding him for once, rather than the other way around, you told yourself as much.
You told yourself as much, so that you wouldn’t have to concede that there was another reason, concealed by your practical need for a translator, behind wanting to find him.
The past few weeks, you’d been searching for him between survey tasks to no avail, and you’d had a feeling that perhaps the man was just unwilling to be found.
If only you had known how true that had been, and that Volo enjoyed being the one to seek, rather than be sought.
On your way back to the village after a grueling expedition, it had crossed your mind that he might be craftier than you’d first suspected, and that the certain guile about him wasn’t just for wheedling a customer into buying his guild’s latest stock.
And of course, while you were pondering him, that was when he had found you.
Of course, it was when you weren’t out looking for him any longer, did he show up.
Though despite that, and despite how tired you were… you still felt yourself perking up when you saw him.
Volo was the same as always, carrying that massive pack and meandering about without a care in the world. And as he crested one of the slopes leading up to Aspiration Hill, he chirped your name, waved with a flourish like he typically did, and caused your heart to thud a bit more loudly in your chest.
You were glad to see him.
Yet you were oblivious to how painfully glad he was to see you.
He looked forward to finding you whenever he could, and he wasn’t sure when exactly it had happened. Maybe it was because you were the one who fell from the sky, maybe it was because you humored him, or maybe it was because you had a habit of keenly listening to his theories for hours. Cogita didn’t appreciate how he often prattled on—actually, he wasn’t sure anyone else did—but you…
You’d said you liked his voice, and Volo had paused, unable to say anything until you laughed.
From then on, Volo couldn’t fathom it, but every time he saw you, he had found it more and more difficult to lock away those feelings.
They welled up in his chest when he called your name again.
However, instead of returning his greeting, the first thing you did was to charge right over the hill and yell at him.
“HEY!”
At your unwarranted outburst, Volo was caught between utter shock and hiding his blatant amusement at how ruffled you were, a sight he didn’t often witness. As though confirming that you’d really been addressing him though, he merely aimed an index finger at himself.
“Yeah, you! Why are you so hard to find!?”
The merchant swore that you’d mumbled something else underneath your breath, but he was too absorbed in the fact that you’d been searching for him. Ah. A knowing grin was already curling onto his lips.
Despite how busy you were, you were looking for him. What did that say about what you thought of him?
Never one to miss an opportunity to tease you, Volo cocked his head to the side with a mischievous chuckle. “If I had known you were looking for me, my dearest friend, I would’ve surely shown up sooner!”
You did your best to remain unfazed by his pleasant words; with righteous indignation, you crossed your arms, attempting to keep up the act. Stupid, pretty merchant, too damn handsome for his own good.
…This was bad, and you needed to wake up.
“Might I know why you were so diligently looking for me?”
Volo now wiggled that pointer finger at you, and even as you fought against the urge, you wondered what it would be like to hold his hand in yours.
Warm, probably.
You pushed aside the thought, however, and averted your eyes to your satchel. You needed to compose yourself.
“Well, I remembered you’d wanted to see the plate I’d gotten from Lord Kleavor.” Fumbling in your bag for all the others you’d obtained since last running into Volo, you leveled your breathing and collected yourself. “You told me how excited you were about them, and that you were searching for a few yourself in the coastlands.”
You risked a sideways glance at him.
He hadn’t said anything, but his grin had widened, the dimple deepening beside the right of lips.
It was as if he’d been prompting you to go on, that he was interested, that he was raptly hanging onto each of your words.
So, even with your wobbling, smitten heart, you took a breath to ground yourself, then went on, “I figured since you really liked taking a look at them before, and I’m curious about them, why not show you the new ones I found so far…?”
While you withdrew a first pair of pink and brown plates from your bag, you trailed off, thankfully, for Volo was astounded, if only for a second.
You… remembered that about him. You’d come to him because you’d remembered he’d liked them.
When was the last time someone else had done that?
Almost instinctively, he was wading through a familiar melancholy at the realization, but it receded quickly when he saw how eager you appeared, how you really wanted to be around him.
“Oh, how generous of you!” laughed Volo, his tone lively as he tried to distract you from his temporary shock. “It seems you already know me, don’t you?”
He wasn’t prepared for your response, however.
You simply smiled at him.
But this smile was different than any of yours he’d seen before.
This one…
This one reached your eyes.
It brought a distinct joy to your face that was never present when you were around anyone else, almost private in how you’d guarded such an expression so vigilantly, and he suddenly, irrationally wished he could keep it for himself. He wished you would always turn to him with that smile, instead of wearing that unreadable, neutral look you’d been coerced into adopting everywhere you went in Hisui.
Oh. Against his prudent sense for what he would one day need to accomplish, Volo’s heart trembled at the thought, and that smile seemed to seal his fate.
It was then that he knew that things wouldn’t be as easy as he’d thought they’d be.
“Well, apparently not well enough to find you when I’ve been trying for weeks,” you confessed with a cheeky hum, “but that just means I’ll have to get to know you really well now, doesn’t it Volo?”
He blinked once, twice.
“You were looking for me for weeks?”
“Of course, I was!” That smile was still on your face. “You’re the only one who I could talk to about these things!”
When he’d taken in your words and seen your beaming face, all just for him, a blooming sensation of warmth and contentment flooded his heart—his poor, stony heart, having spent an eternity in isolation.
Volo wouldn’t let you know that, however, as he tipped the lid of his hat toward you and announced cheerily, “Then, the pleasure is all mine.”
You laughed, handed him the two plates, and winked at him.
“I think it’s all mine, actually.”
And Volo was sure, at that moment, even though he really should have tried to stop himself,
he loved you more than he should have.
2 | when you appeared out of snow and ice
Volo knew that you were strong.
While that should’ve posed a problem for him and his future plans, the ridiculous empathy—yes, just empathy, he told himself—he had for you was overriding every clear thought he had about marching off across the snowy expanse and ignoring you.
It wasn’t as though you were fighting a colossus of ice, capable of ending your very life with just a snort of his glacial breath or a toss of his enormous head, rigid and unable to be tempered by anything other than brutal nature itself.
It wasn’t as though his heart jolted and splintered just a bit more every time he heard the thundering echo of the noble’s roar, felt its sinister tremor quaking beneath the earth.
He was as worried as anyone else was, he told himself again. That was why he was waiting like the others, albeit from a more distant and secure vantage.
Although, Volo supposed he wouldn’t be very safe if you were defeated and Lord Avalugg’s rampage turned deadly, so he thought it best you subdue it.
Yes, that was all.
He stamped his feet once, rubbed at his arms with his frozen fingers, and sighed again, a great puff of chalky mist rising into the frosty air.
…
But still, his heart betrayed his true feelings.
Regardless of how he tried to tint it, it was that ingratiating worry which gradually began to chill him more than the arctic weather, and he probably wouldn’t be able to hide how cold it had made him for long.
You were strong.
So why couldn’t he stop worrying?
No, Volo couldn’t cease his pitiful worrying. He couldn’t at all when with a somber cry, the icelands then fell silent, the snow once more lying in innocent clouds, and everything dulled to its lifeless shade of pale gray.
Despite his inability to see into the mire of white settling above him, his heart was brimming with hope before he could dampen it. He didn’t know how long it’d been since you’d gone to fight. Though with every minute he’d spent pacing tiny circles at the base of the mountain and imagining what could’ve gone horrendously wrong, he knew he couldn’t convince himself there was nothing personal about the way he was concerned for you.
No, he couldn’t. And he couldn’t hide his worry, melting away into unbridled relief, when finally, finally you emerged from the haze of snow and ice that had been leisurely walking its way down the slope, committed to concealing you from him for far too long.
Volo wasn’t sure when he had started running. He had heard the starchy snow crunching beneath his boots, but then he heard nothing else when you cried his name.
“Volo!”
“…!”
And then he was smiling. He was shouting your name. He was still running toward you.
The way you lit up and hobbled toward him as quickly as you could, despite how you were bruised and winded and exhausted, made the worry all worth it.
Volo knew everything was worth it, for you.
3 | when no one else wanted you—
He saw you.
He saw you, crouching atop the grassy stones high above the fieldlands waterfall.
Every muscle in his body commanded him to rush forward, but he didn’t want to frighten you. It was a first, considering how often he liked to see you jump and whirl around to face him. You didn’t this time though, your hunched figure instead sluggishly rocking back and forth as your Decidueye huddled against you.
…because you were hurt.
Volo had seen you smattered with cuts, he had seen you worn from your battles, and he had seen you doubt yourself when you thought no one else was looking.
However, he had never seen you like this before.
You were devastated.
They had really hurt you more than they ever had before.
Volo almost wanted to curse aloud. Why would they do this to you? You had done nothing to them to warrant this—if he thought about it, he was the one to be indirectly guilty—and yet…!
…Was he really any better than them, though? He wasn’t supposed to love you, but here he was, his allegiances like dead branches clinging miserably to the tree, swaying whichever direction the wind decided it fancied, and waiting for the day they inevitably fell to uselessness.
Shaking his head, Volo dismissed the thought. No, he was better than those villagers, those people from the clans. He didn’t betray you like they had.
Yet, hissed that infernal voice in his head.
Volo didn’t want to think about it.
And he didn’t have to then, for Decidueye had straightened immediately, poised for an attack.
It was to be expected, wasn’t it? He hadn’t thought you the careless type to forgo cautiousness, especially after everything you’d just gone through, so it didn’t surprise him to see you abruptly still when your Pokémon growled.
Justifiably, your partner was wary of any more humans who might approach you.
Lifting his hands to show that he wanted no trouble, Volo held Decidueye’s gaze for a long, scrutinizing second.
It took another few before the Pokémon eventually dropped his wings to his sides.
Still, Decidueye seemed to be warning him as his sharp eyes flicked from Volo to the water racing under the ledge they were perched upon: I will not hesitate to remove you if you bring more harm to us.
Volo knew better than to antagonize your Pokémon. Silently, he nodded in acknowledgement, which appeared to satisfy Decidueye, and he then lowered his arms.
He looked at you again.
You still hadn’t moved, but you definitely knew he was there.
…He should say something, shouldn’t he?
His voice was hushed when he finally found something to say to you—not what he truly wished to say, but what he could manage from everything you knew of him.
Something that wouldn’t sound odd, coming from him. Something that would reassure you that he was still the same, even if everyone else you knew had changed. Even as Volo had thought it, he wasn’t sure he believed it, but he wasn’t about to question himself now.
You needed him to be the person you’d always known him as—the merchant, the historian, the friend you could rely on.
And so he would be.
“Strange events seem to follow you wherever you go, don’t they?”
You said nothing, but Volo didn’t press you. He knew you had heard him over the churning water.
Slowly, instead, he found his place beside you. He moved tentatively under Decidueye’s apprehensive supervision, reminding him of what would happen if he faltered.
Nonetheless, it was promising that you hadn’t pushed him away.
You permitted him to come closer, in fact, and as he shifted slightly so that his shoulder was practically touching yours, he swore you almost leaned into him.
He could feel how warm you were, even as a light breeze streaked past, but he remained where he was.
He would wait for as long as you needed.
While Volo had trekked up the cliffside, the ominous, crimson sun had been burning lowly, descending toward the charred horizon. Now, as he squinted at the warped and discolored sky, he could see it was nearly touching the mountains.
He didn’t mind that you hadn’t said anything, though it was worrying you had probably sequestered yourself here for quite a while. Volo knew when you had been banished—the miscreants hadn’t even allowed you to wake with the stretch of unnatural dawn—and given the supposed time of day now, it was certainly alarming.
“I think I should still be mad.”
Your voice was so muffled and tired and unlike anything Volo had ever known from you, that even as the noise of the surging waterfall rang in the air, he only heard you.
He was fixated only on you.
“Shouldn’t I be mad?” Your hands were curling over your arms; thankfully, Volo noticed no injuries on them. “I did everything—I fucking did everything for them, and then they threw me away when it was convenient for them.”
You sighed, flattened a leg against the ground, and slapped a hand down in frustration.
“If I stayed angry, it would help me forget about everything else, wouldn’t it? I could be so lost in how angry I was that I wouldn’t even know what I should be mad at anymore… But now I just feel empty. I don’t even know where I should go. Where I can go.”
Something stirred in Volo’s heart. He understood what that hollowness, that void felt like, but he didn’t want to imagine your suffering, screaming at nothing, tearing at yourself.
How pathetic that they couldn’t appreciate you.
They didn’t deserve you.
“If you’ll trust me,” Volo offered, and he was then aware of how you had finally raised your head, “I know of somewhere safe for you.”
You were staring at him now, though Volo had turned away from you.
He had asked you to trust him, but a shard of guilt was steadily wedging itself into the cracks of his heart.
Maybe he didn’t deserve you either.
“Volo…”
But when his name fell from your lips so reverently, he forgot that guilt. It was too easy to forget when it came to you, until it wasn’t. He needed to be here for you, and what that meant for his future, he would deal with then.
“I trust you.”
He turned back to you, saw your face for the first time since he’d arrived, and then he was pulling you close.
He wouldn’t ever forget that look upon your face.
“I will always appreciate you, even if they won’t.”
“…Thank you. It means a lot that you decided to look for me, even if that would put you in danger of their judgment, too.”
Their judgment means nothing when I will always love you.
He only tugged you closer.
You were fully leaning into him now, languishing for comfort in your vulnerable state, and Volo would give you exactly that.
It seemed you thought the same, for when Volo covered your hand with his, he finally felt you relax against him, enough so that you could speak again.
“You said that strange events seem to follow me wherever I go.”
“Yes.”
“But I think even stranger people seem to follow me, you know,” you said meaningfully, your fingers curling between his, “people who want me for who I am, unlike all the others.”
His heart fluttered. He squeezed your hand in his own answer.
Oh, you had no idea how much Volo wanted you, and no one else wanted you like he did.
4 | the fated day on mount coronet
He wanted to apologize for being the reason you had such a look on your face. He was the one who had hurt you. He wanted to tell you that he had never meant it, but in some malevolent fold of his mind he had. He couldn’t stand it. He wanted to forget about everything. He wanted to start over, and if you had just let him—given him exactly what he wanted (but what had he truly wanted?)—then you could’ve begun again together, in a new world.
So he could have told you honestly that he loved you.
But he couldn’t.
Volo didn’t know what he could say, as you trapped him beneath you, your hands shackles around his wrists. Painted with fiery wrath as the setting sun outlined you in vivid gold, you were truly a sight to behold when you snarled his name and demanded why he had done this.
There had to be something else wrong in his mind for him to still think you were stunning amid your ire.
“Tell me.”
Your knees dug into his sides, the flexing of your hips on his distracting him for a disgraceful moment. He had let his guard down after Giratina had fled, and then here he was, pinned and at the mercy of your questioning. It was ironic he had intended to subject Arceus to the same, to wring answers from it as you were with him. He laughed. He laughed again when your grip tightened and your nails pinched his skin. Though as the creator always remained silent, he would say nothing you wanted to hear. Volo was sure his violent sneer said plenty, but when he forced himself to say something—anything, anything to pretend this had all been a farce—he knew he shouldn’t have said it.
“I hate you.”
He shouldn’t have said it. Not when your expression had then broken like a sheet of river ice, shattered by the unfortunate soul of his words that meant to drown your heart in the frigid water below. Yes, I should have. Volo wanted to convince himself that he was right to have said it. After all, you were the Chosen One, weren’t you?
You had stolen everything from him—his place before Arceus, his dreams, his world. And in it all, as foolish as he had known it was, for you were never once truly his, you had stolen even yourself from him.
It was unsurprising how much he had wanted you, and yet, he should have known how absurd those feelings were.
You should have stayed far from him; he should have made sure of it. But throughout the time you had spent with one another, months after months, you had somehow become a part of that everything he had worked for, yearned for, and so impossibly devoted himself to.
And then, you had almost become his everything too—his reason, his muse, threatening to change his mind about the plan he had set in motion long before your arrival in Hisui.
Why couldn’t you have just agreed with him?
He had shoved you off himself in your weakness, watched you fall back before springing to your feet and shouting words he told himself he couldn’t hear.
You could’ve made this easy, but you… Volo had snapped again. You just had to get in my way, with your infuriating heroism, your disgusting perseverance, your impeccable talent in battle, your delightful smile, your heart so full of love for—!
Perhaps that was why he had said he hated you. To blame you, even though Volo knew the fault was only in himself. Because he had allowed you to get in his way. Because he loved you too much to just let you go without hurting you, because he had known that you would never acquiesce to his ambitions, because he had been too stubborn to stop himself when the plates were so close, and you were so close.
But he had forced you away with his fury, tossed the final plate to you, and wished he would never see you again.
Volo had told you that too, when he abandoned you on the temple summit. Because I hate you. Because I’ve failed. Because I’m ashamed. Because I don’t deserve you. Because I—
…if he really hated you, why, then, as his feet took him farther and farther from you with every step, did his heart wish to wrench from his chest just to be with you?
No, it never could’ve been easy.
He knew why.
Because I love you.
And he always would, no matter how many times he lied to himself.
5 | when you’d found one another again, after everything
Volo should’ve known that despite his vicious words, spiked with poison and disdain and bitterness, you wouldn’t give up on him.
After all, your tenacity was one of the things he loved about you. He just hadn’t expected you to waste the entirety of it on him, so that you could cut away the thorns protecting his heart.
They were ugly spires of tarred anger and hatred, meant to seal the cracks in his heart, but never meant to heal the wounds inflicted upon him from all the awful things he could not easily let go.
All this time, he had hardly been living, fueled only by his warped sense of selfishness and selflessness between which he could no longer differentiate.
But every day, you snipped at another barb. Some days, you wrestled it off harshly. Other days, he tolerated your gentleness in prying it free. Even when you allowed those thorns to snag at you with no concern for your own safety, when you still stayed despite how he pushed you away, Volo didn’t want to admit that you were giving life back to him, one breath at a time.
If he did, he knew he would break.
And there would be no turning back for him.
“You just wish to see me break,” he’d spat at you, “so that it can be your retribution.”
Volo knew it wasn’t true. I was the one who wanted to see you break. You knew as well. He didn’t want to say that he was only lashing out, but you knew anyway.
On those days when you had to fight to twist the thorns from his heart, he would insist on wielding his insults, once more build his inadequate defenses in a futile effort to weather your assault of compassion, and scoff at how you wouldn’t just let him be.
“I forgive you, you know.”
That was always your response. If he offended you, you never said anything about it. You would only smile at him afterwards.
But the smile never reached your eyes.
And it was his fault.
He sometimes wished you would be angry with him instead, as you had been on Mount Coronet.
It had been months since his betrayal, or at least, that was how long Volo had thought it had been. Certain there were people hunting him for what he’d done, he had been wandering ever since, with no place to go but wherever his body next gave up on him. He knew he was disappointing his Pokémon. He had resorted to leaving them in their capsules, for he couldn’t bear to see their sorrow and claim responsibility for it. Every day had seemed too long for him. He had no purpose anymore, and he wouldn’t deny that he often considered if it would’ve been better for him to dwindle away without a trace.
He wouldn’t be missed, anyway.
…So why was he here?
Volo wasn’t sure if it had been weeks he’d spent in your secluded alcove, a series of rising caves carved over centuries by the highest tides of new moons. He didn’t ask when you had learned of this place, beyond the flats and by the West Sea, but you knew he was curious. It was obvious to you; most people knew he was curious about many things.
He was surprised you indulged him still: You told him that Wyrdeer had wanted to take you here when you’d called upon him after your exile.
You didn’t say why you hadn’t been able to reach the caves, though.
Volo knew why. Having seen you that day above the waterfall, he needed no more explanation. He didn’t deserve an explanation either, not when he had hurt you the same way.
No, he had hurt you more than they had.
So why hadn’t he left you yet?
He could’ve left whenever he had threatened to do so. When he had initially declared it with such vehemence, you had just agreed, shrugged, and moved on with your chores.
Somehow, your passive reply had only encouraged him to remain where he was. It was another challenge from you, wasn’t it?
…
Volo knew it wasn’t a challenge from you, but one from his own heart—to test himself, to tempt himself into deserting you again.
Even when he said he would, he never could leave.
He often watched you go, however. If he was awake when you departed, his eyes would follow you until he could see you no longer. It had been mortifying for him to realize that they would seek your figure the second you returned, too.
“You can leave if you’d like,” you had proposed plainly, assuming his fleeting glances were indicative of a wish for freedom. “I didn’t tell everybody about you. None of them are looking for you.”
He hadn’t been able to ask why.
Skeptical of your claim, Volo hadn’t understood why you had spared him from their judgment, until he saw the harrowing question on your face.
“Why would I want you banished like I had been?”
You ripped a handful of thorns out of his heart that day.
Despite that, sometimes he thought that eventually you would have enough of him, you would be the one to leave, and you wouldn’t come back. He never said it aloud, but he was grateful you were here. When you had disappeared for the first time, he had panicked, even with your note of courtesy—courtesy his behavior hadn’t merited—describing where you were traveling. He couldn’t help it. Volo feared losing you again. Even if he never told you, he looked forward to your return; he felt his heart leap against his ribs when he spotted your straw hat in the broad grassland below, when he heard your sandals scuff the cave floor with that familiar shuffle.
He had grown too used to your presence.
Or was it that he was giving in, reminded by how things had once been between you two?
He liked to think you cared, for why else would you still visit the caves, even after you had been toiling away without him? You didn’t need him, but he didn’t want to believe it was only haughty optimism inspiring such a vain question.
Then why had you bothered to take him in after discovering him, sprawled out in the mirelands, unconscious in a pool of mud, and on the precipice of crumbling to nothing? You hadn’t even informed the villagers or the clans about his foiled plot, grandiose in its failure, and about the danger that he could pose.
Because of you, he was free to wander. He never went far though, only down to the beach or to the grove ideal for his Pokémon’s sunlit naps, but he had one less worry because of you.
Perhaps you felt you had a favor to repay, when he had done the same for you. You just didn’t want any debts to him.
Of course, then, it had to be when he was at his lowest that you found him for the first time, when he had always been the one to find you.
Of course, out of all people, you had to be the one who found him, too.
Arceus was a cruel god.
…Then why did its Chosen save him?
No. Volo knew it was wrong to think of you that way. Why did you save him?
It was shame that kept him from asking anything of you, rather than the abyssal rage that had for too long seeped into every fracture in his heart.
Volo didn’t know when he’d let that brand of his anger die out. Maybe it was the moment you had found him again. Maybe it was when you’d brushed the tangles from his hair, and he had let you, because it made him feel like this was how things should have been. Maybe it was with each barb you removed, a thread of his anger went, too.
In place of the fury that had devastated his heart, shame mourned every one of his mistakes instead, and he couldn’t bear to expel it, not when he really should regret how he’d treated you.
He was tired of it, too. He was tired of trying to convince himself that he hated you. He was tired of being alone, but he couldn’t find it in himself to admit that to you. His Pokémon enjoyed your company along with your companions’, and for that, he was glad, but even when they tried to urge him into accepting the happiness he could find with you, he couldn’t.
Why did he deserve your forgiveness?
Volo watched you sweep the dust from the cave, a laugh bubbling from you when your Hippowdon snorted in her sleep and sent the debris straight back inside.
His throat clenched.
He didn’t deserve it.
Whether you’d misconstrued his shame for the spite he’d harbored for you upon the Temple of Sinnoh or not, you revealed nothing to him. If not for the way you were more subdued, your words more measured than he’d remembered, he would’ve thought you were acting as if nothing was wrong.
Volo wasn’t sure he preferred it that way.
He knew, however, that things were indeed wrong, and it was up to him to mend, rather than destroy.
Though even as he knew so, another three days had passed before he gathered the courage necessary to broach the subject.
Like most other nights, as Togekiss slept in her nest beside him, Volo observed you dabbling in arranging flowers or inking notes into your journal before heading off to rest in a lower cavern. Tonight, under the moonlight, you were preening an assortment of pink wildflowers, white Oran blossoms, and yellow King’s Leaves in a stout clay pot when he finally spoke up.
“Why are you doing this?”
From the opposite side of the small cave, he thought he saw you flinch. Strange, that it was no insult he had hurled at you so far that elicited such a reaction from you.
“You must have other tasks to see to than to waste your time on me.”
You were plucking at the golden leaves now, adjusting them this way and that, but still, you were silent.
“So why… why are you still doing this?”
Volo wasn’t sure why he was talking so much.
Maybe it was that he really was healing, and his curiosity had returned, or that he didn’t want you to think he still hated you.
Your hands stopped moving. The stalks of the flowers sagged.
He saw you take a breath, then turn to him.
And for the first time since you had brought him here, your eyes met, and he couldn’t look away.
“I may have been a core member of the Galaxy Team, but I have my own life to live. And even if I lived how the villagers wanted me to, it would never be enough for them, would it?”
The implication of your question, one that neither of you had any predilection for answering, caused Volo to tense.
He didn’t miss the way that you stiffened as well.
“And,” you continued, your eyes never once leaving his, “if I decide that I want you in my life, I think that’s up to me, and up to you, but no one else.”
Why would you?
Volo couldn’t move.
He could only watch as you stood, the pearly moonlight dappling your figure with an array of stars, gleaming with every step you took toward him.
Before he could protest at how close you were, you had seated yourself before him, and Volo was humiliated by the pain in your eyes.
That was his fault.
He was shaking. He had thought he could do this. He still could, couldn’t he? He had to.
And then, before he had a chance to run, the words escaped him.
“How can you forgive me?”
A thousand ways Volo had envisioned asking you what had weighed on his conscience ever since you’d found him, and a thousand ways he’d imagined your response. He would ask you, shouting or crying or pleading, but even in his better dreams, you would only nod. You would nod, tell him you understood, and then you would leave before you could say you’d always truly meant that you’d forgiven him. He didn’t like to think of the nightmares, when you boasted that he’d fallen for your lie, and then you would echo his own words back to him: “I wish to see you suffer and agonize as I do.”
But here you were, smiling at him.
“I remember you once said something to me.”
How many sleepless nights did you have?
He didn’t know what he had told you that had kept you so at peace in front of him, but he couldn’t believe the words of a traitor had provided you the wisdom to forgive him.
Folding your hands across your lap, you stared off toward where the moonlight filtered in. He may have thought you were calm, but inside, you were struggling to continue.
I had many. Too many, without you.
“It was only a few months after I had met you,” you started quietly, “and I had helped return the Wall Fragment to Warden Calaba.”
Still, he wasn’t sure where you were going with this.
“You spoke of her faults that people often mentioned, that she was too stubborn, too old-fashioned.”
The cave was silent, save for the distant melodies of the retreating waves. Volo waited for them to return, heard their soaring notes as they rolled in, and his anticipation for what you would say next swelled along with them.
“But you didn’t think she really hated the Diamond Clan or the Galaxy Team—rather, you thought she simply loved the Pearl Clan very, very much.”
You turned back to him, and Volo saw only grief in your eyes.
He looked away.
“I think that you’re the same, in a way. You simply love what’s important to you very, very much.”
His breath caught in his throat.
“You love history, the ruins, myths, and the questions no one else could answer but you. You love your Pokémon. I know you love many things in Hisui. And when you love something, I think it’s natural you want to protect it.”
Volo felt your fingers on his. He was still looking away.
Nothing you were saying was like that of his dreams or his nightmares. He had a feeling you had been preparing for this very moment longer than he had.
“When I thought of that, I couldn’t hate you.”
His heart was quivering, just as his hand was in yours. Your palm was warm. He realized how cold he was then. You were warm. Your words were everything he needed to hear.
You were everything he needed.
“I couldn’t stay angry with you.”
Volo couldn’t hold on anymore. Was he hanging on, about to tumble into the chasm of his own folly, or was he waiting to finally be pulled to safety by his hope, by your salvation?
The lull of your comfort was too inviting to disregard. You were breathing into him that last breath he needed—
“I could forgive you, Volo, because I knew how much you could love, and how much you still love.”
—and then he let you pull him in.
He cried as you took him in your arms, embraced him like he meant the world to you, and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
The guilt, the sorrow, the days he thought of ending it all—
he didn’t know if he could forget them, but with you, he wanted to try.
“I’m sorry.”
His apology was unending, perhaps worthless with how he repeated it as if you hadn’t heard him.
But you had. He knew you had, but he couldn’t stop the doubt.
“I know,” you said faintly.
“I didn’t hate you. I didn’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“I know. I forgive you.”
“I’m sorry.”
Volo wasn’t sure he could stop.
Were hours passing as you held him, let his tears wet your clothes, and listened without judgment?
You were too good for him.
He didn’t know when he’d finally fallen silent, but he felt you tilt his head back, and then your lips were smoothing the wrinkle between his brows.
They touched his cheeks, his nose. His lashes fluttered over his eyes. His heart was reaching for yours, and he couldn’t fight it. He didn’t want to fight it anymore.
I love you.
You kissed his forehead, brought your warm fingers to his cheeks. Your hands smelled of flowers.
He shuddered.
“I love you, Volo,” you whispered against his lips.
And then, he knew nothing else but you.
He said your name like a word of immaculate praise, and you replied with his, a faithful murmur on the sea breeze.
I love you.
He felt your breath hitch—were you as nervous as he was?
Volo knew he was. He couldn’t go back anymore. You were his fate from the day he’d met you, and as if he had been searching his whole life for this moment, he kissed you.
A torrent of emotions crashed over him when his lips met yours completely; affection and pleasure and bliss coursed through him in wonderful harmony. It had been so long since Volo had last succumbed to such feelings that he was nearly overwhelmed. And they were because of you. You, you, you. Your lips were soft, perfect. How many times had he dreamed of kissing them? He didn’t know. His mind was fuzzy with desire, and he didn’t think he could let you go. Not when an aching heat fanned at his heart, and a pleasing tension knotted inside him, craving your touch.
I love you.
He didn’t know when his hands had found your waist, but when you gasped as he drew you closer, he was almost viscerally aware of how gravely he wanted you, needed you.
You were the same, however. Grasping fingers tugged at his hair, at his clothes. As if you couldn’t contain yourself any longer, you were pushing against him, your hips sinking into his, and when his tongue traced your lips, you moaned so splendidly.
It sent a wash of giddy ecstasy careening over him, and Volo knew he had already been hopelessly swept away by you.
Roaming across his jaw, his arms, his chest, your touch was a welcome caress, defying his qualms for as long as he held you. Subconsciously, Volo mirrored you, desperate to feel all of you against him. He tucked a leg around your waist, angled himself away for an inconvenient moment of respite, but then he dove in again, nipping at your lips between kisses, sweeping a hand over your chest—
and then he felt it.
He stopped. He drew back from you to stare at your flushed face, your brilliant eyes, as if to tell himself that yes, it was you.
Beneath his fingertips, your frantic pulse thrummed just like the intense pounding of his own heart.
Your heart. You were alive. You were here with him now.
You had shown it all to him, allowed your heart to sit in his hands, and he was blessed to feel its beat rippling with a sweet warmth through him.
And as your heart sang only for him, his heart would only ever sing for you, the one who would never let him go.
You were smiling at him, and this time, that smile reached your eyes.
He would never let you go again.
Volo would never let you go again, so that he could show you how much he still loved, without a doubt in his heart at all.
He leaned in. His lips found yours as he smiled, and finally, he could honestly tell you,
“I love you.”
[end.]
❥
[extra]
Sometime much later…
“You know, Volo, I don’t know if it was lucky or not that I found you when I did.”
“And why is that?”
“Because while it was good to at least find you, if I found you any earlier, I might have punched you.”
“…What?”
“I was really mad at you, you know.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not angry with you now, and if I was, I’d still be more inclined to do this.”
You laughed, pulled him close, and kissed him.
Grinning, Volo deepened the kiss. He was sure he could live with this instead.
96 notes
·
View notes