Forget Me Not - One Shot Series

Kaku - Bitter-Sweet

A/N: I tried really hard to rip my own heart out with this, so that's your warning.

The doctor told you that there had been an accident at the Galley-La work yard. You were, honestly, lucky to be alive, and the quick reflexes of yourself and your coworkers was probably the only reason you were.

Quick enough to live, but not quick enough to avoid weeks in the hospital. Your memory had been in utter pieces. You remembered being a shipwright, remembered getting hired on by Mr. Iceberg - well, no, you remember getting hired, but it wasn't until some of the shipwrights came to visit, Iceberg included before they told you that much.

You knew you could trust Iceberg, he was mayor of Water 7 and beloved by everyone else there. So when he told you that you and the young blonde boy were, in fact, dating, then you believed it.

Kaku visited you the most, a bright smile on his face, and energy to spare. He'd peel apples for you while talking about how the day had gone at the yard, slicing them neatly with barely a glance at his hands while he worked.

Bright kind eyes, and a bright kind smile. Kaku asks you if he is allowed to kiss you every time, and when you'd say yes, he'd kiss your cheek, or your forehead, or your hand. Until you can remember him he doesn't want to kiss you any other way, and will bonk his nose against yours if you pout.

As your wounds healed, and you were able to hobble around outside a little, your memories started to return. Slowly, and in pieces, but the fresh air and sun seemed to help bring them back in little by little.

But no matter how much of your memory came back, you couldn't seem to remember Kaku. Every memory you had together seemed to slip through your fingers, and a week after you were released from the hospital you could see it wearing on him.

His bright smile was a little strained.

The light in his eyes when he noticed you was a little dull compared to the first time.

You couldn't help but distance yourself from him after a while. You were building new memories with him, and the entire yard, but you remembered Paulie, and Iceberg, and even Kalifa.

After another couple of weeks, you asked Iceberg if you could take a leave of absence. Maybe you were trying too hard to remember and that was causing the issue. Maybe if you spent some time away from the yard, and maybe even away from Water 7 for a little bit, it would help.

The night before you were going to leave you received and unexpected guest.

You were surprised to see Lucci standing at your door, without his pigeon on his shoulder. The look he gave you wasn't one of general disinterest, or a sense of being bored, he looked angry. Maybe not even angry at you or with you, but just angry as a default setting.

"Don't come back." He says, in a voice commanding as it is domineering.

"... Wha-?" The confused question dies on your lips. You're still trying to process the fact that this fucker can talk.

"Leave, and don't come back." He says again, stepping into the room and forcing you to take a step back. He sets an envelope on the counter, closing the door behind him. "There's enough there for you to get yourself settled in somewhere else. Take the water train to St. Poplar and grab a ship to Alabasta."

"Ala- but... why?"

Lucci looms over you and your stomach twists in a strange sort of fear, as though he's stalking you. "Because I'm telling you to."

"This is... my home." The words are small, and you feel small. Lucci feels larger than the mayor right now, more powerful, more in control. It's not just that he feels dangerous, it's that he has more power than anyone else on the island.