Sand in the Wind (Crocodile x Reader) PRIZE

You had thought that the sight of Dressrosa disappearing into the distance would have elicited a stronger reaction from you. But now, looking upon the island that had been your home for the last five years, you felt nothing. The kingdom may have been paradise at its surface, but the secrets you were privy to as a prisoner of the Donquixote family could bring the country to its knees.

And you would do everything within your power to see it happen. You held no love for its lush flower fields and balmy weather, and even less for its king—the man who’s fingers you still felt crawling across your skin at night, who’s seed was even now growing inside you like a parasite. The bruises on your skin would fade with time, but the wounds to your psyche would remain with you forever.

You flinched as the weight of a heavy fur coat dropped onto your shoulders. Crocodile’s hand lingered briefly at the nape of your neck before he moved to stand by your side. He was silent as he took a long drag from his cigar and watched the smoke curl upwards into the fading sky.

“He will pay,” he said.

You clutched the coat tighter around your shoulders, inhaling the scent of sand and tobacco. The fur was soft and comforting between your fingers.

“Don’t feel like you have to avenge me. You’ve done enough.”

“I owe you this much. After what I put you through.”

“You weren’t the one to do this to me, Sir Crocodile,” you whispered into the coat lining.

He glanced your way before looking back out to sea, rolling the cigar thoughtfully between his teeth. “What do you plan to do?”

You rested a hand lightly over your abdomen. “I have leverage.”

Crocodile’s eyes flitted down to your stomach then back to you, anger flashing momentarily in his eyes. “You plan to keep it.” It wasn’t a question.

“I don’t know. Who knows if that monster would even feel anything for his own flesh and blood. But for now, yes.”

Crocodile inhaled again, before dropping the cigar to the ground and stamping out the embers. “I suppose I should curb my habits then.”

You turned to look at him, surprised. “You don’t have to do that. I’m sure you have far more important things to do than babysit a lost cause like me.” Then you jumped as his hook hit the railing suddenly, splinters flying.

“Don’t,” he said, voice barely a whisper through clenched teeth. “Say that. I let my anger get the best of me. I sent you on this mission out of spite. I am at least partially responsible for all of this.”

You hovered behind him, his gaze set on the fading line of Dressrosa on the horizon. A strand of dark hair had escaped its confines, falling into his eyes. It made him look so much younger in the light of the sunset, more like the man you had met all those years ago. The man you had once fallen in love with before everything had gone so horribly wrong between you. After everything that had happened, it was all just sand in the wind now.

Hesitantly, you reached out and placed a gentle hand on his forearm. It seemed to pull him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at you, surprise colouring his features.

“Then I would be glad to have you by my side.”

His eyes softened. “You’re a brave woman.”

“It didn’t feel like it,” you admitted. “When I was in that palace, when he was…” You shook your head. You refused to cry. Your refused to give that bastard the satisfaction. “For so long, I thought my only way out would be death. I was too much of a coward to take that path.”

He shushed you gently. “It doesn’t matter now. You’re safe.”

That was what did it. The catalyst for the incoming flood. You folded against his chest, seeking out his warmth, still familiar even after so many years. His hand hovered awkwardly in the air for a moment. It had been a long time since Crocodile had engaged in any form of human intimacy. He wasn’t entirely sure he remembered how. Hesitantly, he wrapped you in his embrace and rested his chin on top of your head.

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again,” he growled, the meaning behind his words clear as day.

I’m not going to hurt you again.