The music was loud as Leparo and his crew partied on a rather secluded island on Las Camp. His men were spread throughout the island with about 10 of them including Ryuuka in his current location near a rock formation which various men leaned on as they were drunk. Leparo completed the perfect circle the crew was making as he was furthest to the back leaning on the rock formation as he chugged from his mug looking up smiling "I wouldn't give my crew for the world" said Leparo as he raised his mug and his crew would follow his lead as they all joined in with the toast screaming out proudly "Gold Leopard Pirates! The mighty mighty pirates, here to steal your gold and pillage all your hoes" joked the men as laughter burst out within the area.

Incoming was one of his men running with what appeared to be a newspaper. "CAPTAIN CAPTAIN" the man screamed as he ran towards Leparo. His men not making much of it as Leparo extended his trust to his crew mates "Oi?"] said Leparo as he waited to hear what the rookie had to say. "I forgot to give this to you, it's the new News Paper the blue edition! Check it out" said the rookie. Leparo slammed his mug down as the good stuff spilled around his area as he took the time to open the paper and read it to which he saw a giant copy of his name and bounty on the first page. Along with his poster was Melissa and her friend Naga. "Oi captain, isn't that the woman Mel-San is always with?" said one of his members "Yea it is... Speaking of which, she should be coming back soon" thought Leparo out loud.

Flipping to the second page he saw his name in the section which read "The Big Two" which detailed his exploits across the sea and his ever expanding reach and influence. It also detailed his speculated return to the Grandline. As for that Naga woman Leparo knew of her through Mel and didn't actually recall meeting her. It was probably once or twice but he knew she was an ally to his crew through his relationship with Melissa. Their bounties made Leparo look weaker than both even though he knew he could swiftly defeat both if needed too on the battlefield. "look at that" said Leparo as he changed the page, "What do you see captain?" exclaimed one of his members "It looks like Wallace went and got his ass kicked by the marines and his crew mate plans on getting all the rookie pirates killed by helping save Wallace." said Leparo with a straight face.

Truthfully he was considering getting himself involved in that Wallace rescue simply because it would put him and his crew on the map. "Why isn't his crew mate in Impel Down with him? Did he run? How the hell did he pull that one off" joked Leparo as he chucked the newspaper to the ground directly in the center of where all the men sat. He picked his cup and started chugging it down before looking at his crew "Cheers to our recognition as a Pirate Crew"  said Leparo before he placed his mug up again accepting the cheer from his people.

Leparo watched as his boys had a fun laugh at the expense of Ryuuka who looked like a bad copy of a vampire happy hour at 2AM. He found it hilarious that Ryuuka was even mentioned in this thing.. Leparo didn't think his crew was that notorious but this proved otherwise. He was wondering why they were placed in the same newspaper as the Pirate King. It would draw more attention than normal to Leparo than he would like. Ryuuka asked Leparo his plan of action if a fleet of marines showed up to arrest them to which he glared at Ryuuka for. "Our bounties aren't to the point marines would try us, not yet at least. But if the situation arises and they do show up I'm confident in each and every one of your abilities on the battlefield, so to hell with the marines!" said Leparo in his often raspy voice. His crew broke out in cheer holding their weapons ever so high. "YEA CAPTAIN! TO HELL WITH THE MARINES" they broke out in a chant it was enigmatic at times when they were this happy about marines.

Some of the cheering stopped at the presence of a new arrival. The clad black boots clicked against the ground as Leparo turned his head ever so slowly while chugging his mug to notice it was one of his closes friends, someone he considers a sister. "Oi, Kash good to see you" She grabbed a drink from one of her fellow crewmates and mentioned how Leparo wasn't completely wasted yet and jumped right into a hot topic of conversation. When he wondered who she ran into his options were endless, perhaps it was Mel... Or even her brother. She took post to his right as he placed his mug down to hear her out. As Leparo guessed, it was her brother Asher. He was a vile man but someone who use to have reason if you could handle his wrath. She suggested he was up to no good and Leparo smirked "Yea, I hear he is a marine now... Your father must have more influence than I thought if he could make that psycho join the ranks of the Government" Leparo would say with a serious tone. "So I'm guessing you got my invitation if you came all the way here." Leparo would say before a bird came flying in and landing directly in front of him. "Hmm"

Ryuuka had engaged Kash in a conversation addressing who he was within the crew and he surely wasn't lying. Kash wasn't the nicest of people so her response was probably going to make Leparo laugh. Considering how they first met he would assume she would tell Ryuuka an entire story to through him off. She didn't do what Leparo expected but instead was surprised at how serious Leparo is taking this crew stuff lately and to no surprise she was pleased. That brought out a slight laugh from Leparo as he noticed the messenger pigeon moving closer to him at which Leparo didn't mind but once in distance Leparo grabbed the letter it was carrying in its beak. Once removed from the bird he would caw before flying off once more, "It's from Melissa" exclaimed Leparo who had a smile on his face.

Leparo smiled as the letter started and his smile slowly turned to a face of grimace as he got deeper into the letter. It wasn't what the gold leopard wanted to hear at all and it didn't even sound like it was coming from Melissa. "Naga...." is all that could be heard coming from the mumbling captains voice. He would stand up and proceed to walk towards their ship. "Captain whats wrong?", "Yea captain is Mel okay?". Leparo was forcing back tears as he didn't stand to face his men "Aboard the ship. We're going to be pirates" said Leparo not realizing he left the note near Kash. Leparo was about to do something he never thought of doing before.

The Note Reads:

Dear Leparo,

                  This is the hardest thing to write, but I can't face seeing you, i may never have the courage to say what needs to be said. First, If I should stay, I would only be in your way So I'll go but I know I'll think of you every step of the way. The memories I have of us will always be with me, I could never forget you. That is all I'm taking with me. So good-bye. Please don't cry: We both know I'm not what you.. (Stains of tears mar the paper)

I hope life treats you kind, and I hope you have all you've dreamed of, and I wish you joy and happiness, but above all this I wish you love. I've been searching deep down in my soul,words that I'm hearing are starting to get old,It feels like I'm starting all over again,the last few years weren't pretend,goodbye to everything I thought I knew, you were the one I loved,you are the one I love.
The one thing that I want to hold on to. I still get lost in your eyes and it seems that I can't live a day without you. When I close my eyes you chase my thoughts away to a place where I am blinded by the light, but there's something dark in their. It hurts because I want you, and I need you, but I can't have you, we need to be us as singles, fix ourselves before we can be a whole as a duo.

Just know, I Will Always Love You

Melissa
Exit