Author's Note: Hello all! It's us again—me and my good beta Kieri! This is our second story in what we think will be a much longer series, composed of multiple short fictions—and when I say short, I actually mean that this story is going to have about nine chapters…which it is.
In any case, I figured this story deserved a more in-depth description than our first, because it marks the beginning of our venture to write what we have affectionately named 'The Companion Series.' As you may have noticed, the title of this fic is preceded by the word 'Companions,' as will all of our following fics dealing with the adventures of the Mugiwaras—from this identity, at least. And for those of you who read our earliest composition, 'My Boys,' you might take note that I have since changed the title to suit this new development.
I suppose the main thing I need to explain to our readers is that these fics take place in a specific order, and since I don't want to take up too much space in our summary trying to go into that, I will simply make clear of that here in the AN. This 'issue'—Kieri and I have taken to referring to each of our respective Companion tales as such—takes place between 'My Boys' and the soon-to-come (meaning directly after this is finished) 'Issue 3.'
Heehee; thought I was going to give you a preview, didn't you? Shneeky shneeky! Well, I would, but we haven't exactly come up with a title for that one yet, but when we do, I'll let you all know.
So now just sit back and enjoy the latest in the Companion Series, and be sure to review! Remember—all grammatical and otherwise compositional complaints are to be directed to me; as I am the actual writer. Kieri just comes up with all the cool ideas…well, maybe not all of them.
Omigosh I just wrote a page's worth of AN! Gotta stop! Disclaimer: Kieri and I have played enough with the characters from One Piece to own them, but we really don't and deeply regret that, so yeah; no sue.
Hope you all like it!
—Koru-chan
Chapter One
The storm that raged in the waters close to the Red Line was unlike anything the people of Logue had seen before. Of course, being the closest town to the Grand Line in the East and South Blue, its people had seen many oddities and awe-inspiring individuals in their time. Even so, the high winds and threatening crashes of lightning that this storm put forth seemed only suiting of the chaos that the strange pirate crew had left in their wake.
The tiny vessel was sloshed about in the surf, its figurehead bobbing up and down over the waves, but never leaving sight of the lighthouse that would point the way to its destination. Inside the cabin of the ship, its passengers seemed relatively unaffected by the sick lurches. The blonde cook was working steadily over the stove to create a feast in celebration of their coming this far; careful that none of the ash from his cigarette get anywhere near the various pots and pans he had over the flame. Sitting astride one side of the bench that served as a dining table, the green-haired swordsman's biceps strained against the weights he held; teeth gritting over the strain, but visible in his unconstrained smile. Across from him, the long-nosed sharpshooter boasted to anyone who would listen—which was not many, considering how long each of the crew members had known him and his inclination to falsehood—of his heroic feats; defending the kick-fighting cook from a hundred—no, a thousand!—Marine soldiers with his slingshot, all while being thrashed about in the storm they were still caught in. It would have surprised the rest of the crew that the red-haired navigator paid him so much attention, but everyone's mood was so good, they didn't want to risk anything that would threaten their elation—like annoying the thief with stupid questions about her preference in conversational companionship at the immediate moment.
"So there I was!" Usopp recounted for Nami, complete with dramatic arm movements and voice tone. "Salt stinging my eyes; seawater my mouth and nose; great currents threatening to suck me under! But with my nakama in danger, what else could the Great Captain Usopp do, but come to their aid!"
Nami thought she heard Sanji chuckle at the mention of this, but didn't much care, and continued watching amusedly as Usopp jumped up and began mimicking his own flailing movements in the water just hours ago.
"Pounded on all sides by the waves of the great storm, I fought to hold myself afloat with just my leg power, as I drew my weapon and fired shot after perfectly-aimed shot at the soldiers!" Usopp fired an invisible slingshot around the room, making sounds with his mouth that suggested gunfire.
"After all," he went on to say, leaning close to Nami and pointing at his eye. "A sharpshooter's eye is always trained, and a sharpshooter's hand is always steady!"
"Are his legs always made of jelly, as well?" Nami asked with a smile, pointing at the shivering appendages.
Usopp laughed nervously, trying still to hold onto his story while Zoro let out a great laugh.
Before Usopp could muster the effort to gather together the pieces of his shattered pride, Sanji swung around and set a load of plates on the table.
"Dinner is served!" he announced proudly.
Everyone helped themselves to what was there, Zoro doing so one-handed as continued weight-lifting with the other.
"Oi, Zoro," Usopp said between forkfuls. "You gonna keep that up all the way to the Grand Line?"
Zoro cracked one of his arrogant smirks at the gunman.
"There have got to be a lot of strong swordsmen on the Grand Line," he said, voice betraying none of the effort he was putting into the said training. "Can't waste a second if I'm going to be strong enough to beat them all!"
Usopp tried to mirror the swordsman's expression, but only ended up looking corny.
"Good idea!" he said. "If I'm going to be a great warrior of the sea, I'd better get to my own training!"
He picked up his slingshot and started towards the door that lead outside. He didn't get a couple of steps before a fierce crack of lightning split the sky and a roll of thunder sent the liar scuttling back to his seat.
"—right after the storm stops…" he mumbled quickly into his plate.
This gave everyone a good laugh, and the meal continued light-heartedly for a while until Zoro stopped suddenly—both his eating and his training—to ask a curious question.
"Hmm," he mused. "Why isn't the food disappearing off my plate?"
Everyone looked at him, then realized for themselves what he was talking about—the usual rapidity with which food disappeared from the table was not in effect. Something was missing.
"Where's Luffy?" Sanji asked.
"I saw him outside," Usopp said. "He was sitting it that favorite spot of his on the bow."
Wordlessly, Sanji rose from his place and went to the door of the cabin. Opening it just wide enough to admit his head, his hair whipped about his face violently in the storm. He squinted through the rain at the head of the ship where, just as Usopp had said, their captain sat, clutching his hat to his head, facing their appointed route to the Grand Line.
"Ooooiii!" Sanji bellowed over the storm. "Luffy! Food!"
To Sanji's surprise, Luffy didn't turn around; he didn't even move. A second call yielding the same results, Sanji turned back inside and closed the door against the gale.
"Must not have heard me," he thought aloud, smoothing his hair. "Oh, well. We get a meal in peace, for once!"
Usopp raised his glass. "I'll drink to that!"
He and Sanji clinked glasses and took long swigs. Nami rose from the table.
"Where are you going, Nami-san?" Sanji asked anxiously.
"I'm finished," Nami replied. "Would you mind taking care of my plate, Sanji-kun?"
"Anything for you, Nami-san!" Sanji sang, dancing around the table to sweep her plate up and off of the table as she slipped out of the cabin and onto the deck. Keeping her feet shoulder-width apart for balance, Nami made her way across the deck to the masthead slowly but surely. It wasn't hard for her to navigate the top deck in such a storm; Nami knew how to face any type of weather with confidence.
Once she had reached the bow, she put both hands on the front rail to watch the profile of the young man who was sitting on the figurehead of the boat. Nami could only make out the red of his vest, the yellow of his hat and the white of his teeth through the rain, but knew from memory the black of his hair, the scar beneath his left cheek and the childlike glee of his carefree grin. This was the captain of the Mugiwara Kaizoku; the infamous Monkey D. Luffy; the man who had saved her from a fate worse than death. The man who was going to become king of the pirates.
"Luffy!" she called up at him. "Didn't you hear Sanji? There's food inside!"
Luffy looked over his shoulder, as if noticing the redhead for the first time.
"Oi, Nami!" he exclaimed. "Isn't this great? We're so close! The Red Line is right over there!"
Nami chuckled at his enthusiasm, but was a bit puzzled by his lack of response to the word 'food,' which was usually the most likely of any word to come out of his mouth with an astounding frequency, besides the more explicit exclamation of 'meat.'
"Don't you want dinner, Luffy?" Nami tried again. "The others aren't going to leave you anything if you don't hurry!"
Luffy didn't flinch.
"Can't eat now!" he said. "I'm too excited!"
Nami was almost startled by this. It wasn't everyday Luffy was so distracted that he put off the idea of a meal. But she knew her captain well enough to let him to his fun.
"All right," she said, heading back to the cabin. "But don't blame me when there's nothing left!"
"I won't!" he assured her, still not turning from his view of the choppy sea.
Still smiling insatiably when she returned to the cabin, Nami wasn't sure how to react when she was met with two anxiously expectant faces. A wave of tension washed over her as Zoro and Sanji shot anxious glances over her shoulder, but as soon as they noticed her distress, both looked quickly away.
Nami let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding, but still didn't have the means to find her tongue until Sanji spoke up, his back still to her.
"So where's that rubber captain of ours?" he asked casually, as if nothing had happened.
"Said he's not hungry," she returned with equal indifference.
There was visible shock at this statement from all three men. Usopp dropped a handful of pachinko as he fell off the bench he had been sitting on. They were still rolling noisily about on the floor when he sputtered, "He—he—he what?"
Nami laughed at this predictable reaction, relieved that the tension had lessened considerably, and shrugged.
"It's to be expected, right?" she said rhetorically as she took her place at the table once more. "We've come so far, and it's finally in sight."
No one had to ask what she meant by 'it.'
Nami frowned as she heard an audible sigh come from Zoro. When she looked up, she was surprised by the look of relief on his face. She was even more surprised to find that even from behind, she could see that Sanji's pose went from tense to lax in an identical sigh.
What's up with these guys? she wondered.
"Why did both of you look behind me when I came in?" she asked outright.
Zoro was a bit startled—and equally annoyed—that she looked directly at him as she asked this, but Sanji had his back to the group as he continued washing the dishes.
Coward, Zoro thought at the blonde before directing all of his energies to defending himself from Nami's piercing glare. He looked away, setting his jaw stubbornly.
"Just didn't expect you to come back alone, is all," he mumbled, starting again with his reps.
"Without Luffy, you mean?"
The intensification of Zoro's focus on the far wall was enough of an answer for her.
"What?" she jested. "You thought I was going to come back and say he'd fallen overboard?"
It was like she had flipped a switch. There it was; the tension was back in full force. Nami jerked as if she had been shocked.
They're really worried about that? she thought, astonished.
She looked between Zoro and Sanji, both of whom pretended to be focusing on something other than her. She folded her arms and closed her eyes disapprovingly.
"And here I thought you knew our captain better than that," she scoffed. "I thought we all trusted him?"
Zoro whirled, his temper getting the better of him.
"Yeah, well that was before—!"
He quickly shut his mouth against the oncoming words, but the force with which they wanted to come spilling out simply built up in his head until his face was bright red and a noticeable vein had appeared on his right temple. He looked away in a huff. But Nami wasn't going to let this one go.
"Before what?" she demanded.
It had to have been something serious to make them this paranoid, Nami decided. But what? Luffy's fine—isn't he?
She cast a glance over her shoulder through the porthole in the door to the cabin that allowed her a view of her captain's silhouette, black through the rain, and still seated atop the lamb's head. She looked back at Zoro, who gave Sanji a pointed look in return.
Acquiescing eventually to both his and Nami's scrutiny, Sanji sighed and turned slowly away from the dishes, wiping his hands on a towel and lighting a cigarette, taking a long drag before beginning his explanation.