Fun UsoKaya fluff, written for a prompt on the One Piece IC Meme (at onepiece-icmeme. livejournal. com). Prompt: 'I want a story about the brave Captain Usopp and his friend Sogeking saving Sniper Island from a horrifying giant serpent! (... and maybe getting the girl too? A pale one with blond hair who lives in a mansion sounds like it'd work...)'
It ended up more 'getting the girl' than 'saving the day', but oh well.
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It had been another bad day, and Kaya pulled her comforter a little closer around her thin shoulders. On days like these, when even sitting up in bed took a lot out of her, Klahadore sometimes didn't let her open the window. While it was true that the air outside was a little chilly now that the leaves had begun to turn, she gladly bore a shiver every now and again; and, judging from the sounds coming from just below the windowsill, here was the reason why.
Kaya suppressed a laugh as the cacophony that was Usopp's pockets quieted as the boy made himself comfortable. His pockets were always full – always – and she looked forward to the random jingles, clanks and bangs that preceded him. After a moment of shuffling, punctuated by several rubber-band snaps, Usopp's voice drifted in through the window, borne along on a late afternoon breeze.
"Good afternoon, Kaya-san," he began, affecting a deep, mature voice. 'I've just returned from my latest voyage."
"Really?" Kaya asked, unable to stop the laugh this time. The voice was a new touch. "Well, Great Captain Usopp. Where did you go this time?"
"Oh, I traveled the Grand Line for a while," Usopp replied airily, his voice inching back upward to his fifteen-year-old's tenor. "But then I got bored fighting the Marines and the pirates, so I decided to strike out into the perilous waters of South Blue. With my eight thousand loyal shipmates, I knew I was prepared for anything."
He paused expectantly, and Kaya obligingly filled in the gap. "But?"
"But I had miscalculated," Usopp continued, lowering his voice dramatically. "South Blue was absolutely nothing like the Grand Line. I was unprepared – me, the Great Captain Usopp! – and a giant Sea King, whose head was bigger than this very island, attacked our ship. We fought back bravely, but while climbing up its back I was knocked unconscious and dragged underwater."
Kaya gasped in horror, but her breath caught in her throat and she coughed into her silk kerchief. Instantly Usopp's head shot over the windowsill, his long nose poking comically into the room. "Are you all right?" he asked worriedly, and for all his pretense earlier, his voice now was sincere.
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," Kaya replied, managing a smile for him. "How did you survive, Captain?"
"Well…" Usopp spoke hesitantly at first, as if too much excitement might trigger another cough, but as he continued he gained momentum. "I was floating in the sea, bruised and battered all over, and I thought for sure that I was doomed. Then, all of a sudden, three dolphins swam up to me and asked if I was okay. –They were talking dolphins," he added after a moment's thought. "When I didn't reply, they got underneath me and swam for three days straight, until we reached dry land. On the beach where they left me, there was a giant archway a hundred – no, it must have been a thousand feet tall, and it said 'Welcome to the Island of Snipers'. So I thanked the dolphins and went on through.
"There was a man standing there underneath the arch, and he had on a huge red cape. He told me he was the King of All Snipers, or Sogeking for short." Kaya chuckled at the pun, leaning back a bit, and Usopp continued. "He said to me, 'Great Captain Usopp-kun, the dolphins told me what happened to your ship. That same Sea King has been terrorizing the Island of Snipers for too long, and not even I, who can hit a mouse's eye from a thousand paces, could defeat it. But now that you are here, we can finally kill the beast."
"The King of All Snipers," Kaya mused. "Did he have a crown?"
"No, all he had was a cap with a brim to keep the sun out of his eyes," Usopp replied, unconsciously adjusting the hat that sat atop his own puffy curls. "On the Island of Snipers, everyone – well, everyone in the world knew how good he was. He didn't need a crown."
"I see," Kaya replied. She blinked heavily. "Please, go on…"
She honestly didn't mean to fall asleep, but with the strain of her illness, the softness of her blankets, and most of all the warm, soothing rhythm of Usopp's voice, it was almost inevitable. She awoke some time later with a guilty start, feeling her cheeks flush red with shame.
" –and he opened the cages to let out the flying tortoises we would ride into battle," Usopp began, slightly late.
Kaya bit her lip gently. "Usopp, I'm so sorry, I fell asleep," she said, almost afraid to look out the window. "I've just been so tired lately –"
"What are you talking about, Kaya-san?" Usopp replied, falling back into his Great Captain Usopp voice. "I'm the one who fell asleep. No, actually, I woke up! You see, on my way back from the Island of Snipers – after Sogeking and I defeated the serpent, of course – I learned how to project my dreams, well, my memories outside my head –"
"Usopp." Kaya's voice was quiet, but Usopp immediately broke off. "Can I… ask you a question?" she continued, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes.
Leaves scrunched as Usopp shifted in place. "Of course, Kaya-san."
Kaya closed her eyes, feeling her cheeks heat now for an entirely different reason. "On all your adventures around the world, you never seem to meet any princesses or beautiful ladies," she said, after a moment. "Why is that?"
"W-well," Usopp stammered. "Tha- that's because the Great Captain Usopp already serves the most beautiful princess in the world. Other princesses just don't compare."
"What's she like?" Kaya asked, a little bit of teasing in her voice.
Beneath the windowsill, Usopp paused, feeling his own face grow warm. "She… lives in a huge castle," he began, fiddling with his slingshot. "And it's guarded by a huge, black, fire-breathing dragon with eyes made of glass, and he keeps her locked inside the castle, away from her friends."
Kaya's next words were so faint that Usopp almost thought he'd imagined them. "And do you… love her?"
Usopp swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. "…Yes."
There was a sound above him, and Usopp looked up in surprise. Kaya was leaning out the window, tears running down her face. "Ah –" Usopp began. Kaya laid a finger on the end of his nose, smiling through her tears.
"She's very lucky to have a brave warrior like you," she murmured. Usopp opened his mouth, but a knock sounded on Kaya's door.
"Klahadore," she whispered hurriedly. Usopp ducked back under the sill, and Kaya closed the window. The butler's stern voice sounded muffled through the thin glass of the window, but it was clear from his tone that he had noticed the chill in the room and was not happy about it. Usopp scooched away from the window, careful to keep low.
Once he was a good twenty yards away, he turned to look back. Kaya was framed in the golden lamplight of the window, one hand pressed against the glass, and her eyes unerringly found his even in the growing twilight. Come again tomorrow? she mouthed.
Usopp nodded fiercely, grinning, and Kaya smiled, sinking back into her pillows. Pulling his hat down further around his ears, Usopp began the long walk back home, his mind already racing with possibilities for tomorrow's story. Of course, it'd have to start with a daring escape…
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And there you have it. Please visit the IC Meme linked up there... it desperately needs fics to get it off the ground.