Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece or th characters just my OC's.

A/N: Yeah, I know... Another fanfic, it's ok if you hate me but I can't work on just one story all alone I need to reach out.

Sands Under a Moonlit Shadow

A Castaway in the Sands

Far from the trials of the Straw Hat Luffy crew, some old friends in a recovering land, are about to be thrown in an adventure they'll never forget. An adventure filled with pain, change and love. It was now a few months since the Great Rebellion of Arabasta and the oases, Yuba, was still in process of recovery.

~Yuba~

Princess Vivi turned onto her side, she was finding it hard to sleep despite how soft and comfortable Kohza's bed was. Since she had come all the way to visit him and his father, they had let her take the bed while Kohza would sleep on the floor. Vivi petted the sleeping Carue, who was on the ground next to her.

'It's still too quiet...' She thought to herself as she continued to pet him. Even after all these months, Vivi still missed the sound of her beloved pirates making sounds all through the night. Sighing, she sat up and swung her legs off the bed. Then slipping off the edge of the bed, she fixed her silk nightgown and put on her navy blue robe with the pail trim. Walking out the door, she passed by Toto's room to the front door. Upon leaving the house, Vivi was greeted by the cold desert air as moonlight shined down, making the sand glisten a bit. A breeze drifted by, ruffling her icy blue ponytail as she began to walk towards a part of the oases where the Yuba water was buried. Looking at the houses around her she could see that her people were finally starting to recover. Coming close to her destination, Vivi could hear the sound of sand being shoveled nearby. Smiling, she could see the figure, which was shoveling, had their back to her and were completely unaware of her.

'Hehe...!' Vivi snickered as she slipped off her shoes and let the cool desert sand shift between her toes, she then tip-toed forwards for a tiny bit and then broke into a run.

K~*~V

Kohza, who had finally recovered from his wounds, was shoveling sand away from one of the Yuba waterways when he heard something coming towards him. Suddenly, as he turned to see who it was, the shovel fell from his hand as he knocked to the desert floor by a soft yet familiar force.

K~*~V

Vivi giggled that her pounce made Kohza and her tumble to the cool sand.

"Vivi, shouldn't you be in bed? You have to head back Alubarna early tomorrow morning." Kohza informed her, now that they had stopped, "And would you mind getting off me?" His remark had a slight sound of urgency to it, for when they had finally stopped, Vivi had ended up on top of him.

"But, Leader. I can't sleep, it's too quiet. Are you coming in soon?" She answered back with a question as she pressed her hands onto his chest and leaned close, her bangs tickling his nose. Sighing, Kohza gently pushed her off onto sand and sat up.

"Leader, mind if I stay up and help you?" The princess asked as Kohza stood up and offered her a hand. Vivi got to her feet with his help and the two of them dusted themselves off.

"You can help if you like, but if you fall asleep I'm not carrying you back home." He finally responded as he picked up an extra shovel that lay nearby and handed it to Vivi.

K~*~V

A cool wind drifted over the land and gently carried away the clouds as the midnight moon shined down. Kohza lay with his back against the sand as his long coat flapped slightly in the breeze, he had been working for some time now and was taking a break. Vivi lay, sleeping, a few feet away atop the pile of sand the two had dug up. Sleep started to slowly overtake Kohza's senses as he gazed up at the stars and placed his arms behind his head as a sort of pillow.

"Someone please help me!" Kohza's eyes shot open as he heard a scream for help. Swiftly getting up, he saw a girl and her dog run towards him. The girl tripped every couple of steps as if she wasn't used to having sand below her feet. Kohza picked up his shovel and headed towards her. The girl fell to the sand as the men behind her rushed closer, causing her wounded dingo to turn around and face the bandits. The dingo opened its jaws wide and sunk them into the man's shoulder before he could slash his sword. Mean while, Kohza rushed up and bushed his shovel into the head of the man who was in the process of trying to grab the girl.

"Back off!" He yelled, picking up the man's fallen sword. The girl looked up and saw her protectors, she then tried to stood but her footing quickly gave out on her as pain ripped through her ankle. She let out a small call of agony, making her dingo turn its head towards her, resulting in him getting him.

K~*~V

Vivi's eyes began to flutter slightly as she slowly awoke to the sound of screams and yells. She forced her tired body into a sitting position as she began to look around. Shock and fright filled Vivi's chest as she saw her best friend and a wild dog fighting against a large band of men as a poor girl was trying to crawl away from it all. She felt the need to help Kohza and this girl, so she quickly got off her pile of sand and started towards them.

'What's going on?' Vivi mentally asked herself as she slipped her Peacock Strings onto her pinkies and started spinning them.

"String Slasher!" Vivi called as the peacock-tail shaped jewels shot forth on their chains and pierced a bandit that was trying to get the crawling girl. The man let out a scream of agony as Vivi pulled her blade-like jewels from his flesh. Vivi kicked up a bit of sand as she slid to a halt next to the girl.

"Are you ok?" She asked as she grabbed the girl by the shoulders and brought her feet. Tears dripped down the girl's dusty face as she nodded then let out a tiny whimper at the pain her ankle.

"Vivi! Hurry up and get her out of here!" Kohza called to her before he got kicked in the stomach by one of the bandits, knocking him down.

"Leader!" Vivi yelled in fright as the men got closer to him, but Kohza quickly got back to his feet and started to fight a long side the dingo again. Vivi sighed, seeing that he was ok. Then turning back to the girl, "I'll get you out of here, don't worry." She told her in a reassuring voice before putting her finger next to her mouth and blew a whistle.

K~*~V

Carue's eyes snapped open as the sound of a whistle rang through his ears. Quickly standing up, he rushed out the doors of the house to the open desert air. The whistle blew again, making Carue taking off running in that direction. The sandy breeze ruffled his feathers as he ran to answer his master's call.

K~*~V

Kohza was finding that he was starting to have a tough time beating back all these opponents at the same time, and the wounded dog was starting to lose its strength to fight. They were both getting tired and these goons wouldn't stop coming.

'What on earth do they want with this girl and her pet?' He asked himself mentally as he pushed one of the bandits away and gasped for air.

"Leader, I called Carue. But what are we gonna do about these guys?" Vivi inquired as she pressed her back against his, she could tell by his breathing that Kohza was starting to grow tired. Even though it had been so long since the rebellion, Kohza's gunshot wounds had taken a long time to heal and his body was still stressed out from them.

"We have to fend them off. Have Carue take her to my father's house." He breathlessly told her as they both rushed three bandits. Vivi looked up as she heard the familiar sound of her duck companion running towards them, across the sand. Carue skidded to a halt in front of her and quacked.

"Carue! I need you to take this girl to Toto's house. She's hurt and needs your help." Vivi told him as she petted his bill and pointed towards the girl laying in the sand.

"Here, let us help you." The princess told the girl and offered her a hand as Carue sat down next to her so that she could get on.

"What's going on?" The girl asked, quite frightened. Vivi simply smiled as she helped her onto Carue's back.

"This is my duck, Carue. He's gonna take you to my friends house where you'll be safe." She reassured her.

"What about Dragrin, my companion?" The girl asked as she gently held onto Carue's neck as he stood up.

"Don't worry, we'll bring him when we're done." Vivi told her then turned to Carue, "I want you to take the long way, through town, just in case you're followed." He nodded then quickly took off as Vivi went back to fighting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Not much in the KohzaxVivi section, so I thought I would add one. Hope you guys think it's ok! R&R please.