Disclaimer: One Piece not mine.
Summary: Even on opposite sides of the war, she has never been his enemy. Even at opposite ends of the earth, she has never really been far. Kohza/Vivi for Maelie. Alabasta arc spoilers.
Oasis
1.
Her hair is blue. Kohza doesn't know what to make of that.
She fights like a starving and vicious street brat. He doesn't know what to make of that either.
She wipes her bloody nose and stands up on tip-toes to look down that nose at him. Now he's just confused.
2.
It's his first scar, and Kohza is fiercely proud. Not because it looks totally badass (it does) but because of what it represents. Even at the tender age of five, he knows that girls like Vivi are rare. Princesses like Vivi, even rarer.
3.
They argue like adults. Other children might bicker over food or toys, but Kohza and Vivi are two little politicians preaching to an imaginary audience. She has breathed diplomacy since birth, and he's a boy with a man's dose of cynicism. With his words, he boxes her again and again into the role of spoilt aristocrat, and with hers, she always manages to shatter free.
They are bewildered, bewitched and besieged by each other. Their fathers think it's nice their children have a playmate.
4.
He's a leader and has been for as long as he could remember. Leaders must be willing to sacrifice the individual for the good of the many. Kohza is quietly terrified when he considers just how much (and how many) he would be willing to sacrifice for her.
5.
Although the sight of the supposed hero Crocodile sends his head spinning, it's the first sight of her after so many years that makes his world stand still. The lapse only lasts a fraction of a second, but for a man like Kohza, it is the ultimate capitulation.
6.
She's screaming at him (Think about the situation! Think about the people!) and just like she's being doing since they were five years old, Vivi forcibly rips the blindfold from his eyes.
The thought passes through his mind, fleeting and nebulous, that she smells like the sand after a deluge.
7.
Kohza doesn't listen to the words blasting out from every corner of the country. Instead, he closes his eyes and listens to the cadence of her voice. He hears that she is a little cracked, but not broken, and healing.
One day, he would like to know her whole story – the paths and the dangers that have culminated in this speech. In return, he wants to serve up all his excuses, frailties and triumphs on a humble platter.
But first, they both owe this fledgling Alabasta the chance to stand up again. And as for what exactly lies beyond, Kohza doesn't know, and doesn't mind. Because now, finally, they have time.
-end-
