"Does My Mistress like this place ? I must say...I'm lonely, but if that's what the Mistress wishes, I will follow you anywhere. "

"Luffy, is it ? I didn't think I needed to ask but now I'm curious. Just what is this place ?"

She asked, following the dark-haired male though the hoard of pilled up snow. Well, that was strange. She didn't know her patience level was that low. She always thought of herself as a fairly patient person, to an extent, but as of now, she just couldn't resist but ask questions. What is this place ? Who are you ? What's with the flip-flops ? These were all the questions that rang though the young lady's mind but she would stick with the bare basics. For now, she could be pleased with just being able to pin-point her exact location. Being lost in space and time wasn't exactly a feeling she was fond of.

"Hm ? This place ? Ehh...I can't remember what the Island's called but I've spent the last two years here."

That wasn't was she was asking.

"No, not that...I mean, what is this place ?"

She could see he wasn't fully grasping her question. Would she have to explain it ? Wasn't he supposed to be the one doing the explaining here ?

"What do you mean "this place" ? I told you. It's an island. You're so weird !"

He said with a cheerful laugh, stopping to observe a certain spot in the snow. Was he looking for something ? His expression didn't really reveal much.

"Can you see a hat somewhere over there ?"

She tilted her head curiously to the side, examining the spot he was pointing to. She couldn't see anything except...

"You mean that straw hat ?"

Surely he wasn't serious. For one, why in the world would you ever need a straw hat for the snow ? Wouldn't a woolly one be a better choice ?

"Yeah ! Where is it ? I can't see !"

She hesitated for a moment before pulling her feet out of the snow, realizing her boots had been completely soaked. She started thinking that the male had maybe made the right choice by wearing flip-flops. You could fight the cold easily but ruined leather was a tough feat to deal with. Leaning over a human-sized boulder, the slipped her fingers under the rough edges of the hat, swiping it clean off. She turned to the male who was nodding with an idiotic grin sprayed across his face. Did he expect her to throw it ? Well, she had to disappoint. Or, did she ?

"All right, here, catch !"

She twisted her wrist suddenly, sending the hat shooting through the sky at an alarming speed. She could see the male's expression change into a state of surprise before soon reverting to it's previous state of utter laugh as he jumped after it. Spinning though the air like a monkey, how ironic, he caught the hat straight before it almost landed in the freezing cold of the sea. Ah, if you were wondering, yes, they were travelling by shore.

"Phew ! That was close ! I almost lost it ! You throw really well ! Now I like you even more ! Shishishishi !"

It might have been just her unneeded superstition, but the male seemed excited about basically everything and anything. His voice was always raised a pitch or two above normality plus he always had that idiotic grin splayed across his face. To be completely honest, it was a bit annoying. Was there really a need to smile that much ? Well, for one, she could at least say she wasn't used to it. Smiling wasn't exactly her thing and neither did she see her household with one of these special entities much often. Would it become a regularity with this male ?

"I'm impressed, you seem to know your way on your feet. Those were some acrobatic skills."

As he tugged the hat on his head, lowering it to average height, he let out another one of his strange laughs indicating he was pleased. Ah, so he liked praise. But, let's be honest here, who didn't ?

"Thanks ! I can't wait to see what else you can do !"

"Likewise, Monkey-kun."

Didn't the nickname fit him perfectly ? She certainly thought so. Was there really a need to explain it's meaning ?

"Not that it concerns me but, didn't you say someone was waiting for you ?"

As if a click had set off inside his head, right on cue, the male jumped up, clearly in a hurry now that he had realized just how much he had wasted. He took her hand again, pulling her out of the snow, literally, as they flew though the air and onto one of the taller trees. But what interested her was not the fact that they had flown though the air. No, the thing that interested her was the thing he was said before flinging them in the air.

"Gomu Gomu ? What does rubber have to do with jumping ?"

She really didn't understand the meaning. Was it supposed to be what people called a catchphrase ? If so, it didn't fit the situation. Gomu Gomu...ridiculous...

"Ah, that's right ! I forgot to mention ! I ate the Gomu Gomu no mi ! I'm a rubber man !"

Before he could pull her along once more, much to his surprise, she restricted his movements with no more than a tug and they remained in place. Okay, it was official. She wasn't moving an inch until he fully and understandably explained himself ? What was "Gomu Gomu no mi" and how did he expect her to believe that other-worldly story ? She could believe a lot of things, but this was just a tad out of her boundary of grasping.

Before she had the chance to ask him to politely demonstrate, he had already stuck his hand into his mouth, stretching the skin tissue like it was nothing more than an elastic band. She remained silent for a few moments before ultimately forfeiting, and relaxing the hand that was restraining his movements. So, this was a case of "false judgement". This was her first time being caught in it's clutches. It felt oddly nostalgic but not enough to cause wondering.

"Shishishishi ! Your reaction's priceless ! Hey, are you actually really strong ?"

He asked out of the blue, his expression regaining it's usual glow. His excitement was upgrading just as they were staying in place. She really wished she had his peculiar ability. Not minding to answer his question as he didn't need to know, or, better yet, he would be seeing it for himself. She thrust off the tree, evading the branches and peeking though the top where she could see a silhouette far off in the distance. If he really was in a hurry, as he claimed he was, they would have to pick up the pace and fast.

"Let's just move on...I'll leave you behind if you don't hurry up."

This was said in the form of a scold but he seemed to take it as a source of motivation because she could already see him heating up.

"Yosh ! The last one has to buy the other a meal !"

He started with a grin, catching a full blown sprint as he flew by the trees, causing the leaves to dance in the upcoming wind.

Right. As if he actually had a chance of winning.

All right, in the future chapters, I might alter the way the plot is played to better fit the situation. Like I said, the plot remains the same but it will be acted out differently.