Arts of the Ocean

Disclaimer: To my dismay, One Piece is not owned by me, myself or I…but by the great Oda sensei!

Addition, and Division

There was dead silence in the room as everyone was intensively watching the scene. Even the Straw Hats were not making a sound. The marine continued to slowly float up, not able to move his body, or do anything about the situation he was currently in. His two comrades stood there, not knowing what to do either. However, there was one thing that the marine could still do, and that was talk.

"You! Let me go! I demand to be freed at once!" with this, the people in the room started to snicker.

"Demand?" Mira repeated. She still wasn't looking at any of them. "Tell me, what sortta position are y' in right now to demand?" she asked, turning around to face the floating man.

"You're a Devil Fruit user…" he said.

"Na," Mira said simply, "I'm just born with this ability…"

"That's enough! Let him go!" the two other marines who had been only watching until now, pulled out their rifles and were pointing them at Mira.

"Now ya really got me ticked…" she told them.

"If you don't let him go in three seconds, we'll shoot!"

Mira looked at them dully and replied, "I don't need three seconds." Then with that, she suddenly disappeared and then reappeared behind the two men, disarmed them and with one swift move, they where both on the floor, nearly unconscious. It had all happened so fast though that what most people only saw was Mira sitting in her chair, and then two nearly unconscious marines on the floor with her standing next to them. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji knew different though.

"It almost looked like she used 'Soru' or something," Luffy commented.

"Now if you're not out of this building in five seconds, then I'll make y' leave," Mira said to the three men. Then she added, "And I wouldn't be commin' back here if I where you…or anyone who bears the name o' the World Government." With that, the floating man was released and his comrades managed to stand up, so the three decided to escape…really fast because they really didn't even need two seconds to be out of the building and down the road. The moment they were gone, the whole place broke out into laughter.

"Did you see their faces?"

"Ahahaha! And that's the World Government!"

Mira sat back down by the counter, laughing along with the rest.

"Oi, is she forgetting about us?" Zoro said. The rest of the crew sweat-dropped.

"Oi! Mira!" Luffy shouted. Miraculously, the artist heard him and turned to look over to the fire place. She suddenly jumped off of her chair and laughed.

"Haha! Sorry guys, I almost forgot to let y' out!!" The crew sweat-dropped again. She moved the fake brick out of place again and unlocked the door. The crew stumbled out into the room, eager to get out of the tight hideout that they had been in.

"Yaaaaa, that was amazing! I didn't know you could do that!" Luffy said to Mira. She grinned and set both of her hands on her hips.

"Hehe, that was nothin'!" she exclaimed.

"Mira-san here is our village's strongest fighter," Mr. Kawara told them.

"Hé, really?" Luffy said. "Jya, do you want to join my crew?" Mira's face turned from a grin to an expression of surprise and then into a small grin again.

"Luffy, you're joking right?" two voices said together, one that belonged to Mira and the other to Nami. For some reason, Zoro and Robin looked at each other, thinking the same thing. They both weren't sure about this girl yet. The Love Cook's reaction was expected as his eyes and the smoke from his cigarette turned into shapes of hearts, and the Usopp, Chopper and Franky were a bit surprised, but yet, knowing their captain, not really.

"No, I'm not joking," said Luffy simply.

"Luffy…" a clearly ticked-off navigator growled at her captain.

"What?" he asked.

"…nothing!" Nami snapped. Luffy only shrugged and turned back to Mira.

"So, how 'bout it?" he asked. "Wanna become a pirate?"

Mira smiled slightly and said, "Not that I don' wanna, it's just that…" she looked around the room at the people eating, laughing and talking. "I can't leave…I gotta stay here."

"Hey Mira-san, would you mind going and getting another case of ale from the storage house?" Mr. Kawara said suddenly. Mira turned around.

"Oh, sure thing." And with that, she walked across the room and out the main door.

"Hey you guys," Mr. Kawara said, addressing the Straw Hats. They turned to him. "I know Mira-san's stubborn and probably won't go with you even though you want her to but…" he sighed, "I think it would be better if did go with you."

"Why?" Luffy asked. Mr. Kawara looked towards the door.

"Mira-san is indeed the strongest fighter in this village and she is probably on this island…but she loves freedom…and that's something that she can't get here…she won't ever feel free just staying here and protecting us."

"But I won't force her," Luffy said.

"I know," Mr. Kawara continued, "But I'll try to talk to her…maybe she'll change her mind."

Mira returned with a large crate in her arms.

-----

The Straw Hats returned to their ship after a couple of hours. Mira said that she was going to go home too and had bid them all goodnight. All of the guys said that they were going to go to bed since Mira had assured them that no one had to be on watch that night. So, all yawing, they went to their rooms. Robin said that she was going to stay up a bit and read a book that Mira had given her about the island's history and Nami walked to her room, clearly upset about something. After the navigator entered her room and closed the door, she collapsed on to her bed and didn't move. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't fall asleep. She simply didn't feel tired. There was a soft knock on her door. Nami sat up and mumbled, 'come in'. The door opened and in walked Robin.

"Oh hey Robin," Nami said dully.

"May I sit down?" Robin asked, pointing at Nami's desk chair. The navigator nodded and Robin sat down.

"What is it?" Nami asked. Robin studied the young woman's face for a second.

"You haven't been acting yourself lately…or more specifically today. I was just wondering what was wrong," the archaeologist said. Nami stared at her bed sheets for a second.

"I don't really know either Robin…" she answered.

Robin smiled and said, "I think you do." Nami turned to look at the archaeologist and sighed.

"I don't like that girl…" Nami confessed. Robin chuckled.

"Well, that's kind of obvious…" she said and then continued, "But what is it about her that you don't like?"

Nami shook her head and answered, "I really don't know…aaaaa, I don't how Luffy could have asked her to join!" she said angrily. Robin's smiled continued to linger on her face.

"Well, I don't really have any specific objection to letting Mira join…in fact, I think she's a nice person…but that's only because," she stood up from her chair and walked towards the door, "My eyes aren't green." Nami only stared up at the archaeologist. Robin was about to leave, when Nami made an unexpected comment.

"Speaking of 'green'…" Robin only glanced back at the navigator who was wearing a smug/sneaky smile on her lips.

"Good night Ms. Navigator," Robin said.

"'Night…" Nami answered casually.

-----

"Mira-san, you want to join don't you?" Mr. Kawara asked the raven-haired girl. Mira only stared down at her drink.

"I can't though…this village…" Mira started but Mr. Kawara cut her off.

"There are people in this village that can fight well you know…not nearly as well as you, but good enough. You know that this village stands for freedom." Mira looked up.

"You're right, I do wanna go with 'em," she admitted. Mr. Kawara smiled.

"Then go." Mira gave a big, Luffy-like grin and nodded.

"Yup! I will go and become a pirate!"

-----

"Sanji!! Wake up! I'm hungry!" Luffy shouted, waking the whole ship up. A very unhappy chef poked his head out of his room.

"Shut up Luffy! We're going to go eat at that restaurant slash bar place this morning, remember?" Luffy pounded his fist on his palm.

"Oh right," he said and was off! The rest of the crew slowly came out of their rooms still yawning and were about to follow their captain but noticed that someone was missing.

"Hey, where's Zoro?" Usopp asked.

"Oh yeah, he's not here," Chopper added, looking around for the swordsman.

"He's probably training somewhere," Franky suggested.

"Just leave the crappy swordsman and let's go," the cook said, starting to climb down the ship.

Just then, Nami smiled and said, "Hey Robin, would you mind going to find Zoro and bring him to the restaurant...or I'm sure he'll get lost."

Robin, keeping her cool said, "Sure, I'll be there in a few minuets." And with that, she went to search for the swordsman.

The archaeologist soon found him under the cliffs on the other side of the Thousand Sunny. Slashed up rocks and boulders surrounded him and he was just putting his three swords away when Robin walked into the scene.

"Good morning Mr. Swordsman," Robin said with her usual smile.

"'Morning…" Zoro responded, more in a mumble. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Ms. Navigator asked me to come and get you because everyone's headed to the restaurant for breakfast," Robin answered.

"Oh, I'm coming then," he said and walked over to Robin. The archaeologist smiled and started walking with the swordsman.

"Mr. Swordsman," Robin started, "What do you think of Mira?" Zoro only shrugged.

"I donno…"

"You don't trust her though, do you?" Robin said. Zoro didn't reply at first.

"I'm not making any judgments," he said. Robin chuckled.

"Was that how you felt towards me too?" she asked a little quietly. Zoro looked at her a little surprised. Robin glanced at him. "Do you trust me now though?" Zoro looked down and closed his eyes, remembering fighting at Enies Lobby, remembering usually calm and cool Robin crying, yelling to them for help…how she was about to sacrifice herself for all of them….

"What do you think? We wouldn't have risked our lives if we didn't trust you…" Zoro said.

However, Robin shook her head and said, "No, I mean, do you trust me?" Zoro was taken aback again from Robin's questions. But before he could give any response, Robin shook her head again and said, "No, never mind, I'm sorry…asking you so many questions…" Zoro didn't say anything. For a while, there was an awkward silence between them as they walked towards the building where the rest of the crew was waiting.

"Hé," Zoro laughed suddenly. "Did you find out what Nami was ticked about yesterday?" he asked Robin suddenly. Robin was first startled at his question, but then smiled too.

"Oh, she didn't tell me…but I did see her eyes turning green…" she added. Zoro grinned.

"Thought so," he mumbled then added, "Well, if that Mira does join our crew, Luffy's gonna have his hands full."

"Hmm, no matter how far they can stretch…though I really don't think that Mira likes him in that way," Robin said, "I just think our navigator is too sensitive…"

"Ah, you can't blame her…he's the guy that destroyed her captor and his crew and rule, just because she was crying," Zoro said, remembering fighting the merman, Arlong and his crew.

"So I've heard…"

"Well, this is going to get interesting...anyways." The two crewmates walked into the building where the rest of the pirates were, both grinning insides themselves.

"Hey Zoro! Robin! Guess what?" Luffy said excitedly, "Guess what! Guess what! Mira's gonna join our crew!" At that moment, both Robin and Zoro almost burst out laughing, but resisted the temptation.

Instead, Robin smiled and said, "Is that so?" and Zoro just nodded in response.

"'Morning Zoro! Robin-nésan!" Mira waved at them smiling. ('Nésan' means 'older sister' or a female around the age of 18 to 30)

Mira was sitting by the counter talking to Luffy who was sitting on the right of her, while trying to ignore the heart-eyed love-cook on the other side. Chopper, Franky, and Usopp were enjoying a meal in which their captain wasn't trying to steal their food around one of the round tables in the middle of the room and Nami…she was sitting by herself at another table. Zoro and Robin ordered their breakfast and Zoro went to join Usopp, Chopper and Franky, while Robin went over to Nami's table.

"May I join you?" Robin asked. Nami only nodded bit didn't say anything. She was too busy eyeing her captain and the new crewmate.

Robin smiled and said, "Is there something interesting over there?" With that, Nami snapped back to life and glanced at Robin instead.

"So, how was your walk?" the navigator asked, lowering her voice and grinned a bit.

"Good," Robin only answered.

"Nothing interesting happen?" Nami asked casually.

"No," the archaeologist said again. They both turned to watch Mira demonstrating her powers by making the guy's empty breakfast plates float into the air and slowly to the kitchen and wash themselves. Robin could swear that she heard Nami mutter, "Show off…" but dismissed it as a fragment of her imagination. The two women carried their empty plates over to the counter once they had finished a rather quiet and awkward breakfast.

"So I think we should be off tomorrow…is that okay Mira?" Luffy was saying. Mira nodded.

"That's fine," she said.

"Don't you have to go and say 'goodbye' to a lot of people?" Franky asked.

Mira shook her head and answered, "Na, I'm not tellin' anyone."

------

For Mira, the rest of the day was spent packing her things but thank goodness, she wasn't a fashion queen so it didn't take her long to pack her clothes. Her art supplies were a different story though. All her sketchbooks and paintings were spread across her room as she devised a plan to pack them all. Eventually she did though it did take a while. As she was sorting through her pieces of art, she came across a drawing of a ship…a pirate ship.

"I wanna become a pirate!"

"Haha! A little shrimp like you, become a pirate?"

"I'm not a shrimp! And I will become a pirate!"

"Yeah right…"

"I will! And I'll become stronger than even grandpa!"

"Really…? Well, that should be interesting to see."

Mira snapped out of her thoughts and slid the drawing between one of her sketchbooks and continued her packing.

------

"Oi! Guys!" Mira shouted. She was standing by the Thousand Sunny and calling to the pirates. Immediately, Luffy came sprinting out.

"Hey Mira!" he shouted back happily from the deck of the ship.

"Hey, are y'all coming for supper?" she asked.

"Of course! We'll be right there!" Luffy said back. Mira nodded and head off to the restaurant. The Straw Hats followed eventually since they had been busy getting ready for the next day since Luffy insisted on leaving early in the morning. They had been collecting supplies all day and Sanji, Usopp and Chopper had been sent out to the larger town to go and buy everything that they needed. Jobs done, the eight of them headed off to the main building for the last time.

Mr. Kawara had already prepared supper for them and was waiting for their arrival while talking to Mira about something. They both looked up when the pirates entered.

"Oh hey guys! Mr. Kawara was just saying that the marines left the island this afternoon 'cause they confirmed that the Straw Hats weren't here," Mira said.

"That's good," the pirates said. They all helped themselves to the food, Luffy first of course.

"By the way, thanks for feeding us for the past couple of days," Sanji said, feeling as if he were on a holiday.

Mr. Kawara laughed and said, "No problem! You're all our village's hero's friends. I don't mind at all." The bartender glanced at Mira who was sitting at a table next to Robin and asking her how she had liked her book. "Mira's lived in this village for a couple of years now but everyone feels as if she were born here…no one's going to be glad that she left…but it's the best thing for her," he added.

"You mean, Mira wasn't born on this island?" Sanji asked. The bartender shook his head.

"No, she wasn't. She just moved here like two or three years ago."

"Oh, I didn't know that," the cook said surprised.

"Yeah," Mr. Kawara continued, "She loves traveling though…she's been out of the island and around a couple of times already. I'm sure she'll love being with you guys."

------

Dawn came and the Straw Hats were ready to leave. They were, however, missing the newest member of the crew, who was standing on one of the cliffs, staring off into the ocean.

"Hey Mira! We're gonna leave soon!" the captain called. Mira raised her hand in reply and after glancing back at the ocean once more, started walking over to the large pirate ship. She climbed onboard and turned to stare at the village. She had said her farewells to Mr. Kawara that morning and had told him to send her condolences to everyone in the village. The Straw Hats had thanked the bartender the night before who had wished them well. And now, they were finally off…to a new adventure and with a new crewmate. The anchor was pulled up and the ship began to move.

The artist continued to stare off at the village which was getting smaller by the second with an almost blank expression on her face.

To be continued…

Okay, don't kill me for ending my stories at weird places…I just like doing that :)

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