The Beautiful City on the Sea! Azu's Hometown
Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece.
Following Azu's lead, most of the crew ran outside to watch the giant frog swim using the crawl stroke. Azu had a big, stupid grin on his face while the others were stunned to see such a sight, even in the Grand Line.
Azu watched the frog closely as the ship trailed behind it, Still trying to beat it, eh Yokozuna?
"Hey, guys...there's something up ahead,"
The shipwright turned to Chizuru, who was holding up a pair of binoculars.
"Oh? What is it?"
Chizuru frowned slightly, "It's...a lighthouse?" she lowered the binocs and raised an eyebrow, "There's no island out here, though...,"
"That, my young hottie of a friend, is where you're wrong!" Azu wagged a finger, "Keep holding this course, following that frog, but don't be right behind him, otherwise you'll get killed out here,"
"If we could get killed, then why should we follow him?" Dusty asked him, looking suspicious.
"Because!" Azu whapped her on the forehead with a few of his fingers, making her yelp, "We need to if we're gonna change our luck with this ship problem,"
Dusty grumbled under her breath as she rubbed the newly formed lump on her forehead, "...strong bastard...,"
"Gotta love martial arts," Azu grinned and turned back to the frog who was still ahead of them, but he was slowing down, "Stop the ship! Guys, stop the ship!"
Acting quickly, Herman dove into the water and brought the ship to a halt from beneath. Azu and the others watched the frog, who had come to a stop and was now treading water.
"What's wrong? Did the ugly find us?" Niri asked, barely glancing at Yokozuna, "Hate it when big things come our way...,"
Chizuru turned to Azu, "Oi, does this have to do with the lighthouse?" she asked, pointing to the building next to what appeared to be some sort of pit stop.
"Yep," Azu felt around his person, as if looking for something, "Anyone got a watch, or something?"
"Yo!" Devon tossed him a pocketwatch, "Snagged that from Kinmotsu before we left. What's up?"
Azu caught the watch and looked at the time, "Wait for it...,"
A loud whistling sound was heard right after. The crew looked around, confused.
"What the hell?"
"What was that?"
"Sounded like a whistle...,"
"Where'd it come from?"
"Wait for it," Azu urged, another grin crossing his face, "Wait for it...,"
Another loud whistle came, but this time, it was closer.
"Maybe it's coming behind us?" Dusty asked, walking towards the end of the ship, followed by the rest of the crew.
Azu grinned wider, "You're gonna miss it...," he called back to them just as yet another whistle came, followed by a loud chugging sound.
"Miss what, exactly?!" Niri and the others turned around just in time to see something very large and very fast sped into view. Before any of them could register or react to it, the object plowed into the giant frog, sending it flying into the air a fair distance before landing back in the water.
Azu laughed and tossed the watch back to Devon, "Three years and he hasn't changed...baka frog," he turned to see the rest of his crew were staring ahead, mouths hitting the floor, eyes wide. Even Chizuru was surprised by the sight.
"Is...that...?" Niri raised a finger and pointed to the speeding locomotive (which was now seen clearly when they came to their senses), "...a...t-train?"
"Yep!" Azu nodded, a proud smile on his face, "It's something, ain't it?"
Dusty stormed up to Azu and began to throttle him, "WHAT THE HELL IS A TRAIN DOING OUT HERE IN THE OCEAN?!" she screamed.
Azu didn't reply, he was too dizzy from Dusty's shaking. The kitsune finally let go and he fell over onto the deck, half of his body hanging over the nearest railing.
Herman, who was still in the water, noticed something and swam outward a bit. He saw something where the train and the frog, Yokozuna, had been. When he was close enough, he saw what it was.
Train tracks! A set of train tracks floating in the water!
"That was the Sea Train,"
Herman turned around to see Azu looking ahead, though he was still hunched over the railing. The shipwright had a sort of nostalgic smile on his face when he looked at the train tracks.
"Sea...Train?" Herman repeated.
Azu nodded, "Built over eight years ago by the master shipwright, Tom. He was a Fishman, much like you, Herman, but he was a pufferfish kind. He was the legendary shipwright of Water 7,"
"You sound like you knew him personally,"
"Back then, everyone knew Tom-san," Azu's face suddenly became filled with sadness, "Until he died,"
Before Herman could ask anymore on the subject, Axe grabbed Azu by the shirt cuff and hauled him onto the deck.
"Okay, since you knew what that was," he pointed to the building nearby, "What's that?"
Azu turned and looked at the lighthouse area, "You know, I think I know what it is, but my memory sucks right now...," he groaned and held his stomach, "Dammit...Herman, your breakfast is gonna come out wrong here!"
Herman's eye twitched, "You hardly ate anything!" he shouted as the shipwright ran for the can, "Asshole,"
After anchoring right next to the building on the water, Axe and a handful of his nakama made landfall to explore the area. Axe, Niri, Kirsty and Austin walked around until a small girl and what appeared to be a blue-furred rabbit walked into view.
The pirates looked at the girl and the rabbit. The girl and her rabbit looked at them, then at the pirate ship that sat nearby. She turned tail and ran back the way she came.
"Baa-chan! Baa-chan!" she shouted as she ran, "Pirates!"
"Well, we tried," Axe reached for a throwing axe, "Guess we gotta kill 'em all now,"
Niri smacked him over the head, "That's not funny!"
"I'm sick, I can't help it...plus, I suck at jokes,"
"No shit, Sherlock,"
Kirsty looked around and tapped her foot, "So, what do we do now?"
As if in reply to her question, a large, older-looking woman slowly shuffled into their path. She had a face that made all of them feel slightly ill, but they didn't say anything about it. She had a large grin on her face, a mane of bushy blonde hair running from under a large, black hat, as well a bottle of liquor in her hand.
"Psst, who does this remind you off?" Niri whispered, nudging Kirsty. Her doctor friend held back a giggle, but she couldn't help but smile and nod.
The woman turned to the group of pirates and blinked, "Oh...if you're here for the Sea Train," she shook her head, "You jus' missed it...,"
"We're not here for the Sea Train, ya crazy old lady!"
Axe and his friends turned to see Azu walking up to them, looking better than he did before. He too, carried a bottle of liquor, but it wasn't open. He walked by them and stopped about a foot from the woman, "Long time no see, Kokoro baa-chan,"
"Baa-chan?" Kirsty pointed at the obviously drunk woman, "This is Azu's grandma?"
"It would make sense...," Axe said thoughtfully, scratching his head, "Though, if his grandma looks like that, I'd hate to see his mother or father,"
Azu snapped his head around and glared at them, "She's not really my grandmother, you asses!" he shouted, "She's an old friend of mine!"
"Emphasis on old," Niri whispered, earning a snort from her nakama.
The woman, Kokoro, blinked a few times and leaned forward, squinting at Azu.
"Ish...ish that you, Azu?" she asked, her voice slurred a little.
Azu nodded and held up the liquor bottle, "Been three years, baa-chan, how are you and Chimney doing?"
Kokoro took the bottle and laughed, "Nga ga ga ga! Oi, kiddo! Long time no see!"
"Damn right!" Azu launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around her in a large hug, "Man, I've missed you and the others, Kokoro!"
Wow, a woman that he hugs and doesn't even try to grope... his nakama thought as they watched their shipwright friend ...who would've thought something like that existed?
"Oi!" Kokoro turned her head, "Chimney! Gonbe! Come say hi!"
The small child and the blue rabbit from before poked their heads from their hiding spots. They looked at the pirates warily, but when they saw Azu, both sets of eyes widened.
"AZU! AZU! AZU!"
Seconds later, Azu was tackled by both the rabbit and the child, each of them hugging Azu tightly. Azu laughed and returned their hugs, "Long time, guys! Geez, Chimney, you've grown, look at you! Gonbe, you're...the same height, I think,"
"Missed you so much!" Chimney shouted happily, still clinging to Azu as he climbed to his feet, "Where's Goheno!? Where's Goheno?!"
Azu stopped laughing momentarily and tried to pull the two off him, "Guys, gimme some room here, alright? Some space...?"
The two of them still clung to him.
"Niri, Kirsty?"
"You sure have grown, Azu,"
Kokoro sighed and lowered the bottle of liquor she had before. She wiped her mouth and looked at Azu and his group of friends.
"Who are these kids?"
"Pirate friends of mine," Azu explained, earning a quick whap from Axe.
The young captain waved a hand at them, "We're really a group of treasure hunters, really!"
"Nga ga ga ga!" Kokoro laughed again, "It's alright, youngster, I don't care if you are pirates or not,"
"But the little girl-,"
"Chimney," Kokoro nodded, "She thought you might've been train robbers who came to late or something," she turned back to Azu, who was rubbing a large bump on the back of his skull, "Nice hairdo...no more afro?"
"Yeah," Azu winced a little, "Dreads now. So, I see Yokozuna's still trying to beat the Sea Train,"
Kokoro nodded, "Yeah. He keeps failing, but he doesn't give up. His body's been covered with scars now, but he still keeps going at it,"
"Why does he do that?" Axe asked them.
Azu cleared his throat, "Anyhoo, baa-chan, you wouldn't believe our luck. Our ships in trouble and we need a new one, so we're headed for Water 7,"
"Nga ga ga ga!" Kokoro laughed, "You leave three years to keep out of trouble with your bounty and you come back for help!"
"Not only that, but I got a bigger bounty," Azu smiled sheepishly, "Talk about ironic, huh?"
"I'll say," Niri nodded slowly, "So, tell us some more about that Sea Train we saw,"
Kokoro took a swig from her liquor, "That's the Puffing Tom. It was made eight years ago and with the sea tracks, it can go from island to island,"
Azu nodded, "Yeah, it's really awesome! So far, there are only a few islands connected by the train, but it's still great! There's Water 7, the City of Water, my hometown. There's Saint Popla, City of the Queen of Spring. There's also Pucchi, the City of Cuisine, and finally, there's San Faldo, City of Carnivore," he leaned forward and waved his hand dismissively, "Bad sounding name, I wouldn't suggest going there...,"
"That's incredible! Who knew such a thing existed?!"
Everyone turned to Axe, who had an excited look on his face.
Azu grinned, "Yeah, the Sea Train is really-,"
"A City of Cuisine?!" Axe hopped to his feet, "Let's get going, everybody!"
"HELL NO!" Kirsty, Austin and Niri jumped up and slugged him in the head, sending him to the floor.
Kokoro laughed again, "You got a weird group of friends, Azu,"
"Don't remind me," Azu held his head and sighed, "Sometimes, I dunno how I put up with them...,"
"So, what happened with Goheno? He on the ship?"
Azu looked up at her and shook his head slowly, "He's strayed from the path of good, baa-chan. I'm looking for him so I can knock some sense into that bald head of his,"
The old lady patted him on the head, "Good luck with that. Now, onto more important things,"
"Hm?"
Kokoro belched lightly and tossed the empty bottle away, "I need more,"
"I just gave you some!!"
"That was a nice little reunion," Azu muttered as he sat against the outside wall of the galley, "Good to see they're doing okay. I wonder how Iceburg, Nick, Emma, Franky, all those guys are doing?"
"Hey, Azu?"
"Mm?" Azu looked up to see Kirsty standing next to him, "Hey, doc, wassup?"
"Can we talk?"
"Sure," Azu patted the floor next to him, "Something on your mind?"
"Sorta...," Kirsty slid down to the floor and hugged her knees, "Paulie...will be there, right?"
"Unless he died...," Azu picked his ear, "...yeah, he'll be there. I bet you're aching to finally meet him, eh?"
Kirsty shrugged slightly, "I dunno. But, when we get there," she turned to him, "Will you take me to meet him?"
Azu stopped his picking and flicked the wax off his finger, "Why me? Shouldn't Devon be the one to go with you for this? Since you two are together, ya know,"
"I know, but...,"
"But...?"
Kirsty sighed, "I didn't tell him about Paulie,"
"...what?"
"I know, I should've told him, but I couldn't. I mean, how am I supposed to tell someone I have a half-brother somewhere in the world that I haven't met?"
"You told me,"
"That was different. I had to see if you knew him first," Kirsty argued, "I just...please, Azu, just help meet him,"
Azu was silent for a bit.
"Azu...?"
The shipwright sighed, "Fine, I'll take you to meet him. Bring your photograph though, otherwise, he may not believe that you're his half-sister,"
"Good call," Kirsty smiled a little, "Thanks, Azu,"
"No problem, doc,"
Little did the two of them know, Devon was standing around the corner and he had heard every word they said. Gritting his teeth, Devon turned and walked to the men's cabin.
Unaware of Devon's presence, Azu and Kirsty continued to talk until Azu stopped in the middle of a sentence and shot to his feet.
"Hell yeah!" he banged his fists together, "About damn time!"
Kirsty rose to her feet and her jaw sank when she saw what was ahead of them.
"Oi! Everyone!" Azu called out, "You gotta see this!"
Within moments, everyone walked out into the open and looked on at the same thing that Kirsty and Azu were seeing. It was a huge city, a metropolis that seemed to float on the water! It was shaped like a strange volcano, with buildings sitting on top of different ring layers. On the very top was a huge water fountain that gushed water upward. That same water flowed downward around the city and disappeared. On the outer walls, there were different numbers painted on different entrances. One through seven.
Azu walked to the very front of the ship, turned around to face his nakama and grinned widely.
"This is my hometown, the place where I was born, raised, and worked as a carpenter before meeting all of you. Everyone! Welcome to Water 7!"
Kilnorc: WOOT! The crew is finally, officially there at the City of Water! What awaits them in the floating city? Who knows besides the author...NO ONE! Well, except maybe a few, but still, it's exciting to think, eh!? Stay tuned!
On the next chapter of the Secret Power...
Azu: Alright, we dock here for now, then those of us who are going have to rent Yagara Bulls to move around the city.
Niri: AW! They're kawaii!
Herman: An entire city...built on the water! Sounds like a perfect place for both human and Fish people.
Kirsty: So many shops! I hope we have enough to do some major shopping!
Tour of Water 7, Search for Galley-La!
Axe: Oh my God...Niri, you gotta buy me some of this Mizu Mizu meat!
