Disclaimer: I do not own anything from One Piece; Eiichiro Oda-sensei owns One Piece and its characters. I only own my original character, Piper. Aura is owned by SweetStar17. All other miscellaneous characters (excluding the pirate hunter) and Amore Island are completely made up just for this story.

Here's the final chapter! Yay!

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Valentine Fever

Chapter 4: Stopping a Tragedy

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"Don't you touch her!!"

Zoro knew that he had to act now before his girlfriend was killed. If only this crowd wasn't so tightly packed, then he would have enough running space to make it to the platform easier.

The redheaded man, Brandon, cruelly smirked as he held the knife above Aura's heart. He was ready to swing it down…when a stray bullet from within the crowd shot out and struck his back, knocking him off-balance.

A pair of ice blue eyes glared up at the platform, specifically at the manager. The hands, holding a smoking pistol, tightened its grip. "What cruel trick does that manager hold?" The pirate hunter whispered to herself. "It's obvious that he and the three other men are pirates, and my job is to eliminate all pirates from existence. It looks to me, however, that there are others to take care of this problem…"

Brandon gasped for breath as he stood back up with the knife in his hand. He wobbled back to Aura and raised the knife again.

Aura closed her eyes as she prepared for the worst. She was ready to feel a great pain in her heart…Instead, she heard the sound of clashing metal in front of her. She opened her eyes and smiled widely as she saw Zoro protectively stand in front of her, swords blocking the knife.

"You harm my girlfriend," Zoro growled, "and I'll kill you myself…"

The redhead didn't appear intimidated by the swordsman's threat. Instead, he raised his knife again to put up a fight. Much to his dismay, though, Brandon was suddenly sent flying off the platform as Sanji jumps up and lands a bone-breaking kick into his chest. The redhead is sent flying into the ocean, soon out of sight.

"Nobody messes with Nami-san and gets away with it."

"Sanji-kun!" Nami never thought she would admit this, but for once she was glad that the cook was rescuing her out of love.

The muscular blonde man, Tippei, sneered at the blonde cook and green-haired swordsman. He shouts a battle cry as he charges towards the two men with his crowbar at hand.

Zoro stands in a special stance as he positions himself for his signature technique.

"Oni…Giri!"

In a blink of an eye, Zoro slashes across the chest of Tippei, ending all threats from the blonde strongman. As Zoro sheathed his swords, the blonde collapsed on the ground along with the crowbar.

"Well, that was easy," Sanji commented while lighting a new cigarette, as the previous one had burned out.

"You all are forgetting something…"

Zoro and Sanji quickly turned to see the red-suited island manager, cross-armed and covered with glass shards, glaring at the two men. Beside him was the brunette, Sherman, pointing a dagger to Piper's heart while tightly grasping her hair in an uncomfortable manner.

Nami and Aura gasped in horror. "Piper!!"

The purple-haired musician painfully gasped from her hair being pulled up and cried in fear. "Please, let us go! Let go of my hair! It hurts!"

"Sorry, little lady…" Sherman whispered, "This is part of my job." He looked at Zoro and Sanji and asked, "Why don't you just give up now and leave?"

"Because…" Sanji started.

"You forgot something," Zoro finished with a smirk.

Sherman was about to question them when he noticed two small balls coming towards his face. It was then he realized what they were that he couldn't avoid.

"Exploding Stars!"

A large explosion occurred where Sherman was standing as he took the direct hit. A few feet away, where Sanji and Zoro are watching, Usopp steps up and stares angrily at the now charred and collapsed brunette.

"You made Piper cry…Her father would never forgive us if anything bad happened to her!"

Piper looked up at her savior with a smile and sparkling pink eyes. "Usopp-kun! Thank you!"

This would have been the right moment to free the girls and celebrate, if it wasn't for the final threat that stood between the men and the girls: the glass-covered Danchou, who was not at all amused at the men's displays of courage.

"Glass-Glass Flying Shards!!" Large pieces of glass shards were thrown from the manager's body and sent flying at all sides at the men's direction. None of the targets missed, creating deep cuts into their skins and causing them to scream in pain.

"Sanji-kun!!" "Zoro!!" "Usopp-kun!!"

Danchou laughed cruelly as he formed a bulky glass sword and walked towards the men. "So, you boys care so much about these ladies? Indeed, you three boys show much courage to come all this way, but it ends here. By midnight tonight, the new love potion shall be made out of the blood of these three ladies!"

"Uh, right…Sorry to break it to you," Sanji said, "but midnight was over five minutes ago, moron."

Danchou's face turned a dark red, the same as his suit, as deep anger overcame him. "…You despicable children!! The potion is now invalid thanks to you! You'll all die right here and right now!"

"Idiot! Love shouldn't be forced upon people with potions! It's a natural inner feeling from positive reactions to people we care about!"

Luffy's voice echoed in the manager's ears and caused him to boil even more than before. "Straw Hat…I'll destroy your so-called "natural love" with my own two hands and glass!"

"Not if I can stop you first!"

The manager quickly turned to the crowd and saw Luffy, with an arm stretched back, jumping towards him. The gentleman merely grinned and suddenly morphed his body into sharp shards of glass.

"Just try to stop the mighty power of Danchou with the power of the Glass-Glass fruit!"

Even with the manager Danchou's threat, the captain didn't change his course and proceeded to punch right into the gentleman's stomach. Glass shattered, blood flew, and a painful scream out of Luffy's and Danchou's mouths was all that was seen and heard as devil fruit users collided.

The gentleman's eyes rolled back as the force of the punch knocked him off the platform and into the crowd around him. The sea of people then proceeded to carry him away to where only the citizens know.

Luffy looked on at the knocked-out manager with a triumphant grin. "That guy needed some anger management. Hee, what an idiot!"

The crowd cheered for the Straw Hat pirates for helping them realize what love was really about and prepared to leave the square. Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji untied the girls from the poles while Luffy kicked the cauldron off of the platform, the incomplete concoction spilling out.

"Now," Zoro said, "let's get out of this place."

The rest of the crew agreed with the swordsman and made a run towards their ship.

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"Well, at least we can still celebrate on Going Merry."

The crew happily agreed with Sanji as the ship began sailing away from the island of love. The chef was currently making dinner from the steaks that Luffy had bought, along with vegetables and dessert. Gifts were given and hearts were restored; all in all, a successful Valentine celebration for the crew.

"It's a shame that you don't have anyone to love, Luffy," Zoro said with a frown.

"What're you talking about Zoro? I love all of you, my nakama!" Luffy responded with a grin. This made everyone smile happily.

"Luffy, I think he meant a Valentine, that someone to love in a special way like us," Nami explained.

At that moment, a stray dart flew into the window of the kitchen, barely missing Luffy's head. Attached to the dart was a heart-shaped note. Piper took the note and read it to the crew out loud.

'That was an amazing display of strength and courage, to the entire crew. Now that I know that you are pirates, however, I will be hunting you all down. Do not take this personally, for it is my job to hunt down all pirates.

Until we meet again, Monkey D. Luffy, this is considered a valentine.

Kunning Raechal'

Usopp blinked in confusion as Piper finished reading the letter. "Raechal? A pirate hunter?"

Aura giggled and said, "I think Luffy just got a Valentine like the rest of us."

The captain tilted his head in confusion and muttered to himself, "What's a Valentine?"

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The End