So... I have midterms next week and an english project due on friday, so I'm going to give this chapter and then go on like a week-hiatus. =^.^=

Enjoy it please! =^.^=


Chapter Three


Coby sank to his knees. He had finally got the courage to save the very girl who gave him that courage... but what use was courage if you weren't strong. Coby was about to cry when he realized that there wasn't any blood or sounds at all. He looked up to see the beautiful tiger leaping gracefully into Luffyko's heart and disappear. Everybody was very shocked. Then Luffyko sat up, yawning.

"YAAAAAAA. Eh? The sea monster... ah, that's right! I sent it away flying! Ah damn that sea monster, it was going after me but it suddenly went after you Coby! Good thing Asa came out quickly." She turned to Coby while stretching her arms and legs. "Now where's your captain?" Coby sweat dropped, saying "The sea monster was the captain." Luffyko's surprised look was quickly replaced by that heartwarming grin.

"Yosh! Now that she's gone, you guys!" She pointed to the men who were cowering in the corner and Alvida's ship. "Give Coby a boat, he's about to pursue his dream!" They quickly scattered about and Coby used this chance to ask Luffyko what that tiger was.

"Oh, like I said, that was Asa! Shishishi, she's the mother of Yin and Yang." Coby was even more baffled. "Ah, they're spirits. Of the beautiful tiger that I befriended when I was little and her cubs." Coby groaned and said, "No, Luffyko-san, I mean why are there... tiger spirits inside of you?"

"Shishishi, I guess I forgot to tell you! I ate the Spirit Spirit Devil Fruit when I was little. I have all these spirits inside me! The spirits are the true form of the person or animal, so although Asa was considered the Beast of Mt. Corvo, she's really kind and gentle in the inside! So when she died with her cubs, I decided to take them in!" Coby understood a part of it, and decided to just leave things as they were. After all, Luffyko-san was really stubborn and simple-minded.

The boat was ready and the two jumped aboard. On the second day, however...


"I'm so hungry~~"

"Luffyko-SAN! How many times have I told you? You have to wait a little more until we get to the nearest town and restock!"

Luffyko glanced at him. "It's all your fault."

Coby managed to not scream, and said "Oi! The Alvida Pirates were smart enough to give us food, but that food was for a week you know. Who was the one that decided to eat and then go?"

"Uh... I did?" "CORRECT!" Coby sighed. Luffyko-san was cute and all but at times, she could be a bit exasperating. Then he noticed the change in the wind and got to work. To reach the nearest town, which was where a Marine base was, they would have to keep going west.

"Coby! You're amazing! You know where we have to go and everything!"

"Luffyko-san, this is is basic knowledge that all pirates should have. North, West, East, and South." He felt as if he should feel happy because of her "compliment", but it was really information that everybody should know, even those who weren't pirates.

"Ne, Coby."

"Hai, Luffyko-san?"

"Why did Alvida call me Pirate Hunter Zoro?"

Coby gulped and went all crazy describing who Roronoa Zoro was and how ill-famed he was. He tried his best to make Zoro sound as evil as possible, but realized that that was a big mistake when he saw Luffyko-san smiling.

"Waow. He sounds dangerous."

He felt hope. There was hope that Luffyko-san may be getting scared... "YES Luffyko-san, you shouldn't go near him, he's very-"

"COOL! He sounds so cool Coby! I wanna meet him!"

Coby sweat dropped. "WHY would you want to meet HIM!"

Luffyko gave him the sweetest smile ever and said "If he's a nice person, I want him as my first-mate."

Coby was going to scream at her, but he couldn't. First, she wouldn't understand why the man was so dangerous. Second, if he did explain why, then she would be even more interested, and Third. The smile was too sweet, and he was madly blushing. If he talked to her, then she would start asking why he was so red in the face. Alas, today was not his lucky day as Luffyko peered at him cautiously.

"Coby, shishishi, you look like a tomato!" When Coby didn't answer, she grew worried. "Coby... are you alright? Are you sick? Oh no, you're sick, aren't you?! I don't know what to do OH COBY DON'T DIE ON ME! I know! Think of blueberry pie!" Coby sweat dropped and his face turned back to normal. "Oh yay! See, thinking of blueberry pie worked!" Coby sighed, but in the inside, he smiled, and for the rest of their journey, he thought about how concerned she was. Luffyko thought about pie. Blueberry pie to be exact.


They reached the town and Luffyko was the first to step out. Coby tied their boat to the dock and stepped out as well.

"Well, Luffyko-san, we're here now!" He said as eagerly as he could, but some where deep inside of him, he was afraid that Luffyko-san would remember Roronoa Zoro.

They walked though the town, well, Luffyko skipped through the town and took some pears and apples with her. Coby apologized to each store owner and gave them a coin.

"Wow, this is such a lively town! Oh, I see the base! WAOWW I wonder if Zoro is there!" All the townsfolk shrieked and backed away from them.

"Luffyko-san", Coby whispered "It seems that his name is taboo around here."

"What's taboo? Anyway, let's head to the base. Coby, you said you wanted to join the Marines, right?" Coby nodded, forgetting about the first thing Luffyko had said. "Yes but I'm not ready yet.."... not ready to leave you, Luffyko-san. Coby's heart silently finished the sentence. "I heard that there was a Captain Morgan around-" The townsfolk shrieked again and this time, dropped everything they were holding as well. Coby was surprised. "I understand about Zoro" he whispered "but why the marines?" Luffyko just laughed. "Maybe they like to do that!" Coby had a bad feeling about this. The reaction to the marines was much more than Zoro.


They stood in front of the large brass doors that proudly showed the words "MARINE".

"Yosh! Coby, you're here!" She smiled widely.

Coby had small tears of joy as he nodded. "This is where we part, Luffyko-san, and although it's been such a short- eh?" Coby whispered urgently "Luffyko-san! What do you think you're doing?"

"Uwah. I'm looking for grr Zoro wuh." She grunted as she pulled herself over the gate. She squealed in delight and ran over to the side of the of the base, hanging onto the wall with ease this time.

"Luffyko-san, why would Zoro be outside?" Coby said as he pulled himself over to where Luffyko-san was. " He's probably *GASP* RIGHT THERE!? That black hood... haramaki..." Coby only gasped in shock when it clicked in his mind. Of course he would be tied up here, out in the scorching sun, since he did such horrible things!

Luffyko grinned. "He looks dead... hey, if we untie him, he'll be free right?" Coby said yes without thinking and then waved his arms around. "Luffyko-san, why would you do that? HE WOULD KILL YOU THE FIRST CHANCE HE-" "Shishishi, don't worry, Coby. I'm strong."

Coby, unfortunately, doubted this. Maybe the Asa-tiger spirit was strong, but Luffyko- herself... she was too small. His antics, however, caught the attention of Roronoa Zoro.

"Oi." Coby shrieked and moved closer to Luffyko-san by reflex. "You're an eyesore." The man glared at them from underneath his black hood. "Get lost." Coby was about to say something to the grinning girl besides him when a ladder made a thunk next to him, and a little girl climbed it. She shushed them, looked around, and then used a rope to get down. She ran to the tied up man and opened up a leaf with two onigiri in it.

"Here, onii-san. You must be hungry. Please eat them, it was my first time, but I put my whole heart into them." The man's face softened, and then hardened again.

"Get lost, yer gonna git killed."

"But-"

"Get LOST. You wanna be killed?!"

"Yeh yeh, Roronoa Zoooro. That's not nice. You should be nice to the little girl who's trying to help you. Talking about the little girl." A blonde man showed up and sneered at the trembling little girl. "Helping this man will get you executed. But I'll be nice and I'll get rid of the evidence that you tried to help him. BY EATING THOSE!" He snatched the onigiri and took a bite out of one of them and swallowed it. But his face twisted, saying "LITTLE GIRL, ONIGIRI ARE SUPPOSED TO MADE WITH SALT NOT SUGAR BAAKAA!" He threw down the rest of the onigiri and kicked dirt on it. "NOW GET LOST" but the little girl didn't move. She started crying and the blonde looked down at her with disgust. He ordered the man next to him to throw the girl out. The man picks up the girl and starts walking to the gate when the blonde shrieks "I SAID TO THROW HER OUT, NOT ESCORT HER OUT!". The man looks shocked and stutters. "B-but, Helmeppo-sama, she's only a little girl..." The now named blonde shrugs and says "Are you disobeying me? I'm Captain Morgan's son, you know, and disrespecting me is disrespecting HIM!" Helmeppo screams at the end. The marine notices Luffyko and Coby still on the wall and tells the girl to curl into a ball. Then he lightly tosses the girl to Luffyko. Helmeppo laughs and walks away, with the two men.

Luffyko's body is thrown upward and falls to the ground, with the little girl safely curled in the soft stomach. She's about to say thank you when she realizes that there is no life in the older girl's eyes. "KYAAA!" The little girl screams and backs away. "THE LADY- SHE'S DEAD! I KILLED HER!" Coby freaks out, but thinks of something. Sure enough, Luffyko's spirit is calmly walking towards Roronoa Zoro. But she looked different. A lot different. When Coby calmed down the little girl, he peered over the wall (with the little girl) and saw that a really young Luffyko was walking towards Roronoa Zoro. She looked like she was twelve. Coby's eyes widened. Luffyko was seventeen, but why was she now... and he recalled something that Luffyko-san had said earlier on. "The spirits are the true form of the person" Luffyko-san had explained on the cruise ship. Coby couldn't help but laugh, Luffyko-san's personality was that of a twelve-year old!


The now twelve year old Luffyko was in front of Zoro. He looked up, a bit confused to see a young girl who looked like she was still waiting for puberty, instead of that... other, more feminine teen.

She picked her nose. "Ehhh..." she said without much interest. "So you're Roronoa Zoro..? Being publicly humiliated... are you sure you're strong?"

Zoro was pissed. Who the hell did this twerp think she was? "STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS, TWERP!" Zoro was surprised that he lost his cool and actually called a little girl a twerp, but something about this girl... twisted something inside of him.

She had a really bored look on her face. She stepped closer and then smiled that bright, really wide smile. "Heh, I would've escaped the day I was caught!"

Zoro was snarling in the inside. So this twerpy little girl thought she was strong, eh? But on the outside, he smiled. "I'm different from you. I'm gonna survive and show 'em who I am!"

Luffyko smiled even bigger at this. "Shishishi, what a stubborn guy!" Coby who was listening, thought "Luffyko-san... you're even more stubborn..."

She turned to get back into her body, but the Zoro guy stopped her. "Wait... can you get that for me? The onigiri?" She smiled again. "But it's all dusty now." Nevertheless, she reached down to pick it up, tried to get rid of the dust as much as possible, and fed it to him. Zoro blushed a little, frowning when he did so. Her hands... were so ridiculously soft soft. When she finished feeding him, she turned away once again. "It was delicious. Thank you for the food." She smiled, and then dematerialized. When he looked up, he only saw the pink-haired boy looking at him, no trace of the girl anywhere. Zoro shrugged (if you call it a shrug, he was tied up) and resumed his interrupted nap.


So I know the ending was a little flat, but the chapter was getting a little long so yeah...

I'm planning to do about 2000 words per chapter, it seems nice and long enough. (This one has like 2,200-something words)

I hope you enjoyed this, as I enjoyed writing this chapter =^.^=