Chapter 7: Always Have Been
Dripping wet and irritated beyond believe was not how Sanji wanted to spend his morning. He had reached Sienna before she could sink further under the waves and brought her to the surface. The ship wasn't far and he managed to swim and carry her back to the ship. The rest of the crew was awake and working double time to help get Sanji and Sienna back onto the ship. Sienna was unconscious and Sanji wasn't sure if she was breathing. "This is all that dumbass's fault!" he though angrily.
When they were on board Chopper immediately took Sienna and performed CPR. She coughed spit up water but she was breathing. He picked her up and carried her back to the room, ignoring everything else. Once Sienna was taken out of his arms, Sanji rounded on Luffy. His fist collided with Luffy's face, sending him spiraling into the deck. "She shouldn't have been out of bed! What were you thinking?" he yelled at him. Everyone else got out of their way, but watch intently.
Sanji prepared himself for a fight with his captain. He got into a fighting stance, but seeing tears on Luffy's face made him stop short of kicking in his face.
"I figured that you would be able to save her, since I couldn't." His tears flowed freely now, but he managed to smile. "I knew she was going to do something like this."
"Something like what," said Sanji, taking a deep breath as his anger slowly dissipating.
"Kill herself," answered Luffy, "before you ask why, she's always been like that. Someone told her when she was little that she's supposed to be dead and that was her only purpose." Luffy's voice cracked and he turned away from his crew, trying to hide his tears. He was angry (not at Sanji) and depressed. The person who told Sienna that awful thing was long dead and there was nothing he could do about it. It took Ace and Luffy a long time to change Sienna's thinking, but in this long absence, the progress they had made disappeared.
When she had left him unexpectedly, he truly thought that she was dead. Ace had knocked him on the head, telling him that it was stupid to think that, so a huge part in him had believed her to be alive. Seeing her again confirmed it, but he had to test her. He wanted to know if she was still suicidal. Finding out the answer sadden him, but at least now he was able to plan how to handle this. There was no way he was letting her go again. Luckily he had the greatest of friends to help him out. But first, he needed to be alone for a while. Announcing that he was going to take a nap, he left his bewildered crew. Chopper came back seconds after Luffy had went to the dorm with towels and handed one to Sanji with the order to go shower. Sanji took it and told Nami and Robin to go and keep an eye on Sienna.
In the dorm, finally able to feel relaxed enough, Luffy slept. He was confident that the others would look out for Sienna. He dreamed of food, his body's way of scolding him for not eating for last few days, and was determined to have a feast when he woke up. The deeper his sleep went his dreams turned into memories. He remembered the day he first met Sienna.
On that day, a nine year old him and a twelve year Ace had decided to test their strength against the sea king that plagued the island. They had been training for years now and wanted to see the progress they had made. Ace had a brilliant plan of trying to use a rope to trap it like a fish on a hook, then dragging it to the beach where they would be able to defeat it. Luffy was supposed to wait on the shore and knock it out with his awesome punch.
The plan failed miserably and the two brothers ended up being chased by it. Somehow Luffy ended up in the water and poor Ace tried his hardest to get them back to shore. A drenched Ace and a very rubbery Luffy made it back to the shore. The sea king roared mockingly and left triumphantly. Ace was mad. He became even madder when he heard a giggle behind them. It was coming from a brown skinned girl with curly brown hair.
"You think this was funny?" Ace yelled at the girl.
"Yep!" was all she said. She smiled.
Luffy started laughing too which earned him a knock on the head from Ace.
"Idiot! There's nothing to be laughing about!"
"Oh come on Ace! We'll get him. Let's just try again tomorrow." Luffy said as he started picking his nose.
Ace was feeling vindictive so he causally reminded Luffy of the bet they made earlier. "So…I guess you don't want dinner tonight."
Luffy's face paled as he remembered the promise he made to Dadan, that they would have sea king barbecue for dinner and if they didn't bring home the sea king they couldn't eat dinner that night. It was supposed to be motivation. Ace grabbed him before Luffy could charge back into the water.
Sienna had watched all this with amusement. She wasn't used to being around other kids her age and these boys seem like fun.
"Umm, I could get you the sea king if you want," she said.
Ace and Luffy had forgotten they had an audience and was surprised at the girl's statement. They responded at the same time.
"No thank you" said Ace while Luffy said "Yeah right" skeptically and he folded his arms.
"I think it's best that we did it ourselves. It is a test after all," said Ace.
"There's no way she could get it, Ace. She's a girl," Luffy said.
"What does my being a girl have to do with it?" Sienna asked. She was genuinely confused. She hadn't heard about girls not being able to do something.
Ace looked at the Luffy. Since Luffy said the comment, he left it up to him to answer. Luffy didn't know where he got that rationale from. He thought about all the women in his life and they were stronger than him (for now). He tried to think but it became too much for him so he quit.
"Fine you're strong. Now what's your name?" he deflected.
"I'm Sienna. What's yours?"
"I'm Luffy and this is Ace." He bowed and so did Ace. Sienna didn't know why they were bowing, so she bowed to.
When the pleasantries were done, Sienna's stomach rumbled. It was loud anough for Ace and Luffy to hear it. Ace suggested they go to Makino's bar to eat, that way Dadan wouldn't know if they ate. Luffy was excited at Ace's quick thinking and wanted to run ahead.
The brothers didn't get far before they noticed that Sienna wasn't with them. Luffy ran back, grabbed her hand and practically dragged her off her feet. She squeaked and laughed as she went into the air from the force Luffy applied. Unfortunately Luffy lost momentum and let go of her. She fell and Ace caught her. It was the most fun she had ever had.
Sometime later they were sitting at the bar top in Makino's bar, eating the best food ever. Luffy was sporting several new bumps courteous of Ace. When they were done, it was time to go home.
Sienna told them that she didn't have a home.
"That's okay! Come stay with us!" said Luffy.
Then the dream changed.
