Slowly we made our way back to the ship. I still was afraid that Nami might get mad at us, but I just didn't really couldn't run in these heels anymore. Besides, Luffy wasn't helping any. He was walking even slower than I was.
Oh well, he didn't seem like the kind to be punctual. Bit by bit the forest wore away and the sea started to come back into view. Robin was sitting out on the deck reading while someone was stomping around angrily.
"Looks like we're too late." I said to Luffy. He nodded, seeing Nami over my head. "Do you think she's really that mad?" He asked me.
Nami suddenly looked up, almost like she could hear us (which the girl would have to have awesome hearing to do!) and started to wave her fist at us. "Yeah, Luffy, I do."
Now, even slower than before, both Luffy and I walked over to the ship. He shot one hand up to the railing and the other around me, and pulled us aboard.
"Do you not know what, 'stay here' means?" She asked us. Luffy stepped behind me and I shrank back. "I even came back here to get you," she pointed at me, " so that way we could go shopping. You're going to need clothes if you're going to stay with us."
I stood there shocked. Every thing I had ever read about her said that she adored money, and definitely didn't give it away. "How much would I have to pay you back?" I questioned.
She gave me a smirk. "I see you're a smart girl. Normally for clothes it would be 250% interest. But since you and Luffy had to go have an 'adventure' you'll own me 350% interest."
I glanced at Robin and she shrugged at me. Great, she encourages me to go, then sets me up. Maybe there's a teamwork between the two.
Nami sighed at me. "And here I thought that this ship would be more easy to control with three girls on board." She looked at me, dirt stuck to me from where I had constantly tripped in her shoes, and leaves in my hair -which was sticking up in odd directions. "My mistake." she said before turning around.
"Here, go take a quick shower, then come see me." she said as she showed me the way. Suddenly a few hands popped up out of seemingly nowhere and handed me a couple of towels and fresh clothes.
I turned around and saw Robin smiling a sad smile, as if to say she was sorry I got caught. "When you are finished, wipe down the bath, okay? Can't have the ship getting soggy can we?" She joked before handing me a wiper and walking away.
"Thanks Robin!" I called after her. I shut the bathroom door before taking a quick shower. After I was finished I wiped down the shower fairly well if I do say so myself, and walked back outside.
Everyone else was lounging around doing his or her own thing. Usopp was making some hot pepper stuff (I know because I could smell it all the way over here), Chopper was reading and writing notes in a medical book, Nami was editing a map, Robin was reading- of course, Sanji was perfecting a 'special' dish, and Zoro was sleeping. And then there was Luffy.
He was running around from person to person trying to get them to play. Upon my arrival he bounded over to me and asked me to play with him. Nami, having heard me come out, was walking over to me grinning. "Now Taylor," she said to me, "We're going to go shopping. Just the two of us. And you're going to need to listen to me, understand?" she asked me. She had that fake, sickly sweet voice. All I managed to do was nod.
"Good. Now Luffy," she said turning to him. "Are you going to stay here with these guys?" she asked him. She might have asked him but it sounded to me like "you better stay here or I'll hunt you down."
Luffy only grunted in return.
Later on Nami and I were in a clothing store looking through a rack of clothes. "Now," she said holding up a pair of pants that I shook my head at, " you're going to need clothes for all sorts of weather."
"Because it's unpredictable on the Grand Line?" I asked. Nami grinned. "So you do learn." she said.
I snorted. "Well yeah. The Grand Line used to be- I mean is- the most dangerous waters you could ever sail on. I might not remember much about where I'm from, but I do remember that."
In the end I had tried on over what felt like a thousand clothes. The sad part is that we only bought half of what we tried on. Nami bought mainly shorts and tank tops, several pairs of warmer clothes and several different types of swim suits.
My wardrobe mainly consisted of ripped jeans and t-shirts, several warmer clothes, and two swim suits that I probably wouldn't even wear. Oh, and a flat bill cap.
After Nami paid for the clothes we went to the shop next door to eat.
"So, you liking this era so far?" Nami asked me. She sounded truly curious. I swallowed some of the chocolate desert we were eating. "Yeah, it's definitely interesting. I always dreamed of the great age of pirates. I just never thought I'd get to see it. You know, for myself?" I told her.
She nodded her head and paid for the dinner. We made our way slowly back to the ship. "So you used to live here?"
"Yep! See that big mansion up there? Well that's were I lived." I said fondly. I really was missing the great view of the town you could see from there. Even if the sights weren't the same.
"Whoa, up there? That place is huge! What are you rich!?" she asked me amazed. I giggled at her which seemed to make her slightly mad. "Trust me, I'm not rich. In fact before I was sent here, my dad was having to sell some very valuable stuff from this age."
I stared up at the mansion sadly. I had lived in it all my life and everything in it was important to me.
Nami watched me for second before smiling. "See, if you're always this calm, we might get along just fine." she said and her smile got bigger, "that, and if you can tell me where this treasure is."
I looked away from the mansion and over at Nami. She was pulling a folded piece of paper out of her bra (paper cuts much?) and handing it to me. I warily took it from her and unfolded it. I recognized the paper as that dang treasure map that got me into all this mess.
"Whoa! How did you get that?" I asked her. Nami smirked at my reaction. " It was in your back pants pocket. Duh!"
I shook my head. "No it wasn't. Nick.... had... it. Oh crap." I said. Nami stopped walking and turned back to look at me. "What's wrong, Taylor? Did you forget something at the shop?"
Before I even gave her chance to say anything I took off running. And when I say running, I mean I flew over, under, and around anything in my way.
In front of me, the Going Merry was growing larger. I didn't even pause to step on the bottom rung of the ladder hanging over the edge of the ship, I just flew to about the middle of it and kept right on going.
Sanji, who was handing Robin some type of drink, looked up at me when my feet hit the surface of the deck rather loudly. He smiled and started to say something but I cut him off. "N-n-nick." I puffed out.
Sanji gave me a weird look before turning to Robin, who was still sitting in her chair. "What's wrong Taylor? Were you and Nami attacked?" Usopp asked from behind me. I swung around and grabbed a hold of his overalls and pulled him down to my eye level. "Nick!" I shouted.
Usopp gave me a look like I was insane all while he was trying to get out of my hold. "Was there anyone else in the water with me?"
"No. Not besides you and Luffy." Zoro said from somewhere to the side of me. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure!?" I screamed at him. I knew I shouldn't scream at Zoro, none of this was his fault. But I just couldn't quite screaming.
"What are you, crazy? I'm positive that there was no one anywhere near you and Luffy when I hauled you two out of the water." he said low and evenly. Any other time that would have scared me, but not now. Not when I was so worried about my friend.
"You're lying" I said and released my hold on Usopp, who scurried away as soon as released, " you-" I was cut off by Luffy.
"Taylor? What happened?" he asked coming up from behind us. "I could hear you all the way in the kitchen."
Sanji looked away from me. "Kitchen? You were in the kitchen? You were sneaking food weren't you you Rubber Idiot?"
"So what if I was? I was starving Sanji!"
"No you weren't. I saw you eat almost five plates of meat earlier!"
"Well that was earlier! This is now!"
"You are a bottom less pit!"
I watched the two of them argue for a second before running up behind Luffy (who had his arms wrapped around Sanji's leg, which was ready to kick him any second) and stuck my fingers in his mouth, sharply yanking it back.
"Will you two shut up!" I said. Both Luffy and Sanji stopped their bickering and stared at me.
I took my fingers out of Luffy's mouth and wiped them on the back of his shirt. Once they were clean I brought my hands up to my eyes and covered them. I know I was embarrassing myself by crying in front of these guys, but I couldn't stop.
What if Nick had fallen through somehow? What if he was there and I just left him in the cavern to drown? He was an okay swimmer, but that didn't mean much. What if he was hurt? It would be all my fault, and I knew it.
Sanji quickly dropped his leg from Luffy and ran over to me as I sank to my knees. Tears ran down my face and into my mouth and off of my chin. He wrapped his arms around me and 'shhh-ed' me, saying it would be all right.
That only made me want to punch him. How could everything be all right if one of your friends was out there, possibly dead?
Roughly I shoved Sanji off of me and scooted away from him. "Nick...." I muttered. Somewhere in the depth's of my mind I heard Nami crawl over railing and ask what was going on. She had all of the bags that contained all the clothes we had bought and looked royally angry. And she had every right to be.
I faintly felt someone else's hands brushing away my tears but I knew I wouldn't be able to get rid of them like I had Sanji. Robin's arms had sprouted out of the floor wiping my eyes and offering me a tissue. "Y-y-you're about as bad as one of my friends." I muttered.
Luffy kneed down to my level. I felt his eyes staring at me for so long that I had to look up. "Yes, and your problem would be?" I asked sarcastically.
As a reply he sat down next to me. "What's the matter Taylor?" Chopper asked. I opened my eyes and he was only about three feet away from me.
I sighed. "Nami, you know that map you have?" she nodded. "Well my friend Nick had it. Before I appeared here."
Every one slowly let it sink in. "So you think he some how came here?" Usopp asked. I nodded my head. "Nick was the navigator of our little 'adventure.' I don't even know how it got in my back pocket."
"Was Nick anywhere near you when you fell? Maybe he dropped the map and it ended up in your pocket." Robin suggested.
I shook my head. "No, Nick wasn't anywhere near me when I fell. I know because the only people who were were my brother and Zane. The others were looking at other holes." I said. While they gave me a weird look they at least pretended to understand.
"Are you positive that no one else could have given you the map?" Zoro asked tiredly.
"Yes!" I sighed. "So now what? We can't just leave him out there!"
Nami crossed her arms in thought. "That's assuming he's even out there. Maybe some one else picked him up?"
"We can't risk it! We have to go back and look for him!" I said standing back up, knocking Luffy over in the progress.
"We can't go back. There is only forward on the Grand Line." she said. "What do you mean 'only forward?'" I asked.
Nami held her hand up showing me some weird compass. The Log Pose. "It sets in three minutes. There is no back." she said it with such a cold face yet her words held sadness in them.
"W-w-well then let's start right now! We might be able to beat it!" I sputtered. Everyone looked away from me, for they already knew the answer. "Fine then! I'll go look for someone who will actually help me!"
I said before running over to the ladder and climbing down.
I walked through the streets of the city. It was a average sized city, although it had more people living in it then most do. It seemed like the city never slept. There was constant noise, whether it be children laughing, people singing, or someone trying to sell some one something. Overall it was a pretty nice city. Although now I guess it's considered to be a town.
I hummed to myself as I walked through the town, not having a clue where I was going.
"Ugh! Dang roots!" I said as I pulled my self up. Since there was no way I could go back to the Straw Hats after the way I had blown up at them I had no where to go, so I resigned myself to go to the woods.
"Taylor you are an idiot." I told myself. "You know that there is nothing that they can do and yet you still get mad at them? In fact Zoro could have let you drown and yet you never even thanked him. You are a selfish jerk. To keep it g-rated." I criticized myself. Ever since that one day in seventh grade when I cursed in front of David, causing him to start cursing for the rest of the week, I had vowed not to curse. At least try not to.
The sun was about down and it was starting to get cooler. Nothing I couldn't handle though. Definitely since I would have to, seeing as how the Straw Hats had probably left by now.
"Way to go, Taylor. You go and lose the only people who were probably nice enough to help you." I said.
I looked up at the sky. "I know that I'm a selfish person but could you at least make sure that all my friends are okay?" I asked anybody in the skies who were listening.
Continuing on with my head lowered I walked up the side of one of the hills surrounding the mountain. It, besides my house, always had one of the best views of it. I sat down when I got to where I wanted to be and curled my knees up to my chest.
I sat listing all my bad qualities:
Selfish, a bit of a hothead, stubborn, loves to argue, naive, always unprepared, childish, and too many others. "Man, why didn't you guys just throw me back in the ocean when you had the chance?" I asked out loud. It was then that I realized that I had been talking out loud the whole time.
"We didn't throw you back because I know you are a good person." a voice said behind me. I jumped and turned around and saw Luffy standing there.
"When did you get there!?" I asked him. Had he heard everything I had said?
"I followed you as soon as you left. And you are not selfish." he told me. I snorted. "Oh, yeah I'm a perfectly selfless person to ask you guys-who have done so much for me- to take me somewhere, and then get mad when you say you can't."
Luffy shrugged his shoulders. "Hey just saying. I know if it was my friends in trouble I probably would have done the same thing." He sat down next to me on the slightly damp grass and held something out to me.
"What's this?" I asked him while taking a hold of it. Holding it out in front of me I could see that it was one of the jackets I had bought today with Nami. It was crimson with white wings on the back of it, and black swirling designs on the front.
I blinked at it before looking at Luffy. He had his head turned the other way looking away like he was embarrassed. "How did you-" he cut me off.
"Nami said you might need it if I found you. She said that there's suppose to be a cold front coming through.
I nodded and put on the jacket. My brain finally registered that I had been really cold, colder than most nights on this island. "But what about you? You don't have a jacket." I said to Luffy.
He finally turned so that he was looking at me. "I know. It's not that cold to me." I saw his arm twitch so slightly that at first I thought I had imagined it, until I saw the goosebumps on his arms. "Oh yeah?" I said to him. "Then why are you shivering?"
He blushed and looked away from me again. " 's nothing." he murmured.
I leaned over to him. He looked at me finally and sighed, "Okay! I'm cold! So what?" he asked.
"If you're cold you can have my jacket then." I told him.
"No way. You've been out here a lot longer than I have." he said standing up. I stood up too and took my jacket off. Instantly the hairs on my arms stood on ends at the cold, but I was trying to make a point. "Take the jacket!" I said shoving it against him.
"No." He said and shoved it back at me.
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Ye-" before I could continue my sentence I was falling. Right on top of Luffy. He yelped as he fell and hit the damp grass and I yelped as I crashed on top of him. Suddenly I felt something on my lips. I opened my eyes and was staring right into Luffy's eyes.
And our lips were pressed right together. Right as the moon light shone on the mountain.
Okay you guys I think I'm going to have to stop the chapter right here. I hope you guys have enjoyed the newest chapter! I think it coulda been better, but oh well. I hope you guys will review!!!
A thousand thanks to these reviewers!!:
Sora Tayuya
Thomas Drovin
Sweet Nightmare's Good byes ( I love the screen name by the way!)
Isuik
Onitsu Blackfeather
AnimeFreak81296
Star Hart
Xireana (thanks for reviewing twice!)
SakuraDagger15
And that ends the reviewers!
That's for the reviews and I hope that you guys review, it makes me write faster!
Happy Holidays!!!!!
