'Kind-hearted and warm' her people called her. 'A selfless girl fit to be queen one day'. But at this moment, Vivi felt so selfish she could have bursted. She stared out the window and sighed. She wanted her friends to come back. She wanted to spend more time with them. She wanted to have more adventures. But she knew, as much as she wanted, it would never happen. The Straw Hats were off galivanting in the New World, and all the news she ever heard from them was public. The Straw Hats claiming Fishman Island. The Straw Hats wreaking havoc in Dressrosa. The Straw Hats challenging one of the Yonko. She loved hearing about them, but she so desperately wanted to know the smaller, more intimate details. The details that were never printed. The details that made her Nakama unlike any other crew traveling the Grand Line. She longed to laugh at Usopp's jokes, and discuss beauty products with Nami. She yearned for for Sanji's cooking, which topped that of any chef in the palace. She craved a quiet and peaceful moment with Zoro, and she lusted for the days where she knew nothing but silence.

Now, the palace was bustling with activity, and Vivi hardly had a moment to herself. It'd been almost a week that she'd seen Father, and his officials were always rushing around too. She had plenty on her plate as well. Not that she minded too much. She'd known as soon as she was born that the voice of a nation was loud but hard to hear. It was Vivi's job to decipher that voice, and project it into one, clear tone. Which was pretty difficult, considering the people of Alabasta were rather strongly opinionated. All day she would read letters upon letters of complaints, and it killed her that she couldn't just take her beautiful country in her hands, and heal it in an instant. Crocodile had caused so much hurt, and she just wanted it to all go away. But even Chopper couldn't instantly fix so many broken hearts, spirits, and hopes. Some would say Vivi was naïve, but she knew that her country, her people, could be strong. She just had to give them hope. She needed to extend that hand for them to grab onto. For those who latched on, she would do anything in her power to pull them out of the deep pit they'd fallen into. It was difficult, knowing that many were too broken and untrusting to ever take hold of the Nerfertari's hands again. The king and his daughter held much blame upon their shoulders, a lot of which was unjustified. But Vivi didn't mind. She would much rather them blame her than each other. There'd been enough fighting in this country already.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by a knock on her door. Without even looking, she knew immediately who it was.

"Come in, Pell," she said, not moving an inch from her window.

"Hello, Princess Vivi," said Pell, "how are you today?"

Vivi made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a laugh.

"Well," she began, "In the last 4 hours, there have been 32 reports of protests against the monarch and his family, 13 incidents of compulsive and neurotic water-stealing, and more than 50 pirates-for-hire found to be hired by Neslea Kingdom to assasinate Father. And this is in the capital alone."

Vivi could almost hear the smile in Pell's voice.

"It grieves me so that you have been so caught up in your work that you've forgotten a major event that is taking place today. I'll just leave the notice here for you, and you may examine it at your leisure."

"Thank you Pell," replied Vivi, blowing a strand of hair off her face. She heard Pell shut the door behind him, and she turned around to see a white box sitting on her bed. Curious, she untied the red ribbon holding it together, and the box unfolded to reveal a little cake, deorated with icing flowers and a chocolate placard. The placard read 'Happy Birthday Vivi! Love Daddy, Igaram, Chaka, Kohza, Carue and Pell'. A separate piece of paper stood apart from all of this. She unfolded the paper, and gasped. It was a note from all the Straw Hats, wishing her Happy Birthday. Even the new ones Vivi didn't know. She recognized Luffy's messy scrawl, and Nami's neat printing. Usopp's dramatic curves, and Zoro's stick straight lines. And all of Sanji's tittles* replaced with little hearts. Why, she even remembered Ms. All Sunday's cursive writing, having worked at Baroque for so long. A large grin started to grow on Vivi's face, slowly taking over her features until she was just one, big ball of happiness. It seemed that, no matter how far the Straw Hats were, and no matter how busy her loved ones are, they would always find time for her, and she supposed that's what mattered most after all.


One had to be a little insane to join the Kid Pirates. Maniacs they were, tromping around in their big black boots and crushing whoever came in their paths. Their captain, Eustass Kid, was probably the most psychotic out of all of them. Undeniably strong, his eyes blazed with a static fire everytime he killed a new opponent, so Killer tried not to let him do it. He would always step in, scythes in hand, and push off the offenders. He would cringe each time he saw blood, knowing it was his fault and that he had caused them pain, but if it kept Eustass quiet and them alive, it was well worth it. Sure, the redhead would complain about it, saying 'Why'd you step in?' and 'I can handle this!' and Killer had no doubt he could. But if Kid led all the crew on a rampage, no one, not even Blackbeard himself, could stop them.

So Killer was the straight man. And he didn't mind. Every crew needed a straight man. Someone to pull them back from the brink of insanity. Someone to tell them that ravenous murder wasn't the way to go. Loyal to his captain, Killer would serve him to no end, and if that meant keeping him stable and anchored, he would do so without hesitation.


A.N.: I love Vivi. She is just such a darling. And Killer was a bit hard; we haven't got much information on him, so I did more reflection than really situational like in Vivi's part. But I think it turned out well! Reviews, Favourites, Subscriptions, and Requests are welcomed and appreciated. I'll see you tomorrow for Brownbeard!