Author: YAY! NEW CHAPTER FOR WB! Happy IndependenceDay to all my American followers! Hope you guys had a great day and hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks for all your favs/follows/reviews! You guys are awesome!
—
" I'm sorry, what was that…?" Sabo said nervously.
" I'm not stupid, Sabo!" Koala snapped. " I know a panther scent when I smell it!"
" Calm down, Koala!"
" DON'T YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN, SABO!" Koala snapped pushing him away. " TO THINK I TRUSTED YOU FOR A MOMENT!"
" Koala-"
" YOU TOLD ME ABOUT HOW THEY HURT YOU TO GET ME ON YOUR SIDE! BUT COME TO FIND OUT YOU'VE HAD ONE LIVING AMONGST YOU THIS ENTIRE TIME!"
" You don't understand!" Sabo said grabbing her arm as she went to leave. " Robin-"
SLAP!
" SHE'S A PANTHER, SABO! ONE OF THE BASTARDS WHO SAID HURT YOU!" She yelled causing him to flinch. " HOW COULD YOU HARBOR ONE OF THEM AMONGST YOU? IF I WERE YOU I WOULD HAVE GUTTED THE BITCH FOR WHAT THEY DID TO YOU!"
" I can't kill her." Sabo mumbled weakly.
" AND WHY THE HELL NOT! WHY COULDN'T YOU KILL ONE OF THE VERY CREATURES THAT HURT YOU!"
" Because she helped us escape those bastards." Sabo growled letting go of her. " Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find Ai before something much worse than Robin does." With that he turned and walked out of the den.
—
Ai felt her heartbeat rapidly in her chest.
Looking around worriedly she hadn't had been able to locate a single trace of Koala. She needed to find her and then they could leave.
Leave and make it back to her father's pack.
Or maybe even the Amazon Pack.
Whichever was closer.
At this point she didn't care.
She didn't care about the pact between her Grandfather's pack and the Amazon's. She just needed to be far away from the freckled jackass with the extremely tempting lips.
She didn't need to be anywhere near him and his well toned body…and delicious scent.
Everything about that jackass pissed her off…it also made her entire body throb…especially in one certain place.
" Get out of my head." She whispered weakly. She didn't understand why that man continuously invaded her head.
Made her body seem as if it was on fire.
Made her head spin.
Made everything about her stand on edge and…
" Just get out…" She whispered to herself.
She needed to focus.
She need to find Koala and get out of this place…before that jerk invaded her thoughts and made her think of-
" Have you found her yet?"
Ai tensed when she saw the blonde man who had taken her friend in the center of the camp. He stood there angrily, with half his face covered with his blonde hair.
He currently was addressing another tall blonde male with a curly eyebrow. She couldn't place her finger on it but it felt like she had met him before.
" Where's my brother?" She heard him ask the blonde.
His question caused her too tense.
She didn't need the bastard she had escaped from searching for her. If he found her now then she didn't know what she'd do.
" Find her! She couldn't have gotten far!" The man growled.
She knew she couldn't risk staying here any longer. Ai needed to find Koala and get out here now!
" What are you doing here?"
Ai jumped at the sound of a curious female voice. Turning she saw an orange haired woman and with brown eyes watching her curiously from where she stood.
" Shouldn't you be with Ace?"
" Who are you?" Ai growled, grabbing a nearby jagged rock and angling it at the woman.
" Ai…" The woman said weakly. " You don't remember me either do you…"
The blunette eyed the woman before her warily. If she hadn't known better then she would have thought this girl was…
" Nami-chan…"
" Hi…" The woman said awkwardly. " Long time no see, Ai-chan."
" How are you here?"
" It's a long story…" Nami said as she stepped towards her. " You really shouldn't be out here."
" Are you a captive here too?"
" Too?" Nami said curiously. " What do you mean too?"
" Don't tell me you're in league with that perverted jackass!" Ai said in shock. The girl she remembered from childhood would never have teamed up with a person like her captor.
" Perverted j-j-ah balls…you mean he actually went through with that stupid plan!" Nami groaned running her fingers through her hair. " I told him it was stupid but did he listen? NOOOOO! IDIOT!"
" Uh…no offense but I need to Koala and get out of here."
" Ai, you can't leave the campsite! There're monsters out there."
" I'm not concerned about those so much as the pervert who captured me!" Ai snapped. " I can take care of myself, you know!
" If that were true, how would he have been able to capture you in the first place?" Nami teased causing a sudden redness to appear in the blunette's face. " How did he capture you?"
Ai's face reddened at the memory of her fight with the boy. " I'd rather not discuss it."
" Got in your head did he?" Nami laughed. " He's pretty good at that. It's why the Panthers hate him so much."
" They aren't the only ones." Ai grumbled.
" Ai…after all this time…he's had one goal in mind." Nami said quietly.
" Which is…?"
" Something you'll need to discuss with him." Nami said softly.
" I'm not discussing anything with him!" Ai snapped standing quickly. " I'm finding Koala and getting out of here!"
" Well, it's not going to be an easy task. The entire camp is on the lookout for you."
" Are you going to turn me in?" Ai asked backing away from her cautiously.
" Of course not." Nami said dismissively. " Yet…the more time they spend looking for you the less time Sanji has for me!" She said thoughtfully, placing a finger to her brow.
" Sanji?"
" Oh you never got a chance to meet him before the attack." Nami said smiling. She pointed to the blonde male with the spiral eyebrow. " That's him there. He's a little odd but he's perfectly safe. He's extremely flirtatious but don't let it get to you. He'd never do anything inappropriate to you."
" And how can you be certain?"
" Because I'd skin him alive for touching a female who isn't me." Nami snapped haughtily.
" Y-You mean the two of you are M-Mates?" Ai squeaked, her face reddening.
" Well yeah, of course." Nami stated coolly. " What's the deal with you? You're around Mating Age after all, surely you've sampled some of the other gender before." An evil smirk appeared across the girl's face when she saw the blunette's face redden even more.
" Ooooh! Could Whitebeard and Boa Hancock have kept you so sheltered that you've never interacted with males your own age!" Nami chided more and more causing the girl to the point that she almost fainted from embarrassment.
" They did, didn't they!" Nami said elbowing her. " No wonder he was able to rattle you so easily! Oh that's so precious!"
" Stop it! I've got other things to do!"
" Yes, yes you do!"
Ai tensed at an unfamiliar baritone voice from behind her. She turned to see a tall tanned skinned male with cucumber green hair. He stood a good head taller than Nami and a look of severe annoyance was upon his chisled face.
" Zoro." Nami said in annoyance. " What are you doing here?"
" Not being in my den with my Mate…because someone decided to slam their knee into-"
" That jackass deserved it!" Ai snapped crossing her arms.
" You hit him in his Maleness!" Nami said laughing suddenly. " Oh Spirits above he definitely deserved that! Oh my Spirits, I wish I had been there to see it!"
" Are you done?" Zoro grumbled before reaching over to grabbing ahold of Ai's arm.
WHAM!
" SHIT!" Zoro snapped clutching his nose in pain, blood trickling down his chin.
" Oh man, you deserved that!" Nami laughed even harder at the sight. " You should know better than to touch a female like that! Hasn't Robin taught you any manners by now?"
" Shut up, Nami!"
" Uncivilized shit head! I swear I have no idea why Robin tolerates you."
" Where do you think you're heading, Onna!" Zoro snapped glaring at Ai as she began to inch away.
" Far, far away from you idiots." Ai said.
" I take offense to that!" Nami said in annoyance. " I'm not an idiot, he is, but not me!"
" You're going back to your den where you belong!" Zoro said.
" Did you really just say something that disgusting? I swear, sometimes you act just like those bastard cats we ran from!"
" What?" Ai paused at the orange haired girl's words. " Nami…you haven't been with the panther's this entire time, have you?"
A chilling silence was her response.
" W-Was Ace…was he there with you too? Is he still alive?"
" Well now, you haven't had much of a heart to heart with you so called captor have you?" Nami said curiously.
" I want nothing to do with that pig!" Ai snapped angrily, her face reddening at the thought of him.
" Well, if you wanna know what happened to Ace…then you need to talk to the pig." Nami stated firmly. " You'll never know what happened otherwise."
" Why can't you just tell me?"
" Not my place too." Nami said coolly.
" Nami…"
" I can't, Ai." Nami said narrowing her eyes on the blunette. " We all went through some fucked up shit when we were with those bastards…what happened to Ace isn't for me or anyone else to tell. If you want answers then you need to talk to him. Only he can tell you."
—
" Have you found her yet?" Ace asked Sabo cautiously.
" No signs yet." Sabo said noting the concerned look on his brother's face. " We'll find her Ace, I promise you."
" When you do, maybe you should stop being an ass and have a little heart to heart with her." Nami's irritated voice said from the foliage off to his right.
" You found her?" Ace asked suddenly.
" Not hard…but yeah, we found her." Nami said as she Zoro walked towards them.
" Why didn't you bring her back with you?"
" Your woman packs one Underworld of a punch, Ace." Zoro said snapping his nose back into place.
" Oh my dear anata." Robin said kissing his cheek lightly. " Shall reward you for your bravery later."
" Mhm." Zoro muttered, his face reddening at the public display of affection he was currently receiving.
" Where is she?" Ace asked firmly.
" Near the rock alcove on the east side of camp." Nami sighed calmly.
" Why didn't you bring her back?"
" Well, for one! I'm not gonna force someone back here against their will! You can be the prick who does that!" Nami snapped poking the dark haired teen in the chest. " She's your Mate, Ace! You haven't even told her your name or that you're even alive!"
" Keep your nose out of this, Nami." Ace growled low.
" Don't you take that tone with me, asshole!" Nami snapped back. " You got me involved when you asked me to help locate her! If you hadn't been a pig then maybe she wouldn't have run off!"
" I didn't ask for your opinion, Nami." Ace growled before heading off in the direction the female stated.
" Asshole." Nami growled turning to see Sabo staring at her. " What?"
" Nothing." The blonde said innocently.
" Don't tell me you approve of what he's doing!"
" I don't but there's no changing his mind. He thinks he's doing something right here. He thinks this will keep her safe."
" He's a fucking moron."
" I agree," Robin said calmly. " Something like this could end up driving her further away from him."
" I know, I know but try telling him that." Sabo said calmly. " This is something he's going to have to find out on his own."