Alley and Luffy have finally arrived at his ship but now will she ever have the courage to say anything?

Chapter 10

I climbed up on the deck. I was nervous about what I would find. What I saw was the whole crew, minus Nami, Chopper, and Vivi, lounging on the deck. Robin was reading. Zoro was sleeping. Sanji was sitting in the corner smoking. Usopp was inventing something. Franky was up in the crows nest keeping watch and Karoo was sitting there looking lost.

"I brought a friend!" Luffy announced to everyone on deck.

"Who is it, Luffy?" Sanji asked.

"She's right here!" Luffy said.

I stepped forward and stood beside him. "Um...hi everybody." I said nervously.

There was a dead silence on the deck. Luffy said, "Guys? Hey!!! Guys!!! What's wrong?!!!"

"Why did you bring her here Luffy?" Sanji asked. He stood up and was walking towards Luffy. His expression changed from calm to angry very fast.

Luffy backed up a step. "What do you mean?" he asked Sanji.

"She hurt my Vivi-san!" Sanji yelled. He raised his foot and brought it dangerously close to Luffy's head.

"Stop!!!!" I yelled as a ran between them. "I came here to say I was sorry!!!"

"What?" Sanji asked. He was taken offguard. He slowly lowered his foot.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that to Vivi." I said. I hung my head.

"So, you really did do that?!" Usopp asked in astonishment.

"Yes. And, I can't really explain why but I realized that she didn't deserve it and I'm sorry." I said.

They all looked at me. Even Zoro had woken up to listen and Franky had poked his head out of the crow's nest. There was silence.

I finally got up the nerve to ask, "Is she...I mean is she...okay?"

Sanji was the first to recover. "She's with Chopper." was all he said.

I stood there. I wasn't sure what to do.

Luffy grabbed my wrist and started dragging me along toward the door that led below deck. "Come on!" he said.

"I...I'm not so sure about this!" I said nervously.

"It's fine!" Luffy said.

We ran down until we stood in front of a door. Luffy knocked and called out "Hey! Chopper!!! Let us in!!!"

The door opened and there stood Chopper. He looked annoyed. "Luffy! Don't be so loud!" he cried. "Vivi's resting!" That's when he noticed me. "Oh! What sre you doing here?" he asked. He looked at Luffy for an explination.

"She came to see Vivi." Luffy explained.

"I...I want to appologize for earlier." I said.

Chopper gave me the same look that the rest of the crew had.

"I realized some things. I was wrong and I want her to know that." I said. Vivi's words about it never being to late to talk, echoed through my head. She was right. It was never to late. I guess that's why I was here.

"Umm...okay." Chopper finally said. "She hasn't woken up. Come back in a couple of days." With that he slowly closed the door.

"I've gotta go." I said to Luffy. "It's getting late."

"Let me walk you there." he said suddenly.

"Okay." I agreed. I was a bit surprised by this jester, but I gladly accepted.

As we walked out on deck, the crew all said goodnight to me. I was surprised. After all, I had practically killed their friend. I was glad they had forgiven me though.

Me and Luffy arrived at my ship just as the sun went down. It was dark but my crew had left a few lanterns out on deck. I was glad because otherwise, I would have tripped and fallen. I guessed they were eating diner in the galley. I turned to face Luffy. "Do you want to meet them?" I asked. "You said you wanted to."

"Sure!" he said excitedly.

We climbed up on the deck. "I'll go get them. Wait here. I want it to be a surprise." I said. He stayed on the deck while I went down to the galley. I could hear voices. I smiled as I heard the familiar sounds of a fight over food. I opened the door.

Sandra looked up. "It's about time." she said.

"Yeah, well you see-" I stopped. There was just no way to explain my day. "I have someone who wants to meet you guys." I said. "The are waiting on deck. Come on!" I said excitedly.

They looked at me. Then they slowly stood up and followed me to the deck.

"Guys, meet Monkey D. Luffy, the Pirate King." I said proudly.

Luffy smiled and gave a little wave.

The crew stared in awe. Then slowly, one at a time, they kneeled. I was surprised. Then I realized just what the title "Pirate King" meant. It was really true that the whole world was at your command and that they all bowed to you.

"You guys don't have to do that." he said.

They stood up. Sandra stepped forward. "It's an honor to meet you. I've heard a lot about you." she said with a quick glance in my direction. "My name is Sandra."

"I've heard about you too." he said, once again looking at me. I shrugged.

It went on like this for a little while. Each member got a turn and talked to him. Then, when he had met everyone, we all went down to the galley and finished dinner. The whole time, they kept staring at me and him. I knew I had a lot of explaining to do. Oh well. It was worth it. When we were finished, everyone went to their quarters. I walked Luffy out onto the deck.

"I guess it's time to say goodnight." I said.

"Yeah." he reluctantly agreed.

I leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed slightly. "Goodnight." he mumbled and climbed down and walked towards his ship.

"I'll come by tomorrow!!!" I called after him. I didn't know if he had heard. I reluctantly left the deck and went to my quarters to go to bed.

When I entered my cabin, Sandra wasn't there. "Oh boy." I sighed when I saw that the hatch that led to the balcony on the roof was open. I knew she wanted an explination. I climbed up onto the small balcony.

"I thought you would join me." Sandra said.

"I figured you would want an explination." I said with a sigh.

"Yeah. Espcially after what I saw you do on the deck a minute ago." she said with a small giggle.

I blushed. "You know how I feel about him!" I said giving her a little shove as I sat down beside her.

"Yeah. So, are you going to explain where you were all day? I had to watch the crew all day while you were off gallivanting all over the island." she said with a smile.

I decided to explain. And that's just what I did. I told her everything, no matter how hard it was to say. I did leave out what had happened on the cliff with Luffy. The part where he put his arm around me and the little moment we shared. That was my personal life. If I shared it, it would be like opening up my little world, and I wasn't ready to do that, even to Sandra.

When I was done, she just nodded as if she wasn't surprised. "So, just another typical day." she said.

We sat there a minute, just looking at the sky and enjoying the beautiful night. I wasn't enjoying it much though. There was something else on my mind. I finally decided to say something. "Sandra?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Hm?" she replied.

"Can I ask you something?" I said.

"Sure." she replied.

"How do you tell somebody you love them?" I ask her.

She thought for a minute. "I guess you just have to get up the courage to say it. There's really no other way. You just have to say it. I love you. It's hard though." she said.

"Very hard." I agreed.

She looked at me. I realized what I had just said. "How would you know?" she asked.

"I...ummm..." I knew I wasn't getting out of this one. "I've tried to tell someone before. That's all." I said and went back to staring at the sky.

Sandra continued to look at me. "So, you really like him that much?" she asked.

"He who?" I said innocently.

"You know." she replied.

I sighed. "Yes." I said. "And I want to tell him, but every time I try, the words just won't come."

She smiled. "You'll figure out a way to tell him. I'm sure of it." she said. She was quiet for a minute, then said "So, now that you've found him again, what are you going to do?"

I was a little startled. I hadn't really thought about what I was going to do yet. I finally answered, but I chose my words carefully. "Sandra, what would you do if I ever had to, you know, leave the crew?" I ask her.

"I would be captain." she answered simply. I could tell that she already knew what I was thinking.

"Then, if I left, you guys would be fine, and go on without me?" I asked.

"Yes. You know I would take care of the crew." she said. "If you want to go..." she trailed off. I already knew what she was going to say.

"If I want to go with him, then you'll take care of them." I finished for her. "Do you really mean it? I'll stay. I mean, this is my crew and-" but she cut me off by holding up her hand.

"Go with him. I knew this day would come." she said.

I felt my eyes starting to water. "Thank you." I said.

"So, now you'll have to figure out how to tell the rest of the crew." she said as she stood up. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I said. I sat there for a while. When I finally knew what I was going to say to them, I went to bed.

So, what will Alley say to her crew? Can she really leave them?