Heart Fire Burns Brighter

Chapter 11

By dinnertime, Sage-san was still asleep in her afternoon nap, so Chopper thought it best to wake her up so she could eat. As the doctor explained to them, her diet would have to be controlled in order for her to gain back her weight. All of the crew decided to go along, taking with them a whole lot of snacks to enjoy in their room.

Everyone sits around her. In chairs, beds or even the floor. She wakes up looking a little scared of her surroundings, in Nami's opinion, but calms down quickly as she looks around. Leaning against the headboard, Sage starts to eat the offered food gladly, silently observing everyone as the others eat and talk raucously.

As Nami regards their new companion, who is smiling gently at the guy's antics, she can't help but conclude that the woman would fit right in. Especially considering the seemingly easy understanding she has with their captain.

'Does she realize she is already part of our little motley crew?' Nami wonders. 'Does she even know what being in a pirate crew entails? Perhaps I should make sure.'

"Sage-san." Said woman looks over at her, a questioning expression on her face.

"Our captain is a little air-headed, if you hadn't noticed, so I am sure he hasn't told you of our decision in regards to you. Has he?"

"Your decision in regards to me?" Sage-san asks a little hesitantly, looking around at the others confusedly. "I don't think he told me anything on that subject." She looks inquiringly at Luffy.

"I decided you are going to be part of my crew! You are our new nakama*!" Is Luffy's excited announcement.

The cuffed woman stares perplexedly at the captain, blinking repeatedly. 'I already know how blunt Luffy is, and yet, I am still surprised by his total lack of regard towards other people's free will.'

"He means to say we would like for you to be in our crew and for you to come with us on our ship when we leave Alabasta." Nami slowly corrects , trying to show Sage she has a choice in the matter.

Her gaze becomes very serious then, with a solemn quality to her eyes as she stares at each one of them. The navigator feels like they were been analyzed, their souls examined to their deepest corners. As that gaze passes her, she releases the breath she didn't know she was holding.

As their captain, the last one, is studied, Sage-san's face splits open into a grin.

"Ok."

"What?! Simple like that?! Don't you want to know exactly what being in a pirate crew involves? You need to know about…" Nami is interrupted.

"Nami-san, I already knew everything I needed to know to make a decision, except for one thing. I needed to know if you all wanted me. And now I have my answer." Her gentle look as she answers transforms into a beautiful smile.

As the others hear this, they jump in the air, screaming their gladness, welcoming their new nakama. Nami is still reeling with the other woman's rapid decision-making, thinking again she will fit right in, being so reckless. Then she smiles also, going to congratulate the new crewmate, but stops in her tracks and almost face-plants the floor as she hears Sage-san's wondering question:

"So… you are pirates?"

She still did not know much about them, only what she was able to discern of their actions and intentions in the last few days since they met, as well as the little she could see of their souls. However, what she could perceive made her very confident in accepting their sincere offer.

'Pirates. Who would have thought I would come to be a pirate someday? Ha! The Chosen-One-Who-Lived-To-Become-a-Pirate!' The twins would have had a blast.

"So… you are pirates?" She asks, wanting to know more about her new friends and of what exactly she had gotten herself into.

"Yeah! We are pirates! One of the best pirate crews there is! We have a cool ship called Going Merry and we are traveling the Grand Line to find the famous One Piece." Says Usopp, very enthusiastically.

'Merlin! What have I got myself into! I don't know anything about sailing! Or even about this sea!' I look at their faces, most have an excited glint in their eyes, if not a smile of anticipation. 'I will just have to learn.'

"I'm sorry. I don't know much about sailing. What is the Grand Line and this One Piece?"

There is a short silence, in which they look at me bemused, before Luffy answers.

"The Grand Line is a very exciting sea, where we can meet a lot of fun people and encounter a lot of interesting places! You'll like it!"

"The Grand Line is known to be dangerous, riddled with powerful pirates, wild creatures and unusual islands. We want to cross it to find the One Piece, which is said to be the greatest treasure of all, left behind by the Pirate King." Nami corrects the captain again.

"We all have different dreams and goals, but we came together as a crew because with this common goal we have a bigger opportunity of realizing our individual dreams." Sanji calmly continues.

"Yeah! I will be the Pirate King!" Luffy exclaims determinedly.

"I want to draw a map of the world!" Nami enthuses.

"I will be the World's Greatest Swordsman." Zoro says coolly, with a confident smirk.

"I want to be a Brave Warrior of the Sea!" Is Usopp's dream.

"I want to find the All Blue, the greatest sea, with the greatest ingredients." Is the cook's words around his cigarette.

"I… I… I want to be a… a great doctor! A doctor able to cure any disease and heal any wound." Chopper's answer is hesitant at first, but by the end, his sureness appears.

I stare admiringly at them, so certain of themselves. Their confidence is empowering. 'What wouldn't a person be able to do with these people by their side?'

"What is your dream, Sage-san?" Luffy asks curiously.

'My dream?' I gaze at him considering. 'What is my dream?' Looking down at my hands, bound in restraints, I know.

"I want to find a way to be free from these restraints. I want to be free again." I state wistfully, gazing back up at the captain. "That is all I have wanted for almost three years." 'That, and to die, but they don't need to know that, especially as I do not desire death anymore, anyway. Not since I met them.'

The others stare at me solemnly after my answer. They them look at each other, before Usopp questions:

"Your restraints, Sage-san? We examined them a little while you were unconscious, but we couldn't find a way to break them. We couldn't even understand how they were put on you, or what their purpose was. If you tell us a little about them, maybe we could help you."

'How were they put on?' The sudden memory makes my body jerk in place, my breathing speeding up.

I had been paralyzed by the betrayer's poison, my body immobile and rigid, not unlike the effects of the petrification curse. I could move only my eyes, fear coursing through my veins. As I was tied to a stone chair, more Unspeakables arrived. They entered my line of sight carrying the restraints, which were closed rings of dull metal, ordinary looking, even though they sent a chill through my soul.

The hooded wizards advanced the cuffs towards my skin. The one near my neck took a pyramid shaped amulet made of the same stone out of their robes and touched it to the choker. As he did that, all the restraints shone with an inner light, bright runes appearing on their surface. While they shone, the Unspeakables advanced them even further, until they became liquid metal, going through my arms, legs and neck, and encircling them snugly. As that was finished, the wizard near my head separated the choker from the amulet, making all of them stop shining.

As the last light died down, I felt a sudden spreading coldness. Pain beyond measure running through my soul, through my core. The terror was unbearable as I felt a deep emptiness. What was happening? I looked for help in my usual source in such confusing and scaring situations: my magic. I could hardly find it! They were stealing my magic! To have that warmness, my fire, that near sentient being that had always been there for me as long as I could remember, stolen away from me, was like having a piece of your soul ripped off of you. Why were they doing this? What had I done to deserve this? Why…?

"…Sage-san?! Sage-san?!" A gasp leaves me, as I am startled out of my flashback. My breathing coming out in pants, I look up at Chopper as he shakes my arm.

"What…?" I am very confused for a moment, but then I remember our conversation.

"Oh. My restraints. Sorry, I…I was just… remembering." My voice is tremulous as I try to regain my bearings. My clasped hands finely shaking in my lap.

"It's alright, Sage-san. You don't have to tell us now." Is Usopp's assurance. All of them looking at me in concern.

I look at them with a watery, minute, smile. "I… I… It's ok. I… I'll tell you what I know about them."

I take a deep fortifying breath before starting. "These restraints are not like the ones you know about. You won't find another set like this anywhere in the world. They were made to suck the recipient's… power until they are left with only the bare minimum to survive. The only way to take it out or put them on is… is with a special… key, which turns the cuffs to cuffs-shaped liquid and allows things to easily pass through them."

They listen attentively to my words, their expressions serious or perplexed.

"But then we only have to find the key to free you!" Luffy concludes happily.

I stare at him with a sad smile. "We can't, Luffy-san. The only existing key is unreachable. You could say… it does not… does not exist anymore. That is…That is why I have to find another way to open these restraints. Maybe even create a new way."

"Oh. That is awful, Sage-san!"

"It doesn't matter! We will help you find a way!"

"Yeah! And what better place to look than the weirdest sea in the world!"

"We will surely find what you need here, my dear. You don't have to worry!"

Their reassurances bring tears of thankfulness to my eyes and a tremulous smile to my mouth. 'With companions like these, what can't I do?'

*Nakama – from the site : is a Japanese word that directly translates to friend, comrade, and under some context such as One Piece, crewmate. Many fans of the series believe the word means "people who are considered closer than family".

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Thanks to darkworkangel, Opinr, 917brat, PokemonNarutoLover and simplicityexe for reviewing.

Thanks to BetterWithThree101 for Beta-reading!

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