A/N: Sorry guys, for the long wait but I've been really busy. My teacher signed up my class for Saturday prep for the AP tests so now, guess what? My only free day just taken away! *Tears* I have some free Saturday's and this week was regents week so I just pulled this chapter out! (Is it true that only New York kids have regents? AH! Now you guys know where I live shhh shhhh keep that a secret!) Personally I thought it was fun to write this chapter, can't wait to get to Enis Lobby Arc! *fangirl scream* Because I was gone so long, I added a little present in the end of this chapter, so go on and read now!

I was writing this chapter all while listening to music, and for some reason all the songs that kept on popping up had the whole heartbeat beat going, so i took that as inspiration. Hehehe.

Note: Italics are either flashbacks or thoughts! Bold is used to emphasize!

IMPORTANT: If you have not read the manga/ seen the anime until past Water 7 or Post-Enies Lobby turn back NOW! Read at your own risk!

Disclaimer: Hey! Guess what I noticed? Some of the Whitebeard pirates that LOOK like girls are actually men! WTH? Guess that means I'm slowly taking One Piece and giving it a gender bender twist... no? Fine! GOSH! I don't own One Piece!


Chapter 11: Heartbeats

Thump, Thump... Thump, Thump

For some reason all Luffy could hear clearly was the steady beat of her heart, when she should have been more preoccupied with the fact that her crew screamed around her.

"Luffy we gotta leave! He's dangerous" she faintly recognizes Nami's high-pitched voice.

But all Luffy could do was stare at Aokiji, a lazy smile spread on his thin lips. The tall man looked as if he hadn't done anything wrong, as if he wasn't the enemy.

Thump, Thump... Thump, Thump

"Why isn't he moving?" Usopp's voice barely registered in Luffy's mind.

"We need to get Robin to the ship if we have any chance of saving her!" The small reindeer's hooves made click clak sounds against the rough ice.

"She's still alive; all you got to do is defrost her." Luffy saw rather than actually heard Aokiji say.

She licked her lips nervously and shivered at the sudden drop in temperature. "I thought you weren't here to cause trouble." The admiral shrugged.

"Then why? Why did you do that to Robin!" Luffy's voice boomed as she franticly pointed to the woman in question. Robin sat frozen in place, literally. The once cool beauty had been reduced to an ice sculpture, the rest of the crew fearing the admiral would do the same to them.

"I told you didn't I? Returning you would end this little pirate gang you have here. And in the process repay my debt I owe to your grandfather. Why don't you realize that this world you want to live in isn't meant for people like you, Straw Hat-chan"

Zoro let out a feral growl, Sanji tensed up on a similar manner.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW!" Luffy broke down and charged full force toward the admiral.

"I'm helping you, you fool." Aokiji froze Luffy's fist at the first impact it made with his chest. At the sight of this Zoro and Sanji charged attacking with everything, they had.

Their attacks were useless as the admiral simply froze the first limb that touched him.

Nami stifled a gasp as she reached for her Clima-Tact "He took down all three of our best fighters, we need to get Robin out of here." She whispered to Usopp who was ready to lift the frozen woman and run to the ship with Chopper.

"For God's sake don't save a woman like her" Aokiji stated as he lifted his hand with the intention of shattering Robin into a thousand pieces.

The monster trio still trying to save their own limbs wouldn't protect them now as Nami pulled the Clima-Tact out and blocked the punch aimed at Robin's figure.

"I won't let you hurt Robin-nee-san. The pirate world is supposed to be filled with women like her!" The navigator's temporary block was able to buy time for Usopp and Chopper to get away with Robin but angered the dangerous man she held back.

"Stand aside, woman." Aokiji flung Nami to the side easily and was prepared to freeze yet another pest as Luffy and the rest of the Monster Trio circled him.

"How dare you hurt a lady!" Sanji seethed, feeling a bit disheveled with one of his legs was frozen.

"I don't understand how men like you can agree to the fact that women can survive in a world like this. Shouldn't they stay safely at home? All they do is cause trouble for men." The tan admiral spoke his eyes never straying from Luffy's face.

"Shut the fuck up! Women can be as strong as men!"Zoro spoke through gritted teeth fully intending on slaughtering the man who spoke ill of Luffy. No, not only that; but he spoke ill of Kuina and all the other girls he met that surely could take any guy down.

"Stop!" Luffy's voice broke through the tangible tension in the air. "Take Nami and run back to the ship. I want to fight him mano a mano."

"You're not serious!" Nami lifted herself from the ground "You'll die!"

"Oi, don't do this! We can take him, all of us together!" Sanji attempted to grab Luffy's shoulder but was harshly pushed back by none other than Zoro.

"He said to go you idiot." The words passed through Zoro's chapped lips reluctantly as he started to walk away hurriedly, Nami running after him.

"Are you crazy? Why are you leaving him all alone?" She tried to hit the swordsman in the head but stopped herself when she saw the look on his face.

Leaving Luffy alone was affecting him the most. His face was set in a grim mask almost too tense for his own good. Nami feared a blood vessel would rupture if the swordsman didn't clam down.

Sanji hurriedly joined them, shaking his head in disbelief. Certainly, Zoro couldn't know about Luffy being a girl. And he certainly couldn't... love her. No way in hell would he have ever left her with a Supreme Admiral if he had. There was no way.

"Mano a mano, he said... mano a mano." Zoro managed to say through painfully gritted teeth.

Not believing she could take on that bulk of Admiral Shit, would be like agreeing with him. Luffy is stronger than that. Stronger than any woman I know. But why do I still feel like I need to protect her?


Meanwhile Chopper and Usopp hurriedly tried to thaw out Robin.

"My hand is freezing!" Chopper whined as his hooves made contact with frozen limbs.

"Robin is suffering much more than we are! We need to help her!" Usopp's voice came out shakily as he tried to maneuver the water from the shower to hit Robin directly.

"I'm doing everything I can!" Chopper dumped buckets of water carefully over Robin's frozen form only stopping when he heard shouts outside the ship. Even from inside the small bathroom he could hear them from way outside.

"Go check outside! I think their back I'll try to keep on defrosting her! If we add to much heat she might die, and if we don't go fast enough her heart will stop beating so go get Nami to help us!" The small reindeer shot out commands hastily and the long nosed boy quickly obeyed.


"Where the hell is Luffy?" Usopp shouted when he realized only Nami, Sanji and Zoro had come back.

"Shut up! We need to defrost!" Zoro shouted, he was in no mood to speak of how he had abandoned Luffy.

"Bu-but Robin's in the bathtub! Chopper said you guys need to put water on the frozen area and then just massage to get heat back in! Nami come help with Robin!" The long nose boy shouted from his position on the ship's deck.

Sanji and Zoro wasted no time in jumping straight into the ocean, the small part that hadn't been affected by Aokiji's blatant show of power.

After getting feeling back in their frozen limbs they quickly made their way onto deck where Usopp flooded them with questions, which Zoro had no patience to answer. Not when Luffy could possibly be suffering a painful death. Or even worse being kidnapped by the damn admiral and forcing her into a shotgun wedding! Zoro seethed at the idea.

"What the hell do you mean, captain's orders!" Usopp shouted noticing the steam coming off Zoro he warily stayed away and aimed his own anger at Sanji.

The blond could only mutter that it was man's dignity or something along those lines to distract the teen.

"Isn't it just cause' you're scared! You're so friggin cruel!" Usopp's rambling was cut short when Sanji took him by the collar and slammed him harshly on the door leading to the lounge.

"Shut the hell up! Try to fucking understand what a command is! What mano a mano means! You're such a friggin idiot! You think we wanted to leave him? You think I wouldn't have-" Sanji couldn't continue when he felt an immense dark aura surround him. Not even Usopp could flail around as he swallowed nervously and looked at Zoro's figure.

The green haired swordsman sat on the floor, his face contorted as if he was in pain. "Shut the fuck up. This isn't the time for you idiots to argue. This time is crucial, we need to be prepared...We need to be calm and prepare for the worst. This can be the end of us if something happens to Luffy. So why don't you calm yourselves down before I make you."

And no one spoke for a long time afterwords.


Thump, Thump... Thump, Thump

It was happening again, that feeling of not being able to hear anything but her own heart. Luffy carefully looked at Aokiji. The lump in her throat was beating like her heart and made her even more nervouse.

It was strange actually she had never been this scared stiff in a long time, not since she was a kid still living in the island with Ace.

Thump, Thump... Thump, Thump

Her heart had moved into her ears almost making it impossible for her to hear the wind rustle the grass. Aokiji waited for a response not even looking as if he was going to battle.

"Promise me, that that you won't touch my crew."

The tall admiral just shrugged casually, taking this as a sign Luffy attacked with all the power she had.

Shouting out her attacks one after another, using her rubbery limbs to strengthen the force of her punches. She became breathless in a matter of minutes, not even managing to touch Aokiji. Her fists were blue as if having frostbite but she paid no mind to the insane burning and stood her ground.

"You're a strange child." The admiral gave no time for Luffy to respond to his retort as he suddenly extended his arms as if to hug her.

In midst of the confusion Luffy didn't notice him whisper the words 'Ice Time' And suddenly everything had ceased to exist except the sound of her slowly beating heart.

Thump... Thump... Thu-

"Tsk, Tsk I got tricked by a mere little girl." Aokiji ran a hand through his afro "If I attack you're crew I would be breaking my promise, right captain?" The older man spoke to Luffy's figure frozen in a fighting stance.

The admiral raised his fist to shatter the small girl but stopped himself midway. "I don't feel as if killing you would be necessary... after all you did do the navy a favor by getting rid of Crocodile in Alabasta. And you're old man would probably be furious. Ah, this is so troublesome. You're just a weak little girl, nothing compared to me, I guess I'll be a bit lenient on you." His hand stroked Luffy's frozen cheek. "You would've made a good daughter in law, a wife to some marine or another. Too bad this world corrupted such a fine youth. You're grandpa wouldn't shut up about you when you were young...heh" With those last words Aokiji made his way towards the horizon looking for the bike he was traveling on. Yes, a small little bike not even a ship. Navy Admirals sure are strange creatures.


Hurried footsteps could be the only thing heard around the battlefield. Dress shoes and combat boots made their way carefully trying to avoid falling on the patches of ice visible everywhere.

"He's over there!" Sanji's clear voice shouted to Zoro who for some reason was faster than him. It seemed impossible, after all the damn marimo fought with swords Sanji's legs should have been stronger and taken him faster to where Luffy stood frozen in place. But that wasn't the case he had been lagging, following behind the swordsman who still held that heavy guilt atmosphere around him.

"Let's take him to the ship" Sanji seemed to be the only one willing to talk as Zoro just let out a breath of relief at seeing his captain not shattered in a million pieces.

"Oi marimo hurry u-" Sanji didn't even have enough time to yell at Zoro when he realized the swordsman had already taken Luffy's frozen figure and was running back carefully, while carrying the girl as best he could.

Sanji couldn't help but stare at Zoro's retreating back. The man acted as if he was the only one worrying about Luffy, like if he had the only right to save her. He couldn't help wondering what would it have been like if he had been the first person Luffy had recruited into the crew. His heart tightened at the though.

It wouldn't have been the same... Luffy found Zoro first for a reason. They shared a bond that Sanji felt was impenetrable by him. He felt like a third wheel even though he knew very well that Zoro probably didn't know about Luffy's gender. Probably...

And even though Sanji had become attached to the rubber girl he couldn't tell if it was the beginning of love or plain loyalty to his captain. Maybe Zoro had already gone through this dilemma and had decided... or maybe he was too dense to realize he was madly in love with the girl. That dumbass marimo, can't even express his feeling correctly.

Sanji made his way back to the ship just in time to see Zoro jumping into the sea Luffy in his arms. Robin was still in the bathtub the only choice to defrost Luffy was the sea, the salt in it would hopefully help dissolve the ice.

Sanji couldn't help but wonder who would help change Luffy into dry clothes... a nosebleed proceeded to spurt out and he was already yelling at Zoro to not do something lewd of he really would kick his brain out.

Zoro holding onto Luffy so she wouldn't sink into the sea because of her devil fruit abilities avoided the crew members glances so they wouldn't see the spreading blush on his face.


Thump...

"You can't be a pirate you're just a little girl."

Thump...

"A person like you isn't suited to be a Pirate."

Thump...

"Why can't you just act more womanly?"

Thump...

A vision of red hair made the voices of everyone else disappear from Luffy's groggy mind.

"We'll meet again when you accomplish your dream, anchor." The famous Red haired Shanks placed a beaten straw hat on the head of a crying child. "I'll definitely become a pirate!" The small seven years old, Luffy, hiccupped out through thick tears.

"Hmm just a pirate?" Shanks voice was a deep reassurance of her dreams.

"No. I wanna' be King of the Pirates!" Luffy squeaked out looking at her hero smile through heavy eyelids.

"AH! Really?" The older man let out a laugh "Then work hard, I'll wait for you kiddo. Catch up to me, you're probably already stronger than most of my men!" His deep laugh comforted her.

Thump...

It was possible to be a pirate right Shanks? Even amidst a world controlled by men, she could still hope to be pirate king. No. She would be Pirate King and show everyone that they were wrong.


"You idiot, why are you smiling in your dream? You almost died dumbass." Zoro whispered his head snuggled in the crook of Luffy's shoulder.

He was holding her to keep her warm of course. And Chopper had already said that Luffy was safe just as long as her heart kept on beating.

Sanji had wanted to keep her warm at first but like hell would he have let another guy touch Luffy. He lay carefully with Luffy on top of him in a bundle of blankets all in the comfort of the couch in the men's room of the ship.

It was nice, he could probably take the best nap in his life just laying there and holding Luffy close. His face heated up as he remembered what he had to go through to get here.

A brawl with Sanji over who would change Luffy out of her dripping wet clothes and only winning out of luck when Robin weakly opened her eyes and requested something hot to drink. Then he was stuck with the trouble, a voice in his head whispered 'pleasure', of changing Luffy.

It wasn't difficult she wore her usual attire of the red vest and jean shorts so all he had to do was hurriedly take them off. No problem right? Wrong.

He had decided way before that he would leave her chest bindings and underwear, after all they shouldn't be that soaked. But every time he tried to unbutton either her vest or her pants, it all went downhill.

It had come to a point where he had to blindfold himself with his bandana in order not to panic and with trembling hands he had managed to change Luffy into one of his overly large shirts. It was the only clothes that were close enough plus he didn't want to go through her belonging. It had nothing to do with the fact that he liked seeing her in his clothes. Nothing.

He wasn't possessive of her. Not at all! The fact that he would growl and glare at anyone who interrupted his time holding the unconscious girl didn't mean he was possessive. Nope.

Zoro's face furiously changed into a scarlet color. He began reciting his mantra again.

"Ne, Zoro you heartbeat is really loud." A soft groggy voice came from the bundle he was holding.

Ah fuck!

Unconsciously Luffy moved to the heat source and listened. This heartbeat was a lot better sounding than her own. It made her think that she was not alone in her pursue of her dream.

"I wub Zoooro he the besssst firb mate" Luffy quietly said with a bit of difficulty from being muffled into Zoro's chest.

The swordsman stayed completely still not knowing what to do, his heartbeat quickening. It felt horrible like his heart was going to jump out but he stayed still and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Yeah..."

Zoro wanted to slam his head badly against the wall. What the fuck! He just said 'yeah' dumbly? He could've said something else like 'me too' but then that-

THAT MEANT HE LOVED HER!

Then wait- was she talking about love, love or love, love? His head pounded in confusion until he heard small snores escape her lips. Thank god, that was over. Now he could just try and calm himself down. Maybe he should've just let Chopper warm her up after changing her.

His face heated up again. He cursed his unstable emotions.

I'm going to stab my heart with Wado if it doesn't calm the fuck down!


Upstairs in the deck Sanji poured Nami a hot cup of tea; she was studying the map in her hands carefully when Usopp initiated a conversation from his position rolling on the floor.

"Are we going to run into more... strong guys like that?" The long nosed teen stared at the older two in his presence. Nami and Sanji gave each other questioning looks before Nami answered quietly while blowing on her tea.

"Of course, there's plenty of people in the world stronger than us... stronger than Luffy." She shuddered thinking about how the boy looked so fragile in his unconscious state.

"That's why we have to get stronger too... to help him" Sanji inserted looking down on the tanned teen

"I'm just glad it's all over... now we can just relax and find someone to fix Merry and hopefully... not run into people like that again." Usopp slowly let his eyelids drop wishing that when he opened them everything would be better.

"Don't worry Luffy is strong... that kid will never die!" Nami asserted herself, nervously laughing.

"Yeah..." Usopp told himself quietly.


Poke

Poke

Poke

The green haired swordsman batted the hand away, maybe the annoying pest would go away like that.

JAB!

"Wha-" Zoro opened his eyes, vein throbbing and ready to punch someone out when he came to his senses.

"Neee... Zoro? I wana' leave, it morning already what if we reached the new island already?" Luffy questioned from above, Zoro's hand held her hip tightly to his body.

Quickly the swordsman let go mumbling apologies and not daring to look up. Once freed from Zoro's grip Luffy had gotten up and was prancing around looking for her clothes. The sight of her small frame with an overly big shirt, was far too dangerous for Zoro.

His eyes were glued to the floor. His ears perked at the rustling of fabric, surely she wouldn't get changed there would she?

No... Luffy wasn't that careless to get changed right in front of him... right?

Aw fuck. Who was he kidding.

Zoro was brought out of his thoughts when a shirt came flying to his face. "That was you shirt right Zoro?" Luffy piped up buttoning the last button to her usual vest.

Zoro guffawed nervously. Would she put the pieces together? Or was she too dense to notice that he knew her secret.

"I wonder why Robin changed me into your clothes... Hnnn... It's a mystery!" Luffy tapped a finger against her lip questionably.

"Robin?" Zoro asked more to himself than to Luffy.

"AH! Is Robin okay? She didn't die right? NO! I like Robin!" Luffy shouted propelling herself towards the staircase to go out and find the woman in question.

Zoro was left alone in his thoughts. "Tsk."

I knew it. That woman knew all along. Fuck. Maybe it's a good thing? She hasn't turned into a traitor and seems to care for Luffy... And as long as she's here to take care of her I don't need to repeat yesterday's changing incident...

Zoro didn't know if he was a bit disappointed or thankful.


"Shishishishi!" Luffy snickered as she ran up from behind Robin and hugged her frame.

"Robin is okay! Now we can continue our adventure together!" Appearing much like a monkey Luffy clung to Robin and shouted to Nami "Where's the next island? We need to find a cool shipwright!"

"A new nakama!" Chopper cheered

"Uh huh! And He's gunna' be supper cool!" Luffy walked towards the small reindeer.

Usopp pulling out a random sketchpad drew a doodle of his ideal shipwright, a man that surprisingly held a striking resemblance to himself. Luffy getting exited snatched the book from Usopp and began drawing her shipwright.

"No! The shipwright needs to be a lady! There is already too many smelly guys on board this damn ship!" Sanji fumed worried that another man would corrupt Luffy.

Zoro appearing from the hatch on the floor that led to the men's room yawned in irritation. His eyes bulged out dramatically when he saw what Luffy drew, a man in a Speedo with muscles! What kind of man did she plan on having on this ship? Was that her type? Wasn't he good enough? And who the fuck went around only wearing a Speedo?

Zoro's face went grim.

Maybe he should wear a Speedo?


It was warm outside when Sanji decided to feed the crew his new dish, thinking it was appropriate to wash out any of Luffy's strange ideas about men in Speedos.

Giving the plate of food to Luffy, she calmed down immediately and chose to look at the ocean while swinging her feet idly.

The blond chef had refused to feed Zoro and a mini fight broke out...yet again. They immediately stood to a halt when they heard Luffy scream in excitement.

The crew turned to see what their captain was pointing to in the vast sea. "IT'S A FROG! AND ITS SWIMMING FREE STYLE!" The captain's eyes were full of starts as she was prepared to lunge herself at it, Usopp and Chopper being at her immediate sides had to catch her before she could go anywhere.

"There is no way a frog can swim like tha- AHHH! CATCH THAT FROG!"Nami yelped after spotting the immense creature next to their ship.

"Follow him! If we catch him maybe we can get a butt load of beli!" Nami's mind already reeled with money signs.

"Forget about that! We can make him into BBQ!" Sanji commented helping the guys steer their ship towards the frog.

Suddenly the frog stopped pushing the ship away from its path. "What the? How can it be so strong to move the ship?" Usopp questioned his eyes and everyone else's going wide when they saw a huge ship coming directly towards the frog.

"Get out of there ! You'll get killed by that weird steam puffing ship!" Luffy screamed franticly, the frog paid no attention and was hit head on with the ship. He was thrown somewhere far away.

The pirate crew couldn't believe their eyes while facing the immense ship. They had never seen anything like it before. Steam boats were too heavy to float like that, how could it possibly be in the middle of the ocean?

Following the course of the train the crew found a small lighthouse just in the middle of nowhere, a small creepy child who didn't stop smiling ran towards them holding her rabbit.

"EH! Granny, Granny! It's Pirates! Pirates! Are we in trouble!" She sounded worried yet the wide smile never left her face.

An old lady stepped out, but immediately fell to the ground. Whether it was her weight that kept her down or the amount of liquor in her system the crew couldn't tell.

"Pirates? Huuuur! Wha- brings ya hereee?" The old lady's drunken slur caught the pirates attention. "Ya aren't here to steal my train?"

"No! We're just looking for an island to fix our ship and find a shipwright!" Nami tried to sooth the woman and her grandchild.

"Oh I see! Ya'll aren't that bad then I guess!" The old woman spoke warily, her drunken slur apparently gone.

"I'm Chimney!" The strange child perked up "This is Gonbe the cat!" She pointed towards the rabbit at her feet "This is Granny Kokoro!" Her hand extended towers the old woman already drinking from a rum bottle that appeared magically.

"What you just saw wasn't a boat! It was Puffing Tom! He's the first of his kind! A train on rail tracks running on top of the ocean, amazing right! Ya probably saw Yokojina! He's a stubborn frog who won't stop trying to prove his strength and keeps on getting hit by Puffing Tom. He won't die from a hit like that! He'll just come back to compete again." She said all this in a matter of seconds, her broad smile never fading.

"Ah! Is that so! I won't eat hardworking animals! Sanji you can't cook him!" Luffy scolded the blond cook, while the girl just laughed.

"So where are you guys going?" Granny Kokoro questioned.

"We need to go west, that's what the log post says. But were looking for a shipwright." Nami answered back, having adopted the position as speaker of the crew.

"Ah! Then ya need to go to Water Seven. You'll find everything you need and more. Or you might lose something precious. Oh who knows?" The granny spoke laughing all the while. "Take this, it's a letter of recommendation, to Iceberg he'll be sure to fix ya ship up good!" The wide toothy grin didn't disappear from the old woman's face even after the pirates turned around to board their ship.

"Water Seven sounds really cool!" Luffy pumped her fist in the air in excitement.

"Yeah... We'll trade in our gold we got in Skypiea for Beli and then hire a good shipwright." Nami calculated the amounts in her head.

The granny's warning rung in everyone's mind as they navigated the ship towards the new island.

Water Seven would be sure to bring a new adventure for the Pirate crew.


Preview for next chapter:

Zoro brought his arm around her and smothered her in a hug. Her tears wetting his shirt, but none of that mattered as he stroked her back to pacify her.

"Shhhh Don't cry I'm here." His words sounded so much like her brothers that she couldn't help but clutch on to his chest.

"I won't... ever... leave you" Zoro's breath mingled with her own. Their faces were so close that he rested his head on her forehead, consumed with the idea that maybe he did in fact love her.

A/N: You guys like my little gift above? *smiled widely* A Preview! AMAZING! I'm still questioning whether I should you know-

Or do you? I think you do know... If you don't it'll be a surprise! We'll till next time folks! Thanks for all the reviews I really love them all they make me want to write faster (this chapter was 12 pages!) so please review if you like the story, if you don't well ugh... I don't know what to tell you... Anyways next chapter hopefully will be full of emotion and angst! Everyone likes a good angst! I want to develop Luffy and Zoro's relationship a bit more, Sanji is kinda more on the- I still don't know if I like her more than all the other girls I like. Haaaaa! See you next time!