Chapter 21

"There he is." Sanji stated as the group finally walked away from the Square, in search for their captain. There were still some quarrels between the Rebels and the Royal Army but it came to a stop when Chaka and Igaram returned. Amaya didn't have the chance to meet either of them but the crew was very surprised to see Igaram's return. They were now standing before an aged man that was filled with scraps and wounds, carrying an unconscious Luffy on his back. "That guy on your back… Thank for carrying him out here. He's with us. We'll take him from here."

"So you're the pirates that brought Vivi back to this country?" The man asked, his face not showing a hint of emotion, or so it seemed. He was wearing fine clothing, probably from royalty, and had a weird shaped beard.

"And who are you?" Sanji continued to ask.

"Papa!" Vivi's voice was heard in the distance and it actually took a while for the blond cook to process what she had just said.

"YOU'RE VIVI'S FATHER!?" The meaning of the word "papa" finally clicked in his brain.

Amaya was more worried to stay awake a bit longer. Surely she wasn't the only one feeling both physically and mentally exhausted at that time but… just a bit longer she would hang on.

"So you're the king?" Zoro questioned, making more a statement than an actual question that needed answers.

The man handed Luffy to the crew and the raven haired assassin rushed to him, so that she could place him carefully against a nearby building, letting the captain rest peacefully.

"I was prepared for death but he saved me. After he defeated Crocodile, he carried us back up to the surface. It is difficult to conceive of one possessing so much power." A smile finally appeared on his face. "He needs to have his wounds tended. As well as all of you."

"So Vivi, hurry up and go back." Zoro casually said as he sat down on the floor against a wall. "Go back to the Square."

"The rebellion is over but without the words of the king and the princess to guide them, it won't be a real ending." Usopp quickly explained to a confused Vivi.

"Then we should all-…"

"Vivi-chan…" Sanji cut her off. "You understand, right? We're marked men. We aren't going to concern ourselves with countries and such!"

"We'll go to the Palace when we're ready." Nami assured her with a smile on her face. "We're exhausted."

With peaceful smiles on their faces and silent goodbyes, Vivi departed with his father towards the Square to address their people while the pirates stayed behind. Only when she disappeared from their line of sight did they just crumbled to the ground, falling asleep instantly, not bother one bit about the aching pain they would feel afterward.

The group just needed to rest.

To sleep for god knows how long! But they had deserved it.

…..

"Amaya don't do this. It will ruin you so fast that you won't see it coming." Her sister, Atsuko, had warned her a million times that the group of assassins that had come for her was bad news but Amaya wouldn't listen. Rebel phase she was going through that would lead her to make the worst decision in her life.

A decision she would come to regret.

"It's the only way to protect you all." The raven haired girl opened her arms, brows furrowed at her sister's discontentment with her decision. You saw what those pirates done to our mother! You suffered because of that too or have you forgotten!?"

That last part had won her a smack across the face.

"You weren't here and consider yourself lucky." Atsuko's voice was a mere whisper at that moment. A dangerous whisper. "Father took you on a trip and you are lucky you didn't see what happened here and thank goodness you didn't." She poked her finger against Amaya's chest, hurting her lightly. "You saw what our state was when you arrived. You saw how father reacted and you know very well how you felt at the time but that is no excuse to do something as stupid as what you are saying right now!"

"IT'S THE ONLY WAY I CAN THINK OF ATSUKO!" Amaya was so irritated and desperate at the moment she just burst into a frantic shouting state at her sister, yelling everything and nothing. Empty reasons why she should train with Samuru's assassin group.

A ridiculous and under measured obsession over protecting her family.

"You'll kill us all if you do that! Amaya, listen to me!"

"Enough of this, Atsuko!" With that, the black haired woman turned her back to her sister, her family, and her friends for the sake of their safety.

She wanted to protect them all against whatever dangers that would present themselves in the future. Amaya needed to be stronger for them.

She rushed to the shore of the island where Samuru was waiting for her return.

As promised he was there, waiting with a smile on his face, a smile she would grow to hate and despise. A smile that Kurai had always used as well and she was too blinded to see that, although… Kurai had some sort of emotion behind that smile, even if it was twisted. Samuru, on the other hand, it was an empty kind of smile to lure those who wanted to work for him at any cost.

The weak.

The desperate.

People like Amaya was at the time.

"Is this your final decision? There will be no turning back, Amaya." He spoke calmly and his smile widened when she nodded, unbalanced determination glowing in her blue eyes. Determination that would blind her in future years. "Then welcome, my dear, to your new life." He said as he placed an arm over her shoulders and casually walked with her along the shore, telling her of the many new people she would meet and making empty promises of protection and safety.

The same promises that had fooled her for so long.

Kurai had done the same kind of promises but his were partially kept. At least he had that kind of compassion towards her to actually keep his end of the bargain even if it wasn't to its fullest.

…

"It looks like a pool!" Amaya's eyes shone with excitement at the sight of the gigantic bathtub of the palace. The group had arrived at Vivi's home late, still carrying an unconscious Luffy with them that only woke up after three days. Of course, three days sleeping meant that the captain needed to eat the amount of food equivalent to what he had lost during the time he was asleep. "And you haul all this space to yourself Vivi? I'm so jealous!" She sang out as she let her bath towel drop to the ground and jumped into the tub, letting the warm water hug her body. "It's so good!"

"Don't get too overwhelmed, Amaya." Nami chuckled as she spilled a bucket of water on her and Vivi. "Can you wash my back?"

"Yes, of course Nami." The princess smiled at the navigator before sitting down on the small benches of the large bathroom.

"This is so great! I wonder if any ships out there have baths this big in them." Nami chanted out, letting out a long and delighted sigh.

"I'm sure there is. The sea is so vast! We've seen Giants…"

"Giants?" Amaya rested her forearms on the edge of the enormous bathtub, curiosity shining in her eyes as Vivi nodded and continued enumerating what they had seen.

Giants and dinosaurs.

Cherry blossoms in a snowy island when they found Chopper.

"I wanted to see giants and dinosaurs… I bet they were so cool!" The assassin sang out before continuing to swim casually. Between the mist from the bath she saw a couple of heads peeking out from the wall that separated the male's bath from the woman's one.

"Wait a minute, what are you all doing up there?" Vivi's question confirmed Amaya's doubt. The Straw Hat pirates were peeping at them.

"Where is my Zoro-kun?" Amaya joked around, imagining her swordsman shivering lightly when she said his name. Amusing. "And here I thought Zoro wanted to see me showering. So disappointed."

"What was that, you witch?" Zoro's voice grew closer to the wall before a green head peeped up, looking at her, only to get red instantly. She was standing closer to the wall, the small towel wrapped around her body and a devious smile on her lips. Sanji was the first to get a nose bleed and, to help or worsen this state of them, Nami got up and joined her.

"Alright, it will be 100,000 beri each." The navigator said with her bargain skills showing up before both she and Amaya dropped their towels to the ground. All the males fell backwards, blood spewing from their noses while Zoro was the last to get down, a thin line of blood falling to his lip, his eyes not budging from Amaya's figure. To him she was more beautiful than when he had seen her back at Drum Island. Her body shining from the water that dripped down, caressing her sides was breath taking; and the way her black hair was now drenched and hugging her back was amazingly beautiful. The colour that jumped to the eye was that crimson ribbon tied to her wrist that never seemed to leave her.

Amaya was always holding onto it.

"Like what you see?" She chuckled lightly and winked at him, waking the swordsman up from his fantasies.

"That will be 100,000 beri from you Zoro." Nami informed right when he jumped down the wall to return to the rest of the men that were probably passed out on the ground. Turning to sit at the edge of the bathtub, Amaya could hear Zoro curse under his breath how much of a witch she was, much to her amusement. Silence fell on the bathroom before Nami's voice rang out in a calm noise. "We're thinking of leaving tonight."

"Really!?" Vivi was both surprised and saddened by the farewell that was approaching at a rapid pace. She didn't want to be departed from the people that had made her enjoy life so much.

"There's no reason for us to be here anymore, is there? Our captain is awake and the Marines are probably at the harbour. Our ship's going to be in danger."

"She is right, Vivi." Amaya agree, getting back into the warm water that she was enjoying so much. "We mustn't put our ship in danger, otherwise, how would be a group of pirates without a ship?"

Nami chuckled and the three fell silent, smiles returning to their lips when they heard the repeated words of gratitude from the king from the other side.

….

"Hurry up and DO something!" Nami shouted at the ones that were doing their best at protecting Going Merry from the relentless attacks of the Marines.

"We can only protect one side at a time!" Sanji answered back, rushing to another end of the ship, protecting it from yet another shower of spears that pierced the Going Merry anyway. Zoro and Luffy were doing their best, deflecting the attacks as well, while Amaya was using her Yoru to stop the spears' course and letting them fall to the ocean. Usopp was worried with firing the cannons at the ships while Chopper was downstairs trying to repair the damage that still reached the ship.

Even Bon Clay, aka Mr. 2, was doing his best to repair the ship that belonged to the people that were his enemies just a few days ago.

"We can't rush or retreat from them… They keep their formation." Amaya continued, informing Nami of what she was already aware of.

"Can't you use that thing you did back at the clock tower?" Zoro asked, slashing away another spear only for two to hit the ship.

"Only with myself and my weapon. I don't know how to do it with other metals! GYAH!" She shrieked as a spear had gotten a little too close for comfort but Sanji was quick to kick it away, protecting the assassin. "Thank you Sanji-san."

"You're welcome, Amaya-chwan!"

Suddenly an explosion was heard south to where the ship was. Usopp had managed to hit the two ships that were blocking that exit.

"Full speed ahead, Nami! We have an opening!" Amaya shouted at the navigator that nodded but yet another warning came from Bon Clay's ship.

"BON CLAY-SAMA! WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM! It's the black cage!" A man shouted from the highly pink ship that held Mr. 2's men.

"What!?" The ballerina man panicked.

"What is it?" Luffy questioned, casually walking up to him.

"Black Cage Hina, the Marine's headquarters Captain that patrols this area. This is not good. Let's get out of here as quickly as we can!" Bon Clay ordered his men that shouted in agreement and made preparations to go at full speed towards the only exit they had at the moment. Yet, the Straw Hats made no motion as to be in a hurry to leave. "What are you doing? We must take this chance and leave as quickly as possible."

"If you want you can leave. We can't." Luffy said, in his constantly informal way of speaking.

"What do you mean you can't!?"

"We made a promise to be at the eastern harbour by noon." Nami began to explain, catching Bon Clay off guard. "There's no time to sail back. We have to press forward."

"That's the silliest thing I've ever heard! What kind of treasure could possibly be there that's worth your lives!?" Mr. 2 continued, trying to convince them to leave.

To survive.

"We're going to see a nakama." Luffy turned to face Alabasta that was at the distance.

…

Thanks to Bon Clay's help, the Straw Hat pirates managed to escape the Marine's siege but with his sacrifice at being captured by them.

It was thanks to that weirdly dressed man that they had managed to keep their promise to be by the harbour at noon for Vivi.

They were indebted to those pirates.

Everyone was still a bit shaken up from the battle that had happened between Bon Clay and the Marines. It had been… intense to say the least: a pirate that risked his life to protect those he had claimed to be his enemies.

"They're coming again!" Luffy warned as he spotted the ships approaching the Going Merry once more. This time with the intent to invade and capture them, not just sinking them to the bottom of the ocean.

As the Marines invaded the ship, the pirates fought with all their might for the sake of keeping their promise to the princess of Alabasta but, as well, for the sacrifice that Bon Clay had done for them.

They fought relentlessly, the sound of Vivi's speech heard in the background very faintly. The speech that symbolized that she didn't go to the harbour to part with them.

Finally gaining space from the Marines and a break, the ship headed towards the harbour as quickly as they could, still able to catch some of the speech.

"That's Vivi…" Zoro spoke out to his captain, telling him that she had chosen to stay in her country.

"That only sounded like Vivi." There it was again. That simplistic logic Luffy always had but one that was honest, correct and just. "She's definitely going to be at the place we promised, right?"

"Yeah, she is." The swordsman crossed his arms over his chest.

"Let's go… It's past noon." Sanji called out despite Luffy's anxious state of seeing the princess one last time.

"Let's get off the shit and look! I'm sure she's there!" Luffy tried to convince them to wait just a bit longer even though the Marines were on their tail.

"The Marines are coming after us again!" Usopp shouted at the crew.

"How many ships do they have!?" Amaya growled, climbing up the stairs that led to the small garden with the tangerine trees Nami adored so much.

"TURN THE SHIP! WE MUST LEAVE!" Usopp shouted and Nami followed suit, turning the Going Merry away from the island.

As the Marines approached the crew's belief that Vivi would appear diminished except for Luffy's will. He never seemed to give up until he got what he wanted.

"EVERYONE!" It was her. Luffy's patient wait had paid off. Vivi was there at the harbour for them, Carue at her side and a smile on her face.

"VIVI!"

"Vivi's here!"

"VIVI-CHWAN!"

"The marines are almost here!"

All those cheers, even in the dark situation they were in, the pirates couldn't help but smile and cheer.

Vivi had kept her promise.

She was there!

"I'm here to say goodbye!" Her voice reached them, catching the pirates off guard. Luffy's smile disappeared, replaced with doubt and confusion. "I cannot go with you! Thank you for everything! I want to have more adventures, but… I can't because I love my country! That's why I can't come with you! I…" Her voice failed a bit. "I…" Tears rolled down her cheeks. "I will stay here… But if we ever meet again, will you still call me your nakama?"

"Anyth-…" Luffy began but Nami quickly covered his mouth, silencing him from whatever he was about to say that would endanger Vivi.

"DON'T ANSWER!" The navigator growled at her captain. "The Marines already saw Vivi. If they get any proof of Vivi's affiliation with us… She'll become a criminal. Let's just make this a silent farewell." The pirates turned their back to Vivi, anger, sorrow and whatever other negative emotion weighing on their backs.

"Hey…" Luffy's voice came out law and calm, almost dragged as he lifted the sleeve of his long cloak and revealed the 'x' that had marked them as nakama and kept them from being fooled by Bon Clay's tricks.

They all got the message, lining up and raising their arms into the sky, revealing the 'x' to the princess that waited at the shoreline for their answer.

Their silent farewell.

Silence for her safety.

But it wasn't painful now even if they didn't say a word to reassure her.

Vivi had gotten the message for sure.

Shot were fired from the Marine ships, cannon balls that fell to the ocean, creating salty rain to fall over their heads, yet, the Straw Hat Pirates didn't budge from their place.

That was until the marines got close enough to the ship to actually hit it.

"SET SAIL!"

Upon Luffy's order the Going Merry returned to his chaotic organized pace of getting everything in place for them to escape the marines.

With that, they bid one last farewell to the island of Alabasta.

A/N:

Chapter 21! DONE! It was a bit longer compared to the other ones but it deserves it. WE'VE REACHED THE END OF ALABASTA! :D FINALMENTE!

Sorry for the Portuguese there! I've been writing these chapters non-stop since I am currently on vacation time… kind of. I still need to see if I did well on the exams so that I can begin working on my college entry! :D

I'm so proud of my sweet Portugal! We won the Euro 2016! Oh! I'm so happy! But it was a bit saddening that Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't play because of his injury :c WE WON NONETHELESS! Our football team isn't just that one man and it's amazing to see that the team could overcome the difficulty of losing not just a great player but also their captain at the beginning of the game.

And again, classical music accompanied me with this chapter. This time was from Franz Liszt "Liebestraum"

I hope you enjoyed this chapter just as much as I did. Oh Amaya, you daredevil, you.

I do not own One Piece!

I only own Amaya, Samuru, Kurai, Atsuko and Yoru no Ame