CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Home James, I Mean Jed…
"She's waking up!" Nami cried.
"EJ-Chan!" Sanji exclaimed.
"Miss. Emma-Jane!" Jed said softly.
"Yahoo! She's okay!" Luffy cried.
"What's wrong with cat-girl's sword?" Ace wondered.
EJ's eyes snapped open, and she sat up fast.
Ace began laughing. "Gotcha cat-girl!"
EJ stared at him, and then looked around at all of the relieved faces. Buggy's crew, the Black Cats, the Straw Hats and Jed.
Shanks hadn't come. EJ didn't think he would. He would find Luffy when Luffy became pirate king, and maybe even get his hat back…
But, until then…
Luffy threw his arms around EJ's neck, and hugged her. "Group hug!" He cried, and Usopp, Nami and Sanji all joined in on the hug.
EJ broke away from them after awhile, laughing, and she stood up. "We won." She looked around. "Where are the merman?"
"Who knows?" Nami replied softly. "I think they're going to leave us alone for awhile."
"I do too." EJ looked at Nami. "Nami-Nee-San…Bellemare…she's very proud of you."
Tears were in Nami's eyes. 'I'm so glad…"
EJ looked around again. "Hey, where are Zolo and Siam? And Mihawk?"
Zolo and Mihawk suddenly walked out of the jungle. Zolo was all cut up, and looking like he'd just lost his best friend. EJ ran to him.
"Zolo-Kun, you can't win!" She told him. "Sides, even if you did, you'd have to face me!" She looked at Mihawk. "At leats you left him alive…where's Siam?" She called to Butchie.
"Help! Help!" The voice cut through EJ like a knife. She spun around.
"Oh no!" Butchie cried. "Siam's DROWNING!!"
"I''LL rescue him!!" EJ announced, and ran to the surf. She hurtled herself in, and swam like a shark towards Siam.
"No, shark-EJ!" Siam cried, and THAT was incentive enough for him to swim to shore, with EJ chasing him.
Everyone laughed, even Zolo.
OoO
Once everyone was dry, had their injuries tended to and was content, they all sat on the sand.
"What will you do now EJ-Chan?" Nami asked her.
EJ smiled. She'd been hoping somebody would ask her that. "I was hoping you'd ask me…"
"Which crew are you gonna join?" Luffy interrupted. "There's a place for you in our nakama…"
"And you're welcome to join to Black Cats too…" Siam glanced at Kuro, who was glaring at him. "Ne?"
Kuro sighed, and looked at his brother. Jed shrugged.
EJ smiled. "I have made my decision. I know what I am going to do. I will…"
"THERE YOU ARE!!"
Everyone leapt to his or her feet, and stared at Colonel Nezumi, who was marching along the beach towards them, alone, and looking like a shipwrecked survivor.
"He just doesn't give up, does he!?" Nami exclaimed, about to attack, but EJ beat her to it.
She went charging across the sand, grabbed her sword and pounced on Nezumi.
She pinned him to the ground, and held the sword to his throat. "Nezumi, you baka! You can't possibly win against all of us, least of all me and Nami-Nee-San!"
Nezumi stared at her. She grinned, and jumped up. "Still," She said, pointing the sword at him, which now bore a black lightning strike on its blade. "I don't want to kill you. I like you; you make things interesting for us! If you weren't a rat, you'd even be cute! But you're not, because cats don't dig rats!"
Nezumi just stared at her.
EJ's grin grew, and she walked away from Nezumi. He stayed where he was.
Nami and the others were glaring at him.
"Leave him in one piece, okay?" EJ grinned, and then grabbed Jed's hand. She'd need his help for this. "Dimensional Transport!" She cried, and traced a circle in the air with her sword. A gaping black hole appeared, and she and Jed stepped through it.
OoO
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!??" Katie yelled, as EJ stepped into the dining room. Katie was too angry to notice EJ's cat ears and tail, and her sword. "YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE YOUNG LADY!!" She had been missing for about a week now!
EJ just stood there, as Jed came in behind her. He had gone up to her room, and collected some things for her. Her red jacket, her Luffy doll, and a picture of her and Kyo in a frame.
Katie's eyes narrowed in on Jed, as Nathan came into the room from another door.
"I KNEW HE HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT!!" Nathan bellowed.
Katie eyed Jed coolly. "You're fired." She said simply.
Jed regarded her coolly back. "You cannot fire me, because I quit. And, Miss. Emma-Jane is coming with me."
EJ meowed. "Nyaa! That's right!" She strapped Blood Sword to her back. That's when her ex-foster parents noticed her cat ears and tail, and the sword. Their mouths dropped open. "See, I am actually a Princess from another world, and I have friends back there, and a future, to protect pirates some of whom, might I add, were living in this very house!" She grinned, and then turned and left the house with Jed following her.
Because her sword had destroyed Setsuna and her time key, a lot of Setsuna's space travel powers had been passed onto EJ. She was glad.
"EJ-Chan!" Siam and Zolo came running towards her.
EJ frowned. "Did you follow me through the portal?"
They nodded. "But come quick, you gotta see this!" They grabbed her hands and dragged her away.
Jed smiled, and followed.