Author's Note: Before we begin this chapter, I would like to say something very serious concerning this fic...
Happy 100 reviews! We made it! Yahoo! Thank you to everyone who reviewed this fic! And, to add to that, we are almost at fifty chapters! I am planning a special omake to celebrate 100 reviews!
Speaking of omakes, we have a fan-requested omake at the end of this chapter. This is not the special omake I promised, but, it's still good.
Disclaimer: Eichiiro Oda still holds the rights to One Piece.
Ch. 36: "Escape From the Island of Blue Bloods!"
The next day, Aki, Gareth, and Heathcliffe got some bad news that was defintely going to get in the way of their escape.
"I just got this telegram from your mom. It says that our engagement ball is tonight," Gareth said as he slammed the telegram onto the table. Aki read over it.
"She... She can't do this! Auntie Sheena can't do this!" Aki cried. Heathcliffe hugged her in an attempt to calm her down.
"Don't worry, we will think of something," Heathcliffe reassured Aki. But, that failed, because Aki stood up and banged her fists on the table.
"We're leaving tonight! We're going to escape this depressing castle and this snobby island so we can get back to the Capricorns!" Aki explained.
"Yeah, Aki! We're gonna get the hell outta here tonight!" Gareth said as he pumped his fist in the air in agreement.
"Yeah! Plus, I'm beginning to miss Sebastian and his cooking, Daisuke and Yulia's pointless arguements, Kartik's slightly stuck-up ways, and, most of all, Holden and Soren," Heathcliffe explained. Aki hugged him.
"I miss everyone. Yuki-Rin, Kazuma, and everyone else are our nakama. I promise you, Sarutobi-kun, that we will be back on the Hyperion tomorrow at the latest," Aki explained. Back on the Hyperion, the Capricorns were still waiting for Aki and Heathcliffe.
"Hana, when can we leave this island?" Yuki-Rin asked Hana.
"We will leave after Aki and Heathcliffe return. Thankfully, the Log Pose resets tomorrow, so, we can leave IF they get back tomorrow," Hana explained. Showtarou sighed.
"I never should've yelled at Aki like that. Now, she's being married off, and it's because I didn't protect her from that horrible bitch known as my mother," Showtarou said sadly.
"I'm sure Aki's fighting her way to get out of it. She'll be back before you know it," Ageha said as she put her hand on the purple-haired boy's shoulder.
"Alright, if Aki and Heathcliffe don't return by tomorrow afternoon, somebody's going onto the island to find them and bring them to us," Yuki-Rin explained to her crew.
"I second that notion," Holden said.
That night, Aki stood in her bedroom at the Shinohara chateau, awaiting her escape.
"Mistress Aki, aren't you going to change into your dress?" A maid asked Aki as she set a pink Chinese dress with black trim onto the bed.
"I'm not feeling too well right now. I will change a bit later," Aki said. The maid gave her an understanding nod.
"I understand, Milady. It's okay to get nervous of being married to a complete stranger. Just wait it out and come downstairs to the party when you're feeling better," The maid explained before she left the room. With a sigh, Aki picked up the dress.
"I guess I should put this on so nobody gets suspicious," Aki said. A moment later, she was now wearing the dress with her high heels.
"Sarutobi-kun and Gareth never said how we were going to escape. They just told me to wait by the window," Aki said to herself as something pounded against the window. Aki opened it, and saw a tree branch.
"Huh? I don't remember a tree being –" Aki wondered to herself before a voice cut her off.
"Down here!"
Aki looked down, and saw Gareth and Heathcliffe standing on the ground outside. But, the peculiar thing was that Gareth's arms were now tree limbs.
"Gareth, what happened to you?" Aki called out to Gareth.
"I'll explain later. Now, get down here! We're going back to your pirate crew!" Gareth called back. Heathcliffe gave her a small smile.
"You can do it, Aki. Don't be scared," Heathcliffe said. With a nod, Aki climbed onto the windowsill and onto the tree branch/what should be Gareth's arm.
"Good, good," Gareth said as Aki made her way down the branch. But, her dress got caught on a branch. Aki gasped.
"Sssh!" Gareth yelled.
"I'm stuck! My dress is caught on the branch!" Aki cried.
"Take it off! If you struggle to get it free, we may get caught. Plus, I have some clothes with me," Heathcliffe said. Aki took off her dress and heels - leaving her in her underwear – before continuing down the branch and to the ground.
"Here, put these on," Heathcliffe said as he got out a pair of jeans and a black sweatshirt. Aki nodded and put the clothes on, which were obviously too big for her.
"Let's blow this fruit stand. We can stay in the neighboring village for the night, and go to your ship tomorrow," Gareth explained.
"Aki, do you have any other clothes?" Heathcliffe asked Aki.
"No. I only brought the dress on my back with me. The other stuff I wore was stuff the maids gave me," Aki said.
"Looks like we're going clothes shopping tomorrow. But, for now, we need to concentrate on getting the hell outta here," Heathcliffe explained before he grabbed Aki's hand and the three began to run.
"Sarutobi-kun, where's the town?" Aki asked Heathcliffe.
"It's a couple of miles near here. We're gonna have to run a long way if we want to get out of here," Heathcliffe explained as he pulled the hood of the sweatshirt over Aki's head. "That's so they don't see you."
Aki took one last look at the Shinohara chateau, which was suprisingly lit up and festive for the ball she would never attend.
After running for some time, Aki, Heathcliffe, and Gareth arrived in La Ville de Gaieté. They decided to stay at an inn for the night.
"Look how far we've come. Pretty soon, we'll be back on the Hyperion and back on the Grand Line," Aki commented.
"The Hyperion... Kartik must've outdid himself when he built that ship. I remember back when we were still on the S.S. Gemini, and the day Yuki-Rin and her sister found me..." Heathcliffe said.
*Begin Flashback, a Few Months Ago*
Heathcliffe looked at his reflection in the window of a store. His hair had gone unwashed for months, leaving it very greasy and messy, his face was pale and dirty, and his clothes on his back – the only clothes he had since his parents forced him out of his home – were very thin and ragged.
"Hurry up! We haven't got all day!" Molly cried. Heathcliffe turned to Yuki-Rin and Molly.
"You're... Really going to accept me into your crew... For who I am?" Heathcliffe asked Yuki-Rin.
"Yes. I can see where you're coming from, since I am the daughter of Saint Ayame. I couldn't take living under her roof, so, Molly and I ran away from home, bought a ship, and we set sail. We've only been at sea for a week, and we need more people on our crew. You would make a very good muscian," Yuki-Rin said as she extended her hand to Heathcliffe.
"Can I at least get a long shower, some food, and some new clothes?" Heathcliffe asked Yuki-Rin.
"Of course! Welcome aboard, Heathcliffe!" Yuki-Rin said.
"Thank... Thank you," Heathcliffe said before he broke down crying. Without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed Yuki-Rin's hand.
"Perfect! Let's go!" Yuki-Rin said before the three began walking to whatever lay ahead.
*End Flashback, Revert to the Present Time*
"That's how Yuki-Rin became my nakama. She also helped me find my brothers, and, eventually, my love," Heathcliffe said sentimentally.
"That's really wonderful, Sarutobi-kun. Yuki-Rin really is a great captain," Aki said in agreement.
"Yuki-Rin sounds like a great captain. I know she will take me in, no matter what," Gareth said.
"Hey, Gareth, I forgot to ask you this earlier; why did you have branches as limbs?" Aki asked Gareth.
"Oh, that? I ate the Eco Eco no mi, a Devil Fruit that can turn me into a tree and give me wood and tree-based fighting powers. I have a feeling we may need it tomorrow," Gareth explained.
"Speaking of tomorrow, we should go to sleep. We need the energy for tomorrow," Heathcliffe said. That next day was going to be long, but, Aki and Heathcliffe would be re-united with their nakama.
Omake: The Apple Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree. (Requested by Ebony-Ivory-and-Rachele; this won't be the special omake, but, I decided to take on this request)
As Kartik took a shower on board the Hyperion, he could not shake off the feeling that a certain Kartik-obsessed sniper with big boobs was spying on him.
"Karin, are you out there?" Kartik asked as he poked his head out from the shower curtain, not really seeing anything since he didn't have his glasses on. "Huh. I'm surprised she's not spying on me THIS time."
Kartik resumed showering, unaware that Karin installed a video camera in the shower. In Karin's room...
"What? I don't want footage of Holden showering, I want footage of Kartik showering!" Karin cried. Just then, Karin's mother - a woman with boobs just as big as Karin's and wearing clothing just as tight and skimpy as Karin's - entered the room.
"Karin, honey, what's wrong?" Karin's mother asked her daughter.
"I keep getting footage of Holden, Yuki-Rin, Aki, Kazuma, Heathcliffe, or Soren showering! We need footage of Kartik showering!" Karin cried as she slammed her fists on the desk.
"You're right, honey. If you want to marry this suave and sophisticated man someday, we must get videos of him in the shower!" Karin's mother said in agreement. Z.G. entered the room.
"You're filming Kartik doing WHAT?" Z.G. cried. Karin gave him a fifty beri bill.
"Here's fifty beri. Go spent it on something for Drusilla and something to keep the two of you busy for about twenty minutes before you two get bored and result to annoying Yulia," Karin explained.
"Sounds like a plan," Z.G. said before he walked out of the room. About a minute later, Karin and her mother entered the bathroom with a video camera.
"Alright, then... Three... Two... One... Go!" Karin said before the both of them stormed into the shower, just as Kartik was washing his hair. He screamed.
"Karin, get out of here! I'm not decent!" Kartik cried as he began to blush.
"Kartik Abingdon, you better be ready to marry my daughter when the time comes!" Karin's mother yelled.
"No! I'm not marrying your vulgar and promiscuous daughter!" Kartik cried. Out in the hallway...
"What's Kartik screaming about?" Hana asked Matsu, whose expression turned dark.
"Oh, no... Why did we invite Karin's mother onto the ship for the day?" Matsu cried before bursting into the bathroom to save Kartik.
All in all, Kartik and Matsu took out a restraining order against Karin's mother, Matsu was in tears over seeing Kartik get peeped on, Hana secretly wanted to edit the videos of Heathcliffe and his brothers in the shower into a yaoi video, Z.G. and Drusilla were busy with a Rubik's Cube for about ten minutes before they annoyed both Yulia and Daisuke, Yulia is now plotting ways to cut off Z.G.'s long hair in his sleep for revenge, and Kartik almost became scarred for life at this ordeal. It's a good thing he burned the tapes of him in the shower.
Ending Note: I believe the next chapter will close out this arc and this saga. The next arc, the "Amnesia Arc" will begin the "Karakuri Island Saga".
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