Chapter 45
Strong & Delicate
The townspeople returned and everyone was in awe of Mariette. She felt so uncomfortable with their bright adoration of her. She wasn't a god or anything. Just a girl…with really strange powers apparently. Where had that transformation come from? She would have loved to know but she couldn't exactly ask anyone could she? She stuck close to Luffy and held onto him. Unsure of how to act or what to say.
Luffy surprised everyone the most. He didn't jump in with the awing and the excitement. He practically hid Mari from everyone as he told them to go clean up their houses and rest. The night was over as the sun had broken the sky a while ago but they needed to sleep still. He took Mari to her room and made her lie down and rest.
"Luffy, I'm okay really. Chopper said I was fine." She told him. Even as she snuggled up close to him and held the blanket tightly to her body. He put an arm around her and looked up at the ceiling intently.
"I know. But you have been having problems with your powers lately. I don't want you to go out like that ugly toad guy or Forte. From now on…I don't want you to use your powers. Let me handle everything."
She looked at him shocked. "But Luffy…"
"No! You could have died. You almost did! I won't lose you Mari. Don't you understand that? You will not use your powers anymore. Depend on me! I will protect you." He told her fiercely as his eyes came to meet hers. He was serious.
She knew he was scared. That he didn't want to lose her. She had the same feelings for him. The thought of losing Luffy nearly broke her apart. She couldn't imagine going on without him. He was her rock. Always there to bring her back from her past, always making her laugh and feel loved. Finding him. Meeting him. It was her fate. She was meant to love him. She would do almost anything to save him.
"No." She told him.
He frowned darkly. She looked at him just as darkly.
"I will not stop using them. I will do anything and everything to protect you and the others. I will never let you or anyone die for me. Do you understand me Luffy? I will not save my life over yours. I thought you realized that." She sat up suddenly and turned away from him. "You cannot ask this of me. It would be going against who I am now. I have to use them. I have to do whatever I can to protect the happiness I have attained." She lifted her hands and looked at them. "Stained with blood. Though I wash every day I cannot take it away. I can still smell it. I have done horrible things to survive. But being with you. Being around you. I feel like I don't have to do those things anymore. I feel free for the first time in a long time. I won't lose that. I will fight with every breath in me to keep this freedom. I won't lose it. Even if it means I die to protect that." She turned to him, tears in her eyes. "I won't lose you or the others. I love you. I love you all so much and it hurts to think about losing any one of your smiles." She stood up and threw the blankets at him. "So don't ask me not to use them! Don't command me not to use what I have to fight! I will disobey you!" She shouted at him.
Luffy stood up and tossed the blanket from himself. "Mari I won't lose you dammit." He felt her pain like a knife to his heart. She was right. He would do the same. It didn't sit well with him that she would fight but he knew she would anyway.
"I won't give in Luffy! I won't! I will never let anyone die! I won't I won't I won't!" She screamed to the floor. Her emotion choked her and she felt herself shaking.
Luffy grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against him. He held her tightly despite her struggle to escape. She didn't really want to escape him anyway.
"I'm sorry Mari, I won't make you stop. I will be beside you. Just never...never leave me okay?" He stroked her hair slowly, soothing her racing heart.
She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him. "I don't plan to." She told him.
She will die Monkey D. Luffy. And you will be powerless to stop it.
Those words came back to him suddenly. His grip on her tightened. No. He would protect her. They fell asleep holding each other. Luffy stroked her hair and soothed her to sleep. Her soft breathing and little snort relaxed him. He could feel her pulse where he kissed her neck. So beautiful.
In the morning Terry showed up with his wife and daughter. The town was not bad off. The damage had only been from the first cannon fire. But it was time for them to go.
"I should stop you you know. I am in the Navy after all." Terry told them. "But...I think in light of the situation, I have to help the good citizens rebuild and such..." He grinned and clasped hands with Luffy. "Take care all of you. Thank you for coming here."
"It was a pleasure." Luffy grinned.
Ellie was hugging Mari hard and sobbing about sisterly bonds and such nonsense. Nami and Robin were laughing at poor Mari who also had Josie on her leg refusing to let go of her new favorite play thing. Mari glared at the both of them for it and promised to get revenge. Sanji was saying goodbye to all the dear pretty ladies and Brook was in the middle of getting his head knocked in for asking about panties again. Usopp and Franky lugged a bunch of barrels and boxes onto Sunny with Zoro's help. A gift of booze and food from the town for saving them.
"Be sure to visit when you become king though. It will certainly be fun to have a king sitting down to dinner with us." Ellie grinned as she began to hug Luffy too. The young man blushed brightly and sniffed proudly. Mariette grinned as she lifted Josie up onto her hip.
"You have to stay. Who will play dollies with me!?" She said indignantly.
"Your Mama? You can ask your Papa." Mari snickered.
"Papa never sits still long enough." Josie mumbled upset.
"I'll come back to visit. We can spend all day playing how about that?"
"Promise?" The girl held up a pinky.
Mari looped hers with the girls. "Promise."
"Be well Mari." Terry came up and wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you. For everything you have ever done for us."
"Humph." Mari sniffed proudly which made everyone laugh. "You take care of this family you have. Don't go making me have to save you again." Mari hugged him and slid Josie from her hip to his.
"I wont. I'm a man now. I will take care of my family." He held his child with love and care. They had matching eyes as they smiled at Mari.
Mari nodded and moved to stand beside Luffy. He took her hand and they walked onto Sunny. Robin and Nami behind them. Sanji was being pulled away by Zoro who was vastly annoyed with him. Chopper dragged Brook behind him, several lumps had made their way to the mans skull. Robin and Nami stood by the rail as the men came up and robin watched Zoro quietly. He looked up at her at a glance and looked away again with an annoyed face but his cheeks had tuned a slight shade of red. Robin smiled lightly and Nami took her attention to point to the clouds ahead of Sunny.
The towns folk kept waving until they were out of sight. Luffy and Mari decided to go fishing, Chopper and Usopp joined them and as the ship gently went along they dragged lines behind the boat. Mari showed them this technique called Luring. Certain fish would follow a line if something tasty was attached to it.
"Mari, how are you feeling today?" Chopper asked her.
She thought for a moment. "I feel great. For some reason I feel perfectly at ease. No pain, not even from the sword wound I should have had." She smiled.
Chopper smiled too. "That's great! I would love to know what happened but I'm not sure if you remember. Do you?"
She smiled. "I remember feeling this overwhelming rage and sadness. Then the pain, it burned terribly and I thought if only it wasn't so hot, I could move. And well, as I fell I thought about all the rage I had. I had to make Forte pay for what he had done. I called out to my demon fruit powers and I don't remember what I asked for. But the next thing I knew I was a monster like him. And I could feel Luffy beside me. The pain was gone. The heat was gone. All I could feel was the rage and the power. I was terrified of it. But Forte...he made me so angry. I wanted to kill him. But Luffy was there, I was floating in the anger and the pain but I could hear his voice. The rage drained from me leaving me so numb. And then I was floating on the ocean. Thinking I was dead. That's when Terry showed up. I thought I was dead. But, I wasn't and...there were no wounds..."
Mari looked at Chopper. "Is it possible? That Ice had healed my wounds? I should have died. That sword went right through me and burned inside me. But I don't even have a scar line. Not a single thing feels out of place."
Chopper contemplated this. "It could be possible. We don't know that much about your powers. It could have been the ice, or even the water or maybe there is more to your shell power than we thought. I want to do some research and see if I can isolate a healing agent. If you don't mind of course." Chopper blushed.
"Research away. Anything to help." she smiled. Like before. Boris's affliction with the devil fruit powers was twisted and cruel. However Chopper was looking for ways to heal and fix. That was more noble to her than gaining power or riches.
Luffy called out then, he had caught a fish. Mari and Usopp turned to him in laughter and watched him real it in. A giant Sea King rose from the ocean. Usopp and Chopper screamed and ran around in circles as the angry beast looked down on them.
"Luffy, do you always have to attract trouble wherever we go?" Mari laughed as she stood up beside him.
"Me? What about you? Every time I turn around you are neck deep in some strange revenge plot." Luffy grinned.
"Hmph. Are you referring to my recent rash of people out to get me?" Mari cracked her neck and loosened her shoulders.
"What if I am?" Luffy did the same.
"It isn't polite of you. You should be comforting me in my time of need. I'm a delicate maiden after all." She said as if she was indeed such a delicate maiden.
Luffy snorted. "If you are delicate then I am a Duke!"
"I'll show you a duke!" She laughed.
"First one to take it out serves the other for the whole day."
"Deal."
The Sea King huffed and roared as it dove down to get them. Luffy and Mari both jumped up to attack.
In the end. Mari won. Luffy was still kicking himself when she crooked her finger at him. He grinned and followed her down to the aquarium room. The fish surrounding them lent an almost magical atmosphere. Sanji cooked up the delicious sea king meat and served Mari who was fanning her self with a random feather fan she had and exclaiming how delicate she really was. this amused everyone to no end.
"Delicate maidens don't take out full grown sea king." Luffy mumbled.
"Oh it was awful having to fight that beast! I'm so delicate after all." She fanned herself.
"Mari my dear! Don't you worry. I will protect your delicate sensibilities from evil sea king." Sanji knelt beside her with hearts in his eyes.
"Oh Sanji you are ever so kind, a wonderful knight in shining armour." Mari let him kiss her hand.
"I'm telling you she is not delicate! She shoved me into the sea so she could win!" Luffy complained.
"Shut up!" Sanji barked at Luffy. "Finish your chores peasant!"
Nami and Robin snickered as they also fanned themselves.
"This is quite fun Mari, we should do this more often." Nami laughed.
"Sanji is so kind to serve us such delectable foods and drinks as we watch the servants clean." Robin smiled and took a delicious looking drink from the love struck Sanji.
"I get why Luffy has to do this, but why do we have to?" Usopp complained as he scrubbed the chairs. Franky was building a chair from scratch. Zoro and Luffy were scrubbing the floors and Brook was playing music in the back ground.
"Yeah its not fair! We didn't lose against Mari." Zoro sat on his heels and frowned. "I'm not doing this any more."
"Quite you! You got so excited over the fight you broke two of the barrels we got as a gift. All of that beer spilled into the ocean thanks to you!" Nami barked at him. "Keep scrubbing, you haven't paid them off yet."
"They were free!" Zoro complained.
"Because Mari did all the work! Scrub!"
Zoro mumbled in anger as he went back to scrubbing. Usopp didn't even try arguing with his punishment, he blew up his workshop and smoke filled the hallways. Franky was making a chair for Mari because she demanded a throne to lord over Luffy with. And Luffy was given chore after chore. Chopper was busy doing some more research and Brook was ordered to play music to which he happily obliged. Sanji was being the typical love struck boy and freely serving the ladies. When all was said and done though Franky finished the throne like chair and Mari used it to sit in Luffy's lap and feed him delicious bites of food for all of his hard work. Sanji watched with tears in his eyes and wished he was being fed by the beautiful Mari. Robin pushed over her extra helping to Zoro who had already downed his meal. He blushed and took it with a mumbled thank you. Robin simply smiled at him. Nami praised Franky for his fine work and told Usopp he was allowed to go back to his workshop after the great cleaning job he did.
That night as Mari lay in Luffy's arms she looked to the future. But she couldn't see anything. There was nothing but cloud in her vision. Perhaps she was simply too tired to search. She wanted to make sure Luffy became king and that they were together to the end. But, she would check later. Right now she was being held by a greatly exhausted lover and couldn't be happier.
"Hmm..meat..." Luffy mumbled sleepily and Mari grinned. Same Luffy.
xxXxx
Anzen shifted the food on his plate around and listlessly listened to the tirade of the little cabin boy for the millionth time this week. He didn't react or even get mad anymore. The boy was simply an annoyance. He wished that dumb pirate captain would send someone else to take care of his cabin but nope. This annoying twit was sent.
"Don't you care that I am trash talking your daughter?" The boy asked annoyed.
"I simply stopped listening to you boy. Your complaints are the same. You have nothing new to add to your tirade. Just finish up and leave. I want to go back to my book already." Anzen sighed.
"You should be sitting in the brig!" The boy complained. "Why do I have to baby sit you and give you good food? Stupid Marine Admirals." The boy fumed and finished his work. "You want something new here! We are going to meet that demon witch soon. Captain Boris is going to take us straight to Desire. We will catch her where she was first caught." The boy laughed on the way out.
Anzen looked up sharply. Desire...? He had not been back to his old home in years. Desire was just left alone after the pirate attack. No one wanted to live there. The little Island had become a ghost island. What did it look like now? After so long? Had nature taken it back? If they were meeting Mariette there? Anzen had a feeling he was going to be used to get Mari to comply. He would not allow that. When they got there, he would escape. He knew that Island better than anyone. A plan began to form in his mind.
No dun dun duuun this time. But soon. hehehehe. Kind of a relaxed funny-ish chapter. XD Of course I must always have my teasers. Anyway. Like always thank you all for your support and please let me know what you think and if you are looking for something in particular to happen. I do try to include your ideas. ^-^
Chriszilla18: Lol. Sanji respect her choice. Even if he doesn't like it. XD also I had not thought of it. But...it might be cute to allude to a romance there. I always thought they would kind of have one of those 'I don't like you at first' romances. And yesh. Sanji must be totally jello. It only fits. lol
DorkyFox: Awes, making me blush. Thank you! I'm happy you enjoyed it. ^-^
