So, it has been a very long time since I have been able to write anything. I sat down recently and the word vomit that I had spilled on paper has developed into a... thing that is about to transfer from a 70 page notebook, ont another, larger notebook. I'm not sure how far I plan to take this story, or if It'll ever be finished, but I am pleased to write something again.

I am currently relearning to type on a keyboard. I haven't owned a computer in almost as long as I last wrote anything. Seeing as I don't own a computer, I own a tablet, I ordered a wireless keyboard and have been struggling with it the last couple weeks, with trying to relearn keystrokes on a smaller then standard keyboard. Needless to say, there are bound to be many mistakes that I've missed, and I apologise. Also, this story is unbetaed. I'm a little nervous to just throw this out here like this, but I'm going to give it a shot.

I gotta say, this app is very different then how I used to post to Fanfiction years ago. My profile is still up here, under the name RaneyLee (unfortunately, I can't access that old account). But a lot of things are left unfinished and dead there, as its been almost 15 years since I last was able to write anything. I recently fell head first in love with One Piece, and I was surprised by the urge to write, but just went with it. If anything feels like it was a stuggle, then it probably was. lol

Also, as an extra note, this is cross posted to wattapp.

Anyway, this story starts off as a first person point of view. Later on, I changed up the point of view to third person, because I felt it needed more meat to the story that I was unable to provide in the OC's POV. I am currently undecided how far third person will go, seeing as the first person went on for most of the notebook used for writing the story out.

Since my muse is trying to rebirth itself, any ideas thrown out may be taken into consideration. :)

Ocdbrownie

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Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Warnings: Strong Language

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Chapter 1

Finding myself stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere is a drastic change in life that I wasn't expecting and, also, was not a pleasant thing to wake up to. It took a couple of weeks to finally manage to build myself a more permanent home than the lean-tos that I had been dealing with. And I had managed to make a crude blade out of stone to cut and make materials. It took a week to find suitable stone for Flint so I had to forage for whatever fruits I could find. And one in particular was utterly rancid and I had thought I would just die from the taste.

After the incident with the rotten fruit, I figured out how to fashion a fishing pole and a hook and took more to fishing for my food in the small inlet pool from the ocean. It was such a small island. Cliffs on one side surrounding the pool that tapers off into a smooth flat beach on the opposit side of the island. There was a small lake towards the center of the island with some ancient ruins with engravings carved into them nearby. My makeshift home was situated somewhere closer to the front of the island not far from the Lake which I used as a water source, and on the opposite side of the ruins.

I have noticed that I have gotten some sort of special power in the weeks since coming here. Plants absolutely flourished at my very touch. I could speed up growth production in the fruits of the trees and make a plant sprout from seed in moments. I was thankful for such a useful power, since I was using it to help me survive this lonely island.

Almost 2 months pass for me, fighting to survive in the unfamiliar and isolated place. It was a drastic difference from home, with technology like cell phones and cars. Stores you could buy things you need off the shelf and not try to fight mother nature for.

The day I found someone else on my little island changed my life for a second time in just as many months. I was returning from a fishing hole, loaded down with my catch, when I caught sight of a dark haired woman casually strolling through the woods. In shock, I come to a standstill and just stared at her in absolute confusion.

Where did she come from? And why does she look familiar?

It was at this point that she noticed me and smiled brightly while pushing up the sun glasses on her head "Hello."

After a moment a flapping like a fish I can only reply with "Hi." I was glad I didn't croak like a frog too, since I tend to talk to myself. A lot. Out loud.

She chuckled lightly. "Do you live here?"

My reply back, since my brain still hadn't caught up was, "Are you stranded too?"

"No. I just arrived with my crewmates a couple of hours ago."

I couldn't let this opportunity go to waste. My throat went dry. It didn't matter who they were, they were my hope to get off this island. "Take me with you, Please!"

My eyes squeezed shut at such an abrupt request leaving my mouth. How embarrassing ...

"I don't see that being a problem. I'm sure my captain will be okay with that." She looked off toward the center of the island. "Have you come across any ruins or ancient sites while you've been here? I'm looking for ponoglyphs in particular."

Ponoglyths? Why does that sound familiar...? I trailed off in thought as I pondered over such a word. Where had i heard it before? And why does it bug me that she looks so familiar...? Ponoglyphs... Ponogl... O sweet God help me... what did I just fall into?

"Yes, there are ruins at the center the island. But first, can you tell me where we are? What ocean are we in?"

Her blue eyes looked to me curiously. "You don't know what ocean you're in?" I shook my head, so she nodded and continued," We're on an island in the Grand Line."

I think my eyes are going to pop out of my head. The Grand Line? Seriously? How the hell did I end up in the world of One Piece? At least that explains the weird carvings on the ancient stone ruins. At this point, I think I've thrown this lady, whom I'm starting to think I'm getting an idea of who she is, off when I started laughing and fell to the ground, catch and all. Then proceeded to sit and continue the borderline hysterical laughter.

"Are... Are you all right? Should I fetch our doctor?"

I shook my head and wiped my face, because at this point I had started crying in the middle of my laughter. "No. I'm okay. It's just... a bit of a shock, that's all." I got up from the ground, picked up my fish, then started towards the ruins. "Come on. I will take you to the ruins. I'm not far from them anyway. Just on the other side of the lake."

After showing her the way, I explained I would return in a bit. I was going to my "camp" to start gathering things together, in case the ship captain truly had no problems with me hitching a ride. But, if the woman is who I think she is, then I had a pretty good feeling I would be leaving this lonely place.

I returned to the ruins at, what I believe, was about an hour later. No watch, no time. And I hadn't thought about making a sundial until now. She was engrossed in the engravings of the ruins when I returned, so I sat and waited for her. I think I dozed off while I waited, she was rousing me by shaking my shoulder and apologizing for taking so long. With a check to the Sun, I noticed it wasn't quite high noon yet and just shrugged her apology off. No big deal. We headed towards the front of the island, no doubt where they had anchored.

"I am Robin," the woman finally stated."I'm sorry. I forgot to introduce myself earlier. "

Bingo. Nico Robin. I grinned. "It's cool. I'm Dot. And now that I know who you are, I can't wait to tell Luffy and the rest of you Strawhats about my mishaps and what I know about how I got on this island. Which is nothing, by the way. I know nothing. In the Grand Line in Odas world of freaking One Piece! Maybe you can help me get home? Anyway, I'm glad I got to meet you. I couldn't think of a safer crew to run into in the one full of monsters. "I grin widely and then realize that Robin was eyeing me warily. Shit, my damn ranting and rambling again... I stopped and rubbed my head. "I'm sorry. I know that that was a lot to take in from a stranger. It was a lot for me too, to find out that the place you woke up in isn't the world you thought you knew. I didn't mean to rant and ramble ..."

"Its... okay. But, what's going on, exactly? You mentioned help you get home?"

I sighed, noticing the readying posture she was taking with the crossed arms. Shit...

"I want to sleep in my bed one night, in an entirely different universe and woke up here, alone, on an island in the middle of God knows where. I've been here for almost 2 months, from my count and, O holy fuckk .. I ate a devil fruit..." I fell over from shock as that random thought came from nowhere. With my face cradled in my hands, I sat there on the ground for a moment before I finally looked up at her again. "Where I'm from, this entire world, it's people, it's... everything... exist only as nothing more than a graphic novel called a manga. A manga that specifically follows Luffy's adventures to achieve his dream of Pirate King and finding absolute freedom and the One Piece, which is the name of said Manga. Does any of this make sense for you? You're pretty smart, Robin. I think you can figure it out. Basically, I'm stuck in what's thought to be a fictional world, and I don't know how to get home. Can you guys help me?"

Robins posture had relaxed and seemed thoughtful. Then she smiled, "I don't see why we can't. But, in the end, it's the captain's choice. "

I nodded in understanding and picked myself up, then we carried on. A couple minutes later, shouts could be heard from the beach as we got closer. I was nervous. Shit, my hands are shaking and my throat was dry. Pausing in my steps, I let Robin walk ahead of me while I took several deep breaths to try and calm down. Fuck, if I ever wanted a cigarette, it was now. Maybe I could ask Sanji or Franky...

"Dot?"

I looked up, broken from my thoughts to see Robin waiting several steps ahead, just outside the tree line. I could see Sanji cooking over the campfire, Zoro and Frankie pulling the Thousand Sunny upon the beach, Nami laid out on a towel, and the others doing their own thing along the beach. I caught back up to Robin. "Hey, you think Sanji would let me have a smoke? "

She smiled, "I'm certain Sanji wouldn't mind."

We approach the group. I was kind of excited, to say the least. But nervous as fuck. Would Luffy really be okay with giving me a ride off this island? Instinct told me yes, at remembering his various adventures. But that didn't calm my anxiety. In fact, I think it made it worse... As we drew closer, I pondered over if I should have brought my catch with me to share but shook the thought off. I could bring it later on if they agree to bring me with them. I would have to go gather up my provisions anyway. No point in them going to waste.

"Robin-Chan!" Okay, the manga nor anime did Sanji any Justice, with the swiggling body and heart eyes as he danced around. "And who is this lovely lady you've found on this desolate island?"

I backed up a step as he aimed his declaration at me, hearts and smoke Flying. The smell of nicotine, though, made me step back towards him as I eyed the stick in his mouth. Feeling bold I asked, "Could I get one of those? Please?"

Confusion graced his face for a second before he realized what I was asking for, to which he grinned and reached into his coat pocket. "Why, of course, miss. Here you go."

I reached for the offered butt sticking out of the pack and inhaled the smoke from it as Sanji lit it with his gold lighter. I vaguely wondered if it took lighter fluid, as I thought of my zippo stashed at camp. I was almost purring in happiness as I felt the nicotine working in my system after a couple of drags. I didn't even care that it wasn't menthol. Finally, I opened my eyes, I am sure that were blown from a nicotine high, and grinned at him.

"Thanks. You've become my new favorite person. I needed this after two months of hell trying to survive. If I knew anything about tobacco plants, I would've been growing this shit. "I pause, then remembered introductions. "I'm Dot, by the way. I saw Robin when I come back from my fishing spot and showed her the ruins on the island. I'm glad to see people again, I'll say that much."

I let out a little chuckle and I plopped down on the sandy beach next to Nami as I continued to enjoy my head high from the smoldering cigarette. Franky and Zoro had finished pulling the ship up on the beach and had it propped upright with a number of timber beams. They, themselves, were headed their way over to our little group.

"I'm Sanji. I'm the cook, so whatever you want, I'll do my best to fix it for you, my sweet Dot-Chan!"

I watch, wide eyed, as said cook noodles back over to the nearby fire to check on his culinary arts. The red head beside me took this opportunity to speak up, making me turn my head her way.

"Don't let it bother you. That's just his normal, at least, around women. I'm Nami, by the way. Are you a native of this island?"

Giving one long exaggerated nod to her explanation, I turned away again and puffed my smoke some before answering her question with a "nope" with a pop at the end. "Once everyone's gathered up, I'll share. I don't feel like repeating myself. Been awhile since I've gotten to speak to people, though..."

At this, I put out the half smoked cigarette, smoothed out the crinkles, then stashed it behind my ear. No telling when I would get another one, so better to save it For now. A pair of boots filled my vision, to which, I followed them up to the robe, swords, and the half naked male torso, to finally a steel colored eye with a face framed by green hair. Zoro. My dude, right here. He didn't seem particularly pleased, but of course, that's just stoic Zoro, I supposed. I gave him a wide grin, to which he arched a brow at me.

"What's up?" his eye narrowed further and his brow arched more in questioning suspiciousness. I huffed and scowled back in return." Don't look at me that way. I ain't done shit. I just happened to be stranded on this island."

He grunted in response, plopped himself down with Nami and I, and took a swig from a canteen that came from somewhere in his robe. I noticed him eyeing the half smoked stick behind my ear as he offered his canteen to me. "Here you could probably use some, being stranded in all. Why not smoke the whole thing? I'm sure the shitty cook would give you another one."

With a one shouldered shrug, I gulped down a few swallows of the sake and returned it. I couldn't help but shiver violently from the burn of the alcohol on the way down. "I figured you never know. Might need to save it for later. He's under no obligation to give me shit."

"Only his own obligations..." I heard him mutter before tipping the Canteen back again.

I gave a soft huff out through my nose as a hint of a smile curled one time my mouth. As if sensing something was up, the rest of the crew found their way over. I grinned at each one and greeted them as they appeared one by one. I was expecting a panties question from Brook, but I guess he'll probably ask later. Of course, the last of the bunch has to make the grandest entrances, bouncing over with loud laughter and shouts of "Sanji! Food!"

I watched with Admiration and fondness , surging excitement filling my chest, causing me to reach for the aforementioned half smoked cigarette behind my ear and putting it in my mouth to feign smoking on It. Just the motions was enough to help calm some of the tremors in my hands. Luffy's sandaled feet landed in the sand in front of me, and they turned to face my direction, to which I allowed my eyes to travel up his body in the same fashion I did Zoros. Sandaled feet, toned calves, blue jeans shorts with a red sash run through the belt loops and no shirt. My eyes lingered briefly on the massive scar across this chest, my own chest constricting at the thought of the cause of that scar... I continued up to his face to see him studying me in return. At meeting my eyes, he gave a grin that split his face wide and humanely impossible, but... it looked attractive on him, I Gotta admit. I couldn't help but grin back.

"Hey, there! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man that's going to become the King of the Pirates. This is my crew, which I see you've met, and this is our ship, Sunny!"

"Hello, Luffy. It's great to meet all of you. My name is Dot. I've been stranded on this island for about 2 months now... it's nice to see people again... "I trailed off. Could I even go home? Do I even want to? Would Luffy eventually ask me to join the crew? What could I even offer to this ridiculously strong bunch? What? Help their plants grow with my, apparently, devil fruit powers?

My thoughts were cut off by Luffy yanking me to my feet, "You've been stranded here for 2 months? Chopper! Come give Dot a check up! Sanji, food! Meat!"

With that, I was left looking at Chopper instead, Sanji yelling at Luffy in the background.

"Um... Well, I guess, follow me onto the ship and we'll do this in the infirmiry." Chopper wrung his hooves together then approached the ship, boarding it with his Jumping Point.

I know what world I'm in, but that just seems unbelievable. I know my eyes were probably blown wide open. My gut twisted as I stared up the rung ladder attached to the ship's side. I hadn't even started climbing and my whole body was already shaking. Fucking shit... I don't want to seem like a coward in front of all these overpowered pirates, but damnitall, I hate heights... Managing to pull myself up, I think I was able to climb up about eight feet and looked down by accident. To which, I froze up anf clung to the rungs for dear life. Fucking damnit... I could hear Arianna snickering at me in the back of my mind, and I growled at her in response. Damn past life peronality... It's bad enough that she thinks I didn't have it in me to be a pirate, now she's gotta laugh too? Fuck you, bitch... but I still couldn't will my body to move.

"Oi." Zoro called up from below me. "You need a hand?"

Tears blistered my eyes and I furiously blinked them away. "Shut up... damnit... I could get on the ship if it wasn't on fucking land..."

Falling into the water sounds better then falling on land, Doesn't hurt as much, and I could... shit.. that's right. I ate a damn devil fruit... I can't swim anymore... I whimpered in frustration and relented. "Fuck... yes... Please, help me... I'm terrified of heights..."

I heard his grunt of acknowledgement, and somehow found myself clinging to his neck and shoulders not a second later as he climbed up the ladder with an ease I was jeolous of. After collapsing onto the Sunny's deck, he gave me a moment to compose myself then led me to the infirmiry. Chopper was setting out a few main intrusments when I came through the door, Zoro disappearing. Chopper was just too cute, and watching him be so profesional had me amused. As far as I could tell, I was pretty healthy, but I let him do whatever he needed for his standard check-up, even showing him the various scrapes and bruises I had aquired in the last week, Only one he deemed bad enough for antibiotic ointment and a bandaid. I thanked him as he gave me a clean bill of health. He cleaned everything up and I followed him out.

We found Zoro out on deck. leaned against the railing with a full (almost full) bottle of liquor. His good eye narrowed at me as he swigged from the bottle, noting that I had stayed back several feet away from the ship's railing. It happened so fast, I didn't realise it, but he shoved the bottle at me and scooped me up bridal style, my stomach in the back of my throat as we dropped down to the beach below. Once he set me down, I couldn't shove the sake bottle hard enough back at him while shooting him a glare, to which he simply grinned and tipped the bottle back. Figures he would be an asshole...

Still shaking, I made my way over to the fire with the intentions of finding a stick to relight my smoke with that was still stashed behind one ear. Lordt knows I needed it now, after the fall to my seeming death. Instead of a smoldering stick, I was given a whole fresh cigarette with an offered lighter. Sanji looked absolutely furious. I couldn't help the curve pulling at one side of my mouth. I'll assume the reason he wasn't over there now threatening to kick Zoro's ass was because the food was finishing up and coming off the fire. Priorities, man...

"You got any food allergies?" Sanji questioned as he stacked several serving plates high with meat.

"N..." I stopped myself from giving out my normal 'No' and placed a finger to my cheek in thought. The normal fruits, veggies, and beef and pork, I'm sure that would be fine. But sea king meat? Blue-Finned Elephant tuna? Amoung other things..? "Uh... I.. don't think so? If I have any problems, I'll let you and Chopper know."

"Okay... You don't know if you have food allergies?"

With a grin and a lifted finger, I replied. "I'll have that reason at story time. But, besides that reason, there's a lot of things I haven't tried."

"Alright then... Well, come on, milady. Dinner's served."

Trailing behind him, I huffed on my given cigarette, watching as Sanji danced and weaved around the table that I'll assume that Franky had set up, serving out platters on the suface. Tossing my butt, I was given a place at the table next to Robin. With my memories of the gluttonous, meat stealing captian, I quickly worked on the meat on my plate first, before moving on to the rest of my food. The last piece of meat I had disappeared, thanks to rubbery hands. Oh well. But the food? Absolutely the best damn thing I'd ever eatten in my life. I think I'm in love with Sanji's cooking already. Most everyone else was finished eatting, save for Luffy, of course. So I took it upon myself that this was probably the best time as any to explain myself, with the crew gathered in one spot.

"Okay! Storytime!" My stomach lurched in protest of bringing attention to myself from everyone. Why was my normally quiet self just throwing me out there on the spot? What the hell...? Oh well, too late now...

"I don't know how I got on this island, I just appeared here. I went to sleep in my bed in my home, and woke up here with some clothes on my back and my zippo in my pocket... I counted days the best I could, as I remembered to, as I learned to survive to the best of my ability. The fact I'm still alive over two months later, means I succeeded I suppose... The first week or so, I survived on plants. At least until I come across that god aweful rotten fruit.." I trailed off at the thought with a scowl before continuing. " After that, I rigged up a pole to fish with, once I was able to find some stone suitable enough to use as flint to make a damn fire.. because, no more raw foods for me..."

I chewed on my lower lip in thought. "There was no one here on this island. Until I showed up, this placed looked like it hadn't seen visitors in years. Then, along comes Robin out of nowhere. I knew she seemed familiar, for some reason. But I couldn't place it." I made several guestures with my hands as I spoke. "Once she asked about the ruins and if I had seen any ponoglyphs, something clicked and I realised something.. So I asked where we were. The middle of the freaking Grand fucking Line," I heaved a dramtic sigh, " was not on my list of expectations. That's also when I realised that that horrid, rotten fruit I had eaten, wasn't just any fruit... Fucking seriously... how did I end up in this mess? Is my luck that bad...?" I gave an angry huff as I grumbled then picked up my story. "Anyway. Getting off topic. The problem, other then being stranded on an island," I waved off the thought, "but that's besides the main point. The main problem, regardless of knowing where I am currently, I still don't know where I am in relation to getting home.. I'm not even sure I can get home."

"Why not?" Ussop spoke up.

"Because I'm not from this universe, or dimension, whichever you prefer..."

"A-ALIEN!!!" Ussop shoved himself back from the table so hard that his chair flipped backward and sent him sprawling.

I couldn't help but laugh at his antics, however, I didn't disagree with his exclaimation. "Technically, you could call me that, yes. I'm just not from your outterspace. I'm from another world entirely, one where this one is fiction put to paper... The Four Blues, the Grand Line, Devil Fruits, the One Piece... Its all thought to be a made up story, from an artist's mind. We don't have Sea Kings, and Elephant trunked tuna, which is why I don't know about any food allergies from this world, Sanji."

"I see... It's called Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna, by the way. It's a fish from the South Blue." Smoke poured from his nostrils as he spoke.

"Yeah..." I knew that... "Anyway, islands in the sky are impossible, pirates don't rule the seas anymore... although I wouldn't mind reliving that era.." I muttered the last bit under my breath once I caught the thought slipping out. "Marines and the Navy exists, but the governments are a bit different. Its not all one World Government, each contienent is governed differently then the others. Haki is not a thing. Giants are extinct, if they were real to begin with. There's speculation, there, involving the race of Giants. Islands like the moving Zao and beings like the Minks are unheard of in reality and only exsit in fictional stories. Our Earth is pretty boring... Shit, I'm rambling... my bad. Get to the point, idiot..."

I finally looked up to Luffy, who was slowly chewing, cheeks blown out like a chimpmunk and narrowed eyes staring me down. Jeeze, that look was intense, even with the food distraction. I swallowed, my spit feeling stuck in my throat. "Basically, Luffy, I went to sleep in my own bed, and mysteriously woke up here in a different world from home. Even if you can't or won't help me try to get home, please help me off this island... I'll sleep in a storage closest if I got to. I don't know what I could offer in return other then to take on chores or maybe tend to any plants? I've had some practice with my apparent devil fruit the last couple months..."

I had such a brown thumb back home.. how did I manage to get a plant based fruit? Its surprising everything doesn't die instead of grow when I touch it..

Luffy chewed slowly, staring at me even more intently (if that was possible). I could feel a drop of sweat roll down the back of my neck. The air felt so tense. And I felt weighed down by his gaze, and, looking closely, I could see a red tint in his eye. Was this Conquer's haki? Is it used to gauge truefullness too, as well as bending the will of others? The pressure suddenly eased off as the rubber captian gave a big grin.

"Of course, we'll help you. But you have to join my crew!"

I choked on air. What???? Too soon. Too Soon. Too SOON! Why??

"I.. I have absolutely nothing to offer to you're ridiculously overpowered crew, Luffy... I can't fight, I can't sail, I have no skill sets to help you accomplish your goal of Pirate King. You don't need a liabitiy like me in your crew. I would't be any help and only be in the way when it came down to a fight. I don't even know how to defend myself."

"Well, you'll just have to learn how, then. That's not a problem." Luffy wagged his ham bone at me.

Huffing a sigh, I rubbed my face with my hands. What's it matter, anyway? It's not like I have a dream to defend and live for...?

"Don't be stupid. Everyone has a dream, Dot."

Shit, I said that outloud, didn't I? I gritted my teeth as I gripped my left shoulder, remembering the overlapping scars covered by my sleeve. "I can't join your crew, Luffy..."

"Well, too bad. I refuse."

I gapped at him as the Strawhatted captian gave me a confident grin as if he'd won. Which, wouldn't be wrong. Well, shit... no changing his mind now that he's firmly decided... I clamped my mouth closed and looked away in defeat.

"You said our world is a story in your world?" Ussop spoke up. "Do we make it to the end?"

With a half grin and a one shouldered shrug, I replied. "I dunno. It's still an ongoing story thats twenty plus years in the making. Besides that, if a butterfly fluttering its wings can cause a monsoon on the otherside of the world, how do you think throwing a whole person in would effect things?"

"Whats that got to do with butterflies and monsoons?" Ussop looked like he thought I might be crazy. Maybe I am, just a little... And now I got to explain things... "Yes, please explain."

With a sigh at my aloud thoughts, I complied. "In other words, the story that was protrayed didn't take a new person into account. My being here could make drastic changes, in fact, there have already been some made... Besides, I'm not going to tell you what happens, Ussop. Personally, I hate spoilers, and I'm not going to spoil it for someone else. Luffy wouldn't like that, and we all know it. I won't be giving information to spoil the adventure. Sorry, not sorry."

The snipper hung his head in dissappointment while Luffy nodded his approval, shoving the last piece of meat down his throat. "Yoosh! It's settled then. We try to find Dot a way home. Until we find it, she'll be part of the crew. Also," the straw hatted captian, this man younger then I, looked me firmly in the eye, "We're going to find your dream."

Swallowing down the knot in my throat, I could only nod in response. No point in arguing with him about it. But my chest hurt thinking about it. A dream to live for? What a joke... Breathing deep, I stood. "Well, sinced that's settled, I'm going to go pack up my camp."

Without waiting for a response, I walked away. Once hitting the treeline, and the beach disappeared from view, I broke into a brisk walk that was borderline jogging, tears finally falling free. Instead of my camp, I found myself at my fishing hole. I glared down into the water as if blaming it for my problems and jumped down into the waist shallow pool of sea water from where I stood on the bank. The effect was immediate. Why hadn't I noticed this before now? My energy was sapped in an instant, and it took everything I had to keep from sinking lower into the waist deep water. Cursing every deity I could think of, I barely managed to pull myself back out and onto the bank, where I sat and cried in frustration.

Dreams? Ha... my dream died years ago. I don't belong in this world. It didn't matter if I had a dream or not. My nails bit into the scars on my shoulder under the shirt. My teeth gritted as I dug my nails deeper and tried to claw gouges into the tough scar tissue. With deep breaths, I relished the pain until I got my nerves calm. I didn't need a cigarette. I needed a marijuana plant... After some brooding, I finally got up and acutally returned to my camp this time. Robin and Sanji were waiting there when I returned. Neither said a word, not even asking why I was half soaked with sea water. I had a feeling they already knew.

"You don't have a joint in that pocket you would share, would you?" I half heartedly joked when the cook offered another smoke to me. His expression turned confused at my question, so I only grinned and shrugged. "Nevermind. It's not important."

Between the three of us, it didn't take but a few minutes to pack up anything worth keeping, mostly food and water provisions, my flint stones I had found, my zippo, and a few interesting rocks and plants I had come across. I had to dig a couple plants up and wrap the roots with leaves and some puesdo string to bring with us. I had started a mini garden once I discovered my ability to make plants grow, and now that I'll be leaving, I didn't want to leave ALL my plants behind. They would probably be in shock from the move, but I'm sure I could work with them, I hoped.

With Sanji carrying the heaviest of the load, as per his insistance, the three of us started back towards the beach where the ship was. My steps faultered and I looked back at my poorly made hut that I was abandoning with conflicting emotions. I hated change. The sudden drop onto this island was a huge change. Then to find that I had also dropped into another world entirely, on top of leaving the comfort zone I had created for myself all in the same day... it was a drastic change indeed. I wasn't quite used to the change of living on a deserted island, but I had gotten somewhat comfortable here, even if I was alone. This next step was another huge change in my life, and I wasn't sure I was ready for it.

End Chapter