ONE PIECE
Two Worlds, One Family
A young woman struggling to find her place in the world wakes up to find a bunch of cats in her room...cats that turn out to be the characters from her favourite TV show, One Piece! Bound to each other, whether they like it or not, and trying to figure out a way to find a certain somebody's lost Nakama and get everyone back to their home, what follows is bound to be chaos, friendship, tears, romance - and, adventure! (Kind of a re-write of Straw Cat Pirates).
CHAPTER TWO
I'm Not A Doctor!
Emma awoke to find herself sitting up, and listening to a strange dripping noise, which she recognized instantly.
"Oh no!" She cried, jumping out of bed and running from her room, not noticing anything but the fact that the air-conditioning was leaking - again. She thought they'd gotten it fixed but, evidently, not.
It was only when she was in the living room, switching off the air-conditioning, that she realised something was...off.
Looking down at herself, she saw that her feet were dirty. How they had gotten that way, when she'd been wearing shoes all day, she had no idea...until she looked up again, and caught sight of her reflection in the glass door.
"No. Freaking. Way." Emma said, frozen to the spot, her heart pounding. She began to shake, and had to lean on the couch for support, hoping that she wasn't going to faint (a word of advice - don't run just after waking up, unless you are being chased by zombies).
Tentatively, Emma reached up a hand, and touched the hat that now sat atop her head. Made of woven straw, and with a red ribbon tied around it, there was no doubt in her mind about whose hat this was.
"But...that must mean that..." Emma turned slowly, and walked up to her room, unsure of what she would find once she got up there. The lights were off in her room, and the sun was setting, casting an eerie and shadowy glow on the hallway.
Shaking even more now, Emma reached her room, and switched the light on but it didn't work because, she realised too late, the light hadn't been working for a week now, and she didn't know how to replace a light globe.
She sighed, and looked down at her feet again...only to see a pair of glowing eyes staring back up at her.
Emma stared at the glowing eyes, trying to decide whether or not she was really seeing them, and realising that her necklace was now burning comfortably against her throat, its red glow illuminating the room.
She looked up, to see that there were two other small occupants in her room. Small, furry bodies, belonging to...cats.
Great. The one thing her Mother was allergic to.
Emma narrowed her eyes slightly, and stared at one of the cats. What was that dark stuff around it...it looked like it had...
"Blood!" Emma gasped, wondering why her voice sounded so high. Maybe because the sight of blood upset her? Maybe because there were three weird cats in her room...and, one of them was bleeding all over the carpet. "Oh, Mum's going to hate this..." She groaned, closing her eyes briefly to try and decide what to do.
Her eyes were shut, and so she didn't see the cat closest to her ready itself for a jump, and jump it did - leaping right onto her shoulder and startling her out of her reverie. She gasped again, and fell back against the door-frame. Luckily, she didn't fall over.
The cat regarded her coolly with grey eyes, and she took note of the blueish-black cat's darker facial markings, right before he opened his mouth and spoke to her, his voice a soft purr in her ear.
"She'll hate it even more if he dies."
Emma was aware that her mouth was open by this stage, as she stared sideways at the cat on her shoulder. She was unable to do or so anything, as the cat on her shoulder just watched her, calmly.
In contrast to this, was the other black cat's reaction. He wasn't bleeding, and was just slightly bigger than the one that was, but not as big as the one that was on Emma's shoulder. His eyes were so dark that they were nearly black, and his deep voice lacked the coolness of the first cat's.
"So do something before my brother dies then!" He hissed, his eyes on fire. The bleeding cat gave a weak moan, and tried to stand up. Immediately, the angry cat turned to him, and his tone became panicked. "Just hold on, Luffy - it's gonna be okay."
Emma found her voice. "L-Luffy?" She repeated, daring to take a step closer. Why was she so afraid to walk into her own room, anyway? "S-so then...you must be...A-Ace..." She addressed the bigger of the two.
"Never mind the introductions, just help him!" Ace snapped, which stung Emma, until she heard the panic underlying his voice. He was clearly panicking, and Emma suddenly realised where they had just come from.
Somehow, she had interrupted the real life Paramount War At Marineford, and brought Luffy and Ace and some other third guy here, to her world. To the real world.
If Luffy wasn't currently bleeding out all over her carpet, then she would have fan-girled.
But, why cats?
Dropping to her knees cautiously beside the two cats, and aware that the light was still coming from her necklace and making the blood look even more red, Emma carefully examined Luffy without touching him. "It looks bad...wait, what am I supposed to do?! I'm not a doctor!" She was starting to freak out, but remembered to breathe. In through the nose, out through the mouth, just like her Mother had instructed her to do on that nauseating day, nine years ago.
Ace just gave her a Look that clearly said: You're useless.
The cat on her shoulder, however, stated calmly: "I am. You need to do everything I say, or else he'll die."
Emma's heart hammered in her chest. What was happening?! She'd bought a pretty necklace (well, she'd been given it for free) and suddenly she had to play vet-nurse?!
Sensing her rising panic, the cat on her shoulder spoke again. "Calm down. You can do this."
Emma nodded numbly and, with a warning glare from Ace the cat, she gently picked up Luffy, cringing when he whimpered in pain. Carrying him down the hall, with his blood dripping onto her hands, Emma was barely aware of Ace following her or of the fact that her necklace had stopped glowing.
Glad that she'd cleaned the bench the night before, Emma carefully placed Luffy onto the shiny, cold black surface, as Ace jumped onto a nearby bench stool.
"What do I need to do?" Emma whispered, unable to make her voice go any louder. this was turning out to be way weirder than she could have ever imagined.
The cat on her shoulder jumped down, and immediately began examining Luffy, carefully using his paws to assess the damage on the smaller black cat's body.
Meanwhile, Luffy had opened his coal-dark eyes, and was trying to get up. "M..." He tried to say, as Ace and the doctor-cat pushed him back down. "My...h...h..."
"Your hat." Emma breathed, and took the straw hat off her head, placing it down on the bench nearby, so that Luffy could see it. "Daijoubu..."
Luffy looked visibly relieved as he settled back down again, but he was still in a lot of pain.
The doctor cat looked sharply up at Emma. "You need to boil a pot of water for ten minutes and put fishing line and a needle in there." He told her.
"R-right." Emma stammered, hurrying to grab a pot and fill it with water. As she was transferring it to the stove, the sudden implications set in, and she nearly spilled the water. She was going to have to perform surgery, and stitch up the future Pirate King. The only thing she knew how to stitch up was a book in Book Binding classes! She'd failed sewing in year eight!
Gulping, Emma set the pot on the stove which she turned on, before grabbing a pair of gloves from under the sink. They came in their own sealed bag, which was good.
Emma then dashed into the adjacent games room, and grabbed the needle she'd been using for a long-stitch. She was sure that, if her cat-loving Nanny ever found out what the needle she'd leant her was being used for right now, then she would understand.
Coming back out, Emma heard a groan, and then the clicking of toe-nails on the wooden floor - oh no, Ranger was coming out to investigate!
He smelled the unfamiliar scent of a strange animal in his home, and growled, increasing his pace.
Emma immediately placed herself between the cats and her dog and, when she locked gazes with Ranger she said, in a strong voice: "No."
Ranger stopped in his tracks, before whimpering, and lying down with his head between his paws.
Emma was surprised, before the doctor-cat's voice cut through her reverie. "Fishing line." He reminded her.
"Oh, right!" Emma exclaimed, placing the needle on the bench, before grabbing Ranger by the collar and yanking him (gently) outside.
She hoped her Father would have some fishing line in his shed.
As the auburn-haired girl dragged the dog outside, and Ace stayed by Luffy's side, Law continued to check over the smaller cat's injuries, but his mind was on another thought.
So, he hadn't been anywhere near Luffy and Ace at the time - he'd been on his way to Marineford, it was true, when a dozen or so brightly-coloured red and gold ribbons had suddenly wrapped around him from out of nowhere, and then he had blacked out. He had then woken up in a stranger's room, to find himself as a cat.
Well, stranger things had happened.
The girl, whoever she was, was handling this a lot better than most people would, if three talking cats had suddenly appeared in their bedroom. She had panicked a little bit, at first, but then she'd calmed down, although her reaction at the realisation that she would have to sew up Luffy's wounds had been pretty much expected. Her hands were small, though, and she should be able to get the job done if she stayed calm and listened to him.
What was on Law's mind, however, was the fact that the girl had just used Haoshoku Haki, although she herself seemed unaware of it. Law had sensed it, though he himself could not use it, but he had recognized it.
Law almost smirked to himself, despite the situation. They'd been turned into cats. They were, quite possibly, in another part of the world or even in an entirely differentworld. This strange girl, with her glowing necklace and Haki, seemed to have transported them there, though she didn't seem to realise it. What an interesting predicament they had gotten themselves into...he wondered what would happen next...
An hour and a half later, Emma sighed, and dragged a stack of Harry Potter, Alex Rider, Eragon and Twilight books across the carpet. She had just spent forty-five minutes sewing up the wounds of a black cat that was really a teenage boy as instructed by another black cat that was really the Surgeon Of Death, and then another forty-five cleaning up the blood-stains on the wooden floor. The carpet, however, was a lot harder to clean.
She Googled it, and found out what to do - she blotted the stain with a clean cloth, sprayed it with cold water, blotted it again, sprayed cleaning solution onto it, blotted it with a clean dry cloth, then repeated the spray and blot procedure until the stain was not there anymore, before spraying it with the rinsing solution and blotting it again, before spraying it with clean water and blotting it AGAIN with a clean cloth.
Now, she was placing the heaviest books in the house on top of the clean cloth she had placed over the whole area, to make sure the cloth stayed there to absorb the remains.
She collapsed onto her bed, feeling exhausted, and knowing that the night was not over yet. She still had to feed to dog, feed herself, feed...her guests and call her parents back.
They had been trying to ring for the last hour, and she hadn't been able to answer. They were going to be furious.
She sensed a small movement from the doorway of her room, and then a small black body jumped up onto her bed. She recognized the black cat, and turned her head to look at him.
"H-how's your brother?" She wanted to know.
"He's much better now, thanks to you."
"And Law." She reminded him.
"Hai." Ace sat down, and bowed his head politely. "I want to apologize for the way I spoke to you earlier."
"It's okay, you were just worried." Emma said quietly, wondering if this conversation was really happening.
Ace gazed at her. "Even so. I also want to introduce myself formally - my name is Portgas D. Ace, but you can just call me Ace."
Emma sat up. "Douzo yoroshiku, Ace. M-my name's E-Emma." Her hand flew to her throat like it always did when she was nervous, and her voice did that faltering thing that she hated. Stop that! She scolded herself. Now he's going to think you're a freak!
Ace, however, didn't appear to have noticed...Emma leaned closer when she realised that he wasn't moving, and tilted her head to one side. "He...HE FELL ASLEEP?!"
Luffy was having the nicest dream. In it, he was in The Land Of Large Breakfasts, and he looked around him in wonder. It was just like he'd always imagined it to be. There was the Sausage Forest with the melting eggs, Pancake Falls and its cousin Waffle Plains, the infamous River Of Honey and, right now, Luffy found himself standing on Bacon Road.
"Yahoo!" Luffy cried, instantly celebrating, especially when it began raining. "It's raining ham! Hallelujah, it's raining ham!" He immediately began to chow down, until he realised that the bacon was...furry? "Augh! Yuck! What kind of a dream is this, anyway?!"
"A nightmare." Said a dark voice, and Luffy awoke to find himself staring into Trafalgar Law's stormy grey eyes. Stormy, because Luffy appeared to be eating Law's tail.
"Oh...shishishi...sorry..." Luffy apologized, and let go of Law's tail, before trying to stand up but finding that he couldn't. Also, his entire body appeared to be aching, and...it was covered in...fur? "Huh...hey, wait a minute..." He narrowed his eyes at Law, who regarded him coolly. "Since when do you have a tail?!" He cried, and then tried to twist his head back when he felt something move behind him. "Since when do I have a tail?!"
Law sighed. "Since we all got turned into cats and transported to a different world."
"Oh." Luffy stared at him for a moment, before relaxing. Then, he sprung up again, and felt his sides burn in protest. "Wait, where's Ace?!" His heart began to pound in a panic - had Ace escape his execution, or was it too late?! What had happened?! Where was Ace?!
Just then, Luffy's ears pricked up, and Law turned his head casually to the sound of a voice yelling: "HE FELL ASLEEP?!"
Luffy began to laugh, but stopped when it hurt. "He's okay." He had never been more relieved in his life, and listened to the sound of footsteps getting closer. His tail flicked in anticipation as he settled back down again.
A young woman came out into the kitchen/family room area. In her arms was a cat that blended in with her black dress and, somehow, Luffy knew that it was his brother.
"Sheesh..." The woman said, in a wind-chime voice that suddenly made Luffy feel better. "What next...?" She suddenly yelped, as Ace burst into flame. "Omigosh, cat's on fire, cat's on fire, cat's on fire!" And, before either Luffy or Law could stop her, she dashed Ace to the kitchen sink and ran cold water on him.
Luffy couldn't help it - he burst out laughing, despite the pain, and even Law was snickering, a very smug smirk on his cat face.
As soon as Emma heard the laughter, she realised her mistake too late, and turned the water off, locking gazes with a very pissed off Ace.
"Emma..."
"Oh, I'm sorry...you're made of fire...I forgot..." Emma sunk to her knees, resting her head against the cupboard under the sink in utter shame. "Augh..."
Ace took the opportunity to climb out of the sink, before jumping onto Emma's head, onto her back, and then onto the kitchen floor, where he proceeded to use his powers to steam-dry himself.
Emma glanced over her shoulder at him, and muttered: "Sorry..."
Ace just sighed, and didn't respond, as he began licking his paws.
Emma turned, and sat with her back against the cupboard, staring up at the ceiling light.
The cats all exchanged a glance, and then Luffy spoke up. "Who are you, and where are we?" He wanted to know, lying on his side and looking down at her, his dark eyes bright despite the pain.
Okay, that was too hid a smile, and replied: "My name's Emma Pax, and this is...hoo boy, where do I begin?" She clasped her hands in a triangle shape in front of her. "Umm, let's see...you're in another world...yeah?"
Luffy's eyes widened slightly. "Hontou? Which one?"
Emma shrugged. "I dunno...I didn't even know that there were different worlds...not until..." She trailed off, touching her hand to the necklace around her neck.
Law's eyes followed her hand, taking in the scar and the pendant, and narrowing slightly at the clear abuse she'd been waging on her nails, which were bitten and/or picked nearly down to the skin.
Still, he'd been right about one thing - her small hands had been steady enough to perform the operation on Luffy's injuries, which appear to have been far less worse in his cat-form than they had been in his human-form.
Not that Law had any idea as to how they had ended up as cats, but it appeared to be a blessing.
Law's thoughts were interrupted by Ranger's sudden bark from outside, a deep and baritone bark that seemed to echo from his barrel-chest.
Luffy yelped, and fell from the bench, causing Emma to lunge forwards, and catch him just before he hit the floor.
"Daijoubu nano desu ka?" Emma muttered, feeling like she might speak solely in Japanese for the rest of her life because of this. Who would've thought that all of that anime-watching would finally pay off?
"Y-yosh..." Luffy muttered back, feeling dazed.
Emma staggered to her feet, cradling Luffy to her chest. If it had've been almost any other One-Piece-character-turned-cat (like a certain blonde-haired cook, or a revived skeleton) then said cat would've had a nosebleed or something. Luffy, however, just purred contentedly, and fell asleep.
"Aww..." Emma couldn't hide her smile now, as Luffy's tail swished against her elbow.
"Hey, how come he gets the good treatment when he falls asleep?" Ace asked.
"Because he is injured." Emma answered primly, setting about getting her dog's food ready with only one hand, as Law watched her calmly from the bench-top.
"Why don't you run him under cold water?" Ace wanted to know.
"Refer to my previous statement and, hey, I thought you were supposed to be nice to your brother." Emma said, spooning two cups of rice-veggie-pasta mix into the plastic ice-cream container, and putting it into the microwave for thirty seconds.
"He laughed at me before. However,I am but half-joking." Ace replied.
"Which means you're half-serious." Emma rolled her eyes, just as the phone rang for the fifth time that evening. "Oh my God..."
Law noticed that her face had paled.
"What's the matter?" Ace wanted to know, blinking. "What is it?"
"It's my Mother." Emma replied numbly, walking automatically over to the phone and, with a shaking hand, she picked it up. "H-hello?"
Law and Ace watched her with interest, as she conversed with somebody they couldn't see. Obviously, that thing on the wall was like a Den-Den Mushi, except it appeared to be entirely machine. They also understood that it had been ringing on and off for the past hour or so, and that Emma had been unable to pick it up.
Judging from Emma's side of the conversation, her Mother was angry with her due to that.
Emma kept trying to apologize, but kept getting cut off. Eventually, she hung her head, and listened in silence, before muttering: "Okay...I will...yes, Mum...bye..." She hung up the phone, staring at it for a long time, before going back into the kitchen, carrying a still sleeping Luffy. She got the dog's food out of the microwave (which Ace sensed was a thing to heat things up) and gave it to him out the back, before going back inside and sitting down on the couch in the family room, where Ace and Law joined her.
"You didn't tell her about us?" Ace asked, as he jumped up onto the coffee table.
Law took his place at the back of the couch, watching as Emma put the recliner up, and rested her feet on it.
Emma shook her head, carefully transferring the sleeping black cat in her arms to her lap, where he nuzzled against her and slept on. "Hmm...no...she would've freaked out..."
"More or less than what you did?" Law wanted to know.
"More." Emma said coldly, and Law smirked. Emma sighed. "Okay, so...what's going on here?"
"That's what we'd like to know." Ace responded, making himself comfortable on a yellow couch cushion. "When I mentioned Luffy's name, you mentioned mine in response."
"Y-yes, that's true, I did..." Emma gulped, knowing what was coming. "Oh jeez, how do I explain this to you...?" She looked across the room, and her eyes fell on the large-screen TV. "A-ha..." She carefully got up, and picked up her new DVD.
"What are you doing?" Ace wanted to know.
"Just watch." Emma replied, turning the TV on and switching it over to the input that was the Blue-Ray Player. "You know, my M-Mother told me off for buying this..." Her hand was to her throat again, but neither Ace nor Law commented on this. "But, I think it's come in handy, now...here..."
The cartoon came on...
If it had been possible, then Ace's eyes would've bugged out of his head, and Emma stole a quick glance at Law - he looked stunned but, when he caught her looking, quickly rearranged his kitty face into a neutral look, though his eyes never left the screen.
"This show has told me about your world." Emma explained, as the theme song played. "It's one of my favourite sh-shows, for l-lots of reasons...it's really cool..." She muttered, blushing slightly. She was secretly trying not to fan-girl - here she was, finally seeing episode one of the Funimation dub, and three of the characters were here with her, albeit as cats...it was a dream come true!
Emma had to check herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"So, basically, you knew everything about us?" Ace turned to look at her over his shoulder, his gaze suddenly intense.
Emma knew what he was getting at, and chose her words carefully. She wasn't about to lie about this. "Yes, Ace, I do." She gazed back at him, willing herself not to look away. She'd read somewhere that people thought you were lying if you looked away. So, she willed herself to hold his gaze, and he gazed back at her, before turning back to the screen, which was showing Luffy springing free from the barrel.
That reminded Emma, and she tried to stand up and remove the sleeping cat from her lap, but he dug his claws into her arm, so she had no choice but to carry him into the kitchen, and get her dinner with only one hand.
"Ace, Law-San, what'll it be?" Emma asked, opening up the fridge, and then she quickly rectified her question. "Wait, never mind, I'll just make something, because I haven't got a lot of stuff right now..." How the Hell am I gonna be able to afford to feed Ace and Luffy?! She panicked.
Ace glanced at her again. "Huh? Why not?"
"Umm, just because." Emma muttered, taking out a frying pan. "I haven't been shopping in awhile, since I didn't expect an c-company...plus, my parents are away so it was s-supposed to b-be just m-me, and...yeah..." Why can't I stop stuttering when I'm around them?! She cursed herself, getting out oil and paper towels and plates. "Bacon and egg on hash-browns sound okay?" It had better be, because it's just about the only thing that I can cook!
"What's a hash-brown?" Ace wanted to know.
"It's made of potatoes, and is a substitute for toast or bread." Emma explained, getting out the egg carton - they always had plenty of eggs, getting four a day and all from their hens.
"What's wrong with bread?" Ace asked her.
"Law-San doesn't like bread." Emma replied, and Law smirked.
Ace rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He turned back to the TV, and watched as his little brother's cartoon-self called the pirate Alvida 'fat'. It was Ace's turn to smirk, as he settled down to watch.
Emma wouldn't usually use a knife and a fork to eat hash-browns and eggs and bacon - if she was by herself, that is. Now, in the company of three pirates-turned-cats, she felt like she should at least act like a lady.
Emma swallowed the last piece of her hash-brown, and then eyed her bacon, which she'd been saving for last.
A furry black paw snaked across the table, heading for the bacon.
Emma stabbed her fork onto the table in front of the paw, and Luffy yelped.
"Mine!" Emma snapped, cramming the rasher into her mouth, much to Luffy's disappointment.
"But Emmy, I'm hungry!" Luffy complained, pouting in a most-adorable way.
Emma softened. "I'm sorry..." She then watched as Luffy used his powers to steal some of Ace's bacon. Then again...
"I swear if you weren't in bandages right now, little brother..." Ace threatened, and Luffy grinned a kitty-grin, with a mouthful of bacon.
"You know you missed me!" He chirped, and Emma smiled, standing up and collecting the now empty plates.
As she was carrying them to the dishwasher, she heard Ace say: "Now, hold on a minute, Luffy - if you jump from up here then you'll rip your stitches out!"
"He's right, Luffy-ya." Law spoke up, from where he was licking his paws clean. "If you do too much running, jumping, stretching or whatever else you like to do, then you'll tear your stitches and start bleeding again."
"And die." Emma spoke up cheerfully from behind the counter, where she was putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
"Yes, and die." Law agreed.
Ace glared at both of them.
Luffy just shook it off. "No fair...when can I start doing the things I like again?"
Law considered. "Well, judging by the nature of your injuries that you sustained as a human, I'd say three weeks."
Luffy looked horrified.
"However, you're not in a human body anymore..." Law sounded thoughtful, as he sat down on the table, his tail swishing. There were so many questions, and so many possibilities. "The fact that an amateur could stitch you up perfectly proves that your injuries grew less severe in your new body."
Did he just call me an amateur? Emma's eyebrow twitched. He should see what I can do with an imposed stack of A5 papers!
"So, what you're saying is that this is a blessing in disguise?" Ace questioned.
"Pretty much, Ace-ya." Law replied calmly. "I would say Luffy-ya should be healed within a few days, at most."
"Yay!" Luffy cheered, doing a happy little cat-dance, as both Ace and Law rolled their eyes. The two bigger cats turned back to each other.
"So, what now?" Ace wanted to know.
Law shrugged as best he could, and then they both turned to look at Emma, as she straightened up.
Emma froze, instantly reminded of the scene from one of her favourite movies, The Lion King, where Simba and Nala say: "Pleeeeaaaase?"
Emma then sighed, and placed her hands on the bench. "I don't know h-how you guys got here. I had a dream about the w-war at Marineford, and everyone was rushing about, Marines and p-pirates were killing each other..." She shuddered. "A man with fire wings told me to run, so I did..."
"Marco..." Ace muttered.
"Then, I came across Luffy's h-hat," Emma picked it up off the bench, and Luffy's eyes lit up. "And th-they thought I was with him, so they a-attacked me, so then...I dunno h-how I did it, but..."
"The ribbons..." Luffy said suddenly, and everyone looked at him. He explained: "I remember seeing a whole lot of red and gold ribbons flying about, and somebody saying something about a demon..."
"Me, a demon?" Emma blinked. "Now that's just rude." She shook her head. "I guess I did send a whole bunch of Marines flying without knowing h-how, so..." She closed her eyes, remembering. "Then, I saw Luffy and Ace...and..." She gasped, closing her eyes tighter.
"Emma?" Ace asked her.
Emma kept her eyes shut, remembering the feeling of fear as she'd seen Sazakuzi heading for Luffy, and Ace about to jump in between them. "That man...Sakazuki...or, Akainu, or whatever you want to call him...he was about to...and then..." She opened her eyes, and was surprised to find tears brimming in them. She swiped at them quickly, and looked at Ace before looking away. "Anyway, that didn't happen, you're fine, I'm gonna go and have a shower!" She left the hat on the bench and beat a hasty retreat, leaving the three pirates looking stunned.
She knows something... Law realised, and remembered the way that she had looked at Ace. So, those ribbons that transported me, at least, here were her doing...hmm...
Emma dried her hair with the hair-dryer, wearing a towel over her underwear. She worked hard to dry it properly and then brush the knots out of it.
She then looked at herself in the mirror, and was surprised to see Law standing on the bench of the vanity area to her left.
She gasped. "You scared me!" She set down her hair-dryer and looked at him. "What's up?"
"I have some questions for you." He stated simply, prowling across the bench, noticing the messy array of make-up and jewelry.
"I'll bet you do." Emma muttered, adjusting her towel self-consciously.
Law appeared not to notice this, as he stopped by the sink, and regarded her. "You know all about us, but we don't know anything about you."
Emma was surprised. "Wh-what do you want to know?" She asked him.
"Where did you get that necklace from?"
"Umm, the scariest lady this side of the river." Emma muttered. Law just stared at her. She elaborated: "I went shopping today and there was this lady with a stall set up in the middle of a shop, and she told me to choose something, so I did...I-I just sort of l-let fate decide..."
Law nodded. "What did this lady say to you?"
"Umm..." Emma looked away, embarrassed. "She, umm...told me to put it on and not take it o-off...she said she knew g-great things about me, and she knew my name, which is really weird." She closed her eyes, and saw the lady's blue eyes in her mind. "Her shop vanished when I turned my back, which is even weirder..." She opened her eyes, and looked at Law.
"Anything else?" The cat asked her calmly.
"No." Emma replied. Then: "Yes! Omigosh! That...oh my God!" And, as Law watched, Emma started panicking. "Oh no, oh no, oh my Lord, oh God, why oh why oh WHY?!"
Law just waited.
Emma sunk to her knees on the floor, not caring when her towel slipped down (she was wearing underwear, so it was fine). Her heart was pounding, as she held her hand to her chest, and stared at the blue tiles that reminded her of the sea. "That...the...they...it...we...us..." She sat with her back against the cupboards.
"Ah, Emma?" Ace had appeared at the entrance to the vanity area, and Luffy poked his head around the wall (Emma didn't bother asking how he'd gotten down from the table). "Words correct put please order into?"
Emma gave him a Look, as Luffy bounded over to her and into her arms. He put his paws up against her collar-bone, and looked at her in the eyes. "What's wrong?" He wanted to know.
Emma gave him a sad smile. "Oh, nothing, Luffy...I just realised that I ate a Devil Fruit today, and now I'll never be able to swim again..." Damn that scary lady, she knew it, didn't she?! Emma thought, her anguish at not being able to swim ever again over-ruling her joy at now having a special power, at least for now.
Ace and Law stared at Emma in shock, but Luffy looked thrilled. "Really?! Yosh, that's so cool! Shishishishi!" He nuzzled up against her neck. "Now you're just like us! You should join my crew! What power did you get?! You're my nakama now!" He then promptly fell asleep.
What the Hell?! Emma, Ace and Law all thought in unison, especially Ace because it was usually him that fell asleep unexpectedly.
Then again, Luffy had had a pretty big day - he'd gotten out of Impel Down, stormed Marineford, and nearly lost his brother. Now, he was in another world.
Emma carefully placed Luffy down on the pillow on the other side of her bed, and placed a mink-fur shawl over him.
"Emmy..." Luffy said sleepily, and Emma glanced at him. "Where's...my hat?"
Ace suddenly bounded into the room, holding the hat in his mouth, which Emma took from him and placed on the bed between Luffy and a stuffed toy rabbit called Rabbie. "Here, Luffy..." Emma said.
"Shishishi...thanks..." He muttered, before falling back to sleep.
Emma and Ace exchanged a smile, but there was a hint of shared sadness.
Emma sat on the couch, drinking warm milk and watching the news that she'd taped that evening.
She narrowed her eyes at the screen. "Great. Murder, rape, the bashing of another elderly person...what the Hell is wrong with the world these days?" She leaned back after setting her cup down on the coffee table, unaware that Law was watching her from the doorway. "Still, now that I know the other world exists...which is worse? This world has nuclear war...but, the other world has Devil Fruit powers...evidently, so do I, now, but...North Korea, or the World Government?" She stared up at the ceiling. "I'll bet Ace is worried about Whitebeard and the others, but isn't showing it...I wonder what's happened to the Heart Pirates...and, the Straw Hat Pirates...I'm glad I stopped Sakazuki from killing Ace...Luffy's mind would've shattered, and I couldn't bear it. I just...hope that the Blackbeard Pirates don't kill Whitebeard...like they were going to..." Her eyelids began to close, as she fell asleep on the couch. "I hope..."
Law jumped up onto the arm of the couch as the red-head fell asleep. He calmly regarded her as she slept. For some reason, she reminded him of Luffy - they were both unbearable at times when they were awake but, when they were asleep, they were tolerable.
More than that, though...Law couldn't quite figure it out...he didn't quite now why but, when he looked at her peacefully sleeping form, she looked...angelic.
Like an angel with black wings, considering what she'd said she'd done at Marineford. Law smirked.
He was also keen to know how her dream had managed to transport her to their world. As he continued to watch her (being a creepy, stalker-kitty without actually meaning to) he watched her shift slightly, and her soft pink lips (no, wait, they were just normal lips, he told himself) formed the words: "Marines..." She sounded scared to death but, even as she was terrified in her sleep, her voice still had that melodic tone to it.
Law watched as the heart-shaped pendant around Emma's neck began to glow, and realised what was happening...
To say that Sakazuki was upset was an understatement - the man was furious, and working hard to keep his temper under control, to avoid killing another fellow Marine like he had before. They were back at an undisclosed location, and he was currently pacing, muttering things like 'ribbons' and 'eighty million'.
His fellow Admirals, Kuzan and Borsalino, stood with their backs to the large window, and Sakazuki barely noticed them, or anything else, as he paced.
"What I don't understand," Sakazuki said gruffly, his fists clenched at his sides as he paced. "Is how nobody can tell me where that child came from!" The memory of the red-haired girl still burned in his mind - she had stood in his way of destroying Fire-Fist Ace and Straw Hat Luffy but, unlike most people that did that and whom he considered to be merely irritating obstacles, this girl had warranted a world-wide search for her identity. The search had come up with nothing, much to Sakazuki's frustration. "The power she exhibited...nobody has heard of it...just what is she?!"
"It's true that we don't know who she is or where she's come from." Kuzan stated calmly. "I've never seen nor heard of a power like hers."
"We don't know where she or the others went, eiiither..." Borsalino drew out the last word of his sentence. "It seems she aided in the escape of not only the sons of Dragon and Roger, but also the other Whitebeard Pirates, too."
"Vice Admiral Garp appears to be missing, as well." Kuzan added. "Like the others, he disappeared into the red and gold ribbons that girl was using."
Sakazuki sighed. "When I find that girl, I'll..." He turned around, and stopped speaking abruptly.
The other two Admirals also turned, to see the girl in question standing on the railing of the balcony, wearing that same black dress and sporting a milk-mustache.
She stared at them.
They stared at her.
"I'm not a kid, I'm twenty-three nearly." She said clearly, in a soprano voice that was currently seething, though all three men could hear the fear underlying her words. She directed her tone at Sakazuki. "And how old are you - eighty-seven?"
Sakazuki was the first to react, activating his powers, and his fellow Admirals followed suit.
Faced with magma, ice, and light, the girl visibly paled. "Okay, I want to wake up now!" She exclaimed, in a ringing voice, just as she was enveloped by red and gold ribbons, and vanished just as quickly, much to Sakazuki's fury and Kuzan's and Borsalino's confusion.
"She...did it agaaain..." Borsalino drawled. "She's certainly not a kid."
"Aye..." Kuzan agreed. There's something about those eyes of hers...
Sakazuki was too furious to say anything.
Emma awoke suddenly, gasping, her heart pounding. She shook her head quickly, and noticed that it was starting to get light outside. Law was sitting on the arm of the couch, staring at her, and she wondered if he'd slept at all.
Well, there was no time to worry about that now - she had to wake up Ace and tell him what she knew!
Hurrying down the hall, with Law following at a more leisurely pace, Emma entered her bedroom, and stopped, smiling at the sight of the two brother cats curled up together on her bed.
"Aww..." Emma said, and Law watched her reach for her camera (it was the smallest, silver-est, strangest-looking camera he had ever seen, but he sensed that's what it was). After taking a photo and mumbling something about 'blackmail', which made Law smirk, she walked over to Ace and quietly said his name. When he didn't respond, she said it louder, and prodded him. He still did not wake up. She frowned, and shook him a bit harder. Still, he slept on.
Law watched in amusement as Emma picked up Ace, and shook him slightly.
He didn't even stir.
Gritting her teeth in frustration, Emma stalked out to the vanity area, with Law at her heels. She dropped Ace into the sink and turned the water on.
After Ace had steam-dried himself, and Law had instructed Emma to put a bandaid on her face where Ace had scratched her, Emma proceeded to tell Ace what she had learned in her dream.
At first, all Ace could do was express his relief that his crewmates - especially Captain Whitebeard - were safe, but also a bit of concern that perhaps they were stuck in this world, and as cats. The thought of Whitebeard as a cat suddenly flickered in their minds, and they all three of them coughed to hide snickers.
However, he and Law seemed concerned about something else, too.
"It seems like you'll be transported to our world every time you fall asleep." Ace commented seriously, looking at her.
"Huh?" Emma blinked.
Law nodded in agreement. "It also looks like the World Government is aware of your existence, and considers you a threat." His eyes darkened slightly. "They won't let you get away so easily next time."
"So, what do you want me to do?" Emma asked them both. "Not fall asleep ever again?"
Law and Ace exchanged a glance. "Just be careful."