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 FOUR
Dine And Dash
"Emma, tell me again why we're doing this?" Ace groaned, as he sat on the dashboard of her car, which she was currently driving out of the driveway.
"Because yours and Luffy's Grandfather is in Fremantle, and we're going to go and find him." She explained patiently, sliding a CD into the player and turning the volume down.
"Yeah," Luffy the cat, who was sitting in the passenger seat in his own straw hat, looked up at her. "But, what we don't understand, is why..."
"What do you mean, 'why'?" Emma asked them, as Lifehouse began to sing. "He's your Grandfather and, besides, I'd really like to meet him." She smiled, keeping her eyes on the road.
"Why on earth would you want to meet him?" Ace asked in disbelief. "He's...well, to put it lightly, insane."
Luffy nodded in agreement.
"Ace, Luffy, you two have no idea how lucky you are to still have a Grandfather." Emma scolded them, turning onto the main road. "Why, I'd give up my right hand to have one, and don't even think about it, Law-San." She added, and said cat smirked from his place on the passenger-side floor.
"You don't have a Grandfather?" Luffy asked.
Emma shook her head. "No, I never knew them...well, I had a Step-Grandfather, but he died when I was eleven." She smiled a bit sadly, thinking of him - he'd been a huge and hilarious Englishman, and she had been upset when he'd passed away from lung cancer caused by smoking, which is why she couldn't stand cigarettes.
"So...how old are you now?" Ace asked suddenly.
"Nearly twenty-three." Emma replied, and then gasped. "Hey, hang on, you don't ask a lady her age! Didn't Garp ever teach you two any manners?!"
Both Ace and Luffy shook their heads. "No, not a thing." They replied in unison.
Emma turned onto Solomon Road, and rolled her eyes. "Well, we'll have to rectify that, won't we? I hope we find him today...I'd really like to meet him, face-to-face..." She trailed off, slowing down when the car in front of her was turning, before adding: "I saw a picture of him from the past, in the anime, and he looked just like you and your Dad, Luffy! Very cool!" She added.
"Our Grandfather?" Luffy and Ace were in disbelief. "Cool?"
"Uh-huh." Emma grinned, as she turned into the train station car-park. "That was back when Monkey D. Garp was still a spring chicken!"
"A spring chicken?!" Luffy and Ace cried, and Ace toppled off the dashboard, landing on Law, who was not pleased.
"Mmhmm." Emma nodded absently, as she pulled into the last parking space, wondering if she could have possibly parked any further away from her destination. God, how she hated walking! "Okay." She said, parking the car and turning it off. Turning to the three cats, who were staring at her silently, she went on: "Let's lay down some ground rules here."
Emma sat on the train, listening to her I-Pod, and very aware of the three cats that were nestled in her shoulder bag. She hoped that Ace and Law would be able to keep Luffy quiet, and had promised to let them out once they got to Fremantle. Wandering around the port-town with three cats wouldn't look too out of place...would it?
Emma sat there, listening to her music, and ignoring the people who were staring at her. She had a feeling she knew why they were looking so strangely at her. Not because of the fact that she was dressed all in black again - short boots, stockings, short pleated skirt and singlet - but because she was wearing the straw hat again.
She saw a few people muttering to each other, and wondered if they were talking about her, and maybe even about what had happened yesterday.
I can't believe I punched a man in the face...I've never hurt a person physically before...
As the train left Esplanade, a teenage girl (why wasn't she in school?) approached Emma, and held out a newspaper. "Excuse me?" She said, as Emma took out one earphone. "Is this you?"
Emma looked at the article the girl was showing to her. The headline read: Straw Hat Wearing Cat Girl Punches Armed Robber! A byline read: She Had The Fist, She Had The Courage!
Emma gasped. "Augh!" She cried and, grabbing her things, bolted from the train.
"Smooth, Emma-San, very smooth." She heard Law mutter sarcastically.
"I know, I know, I'm such a baka!" Emma muttered, her face red as she ran through the train station.
On the Fremantle Line, she could relax because, epically, there was nobody else in her carriage!
"Yes!" She cheered, relaxing in a seat. "This hardly ever happens!"
"What hardly ever happens, Emmy?" Luffy asked her, poking his head out of the bag.
"You hardly ever get a train with nobody on it, Luffy." She explained, forgetting completely about the security cameras on the train, as Luffy hopped out and onto the seat next to her.
He put his paws up on the window, and looked out in amazement. "Sugoi..." He breathed.
"Yeah, you wait'll we get to Fremantle, Luffy." Emma also turned, and knelt on the seat, so that she could rest her elbows on the windowsill. The scenery sped by. "With a little bit of luck, you can stay out for the entire trip." She added.
The bandage-wearing cat grinned, as the other two cats joined them in looking at the scenery.
A voice-over on the train said: "This train runs from Perth to Fremantle, stopping at all stations to Claremont, then express to Fremantle."
"Yes!" Emma cheered quietly. "I just hope that nobody gets on at the next seven or so stations...here's hoping that we're lucky today..."
Elsewhere, Luck himself was listening to another meeting.
"We've located her, Boss." Karma said.
Boss turned his head towards her. "And?"
"It's not good." Karma sounded slightly gleeful. She really was a bitch!
"Oh dear..." Father Time shook his head. "What now? What's she going to do?"
All eyes turned to Faith.
She looked defensive. "This not my fault! I not know that she follow me! She go to World 192853746!"
Boss sighed. "I had a feeling that she would. What does she plan to do there?"
"She probably plan to send more to World 790412." Faith replied, thinking of the chaos that would cause planet Earth if she did.
"It's your fault for getting that girl to take a Leap Of Faith in the first place, Faith!" Destiny snapped. She was a tall woman with pale skin, blue hair and dark eyes. "That girl's powers altered what was supposed to be, and now everything's been thrown out of whack!" I did not see this coming! Seriously!
"Yeah, Faith," Fate, a raven-haired girl with dark skin, leaned her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her palm. She was smiling. She always was. She also happened to be Destiny and Karma's sister. "What are you going to do if she sends the Marines to World 790412?"
"That human girl already sent half the Whitebeard Pirates and a whole bunch of others to there." Destiny muttered. "She saved people who were supposed to die." Yeah, she would...
"You not set in stone, Destiny!" Faith snapped, standing up suddenly. You what people make you!"
Destiny just glared at her.
Boss sighed. He could feel another headache coming on, and wondered if asking Faith to bring him some more Boss Coffee from Japan would be asking for too much. Faith and Destiny were glaring daggers at each other.
A voice suddenly spoke up. "Hey, everyone, perhaps we're being a bit too mean to everyone here?" Beautiful music suddenly filled the air, and almost everyone tried to block out the sound immediately, as Cupid strummed his lute. "Perhaps I may be of assistance...?"
"NO!" Boss shouted, causing Cupid to stop playing his melody. "Cupid, for the love of, well, love, don't you dare interfere! The last thing we need is for that girl to fall in love with one of those humans from the other world, or for one of them to fall in love with her!"
Cupid sat down, looking pouty, but met Faith's eyes across the table. The two of them shared a silent conversation, as Fate spoke up again.
"Boss, what about the, err, furry little problem?" She said.
Boss nodded. "Yes, I was getting to that. Somebody track down Twister." There was a collective shudder. Nobody liked the white-skinned, cloak-wearing man that could alter the reality of certain things. Like turning them into cats, for instance. "Get him to do something about changing them all back...and somebody, please, keep an eye on our other problem...let me know the moment she makes contact with the Marines..."
Everyone nodded, but a few were thinking angry thoughts at Faith who, along with Cupid, seemed to have vanished.
Emma walked out of the train station with Luffy in her arms, and Law and Ace following her. She got quite a few stares, due to the three black cats and the straw hat, but she pretended not to notice, and just stopped on the corner, to get her bearings.
Ace jumped up onto her shoulder, and said: "So, where did you say you saw our Grandfather, again?" He had decided that he wanted Emma to meet Garp after all, so that she could see for herself just how insane he was.
"At Elizabeth's Second-Hand Bookstore." Emma replied, turning her head in a direction. "I'm not sure which one it was, though - there's more than one, of course."
"Of course." Ace agreed.
"Let's try all of them, then." Law suggested, trotting off towards the town center, and Emma followed, interested to see if Law knew where he was going which, it turned out, by some miracle, he did.
Luffy, Ace and Law waited outside while Emma went inside and casually asked the shopkeeper if he'd seen a big tan and grey cat, since she was missing one. They looked around, though not too far, since they didn't want to get lost.
Emma came back out, shaking her head, and they resumed their search, walking through the mall and down a side street, where there was another book-shop next to a restaurant, which Luffy disappeared into, while Law looked around, and Ace waited with Emma, because there was a massive line - everyone seemed to want to buy a copy of Fifty Shades Darker, for some reason.
While Emma opened up said book to a random page and was instantly scarred for life, Ace waited by her feet, and suddenly felt something roughly petting the back of his head.
"Hey kitty-cat, hey!" A little kid who couldn't have been more than three grinned.
As Emma put the book back and commenced with asking the shop-keeper if she'd seen a big tan and grey cat, Ace turned to glare murderously at the kid. "You laying a finger on me kid, you're toast!" He threatened.
The kid whimpered, and stood up, moving back to grab his Mother's hand. "M-Mummy..." He muttered, as Ace continued to glare up at him.
"Not now, Curtis, Mummy's reading." She was totally absorbed in the erotic book.
Emma sighed, and thanked the shop-keeper anyway. "Come on, Ace." She said, turning to go.
"See ya, kid!" Ace said to Curtis, before jumping up onto Emma's shoulder as she exited the shop.
Curtis was stunned.
Outside, Law was waiting for them, and Emma looked around. "Okay, where's Luffy?"
Law didn't know.
Emma sighed again, pushing her sunglasses up as she imagined all the kinds of trouble Luffy could get himself into.
Just then, there was a commotion from the restaurant next door and, in unison, Emma, Ace and Law exclaimed: "Luffy!"
Law jumped onto Emma's shoulder as she dashed next door, to find the cooks chasing a small, bandage-wearing black cat around the dining establishment, as the patrons to the restaurant watched on in shock. Some gasped and jumped up onto chairs like they'd seen a mouse, others laughed and pointed in amusement at the little cat that was holding a steak in his mouth - it was practically bigger than he was!
As Luffy stopped to devour the steak, and Ace and Law just stared at him in shock, Emma groaned. "I am not seeing this..." She muttered.
By this time, Luffy had finished his steak (somehow) and the cooks were closing in on him but, just then, Luffy spotted Emma.
He meowed happily, and bounded over to her, jumping into her arms - they had the move perfectly synchronized.
The problem was, the cooks then turned their attention to the girl in the straw hat and prescription shades.
"That was your cat?" One of the cooks asked. He was holding a butcher's knife!
"He just ate over a hundred dollars worth of prime-cut meat!" Another cook complained.
Emma flinched, and took a step back, mentally writing Luffy a Death Note. "Umm, err, well..." She stepped back out onto the footpath, with the cooks advancing upon her. "DINE AND DASH!" She yelled, and took off running to her right, with Luffy in her arms and Law and Ace clinging to her shoulders, and a bunch of angry cooks chasing after them.
Luffy was laughing: "Shishishishi! That was fun!"
"You call this fun?!"
A big kitchen knife whizzed past her head, making her yelp.
"Yosh!"
Make that two Death Notes.
While Ace berated Luffy for endangering them all and turning Emma into a felon (not that any of the three pirates really had a problem with this, whatsoever), Emma had collapsed onto a park bench, and was in a state of complete emo-ness.
"Now I can never join the police force and own a German police dog named Rex." She complained.
"Why would you even want to do that?" Law asked her, standing on the back of the bench and regarding her calmly. He wasn't at all fazed by the situation that had just transpired.
"Is your name really Law?" She muttered, and then added: "Don't answer that."
Law just smirked.
Meanwhile, Ace had finished scolding his little brother, and was currently watching a pair of women walking along, talking about the Fifty Shades series.
"I'll have to go to the warehouse on Queen Victoria Street." One of them was saying, as she sighed dramatically. "I simply must find out what happens to dear Anastasia!"
"Hopefully that Elizabeth's will carry it, or else we'll have to order it online." Her friend agreed, as they walked off.
Ace raced back to Emma. "Emma!" He jumped up onto her lap. "Is there another Elizabeth's on Queen Victoria Street?"
Emma stared at him for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Yes...yes, there is." She stood up, and Ace jumped onto her shoulder. "Let's go." She said and, placing her sunglasses in her bag and transferring the straw hat to sit against her back on its chord, she started walking, leaving the other two cats to follow her.
At the warehouse, Emma approached the young shop-keeper, while the three cats looked around for any sign of Luffy and Ace's Grandfather-turned-cat.
"How will I know your Grandfather when I see him?" Law wanted to know.
"Because he'll probably try and attack all three of us as soon as he sees us." Luffy replied, feeling slightly nervous about meeting his Grandpa again.
Law raised an eyebrow, his usual smirk on his face. "And, this is a man that our host is dying to meet, Luffy-Ya?"
"Seems that way." Luffy shrugged. "Who knows, maybe weirdness attracts?"
Law's smirk grew.
Meanwhile, Ace was prowling under the tables of the warehouse, so named because it was far bigger than the other two book-shops. He happened to catch some of the conversation going on between Emma and the shop-keeper.
"Dig the hat." The young man grinned.
"Th-thank-you." Emma stammered, tugging self-consciously at the string.
"Going for the whole 'One-Piece-Look', are we?" The boy teased.
Emma blushed. "H-how did you know?"
"I've read the entire manga up to where it is," the boy told her, leaning across the counter. "I've been trying to talk my boss into getting the manga in here, so that we can convert as many people as possible."
Emma laughed a little - Ace noticed that she was fidgeting nervously with his brother's hat, and her hand was at her throat. "What did he say to that?"
"Oh, the usual," the boy shrugged, and put on a very manly voice. "Stop wasting time with these childish books!" He laughed, and Emma joined in - this time, it was a genuine laugh.
"Yeah, my parents say the same thing." She confided, and the boy nodded.
"So, what can I help you with today?" He asked her, still smiling at her in a way that, for some reason, Ace didn't like.
"Oh, I'm looking for m-my cat, h-he was lost around here recently." Emma explained, back to being nervous. "H-he's a fairly big cat, but not t-too big, and h-he's tan and grey..."
The boy stared at her for a second, before he laughed. "You mean he's yours?" He seemed to find this funny.
Emma looked surprised, and then thrilled. "You mean you've seen him?!"
The boy nodded. "Sure, he's been here for a couple of days, harassing the dogs that roam here and whatnot - if you want, I can help you try and find him?"
This time, Ace was sure he didn't like the way the boy was looking at Emma.
Emma looked shy all of a sudden. "Oh, umm...I..." She was nervous. She didn't want to be impolite, but it would be better if it was just her who went out looking for Garp.
Ace decided to help her out. He immediately bounded up to the counter, and jumped onto it, placing himself between Emma and the store clerk.
He turned his head to glare at the boy, a warning in his eyes, and then pricked his ears up at the sound of Emma's voice.
"Ace?" She asked questioningly, holding out a hand to the black cat.
As he carefully rubbed up against her arm, the store clerk looked surprised. "Ace? As in, the guy from One Piece?"
Emma nodded, as Ace hissed at the store-clerk, and she picked Ace up quickly. "Yeah, can you tell, I'm obsessed?" She began to back away. "I'm sorry, but I'd better go on my own, seeing as how he doesn't like you and all." She bowed her head. "Sumimasen. Law-San, Luffy, let's go and find Garp!"
Upon hearing their names, the two other black cats appeared from within the shop, and followed Emma out the door, leaving the store clerk speechless.
Once out on the street, and waiting for the lights to change so that they could cross the road, Emma grilled Ace.
"Ace, what was that all in aid of?" She wanted to know.
Ace wouldn't look at her. "That guy was looking at you..."
"Well, where else did you want him to look?" Emma asked him, confused.
Ace muttered something in Japanese too fast for her to pick up, but then he added: "He was flirting with you, you know?"
Emma was shocked. "Oh." Was all she could say. Was she really so clueless that she couldn't figure out when a guy was being nice to her because he fancied her? What an idiot she was!
It didn't help when, by her feet, Law began to snicker, and Luffy chimed in with: "~Ace was je-alous! Ace was je-alous~!"
"Sh-shut up!" Ace cried. If he had been in his human-form, then he would've blushed. "I was not jealous!"
Law smirked. "Could've fooled me." He muttered, but there was a slight hint of darkness in his voice that nobody else noticed, as they crossed the road together and walked towards the harbor.
Emma gazed sadly out at the ocean, staring at the beautiful blue waves. All of that lovely water that she adored, and she could never swim in it again. What was her Devil Fruit power, anyway? Ace had a rare one that allowed his body to turn into an element, and other people like Marco could transform into animals. Then, there were people like Luffy and Law, who had anything and everything in-between Logia or Zoan - Paramecia. What would hers be? It'd better be cool, like being able to shoot lightning out of her eyes or something, or else she was going to demand a refund for the fruit that she hadn't even paid for!
Ace, Luffy and Law were all walking in a line on a guard rail, reminding Emma of the scene from The Aristocats. She reached into her bag, snapped a quick photo, and returned the camera to her bag, pulling Luffy's hat onto her head when she realised how hot it was. The last thing she needed was to get cancer again...
So busy was she in thinking about this, as she walked down some steps towards a small sandy cove. Now, all that was visible from the level she had just been on was the straw hat.
Something, Emma didn't know what, made her turn around, just as something large and grey came flying at her.
"Ah." Was all that she could say, as whatever it was hit her, sending her flying back and onto the sand, and the straw hat went flying off her head as she landed on her back. Luckily, she'd been taught how to fall properly if ever pushed over backwards, and used her hands as a break.
She was left staring in confusion at the same cat she had seen in her vision yesterday - Monkey D. Garp, in the flesh...err, fur.
Emma gasped, as the feline stood on her chest, blinking at her in confusion, and then he sat down, looking apologetic.
"Ahem." Garp coughed into his paw. "i apologize, young lady but, you see, you were wearing my grandson's hat, and I just naturally assumed that you were him."
Emma was at a total loss for words. When she'd said that she wanted to meet with Garp face-to-face, this isn't exactly what she'd had in mind! So, she just stared at him, as the other three cats came running over.
"Grandpa!" Luffy gasped, as Ace and Law just stared.
At the sound of Luffy's voice, Garp turned his head around fast and, upon seeing his grandsons as cats, his fur bristled. "So! You two got transformed too, did you?!" And, he leapt at them, claws extended. Emma, however, had predicted this, and leapt up as well, crash-tackling him from behind and managing to pin him on his back under her.
"Now, listen here, you!" She told him. "You are not allowed to attack your poor grandsons with the "Fist Of Love", got it?! Luffy is very badly injured after that bloody war at Marineford I know because I stitched him up myself, and Ace is...uh, resting..."
"Resting "hung-over", resting "got-doused-with-water"...which is it?" Garp wanted to know.
"Uh..."
"Try all of the above." Law muttered, before adding: "Emma-San, you've got the old man in a very compromising position there."
Emma glanced down, realising that it was true, and immediately got up, blushing and dusting the sand off herself.
Garp got up too, and shook himself clean, before turning to glare at his two grandsons (Luffy hid behind Ace). "So, tell me, how did you two morons get yourselves into this?" Ace jabbed a paw at Emma, and Garp turned to her. "And, who might you be?"
"M-me?" Emma blushed. Oh, great, after all this time saying how much I wanted to meet Garp, I'm not able to even introduce myself to him?! "I-umm-I...err..."
Just then, Luffy let out a yell, and they all turned to him. he looked panicked. "Emmy, where's my hat gone?!"
"Oh no..." Emma muttered, realising that it had been blown off her head...where had it gone?!
They suddenly all four of them looked up, when they heard a growl, and the dog that Emma had seen attacking Garp yesterday was standing looking down at that, surrounded by its pack.
The big dog, a Doberman crossed with a Greyhound crossed with a Pit Bull and then given Steroids, directed his growl at Garp, who hissed back.
"Friend of yours, Ojīchan?" Ace asked casually, moving back so that he was moving Luffy away from the fierce dogs, which would either try to eat him or Luffy would try to eat them.
"He's just sore because he lost a box of donuts to me last night!" Garp laughed. "Bwa ha ha ha ha!"
"This is no time to be laughing!" Ace shouted.
Just then, Luffy noticed something important in a smaller dog's mouth. "Hmm...hey, that big dog's friend has my hat!" He shouted, running forwards but Ace crash-tackled him.
"Don't do it, Luffy, you'll tear out your stitches!" Ace cried, struggling to contain his brother. He looked over at Law. "Why don't you put your powers to good use and do something!"
Law rolled his eyes and sat down in the sand. "Don't wanna." He replied flatly.
"What the Hell?!" Ace couldn't believe it.
Meanwhile, Emma had stood up, and both she and Garp were watching the growling dogs. Emma noticed that the leader had a scratch across his eye.
"The beast attacked me while I was sleeping," Garp explained, as if reading Emma's mind. "And now he's got some vendetta against me."
"Can't imagine why." Emma rolled her eyes.
Just then, the leader of the pack gave a warning bark, and jumped down onto the sand, heading straight towards them.
Luffy gasped, Ace cursed, Law just sat there, and Garp growled: "Bring it on!"
But Emma, who'd had enough, hurried to place herself between the attacking dog and the cats. "Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" She shouted, holding her hands up. Then: "Stop!"
Then, to everyone's surprise including her own, the dog did stop, standing there, panting and growling like he was rabid.
"Easy, easy boy..." Emma said, more gently now, and the dog stopped growling, blinking and staring at her in surprise. "That's it..." She took a step forwards.
Immediately, the dog's pack jumped down from the ledge, and all of them began to growl at her.
The leader turned his head and barked once, a short and sharp warning, and the rest of the pack immediately stopped growling. The dog turned his attention back to Emma.
"Now sit."
The dog half-sat.
"Sit..."
The dog sat all the way, and so did the rest of his pack.
"What?" Ace gasped.
Emma smiled, and patted the dog's head. He immediately began to wag his tail. "You got injured when the big nasty grey cat scratched you, didn't you?"
The dog whined.
"Excuse me?" Garp spoke up.
The dog immediately growled at him.
Emma sighed. "Look, the thing is," she said, still talking to the dogs, like the cats weren't even there. "That hat is kind of the most important thing to one of my friends here so, do you think you could, maybe...give it back?"
The dog tilted his head to one side, and then looked at the dog with the hat in her mouth. She was a golden retriever. She whined, and walked forwards, just looking from her leader to Emma.
The leader growled slightly, and then looked back at Emma.
"Now drop the hat." Emma commanded the girl dog.
She didn't move.
"Drop it."
The girl dog seemed to sigh as she did so, and then lay down on her stomach.
Emma walked over and picked up the hat, smiling but then grimacing. "Yaurgh..." She muttered, as a big string of drool hung from the hat's brim.
Luffy gasped.
The dog huffed.
Emma wiped the drool on the side of her bag, trying not to think about it, and then smiled. "There, we're fine now." She said.
"Yay!" Luffy cheered, and dashed up to her, scrambling up to sit on her shoulder as she put the hat on her head. He faced the dogs. "Is this your territory?" He asked them, and their leader nodded. "Well, we won't interfere with your territory any longer, how about that?"
The dogs exchanged a glance, and then barked and/or howled in agreement.
Emma and Luffy grinned. "Good." They said in unison.
As they bid farewell to the stray dogs, the others watched them from a few feet away.
"So, Ace, mind telling me who that girl is?" Garp was watching this girl interact with his grandson.
Ace shrugged. "Her name's Emma. We just appeared in her bedroom in this world the day before yesterday, and she took us in and cared for us after Law told her how to stitch up Luffy's wounds."
Garp glanced at Law, who nodded.
"Yeah, and...?" Garp turned back to Ace, who was staring at Emma.
Ace sighed. "She really wanted to meet you, Ojīchan - as soon as she had a vision about you, she made us all come here to find you."
"Ace!" Emma cried, stalking up to him and getting up close so that she could glare at him. Garp noticed the unusual way that his grandson tensed up when this girl got up close to him. "You were not supposed to tellhim that!" She then noticed Garp staring at her. "Yaaa!" She backed away quickly, looking around as if the sand could tell her what she was supposed to say next. She then bowed her head. "Watashi wa hijō ni o ai dekite ureshiku omoimasu!" She told him. Then: "C-can I call you Grandpa?!" She gasped, covered her eyes with her hand. "Oh boy..."
Garp stared at her for another five seconds, before he burst out laughing, hardly able to stand up due to his laughter. Between this, he managed to say: "Mochiron...what an interesting young girl..."
"Hey, I'm twenty-three nearly!"
"Even so!" When Garp had calmed down, he wiped the tears from his eyes with his paws, and asked her: "So, have you any interest in become a Marine, Emma?"
Before Emma could respond, Ace and Law said in unison: "Hell no!"
And, Luffy added: "No way, Emmy's joining my pirate crew, Ojīchan!"
Ace gave his little brother a Look. "Wait, who says she's joining your crew, Luffy?" I think she'd make a better Whitebeard Pirate, and I'm sure Oyaji would agree with me... He didn't know why but, already, he liked this girl. She reminded him of Luffy, but in a slightly more tolerable, kind of cute way...wait, did he just think she was cute?
"I think she'd be much better suited to becoming a Heart Pirate." Law said calmly, slightly eager to stir things up.
"I knew it!" Luffy jumped down onto the sand, the fur on his back standing on end. "You both want to take my Nakama away from me!"
"Ne, Luffy, your stitches..." Emma fussed, but her words fell on deaf ears. She then glanced up, and saw a positively murderous Garp. "Uh-oh..." She muttered, remembering scenes from the anime, and the manga.
"You insolent fools!" Garp cried, and all eyes were suddenly on him. "Trying to force a poor young woman to become an outlaw, a felon! It's unforgivable!"
"Ah..." Ace began walking backwards, and Luffy followed suit. Law just stood there, staring at them as Garp advanced upon them.
"Run for it!" Luffy and Ace yelled in unison, and bolted, with Garp right behind them.
Law and Emma watched in silence as Garp chased his grandsons around the beach, and then Emma glanced down at Law. "Ne, Law-San...you really think...I'd be a good Heart Pirate?"
Law looked up at her, smiling calmly. "I said it, didn't I?"
Emma looked away. "None of you...know anything about me, Law-San..." She muttered, touching a hand to her necklace, and then to her scar. "Really...HOLY GOD, FREAK WAVE!" She screamed, as a massive wave came and washed over Luffy, Ace and Garp. She gasped and jumped up, racing over to stop Luffy and Ace from being dragged out to sea.
Law watched all of this, smirking all the while. No, but I will. He thought to himself, closing his eyes calmly at the thought.
Later that night, Emma called her parents, and ended up having a fairly civil conversation with them.
They told her about the winding snake road called The Great Ocean Drive, and about the fancy yellow Lamborghini they had seen (Sunstreaker!).
She omitted to tell them most of her day, from waking Ace up from his hang-over by running water on him in the sink to having to sit on the train with people staring at her and her four cats, and said she'd had a quiet day sleeping and then watching anime, which they seemed to believe.
"How much have you had to drink?" Lee asked suddenly, startling Emma and making her fumble with the phone.
When she got it back up to her ear, she said: "Umm, what was that, Mum...?"
"Don't lie to me, now tell me how much you've been drinking while we've been away." Lee said firmly.
"H-how much I've been...drinking...?" Emma muttered, and four sets of eyes zoned in on her. "Umm...not...a lot?"
"Emma."
"Mum, I said not a lot!" She snapped.
"Good." Lee replied. "Because, when I get home, I want there to be everything there where I left it, understood?"
"Yes, Mum." Emma mumbled, her shoulders sagging. "Bye." She hung up the phone, and then turned to face Ace. "PORTGAS D. ACE, KOROSU!" She screamed, and lunged at him. Ace yelped and took off running, with Emma chasing after him as she grabbed a serrated knife off the counter. "GET BACK HERE SO I CAN NEUTER YOU!"
Garp started laughing, from where he was sitting on the couch next to a plate of rice crackers.
Luffy called out to Emma: "Ne, Emmy!"
Emma stuck her head back in the door, and Ace paused from halfway down the hall. "Luffy, don't say you still want Ace to be a man at the end of the evening." Emma warned him.
Luffy shook his head. "Iie, not that." He said, and Ace's heart sank. That traitor. "I just wanted to know if we can go outside tomorrow, and explore out the back." He jerked his head in the direction of the doors leading to the backyard.
Emma blinked in surprise, and then nodded slowly. "I guess so...since Grandpa Garp is here now, he can save you if you fall into the pool."
Garp glanced at her, realising for the first time that she must be a Devil Fruit user.
Luffy cheered. "Yipee! I can't wait!" He jumped onto the couch next to his Grandfather and, as Ace and Emma watched, the black cat promptly fell asleep.
"Wow...my little brother's turning into me."
"Yeah...I'M STILL GOING TO CASTRATE YOU!"
"Running now!"
Garp couldn't contain his laughter any longer, and even Law joined in with a snicker, as Luffy slept on contently.
Sakazuki walked slowly down the hallway of the G-5 Marine Base, ignoring the tortured cries of captured pirates coming from the rooms that he walked past. He didn't care that the Marines here were disobeying orders by torturing the pirates they had captured. None of it mattered to him - Dragon's son, Roger's son, and that red-haired girl were still out there somewhere, and he had no way of knowing where they were or what they were doing!
"Perhaps I can do something." Said a voice but, when Sakazuki turned around quickly, there was nobody there.
A child-like giggle echoed from down the hallway and, on instinct, Sakazuki followed. He followed the sounds of the laughter from a child he couldn't see, until he got to a room which door was slightly ajar.
Going inside, Sakazuki saw that it was a room where pirates were interrogated. The only occupant was a pirate who was half-dead, and slumped over a table, one of his hands missing.
When he looked up at the sound of the door opening, his eyes turned wild and he looked at Sakazuki. "Kill me!" He begged, sounding panicked. "Please, kill me before she...aaaaa!" He screamed, as his other hand went flying off, hitting the wall behind him with a sickening sound. It slid slowly down the wall.
Sakazuki became aware of the presence beside him, and glanced sideways, to see...a little girl.
She was pale, and had short pink hair and pinkish red eyes, and was wearing a very old-fashioned black dress. What alerted Sakazuki to her abnormality was the fact that, one, she had just cut off a man's hand without touching him and, two, there was a sadistic look in those child-like eyes of hers.
Oh, and the fact that she was floating in mid-air beside him.
She moved forwards without doing anything, and tilted her head to one side. "Why do you want to die so much anyway, pirate?"
"You...you're a monster..." The man coughed.
"No, you are." The girl said simply, standing on the table. "I don't like pirates. You're the scum of this planet, and you all need to die. Do you want to know something?" She asked the man, leaning down to him.
"Wh-what?" He asked her, trying to look up at her but unable to.
She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him close to her, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "You're all going to die." She then kissed him on the forehead and, with a strangled gasp, he fell back. His heart stopped beating, and he died.
The little girl giggled, something that would usually have been cute, except that, given the circumstances, it was downright creepy.
Sakazuki wasn't concerned, however - there was something about this girl, something he needed to know. "Who are you, kid?" He wanted to know.
"I'm not a kid." She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "I just celebrated my nine hundredth birthday, Mr. Akainu. And, my Mummy said, 'what do you want for your birthday?', and I said: 'I want to do what you do' and she said 'no', so I decided to just do it anyway, because the pirates need to die." A strange black, purple and red aura seemed to have appeared around her.
"You didn't answer my question - who are you?" Sakazuki asked her.
The girl turned to him, and curtsied. "My name is Little Death - I'm the goddess of the Underworld."
"And...why are you here?" Sakazuki didn't know why but, for some reason, he believed the nine hundred year old child's story completely.
"I want to help you kill Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace...and Emma Pax."
Author's Notes:
. Garp! I just HAD to introduce him, because he's so cool!
. Little Death! I'll be drawing her soon, because she reminds me of Lucy from Elfen Lied.
Cocoa Liddell - thanks for reviewing, though I don't know if I'll get around to updating Marauder's Phase...maybe one day...when we're fifty. Hmm, a love-triangle? That happens to be my middle name (actually, it's Lauren, but anyways...) Yosh, Ace is the most adorable! ^/^
WindWhistle21 - thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying my story, and like my way of writing. ^^
Chieko Namikaze - isn't that ironic? And, as for more characters, you'll just have to wait and see. It wouldn't be fun if more people didn't rock up, now, would it?
tanakaL - savor it, like when you eat Steak Diane and want to enjoy it, or else you'll choke on it like Luffy would!
Thanks to: Akanekurochi, Chieko Namikaze, Dragon of Yin and Yang, Generalhyna, Kanzaki Aoba, Melissabear and Suki Mikofor the Favs.
Thanks to: Akanekurochi, Chieko Namikaze, Cocoa Liddell, Generalhyna, Hiken08, Nebelkatz, SkyLion27, Suki Miko, WindWhistle21 and xXxIRISxXx for the Alerts.