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).
Author's Note:
This fan fiction now has AMV's! Watch them at the following links:
youtu . be / iH12HP6U4mc - the opening theme song, called Marionette.
youtu . be / oY _ _ - ZImJg0 - the trailer, with the song Love The Fall. (Marvel at my terrible voice-acting!)
Parental Warning - the following chapter contains:
. Mild coarse language
. Mild level violence
. Eustace Kidd (because he needs his own warning label)
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The Way Of The Pirate
"Say, Bepo…"
"Yes?"
"Is your skin white, or transparent?" Emma turned to look at him curiously. "Because, I heard that it's the latter."
Nami rolled her eyes. "Why are you asking a question like that at this time, Emma?"
Emma shrugged. "Because I can."
Nami smacked her upside the head. "Don't start that with me!"
"Excuse me, but I am royalty!"
"A royal pain!"
Vivi was watching, and giggling quietly, even though she, like the rest of them, knew that their situation probably warranted seriousness. They were about to remove their problems from Dawn Island – by sending the three Admirals, two Shichibukai members and the entire Blackbeard pirate crew to different parts of the world.
Then, they were going back to the other world, and the Whitebeard Pirates were going to stay and guard Dawn Island for a time.
A few of them were anticipating a battle.
A few of them were downright nervous.
And one – Ace – had some questions of his own.
Ever since Emma had announced that Law was her First Knight, Ace had been wondering just what that entailed. He still wasn't entirely sure where the surgeon stood in Emma's life, but he was determined to find out. This new revelation presented a number of answers – and at least twice as many new questions, much more important than the question over the colour of Bepo's skin.
Ace approached Emma, who was currently still bickering pointlessly with Nami. Despite having recently acquired the title of Hikari No Hime, it appeared that Emma's relationship with Nami had not changed unless, somehow, it had gotten worse. Then again, anybody watching could tell just how close the two young women were.
"Ohayoo, utsukushi hito." Ace said, wrapping his arms around Emma waist and kissing the top of her head.
"Ah, good morning, Ace-Chan." Emma grinned, leaning back against his chest. "Ready for today's mission?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Ace replied. "I want to get those bastards off of Dawn Island."
"Me too." Luffy agreed, approaching them with strips of bacon that he'd managed to snag from the breakfast table. "Come on, you guys, we've been preparing for this for two weeks! We're going to win this time, for sure!"
Emma nodded, glancing back over her shoulder at Dawn Island. And then, and only then, can we finally do what else needs to be done...Sumi-Chan…
"Hey, Emma…I just thought of something." Usopp said, as they prepared to leave the Moby Dick and return to shore.
"Like what?" Emma glanced at the sniper.
"If you can transport yourself to anywhere in the world…" Usopp began. "Then, couldn't you just transport yourself to…say…Raftel?"
That stopped everybody, and they all stared at Emma, who shifted uncomfortably under so many different gazes. Finally, she looked up, and her eyes met Luffy's.
She said: "Maybe. But…that would probably just defeat the whole purpose of…well, life." She shrugged. "After all, life's not measured by how many breaths we take…but, by the moments that take our breath away." She smiled.
Luffy returned her grin. "Right! Shishishishi…"
Emma sensed a gaze on her then, and looked up, to see Whitebeard smiling slightly at her from across the deck. She smiled back, recalling a conversation that they'd had the other night…
Emma sat on the huge shoulder of her Father, watching Ace and Luffy train together. She didn't realise that she was humming until Whitebeard spoke up.
"Do you remember, that's the song that your Mother used to sing to you when you were little?" The captain asked her.
She shook her head but then, suddenly, an image of the beautiful lady from the photograph flashed through her mind. "My Mother…?" She repeated, gazing up at the stars.
"Mmhmm." Whitebeard nodded, taking a careful swig from his sake. "She would hold you in her arms when it was stormy, and sing you to sleep that way." Emma filed that piece of information away but, before she could ask more about her Mother, Whitebeard continued with: "Now me, on the other hand…"
"What about you?" She asked him, glancing at him.
"Well, you were so tiny when you were born!" Whitebeard remembered. "I was so afraid to pick you up, I thought that I might break you if I did!"
"You? Afraid?" Emma blinked, and Whitebeard chuckled.
"Then, one day, your Mother just picked you up, and placed you in the palm of my hand, where you curled right up and went to sleep! Gurararara!" Whitebeard laughed at the memory, and Emma found herself laughing as well, imagining how that must've looked. Whitebeard sobered slightly after awhile, but his yellow eyes continued to sparkle at the memory. "You were talking by the age of six months, and holding full conversations with people at nine months old…"
"I know…" Emma whispered, and then explained: "That's what my Mum says…my Mum in the other world…" She trailed off.
Whitebeard guessed what she was thinking. He remained silent for a moment, before saying: "Do you know what I told Ace, one time, about parents?"
"That it doesn't matter, and we're all just children of the sea?" Emma recalled.
Whitebeard nodded. "Well, I meant that, so don't forget it."
"Children of the...sea?" Emma sighed. "I miss swimming...if I'd had the choice, I don't think I would have eaten that Devil Fruit."
"Is that so?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah...my Mum (in the other world) taught me how to swim when I was just two years old...me and my sister both." She sighed again, and then started singing the song 'Sister', by S2S, as Ace set fire to the deck, and Chopper fell out of the crow's nest out of shock, and people began running around in a panic while Whitebeard just sat there calmly.
"Okay, so what's first?" Nami wanted to run through the plan again, before they reached the island. She was a little bit nervous about it (they all were) but if running through it one more time would make her feel better, than they would.
"Okay, so the ones that we have to get off this island are Doflamingo, Mihawk, Kizaru, Aokiji, Akainu and the entire Blackbeard crew, in that order." Sanji said, sitting next to Nami in the long-boat, with the map spread out in front of them. "Doflamingo should be fairly easy to defeat - we've done it twice before."
"Yeah, and he keeps coming back." Law shook his head. "Don't underestimate him."
"Don't worry." Sanji replied. "As long as nothing happens to Nami-Swan, Robin-Chwan, Vivi-Chwan and Emma-Chwan, then it's okay."
"Tell me again why we're going after Doflamingo and Mihawk first." Chopper spoke up, from a nearby long-boat.
"It's because we'll be able to get rid of them more easily than if we go after the Admirals." Nami explained. "If we went after, say, Kizaru, first, then he'd just as easily alert the other two. So, we'll take care of the Shichibukai first. Then, we just have to..."
"Fight three Admirals." Usopp's teeth were chattering.
"You don't." Nami reminded him. "You're going to stay in the bar with Chopper and Kaya."
"Oh. Right." Usopp looked relived.
"So, some of us will scout the island in pairs first," Vivi spoke up. "To look for our targets. Then, one person from each group will report back to Party's Bar with what we've found out, and the first person will get Emma to that location." She smiled at Emma, who smiled back at her.
"Try not to get involved in a battle before we absolutely have to." Nami added scathingly.
"But," Robin said quietly, from where she was sitting next to Franky in a third long-boat. "If that does happen, then remember that Marco-San will be watching from the skies." She exchanged a smile with the phoenix-man, and Franky raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.
Usopp did, though. "Ooh, better watch out, Robin - you're making Franky jealous."
Chopper and Luffy laughed at this, but Robin just turned calmly towards Usopp, and asked him: "Really? How so?"
"Uh, well, uh..." Usopp blushed, and a few people laughed at him.
Emma didn't, but she was smiling. God, I love these guys. She thought, as they reached the shore.
Emma, Usopp, Chopper and Kaya and walked into Party's Bar, to find the Red Hair Pirates in there.
Everybody stopped what they were doing, and stared.
"Hello, minna." Kaya smiled, as she walked into the bar like nothing was wrong.
Usopp, however, had stopped, and all of the colour had drained from his face. He was staring at the blonde-haired man, who actually hadn't noticed him yet, because he was saying hi to Kaya.
"D-Dad?" Usopp tried to speak, but couldn't seem to get the words out. He swallowed, and tried again. "D-Dad, is that really you?" He took a step forwards, and Yasopp looked up.
All of the colour drained from Yasopp's face, and he jumped up to fast that his chair fell over backwards. "U-Usopp?!" He cried, pointing dramatically at him.
"Dad?!"
"Usopp?!"
"You...grew your hair into dreadlocks?"
"Yeah...you...grew taller?"
"Yeah..."
"Yeah..."
They were staring at each other, and there was not a sound in the bar for the next ten seconds, until somebody said: "Yasopp, just go over and hug him already, will ya?!"
That broke the tension and, as Father and son embraced for the first time in a long time, and the atmosphere in the bar returned to normal, Emma and Chopper joined Kaya at the counter, where Makino was talking to the red-haired Shanks.
Emma didn't mean to stare.
Shanks glanced quizzically at her, and she blushed, ducking her head.
"Don't mind her." Chopper said cheerfully, jumping up onto a bar-stool. "She always gets like that with either old guys or cute guys."
"Chopper!" Emma yelled, aghast, as Shanks and a few of his nearby crew members laughed at this.
"Yeah, but which one is the Captain?!" Somebody called, and they all laughed at that.
"The latter." Emma mumbled.
Shanks grinned at her. "But, wait, aren't you Ace's girlfriend?" He asked her, teasingly.
"Y-yes!" She declared, standing up straighter. "That's right! I'm marrying Portgas D. Ace, and neither Government nor God can ever stop me!" She pointed to the ceiling. Everybody stared at her, and then many of them started laughing. Emma blushed even more, and buried her face in her hands. "Kill me now, Chopper." She begged him.
Makino smiled, and handed the girl and the reindeer glasses of ice-water. "I'd offer you something more, but I have a feeling that you're here for a reason."
Emma nodded. "That's right - we're getting rid of some unwanted pests on this island, namely the World Government."
"Oh." Makino looked worried. "How are you going to do that?"
"Well, the others are scouting the island for our targets now." Emma explained. "They went in pairs, and then..."
"They'll come back to here to get Emma." Kaya finished. "She's going to transport them to different parts of the world. Then, the Whitebeard Pirates will take care of this place."
Shanks nodded thoughtfully, sipping on his beer as he contemplated this. "The Whitebeard Pirates, huh?"
"Yeah." Emma replied. "I trust my Father."
Shanks regarded her carefully. "So, you really are his daughter, are you?"
Emma nodded. "Yes...I didn't know that until two weeks ago, of course."
Shanks nodded, as well. "I see. You know what people are going to say about this, don't you?"
"Yeah, but who cares?" Emma shrugged. "The haters will hate."
"It isn't like she got to choose her parents." Kaya pointed out.
"I wouldn't have chosen any other." Emma said proudly. "Still...I know what the Government is like, after all that stuff they said about Ace-Chan..." She cast her eyes down. "They're also worried about Daddy's crew forming an alliance with your crew, Shanks-San." She added, looking up at him. "I mean really worried. However..."
The doors to the bar suddenly swung open, and everybody turned.
A few of the man gasped, in absolute shock, at the beauty that stood there, flanked by her (not-as-beautiful) younger sisters.
Boa Hancock strode into the bar, and the crowd of men parted, like Moses in the Reed Sea. She marched right up to Emma, and said: "Where is Luffy?"
Kyaa, scary! Emma thought, panicking slightly. The look in Hancock's eyes was furious.
Chopper piped up with: "He and Vivi went to find one of our enemies!"
Hancock turned to him, looking like the world's scariest woman, and Chopper cringed. "He. Went. With. Her?" Hancock asked, her voice full of acid, and Chopper squeaked, quickly going to hide behind Kaya.
Just then, the doors to the bar burst open again (much to Makino's chagrin) and a blue-haired girl ran in, but it wasn't Vivi - it was Nojiko.
"Emma!" She cried. "Law found Doflamingo! Hurry, Marco's waiting for you!"
"I'm on it!" Emma replied, running from the bar and outside, to where the blonde-haired man was waiting for her. He would take her to where she needed to go.
When they got there, Law and Doflamingo were already battling it out, and it seemed to have taken its toll on the north-end forest.
"Now what?" Emma whispered, not entirely ready to face Doflamingo again.
"We just wait for the signal, yoi." Marco replied calmly. "Don't worry."
"I'm not worried." Emma replied. "I'm terrified."
Marco merely smiled, holding her against his chest as his wings of fire beat out a steady pattern, and they watched the battle with a bird's-eye-view. Marco suddenly tensed slightly, and said: "Okay, there's the signal."
"Wait, what signal?" Emma asked, just as the phoenix-man dropped her, and she fell towards the blue-dome of the Room that Law had just created. Closing her eyes briefly (but, then, opening them again when she realised that closing them was a bad idea), Emma concentrated her powers, and then shouted: "Ribon-Ribon No Grab!" The ribbons shot out of her palms, and wrapped around both Doflamingo and Law. "Ribon-Ribon No Teleport!"
They disappeared in a flash of red and gold light, only to reappear elsewhere in the world a moment later.
Emma briefly debated just letting Doflamingo fall into the shark-infested waters of Punk Hazard, but decided against it, instead throwing him onto the western-side of the island. This place would look a lot different in the future, if Sakazuki and Kuzan decided to have their battle here after all.
"And stay there!" Emma added, for good measures, as she wrapped one arm around Law's waist and transported them again, back to Dawn Island.
They landed just outside the bar, where they were immediately spotted by Vista.
"Emma, hurry." He told her, as Law pulled her to her feet. "Zoro is taking on Mihawk."
"Am-am I allowed to get involved?" Emma stammered, wondering if this was such a good idea.
"Yes." Vista replied, as Marco swooped down out of the sky. "Zoro knows the plan, he won't be upset if you disrupt his fight."
"Yeah, he says that now..." Emma muttered, as Marco picked her up. As she was being carried away, she happened to glance at Law, who looked like he wanted to go with her. She waved to him, and then watched as Vista said something to him, to which he looked panicked. What did Vista say?
It was easy enough to find Zoro and Mihawk. The green-haired swordsman and the hawk-eyed swordsman were engaged in a fierce duel, with clashes of metal echoing throughout the forest glade.
"Jeez, are you sure that this is okay, Marco-San?" Emma muttered, and Marco didn't reply. His dark eyes were trained on the battle, watching the two swordsmen move. Zoro spun three times, lunging into a back-stance, and then ploughing forwards into a cat-stance. "That's your signal, Emma, yoi." Marco said, letting go of her again.
He's gonna have to stop doing that. Emma sighed, as she fell to the ground, and activated her powers again.
However, as the ribbons grabbed onto both Zoro and Mihawk, the latter looked up and, a split-second later, just before they vanished, Emma felt a piercing pain slice through the right side of her stomach, in almost the exact same place as her appendectomy scar.
When they reappeared a moment later, on the cloudy shores of Skypiea, Zoro looked up in shock as Emma fell to her knees, clutching the side of her stomach. Blood seeped between her fingers.
"Emma!" Zoro ran to her, intent on protecting her from the Shichibukai.
"Tomare!" She snapped, and Zoro stopped, feeling confused, as Emma staggered to her feet, keeping her eyes glued to the hawk-eyed man before her. "We came here to leave him here, not to battle. Don't forget that, Zoro!"
Zoro grimaced, as Mihawk regarded them both seriously.
"That was your whole reason for facing me this day, Roronoa Zoro?" Mihawk asked him.
Zoro didn't want to reply, but he knew that he had to. "Yes." He muttered, only half-looking at the World's Greatest Swordsman. Great, now he probably thinks I'm a complete idiot...damn it all...
"Zoro's a lot stronger than you think, Mihawk-San." Emma said, and Zoro's head snapped up.
What is she...?!
"Is that so?" Mihawk asked calmly.
Emma nodded. "If not for the plan, then...well...who knows?" She shrugged, and then winced, pressing her hand to the sword wound in her side. "I think that, one day, you should train him."
"Emma!" Zoro yelled, as Mihawk raised an eyebrow at the young woman's rashness. "You can't just tell him that!"
"I just did." She replied, not taking her eyes off of Mihawk. "Besides, it's not like you were going to, Zoro."
"Why you little..." Zoro muttered, through gritted teeth, his knuckles white as he gripped his swords.
Mihawk regarded Emma coolly. "Tell me, who are you, girl?" He already knew, but he wanted to hear it from her.
Emma swallowed. "My name...is Edward Emma." It was the first time she had so openly stated it, and it sounded good, so she said it again. "Edward Emma." She nodded.
Mihawk's gaze pierced into her, and she suddenly realised how he had earned his nickname, 'Hawk-Eyes-Mihawk'. "And, what is your alliance, Edward Emma?"
Emma blinked, and then glanced at Zoro. To Mihawk, she said: "May I tell you in confidentiality?"
"You may." Mihawk raised an eyebrow, and watched as the short young woman approached him. He would not attack her. He leaned down, and she quietly said something to him. He straightened up, as she returned to her spot, dripping blood as she did. "I see. So, that is what you have chosen." He glanced at Zoro, who looked frustrated. "There are those that have much faith in you, that one day you will surpass me. Seek me out, one day, young swordsman and, perhaps then, I will agree to your request."
Zoro swallowed. Does he...does he mean to one day train me? He glanced at Emma, whose back was still to him. What did she say to him?
Emma suddenly raised her left hand, and ribbons arced towards Zoro, wrapping around him. As they teleported away, Mihawk thought: Now...to more pressing matters...how do I get off of this sky island? He hadn't actually thought of that, but he might be back on solid ground by the time Zoro came and found him.
Emma and Zoro appeared in front of the bar, landing on top of Brook, who had just arrived.
"Yohohohoho!" Brook was thrilled. "Emma - you're wearing polka-dotted underwear today!"
"Don't look!" She yelled, jumping up immediately and, forgetting about the wound on her side, added: "Just tell me where Franky is!"
"He ran into Kizaru out the front of the palace." Brook explained.
"I know where that is." Emma realised. "Ribon-Ribon No Teleport!"
As she vanished, and the others came hurrying out of the bar, Law, Chopper and Kaya all stopped.
"Is..." Kaya pointed.
"That..." Chopper gasped.
"Blood." Law confirmed, glaring at Zoro, who was immediately on the defensive.
"Oi, it's not my fault she went and got herself cut!" Zoro snapped. "She's just lucky that Mihawk didn't decide to cut her in half!"
"You're lucky I don't decide to cut you in half." Law muttered.
"Is that a threat?" Zoro asked him, his eyes narrowing.
Law's own eyes glittered. "I don't do threats, Zoro-Ya..."
Nojiko suddenly chose that moment to whack both of them upside the heads. "Knock it off, you two!" She snapped.
"Yup, she's definitely Nami's sister." Usopp nodded, as he and his Father stood at the door to the bar.
"So, where's Emma taking Kizaru again?" Chopper tried to ignore the fact that she was teleporting around with a cut in her side.
"To a place that should make Franky very happy." Usopp replied. "Also, we won't have to worry about any trouble, since Kizaru's a Marine. He won't do anything bad to Water Seven."
"I'm...so...glad...to...be...here!" Emma cried, as she and Franky leapt across the rooftops. Borsalino was right behind them, using his devastating light-techniques. "Oh, look, look, look, there's the sea-train!" She pointed wildly, as they dodged out of the way of one of the Admiral's kicks, just in time. "It's super!" She suddenly flinched, as something clipped her right ear. "Excuse me!" She activated her powers, not of the Ribon-Ribon No Mi, but of her own Princess powers. They clashed with Borsalino's Devil Fruit powers, creating a massive wall of light. "I am trying to admire the sea-train, you jerk!" She was suddenly struck in the chest with a kick, that sent her flying.
As she flew through the air, she happened to turn her head slightly, and a sudden thought struck her faster than the Admiral's attack had. I sense...familiarity here...in this city of water...
Just then, she was caught by Franky, who dragged her down, off the roofs, and into a nearby ally. "You know, it's not a good idea to mouth off to somebody that's stronger than you, Nee-Chan." He told her.
"Who says he's stronger than me?" She muttered. "Let's just get out of here..."
"Yasakani No Magatama!"
"Oh no!" Emma and Franky cried in unison, as the projectiles of light rained down around them, and caused an explosion that sent them flying at least halfway across the island.
In his office, Mayor Iceburg sighed, and stared at the huge pile of paperwork that he was going to have to do but, before he could even contemplate saying that he'd lost it all, the door opened, and Paulie came in.
"Is there a problem?" Iceburg asked. Paulie didn't usually come in without knocking.
Paulie ran a hand through his dark blonde hair, and muttered: "Unfortunately, yes...it seems that there's a bit of a battle going on...an Admiral, by the looks of it..."
"Nma...that is a problem." Iceburg agreed.
Just then, Paulie looked past him, and his eyes widened. "Whaaa..."
Iceburg looked behind him, out the window, and his eyes widened, as well.
For, flying towards them, at great speeds, was Franky, and a girl that they'd never seen in real life, but they recognized her instantly as Edward Newgate's daughter - they'd watched the live coverage of her battle with the Admirals last fortnight. Iceburg had been having a drink with Kokoro at the time; the Icefish Mermaid had seemed upset by the events, which was unusual for her, but Iceburg hadn't had a chance to ask her about it yet.
But, now, Emma and Franky crashed through the window. Franky landed on Iceburg's desk, breaking it, and sending the paperwork flying. Emma, meanwhile, had landed on Paulie, much to the foreman's horror, since Emma was a girl, and she was wearing a short skirt, besides.
"Oops, sorry, Paulie, I didn't mean to land on you." Emma replied, getting up quickly and turning around. Paulie, who could now see straight up her skirt, fainted from pure shock and horror. Emma ignored him, and hurried over to Franky. She grabbed his arm, wincing at the burns on there. "Come on, Franky, we have to get out of here! Admiral Kizaru will be here any second!" She glanced at Iceburg, and blushed. "I-I'm sorry to leave your office in such a mess, Iceburg-S-Sama." She stammered. "Ribon-Ribon No Teleport!"
As Emma and Franky disappeared in a flash of gold and red ribbons, Iceburg just stared at the spot where they had vanished, and wondered what the Hell had just happened.
When Emma and Franky appeared in the front of the bar, back on Dawn Island, Franky immediately collapsed - he had suffered burns, after protecting Emma from the attack, which was blazingly obvious to everybody around them.
As Kaya and Chopper immediately swooped on Franky, Law came over to Emma, and then gave Zoro a Look, that plainly said: That's what you're supposed to do.
"Nojiko, has your sister come back yet?" Emma asked the blue-haired girl, as Law gently lifted up her t-shirt, to better assess her injury.
Nojiko shook her head. "No, not yet, but I'm sure that she'll be fine." Nojiko was smiling slightly. "Sanji won't let anything happen to her."
Emma glanced at her, blinking, and then she winced, as Law's hand touched the painful spot on the cut on her stomach. Law glanced up at her, and his silver eyes met her gold ones. She swallowed. Despite having figured out the reason why he was so devoted to her, she still wasn't quite sure where she stood with him.
"It's going to need stitches." Law told her.
Emma shook her head. "There isn't time." He gave her a Look. "But there really isn't!" She protested and, when he didn't move, she added: "Don't make me order you."
He returned her gaze. "You think that would work on me?" He asked.
They stared at each other, just as the sound of running footsteps could be heard, and Nami appeared, yanking Emma away from Law.
"Emma, hurry!" She cried. "Guys, quick - Aokiji froze Sanji!"
"No!" Chopper cried. "Emma, you have to get him back here! Wait, I'll go with you, and carry him back here!"
"Go, I'll be fine here." Kaya added. "Emma, you have to hurry."
"I know!" She cried, grabbing Nami's wrist. "Where were you?!"
"Midway between here and the forest!" Nami replied. "Hurry!"
"Ribon-Ribon No Teleport!"
Emma had never been a fan of the cold. being so small, she had hardly any muscle on her to keep her warm. And, so, she was not particularly thrilled to see the ice land created just outside of Foosha.
She was also not happy to see that, as Nami had said, Sanji was completely frozen. "Oh no, Sanji-Kun!"
"Those ice-burns must be terrible!" Chopper exclaimed. "We have to help him!"
As Kuzan turned slowly, Emma flinched. Out of her, Nami and Chopper, there was no doubt that she was the strongest. But, out of the three of them, she also had the least battle experience. What should she do? There was no way that she could take on Admiral Aokiji by herself...but, if she could distract him for long enough, then Nami and Chopper might just be able to get Sanji to safety...
It was then that Marco showed up, swooping down from the sky swiftly.
"This isn't part of the plan!" Nami exclaimed.
"Screw the plan." Marco said calmly, although his gaze was tense. "It didn't involve the cook getting turned into a popsicle, either. Emma, you and I will deal with Aokiji. As soon as it's safe, Nami and Chopper will move in to get Sanji back to the village."
"Right." Emma, Nami and Chopper nodded.
"So, I was right..." Kuzan muttered, taking in all of the scene in his stride. "They're trying to get rid of us, one by one..."
Marco was suddenly right in front of Kuzan, his wings of blue fire spread on either side of his back. "And, succeeding, yoi."
As the phoenix-man battled the icy Admiral, Emma, Nami and Chopper hurried towards the frozen form of Sanji. As ice-particles came flying at them, Emma blocked them with her gold ribbons - multiple cuts appeared on her arms and legs.
Chopper transformed as they reached Sanji, and was just about to pick him up, when Nami gasped. "Look out!"
"Ice Block Partisans!" Emma gasped, throwing herself in the way, and activating her gold ribbons. "Ribon-Ribon No Guard!"
Nami screamed slightly, seeing the cuts that appeared. "Emma, get out of there!"
"Ribon-Ribon No Grab!" Red ribbons snaked out of Emma's wrists, streaking towards Aokiji. They wrapped around the Admiral's arms, and were immediately frozen by his ice, which crept up the ribbons towards Emma. "Guess what," she said, despite the ice that was slowly creeping towards her arms. "They still work when they're frozen - isn't that great?"
"It is..." Kuzan agreed. "Too bad it will be the last time that you use them, little lady."
"Ribon-Ribon No Teleport!"
As they watched her vanish, taking Kuzan with her, Chopper looked worriedly at Nami. "Will she be okay?"
"I don't know..." Nami replied truthfully. "Anyway, we can't worry about that, now! Just trust her, okay? We have to get Sanji back to the village!"
"Right!"
The wind howled, and there was blinding snow and freezing fog. While places like Arabasta were as dry as, well, a desert, Drum Island was in the middle of a week-long snowstorm.
Emma had sunk to her knees in the snow, which had become stained red with her blood, as she shivered - her arms up to her elbows and her feet were entirely frozen.
Kuzan approached her slowly, taking his sweet time, and looking down at her, calmly. "So, you decided to transport me to a nice place like this? Isn't that sweet of you..."
Emma looked up at him, still managing her small, lopsided smile. "Big mistake, huh?"
Kuzan continued to gaze down at her and, was it just Emma's imagination, or did the wind and the blizzard pick up a bit?
The Admiral spoke above the howling winds, still managing to sound calm as he said: "You know, the Government increased your bounty by two Belli. You're now considered one of the Worst Generation - a Supernova. Bounty hunters from all corners of the globe will be coming after you now." He held up something in his hand - a massive spear that he'd fashioned out of the ice. "I'd be doing you a favour by killing you now - saves you the panic of being hunted down by people like that." Emma grimaced, but didn't say anything. "To tell you the truth, I didn't really wanna have to do this - a nice girl like you, shouldn't have been mixed up in all this." He locked his gaze onto hers. "And I mean that. So, don't take this personally, okay?" He raised the spear above his head, and then thrust it down.
Emma couldn't help it - she screamed, and shut her eyes. "NO!"
When she didn't feel any pain, and instead felt a whole lot of heat in front of her, she slowly opened her eyes, and found herself staring at a pair of blue-flame wings.
Marco stood between Emma and Kuzan, and though she couldn't see the expression on his face, she knew that he must still be looking calm.
"You always get in the way, don't you?" Kuzan stated, sounding about as annoyed as he could, which wasn't very much.
"I protect my family, yoi." Marco replied evenly, before turning swiftly and grabbing Emma around the waist, yanking her up off of the snow and into the sky as he took flight, his flaming wings allowing him to do so.
Kuzan watched them go, and put a hand to his forehead. "Ah, forget it...it's too nice out here to go chasing them, anyway." And, he settled down in the snow for a nap.
On top of a snowy mountain, Emma buried her face in Marco's tattooed chest, struggling not to cry, but a few tears escaped, anyway.
Marco wiped them away. "Ne, don't cry - the tears will freeze on your face." He smiled down at her. "You did good, Emma."
She looked up at him. "Thanks for saving me, Marco-San...I didn't realise that I'd brought you with me."
He ruffled her hair. "Yeah, well, Ace would've killed me if anything had happened to you. Now, come on, let's get you back, and unfrozen."
"I can't feel my ankles."
"I know."
Of course, when they teleported back to the front of the bar, and as soon as Marco let go of her, Emma fell over.
"Ow!" She complained.
She was immediately swooped on by people, who carried her into the bar to have her arms and feet defrosted.
"Where's Vivi-Chama?" She kept on saying, as the warm water melted the chilling ice away, bit by bit. "Shouldn't she be back by now? What about Robin-San?"
"Not back yet, and not back yet." Nami replied, leaning against the counter.
Emma swallowed. "How's Sanji-Kun?" She asked, in a soft voice.
Nami looked up at her. "We're working to defrost him. Don't worry, we've done this before."
"I know." Emma replied, as Law tended to her cuts.
"Make sure to rub the affected limbs once they're defrosted." Chopper ordered, as he scurried back towards the bathroom with some more buckets, to keep on helping Kaya take care of Sanji. Franky was upstairs, in one of the rooms, and being watched over by Makino and Nojiko.
"I'm sure that he won't." Emma replied, and Law smirked slightly, but the exchange was good-natured. Something had changed between them, and everybody saw it, but nobody was quite sure what to make of it.
"Are you sure you guys don't want some help?" Lucky Roo spoke up. "We feel kind of bad just sitting here, while you guys do all of this."
"It's fine." Emma replied firmly. "This is our battle."
"Ah, actually," Rockstar spoke up. "It's everybody's battle - the World Government are our enemies, too."
"Yeah, but this is something that we have to do on our own." Emma replied. "Me and my Allies...I feel like this is a test of sorts."
"Hn." Law nodded in agreement, frowning slightly at the ice-burns caused by Kuzan's attacks, and making a mental note to dissect the ice-man later.
Emma looked across at Shanks, who was watching her. "Besides," she added, in a slightly louder voice. "Daddy has faith in us enough to not interfere."
Shanks just nodded, in a good-natured way and, at that moment, somebody crashed into the bar, creating a new door right next to the original one.
"Vivi!" Nami gasped, jumping up first to run to the blue-haired Princess, and her duck. "What happened?!"
Vivi, who was covered in cuts and had a few mild burns to her legs, struggled to get up, and was helped by Nami and Usopp. "A-Akainu..." She said shakily. "He...in the town-square...Luffy-San is..." She clutched Luffy's hat in her hands, and her shoulders shook.
Nobody had to look then, to know that Emma had just vanished in a flurry of ribbons but Law, who had been holding onto her, went with.
They landed right in the midst of the battle between Luffy and Sakazuki, and Law had to grab Emma out of the way of the magma. They landed right in front of Ino.
"You!" Ino glared at Emma.
"You!" Emma mimicked, glaring at the blonde-haired woman. "How are you still alive?!"
"I deserve to be alive." Ino smirked. "Unlike that worthless daughter of mine."
"Don't talk about Sumi-Chan like that!" Emma yelled, and Law grabbed her arm.
"Calm down." He whispered to her. "She wants you to get upset."
"I'm already upset." Emma muttered, as Ino assessed them carefully. Emma didn't know what to expect. Ino was an assassin, just like Rob Lucci, and just like her niece, Kalifa. She'd been raised as a killer, and was probably a Rokushiki Master. The only Rokushiki that Emma knew was Soru.
She also noticed that Ino's gaze drifted to the red necklace around Emma's neck, before she exchanged a glance with Sakazuki. He nodded to her.
Emma froze. The fact that Ino was here, with Sakazuki...
That time, when he'd called her a traitor...her proposed execution...
Their act had been perfect.
Just then, Luffy let out a yell, and they all turned to see Sakazuki's hand wrap around the rubber-man's wrist, burning into it. He slammed Luffy up against a nearby wall, and then raised his other magma fist, preparing to slam it into Luffy's face.
Visions of Sumi's death danced across Emma's mind and, without even thinking, she closed her eyes, and concentrated on her powers.
Hikari No Hime was a form that she could take on, when more power was needed than she alone could access. She didn't know how she was taking it on now, but she was. She felt the warm light envelop her, and felt her clothes changing again.
Law, who was staring at her, watched as the red and gold ribbons changed Emma's clothes into the gold dress, stained with red. He didn't have to look at himself, to know that his own clothes had changed.
Then, without warning, Emma opened her eyes as the wings appeared on her back. She grabbed Law's nodachi before he could stop her, and was between Luffy and Sakazuki in a second, using the nodachi to block the magma man's attack, just like how she'd seen Shanks do in the manga. Some of his magma had destroyed nearby buildings, and people were screaming in terror.
"What is it with you and hurting innocent people?!" Emma demanded to know, pushing Sakazuki back a few paces, and holding the sword in both hands. Jeez, this thing's HEAVY - how does Law DO it?!
"I'll hurt a thousand innocent people to destroy just one pirate!" Sakazuki replied.
Emma glanced past him, and noticed that Moonbay Fox and her crew were there, filming. Fox winked at Emma, and gave her a nod.
Emma returned her gaze to the fiery Admiral. "You're a shame on the World Government, Akainu - who are the citizens supposed to trust?"
"That isn't my concern." Sakazuki replied, glaring at her. He towered over her, as intimidating as, well, a man made of magma.
Emma swallowed slightly, and sensed Luffy's presence shift behind her. Her head snapped up. "Ribon-Ribon No Teleport!"
As the ribbons streaked out everywhere, grabbing onto the intended targets, and transporting them away, nobody noticed the raven-haired figure that tagged along.
Emma, Luffy and Law hit the ground running - sort of. What actually happened, was that Emma grabbed onto both Law and Luffy, and dragged them along as she flew a few feet off the ground, intent on getting as far away from Sakazuki and Ino as possible.
"Emiko, this doesn't look like Mariejois." Law commented casually.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry, but I didn't expect Ino to be there, as well!" Emma apologized. "Sabaody will have to do!"
"What does that have to do with anything?" Law rolled his eyes, just as Emma came out of the cluster of mangrove trees, to fly straight into somebody.
"Aah!" She cried.
"Whoa!" Luffy yelled, as they all fell to the ground.
"What the fuck?!" The somebody shouted. "Get the fuck off me, bitch!"
Emma shook her head to clear it, pushing her tiara back into place, and then looking down into the pale, eyebrowless face of one Eustace Kid.
He has red hair and no eyebrows and a bloodlust...just like Sabaku No Gaara!
Seriously, that was her first thought.
Two sets of hands suddenly grabbed Emma and dragged her back, away from Kid, who got up and glared angrily at her, before switching his glare to Law and Luffy.
"What the Hell are you doing here?" Kid wanted to know, not at all pleased to see his fellow Supernovas.
"Just out for a nice stroll." Law replied casually, giving Kid a smug look. He calmly picked up his nodachi and sheathed it, before asking: "Why are you here?"
"None of your fucking business." Kid replied angrily, before his gaze returned to Emma. "Oi, you, bitch - are you that Demon Of War I've heard about?"
"Y-yes?" She stammered. God, he's even scarier in real life! Why do so many fan-girls want to meet him?!
Kid had unrolled and was looking at a Wanted poster, before he nodded, and tossed the poster to Emma. She looked at it - it appeared to be her new one. The picture was updated, and revealed her in her Princess form. And, as Aokiji had stated, her bounty had indeed increased by two (which seemed ridiculous to Emma). "You killed a Celestial Dragon..."
"It was an accident."
"And you have some huge fucking power..."
As Law and Luffy examined the poster, Emma looked back up at Kid, who was looking at her. "Wh-what?"
"I heard you're not part of any crew, despite having your Dad's mark on your back." Kid stated flatly.
Law looked up sharply.
"Yeah?"
"You're joining my crew, bitch - get over here." Kid ordered.
As Emma looked shocked, and Kid glared at her, Luffy and Law immediately stepped between them.
"Go to Hell, Eustace." Law said clearly.
"Yeah, Emmy's joining my crew!" Luffy added, looking determined.
Law just sighed.
Kid was looking thoroughly annoyed by now. "I should have fucking killed you two here months ago!" He raised his hands, and began to activate his Devil Fruit powers - Emma felt the tugging on her necklace and tiara, and fought against it. "I'll start with..."
"LUFFY!" Boa Hancock came flying out of nowhere, crashing into Luffy and knocking him off his feet, pushing them both to the ground as she glomped him.
Kid, Emma and Law just stared, as Hancock nuzzled up against Luffy, who tried, unsuccessfully, to push the Pirate Empress off of him.
"Hancock, how did you get here?" Emma wanted to know.
"My love guided me here." She explained.
Law sighed again. "When searching for Luffy-Ya in town, the sounds of the battle led her to the town square, where she latched onto Luffy-Ya just as your ribbons transported us all here and, in her second search for Luffy-Ya, she followed the trail of feathers that you left, because you're moulting, Emiko."
"Are you really my First Knight?" Emma gave him a Look, and then she gasped. A few feathers fell out. "Wait, if she could follow them, then that means that Akainu and Ino could, too!"
"I messed up the trail of feathers." Hancock explained, shaking her head slightly, and making her earrings swing. "Akainu went the other way, but Ino's on her way here, so we should probably leave, or else Luffy may get hurt."
"I can handle it." Luffy protested.
"Uh, no you can't, Luffy." Emma replied, shaking her head. "We're getting out of here - Ace-Chan needs us." She reminded him, and realisation dawned on his face. He nodded.
"Let's go then." Law suggested, taking Emma's hand, and giving Kid another smug look.
Emma also looked at Kid. What an interesting character. She thought. "Ne, Kid-San!" She called to him, and his brow twitched slightly. "I bet that you and I listen to the same kind of music - let's meet again!" She grinned, as they started to disappear.
"What the fuck?!" Kid exclaimed.
Emma rolled her eyes. "What is it with you and that word anyway, Kid-San?"
"It's just a fucking word!"
"Uh...huh..."
They appeared in the middle of the bar this time, and everybody looked at them.
"Is Robin-San back yet?" Emma asked the nearest person, which happened to be Vista.
He shook his head. "No, not yet - Franky's been asking about her, too."
"I bet he has." Emma sighed resting her forehead against Law's shoulder. "I'm worried about Ace-Chan, too."
"I know." Law replied calmly. "It will be fine, Emiko."
Emma nodded, and then looked around. "Hey, where did the Red-Hair Pirates go?"
"To talk to Oyaji." Vista replied.
"Oh." Emma and Law said in unison. They exchanged a glance, and then looked over, and observed as Vivi came out from the back room, with her arm in a sling and Luffy's hat on her head.
"Luffy-San!" Vivi cried.
"Vivi, you're okay!" Luffy ran to her, and wrapped her up in a tight hug, much to Hancock's horror. "I was so worried!"
"I'm fine." Vivi was blushing, but she hugged Luffy back with her good arm.
Makino and Nojiko, who were watching from the top of the stairs, smiled, as Carue crooed softly.
Emma smiled, too, but she had an uneasy feeling in her stomach and, from the look on Law's face, he sensed it, too. Something was wrong.
"The battles keep on getting harder." Emma murmured, but everybody heard her.
"That's why we chose to do this in this order." Nami reminded her. "We're just lucky that Sanji's injuries are the worst thing that's happened - everybody else seems to be okay."
"Yeah, but what about Ace-Chan and Robin-San?" Emma wanted to know.
"Ace can handle it." Luffy said confidently, as he took his hat back from Vivi, but continued to stand by her side.
"Luffy...you met Blackbeard before." Emma replied. "You know what he's like." Her eyes darkened. "On...on the first day we arrived here, I had an altercation with him and his crew. That's how I hurt my shoulder. I was terrified, and completely overwhelmed by his power, and he was only showing me, like, an eighth of it."
A few people gasped, and Law's grip tightened around Emma's shoulders.
"He told me to become his woman."
Makino, Nami, Nojiko, and Vivi gasped.
"What did you say?" Luffy asked Emma.
"No, of course!" Vivi looked at Emma, who was shaking her head. "Then...what?"
"I told him to save it for Jewellery Bonney." Emma replied.
"Huh?" Most people were confused.
"Episode 513."
"Oh, right, yeah, of course..."
There was a moment of silence after that, during which time Emma happened to glance at Law, who was looking positively murderous. He glanced down at her, and the two shared a silent conversation with their eyes.
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted, by somebody being thrown through the glass window.
"ROBIN!" Nami screamed, as everybody sitting down jumped to their feet, because Robin's body was bleeding and battered.
"Robin, no!" Chopper had just came out of the bathroom from tending to Sanji, and looked horrified.
Nevertheless, the ex-assassin struggled, getting to her feet, as she swayed, and hands of support came out from all sides to help her.
Robin looked up, her blue eyes locking onto Emma's hazel ones. "Your Father is...fighting Blackbeard...he and Ace...they need...help..." She fainted, and only the many hands holding onto her stopped her from falling. Whatever she'd endured, it must've been bad.
Well, of course. It was Blackbeard.
Emma didn't even have to ask where this battle was taking place. Whitebeard and Ace were a part of her heart, and she felt her connection with them burning strong. Whitebeard was her Father, and Ace was her soul-mate. She would defend them this day with every ounce of her being.
Emma grabbed Law's hand, and together they disappeared in a flurry of ribbons.
Vivi's heart was pounding, as she and Luffy stood back to allow Robin to be carried past them, and up the stairs to a room, where she could be treated. "Stay safe..." Vivi whispered, and Luffy squeezed her hand reassuringly.
Vivi turned to him, and saw the assured look on his face. "They'll be fine." He told her.
"How can you be so sure?" Vivi wanted to know.
Luffy leaned forwards and, much to Vivi's surprise, kissed her forehead, before placing his hat back on her head. "I just am." He grinned. "Shishishi...have faith, Vivi."
"Luffy-San..."
Blackbeard's strength had increased - there was no doubt about that. How else was he able to be taking on both Whitebeard and Shanks, at the same time?
The two Yonko had formed a temporary alliance, to take on Blackbeard without the assistance of their crews, and this reasoning of Whitebeard's was largely due to the fact that Ace was lying on the ground nearby, bleeding profusely, and barely breathing.
Whitebeard had already lost one of his children to Blackbeard, and he wasn't going to lose a second. He had also just recently lost a daughter, and her death was still stinging into his heart with every second.
Nico Robin had been sent flying, bullet wounds in her shoulders and sides, and Whitebeard was concerned for her safety. He had started to grow fond of all of Emma's friends.
Whitebeard himself was injured, as was Shanks, but the two of them were holding up good, that is until the rest of Blackbeard's crew got involved.
Whitebeard and Shanks should have known it. They should have known that Blackbeard would get the rest of his crew involved, which was a violation of their agreement to this battle, but Whitebeard suddenly knew that, even though Blackbeard's crew was intent on killing him, that something was about to change.
Blackbeard smirked, and raised his flint-locked revolver, pointing it straight at Whitebeard's heart. "Goodbye, Oyaji!" He said, and pulled the trigger.
"DADDY!" A voice screamed from the sky, and both of the captains looked up, to see a figure in a gold dress falling towards them, a nodachi in her hands, which she used to deflect the bullet as soon as she'd landed between it and her Father. Emma's eyes burned. "I won't let you, Blackbeard! I won't let you kill him, and then take his power using your own! He's my Father! Not yours!"
She was breathing heavily, and staring hard at Blackbeard, who stared back at her. She suddenly broke her gaze, to look over, to where Law had approached Ace. Her eyes took in the blood, and his condition. Her eyes filled with tears. "Ace-Chan..." She whispered.
Blackbeard seized his chance and attacked.
Whitebeard grabbed his daughter, dragging her out of harm's way. He was immediately set upon by Blackbeard and Catarina, leaving Emma on a nearby rock.
She was about to go and help Law with Ace, when she happened to turn around, and found herself face-to-face with Shiliew.
She gulped.
Shiliew smirked, calmly drawing his own nodachi.
Emma cringed. I'm not adept at all about using this thing...I can barely lift it! Oh my God...help me... "Law-Chan!" She shouted, as Shiliew's nodachi came down, and she had barely enough time to raise Law's, and felt the pain shoot through her arms at the sheer amount of force with which Shiliew struck at her with.
Law, who had been helping Ace, looked up at Emma's shout, and his heart skipped a beat, seeing her being attacked by an actual swordsman. He suddenly felt himself vanishing, but Emma's ribbons hadn't even appeared. Was this...the power of the Princess and her First Knight?
My entire reason for living is to protect her.Law reminded himself, as he appeared beside her, and calmly took the nodachi from her. And, that's just what I'm going to do! He lunged out, bypassing Shiliew's attack with ease, and thrust his sword straight into the other man's chest, although Law knew that he had missed the man's heart by mere centimetres. What a shame.
As Shiliew fell back, his red blood spurting out in many directions (Emma hid behind Law to avoid being splattered), Blackbeard looked across, and his face took on a look of rage.
"That's indecent!" He accused.
Emma suddenly smirked, and vanished in a flash of ribbons...only to reappear a second later, right in front of Blackbeard, who was shocked.
"That's the pi-do - the way of the pirate!" Emma declared, before she punched Blackbeard in the face. As he staggered back, bruised but not at all fazed by the punch, Emma added: "Ribon-Ribon No Teleport!" She and the Blackbeard Pirates disappeared in a mass of ribbons, leaving Law, Ace, Whitebeard, and Shanks on the beach.
Law was horrified. No! She's going to do this by herself...is she insane?! Emiko!
Emma, however, had a plan. She had timed her transportation to make sure that the Blackbeard Pirates fell - straight towards the waters of the Florian Triangle. It was time to get rid of them once and for all.
As she hovered above the waters, watching the pirates fall to their deaths, Emma was struck by a sudden thought. Is this okay? But, then, she thought about Thatch and Sumi, and about their unborn child, and her face hardened. "They're not going to make it." She stated calmly, her wings - Sumi's wings - beating a steady rhythm. Then, suddenly, some sort of strange black liquid appeared in the water below the Blackbeard Pirates, forming a surface for them to land on, much to Emma's shock. "Of course they did...but...how...?" Her heart was pounding. What's going on? I sense a great evil...a power unlike any other...could it be...?
Darkness...gravity which draws everything in, and leaves not a ray of light...
As the blackness enveloped around the Blackbeard Pirates, Blackbeard himself happened to look up, and locked gazes with Emma. He took in how terrified and shocked she looked, and smirked, although his eyes were furious. She had attempted to kill him, and now some other force was putting an end to her plans. Fate had smiled kindly upon them today.
However, Blackbeard couldn't help but admire the Newgate girl's methods. She had, by all means, been ready to send them plummeting to their deaths, and would have probably rejoiced in it. He couldn't help but admire her ruthlessness, as she'd tried to kill him.
He would one day either return the favour...or utterly destroy her Father by taking his precious daughter for himself...yes, either way would be good.
"Ace, are you sure that you're okay?" Nojiko was being awfully pushy, trailing after him as he limped down the stairs. It was night time, now.
"Yes, Nojiko, I'm sure." Ace replied testily. "I'm more worried about Emiko, why isn't she back yet?"
"Ace!" Luffy suddenly appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Emmy's back!"
Ace ran down those stairs as fast as he could, and the circle in the middle of the bar parted, to reveal Emma, looking cut up and bruised and exhausted but, as soon as she saw Ace, her face brightened, and she ran to him.
"Ace-Chan!" She threw her arms around him.
"Emiko..." He muttered, hugging her tightly. "You're okay...I was so worried..."
"I was worried about you." She said, looking up at him. "What about Daddy, and Shanks?"
"Wait..." Luffy's eyes widened. "Shanks was here?"
"He and Oyaji went back to the ship." Marco explained. "I think that Shanks said something about shipping out tonight. He's probably gone by now."
As Luffy looked disappointed, Usopp couldn't help but say: "You two seriously kept on missing each other, all day, Luffy! But me...I got to see my Father again." He grinned.
"No fair!" Luffy complained. "I wanted to see Shanks again!"
"Oh, Luffy." Vivi smiled slightly at his antics.
"Shanks said to give you a message, Luffy." Makino had come into the room, and she took a piece of paper out of her pocket.
Luffy unfolded the note eagerly, read it, and then groaned.
"What does it say?" Nami wanted to know.
Vivi took the letter, and read it. "It says: 'Anchor, so sorry that I kept missing you, but it was good to meet the rest of your crew. You all work well together, and remember that your team-work and friendship is your greatest strength. Keep trying to become a better pirate than me, even though you never will! Sincerely, Shanks.'." Vivi looked up, and caught a few smiles here and there. She herself couldn't help but smile, as well.
"So, everybody's okay, then?" Emma asked Ace, who nodded.
"Hai, Robin and Franky are doing fine," Makino spoke up from the bar, where she was mixing some drinks for everybody. "And Sanji is finished thawing out, but..."
"Sanji!" They heard Chopper shout and, a moment later, the blonde cook appeared from the bathroom, followed by a panicked-looking Chopper and Kaya.
"You need to rest!" Kaya told him.
"I'll be fine, Kaya-Chan, because your concern warms my heart so much!" Sanji told her, smiling. "Just seeing your beautiful face the moment you thawed me out is enough to set me on fire, my dear Mellorine!"
"H-Hey!" Usopp said, sounding slightly annoyed. "If Kaya says you should rest some more, then you should listen to her, Sanji!"
Sanji gave Usopp a Look. "And what's yourproblem, Usopp?" He asked, in his regular voice.
"You're going against doctor's orders, Sanji!" Usopp replied.
"That's right!" Chopper cried.
Nami, sitting at the bench with her sister, started giggling, and Nojiko joined in. Makino smiled, and her smile was shared by quite a few others, including Luffy.
"Glad to see that you're back to normal, Sanji!" The captain grinned. "Now, how about making us something good to eat?"
"He's supposed to be resting!" Chopper protested, but nobody heard him, as Sanji started by asking all of the girls what they wanted to eat, and then he asked the boys.
"Oh, Sanji-Kun!" Emma called to him.
He smiled at her. "What is it, Emma-Chwan?"
"I'll go and ask Franky and Robin-San what they want, and then let you know, okay?" Emma suggested.
Sanji came over and gave her a huge hug, much to the annoyance of Ace and Law. "Oh, Emma-Chwan, you're just so thoughtful!"
"Okay, okay, don't get carried away." Ace said quickly, grabbing Emma by the arm and dragging her up the stairs, with Law close behind them.
Once they were out of earshot, Law said: "Emiko...why did you take so long to get back here?"
At the top of the stairs, Emma stopped, and turned around, her face taking on a very serious look. "Yeah...I have to talk to you all about that."
The next day, Emma stood in a room at the inn, staring at herself in the mirror. She remembered feeling like this once before - like there was no way that this should be happening but, somehow, the events of this day were going to make it more real.
It had been two weeks since Sumi's death at the hands of her Father and, somehow, up until this day, Emma hadn't quite accepted it. But now, here she was, standing there in front of a mirror and staring at the black, scoop-neck dress that she was wearing. She wore black stockings, but no jacket - her arms were exposed, and everybody could see that they were covered in plaster. Everybody else also had their own injuries to deal with. Some people, like Nami, would cover it up with make-up. Others, like Franky, would wear them as proud battle scars.
Still, it could have been a lot worse, and they all knew that.
There was a knock on the door, and Emma looked up, to see Nami and Vivi standing there, both of them dressed in similar black dresses, except that Nami's had a v-neck, and Vivi's was scoop-necked, like Emma's. The dresses were also shorter than Emma's, whose skirt came to just above her knee. Nami was also wearing stockings.
"Come on." Nami said, smiling slightly, and holding out her hand, which Emma took. They walked down the hall, to the room where Kaya, Nojiko and Robin were.
Kaya was wearing a black dress of a similar length to Emma's, but it had sleeves and buttons down the front of it. Nojiko had on a dress similar to Nami's, but she wasn't wearing stockings.
Robin's dress was long, with long sleeves, and lace, and she wore a black veil over her face.
As they walked down the stairs wordlessly, and Nojiko was putting on her jacket, they found Sanji and Zoro waiting for them.
Sanji was smoking on a cigarette, but he still managed to smile, and say: "My Mellorines, you all look beautiful."
"Yes..." Zoro narrowed his eyes. "Why the Hell are you dressed in that get-up?!"
"It is a little old-fashioned, isn't it?" Robin tugged at the high-collar of her dress.
"Not you!" Zoro rolled his eyes, and jabbed his finger at Nojiko. "Why are you wearing a Marine's jacket, Nojiko?"
"What's your problem?" Nojiko raised an eyebrow. "It belonged to my Mother and, besides, it's cold." She narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you just lend me your jacket, if this one bothers you so much?"
"I would have if you'd just asked me!" Zoro replied.
"Which is why I didn't." Nojiko replied smartly, flouncing past him and out of the bar, and she was followed by the other girls, who all gave Zoro varying looks (of annoyance from Nami, to curiosity from Kaya).
Sanji said: "You've got a lot to learn about women, mossball."
"Shut up, dartboard-brow!"
Emma, as soon as she saw Whitebeard and Ace, hurried over to them, across the grass that was swaying in the slight breeze, on top of the cliff overlooking the sea.
"Daddy, Ace-Chan." Emma said, taking Ace's hand quickly. He squeezed her hand back.
"Emma." Whitebeard gazed down at her. He was wearing his usual outfit over his bandages, but there was pink ribbon tied to his wrist - Sumi's favourite colour had been pink.
Emma swallowed. Just thinking about her in past-tense was upsetting. And, it would be that way forever.
Ace looked up, and caught sight of Nojiko. "Is she...?"
"Yes, but it belonged to her Mother, so don't say anything bad about it." Emma said quickly, and Ace nodded, understandingly. "Daddy, did Brook manage to get what he needed for today?"
Whitebeard nodded. "He did. They're just bringing it up here, now."
"That's good." Emma nodded, resting her head on Ace's shoulder.
Ace put his arm around her, and rubbed her arm in a comforting way.
Marco approached them, wearing a black jacket instead of his usual purple shirt. "Oyaji, everybody is here." He said, in a sombre voice.
Whitebeard nodded, and glanced down at Ace and Emma, the latter of which had turned pale.
Whitebeard said: "Come on, you two. Let's go and say goodbye to your sister."
Whitebeard himself led the entire service. Sumi had been his daughter, and he was the right man for the job. They all knew that. And, of all of the members of the Whitebeard Pirates, even those who had been with Sumi in the Spade Pirates, none of them knew her better than he did. Not even Ace.
Emma sat there, feeling hollow and empty throughout the entire funeral, clutching Ace's hand and Law's hand like lifelines. She couldn't cry. She just couldn't. They sat in the very front row, along with Marco and vista, and Sumi's fellow nurses.
Nami, Nojiko, Sanji and Zoro sat behind them, and Nami had tears streaming down her face from about the first two minutes. It didn't matter. Even Nojiko was crying a bit.
Kaya had tears in her eyes, as she sat next to Usopp, and Vivi was crying silently, sitting next to Luffy, who held her hand throughout the entire funeral. Georgia, Carmilla, Penelope, Jacob and Robert stood a ways back. Penelope was crying, and even Georgia and Carmilla looked upset. Makino, standing next to Curly Dadan, wiped her eyes gently, and then somebody handed her a handkerchief. She looked up, to see Shanks standing there.
"Shanks!" Makino whisper-gasped. "I thought that you...?"
"I decided to come and pay my respects to Sumi before leaving." Shanks replied, in a voice barely above a whisper, although Whitebeard's gaze flickered over to him, in the middle of Marco's eulogy to Sumi. The two captains locked gazes, before nodding calmly to each other.
Shanks remembered meeting Sumi years ago, when the Spade Pirates had still been running around. She'd been a shy and awkward little thing with blonde pigtails back then, but she'd been sweet and full of energy once she'd gotten used to them. Her death was a painful reminder of just what the World Government was capable of.
Marco finished his speech, and then Ace said a few things about Sumi. He told them about the first time that he'd met her, and about how she'd earned her nickname as the 'Black-Winged-Angel'. His story of how she'd set fire to and burned down an entire town of World Nobles made a few people laugh. The sun shone through the cloud cover then, as if Sumi was laughing with them.
"I know how much she loved us all." Ace finished up, holding his hand across his chest. "And, I hope she knows how much we love her. We'll never stop loving her. Sumi, our angel. Sumi, our sister." He nodded, and then went to sit back down.
Emma closed her eyes briefly, and then she and Brook stood up in unison.
Ace gave Emma's hand a final, reassuring squeeze, before she walked to the edge of the cliff, and then turned around. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brook sit down at his piano.
As Brook began to play the music, Emma felt her heart thud painfully. This was the song that she'd chosen...it had been played at her Nanna's funeral, and now...it was Sumi's song.
I love you, Sumi-Chan.
She started to sing In The Arms Of The Angel, by Sarah McLachlan and, with each syllable, she felt her heart break.
Beautiful Sumi-Chan...it wasn't fair what happened...Sumi-Chan...
During the second verse, Emma opened her eyes, and looked around at everybody. The girls were all crying now. It didn't matter. Most of the men were crying, too.
Ace and Law stared at Emma, and Ace had tears in his eyes.
Law lowered his head then, and Emma saw, or maybe she just thought that she saw, a small tear glistening on his face.
Emma's own eyes filled with tears, but she refused to let them fall. Her vision became blurry and glistening, as the wind stilled on the hilltop, casting a calm, stillness about it.
Then, Emma made the mistake of looking at her Father.
Tears flowed freely down the face of the World's Strongest Man, and that was when Emma's own tears fell.
She kept on singing.
"In the arms of an Angel fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
You're in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here..."
Sumi-Chan...we love you. We'll always love you...Sumi-Chan...
Blackbeard opened his eyes, and looked around him. The first thing that he saw was that his crew were alright - shaken, but still in one piece.
The second thing he saw was the most beautiful lady in existence.
She had long hair the colour of blood although it looked like it had once been another colour, and dark brown eyes. A black glow seemed to surround her, as she calmly regarded him.
"Who're you?" Blackbeard asked her. She looked vaguely familiar...
"I am Infinity." She said, in a voice as cold as ice, but she smirked.
From behind her, peered a little girl with dark pink eyes and pale skin. A scythe was in her hands. "I'm Little Death!" She said.
"And I," Infinity said, locking her gaze with Blackbeard. "Have been waiting for you, Marshall D. Teach. It is time for you to embrace your destiny...of Darkness..."
Author's Notes:
. So...this update took...forever. I'm sorry. *Bows* I've been really busy at TAFE, and I've been having some health problems. -_- Not as bad as Oda-Sensei, I don't think, but I need to go into radiology, and get some more tests done to find out what these things are. If IT has come back, then I need to find out, and soon. I...need more coffee, as I have no energy. :(
. Nindo = Way Of The Ninja. Pido = Way Of The Pirate.
. In The Arms Of the Angel, by Sarah McLachlan: youtu . be / jVbkz _ 3lO3c . Can you listen to it without crying?
YingYang21 - here's the update you waited for! Thanks for waiting and for reviewing!
MeowzDJ - yeah, Ace cheated death. ^^ And, just for you, Kid showed up in this chapter, but it's not the last that we'll see of him! XD Thanks for waiting, and thanks for the review!
Jamsine - maybe, except that I haven't seen the movie yet! I want to, though! Thanks for waiting, and for the review!
Shingheart of ThunderClan - yeah, she probably shouldn't have said that. And, more of the prophecy and of Infinity will be revealed soon enough, so just be patient (I mean, even more patient than you already have been). ^^; And, maybe I will watch that movie, The First Knight...maybe I will...anyways, so, thanks for waiting, and for the review!
Cocoa Liddell - yeah, go Ace! *cheers for Ace* Thanks for waiting, and reviewing!
AiSoraix3 - I did stop for a bit, but I'm back now (my assignments are glaring at me from cyberspace, though!). ^^ Thanks for waiting for so long, and for the review!
Shinobi . Hikari . Ookami - yeah, never mind your Grandma, worry about the big, man-eating lion! Maybe he should team up with Shiki and Absalom, and defeat all of our enemies, the lion way! They really do need a lion Zoan, don't they? *Creates fan-character* Ooh, a puppy! Make it a Bernese Mountain Dog! Those things are huge! And, cookies, yes please! Hmm...send me my favourite bad guy, Absalom - I'm sure that he'll be thrilled to be sent to me without clothes, lol. XD Thank you very much for waiting, and for the review.
KaiF . Raphaella - yeah, feelings...nothing more than feelings...they always get you at the worst of times, aye? Thanks for waiting, and for the review.
Mugiwara Wolf Spirite - lol, Ace is an interesting character, especially to fall asleep like that! What's gonna happen on his wedding day and night? At least One Piece Logic disallows him to doze off right in the middle of any Life-Changing Battles Of Doom. Hancock continues to suffer in this chapter, but so does Luffy! O . O Thanks for waiting, and thanks for reviewing!
MsWildLuck - I know, I was kind of inspired by the story of Kyoko and Katsuya, from Fruits Basket. I wonder if that's what REALLY happens when you die? *Ponders death, life and love* Anyways, so, thanks for waiting for me to update, and thanks for reviewing! ^^She