From The Sea - Dive rgence Chapter 28: TWENTY-SEVEN, an one piece fanfic

So, um, as some of you may already know, I made the bad decision to start writing both this chapter and the next one at the same time while my summer holidays were ending, and the result is, well…

The delay.

But you can also look at it as a piece of good news, since the next chapter is definitely not going to take as long.

(Hopefully.)

Anyway, I hope the chapter turns out to be enjoyable enough to make up for the time it took to write it!

Also!

I've had the great pleasure of being granted another piece of fanart from the greatly talented ekale on ao3, so if you want to take a look at it, here's the link!

https : slashslash flamerra dot tumblr dot com slash post/695686475537399808/elynnas-back

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, so anything that you see in this fic and that you can recognise as belonging to One Piece is not mine. If I did own it, I wouldn't have to write fanfiction. Duh. Also, I don't own the picture.

Part One - Dive|rgence

TWENTY-SEVEN

Sometimes, I think of losing you.

Sometimes, I think of losing myself.

(Sometimes, I think of everything I could tear down and apart

-everything from myself that I could tear away, give away-

for one more second with your smiles.)

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Twisting on herself through the silky feeling of the water pushing and pressing against her, Elynna swims slowly along the hull, eyes inspecting the wooden surface carefully with the goggles Usopp lent her.

The last of the air she took before diving under escapes her mouth in a controlled swell of bubbles, but she keeps going for a few more moments before she finally flips forward to press her feet against the curve of the hull and propel herself towards the surface.

She breaks through just as the burn in her lungs starts to become distracting, and takes the time to regulate her breathing and take off the goggles carefully to avoid taking hair along with it, before she swims back to the rope hanging from the railing of the ship.

She scales the side of the Merry with the practiced ease of habit, and eventually grabs the railing with one hand to haul herself up on it in one go, landing into a crouch.

She throws the goggles towards where she glimpsed a silhouette waiting for her, and threads her hands through her hair to press the water out of it, before doing the same with the baggy t-shirt she took to wearing in place of the top piece of her swimsuit when the latter somehow got burned when Luffy crashed in on Usopp's laundry duty.

"How is it?" Usopp asks quietly as he holds out his free hand to make sure that she doesn't slip while getting down.

She takes it even though her feet are perfectly stable when she jumps off, and squeezes.

"Still holding on."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

She's halfway through taking off her top when she steps into the bathroom and notices that Nami is sitting in the bathtub.

"You're still here."

Nami sends her a mildly annoyed glare even as she places her legs over the edge of the bathtub to give her more space.

"It's not because you're physically unable to take an actual bath instead of a shower in a bathtub that all of us are the same."

Elynna raises a brow at her, and as if to prove a point, slowly lets herself sink into the perfumed water.

Nami greets the rare display of childishness with a roll of her eyes, a mischievous grin, and a flick of water towards her roommate's face.

Elynna closes her eyes just in time to avoid getting some of it in them, and her face turns definitely grumpy.

"And then you wonder why I don't take 'actual baths' with you."

Nami snickers, relaxing back into the water.

After a few moments, though, her smile fades away, and she opens her eyes to look at Elynna again.

"How is Usopp doing?"

"… I'm getting a bit worried." The First Mate eventually admits after a moment, lips pursing in anxious concern.

Nami nods in agreement, and absently puts a bottle of shower gel in Elynna's hand before she's even finished holding it out in silent request.

"I was on watch with him two nights ago, and he could barely stay awake, let alone focus. We'll reach Water Seven in a week at most, and I know he'll get better once we find someone to repair the Merry there, but…"

She stops as she notices the way Elynna is tapping her nails against the edge of the bathtub near her own feet, lips pulled tight into a severe line, and frowns.

"You think we'll have a problem before reaching Water Seven."

Elynna's eyes flicker to her as if pulled from her thoughts.

"… It should be alright, I think, especially since you told me we'd be in a spring-summer area in terms of weather. Well, unless we end up getting shot into the sky again."

"What's got you worried, then?" The navigator presses, not falling for the attempt to nudge her away from the conversation.

Elynna gives her a look.

"…Oh." Nami whispers.

And then-

"You don't think the Merry can be repaired, do you?"

The First Mate shuffles, making the soapy water slosh quietly around the two of them.

"I don't know anything about carpentry, but from what I've seen lately, I'm starting to think that Usopp's certainty is more based on denial than his slightly more developed knowledge."

Nami's frown deepens.

Neither of them wants to know what the sharpshooter would do if Elynna ended up being right when it's so obvious how attached he is to their ship.

(Neither of them wants to know what his face would look like if he ever faced heartbreak.)

"We should contact Kaya." Nami eventually decides with a snap of her fingers.

Elynna looks up, startled out of her reflection, and slowly nods.

"I guess her and Merry-san will be a lot more helpful than us on this."

"I'll call her today." Nami smiles. "Now, who called you last night?"

"Zara."

Nami is silent for a moment, trying to place where she heard the name before.

"Is that the name of the girl you met in Mock Town?"

"Yup. Why are you asking? Jealous?"

"Don't try to change the topic." The tangerine-haired girl retorts exasperatedly. "You wouldn't have taken this long to fall asleep if you had been flirting."

"Maybe I was turned on."

"I said don't try to change the topic."

Elynna deflates, goading smirk disappearing with a click of her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

"She told me that Don Quixote Doflamingo came to Mock Town." She eventually starts, folding her legs and curling her arms around them.

"Who's that?"

"A member of the Shichibukai."

Nami's hands freeze in the middle of lathering shampoo all over her hair, and she gapes.

"Say what?!"

Elynna leans forward to press a hand against her forehead, barely preventing some shampoo from dripping into her eyes, and the navigator resumes her task with a distracted 'thanks'.

"Bellamy was his subordinate." The shorter girl goes on as she shifts away. "And apparently, he and what was left of his crew were publicly executed yesterday for the mess they got in with us."

Nami stares at her, and sighs, deep and annoyed.

"If a guy like this comes after us, I'm going to make Sanji-kun do something horrible to Luffy's food."

Then she lets one foot slip from the edge of the bathtub and nudges her best friend hard in the back of her thigh.

"And stop thinking that you should have known that asshole knew a big shot like this."

Elynna shoots her an incredulous glance, as if she can't believe that Nami isn't siding with her to blame her for her perceived mistake.

"His flag had the same basic structure as Doflamingo's."

"And? Are you supposed to know the flag of every pirate crew out there by heart? Besides, even if you did realise it, we both know Luffy wouldn't have cared enough to not beat him up."

Her best friend presses her lips together but says nothing in return, and Nami just knows that she's going to see her make an inventory of at least the most well-known pirates' flags in the days to come.

She decides then and there that Elynna will have thirty minutes per day to work on it for a week.

And if she tries to do more, Nami will just have to distract her away from the task at hand.

It's easy, especially with the six other people who are unaware they've just been enlisted to help with her task.

"Anyway," Elynna sighs as she stands up, gripping the edge of the bathtub with one hand to avoid slipping and reaching for her towel with the other. "Hebi has been experimenting with some herbs from Skypiea and I'm supposed to look at the results with him, so I'll go first."

"Uh huh. I'm sure this has nothing to do with your inability to take an actual bath."

"And Hermes told me he wanted to try and cook a few things with tangerines, so he wanted to know if he could use your mom's." She goes on while royally ignoring Nami. "You might want to talk to him about that."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Sanji stares down at the relatively generous amount of tangerine juice that is left, hand cradling his chin in thought.

"I guess we could try to marinate some chicken with this."

He glances towards Nami for approval, but she's too busy cleaning the leftover pulp from the lemon-squeezer to talk so she settles for a thumbs up, and then opens her mouth when she finally gulps down the food.

"I also have a few recipes I'd like you to try, but I'll have to call Nojiko to get them."

"Sure, Nami-chan." Sanji smiles as he takes hold of the bowl where the juice is and turns away. "Elynna-chan, I'll take care of the marinade, so could you please prepare the chicken?"

"Hm."

"And then some rice to go with it."

"Uh huh."

"… Elynna-chan," he starts without turning around, striving to smother the amused smile he feels taking over his face. "Please stop cleaning the cake batter with your fingers, and clean your hands before you start cutting the chicken."

Elynna gives his back an annoyed glance whose power is pretty much neutralised by the fact that she still has a finger stuck in her mouth.

Nami snickers.

"… Fine." The First Mate eventually relents with a saddened glance at whatever she didn't have the time to 'clean'.

She takes care of the two tasks Sanji gave her quietly as her two crewmates swap childhood stories about the culinary specialities of their respective care takers, and only speaks up when there's a lull into the conversation.

"So when is your birthday exactly, Hermes?"

"Um? Uh, in two weeks, why?"

"Cause I still haven't found the nurse outfit I'm looking for. The porn magazine version, of course, not the actual outfit. That one isn't sexy at all, and really isn't supposed to be-"

She's interrupted by the sound of the blade of a kitchen knife stabbing loudly into a cutting board.

Nami and Elynna watch as a perfectly sliced circle of carrot jumps high into the air, and then hits the countertop again, rolling to a pathetic stop in the silence of the room.

A gaping Sanji blushes even redder, stutters out an excuse about missing spices, and escapes promptly.

Nami starts munching on her tangerine pulp again.

"Lynna."

"Hm?"

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That I should make sure to have the Cameko with me whenever I say bullshit like this?"

"… And what am I thinking now?"

"… That you definitely want to kiss me."

Nami smacks her in the arm, lips twitching and eyes laughing.

Elynna goes back to working on her chicken with a click of her tongue.

The navigator snorts, and tugs her down gently by her neck to place a light kiss on her cheek that comes close enough to the corner of her mouth to not really be on her cheek anymore.

"Such a tease." Elynna smiles against her cheek before she straightens up.

Nami lets her go, and shoves another spoonful of pulp in her mouth, looking positively smug.

"I try. And play nice with Sanji-kun."

"I'll try. To the best of my knowledge."

"... You definitely don't know how to not tease your friends when you see an opportunity."

"Exactly."

Nami scoffs, before curiosity settles over her face.

"When is your birthday, anyway?"

Elynna blinks, caught off guard by how much the question hurts.

(She doesn't know.

Hasn't tried to even guess, because that means asking questions like

Does time even flow the same between here and Before?

Does the calendar here even match the one she knew all her life?

It means thinking about things that she has accepted, but that she would rather not dwell on.

It hurts not really because she doesn't know, but because she used to know, and now-

Well.

There's a lot of things she doesn't know anymore.)

She shrugs one shoulder, and focuses on washing the grease and traces of chicken blood off her hands.

"Eh, one month ago. Or maybe two?"

Nami gapes at her, the dark brown of her eyes darkening further like the sky with an incoming storm as she throws an outraged glare at her back.

"And you didn't think to tell us?!"

She shrugs again.

"The calendar at home isn't the same as the one we use, so I lost track."

Nami rolls her eyes, and huffs.

"So not only do I have a problem deciding which gift I want to give you, but I'm also late?!"

Having dried her hands and walked back to lean against the table, Elynna tilts her head to look down at her.

The light streaming in from the only porthole of the kitchen lightens the blue of her eyes into something less close to black, and when the corners of her lips quirk up in a small smile that digs dimples deep enough in her skin for amusement to pool there, her eyes are so, so warm.

(And Nami looks at the wine red dress her best friend put on that morning, cinched under her chest just the way she likes it and flowing down to her knees, at her usual sloppy bun that she made higher to tie together the dress behind her neck.

She decides that she did well pushing Lynna to buy this one, if only for the colour.

It makes her skin look a bit less white, a bit less like she could close her eyes and stay still and suddenly look so much like someone dead-

So the dress makes it better, but there's really no need for it when Lynna welcomes touch so easily, because she's as warm as she looks cold.

And it's a good thing, on the nights where the bad memories are stronger than all the good ones, where weakness makes her forget everything strong in herself, and only being able to look would make it so much harder to be sure that she really woke up, that she really escaped.)

"Being with all of you is already such a gift, though."

Then why does it take you so much time to get up once you're awake, on some days?

Nami looks away, and swallows back the question that filled her mouth.

Because she saw how something tightened in her roommate, something so well hidden by now (so well buried) she only saw it because she knew of it before, and she knows she's treading on thin ice.

(And she doesn't think it's anger that is brewing under the ice.

No matter how much she wishes it is.)

"I'm still buying you a gift."

She hears a chuckle as Elynna takes the remaining dirty kitchenware to wash them.

"Well, if you're the spoiling type…"

It doesn't quite sound like a joke, but Nami isn't quite sure how to interpret it, so she pushes the words aside to remember for when she'll actually see her roommate receive a gift.

"So I heard Sanji-kun gave you some dancing lessons?"

"Um? Oh, on some couple dances, yeah… It's never really been my style, but Hermes started talking about it, so I figured I might as well ask." Elynna answers with a distracted shrug, even though they both know that if she really wanted to learn that style of dance, she would have already tried before meeting them.

(Even though they both know that spending time with Sanji was the number one reason she did this.)

"How good is he?"

"Really good, given that he doesn't have any formal training."

Nami hums.

"And since you're really good, you basically know the steps for the male part just from watching him during practice, right?"

Elynna stops in the process of drying the clean dishes, turning towards Nami to give her the full weight of her attention.

"Broadly, yeah."

"Perfect." Nami grins as she gets to her feet. "I know some moves from when I stole money during fancy parties. Let's dance."

Elynna raises a brow.

Nami winks at her.

Ah.

The smile spreads over the First Mate's lips, slow and wicked.

The two of them dancing in Sanji's kitchen when Sanji isn't in his kitchen?

There's hardly ever been a better bait.

"Sure."

"Great," Nami goes on as she bends down to unlace the straps of her heeled sandals. "You take my shoes, then. It's easier when whoever does the male part is taller."

Elynna sits in a chair, one hand lacing the shoes distractedly as the other hovers over one of the Dials she used for her music while she thinks about which song to play.

Eventually she stands back up, rolling her ankles in turn to adjust to the shoes as the music starts to filter into the room.

They start off easy, not quite following the rhythm of the music, but it's not long before Nami curls her arm further around Elynna's shoulders to step closer to her after being sent twirling.

"Come on, Lynna." She grins teasingly. "I'm sure you can go faster."

The other girl blinks at her, amusement shadowing the line of her lips before she shrugs and coils her arm tighter around the navigator's waist to accommodate the smaller distance between them.

"You asked for it."

And then Nami yelps as the pace quickens abruptly.

"Are you trying to kill us?! Not so fast!"

"Huh, I wasn't thinking about that, but it would be interesting to see who Hermes will choose between us and his damaged kitchen if we're the ones who damaged i-"

"The table, Lynna!" Nami half-screams half-laughs as the First Mate keeps leading her through the steps even as they come closer to knocking into the table.

The glint in Elynna's eyes is the only warning the navigator gets before her partner swoops down just low enough during a twirl to slip her fingers behind her knee and suddenly hitch her leg over her hipbone, prompting Nami to curl her other leg around the other girl's waist as Elynna carries her weight just above the table and quickly lets go of her legs as soon as the crisis is averted so she can put her feet back on the ground and avoid knocking them in the table.

Her feet touch the ground, and Nami stumbles further into Elynna's hold, knocking off the rhythm of the song as she bursts into breathless laughter.

"That's no way to treat Nami-chan, Elynna-chan." Sanji's voice draws their attention to the entrance of the kitchen where he's standing, still blinking as if trying hard to wake up from a particularly nice dream.

"Yeah, Lynna. Some warning would be nice." Nami teases, stepping away from the other girl even as the song keeps playing.

"It's called improvisation."

"Are we having a party?!" Luffy's loud voice interrupts them as he stumbles into the room with Usopp and Chopper, the three of them bouncing on their feet like they've been stocking energy for three days and are ready to burst with it.

"She said 'improvisation', not 'party', shithead-"

Luffy's mouth twists into a disappointed pout that only takes two seconds to stretch back into its usual smile.

"Let's have a party anyway! I wanna dance and have a party!"

Sanji rolls his eyes, and heads for the fridge to prepare some drinks.

The two female members of the crew exchange a glance and a shrug, already knowing that there's no use trying to convince the rubber boy to change his mind.

So Elynna gives the shoes she borrowed back to their rightful owner, and swipes the Dial that is still pulsing with sound off the table with one hand while catching the bottle of sake Sanji throws at her with the other.

She comes out on the deck to find Robin reading on a sunchair, and stops at her side for just a moment.

"If you don't feel like dancing, feel free to join Fang. We would use another pair of eyes once he starts drinking, anyway."

The older woman's eyes flit from the Dial to the excited screams of the boys back inside, and she smiles an appreciative smile in understanding.

Elynna nods back with a slight smile, and then proceeds to climb the mast towards the crow's nest, eventually heaving herself up to lay her forearms over the arms, legs dangling lazily in the air.

"Here." She says as she holds out the bottle of sake towards where Zoro is sitting and inspecting the sea around them.

He glances at the bottle, and scoffs.

"If this is a bribe, you can-"

"Don't be an idiot, Fang." She snickers. "It's not because the Captain wants it to be a dance party that you can't party in your own way."

She shakes the bottle for emphasis, and he eventually leans forward to take it.

"Don't think this means you can skip your training tomorrow."

"Wouldn't dream of it." She grins even as she shoves herself away from the edge.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Elynna is -of course- put in charge of the music, so she picks something that she knows Sanji will like.

It's not the kind of music she likes to dance on herself.

(There's a reason why Lucas couldn't drag her often to his own dance classes for her to practice with him.

It's the kind of dance where you have to smile and exude the kind of energy that makes everyone watching feel like sunlight is streaming into the room and warming their skin with the freedom that comes with summer holidays.

But she's never been good at not worrying, at not thinking, at letting go.

The most tiring thing for her on the days where he was able to convince her wasn't the technical level of the steps or the quick tempo or the fact that she had to keep up with him without any actual training.

It was this.

It was pretending to be someone she wasn't.)

Still, she takes Sanji's hand when he offers it, and she does her best to follow his lead.

The sun is bright above them and the breeze light, the music barely louder than the laughter, and she can almost grasp at the way Luffy probably sees the world, because there's no other dance amateurs that she doesn't know around them, and almost everyone she loves is here and safe and happy, and there's no decision to take about a future when she has no idea how she wants it to be shaped-

And it's still dancing, so when she switches to dance with Nami again, she realises that her cheeks are starting to hurt around the lines of her smile.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Nami starts breathlessly after they almost fall flat on their face trying to avoid the spot where Luffy, Chopper and Usopp were apparently trying to outdo each other in terms of weird antics, "but isn't this song about sex?"

On any other occasion, Elynna would just smirk.

But they're dancing, so instead she laughs.

"I cannot believe you." Nami giggles, eyes glinting and perfect, pearly teeth on display.

"Hey, it's not my fault they made a song about sex that makes people want to party instead."

Still, she makes sure to make Usopp busy by actually teaching him some moves so he doesn't notice.

She doesn't want to find hot sauce in her meal again.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Elynna is sitting cross-legged on the deck and alternating between a turkey brochette and another with pieces of grilled vegetables when Nami skips up to her and bends down to be heard over the music.

"Lynna, I want to dance some more with Sanji-kun."

Elynna hums, eyes flicking towards where Sanji is working around the barbecue they brought to the deck when night started to fall.

"Are you trying to give him a heart attack?"

"Don't be a bitch."

"You're gonna need a song he really likes if you want to put him in the mood enough that he won't be thinking too much about how you look like a goddess up close."

"... Is that you spelling out his thoughts, or-"

Elynna smiles teasingly, and says nothing.

"Anyway," Nami goes on, "that's why I came to see you, so get on with it already."

"Fine, fine."

Elynna sticks one skewer in her mouth and holds out the other in a silent request for her roommate to hold on to it, rolling her eyes when the tangerine-haired girl proceeds to finish her food instead, and reaches for the Dial to switch songs.

Nami grins as the music reaches her ears, and she reaches out to tug the skewer out of Elynna's mouth and throws it on a nearby plate along with the other before tugging the other girl to her feet, spinning through a few steps with her to familiarise herself with the song.

Elynna follows docilely, forcing herself to sloppily execute a few moves even if she wants to shudder with every movement that isn't done right -at least to the best of her ability.

Nami laughs at the disgruntled twitch of her jaw, and pushes her away gently before spinning around.

"Sanji-kun, come here! Lynna is too hungry to dance with me correctly on this one!"

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"Okay, your turn!" Nami rasps out as she collapses next to Elynna a few minutes later and steals her glass to chug down its content greedily.

Elynna looks at her, and groans.

"You told him I wanted to dance with him next, didn't you?"

"Yup."

"I was resting, damnit."

"I'll make sure no one bothers you after this."

"... You better." The First Mate sighs, and Nami laughs, because they both know that she would never have crushed the cook's hope.

"Want my shoes?"

"Nah. I have good balance, but I'm not that used to heels. I'll fall flat on my face trying to keep up with him."

So instead she stands up, rolling onto the tip of her toes and back on the flat of her feet several times to assert her balance before picking a song Sanji often asks her to play when she helps him prepare a meal.

Then she joins the cook where he's waiting for her.

It's a good thing that she's used to dancing barefoot, because the floorboards of the deck are rough against the soles of her feet as she twirls and spins where Sanji's hands guide her, the muscles of her legs burning with the challenge of keeping her heels high off the ground without any shoes to support them as her legs intertwine with Sanji's.

When he tries to bend her backward over his arm at the end of the song, she kicks her legs up higher in the air, flipping herself completely over it instead, and she laughs at the dejected look on his face over the loud clapping from Chopper and Luffy's whooping.

She joins Robin and Zoro after that, the excuse of her morning training session enough to convince even Luffy when all the noise starts to crowd the inside of her head.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"To be honest, I don't know much about her, especially since it has been a long time now." Akane starts with the kind of wistful tone that says she's not entirely talking to Elynna. "She's probably in her forties or fifties by now, since she was around twenty when I met her."

There's a stretch of quiet during which Elynna looks out of her window to absently watch as Usopp falls into the water after trying to drag a fish bigger than him to the deck and Luffy dives right after him, followed by Zoro, who looks more than a bit exasperated.

"She saved me from drowning when I was a kid and took care of me for a bit after that. She lived alone in the forest and rarely interacted with the people of my island. She stayed for a few weeks, but I only know that she was here for some kind of mission, though even that might not be the truth."

"... You said she had the same accent I did?"

Akane hums on the other end of the call.

"It's less an accent and more an impression that some words or phrases you use seem... unfamiliar to you. But I guess what was really strange about her was the weird power she had."

Elynna's hand tightens around the receiver until she hears it crack, but she says nothing and lets Akane go on.

"Akane-san..." She says once silence settles again. "Is this why you told me to call you again?"

"... Yes. Meeting you was the first time I thought I might have the opportunity to perhaps find her again, even if only through you, so that I can thank her. I just wanted to do that. She was here for me at a time when few people were, and she left without giving me the chance to express my gratitude. But that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate talking to you, Little Moon. You're a good child."

Elynna glances down at the smile on the Den Den Mushi's face, and wonders if the older woman would say the same if she told her about the things she washed out of the stories she told.

(About the blood on her hands and the screams that she doesn't regret.

About those that satisfied something angry in her even if it healed none of the wounds they should have.

About the constant fear in the background of her mind and the marks on her skin that she still thinks disappear too easily.)

She smiles politely.

"Thank you for telling me, Akane-san. If I do hear about her, I'll be sure to call you."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"Land ahoy! Yahooooo!"

Luffy's scream only eggs Usopp on, and he opens his mouth to yell his own code for 'I see an island', clearly having forgotten that his initial goal was to teach Robin that she's supposed to communicate what she sees from the crow's nest.

Which is a good thing, because the woman in question has already stopped listening to Luffy, Usopp and Chopper's antics.

Instead, Robin looks out into the setting fog for a long moment.

Then she jumps down to the deck, and turns towards Elynna, who looks over her shoulder and at her with a raised eyebrow upon hearing the soft impact of her heels against the floorboards.

"Miss First Mate."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"They're already gone."

"There's nothing here." Zoro shrugs. "They'll be fine."

Without even looking at him, Elynna jabs him between the ribs.

The swordsman grunts, and throws a dark glare in her direction, prompting Sanji to scowl at him and shift most of his weight on one leg, just in case he needs the other to stop the moron from attacking their First Mate.

"What the fuck was that for?!"

"For jinxing it."

"Hah?!"

"Take out that katana and I'll kick you in the face, cactus head." Sanji threatens him.

"As if you could-"

The clanging sound of chains clinking against each other alerts them to the large ship parked behind theirs and out of which two paws attached to chains have now slammed into the shore to cage in the Merry and block any possible escape route.

Sanji's visible eyebrow twitches, and his teeth gnash down on his cigarette.

"What do these shitheads think they're doing?"

Elynna takes a long look at the flag of the ship, and then crosses her arms.

"Any reason why you just did that?"

"No need to look so serious, lady, we just want a duel!"

That doesn't really help her, and eventually it's Sanji and Robin who explain what a Davy Back Fight is, since she had only heard it mentioned vaguely before.

Nami's immediate refusal to play such a game is brushed off easily by the Foxy Pirates for whom the decision is entirely in the hands of the two Captains, and then by Sanji and Zoro, who not surprisingly would rather die than live with the shame of backing down from a challenge.

"Besides, that idiot is definitely going to agree to it, so whining won't get you anywhere." Zoro concludes.

That earns him a vicious punch from Nami, who casts a longing look at the chains that trap their ship.

"I can't believe I chose a Captain this stupid…"

"Hermes." Elynna calls out in a mumble.

"Yes, Elynna-chan?"

"Come here."

The cook steps forward, stopping next to her.

His gaze is drawn downwards and at the cannon placed in front of them when she nudges it with her foot.

He frowns.

Was it there before?

"I'm going to see how things are with the others. If these fuckers try anything, feel free to shoot at them. Don't start anything, though."

"... But the cannons aren't loaded."

"They are since Robin-san said she thought she saw a ship in the fog."

Sanji glances at her, and then smiles, switching hands to hold his cigarette with his left as his right dives into his pocket to glide a thumb down the cool metal of his lighter.

"I'll be sure to do that, Elynna-chan."

"Good."

She turns around, and the satisfaction in Zoro's anticipating smirk sinks heavy beneath her skin.

"We could just fire at them now." Nami grouches.

"And that, is exactly why I didn't put you in charge. You're in charge of making sure Fang and Hermes don't kill each other, though."

The navigator blinks, and then grins brilliantly as she cracks her knuckles into fists.

"Sure thing! Hit some sense into Luffy for me!"

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"Luffy! Don't accept his challenge!"

The rubber boy turns around, confused at the urgency that permeates Usopp's voice.

"Huh? What's the problem?"

"You fool!" The Captain of the Foxy Pirates laughs. "I heard it, Straw Hat Luffy! You accepted the challenge! Right, Porche?"

"Yes, Boss! I heard him say so! You can't back out no-"

"Yeah? Well, I didn't hear anything."

They all jump, whirling around to face the newcomer.

"Who are you?!" Porche scowls. "This is a discussion between two crews. Butt out."

"I'm part of one of these crews."

"Then you should know better than to go against a Captain's words!" Foxy simpers.

The newcomer cocks a dark eyebrow in his direction, looking entirely unfazed at the thinly-veiled accusation.

"And I'm telling you that he didn't say anything, fuckface."

Eyes bouncing between the collapsed Captain and his First Mate, Usopp suddenly straightens up as he understands what the latter is doing.

"I didn't hear anything either… idiots." He adds after a moment of hesitation.

The older man collapses again, prompting the blue-haired woman next to him to kneel down worriedly.

"How cruel! I can't believe you just insulted our Boss like that! I shouldn't have expected anything from liars like you!"

"It's our word against yours. Do you have any proof?"

"I'm the Captain." Foxy sniffles.

"That gives you more authority, which in principle has nothing to do with truthfulness." Elynna rebukes bluntly.

Luffy's frown sharpens as he realises what Elynna is trying to do, and he steps forward, mouth opening to interrupt the conversation, when Elynna grabs his arm.

"Now, we're going to decide what to do with you, and you're going to stay here and wait for it."

She jerks her head for Usopp to follow her, and drags Luffy away to a spot where their opponents can't hear them.

"Hawk, can you explain what this game is about to the Captain, please?"

The sniper sets out to do just that, but at the end of it Luffy's eyes only drift back towards the wounded horse Chopper is taking care of.

His stubborn, angry frown says it all even before he starts talking.

"Then we just have to win. We're playing this game!"

Usopp facepalms with a loud groan.

"Listen, Luffy-"

"Hawk."

The sharpshooter falls silent, turning to his First Mate, who shakes her head.

"... Elynna?"

But the girl's eyes are already focused on Luffy's brown irises.

"You're the Captain, Sea King. If you still insist on playing now, I can't stop you."

Usopp shoots her the horrified glance of someone who's just been deeply betrayed.

"What?! But-"

"However," Elynna goes on, "I just want to say this: there's no point being a pirate for me if it's not on this crew, and I won't stand for any of my nakama leaving this crew if they're not doing it willingly. So the only outcome of this situation that I will accept is our complete victory. You can play this game fair, dirty -however you want. But if you don't get that outcome, don't expect me to not do whatever I deem necessary to make it happen."

And Usopp finds himself shivering, but can't tell if it's because of the strength that lines her soft, low voice like a backbone of steel in a body of fabric, the strength that didn't use to be here and that is now here for all of them, or if it's because he doesn't know what exactly is covered by the word 'necessary'.

Luffy considers her for a long moment, and then beams brightly at the both of them.

"There's no way I won't get us to win! I'll be the King of Pirates with you guys or not at all!"

Elynna stares back, and lets out a soundless chuckle, reaching out to high five the hand he holds out even as Usopp's building nerves settle just enough for his shoulders to go slack.

"Alright, then."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"Uh? You don't want to play, Ann?" Luffy asks with a confused pout as he stares down at the sheet where they have to write down the names of the participants for each game. "But you're gonna miss out on the fun!"

Usopp whacks him upside the head with an exasperated roll of his eyes.

"Ow! What?!"

"I think she made it clear that she doesn't find any of this fun, you idiot. And for the record, let it be known that the Great Usopp agrees."

From where she's leaning into Elynna's arms and against the edge of a nearby table set up by Foxy's crew, Nami glares, still miffed that she wasn't able to convince Sanji or Zoro into beating up everyone and booking it -and definitely not finding any of this fun.

Arms circling Nami's shoulders and crossing loosely against the navigator's collarbones, Elynna shrugs.

"Judging from the names, there's gonna be a race, a ball game, and a fight. Neither of the first two are the kinds of games I've ever been really good at, and you already took the last one, Sea King. I think I'll stick with supporting you from the sidelines."

Chopper blinks wide eyes at her, looking like he's still unsure whether he should be excited or scared about the upcoming 'game'.

"What kind of support?"

"We haven't seen them play yet, but I doubt that they're going to play fair."

The clinical look she's examining the pirates around them with tells them all that 'support from the sidelines' is going to mean 'fucking with the opponent' more than 'cheering my crew on'.

Sanji's shoulders slump, the fantasy of a cheerleader Elynna dashed for good.

Nami pats him on the back with a look that is equally amused and empathising.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

It begins even before the first game is on, and it's not subtle.

Although, Elynna muses, it's hard to prepare to fire a cannon at something without being seen.

She leans to the side until her shoulder brushes against Sanji's, and he nods, having already noticed the people around them who were taking out various firearms.

As soon as the race starts, Sanji hits the closest pirate with a ridiculously powerful kick, and sends the rest of the attackers flying with him, while Elynna switfly turns, places a foot against the cannon a pirate was bold -or idiotic- enough to bring right next to her, and pushes hard enough to make the mouth of the cannon swivel towards the rest of the attackers on her side.

They blanch.

Elynna stares back blankly, and raises her middle finger.

"Bunch of morons," she mutters as she turns back around to find that a few shots still went in from other cannons placed further away, allowing the Foxy team to get a lead.

She looks down pensively at the cannon next to her, and the bunch of cannonballs stacked behind it for easy access.

It's not like she'll have the time to fire them all before their boat is out of her range, but…

A few moments later, Zoro blinks as a cannonball lands just in front of the Foxy boat, the wave generated by the aftershock forcing them back.

"What?" Elynna says in response to his dry look from where she's staring at the boat as if to evaluate whether she can still get a shot in, lighter still flicked on in her hand. "If it's not against the rules for them, it's not for me either."

He rolls his eyes, watching silently as she flips the cap of the stolen lighter back on and turns her back on the stage of the first game.

He looks back towards the boat Usopp put together all on his own.

"Going somewhere?" He asks idly.

She stops as she's about to brush past him, and hums.

"Make sure the others won't react too violently to the… what does he call them, 'interferences'?"

"Don't forget about it either." Zoro scoffs in return.

She smiles, thin like a sharpened blade.

"As long as they're reasonable."

"You mean as long as they lose."

"That's being reasonable. They should know better than to think they deserve any of us on their crew."

He smirks.

"Agreed."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

She comes back to a crew that is distinctly not in a winning mood.

"How did we lose?"

Nami takes note of her return with a dejected look, and slowly explains how the Captain of the Foxy Pirates' power works.

Elynna closes her eyes, the self-loathing sliding inside her veins easy like a well-worn hoodie.

"I see. I'm sorry I didn't see him leave."

Usopp waves off her apology with a wave of his hand.

"No one else did. The others were… distracted." He grumbles with a dirty look at the four crewmembers.

Elynna watches with a raised eyebrow as Nami rubs Sanji's cheek -or more like the smudge of lipstick planted there- a bit too hard.

"... Was the distraction hot?"

"Yes!" Sanji blurts out before he can think more properly about what he should answer, earning himself a glare and hard poke of Nami's fingers between his ribs.

"Yeah, I almost burned my mouth with that meat! It was good though!" Luffy beams.

Nami and Elynna stare at him, then at each other, and sigh.

"He's a lost cause."

"He's so lost even Zoro would find his way before him."

"For once, it's a blessing." Usopp hisses, and the swordsman grunts in agreement.

The marginally better mood doesn't take long to worsen again.

Foxy only needs to point a finger at Chopper and claim him as his new subordinate for that.

When the reindeer remains still, all excitement and sound drained out of him, two members of the Foxy Pirates step up to take hold of each of his arms and bring him to the stage where their Captain is.

And the only thing the rest of them can do is stand there and watch.

No matter how much he cries.

No matter how much he screams for help.

No matter how much he struggles to escape.

They stand there, and watch as the reindeer is forcibly sat down in a chair, smothered in the embrace of both the Captain and Porche.

"So he was after Chopper all along." Sanji mumbles calmly, delicately taking out of his mouth the cigarette whose tip is almost bitten off to replace it with a new one. "I guess he is the rarest of rare beasts."

"So he's obsessed with cute things?" Nami shivers with a disgusted curl of her mouth, looking particularly worried about her short-term future.

"Or maybe he's obsessed with furry things." Robin smiles a smile that is a bit more frozen and a bit more plastic than they're used to.

Elynna blinks at her words, slowly turning to her and opening her mouth.

Usopp shudders as soon as he spots the look on her face and links it to Robin's words.

"No!" He yells with an accusatory finger pointed at his First Mate. "Don't even think about saying it!"

Elynna clicks her tongue, but keeps silent.

"Help!"

The voice forces their eyes back on the stage, and back on the reindeer on whom the Foxy Pirates' customary mask has been forced.

It doesn't hide his tears at all.

"I don't like this! I became a pirate because of you guys! Luffy…" Chopper sniffles. "I became a pirate because you asked me to! I can't be with these guys… I don't want to-"

"Stop whining, Chopper, it's humiliating!" Zoro snaps as he slams the bottle he was drinking from down so hard the ground fractures, and silence falls just as hard on the gathered pirates. "No matter how much Luffy pushed, you're the one who chose to become a pirate in the end. Whatever happens after that, wherever you end up, it's on you. No one else. We accepted this challenge, and everyone is trying their best."

"Hey!" Nami hisses. "Think a bit about how he fee-"

Elynna's hand on her arm stops her, and she frowns harder, watching as Zoro gets up.

"Pirates have no pity for crybabies. If you're a man, then act like one, and see this through."

As Zoro's words register through the silence between them, Chopper sniffles, and instead of crying harder, stops crying altogether and settles in his seat, looking ready to challenge Luffy at how much determination he can radiate.

"I can't believe this." Nami huffs with a roll of her eyes as she marches off towards where the field for the next game is already being set up. "Men…"

Just as he's about to follow her, Usopp stops, noticing that their First Mate is still standing in the same spot and has yet to look away from the stage.

"... Elynna?" He calls out carefully as he steps up next to her.

Her eyes flicker to him, and she hands him a piece of paper hastily torn out of her notebook, and on which a few words are written clumsily.

Take this as a vacation.

The words used and the fact that it's in English make the message clear.

This is temporary.

You're one of us no matter what these shitheads have to say about it.

Coming from Elynna, who almost never states things or makes promises because she usually never trusts that something will definitely happen, the words might mean even more than if they came from anyone else, their Captain included.

Usopp nods with a grin, and promptly folds the message in a plane that lands perfectly in Chopper's lap.

The small reindeer blinks down at it, then at them and back at the words written down.

The bout of giggling laughter he lets out catches the attention of Porche, who turns to him curiously, but by then Chopper has already hidden the piece of paper and is now turning the full strength of his puppy eyes on her.

Three pirates are promptly sent to collect more cotton candy.

Usopp snickers at the display, but soon sobers up when Elynna fails to follow up.

He looks back at her to find her still staring at Chopper.

Her fingers are digging tight in the flesh of her crossed arms.

When she turns away to follow him, the movement is slow like she literally has to tear herself away from this spot.

(Like it hurts.)

Carefully, Usopp eyes the tightness in her jaw, the tension in her gait, and how much the darkness of her eyes is due to her turning her back on the sun.

He wasn't sure about it before, but now he definitely is.

Elynna made jokes to try and lighten the mood of the rest of the crew, but she's decidedly not in a light mood right now.

In fact, she's getting angry.

"I just hope Zoro and Sanji won't have to go up against that Fish-Man from the race." He grouches in hopes of helping her relax just a little. "That dude was scary. Capote or whatever his name is."

Elynna gives him a weird look.

"... What?" He eventually asks suspiciously.

"It means condom in my mother tongue."

If he was drinking something, he would have spat it out.

As it is, he chokes on his saliva.

"... You're kidding."

"Nope." She tells him blankly.

"Crap. I hate you. I'm going to laugh the second I see his face again, and he's going to kill me. I'm going to die and it's going to be your fault."

"Won't happen if we kill him first."

She's not smiling, and it doesn't really sound like she's joking.

Usopp follows her towards the gathering crowd of spectators with a shrug of his shoulders.

At least he tried.

If someone ends up with their life ruined like Crocodile, it won't be on his conscience.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Nami squirms, hardly able to just stand there and watch any more of this match.

The beginning was annoying.

What she's seeing now has bumped up her mood to murderous.

The rest of the crew is hardly any better.

Even as he holds firmly onto their Captain, Usopp looks particularly tempted to let the rubber boy rip the useless referee a new one.

The ever-smiling Robin isn't smiling anymore.

And in the middle of a crowd of spectators that sways and laughs and cheers with each new hit, Elynna is like a statue of stone, so still and silent she barely seems to be breathing.

Her arms are crossed, and Nami is almost certain she'll find bruises there in a few hours.

She's so tense it's like her rage has slipped into every crack where there was space.

So when a nearby member of the Foxy Pirates lays a hand on her shoulder and squeezes in good humour with a loud, halfway drunk laugh, Nami winces.

"Don't be so tense, lady! You can always ask your Captain to challenge us again! You'll have to pray our Boss allows you to compete with so few members, tho-"

"You have two options." Elynna cuts him off without taking her eyes off where Sanji and Zoro are still lying and bleeding on the grass of the field.

"What?"

"Take your hand off, or lose it."

Her voice is poised and her tone casual, but the man stumbles back as if the violence crawling over every inch of her skin like a sheet of ice burns.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Elynna only moves again when the match is over, bending down to take hold of the backpack she brought back with her and stepping onto the field.

Sanji is the first one she reaches, and she stops to lace her fingers with his and help him loosen the knot of his tie.

Then she stands on the tip of her toes to loosely hug his shoulders, mindful of his injuries.

"Good job out there."

She hears his breath hitch as he hugs her back, but there's a smile in his voice all the same.

"Have you fallen for me yet, Elynna-chan?"

"Maybe," she hums with a chuckle. "You were very classy, especially towards the end."

He shoots her a curious look even as he leans away, smile already half-amused.

"There was a lot of blood, though."

"Exactly. Now go sit over there and stop laughing, it'll just hurt more."

Zoro comes to a stop in front of her barely a moment after Sanji leaves, looking away from her for a moment to spit a mouthful of blood to the side.

"Did you kill him?" He asks, having noticed briefly the man who approached her.

"Yeah, but I hid the body pretty well, so don't worry." She deadpans, and he scoffs in amusement.

"Just chill out, Lynn. Whether it's a fight or a game, we're still going to win."

"Still better to prepare in case we don't. And don't tell me to chill out when we're playing against these guys. Their tactics might be impressive, but no one likes being on the other end of those. Besides, you still look like you would slit the referee's throat if you had your katana with you. Not that I would stop you, as long as you make sure Foxy can't use it against us."

Zoro smirks, and denies nothing.

"Yeah? What's your plan if we lose the next one, then?" He asks as they start to walk towards where the rest of their crew is resting. "That girl said a crewmate lost in a Davy Back Fight can only be regained through another Davy Back Fight."

"So? They'll just coincidentally happen to be there when I'm in the mood to attack another pirate crew to steal their gold. If whoever they take from us is somehow left alive and decides to leave the crew to save their neck, it'll just be a happy coincidence that doesn't quite fit the term 'regaining'."

"Uh huh. And if Luffy doesn't play along, can you still execute that plan?"

"As long as he lends me at least one cannon, I have my chances. Though I'm still thinking about other strategies."

"Don't bother. I'm worth a lot more than a cannon."

She looks up at him, and smiles.

"I know. It won't be very honourable, though."

Zoro shrugs, the smirk that stretches his lips betraying the violence that still thrums in his blood after the game he just played.

"They gave us a challenge, and we accepted. We even played by the rules that they don't abide by. Beyond that, I have no obligation towards them that will stop me from cutting them into pieces and enjoy it."

"Psychopath." She grins.

"Takes one to know one."

"Guilty as charged. Told you we were made for each o-"

"One more word and I will cut off your tongue."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

As soon as Luffy says his name, Chopper stuffs the cotton candy he had left in his mouth and jumps off the little throne he was settled into to run into the arms of his Captain.

The rubber boy laughs, and tells him to stop crying because obviously Zoro and Sanji were going to win, Chopper, what are you so surprised for?

Then he launches himself into Nami's arms, who yells at Usopp when the sniper has enough of waiting and tries to insert himself into the hug.

Robin definitely doesn't expect his hug attack despite the fact that he's already done it twice, because she barely uncrosses her arms in time to catch him.

The way she pats him is definitely more awkward than how the others do it, but it's also a big improvement from the way she would look at him curiously when he approached her at first.

(as if she didn't quite understand

-wasn't quite familiar-

with the body language of someone asking for physical affection)

Then he reaches the spot where Zoro, Sanji and Elynna are sitting, the latter having put all his medical supplies just the way he likes it.

The two men's wounds have all been cleaned and disinfected, and that's how he knows that Nami and Usopp probably helped the nurse so everything would be ready for him.

He trots over to his station to start taking care of Sanji, because no matter how much the man insists that he can take it, Chopper will only let Elynna take care of him when the cook is unconscious.

They all know that he would be about as uncooperative as Zoro -although in an entirely different way.

"Nice vacation, Hebi?" Elynna inquires with a smile in her voice without looking away from the cut on Zoro's forehead that she's started sewing shut.

(It's a mean kind of smile that shouldn't make him so giddy,

but his cheeks hurt with it anyway.)

Chopper allows himself to preen a bit internally at the way her stitches are much cleaner and straighter than they used to be when he first started to teach her, and then nods enthusiastically.

"I got lots of sweets for free!"

"Lucky you. Now we get to destroy them in this game and damage them economically in the long term. We don't consider economic weapons often enough."

Chopper frowns pensively as he tightens the bandages around Sanji's torso.

"Should I have asked for more?"

"Nah." Sanji answers. "Better keep the space in your stomach for my cotton candy recipe. I can definitely cook it better than that greedy asshole. Besides, these idiots aren't worth actually waging war on."

For a long moment Elynna looks unsure between the two options of they're barely worth the time you're wasting on them, let alone you going all out against them and they're worth tearing down to pieces just for thinking they can take one of us and call it a fucking game, but she stays silent, and Zoro rolls his eyes.

"You're all so fucking dramatic."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"Was our performance too impressive, or do you just have no intention to do anything?"

Nami, Robin and Elynna look up at Porche and the rest of the cheerleaders that just finished their show in support of Foxy for his upcoming match against Luffy.

"Are you implying that my crewmates are doing anything less than their very best?" Elynna asks in return.

Her words are slow, almost pensive, but there's a heaviness that stretches underneath, tightly coiled and ready to splinter if not for the tight, steely hold that keeps it still.

"If you had told us it was possible to do something like this when Sanji-kun was playing, it would have been interesting." Nami scowls as she picks up the conversation, still expecting that she'll have to stop Elynna from slitting someone's throat any second. "But it's not going to work with Luffy."

"Of course not, don't misunderstand! It's precisely because they're giving it their all that you should start cheering them up now for their next defeat!"

The tangerine-haired girl shoots her an incredulous glare that makes Porche preen, but the reaction of the others is much less satisfying.

The olive-skinned woman looks at her with an amused glint almost invisible in her icy eyes, as if Porche just made a fool out of herself and watching people embarrass themselves to death is her favourite hobby.

The First Mate blinks slowly, dark eyes dragging down Porche's body.

Whatever she's looking for, she seems less than impressed with what she sees.

Porche feels her cheeks flush, and the glint in the archaeologist's eyes gets brighter.

"How amusing," the younger woman drawls blandly when she eventually opens her mouth, without any kind of smile in sight to show actual amusement. "I was just thinking the same thing."

The archaeologist looks at her, and suddenly smiles, gentle but somehow nowhere close to nice.

"Now now, Miss First Mate, don't be such a liar. I believe your exact words were 'it'll be too late once they realise how dumb they actually were, because they'll be too dead to do anything about it'." And so saying she turns towards the third female member of the crew, whose anger has turned into barely restrained laughter. "Isn't that right, Miss Navigator?"

The girl's answering grin is positively catty as she leans against the side of the First Mate, so close she might as well be painting her words across the skin of her crewmate's cheek.

"Yes, darling, stop lying." She purrs, laughter so close to tumbling out of her mouth that it resonates in her voice. "One of the perks of being a pirate is that you don't have to mince your words when you talk to people. Don't be ashamed of your savagery. I personally think it's one of the best things about you."

Robin throws a glance at Porche that is still glinting and whispering aren't they cute? even as the conversation goes on without any acknowledgement of the fact that she's still standing right next to them.

"I still say that even pirates have to mince their words when they're dealing with someone who is obviously stronger than them." The First Mate replies, the set of her mouth still perfectly neutral while Porche's ears redden hot enough to feel like she's looking down at a bowl full of steaming water at the implicit and dismissive judgement just thrown in her face.

"Not to mention that those who don't mind their words are the most likely to insult the Marines or the World Government and pay the price." The older woman adds lightly.

The First Mate gives her a look.

"True, but I would say it depends on what exactly a pirate says. In some cases, they might be less liable to face consequences than regular citizens, since they're expected to be in conflict with authorities and to have less influence over the rest of the population because of their reputation."

The navigator's wide doe eyes bounce between her two teammates, and then she settles her cheek against the shoulder of her seatmate, squishing her face into a childish pout that looks somehow quite at home on her gorgeous and definitely not childish face.

"Are you really going to start a debate on that? Let's just agree that they're mostly a bunch of assholes and leave it at that."

"Most people who sit at the top are, Rain. That's exactly why they sit there in the first place." The other girl replies nonchalantly with an absent-minded bite of a meal that is definitely not prepared in one of the Foxy Pirates' food stands, and Porche absolutely hates that she knows that because none of their cooks prepare meals that look that beautiful and delicious.

The navigator lifts her head for a second to better convey her annoyance, and then lets her forehead fall down on her crewmate's shoulder, grumbling something about 'goddamn pessimists'.

That's when Porche has enough of being ignored and slams a hand down on the table the three are sitting at.

That does make them look at her, but that's not necessarily any better, because no matter how gentle, the older woman's amusement looks definitely mocking, now.

The First Mate's gaze settles on the arm barring her field of vision and glides down heavily until it settles on Porche's hand, and it looks like she's debating whether stabbing anything pointy enough into her hand is worth the time and energy needed to clean up the mess afterwards.

As for the navigator, her earlier anger has turned into a level of contempt that almost matches the distant, indifferent violence of the other girl when she raises an eyebrow in a way that says I don't need to hear what you have to say to know that I don't give a damn, so can't you just fuck off?

But Porche has never been known to back down, and she's not going to start now, so her feet stay exactly where they are, and her hand stays still.

"How about we make this a bet?" She smirks smugly, even more determined to put them down a peg now that they have directly insulted her and her crew, regardless of what her Boss said about it. "If you manage to get more of a reaction out of the audience than I did with your performance, you can have that old man's horse that the Boss wanted to keep as a trophy hunt. I'll even allow the three of you to participate separately to give you a better chanc-"

"Not interested." The First Mate cuts her off dismissively without even looking away from her food, before turning towards the two other with the tiniest raise of an eyebrow that barely qualifies as curiosity. "Did I somehow give the impression that I give a fuck about a goddamn horse?"

Neither of them has the time to answer before two forearms are slung around the girl's collarbones and the rapidly shortening arms they're attached to slam the body of her Captain against the back of her chair, almost sending her face smacking against the table if not for her quick reaction.

"What the actual fu-"

"Ann! You gotta win this one! We can't let them have the old man's horse, even if he's an idiot!"

The girl cranes her neck back to meet his eyes.

"I don't want to hear that from you." She replies stiffly.

"You gotta win this!" The rubber boy repeats loudly, frowning harder like it can make his demand more forceful.

They stare at each other silently for what feels like an entire conversation, annoyance on one side and stubbornness on the other.

The two other Straw Hats look definitely amused, and not at all surprised when the girl slumps in her chair with an aggravated sigh as the boy grins victoriously, as if the horse is already back with the old man.

If Porche had even just a bit less decorum, she would jump in glee at the idea of ruining that particular prospect.

"Fine. Since you're the one asking..."

The girl shrugs off her Captain's hold on her with a roll of her shoulders and turns in her chair to leave the table.

But when she places a hand on the table as leverage to get up and it lands on Porche's own hand, the main female member of the Foxy Pirates stiffens.

Her opponent presses down without looking at her as she stands up, the pressure just shy of becoming actually painful, pinning her down where she stands.

It's nowhere firm enough to stop Porche from shaking it off, though, and she moves to do just that when the fingers curl in, short nails digging into her skin and making her wince and stop on instinct.

"Go!" Her Captain hollers behind them. "Kick their ass, Ann!"

"Believe me, I wish I could."

"They'll love you!" The red-haired girl half-laughs half-yells.

"I don't care, but too bad for them, I guess."

Porche grits her teeth, and smiles through the salty back-and-forth.

"Good luck paving the way for the future losers!" She beams.

The girl's eyes finally look at her, dark and deep into nothingness.

"I'll do my very best."

She lets go to walk off towards the stage, but it feels as if a wordless threat that Porche didn't quite hear lingers.

A bit farther away, Zoro watches the altercation end there dubiously.

"The fuck are they doing?"

Usopp looks from them to him, and pats him on the shoulder consolingly.

"It's called subtle fighting. Don't worry, Zoro. One day, you'll understand."

Sanji lights a thin cigarette with a loud scoff.

"Fat chance."

Usopp runs away before he can be faced with the consequences of his boldness.

Sanji just volunteered to deal with it, it'd be downright cruel to deny him the opportunity.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

The Straw Hats' First Mate refuses to have any help for her music, so Porche concludes that the game is already in the bag.

The horse isn't part of the rubber idiot's crew, so it's not like she even has to abide by the rules of the Davy Back Fight, but at this point even she would feel bad for going that far.

She still tells her crew to maintain a low level of noise during the girl's performance. Nowhere near as loud as the cheering she received during her own show, but total silence could possibly qualify as 'getting more of a reaction'.

She has the advantage of numbers, which in this game is almost a guarantee to win, and she's surprised that no one on the Straw Hats' side pointed it out, but she's not going to shoot herself in the foot and give them a way out of an easy victory.

The first surprise comes when music streams out of seemingly nowhere, single notes circling around the space where they gathered, made almost physical by how loud they are until it feels like they're surrounded by walls that throw shadows and chills on all of them and crowd them closer to each other into the stifling air filled with the throbbing, never-ending voice that rises and falls with their every breath.

Then the girl whose back was facing them starts to move, head craning back and back and back, every bone of her spine curling along with it, slow enough to be fluid and still somehow make them feel how each vertebrae bends to the limit of what should be possible without eating a Devil Fruit.

The movements that follow are barely faster and equally dislocated, a constant stream of muscles and bones curling and bending except when interrupted when a brusque, sharp move that stabs through the thickness of the air that chokes them every time the music rises suddenly into a high-pitched shriek.

It's hypnotic, but not in a beautiful way.

It's eerie.

In fact, it's downright disturbing.

Because the girl won't stop staring at them.

Won't stop staring through them, distant and unseeing and entirely indifferent towards their existence.

Unblinking, except perhaps when there's something to hide her gaze from them.

And when she holds a position, she's so still it looks as if there's no heart beating to circulate air in her chest.

It feels like they're watching a puppet dance after breaking away from the threads that keep it tame.

(Like watching a broken puppet

or someone gone mad-)

Porche's heart is beating blood loudly somewhere in her throat, and suddenly she finds herself noticing that the girl's thighs are laced thick with muscles, perhaps even thicker than the swordsman's arms.

And she finds herself thinking how easy it would be for those thighs to crush one of her crewmates' windpipe or even her own, should the game they're in go wrong.

She finds herself looking back.

(On the hands that bloomed everywhere and could have easily killed them.

On the boy who shot down bamboo shoots to block their way and could have just as well shot them through the heart.

On the woman who now knows everything about the topography of the sea around them when they have no one who can navigate its dangers easy like breathing as she does.

On the two men who won a game with sheer strength when it was precisely the method they shouldn't have been able to win with, and yet who still follow the dumbass they call Captain.

On how they all fought to get back Choppy whose only quality should be his cuteness.)

And she finds herself thinking that they might have picked the wrong opponent this time around.

It's only when the music ends and the girl goes still for the last time that Porche realises everyone fell silent almost as soon as the music started, the Straw Hats included.

It's only then that she realises she lost.

It's only then that she realises that since the Straw Hats' First Mate doesn't believe that her crewmates need any help to have their motivation boosted, the only thing left to do for her was to crush that of the Foxy Pirates.

Porche looks around her.

It's a success.

(Oh, maybe just for a moment.

It's easy to change someone's mood, especially when they want to.

But the high they were all riding is broken.

And every time they will start to get excited, to get hopeful, they'll think back on this moment.

It will be just a second, just a tiny twinge of unease.

But for so many of them, it will be enough.)

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Elynna has the time to shove the reins of the horse back into its owner's hand before the crowd actually starts to move and talk again.

That's when she's forcefully dragged away by Usopp to where the rest of her crew is waiting.

"What was that for?" She grumbles when he stops so abruptly she knocks into him, only to pause as she takes a look around them. "And what's with those faces? I thought I was supposed to win-"

"Yeah." Nami confirms hastily before the conversation can turn to Elynna somehow having made a mistake. "But... Did you have to win like that?"

Elynna eyes the uneasy way the navigator twists her hands together with a confused frown.

"Win like what? It was a dance contest, and humans are biased to be more impacted by negative things. I'd be an idiot to not take advantage of that. And my teacher told me I was better at this type of-"

"Well I don't like it!" Luffy asserts loudly, his entire face scrunched together by stubborn distaste.

Elynna eyes him for a long moment, gaze drifting over the unease and worry that veil the faces of some of her other crewmates.

Understanding washes over her confusion just before her Captain opens his mouth again.

"It's much better when you're smiling!"

Elynna looks away.

Of course.

The rare times she did that Before, it could be seen as her simply being good at interpretation.

For these people, it's a reminder that it goes beyond that.

(Chloé, darling? Can you hear me?

please, come on, I know you're here-

Please just squeeze my hand-)

She adds another mistake to her tally, and her shoulders slump just a bit more for a moment as they adjust to the sudden increase of the exhaustion directed at her own existence.

(She should have realised it.

Should have thought about it.

But there was no place for that in her mind that's been running wild

-running without stopping-

with everything that can go wrong, with all the people she can lose and all the ways she can lose them.

With all the ways this could have been solved so much sooner, if only her people weren't so ridiculously competitive and impossibly honest in this world that lies and lies and then lies some more.

And she's scared too, because their first thought was either let's win this or let's run away and her first thought was better eliminate the threat entirely to prevent current and future problems, and what if some day they realise that she might be a lot more similar to their enemies than they thought?

Because in a way, she's just like some of the people they've met and hated.

Because if she had to choose between these six people and an entire country, she would burn the latter to blood-reeking cinders in a heartbeat.

She would feel guilty.

But she wouldn't hesitate.

She wouldn't regret it.

She would feel guilty, and that would be the only difference between her and the others.

But sometimes the difference is too slim to really matter, and the result is the same.)

"Their faces were so good, though..." She comments tentatively in an attempt to edge away the silence they were stuck in. "You know I'm a bit of a sadist."

Nami's lips twitch, and even as her eyes say I'm not done with you, she allows her to get away with changing the subject, even if only because this is neither the time nor the place to address it.

"... You told me you were a masochist."

Elynna relaxes with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Eh. It all depends on the partner-"

"As if." Zoro scoffs. "You're always a sadist. Why do you think I end up angry enough to beat you into the ground so often?"

"What was that?" Sanji growls.

"None of your business." Zoro snaps in response.

"That's because I'm a masochist, obviously." Elynna answers, cutting off the budding argument in the process. "Where else will I find a man who gives the impact play without the degradation-"

"Stop!" Usopp yells, face a red that threatens to turn into purple. "God, I'm gonna have to wash my ears after this-"

"Rude."

"Shut it, Elynna! Seriously, I did not need to hear that!"

"Don't worry so much, darling. Vanilla is as fine a taste as any. I'm not shaming."

Usopp takes out his slingshot before she's even finished, but she sidesteps the shot with little difficulty, and it lands straight in the face of a nearby stall-holder, who screams as he inhales the strong scent of the rotten egg that is now covering his eyes.

"Who did this?!" He howls as he paws the substance off his face with one hand and reaches for his pistol with the other.

"Blame yourself, you idiot! You were in the way!" Usopp shouts back as he runs after his First Mate, determined to land at least one good hit on her. "Elynna! Come back here!"

"No, thank you!"

"It was an order!"

"Too bad, I'm your superior!"

"I'm gonna kill you!"

The pirate turns to the rest of the group with a thunderous scowl, notices the two winners of the previous game and Robin's amused smile and Nami's stare, and carefully puts his pistol away with a nervous grin.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Elynna stares at the area the 'random' cannonball determined as the arena for the last game.

It's the Foxy Pirates' ship.

No one bothers to be surprised.

She turns towards where Luffy is solemnly nodding to whatever Usopp is telling him, and lets out a noise between a sigh and a groan.

"... Sea King."

"Yeah?"

"I'm... sorry." She eventually says, looking definitely reluctant about the apology.

"Huh? For what?" The rubber boy frowns in confusion along with several others from their crew.

Elynna shifts uneasily on her feet, then crosses her arms and winces.

"I didn't know their ship would end up being a part of the game. I... may have put traps into it earlier."

A moment of silence stretches between them.

All in all, Zoro and Sanji look more pleased than anything else.

Robin and Luffy start laughing at the same time as Nami facepalms, and Usopp aggressively jabs a finger towards their First Mate.

"You stole some of my things again, didn't you?!"

"Requisitioned."

"Stole!"

"... You told me I could take some again, though. Can't be stealing in that case."

"I never said that!"

"You did." Nami grins, looking entirely too amused for the sniper's taste. "During the party on Skypiea."

"I was drunk!"

"Don't make me seem more shameless than I am." Elynna says with a click of her tongue, eliciting a snort from Zoro. "I asked before you were drunk."

"I was already drunk on the mood!"

"That's not a legally valid argument."

"What kind of pirate gives a crap about law?!"

"Obviously, the kind that likes to use it to screw others over."

Usopp screams.

Luffy laughs even harder, and refuses to hear anything about what kind of traps were laid where, because he doesn't need that to kick ass.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"What is he doing?! There's no point in hitting him anymore!" Chopper whimpers, snuggling himself further in Nami's arms.

"Don't look away, Chopper. This is a fight between men. We owe it to our Captain to watch until the end, no matter what the end is." Usopp says, even though his teeth are gritted together and his ficnger clench around his arms with every added blow that hits Luffy's slowly crashing body.

Sanji nods in silent agreement next to him.

Nami's gaze meets Robin's, and she rolls her eyes exasperatedly, even as she mechanically pets the top of Chopper's head to remind herself of his presence and not hug him too tight to herself with all the tension that has lined her frame since she first laid eyes on the fight and found herself unable to look away.

Luffy's body hits the deck of the Foxy Pirates' ship and rolls to a stop, limp and bloody and charred.

(He looks tired and small from where they sit.

Tired and small in a way the imbecile everyone around them calls Captain should never have been able to make him.

Tired and small in a way he's never been.)

The silence lasts just long enough for everyone to think that this is it, for Foxy to start to smile-

And then Luffy stands up again.

And again.

And again, he keeps falling, keeps standing up, keeps bleeding-

Chopper eventually looks away, burrowing his head under Nami's arm and into her side.

"Someone make it stop…"

"Don't be stupid." Zoro says harshly as he turns to scowl at him. "It'll stop when one of them doesn't get up. If Luffy doesn't keep standing up, we'll lose someone. Is that what you w-"

His sentence ends in a grunt just as the first tears roll down Chopper's furry cheeks, and he turns around to glare heatedly at where Elynna is straddling the bench next to him to take care of where the scar of his fight with Hawkeye opened up again near his shoulder.

"What the hell-"

"I told you not to move."

The swordsman huffs, but obligingly settles back in his original position.

"Stupid cactus gorilla." Sanji mutters.

Nami snickers.

Zoro's jaw twitches.

Elynna swings a leg over his lap and squeezes until he winces at the force of it, pinning him to his seat with a warning stare.

"Elynna…" Chopper whispers as he glances at her from under Nami's arm. "Is there really nothing we can do? Look at him…"

"No, thank you." Elynna replies without looking away from Zoro's wound.

"What? But Usopp said-"

"Uh, she gets a free pass. I don't feel like watching her murder everyone around us."

"Give me some credit." Elynna scoffs. "I would at least wait until Sea King wins and this game is over, since he insists on playing fairly."

Usopp throws a doubtful glance in her direction, but says nothing.

(It doesn't stop him from thinking that even though Elynna might look detached at first glance, it's far from being the case.

If anything, she feels too much for her tendency to shut out any strong and negative emotion to work.

Especially where anger is concerned and especially when it comes to her crewmates.

Or at least he hopes so.

Because it's so much better than thinking that all the times her body went slack with a distant lack of awareness or care for them, the world or even herself

-instead of relaxed with smiles and warmth or tense with worry and fury-

that all the times where he looked into her eyes and only saw still, dead water where everything has already drowned-

that those were the times where he saw the real her, where he saw the everything-

-the nothing-

that hides behind the warmth of her touch and the steadiness of her voice.)

"Luffy is gonna win? Promise?" Chopper's small, hopeful voice cuts through his thoughts.

"Of course." Elynna answers without missing a beat.

And just then Luffy's voice fills the improvised stadium, surprisingly loud and clear for how they can see even from where they are the way his body sways dangerously close to falling with each laboured breath he takes.

"I will never lose any of my nakama… Even if it kills me!"

"Because if there's one thing we will always agree on, it's this."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Luffy is sitting cross-legged, busy laughing at Usopp's colourful recounting of his fight and basking in the glow of the warmth coming from all his crewmates sitting around him when Foxy walks up to him.

Chopper is taking care of the burns on his back, while Elynna is tending to the injuries on his torso, sitting with her legs crossed and pressed against his own.

That's why he has a perfect view on the way her face tightens with something violently feral as soon as she hears the voice of the Foxy Pirates' Captain, her fingers twitching into a near-grip on his shoulders before they relax even as her features smooth out.

The sight makes something pleased shiver up his spine, and he can't help the smile that digs so high into his cheeks it almost hurts.

"Well played, brother." The split-head guy speaks up again, drawing Luffy's attention back to him and the hand he's holding out over Elynna's head.

Luffy blinks, and then takes it with a shrug.

He thinks he played well, too.

Then he watches bemusedly as the man attempts to throw him over his shoulder and rams his head into the ground instead when Luffy's arm simply stretches to accommodate the pull.

It's kind of funny, but he's more interested in the hand that Elynna placed on his crossed calves to make sure that his body doesn't follow after his arm.

Or more like in her other hand, which has already slipped under the back of her t-shirt to grasp at one of the kukris he knows are hidden there.

Usopp, who was trying -and failing- to tell a story that would actually scare Robin, catches the movement from the corner of his eyes, and swiftly elbows Elynna in the arm with a wide-eyed glare.

Zoro, who was sitting on Luffy and Elynna's other side, reaches out at the same time to place a hand on their First Mate's knee, fingers sinking hard into her flesh until she winces and slowly brings her hand back forward with a mild glare towards the knowing smirk on the swordsman's face.

Luffy laughs as his arm snaps back to its normal length.

"Anyway!" The other Captain resumes loudly once he's back on his feet. "Just get on with it and choose who you're going to take from my crew, already. You're looking for a carpenter, right?"

Luffy laughs again as the man starts to ramble about all the carpenters on his crew.

It sounds like the butcher back in Fusha who likes to go on and on about his meat when a customer doesn't know what to take.

It makes Luffy want to punch the man, but Usopp would probably get actually angry at him if they get into more trouble, so he doesn't.

Instead he looks at Elynna, mind already made up but curious about her opinion all the same.

"No one, thanks." She says dryly in response.

Foxy gapes, outraged.

"You refuse the opportunity to take in one of the members of my distinguished crew?!"

Elynna poses in her treatment of the last burn on Luffy's arm to roll her eyes, before going back to her task.

"Why should someone who follows you be worth my time, let alone that of anyone on my crew? And could you fuck off from my personal space?"

The Captain falls to his knees again, but Elynna's attention is still trained on Luffy and his arm on which she's gently rubbing the ointment Chopper makes for burning.

"Alright Sea King, you're all good-"

"Yosh!" Luffy hollers as he jumps to his feet.

But before he can say anything else Elynna lashes out one leg and swipes both of his feet off the ground, catching his body before it can hit the dirt to carefully sit him down.

"-once Hebi checks my work." She finishes nonchalantly.

And despite the fact that Luffy knows she won't cave in where his health is concerned, he still tries to convince her.

"But Annnnn!" He complains with a pout. "I'm fine now!"

"You're better, not fine." Nami snorts, interrupting for one moment her debate with Sanji on whether asking for a picture of 'sexy carpenter' Gina counted as a betrayal of the brand new 'we're not taking any of these stupid cheaters with us' rule.

"And I'm hung-"

"Just take this and rest." Usopp interrupts him as he comes back from the food stall with some kind of stuffed buns, one of which he promptly shoves into Luffy's mouth.

Luffy grins, mostly satisfied, and leans back against Elynna while Chopper approaches them again to check on him.

He's barely done before the losing Captain approaches them again to insist they take a member of his crew, and eventually Luffy shrugs and says:

"Your Jolly Roger."

Zoro snorts.

The Foxy Pirates gape.

"But you can keep your sail." Luffy adds as he realises that they won't be able to leave the island otherwise.

He can't do that to the stupid all man and his horse.

"There's our Jolly Roger on it! Be consistent!" Porche snaps.

"It's fine, it's fine! Usopp can-"

The rest of his reply is muffled by Elynna's hand on his mouth.

"Come now, Captain. Why deprive them of the honour of receiving a new Jolly Roger from your hands?"

Luffy tilts his head back to blink at her, and then agrees with a shrug.

"What?! But I'm definitely better at-"

Usopp's protest is silenced by Nami and Sanji, who both slap him upside the head and hiss at him to keep silent.

Luffy doesn't really get it, so he focuses on the cans of paint that are brought to him instead.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"They looked pretty grateful, right?" Luffy laughs loudly as they leave the Foxy Pirates behind them to despair over their new Jolly Roger.

"Sure, Luffy." Nami grins as Chopper giggles and Zoro rolls his eyes, before she skips ahead to throw her arms around Elynna's waist in a side hug as she falls into step next to her. "That... was so petty."

"So? They're all still alive."

"... Okay, it was very nice of you." Nami corrects without acknowledging the scandalised look Usopp throws at her from where he's walking on Elynna's other side. "Though some of them looked like they'd rather die than sail under that Jolly Roger."

"That can be arranged."

"If you turn around now, I will tie you up." Usopp warns her.

Elynna opens her mouth to say something that Nami is rather sure will include the word 'kink', but Usopp probably senses it as well, because he keeps going before the first sound is even out of their crewmate's mouth.

"Besides, it's kind of understandable. And I hope you weren't serious when you implied that Luffy was a better artist than me, because-"

"Chill, Hawk. Why do you think we kept your Jolly Roger rather than the one Sea King drew?" Elynna drawls.

Zoro scoffs at the reminder.

"I definitely would've left the ship if we had kept the other one."

"And gotten lost." Sanji mutters.

"What was that?!"

"I would have stayed with Nami-chan and Elynna-chan, of course." The cook goes on with a winning smile towards both girls as he proceeds to ignore Zoro's anger.

"My saviour," Nami laughs.

"Not sure even his cooking would be enough to save us from that. And his cooking is the best."

"But Lynna, if you add his face-"

"I don't see what's the problem with the Captain's work," Robin says suddenly, drawing everyone's attention toward her smile, which tells them all that she's most definitely not joking. "I found it rather cute."

Luffy, who was about to launch a hand towards the food package Sanji was carrying, frowns up at his newest nakama in confusion.

"What? But I was aiming for scary! Pirates can't have cute flags!"

Nami and Usopp burst into snickers, the former leaning heavily against Elynna's side.

"Don't worry, Sea King. It definitely looks scary." The First Mate reassures him blandly, earning an amused twitch of Zoro's lips.

Chopper, who is still staring at Robin in wonder, suddenly mumbles something that sounds an awful lot like 'do you need me to check your eyes?', and Nami laughs even louder, not even sure whether it's what the reindeer said or the sincerity in his voice that really does her in.

"Robin," Usopp starts solemnly, "for the love of Elbaf, stick to assassination. And if you really must think about doing a retraining course, pick something other than art."

Robin smiles, but it's a touch confused, and turns even more so when Luffy latches onto her with a furious frown.

"What do you mean reconversion 'retraining course'?! Robin is my nakama, she's not leaving me!"

"Our nakama, Sea King." Elynna reminds him nonchalantly.

Luffy's face does something weird, almost relaxing into a beaming grin for a second before he manages to work it into a glare again.

"Still not leaving m- us!"

"It was a joke, Luffy."

"Ah. It's fine, then! You should have said that sooner!"

Then their Captain laughs, and Usopp rolls his eyes towards the sky with a look that is clearly asking for boundless patience.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Elynna comes to an abrupt stop as soon as they're close enough to Tonjit's house to vaguely distinguish the features of the ridiculously tall figure standing next to the door.

She doesn't know him, but even if she had a bad memory, which she doesn't, she would remember the man who turned an entire battlefield and then some into hard frost and slippery ice and chilling air.

She knows only a few things about him, barely more than she used to as Chloé despite all the time she has spent reading the newspapers, but it's enough to make her swear under her breath.

Because first, he's strong. Stronger than all of them put together, she would bet.

Second, he's a Marine, which is bad fucking news for pirates like them no matter what.

Third... he's one of the few likeable Marines, but her sister still didn't like him.

Because of the role he played in Robin's past, whatever it was.

She abruptly turns around, catches a glimpse of Robin's wide, frozen eyes and trembling knees, and reaches her just in time to clutch at her hands and tug her back to her feet before the archaeologist actually falls.

They stumble together into the shadow of one of the nearby trees.

It's not a perfect hiding place, but it will have to do.

"Robin. Look at me."

Pale eyes flicker to hers, already ghosted over with frost before the fight even starts, and then snap back towards the figure that hovers on the edge of their vision like a huge stain you can't get rid of.

Elynna shakes her, and when that doesn't work reaches up to clasp a firm hand around the back of the older woman's neck and force her to look back at her.

"Not him, Robin. Me."

Finally, pale eyes land on her.

But there's no one behind those eyes to look at her.

Robin's breath on her face is too fast, and at this point Elynna's hold on her seems to be the only thing that keeps her somewhat upright.

But she's almost sure that trying to make the older woman focus on what her senses actually perceive of the real world instead of the one in her memories would do more damage than good.

So she reaches down for a thin, trembling hand, and lifts it up to place it around her throat.

Suddenly Robin comes back, and she looks startled as she blinks down at where her hand is loosely wrapped around her First Mate's throat.

(Her skin is warm, and the blood under it beats evenly with every calm breath that she takes.

And she follows that rhythm almost unconsciously, mesmerised by the warm hand that holds her wrist.

Not to hurt her, because the hold is gentle.

Not to tear her away, but to keep her hand around that fragile throat.)

She looks up and into Elynna's eyes.

The eyes of the only member of the Straw Hats who does not just suspect, but knows that Robin joined their crew to use them like she used everyone else before.

(to maybe learn a bit more about the infamous line of D., because the one mystery she always wanted to solve was so far out of her reach that she finally gave up

because she missed the chance to finally end it all, and yet her body can't seem to stop running from the Marines after a whole life spent doing just that)

And Robin knows that she knows.

And yet she's willingly doing this, willingly putting her life literally into her hands and trusting her to handle it carefully.

(Even though Robin knows everything this girl has done under all the names she has used.

Even though there's a Marine Admiral right there.

Even though Robin could offer him the head of this girl and of all her crewmates to bargain for her survival.)

In the end, her hand stays where it was put, still and loose and just as gentle as the hand on her wrist.

"You should know what kind of crew you've joined by now." The Straw Hats' First Mate says evenly against the palm of her hand.

You should know that they'll fight to the death for you.

You should know that whatever you have done, whatever you will choose to do, they will still be here.

Her eyes look at her head-on, blue and dark and liquid steel.

So why are you still here? They ask.

Why are you still here, in this crew, with us?

Why are you still here, when you could be running?

Robin looks back at her, breath now stable and balance firm.

Slowly, she lets go, lets her hand fall.

But Elynna doesn't.

She holds on, and Robin almost squeezes her hand back.

For the first time in a long time, she feels the tears sting at the corner of her eyes, ready to come out and be seen.

(For all the time she has spent without love,

-so long that it burns something painful as it eats away at the empty space inside of her-

For all the bad things she's condemning them to, now that she has given up.

For how much it will hurt, when she will find herself alone again.)

So she smiles.

Because she knows.

And she knows that Elynna knows, too.

Said girl looks at her for a long moment.

Then the corners of her lips lift just a tiny bit.

"You know, liking people who are this similar to you makes you a bit of a narcissist."

Nothing about this is funny, but Robin smiles a bit more anyway.

"Ah, but I don't like only you, Miss First Mate."

Elynna shrugs, and turns to walk towards Robin's most burning nightmare and warmest dreams, still holding onto her hand behind the cover of her back.

"It's fine, then. Everyone should be a bit of a narcissist, anyway."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

As soon as Elynna and Robin come close enough for everyone to see the sallowness that pales the historian's usually rich skin tone and the way the stranger's gaze falling on her makes her seemingly unshakeable calm and confidence suddenly wilt away like ink on drenched paper, Luffy raises his fists, looking ready to duke it out right here and there if not for Usopp's efforts to hold him back.

Elynna sighs loudly, squeezes Robin's hand one last time, and lets go to help the sharpshooter.

"You think I'll just sit here and let you take Robin away from us?! You-"

"Oi, oi, I said calm down, already. I told you, I was just taking a nap-"

"Bullshi-"

The rest of Luffy's scream fades into untelligible sound as Elynna curls a foot around his ankle and abruptly drags his foot backward, letting her weight fall over his back as he barely keeps himself from falling flat on his stomach.

"Ann!" The rubber boy screams as he straightens up a bit, his earlier anger barely tempered by the surprise that only lightens the sharpness that digs into his features. "What are you doi-"

She presses down harder on the foot he's trying to remove from her hold, and reaches up to tug at the elastic skin of his cheek, interrupting his protests in the process.

"There's a difference between bravery and stupidity, Sea King. Picking a fight that is borderline hopeless when the other party isn't even attacking you definitely belongs to the latter. I think I've reached my quota of the number of times I'm ready to risk losing my crewmates for stupid reasons for the rest of my life. So rethink what you're about to do for me, will you?"

Luffy sends her a glare over his shoulder, but in consideration of the facts that she's not putting so much weight on him that his balance is thrown off and that his arms are still perfectly free, he settles down grumpily, staring fiercely at the man in front of them as if it might make him feel all the punches Luffy is throwing at him in his mind.

"Robin is ours." He states loudly, just in case anyone wasn't clear on that.

The impossibly tall man eyes the duo silently for a moment, and then sighs.

"And as I was telling you, I just came to check that she did leave with you after the Alabasta incident, since I was taking a stroll around here."

Luffy stares at him suspiciously, and then seems to realise something.

"... So who are you again?"

The rest of his crewmembers all shrug.

Elynna waits for a beat before opening her mouth, unwilling to draw the Marine's eyes back on her now that Luffy has straightened up completely and is mostly hiding her from his attention.

(-but still aware of how frenzied Robin's heart beat in her wrist when she held her-)

"That's Aokiji." The archaeologist answers before she can.

Her voice hides nothing of how loud she's breathing, and her whole body is stiff as if that's the only way to keep standing.

(or maybe stiff like someone flooded by a fear so ravenous it's unfathomable, leaving the person petrified because there's simply no possible response to give)

Her hands are the only part of her free of that stiffness.

They're trembling.

"... He's a Marine Admiral." She eventually whispers past whatever she gulps down and keeps silent.

The words jolt through them, and the previous tension comes rushing back through the air that is breathed into their bodies.

Aokiji stands there unaffected.

"Wha-" Usopp eventually finds his voice, pointing a trembling finger at the Admiral from where he's hiding behind Zoro's broad back. "What is someone like you doing here?! Go take care of pirates with higher bounties! We're definitely not worth your time!"

Aokiji looks at him for barely a second, and then turns to Nami.

"Oh, hey, another super hot babe. You free tonight?"

Nami gapes, utterly bewildered.

Sanji gapes, utterly outraged.

"... Are you sure you didn't get the wrong person, Robin?" Usopp deadpans.

"Hey, don't judge others based on their appearance. My motto in life is 'totally lazy justice'."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean."

"... You know," Sanji comments after a moment. "He and Luffy might actually be similar, in a way."

"Don't start, Sanji-kun."

"Sorry, Nami-chan."

"Dog." Zoro mutters under his breath.

"Hah?! What was tha-"

"Anyway," Aokiji cuts them off with a wave of his hand towards a confused Tonjit. "You should prepare some warm clothes and get ready to leave."

"... I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not quite sure what you mean. I can't leave this island until the sea level decreases again. As a matter of fact, how did you get here?"

"That's right…" Chopper blinks, face slowly scrunching up into a confused frown. "I didn't see any other ship apart from ours and the Foxy Pirates' since we arrived here."

"No." Robin interrupts them hoarsely. "This man can definitely help you get back to your people."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Elynna watches only distractedly as Usopp and Luffy try to imitate Chopper's hard-earned ice-skating skills while Sanji and Nami laugh along.

Next to her, Robin has yet to talk or look away from the ice that has crept over and sunken its claws in the seemingly ever elusive body of water that so many see as an untameable force.

It's as if she's been frozen along with the sea.

Zoro is facing them from a few feet away so he can also look at both their crewmates and the man who's sitting in the grass just within shouting distance.

(But still seems too tall.)

His hand is still resting on the hilts of his katana, and the clench of his jaw when he meets her gaze tells her he's about as optimistic as she is on the question of whether or not shit will hit the fan.

So when Luffy starts walking back towards the man she follows closely, wrists rolling loosely to feel the warmth of the steel against her skin.

She looks back to see Zoro walk on the side of their group and Sanji imitate him after a moment on the other side.

"You know," Aokiji starts with a sigh as she forces her muscles to loosen even though the air she breathes inside of her feels colder than it should be. "Maybe I should kill you, after all."

Luffy blinks, arms still wrapped around himself to warm himself up after fooling around on the ice in light clothes.

"Huh?"

"You're just like your grandfather, you know. How should I put it… Hard to read? Or maybe open-minded."

"What? Grandfather? Who's he talking about, Luffy?"

The rubber boy throws a panicked glance at Usopp, suddenly looking like he's sweating a bit too much for the weather.

"Uhh… Y' know- That's… um-"

"I came here to take a look at Nico Robin and you." Aokiji goes on, saving Luffy in the process by drawing everyone's attention back to him. "The World Government hardly considers you a threat at the moment. You're an annoyance at worst."

His eyes drift over all of them, and even if Elynna is doing her best not to stand out too much and his eyes don't rest too long on her, she finds herself wondering if he knows.

Allan promised her he and Smoker wouldn't talk to anyone else about her 'mission' to preserve its secrecy, but she wouldn't be particularly surprised if Garp or this man came to know about it anyway. For all their differences, the four Marines seem to share at least a similar opinion of what the Marines' goal and duty should be.

"But I think they're wrong." Aokiji goes on when his eyes finally settle on Robin, who looks tense enough to break. "Especially now that Nico Robin has joined you. You might be a small crew from East Blue, but you have already shown how far you're willing to take things in Alabasta. Besides, Nico Robin's bounty doesn't reflect just her strength, but also the level of danger she poses to the World Government. You're bound to become a target sooner rather than later, and it won't end well for you."

Robin's shoulders hitch higher and tighter, and like a chain reaction Luffy frowns harder as Usopp draws back the rubber band of his slingshot just a bit more.

"What are you trying to say?!"

Aokiji sighs even as he starts to stand up.

"Look… Let me make it clear. This woman," he says with a finger pointed at their oldest crewmember, "has been part of various groups from the underworld in the twenty years she's lived since getting her bounty. All of them have been annihilated. And in every case, she's been the only survivor. Get what I'm saying?"

"So what?!" Luffy snaps back without missing a beat. "I don't care about Robin's past! I let her join us 'cause I like her!"

"Yeah! Robin is our friend, so don't insult her like that!" Chopper bellows even as he changes into his largest form as if to match Aokiji's size.

"Besides, we're all criminals here. If you think this is going to scare us away, you're dead wrong." Nami adds as her Clima Tact clicks into place.

"You're all so… Fine! Come fight us, if you dare! A real man doesn't let his friends be slandered!"

"Well said, Usopp. At this point, he's a worse criminal than us." Sanji comments as he inspects the length of his cigarette to judge whether or not it will last the whole fight.

"... Looks like you found particularly good friends this time around, Nico Robin. Or should I say prey?"

And Elynna burns to ask-

Why is Robin's bounty still stuck at this level after so long, after everything she's come to know and everyone she's come to destroy?

Why are you telling us this, when we're criminals, when we should be better off dead at the hand of the woman you're warning us about?

But no words come out of her mouth, and she doesn't see Robin attack an Admiral as recklessly as she is usually cautious, as desperate as she is usually detached-

Doesn't see their three strongest fighters come to her rescue just as recklessly, regardless of how Zoro feels about Robin and what Sanji knows about a Marine Admiral's strength and what Luffy can feel of Aokiji's strength-

Doesn't move no matter how much her body trembles to, because-

(Because her mind is trapped spinning, stuck between what she can do and what she should do, between the now and the after, because-

Should she show her cards now?

What if she doesn't have enough?

What if it doesn't work on Aokiji, who seems as peculiar as Smoker or Garp?

And what about after?

She didn't hear anything about now from her sister, doesn't know if Ignis will lose, but-

But still she can't help thinking that her crewmates will all survive and he won't, because at night the possibility

-the memories of it-

creep through when she's awake,

and during the day the anger that burns as bright as his desperation weighs heavy in his voice, and the nightmares that quietly thread through her in the waking moments when there's nothing strong enough to distract her feast on this-

What if she shows her cards now and gets nothing but the drawbacks?

What if she shows her cards now and Ignis dies, when she's made it her duty to never hear his last breath, never smell his flesh burn, never see Sea King's grief?)

"Robin! Move!"

She blinks, and the damage is already done.

The boys are already hurt.

Robin is already-

(and she feels frozen, too

Frozen with the realisation that she thought she got over this

That she has done it again

What's the point of thinking about after if she can't even ensure that the now will leave something to fight for later?)

Then Aokiji raises a fist.

There's barely an exchange of glances before Luffy moves, and she follows.

The rubber boy sweeps Robin's iced over body up in his arms at the last moment to avoid the Marine's attack, his back parallel to the ground and open to the kick the Admiral aims downward.

She slides to the ground as she reaches his position and tackles him in the process, wrapping her arms around both him and Robin as he lands on her to ensure the shock reverberates as little as possible through the older woman.

Luffy barely waits for her back to stop sliding across the dirt to roll off her and to his feet, just in time for him to entrust Robin to Usopp, who started running just after them, Chopper coming up behind him in his four-legged form.

"I got this!" Their Captain yells over his shoulder as he settles down into a fighting stance. "You take care of Robin!"

And Elynna tears herself off the ground to follow the others, even if she knows that he doesn't, that none of them do-

"Rain." She calls through her teeth, slamming the thought to the back of her mind and dragging forward everything she knows about how to treat frostbite.

(It won't silence the spiralling thoughts, won't take away the anxiety that settles sweatingly hot under her skin and twistedly sickening in her gut

But it can make it quieter

And she anchors herself in the sound of the feet running beside hers to stop herself from turning back.)

"I'm on it!" Nami calls back as the air behind them starts to shimmer and waver under the weight of all the bubbles of heat she's sending high towards the sky where thunderclouds are also starting to rumble.

It's nowhere near enough considering who they're up against, but it's better than no protection at all.

"Ely-"

"I know!" She calls back in response to Chopper's voice as the reindeer shifts form to take Robin in his arms and free Usopp's hands so he can guard their back.

Her foot digs harder into the ground with her next step, and then she amps up her speed, progressively distancing her crewmates.

There's barely a break in her race when she reaches the ship and jumps, catching the railing with one hand and hauling herself over it in one go.

The door of the girls' bathroom slams against the wall when she rushes inside to prepare everything Chopper will need.

When their doctor arrives, the water has almost reached the right temperature, and she's in the process of wetting some towels so they don't have to touch the ice that covers the archaeologist with their bare hands for too long.

"What can we do to-"

"I think we have some containers we can use for the guys when they come back, so-"

"I'll prepare everything, got it. Which temperature should the water be at?"

Elynna shifts to the side in a silent answer once she and Chopper are done lowering Robin in the tub, allowing the navigator to dip her hand in the water to estimate the temperature.

Then the presence at her back disappears, and she allows herself to sink into the task at hand with every speck of her focus she can force there.

Wet the towel.

Careful.

Rub gently.

Careful.

Rinse, repeat.

Careful.

Until she can barely think.

Until she's so focused on it she can't even tell what the task is.

(Until telling herself to be careful has everything to do with the gestures she's repeating over and over and over,

until it doesn't make her teeth grit with the urge to sink into her own skin to think that,

until it doesn't make her eyes burn wet with shame to tell herself that,

until she can tell herself that and not think that being so careful it becomes a fault

-the kind of fault that gets the wrong people killed-

and yet can't be enough of a strength for her to trust herself is probably the very definition of what being worthless can mean.)

It's not quite enough to not notice that at some point Robin is replaced by Luffy.

Her whole body feels as cold as her hands that take care of them throughout the hours that follow.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Nami finds Elynna pacing in the girls' room.

She still looks deaf to the world.

(Still looks lost in her head.)

The navigator counts the number of places on the other girl's lips that are bleeding, and sighs.

Then she steps in front of her roommate, and stops her with a firm hand on her shoulder.

Elynna comes to a stop abruptly, almost walking right into her.

For a moment, her eyes are still staring unseeingly at the floorboards, and she looks entirely confused.

She looks up, and blinks.

"... Oh. Sorry." Her eyes slide away from Nami's face to stare at something that only she can see before she blinks again to chase it away and refocus on her. "Do you need something?"

Nami raises an eyebrow, and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Do I have to need something from you to come see you?"

Elynna looks at her, and then reaches up to rub at her eyes with a sigh.

"Of course not. Sorry." And before Nami can ask her what she's apologising for, she goes on. "Is everyone okay? I didn't take enough time to be sure-"

"Everyone is alright." The navigator cuts her off before she can hear the third 'sorry' that she's rather sure is about to fall out of her First Mate's mouth.

Then she winces.

"Well… Physically, at least."

Elynna closes her eyes again, but this time it's like she's stopped breathing altogether, and a muscle in her jaw ticks.

"... Usopp?" She guesses.

Nami nods slowly.

"He… really seemed pretty shaken. I think he doesn't feel like he can keep up with the kind of people we might have to fight from now on."

She watches carefully as Elynna's shoulders slump a bit with the worry that pulls the gentle, rounded curves of her face tight.

(With the weight that she just put there.

But Lynna would have worried and cared even if she didn't,

because she loves Usopp too much not to notice,

knows him too well not to understand.

And Usopp already talks to her and Chopper about the weaknesses he's the only one to see in himself, already seemed to become unsure before when he learned about how Chopper defeated one of the Priests all by himself and saw her use her Clima Tact on Zephrim.

She doubts Robin or any of the other boys understand Usopp enough to really help him.

But even without thinking about all this, Lynna is the one she most often goes to when shit is hard and she just wants to let a bit of the weight down.

And she thinks Usopp might need that.)

Then her First Mate nods, and that's enough.

Still, that doesn't stop her from noticing how slowly, how carefully Elynna moves as she takes off her drenched sweater to put on a dry one.

As if she's trying to feel every twitch of her muscles and every shift of her bones against each other.

"Are you okay?" Nami eventually asks. "Earlier… You seemed kind of out of i-"

"I know. I'm sorry."

And then-

"Fang is going to have my head for this next time we train."

It's the attempt at dealing with things through jokes that Elynna usually uses when she doesn't opt to be as blunt as a brick, and Nami is having none of it.

Because it always comes back to this.

Almost every time Elynna does something as First Mate of the crew, she somehow ends up turning to Zoro like she's looking for some kind of validation.

It's ridiculous, and Nami doesn't understand it at all

"Why should it matter what he thinks?"

Elynna blinks at her, and just before her mouth opens to say something along the lines of it doesn't, that was a joke, Nami sees something like incredulity flitter across her face.

Like it should be obvious that Zoro knows better than everyone what Elynna should or shouldn't do as First Mate.

Nami huffs at the very idea, and steps closer to her roommate to flick her in the forehead like their Captain still does sometimes, although much less than he used to.

"Geez, your skull is as thick as the boys', sometimes. Get this through your head: first of all, Zoro accepted you as his First Mate a long time ago, he's not going to start giving you shit about it now. Besides, he doesn't want to take your place -not that he could do a better job than you. Especially given that, second of all, everyone has faults, him included, and if yours is that you sometimes hesitate too much, then at least it means you don't act rashly, unlike at least half of our crew. Compensating each other's faults is part of what being a crew is about, and you're the one who said that first. And third, no matter how strong you've gotten, we both know that you're no match for an Admiral, and that you're not stupid enough to fight him in spite of that like our dumbasses from the Monster Trio did."

Elynna stares.

Nami swallows, realising how quickly and loudly she was talking in an attempt to be more convincing than her best friend's own thoughts, and sighs, before looking her right in the eyes.

"You don't have to be flawless for us to want you, okay? You already have your place here."

Elynna stares some more, and then rapidly blinks twice.

And then-

"I know." She says.

And before Nami can tell her that she might want to start behaving like it if she wants her to believe that bullshit, Elynna smiles.

It's not fake.

It's not aiming to distract her.

It's mostly resigned, and just a little bit sad.

So Nami closes her mouth without saying anything.

I know, but I can't help it.

And she understands.

(Because she still remembers the sound of the Room crumbling to pieces in her bones,

and yet sometimes, when the light and the warmth of the sun is so, so far, when she realises how little money they have on the ship, because this isn't enough or she'll never make it on time or what if-

No matter how much you know, sometimes it's just never enough.

Because there's some part of you that doesn't listen to knowledge and certainty and the words of others or even yourself, and that tiny part of you can make you move and freeze and hurt just as good as any other.

She understands.)

"You better," she eventually huffs, before she steps around the other girl to strip the bed from its blanket and dump it in Elynna's arms. "Now hurry up and help me. Sanji-kun is preparing dinner and everyone else has to clean up the bathroom and get everything ready for tonight, since we'll all be sleeping together to monitor Robin and our dumbass of a Captain."

Elynna looks down at the blanket in her arms and back at Nami -or more like her empty arms- with a raised eyebrow.

"… So if I'm helping you, what exactly are you doing?"

Nami opens the door, and looks over her shoulder to throw her a smile.

"Giving orders. You might not like to do that, but I positively love it!"

Elynna follows with a roll of her eyes and a small smile.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

The food was warm, and her hands as steady as the rise and fall of Luffy and Robin's chest.

But then she went back to her room for just a moment.

Just to check.

And she finds herself looking down at the little snail that rings and rings and keeps ringing as the silence stretches without ever breaking.

It's as if this time it's the beat and the warmth of her blood that has been choked to nothing by icy hands.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Van Augur doesn't see it coming.

(And he always sees everything.)

They're walking down the street of a small island that is nothing worth mentioning, whether for pirates or for the World Government, although there is a small Marine base placed there to protect the other small islands in the area.

In other words, there's no reason for anything to happen.

So Van Augur doesn't see anything coming until something catches the end of his rifle that is leaning against his shoulder.

And even then, the attack is so unexpected that Van Augur doesn't react when the weight of his rifle leaves him as the man who caught it while falling towards him flips in the air so his feet touch the ground in front of Van Augur.

Nor does he react when the man swings his arm, wrenching his treasured weapon out of his own hand and right into the face of his Captain, sending him flying through the air to crash into a nearby house.

Doc Q looks back at his Captain and then at the man in front of them as a mouthful of blood dribbles down his chin.

Reaching up and over his shoulder to grab the orange hat that flew off during his fall, Portgas D. Ace holds up the rifle higher in the air, the look on his face almost clinical as he observes the way the steel and wood of the handle has been bent completely out of shape by the force of his blow.

"This is pretty shitty quality." He comments in the silence between them that is barely broken by the pained coughing of their Captain and the groaning sounds of a house on the verge of collapse.

Then he casually throws the weapon over his shoulder, and the clatter of it against the ground is loud in the silent alley that envelops them away from the rest of the island.

When he looks up, the black of his eyes glints savage like hellfire.

"Then again, I wouldn't expect anything better from people who follow someone like you, Teach."

Blackbeard laughs from where he's getting to his feet, but the sound wheezes out of his lungs, and the glance he throws at Van Augur convinces him to get to work now.

"Long time no see, Commander-"

Van Augur only has the time to see Fire Fist's eyes widen as he bares his teeth in an almost soundless snarl before the rest of his Captain's mocking greeting is drowned under a roaring barrage of flames.

He throws himself into the door to another house whose inhabitants have clearly escaped from considering the open back door, and hisses when golden, near-white flames rush into the opening after him, turning the ground he rolls on into scalding ash-like dust that he struggles not to breathe in as he scrambles to put distance between himself and the blood-thirsty, physical manifestation of Fire Fist's rage.

He doesn't worry for his crewmates, though, and especially not for his Captain, whom he sees absorbing the destructive, rolling heat of the fire into a black hole.

As quickly as the world turned to blinding flames and ashes the attack is reduced to nothing but smoking air and the remaining heat wave that carries the laughter of his Captain to Van Augur's ears.

"Now, now, Commander. How about we calm down and have a little chat? I have an offer for y-"

Then a fist emerges from the still-swirling smoke in front of him and slams brutally into the broad stomach of Van Augur's Captain.

The fire that erupts from it is like a concentrated version of Fire Fist's first attack, almost more of an explosion than anything else, and it propulses Blackbeard too far for Van Augur to see where exactly he lands as the world behind this point of impact turns into a crackling inferno of unbearingly sweltering heat.

The rest of Ace's lean form emerges from the smoke, gravel crunching under his combat boots.

"Don't waste your breath, Teach. You know why I'm here, and I know that I'm going to enjoy burning you to a crisp."

Luckily, that's when the Marines that Van Augur called while playing the part of a frightened citizen arrive.

Fire Fist being the only one of them to have any kind of notoriety (for now), they waste no time in surrounding him.

Van Augur, on the other hand, wastes no time in following the rest of his crew and escaping from the charred, smoking rubble that was left of the street they were walking in just a few minutes before.

"Ace is smart," his Captain tells them later that day, "but not that kind of smart. For him to find me when we've been moving around this much, he either got very lucky, or he got someone to help him."

Then he laughs.

"With his personality, the first option might actually be the most likely!"

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"Fuck!" Ace screams as flames roar to life under his feet so he can escape the island faster.

He doesn't really need to go that fast, because he already reduced a good chunk of the ocean where the Striker was docked to salty steam, and he doubts that anyone among the Marines who were still following him has the ability to see through the thickness of the fog to somehow actually land an attack on him.

(The fog whose salt lays heavy on his tongue,

like all the tears he's never shed.)

And yet, despite their lack of abilities, their number was enough to stall him, to give him enough time to escape, to be far enough that Ace had no way to know where to even begin to follow him.

Despite everything he's already burned down in the process of escaping, the rage still boils in his blood, skin hot and riddled with flames that doesn't help at all to relieve the melding sensation of the tension in his muscles or the ringing in his head-

He stops.

The ringing doesn't come from his head.

He jerks to turn around, just in time to see his Den Den Mushi falls back asleep as the silence falls back on his shoulders.

He swears again, more quietly, and falls more than he sits down, elbows loosely resting on his knees and head bent down between them as he tries to focus only on his breathing and silence every other thought in his head.

Then the ringing starts again.

For a moment, his fingers twitch, and he considers not answering.

Considers setting the snail on fire, even.

But even as he thinks it, he knows he won't do it.

Just like he knows he will answer, even if he's not sure he actually wants to talk to anyone.

Still, he rolls his weight forward on his toes to reach for the receiver, and takes the call.

He doesn't know what to say or even want to say anything, so he stays silent, but it doesn't matter, because Elynna's voice fills the space between them immediately, strangely louder than usual and tight with a kind of breathlessness that he struggles to decipher.

"Ignis-" She says, and he frowns harder as she swallows and he suddenly understands. "Are you alright?"

Worried.

She was worried for him.

Because he answered the phone just a bit later than usual.

His jaw tightens until it feels like they could fuse together and stay stuck on that boundary between human and fire.

"Do I look that weak?" He snaps.

Do I look so weak that I can't be late without you thinking I've made a mistake and gotten in trouble?

Do I look so weak that I can't possibly do anything else than fail?

And he knows that the thought has nothing to do with Elynna, knows that she sometimes (often) showed more pride in things he did than he himself did, in her own weird way.

But he's just so fucking angry-

(so fucking angry at himself-)

He expects her to sass him like she usually does.

He expects her to be angry, even.

But instead there's silence, thick with something like hurt, and-

"I'm sorry."

(and her voice is small like he has never heard it before,

almost a whisper.

As if she wants to take as little space as possible, be as forgettable as possible, anything to appease his anger

but can't really erase herself from the space they share, just in case he actually leaves-)

-and he realises that he will never really have a fight with Elynna.

(Because no matter how sharp her tongue is when they're bantering and joking around,

El can never actually be angry with the people she loves.

Because she will always cave in.

Because as far as she's concerned, she will always be the one at fault.)

He feels like a bucket of cold water has just been dumped on his head.

He also feels like it's the ghost of Thatch that has just dumped it on his head, and his crewmate is looking down his nose at him with that definitely unimpressed way he has to shake his head.

Just in case you didn't know, you screwed up real bad, bro.

And he knows that.

Now that the haze of anger is gone, he finds himself wondering how he could even say this-

Because of course Elynna is worried.

That's how she cares.

Just like his brother and his crewmates care by trusting him to handle himself and ask for help if he needs it, Elynna cares by keeping in contact, by helping him unless he says no, by worrying because she knows what the man he's after is capable of-

And suddenly, he wonders-

How much worry is she already silencing by calling him only twice a week at most, because she knows that he's not used to people worrying?

(He thinks of the anxiety he feels gnawing and eating at him every time he asks The Question, and he wonders-

Is this how she feels every day she doesn't allow herself to call him?

Wondering if she's going to lose someone and be unable to do anything about it?

Stewing in that silence before the answer that somehow seems even worse than the answer itself?)

"Sorry," he blurts out right here and then, unable to bear the thought of her thinking for one more second that he meant anything of what he said. "I… had a bad day, but I shouldn't have been an asshole like that. I'm… really sorry."

There's another stretch of silence that lasts a few seconds, but it feels definitely lighter, and when she speaks again her voice is back to normal.

"It's fine." She dismisses, and before he can even protest, she goes on. "I had a bad day, too, and I'm also sorry."

He balks.

"But you have nothing to apologise for, and it's not fine-"

"You were too angry to think before you spoke and I was too high-strung to think to ask you if this was a bad time. We both said sorry. It's fine."

It's very much fucking not, he wants to say, but if wants to win an argument -and not run his mouth faster than he can think again- against her, he's going to need time to think on it.

"What happened?" He asks instead, because putting her first for once feels like the least he can do after what he said.

"Aokiji happened."

"... Are we talking about the same-"

"Yes. Popped in like a fucking weirdo right after we were done with the morons who challenged us to a Davy Back Fight or whatever the hell it's called-"

"El."

"What?"

"Explain."

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

"I should have known he wouldn't fight me one-on-one-"

"Um. I love you, by the way."

"I can't believe I was this much of an idiot-"

"Still love you."

"-and I should have been able to take care of those Marines quickly enough to follow him-"

"And oh, look, I love you so much I pushed back the time of my Den Den Mushi's meal for you. But don't worry, he'll get a reward snack."

"I mean, what is even the point of finding him if I'm not even able to keep him within punching distance for five minutes-"

"Annnnnd still love you. It's actually quite scary how much I love you."

Ace stops in the middle of his rambling, looking down abruptly at the snail sitting at the bottom of the Striker.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Hey, you're the one who called yourself an idiot. But don't worry, even the most idiotic person ends up understanding what you want to say if you repeat it enough times."

"I'm not a person, I'm a monster." He snorts, because this is one of those moments where his mind is tilting towards the side of I didn't deserve to be born, and it's so easy to remember those words that were spat in his face.

"I hope you realise that you're saying this to the one who's not human between the both of us. Besides, your sex appeal makes up for any losses that might imply. Give me a list of those, by the way, I can't think of any. And just so you know, I consider your sex appeal to be a bonus, not a consolation gift. Though I guess you could say it's a very nice gift. Anyway, even the most idiotic monster ends up understanding what you want to say if you repeat it enough times."

There's an implied it doesn't matter how many times you fail and how many Marines you kill there, and Ace blinks at the realisation, swallowing dry and painful as if fire licked up his throat.

"I take offense. You can't tell me about that Captain Morgan or whatever and then imply I'm the most idiotic."

"Now, see, if you were really listening, you would know I wasn't implying anything of the sort, love."

Ace rolls his eyes.

"Are you done?"

"Am I done annoying you or am I done loving you?" Elynna's voice replies with clear amusement. "Actually, don't answer that, the answer to both is never."

The bark of laughter that slips out of his mouth leaves him a bit breathless, and he lets himself fall backwards until he's leaning back as comfortably as he can, the Striker drifting quietly over the waves while he lets his hat fall over his eyes.

"So I'm stuck with you for eternity?"

"You bet. If there's a hell and you actually end up in it, I'll follow you there and make it worth your time."

"You hate the heat."

"And flames would bore you to death, but I'm sure we can find a way to distract ourselves from the problem."

"... I'll have to make sure to take the Striker with me."

"You know, if you're not going to blush, the least you could do when I'm making an innuendo is to not ignore it." She deadpans.

The twitch of his lips widens into a grin as he waits.

There's a pause, and then she caves in.

"What would you need the Striker for, anyway?"

"If hell is anything like here, we'll end up in a sea of fire. It will be much easier to move around."

"Huh. Guess you're righ-"

"And so I can throw you overboard, too."

"Why."

"Call it my revenge for the pictures you sent to Haruta."

"I haven't sent them yet."

Now his grin is positively wolfish as he sits back up.

"Looks like I just gave you a reason not to send them at all, then."

"You're threatening to throw me in a sea of fire? The gall."

"So? We'd both be dead, and you did say you'd follow me for eternity."

The little snail peers at him silently with a little smile, and then she laughs.

"Good point. Besides, I guess I can always trick Fang into training in a sea of fire so he can catch me. If you end up in hell, I'm pretty sure the rest of my crew will end up there as well. "

He scoffs, and the silence that follows is so similar to how easy other moments of quiet have been between them that he almost forgets the mistake he did and the pain he caused.

Only a few minutes pass before Elynna suddenly sighs.

"... Well, fuck." She mumbles eloquently. "I guess we can say that we learned the same lesson today."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Being famous is an absolute pain in the ass."

He snorts.

"You can say that again."

"Being famous is an absol-"

"Shut up, El."

She does, but he can still hear the smile that was in her voice.

Just then he hears some voices call for her, including that of his newly unfrozen brother, and he sighs.

(Hearing the voice of his brother is enough to be able to recall his face down to the way the scar under his eye crinkles when he laughs and guess what kind of smile he's sporting at that moment.

It makes him suddenly, painfully aware that El has only been physically by his side for a day at most.

He knows her through her voice as well as he knows his brothers and the crewmates he was closest to.

But he can't remember the exact shade of her eyes or how different her hair looks between night and sunlight, or how exactly she laughs-

-how loud is it?

does she throw her head back, or fold herself in two?-

and he doesn't even know how long it will be until he gets to see her again, so he thinks he might just have to steal a wanted poster for himself once there's actually a picture of her on it, because he knows his brother too well to not know that it will happen one day.)

"I gotta go. If you ever get lucky enough to reach the last island he leaves from to get the info on his next destination again, maybe call me or your crew to get some intel on the island he's going to? I can help set up a plan to try and stop him from pulling that kind of bullshit again, if you want."

He hums.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll do that."

And before she can end the conversation, he cuts her off.

"El."

"Yeah?"

He opens his mouth, tracing the edges of the words he wants to say, but nothing comes out, and eventually he settles for another kind of apology.

The only kind he knows she'll accept.

"Let's call again tomorrow."

He can almost taste the pleased shade of the surprise that colours the resulting silence.

"... I'd like that."

She does nothing to hide the relief in her voice at being able to check up on him two days in a row, and he knows that he's done something right.

He hangs up knowing that the anger will come back, that he will hate the sound of his own breathing in the silence two hours from now.

But for now he can smile, and he thinks that Thatch's ghost would approve at least a bit.

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

That night, Robin stares at the stars that are twinkling like dying lights in the boundless expanse of dark velvet hungry for their shine.

She basks in the sound of the seven people breathing around her, and she thinks and thinks and thinks-

But she always comes back to the same thought that has already settled in her mind like lead on so many other days.

(Too many.)

And she wonders why she even tried to escape it this time around.

(Was it their dreams?

Their hope?

Their laughter?

Their anger, for so many things she has grown so used to, she can only feel vaguely sad towards, under all the exhaustion?)

But it doesn't matter, because-

This is the end.

She knows it.

Has known it all along, really.

Because it's a common thing to say that good things always come to an end.

And it hurts.

She hurts like she hasn't hurt in a very long time, a fresh kind of hurt that she knows will give her something to make her mind bleed over and her nights exhausting in the months to come, in a way that the old hurt cannot do anymore, because the old hurt is well worn by now.

Because it drowns her slowly, rusting her mind rather than making it go white and silent with the intensity of it.

(And she remembers wondering, one day when she was so very little her own mind felt like something she could get lost into so much more easily than the world-

Why isn't it just as common to say that good things always have a beginning, or that bad things always have an end?

She remembers, and smiles at the memory of a tiny child who tried to be a normal child, a child who could ask these questions and not be smart enough to know the answer.

A tiny child who played the part anyway, because smart is dangerous and, in that particular instance, ignorance is bliss.

Because the truth is that good things do not always come.

And sometimes, there are only bad things left to draw from in the lottery of one's life.)

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

That night, Elynna takes a watch shift alone, and leans against the edge of the crow's nest, staring towards what might be the horizon, though it's hard to say when there's no telling where the night sky ends and where its mirror in the sea begins when nothing is moving.

A gust of breeze blows cold around her, and mindlessly she counts the breathing patterns of the people lying on the deck below her, matching each with either of her crewmates.

Robin's breath sounds heavier than usual, and Elynna wonders if it's what she knows that makes her hear defeat in that sound.

The shine of the stars blurs into white ink dripping and shimmering on black as the tears come unbidden, but she clenches her jaw and blinks them away silently.

Still breathing remains hard, all the air from her lungs to her throat tightened into something hot and vaguely painful as the fear of what is coming twists to settle in all the cracks between her organs, cruelly familiar and still managing to make the unease as hard to swallow back inside herself as if it was the first time.

(She knows what is coming, what should come if this world hasn't deviated too much from the one she only ever knew as paper, ink and pixels.

But she knows it too vaguely to really plan for it.

And yet, she still knows enough.

Still knows enough that she remembers what might happen and can do nothing to prevent it, to make it easier.

Still knows too much to not open her eyes on some days and think I don't belong here.

There's something terribly lonely about knowledge that is just on the verge of being worthy enough to be brought into the world through action,

and that might just remain waiting on this thread forever.)

Hoisting herself up to sit on the curving edge, she lets herself fall upside down, held up only by the squeeze of her legs on the guardrail.

She looks, but the horizon hasn't changed.

She might as well still be standing upright.

It looks like the sky swallowed them to leave them sailing in a tiny world of moon and stars and sunless sea, and for a moment she wishes that was the case.

But it barely lasts the time for her to breathe out her next lungful of air, and remains nothing more than a nice passing thought, like any other dream.

Because her nakama would be safe, but they wouldn't be happy.

Because their dreams can come true, and that can only happen in this world, regardless of what it throws at them.

(Because Ignis isn't here, so she would still worry.)

And her goal is to make it safer for them to make themselves happy, no matter what the world has to say about it.

(At least as much as she can,

because after all, she has no place here.

Doesn't have the strength to be here.)

〪〪〪〜〜⏆〜〜〭〭〭

Ace showing us how to be the most badass character in a fight even if you don't win said fight. (We stan.)

Blowing stuff (and assholes) up is starting to become one of Elynna's prime coping mechanisms and it was Not Planned.

But I like it, so Imma keep it.

Also I now have this headcannon that kid!Sanji used to lock himself up in his room on the Baratie to work on old-style couple dances with an imaginary partner and you cannot convince me otherwise. Obviously, his footwork is definitely up there.

About the name Capote... It's all true. To be more precise it's the male version of a condom. I'm not making this up. I did not remember the name, and certainly did not expect it when I rewatched the arc before writing this. I'm still debating whether Oda knew this or not when he chose that name, because it's not like the guy isn't ridiculous in the first place.

On another note, you know that Elynna has evolved since the first chapter when instead of becoming a ball of angst at the idea of losing people she loves she becomes a ball of Murderous Tension™ from start to finish lmao

As for the music, the first song in the kitchen is David Bowie's Modern Love. The three songs of the party are, in order:

https: slash slash www dot youtube dot com slash watch?v=xVuIVP6Pef8

https: slash slash www dot youtube dot com slash watch?v=Um54GxH4FpY

https: slash slash www dot youtube dot com slash watch?v=oB5-pgBtWPI&list=PLBPTyr5BEnlLYAZqwaMhA19_6qMdBvYgo&index=135

These really don't reflect the kind of moves everyone pulled given that none of them really had actual training in this kind of dancing, it's more for the mood :)

(Although you really can't expect not to think that Usopp, Luffy and Chopper did the move at 3:24)

As for Elynna's performance, it's based on like the first minute of this video: https: slash slash www dot youtube dot com slash watch?v=nZNLwB607h4&list=PLBPTyr5BEnlLYAZqwaMhA19_6qMdBvYgo&index=13

I hope you're all doing good, and thanks for sticking with me in the last four months! Take care!