Ch.10- Pop Rocks and Hot Sauce and Pranks! Oh my!
Disclaimer-One Piece isn't mine and it isn't property of 4Kids entertainment. I don't give a damn what they say, it belongs to the one and only Eiichiro Oda.
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7th sun, 2nd day of blue morning glories
(Saturday, September 2)
Today, Sanji came across one of the only three Dark Diamond bracelets in the world…and it came from inside a fish. He cleaned off the bracelet and gave it to Nami after dinner to impress her. I can tell he really likes her even though he goes after other girls and women. He was successful at impressing Nami. She slipped the bracelet on her wrist, looked around the room to see if anyone was in the lounge (everyone else was in different rooms and I was hiding behind a corner…I'm surprised she didn't see me), and kissed him. Sanji looked like he died and went to heaven.
I no longer have a hate for the Marines. I know that it's not their fault for what happened to my house…it has to be Pam's fault. I have a huge feeling that she did it and completely destroyed my friendship with a Marine. I'll never get to look at Kim, Kelly, and Ryan again and consider them friends…
- -- -
The paper boy came a few days after Zoro freed Emily. Inside the paper was a wanted poster of Pam. At first Emily, Luffy, and Chopper thought that she was a monster instead of a woman and in a way she was. She had the powers of a Devil Fruit, so she was considered a monster. The price on her head was 8,000,000 berries and the paper explained that she controlled a few Marines that led to another getting severely injured. The price had been raised 3,000,000 berries since she was first wanted seven years ago.
The latest attack took place nearly two weeks ago, in Kupeviru. That proved that Pam was half responsible for the Marines' possession and burning of Emily's cabin, but the other half was Emily's fault. She, not the possessed men, attacked Ryan. She wasn't even sure if he was still alive by now.
The rest of the Straw Hat Pirates tried to assure her that he was still alive and recovering, but she still wasn't so sure.
- - -
Ryan had been in a coma ever since he fell unconscious back in Kupeviru. The doctor wasn't sure if Ryan was truly going to live, but there was a strong possibility that he might. The Marine's ship left Kupeviru three days after the Going Merry did.
Kim and Kelly visited his room often, as did Tashigi, hoping that he'd awaken and be fine. Finally, as Kim and Kelly were visiting him, Ryan's eyes opened.
Kim and Kelly screamed and ran to get Tashigi and Smoker.
Tashigi ran to her cousin's side and held his left hand, "Are you okay, Ryan?" Ryan nodded his head and noticed that he wasn't by Emily's burnt cabin…in fact, he wasn't even in Kupeviru at all and Emily was nowhere in sight.
Before he could say anything, Tashigi asked him, "Ryan, who beat you like this? Who did it?"
Ryan closed his eyes and tried to remember. Then, like a movie playing, he saw Emily screaming at him then hurling her boomerang at him. He saw the red outline on her body that made him shudder. He saw Emily running at him then beating him with her fists quickly. There was no escaping the truth, "Emerald Emily."
- - - -
Later that day, Sanji took out one of the fish he caught the day before and cut it open. He felt something hit his knife, so he cut around the item and took out a bracelet with black stones. "How the hell could a fish eat this thing?" He asked, holding the bracelet up to the only light in the kitchen.
The door opened and a hand grabbed the bracelet from his hands.
Sanji turned around and saw both Robin and Emily. Robin was holding the sticky bracelet in her hands.
"Wow…a Dark Diamond Bracelet." Emily gasped.
Sanji looked confused, "Dark Diamond Bracelet?"
Robin nodded, "The stones on the bracelet look pure black, but become white diamonds when the person wearing the bracelet is in trouble. They begin the shine depending upon the rage and determination inside a person and it adds power to the person wearing it. The brighter it is, the stronger the power will be."
"Yeah," Emily added, "And there are only three in the entire world. If all three are used in a battle, the wearers of the bracelets will be invincible in a battle."
Robin handed the bracelet back to Sanji and left the kitchen.
Sanji looked at the bracelet and started washing it off in the sink.
"You're going to give that to Nami, aren't you?" Emily asked him. Sanji blushed. "What? It's obvious that you like her and since it's a bracelet and you're a man, you'd refuse to wear it and give it to someone you love to impress her." Emily told him.
"Did your mother talk to you about love?" Sanji asked the smaller girl.
Emily frowned, "My mother died with my father and brother when I was a month old."
Sanji paused, "Oh…right. Well, what about your parent's from the circus?"
Emily giggled, "Papa believed that I was too young for love. Mama told me that if you have something to impress somebody you love, then go for it." She turned around and headed for the door. She turned her head once there, "Oh, and in case you're wondering…I know where the other two are." Then she left.
- - - -
Sanji waited for the rest of the crew minus Nami to leave the kitchen after dinner. He then told Nami to closer her eyes then placed the bracelet on her free wrist.
Nami opened her eyes and gasped. Her eyes widened when Sanji told her that it was rare: one of the only three Dark Diamond Bracelets in the world. It was a gift of love, she decided. It wouldn't be if it wasn't rare or expensive. He loved her and she just realized that.
Nami looked around the room, checking if anyone was around and seeing nobody. Then she kissed Sanji.
At first the cook didn't know how to react. This was, honestly, the first time a woman had actually kissed him. Then he got the message and deepened the kiss, not caring a single bit if anyone came down and saw him. He was happy.
- - - -
3rd sun, 5th day of blue morning glories
(Tuesday, September 5)
WANTED!
EMERALD EMILY
PRICE: 40,000,000 berries
I am wanted. For the first time in my life, I've been wanted for something other than being an Almani or a slave. I guess Ryan survived my attack and is recovering, but we won't ever be friends. I know he will never forgive me for what I've done to him. My wanted poster looks really funny. The only picture of me the Marine's have is the one from the festival in Nanahana and since both Ryan and Miki are in the picture, there's a circle around my body to show who I am. I bet that Misao and Haru are laughing right now.
Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro say that now that I've got a price on my head, I have to start learning how to be a pirate. I've been traveling with them for months and I don't see what I have to learn, but they still insist on giving me "lessons" so I can become a true pirate. I now hear Luffy calling me. The lessons are going to start…
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The paper boy came by a few days after Sanji gave the bracelet to Nami.
Zoro was the first one to see Emily's wanted poster and laughed harder than he ever did in his life. He laughed so hard that he had tears running down his face and had problems breathing. The rest of the crew stared at him, confused.
"What's so funny?" Nami asked him.
Zoro showed the poster to the rest of the crew and within seconds, the Going Merry was filled with uncontrollable laughter.
It was the first time that any of the pirates saw a person circled in a wanted poster. It was hilarious, almost like a joke. The Straw Hat Pirates could almost hear laughing from anyone on land or sea. Umiryuu even laughed when Emily showed him the poster. And because of the wanted poster, Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro wanted to teach Emily how to become a true pirate.
Zoro just wanted to fix her speech and confidence, but Luffy and Usopp's lessons were…much different from Zoro's.
"Now, in order to be a pirate, we first need to work on your confidence." Zoro told her.
"My confidence?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, you know that little guy that tells you to do the right thing." Luffy told her.
"That's a conscience, idiot." Zoro said to his captain. Then he turned to Emily, "When somebody asks you a question, don't hesitate to answer. And if you have something to say, don't be afraid to say it."
"Alright." Emily answered.
Zoro shook his head, "Now, for the next lesson. Don't be so polite."
"What do you mean?" Emily asked him.
"Well…instead of saying 'Alright', say 'Okay'." Zoro told her.
"Ummm…okay." Emily said.
"Good. Now, instead of saying 'shut up', I want you to say 'shut the hell up'." Zoro said, "Now you try saying that."
"Ummm…s-shut the hell up." Emily stuttered.
Zoro shrugged, "Good, but could use some work. I'll give you another lesson tomorrow." Then he walked to the other side of the ship and fell asleep. Now it was Luffy and Usopp's turn.
"Now, to be a pirate, you have to have a fighting weapon." Luffy told her.
"I do." Emily answered, "I fight with a boomerang."
Luffy paused for a moment, "Oh yeah."
"The next thing you have to do is something that all pirates do." Usopp told her.
"Steal treasure from other ships?" Emily guessed.
Both Usopp and Luffy shook their heads, "Drink."
"As in, drink alcohol?" Emily asked the older boys.
Usopp nodded, "In order to be a pirate, you have to drink at least a mug of grog."
"Really?" Emily asked.
Usopp nodded again, "Would I lie to a cute little girl like you?"
"Yes." Emily answered. She was not going to fall for this lie no matter how hard Usopp and Luffy tried to make her do it.
"Emily, I'm serious. All pirates drink."
"But I'm not at the legal drinking age. I'm only twelve."
"Only one mug."
"No. I'm not doing it. I don't care if I have to wait for years to be a pirate. I'm not drinking until I'm at the legal age!"
Luffy pasted a smirk on his face.
"Emily, I'm the captain and everyone on the ship has to obey me and I'm telling you to drink a mug of grog."
Both Luffy and Usopp then drug her to the kitchen and were relieved to see that Sanji wasn't there.
Luffy held Emily down while Usopp poured some grog into a clean mug. "Now, will you drink?" Luffy asked her.
"No! I won't do it!" Emily yelled.
"Then we'll have to use force." Usopp laughed and moved the mug towards her lips. Tears began to spill from Emily's eyes. Both of them were acting like her masters when she was still a slave.
The mug stopped when it was only half an inch away from her lips and got pulled back.
"That's enough!" Sanji yelled, taking the mug from Usopp's hands. Then with a few good kicks, Emily was freed and Luffy and Usopp were out of the kitchen.
Emily was still crying, but stopped after a bit of coaxing and an offering of two green apples.
She found out, later on, that Luffy and Usopp were just playing a joke on her. And they weren't going to stop. In three days, Luffy and Usopp were playing prank after prank on her.
She had water dumped on her head from the crow's nest while she sitting behind Nami's orange trees, crushed peaches were placed in her shoes when she was taking a nap in her room, and a sticky item was placed in her hair.
The sticky item was the one Emily hated the most. Luffy and Usopp wrapped the item (it was a type of gum) around the bottom of her hair.
Emily, Nami, and Robin tried pulling and brushing out the gum, but it did no good. Both women had to carefully cut Emily's hair to get the gum out. By the time they finished, Emily's hair was an inch shorter. Emily knew that the pranks weren't going to stop, so now it was her turn.
The next day, the Straw Hat Pirates entered the town of Anderson. Robin stayed on the ship while the others went into Anderson.
Emily went into a local store. A group of boys around her age were trying out free samples of a red candy. Emily walked to the stand and put a piece of the candy in her mouth. She jumped when it popped on her tongue.
The oldest boy laughed, "The Pop Rocks claim another victim."
"Pop Rocks?" Emily asked.
The boy looked at her, "Yeah, they pop in your mouth…or in your stomach if you swallow them too fast."
"Really?" Emily asked with a smirk.
"Yeah," the boy answered, "I know. I tried it before. I even glued them into big chunks with sugar and water and swallowed it too fast and it popped in my stomach. I had a stomachache for a whole day." The boy left the store with his friends.
Emily smirked, "Payback time." She bought a few bags of Pop Rocks and left for the Going Merry.
Sanji was already back and looked surprised at the small girl walking into his kitchen with bags of Pop Rocks.
Emily talked Sanji into cooking ham for dinner and asked him not to tell anyone about what she was planning on doing with the Pop Rocks. She spent three hours gluing the Pop Rocks together with sugar and water to form cut pieces of ham and save the rest of Usopp's Mad Dog Hot Sauce for the second prank.
Before dinner was served, Emily wrote a note on a piece of paper and taped it to the bottom of the plate with the Pop Rocks and hid it on her lap, under the table waiting to use it. She waited until Luffy was talking and laughing at something that Chopper said before switching Luffy's plate of chopped ham with the Pop Rocks and returning to her seat before being noticed. Emily hid the plate under her seat. Now all she had to do was wait.
As she predicted, Luffy shoved all the Pop Rocks in his mouth and swallowed them quickly. The popping started going a few seconds later.
Luffy cried out in pain at the popping in his stomach.
Usopp used his telescope and looked at the inside of Luffy's stomach. He started laughing at the little candies popping in the captain's stomach. He didn't even notice Emily putting a few drops of the Mad Dog Hot Sauce in his drink.
Usopp downed his drink the second Emily sat in her chair. In just half a second, his mouth was on fire. He ran around the ship with Luffy, screaming for water.
Sanji gave it to him, but the burning only got worse.
Nami took the hot sauce container and read part of the label out loud, "To stop burning, do not use water. Use sugar."
Before any of the two could get to the kitchen, Sanji presented Usopp with half a cup of sugar. Usopp quickly downed it and the burning stopped.
The popping in Luffy's stomach stopped and he placed his hands on his stomach, "My stomach hurts."
Zoro noticed the paper under the plate, picked it up, read it, and laughed.
"What does it say?" Chopper asked the swordsman.
Zoro took a deep breath and read out loud, "Payback is a bitch."
Chopper, Nami, Robin, and Sanji laughed. Luffy and Usopp turned their gazes at Emily, who was struggling to keep herself from laughing.
"You…" Luffy started to say.
Usopp looked shocked, "You didn't…"
Emily smirked, "I did. Remember: Payback is a bitch."
Zoro laughed harder, "Emily…"
"Yes?" Emily asked him.
"Congratulations. You are now officially a pirate." Zoro told her.
"Cool." Emily answered with a smile.
Luffy and Usopp didn't say anything to her for the rest of the night.
A few hours after dinner was over, Emily put something on her right wrist, and walked to the lounge with Lilie's earliest diary, and started reading it. Before she finished one entry, Sanji and Nami stopped in front of her with their mouths wide open.
"Where did you get that Dark Diamond Bracelet?" Nami asked, pointing at Emily's wrist.
"I found it and the other one when I was three." Emily answered.
"So, you know where the last one is?" Nami asked.
Emily nodded.
"Do you have it with you?" Sanji asked, hoping that she did.
Emily shook her head, "It's with my sister, Misao."
"You found the bracelets when you were three? How did you do that?" Nami asked.
"You really wanna hear the story?" Emily asked the navigator. Nami nodded. "Okay." Emily said, putting Lilie's diary down.
Sanji pulled up two stools for him and Nami.
"The story pretty much starts on the first day I met Misao. We were both three and old enough to do slave's work. The biggest difference between my sister and I is that we aren't even related. I was adopted into slavery and she was born into it. Misao's mother had died a year earlier and I was assigned to sleep in the same room as Misao, her father, and a few others…"
FLASHBACK- - - - - -
Three-year-old Emily had first met Misao in the parlor of their first master's house with a group of kids their age and older. None of them were allowed to sit. The master explained what each slave had to do and some punishments they may receive if they disobey their orders. Both Emily and Misao were assigned to work in the house, scrubbing the floors and dishes by hand.
Both girls were quiet for a while, even after they were left alone.
Misao finally broke the silence with crying as she dipped her scrubbing brush in the warm, soapy water in the bucket by the two girls.
"What's wrong?" Emily asked the crying girl.
Misao kept crying, "It's not fair. Our promise was broken." Misao explained to Emily about her mother and twin sister dying from disease a year before. Misao, her mother, and her twin promised that they'd all work together since their mother worked in the kitchen and the twins were young, but now it couldn't happen.
"It's okay." Emily convinced, "You can work with me and pretend that I'm your twin."
Misao smiled and shook her head, "It's okay. Your family probably wouldn't like it if you were my sister."
Emily shook her own head, "I don't have a family. They died when I was a baby. A pirate took me to an orphanage and one of the men from this house took me from the orphanage, claiming to improve my reading and writing skills."
Misao's eyes widened, "You can read and write? We aren't supposed to know how!"
Emily smiled, "Well, I do."
Misao giggled, "I don't want you to be my sister…just my best friend." Emily nodded. Emily was introduced to Misao's father later that day and she instantly knew she liked him. It only took a few weeks before the girls decided to call each other sisters instead of best friends.
A few days later, the two "sisters" found two bracelets with black stones inside the well outside of the house. Both girls found them inside the bucket as they pulled it out of the well. Their eyes sparkled as they looked at the delicate bracelets. They slipped, or attempted to slip, the bracelets on their wrists, but the bracelets were way too big.
"Why are you taking so long to get water?" A loud voice screamed from the kitchen.
Misao and Emily jumped and stuffed the bracelets into their dress pockets. Then they both brought the bucket of water into the kitchen, avoiding having any of the other slaves or any of the overseers seeing the bracelets. Later that night, when only Misao, Misao's father, and Emily were alone, the girls showed him their bracelets.
He stared in surprise at the bracelets, "I don't believe it…"
"What?" The girls asked him.
Misao's father picked both girls up and placed them on his knees, "You girls just found two of the three Dark Diamond Bracelets in the world."
"Dark Diamond Bracelets?" Misao asked.
Her father smiled and told the story of the bracelets. He explained every detail in words that both girls could understand (Emily was a bit smarter than Misao). "Now, don't show any of the bracelets to any other slave, master, or overseer. They'd steal them and keep the power for themselves." He told the girls.
Misao and Emily nodded.
"We'll find the last one and give it to you!" Emily said to Misao's father.
"And we'll be the most powerful people in the world!" Misao added.
Misao's father laughed, "What generous girls I have. It makes me happy to have two daughters again. Now, it's dark outside. Go to sleep, you got an early day of work tomorrow."
"Okay, Daddy." Both girls said, hugging him, hiding their bracelets in their bags, and falling asleep in their own beds.
-END FLASHBACK- - - - - -
Nami put her hand on her bracelet, "So you promised to give the bracelet to Misao's father?"
Emily sadly nodded, "It's okay, you can keep it."
"Why?" Nami asked.
At first, Emily didn't say anything, but answered Nami's question, "About four or five months after we made the promise, Misao's father was accused of killing a rich man in town. He claimed that he didn't do it and he really didn't, but since he was a slave and a witness, who was a drunkard, claimed he saw Misao's father do it.
"Without being given a trial, he was brought to the platform in town. All the other slaves and even a few townspeople stood around the platform. Misao and I were in the front row and stood right in front of the platform. We saw a rope getting towards him, and we knew what was going to happen. Misao's father pleaded innocence one last time, but it did no good. He made one final request as the rope was being tied around his neck. He said…he said…" Now Emily was starting to cry.
"What did he say?" Sanji asked.
Emily wiped away her tears and continued, "He said 'I know it is useless for me to be saved, but I beg of you, make sure that Emily and Misao don't see what's going to happen to me.' The master nodded and had two overseers cover mine and Misao's eyes. The platform dropped and he was hung. They kept his body handing hours after he died. Misao and I cried as we saw his body swinging in the wind."
"That's terrible." Nami gasped.
Emily shrugged, "But it happened. Misao's got the other bracelet. You can keep yours, Nami. It does belong to you after all."
Nami nodded and left the lounge with Sanji.
Emily opened up Lilie's diary to the last entry written when she lived in the Almani forest:
7th sun, 14th day of white daisies
(Saturday, April 14)
I visited Kristina in her secret garden today and told her about my plan to leave with Ryou. I asked her if she could let us go through her garden to get to the entrance and avoid the guards. I didn't know if I should have asked her to help with letting me and Ryou escape. I mean, she was an eleven year old kid, just seven years younger than me, and doing this one little task could make her lose her title or life depending on how angry her father would be if he found out, but we were friends.
Kristina hesitated for a moment, but nodded, "Okay, I'll do it. Dad made security a little tighter, but I know a way to get you passed the guards with a new tunnel I made. Come here to my garden at 11:30 with Ryou and don't tell ANYBODY about this. If Joshua finds out about the tunnels, he'll tell Dad and I will get the ultimate punishment." I promised her and told Ryou my plan. I'm taking him there tonight.
-Lilie
Emily was confused. Who was Kristina and why would it be her fault if Ryou, Lilie, and her tunnel were found out? And most importantly, what was her title? Did the Almani call her anything but "Kristina"? The questions stayed in her head long after Emily fell asleep.
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A/N: I tried to make a kinda humorous chapter, so I put Pop Rocks in this story even though there aren't any Pop Rocks in One Piece. Anderson is an actual town in northern California. My sister has been there a few times. I will add an attack from Pam in my next chapter. And I will explain who everybody from Lilie's diary later on, otherwise, you guys can just guess who the people are. R/R please and give me ideas if ya got them.
