One Piece: The Musician

Chapter 14: Turning Back

The ocean was calm, but the Straw-Hat Crew was anything but. There was a silence that everyone on board was unfamiliar with. A tension that was usually relieved by one person and that one person was in a daze himself right now.

Luffy sat atop Merry Go's head and stared at the water. Then he looked back. Rhea had disappeared behind the horizon and Luffy suddenly realized something. Arina was his musician and he has always gotten the crew members he has wanted. But more than a musician, she was a friend. Luffy leaped off his seat, trampled over a sleeping Zoro, demolished Usopp's card castle (much to Usopp's dismay), and knocked over Sanji to get to the cabin where Nami was mapping out their route to Rahudell with their newly acquired map. Luffy slapped his hand over the map, still wet with ink. Nami's mouth dropped.

"What the hell are you doing, Luffy?"

"We have to turn back."

"What?"

"We are turning around."

Suddenly, Nami grinned.

"Took you long enough."

The two ran out screaming, "Hurry up you guys! We're going back to Rhea!"

xxx

Tears rolled down Arina's cheeks as Sanjiro dropped his gun and picked up Hiro's sword. Then, he stabbed her. Again. And again. And again. The first stab went literally unnoticed by Arina. But on the second stab, a twinge had formed. By the fifth stab, she thought she had been set on fire. And then everything began to fade away. The fire, Sanjiro's face…

Is this what it's like to die…?

Since Hiro's death, Arina had had recurring dreams about running away with Hiro. Breaking away from the shackles that bound them to their forbidden life. Their forbidden love. It was ridiculous how much Captain Blackbeard and Captain Waterloo hated each other. It made Arina feel like she was living in some pathetic version of Romeo and Juliet. She hated how much she loved both Hiro and her father. She would do anything to protect either one of them. She also knew that, one day, she would have to choose between the two…

Feeling like she had just been thrown off the roof of a twenty-story building, Arina awoke in her bed. Groggily, she rolled out of bed onto the floor.

"Are you finally up, Arina?"

"Yeah, I'm up."

"It's about time."

"Mhm."

It took Arina a moment to realize she had no idea who she was answering. Crawling to the side of the bed, she peeked over the edge. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was only Hiro. He came over to her and lifted her to her feet.

"Hurry up and get dressed, Arina. Come down to breakfast and I want to tell you something."

Hiro was sitting at an empty dining table when Arina came downstairs.

"Where's the food?"

"That can wait. I need to ask you something."

"What is it Hiro? It sounds serious…"

She sat down across from him and took his hands. He inhaled deeply.

"Do you love me, Arina?"

Laughter escaped her mouth, despite the fact that Hiro was obviously very grim about it.

"Of course. I figured that kinda went with the 'I do's' ya know?"

"Arina. This is serious."

The humor faded from Arina's face and was replaced by concern.

"Hiro. What is this about? What's wrong?"

Rather than answering her question, he asked another.

"Would you ever betray me?"

Whoosh, the concern was gone. Now it was just silent outrage.

"I would never even think of going against you! What's the hell is wrong with you!"

Hiro laid a piece of paper on the table. It was a map. No. It wasn't a map. It was the map. The map that Arina's father had sent her to hide so that no one, particularly Captain Waterloo could not get to it. It was the map to One Piece.

"What were you planning to do with this?"

"I wasn't planning to do anything with it, Hiro."

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

Silence. The two of them were no longer holding hands. Rather they were on opposite side of the table and opposite sides of the world.

"MAIL CALL!"

Arina looked away from Hiro. She could no longer bear to stare at his face. In a timid voice she stuttered, "I-I'm going to go get that…"

Hiro abruptly stood up and stormed up the stairs just as Arina reached into their mailbox and pulled out a stack of envelopes.

"Bills, bills, bills, town council meeting, bills…" she stopped and extracted the yellow envelope addressed to her. Everything else fell to the ground. She ripped it open… No doubt about it. It was from her father:

To my dearest daughter,

I hope you are reading this letter in good health and happiness. I hear you got married! I've sent you a wedding present. Don't know if you've received it yet…I've also sent the map that I told you about. If you have received it I must insist that you remain furtive about it. I know who you have married Arina and though I question your judgment, I also trust it. As I trust you. It's him I do not trust. The map must stay away from him and his father. Hide it! Remember. Do not let love cloud your better judgment. You're smarter than that, I know it. I want you to be careful around him.

All the best,

Dad

As she folded the letter back into the envelope, she cried. Arina knew that the day would come when she had to choose between her husband and her father. But how could she? The two men had so much in common and had both done so much for her… How could she choose between the friend she grew up with and fell in love, versus the man who made her the strong person that she was today? How?

As Arina pondered this, through her tear-blurred eyes she spotted another envelope of the same size on the ground, amongst the bills and ads. Her hand shook as she reached down to pick it up. It was another letter addressed to her house… but not to her… It was addressed to Hiro from his father…

Do not let love cloud you better judgment. You're smarter than that, I know it.

I'm sorry dad…I guess I'm not that smart.

Arina ripped the envelope open. If she had known what she was going to read…

She would have just thrown the letter out all together…

End.

Note: In case you guys are confused, Arina's having a "flashback" to about three years ago. You'll soon get to find out the other half of the story that she didn't tell the Straw-Hat Crew.