Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma or One Piece.
((Thoughts))
"Dialogue"
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Ranma was standing in the orange field of the plantation where he and his father were staying for some time now, they came here to beat the fishman Arlong and his crew and get the bounty of 20 million Berry. But as the two arrived there they were told that Arlong had already been beaten by a young pirate named Ruffy.
Now they were staying here to earn a little bit money so that they could pay for their next crossing. Ranma felt someone coming nearer towards him and turned around. He saw a beautiful girl, she had violet short hair with a red hair-band and was wearing a purple tank top and black pants, on her right shoulder was a blue tattoo,
"Hey Ranma!"
"Hi Nojiko, how are you?" greeted Ranma
"I'm fine and what are you doing out here? You already did your work for today." asked Nojiko curiously
"Well, I'm thinking about… … how should I say it…?" said Ranma searching for words
"You want to become a pirate." stated the young woman matter-of-factly
Ranma looked bewildered at Nojiko, "H-h-how do you know?"
"I saw it in your eyes when I told you and your father about the fight with Arlong. Your eyes glowed with an inner fire just like Ruffy's and his crew's eyes did as they battled the fishmen."
Ranma began to snicker which then turned into laughter, this in turn startled the woman, "Why are you laughing?"
The boy calmed down after a while and replied, "Well, I always thought I was good at hiding that I want to be a pirate from my father but it seems he's just too stupid to notice it. I live here for just three weeks and you already know that I want to become a pirate, I traveled with my father for over ten years now and he still can't figure it out. He still thinks that I want to become a martial artist and teach in a dojo…"
"But you are a martial artist; I saw your sparring sessions with your father every morning. You are a good fighter." replied Nojiko
"I'm a good fighter but no martial artist… not with my heart." answered Ranma matter-of-factly
"Oh… this may sound a bit harsh now but why don't you leave your father and live on your own, you are old enough." proposed the young woman
"It doesn't sound harsh, I thought of it before, very often to say the truth but one day I want to see my mother again and he is the only one I know who knows where she lives."
"Hmmmm… You could ask in one of the marine stations after your mother, they normally have a listing of all inhabitants of the different islands."
Ranma now stared at Nojiko, after a while she was weirded out by the look she got and asked, "Why are looking at me like this, did I say something wrong?"
The boy blinked at the question and answered, "No, you didn't say anything wrong, it's just that I never thought to ask the marine about my mother."
Nojiko facefaulted at this, after she picked herself back up she said, "You travel through the East Blue for ten years now but you never thought about asking the marine?"
"Well, yes…" answered Ranma, his face reddening slightly
The woman didn't answer at this one, she looked up at the sky and noticed that it was pretty late, "We should go in now, it's going to be dark soon and I need to start making dinner. Do you want to help me?"
"I would like to help. Let's go!" together they walked inside the house and into the kitchen.
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Dinner table that evening
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"Ranma, we are leaving tomorrow, I asked Genzo today and he said that the next ship is arriving then."
"Tomorrow already? I thought we were going to stay longer."
"No, I want to visit a good friend of mine, we trained together a long time ago when I was younger." replied Genma
"On what island does he live?" asked Ranma curiously
"He has a dojo in Logue Town."
Ranma's eyes widened as he heard this, "L-Logue Town! You do mean the town where Gold Roger was born and where he was executed? The last island before the Grand Line?"
"Yes, exactly that island." responded the husband of Nodoka
That was when Nojiko decided to talk, "That sounds good, I can come with you two."
"Why is that? I thought you must take care of the plantation?" questioned the young man
"Well, that is true but I have to earn money too and the market of Logue Town is the biggest on the whole East Blue."
Genma looked thoughtful at this, he didn't want Ranma to have many female friends… well, he didn't want Ranma to have any friends at all, "Okay, we should all go to sleep after we finish eating, we need to stand up early tomorrow."
They all stayed silent for the rest of dinner, after they were finished Ranma helped Nojiko with the dishes and they all went to bed. As Ranma reached the room where his father and he stayed, he found Genma already sleeping in one of the two beds.
Ranma walked to his bed but stopped when he heard his father talking in his sleep,
"Need to get rid of the girl… can't have her together with the boy…" that was when his talking got weirder, "No master…! No… noooo…"
"I'm not going to let that happen." said Ranma to himself, "I think it's time that I finally left you."
Genma didn't hear it of course, Ranma went to his bed and ripped his blanket into several pieces, he took them and bound his father's arms and legs to the bed posts. Then he walked to Genma's backpack and took out all the money he could find and put it into his own pack.
Now Ranma only had to wait for the next morning. He spent the night with all possible outcomes of what he planned and what he would do once he reached Logue Town.
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The next day
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Genma yawned and tried to sit up but he found it to be an impossible task, he quickly looked at his arms and legs and noticed that he was bound to the bed,
"What the hell happened here!" asked Genma
"I happened." came a voice from the side
Genma looked into the direction the voice came from and saw his son, "Ranma, what are you trying to accomplish with this!"
"No time to talk pops. I need to catch a ship to Logue Town." Ranma walked to his father and with a quick punch he sent the man back to sleep. He took another piece of the ripped blanket and gagged Genma with it. Next he took his backpack and walked to the door,
"Bye, pops."
Ranma left his room and walked down the stairs, he was surprised to see Nojiko already standing there with her own backpack,
"Good morning, Ranma!"
"G-good morning, Nojiko."
"Where is your father, I thought we were going to the harbor in Kokos?" asked Nojiko
"Errrr… Well, he told me he has something very important to do and we should go ahead." answered Ranma hoping that she bought his story
"Oh… Okay, then lets hurry we don't want to be late."
They walked out of the house and were about to leave for the village when Ranma remembered something, "Say Nojiko, didn't you tell us yesterday that you want to sell the oranges we picked the whole three weeks on the market in Logue Town."
"Yes, why do you ask?"
"Well… where are they?" asked Ranma confused
Nojiko looked a moment weirdly at the boy, then she realized what he was asking for, "Oh that! The boxes were already brought to the harbor by some workers from Kokos. We can go directly to the ship."
"Good, then let's go!" said Ranma cheerfully, ((God, this works better than I thought it would, if I had to carry all these boxes, we would have been stuck here for the next few hours…))
Together they walked to the small town all the while talking about the weather, the journey and other unimportant things.
After half an hour of wandering Ranma and Nojiko finally reached Kokos harbor, they could see that the ship was already there. At the pier they saw the local policeman Genzo, who wore a brown uniform and had scars all over his body, talking with what seemed like the captain of the ship, he was a rather old man, his hair was grey and he was clearly unshaved, he was wearing a short sleeved shirt, brown pants and leather boots, on his left forearm was a tattoo in form of a squid.
"Hey, Genzo!" the two young people greeted
"Hello you two!" said Genzo, "Ready for departing?"
"Not yet, we are still waiting for Ranma's father." replied Nojiko
"We can't wait much longer." interrupted the captain, "We have to leave soon."
"We can go already." responded Ranma, "Pops said that we should go to Logue Town without him if he is late. He is going to take the next ship; he also gave me the address of his friend there."
"Okay, so there is no problem, you two go on the ship and I finish all the preparations." said the captain
"Goodbye, Genzo." said Nojiko hugging the old policeman, she let go of him and handed him a small letter, "Here, read this after the ship departed."
Ranma only shook the old man's hand but handed him too a piece of paper with the same request Nojiko made.
After ten minutes the captain and his crew finished all the arrangements and sailed away from the island. Ranma and Nojiko were standing on the deck and were waving towards Genzo.
After the ship was away Genzo opened both letters, first he read Nojiko's,
Thank you for everything Genzo, take care of the plantation and the house for me. It will be some time before I will return. I think I follow in Nami's footsteps and become a pirate.
Farewell,
Nojiko
Genzo shook his head at the letter and wiped away some tears, he knew that girl since she was a little kid. After putting her letter into the pocket of his pants, he read Ranma's note,
Genzo, my father is lying in Nojiko's house. He is bound to his bed and knocked out, go free him and take a doctor with you. I think I hit him a little bit too hard.
Bye,
Ranma, the future King of Pirates
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