Responses to Review:-
Gothywolfie: Thanks, now I understand why you hadn't updated.lol. no more angry reviews from me. And yes (as I said before)I am Shadowmaniac, I changed it because I thought it was cute, and I like cats (probably why I like Kuro, so much) This pen name kinda rolls of the tongue, besides I was getting bored of my old name.
Yahtzee: Thanks again, your editing really helped, If you go back to my last 2 chapters, you'd see that I made some changes for what was necessary in your review. Please review again, like I said before I'm not good with sentence types.
Omnichild: Dunno, I guess I had a bit of writer's block, here's more story:
Trigun0gt1844vv0: tell me about it…
DudettRin101:Thankies, and its so kewl of ya to review.
Whatever it takes
Chapter 3
"LAND!" yelled Monkey D. Luffy, standing on the edge of the ship, with one hand on his head keeping his straw hat in place.
Sanji came out of the cabin when he heard Luffy shout.
"What is it Luffy?" he asked calmly.
"LAND!" he repeated again.
"Finally," said Sanji. "It's about time, we aint been off of this boat in days."
Luffy alerted the rest of the crew, about his discovery. They all came out of their rooms, and stood beside the captain: Nami, Zoro, Chopper, Usopp, Robin, and Sanji.
"LAND!" he shouted yet again, as if he was a broken record.
"LUFFY! We know, we heard you the first two times." Zoro snapped angrily.
"LAND!" this time he repeated it just for the fun of it.
"LUFFY!" he shouted again, he was beginning to really aggravate him. Zoro lifted the end of his sword with his thumb. Nami put her arm in front of him, signaling him to stop.
"Zoro, quit it, he's just excited," she whispered. He gave a low growl. A few moments later they had docked the ship, all were truly grateful to be back on solid ground. As usual, the first thing that came to Luffy's mind was food.
Luffy was about to run off when he remembered something. Someone had to stay and watch the ship. They all drew straws to determine who would stay behind, and stand guard. Before they could decide the victim, Usopp jumped up proudly, and declared,
"I, the great captain Usopp, will stay and guard the ship for my fellow crew members."
He over exaggerated a bit.
"Gee, thanks, Usopp!" Luffy declared, and ran off in search of meat. Before anyone could do anything about it, Luffy disappeared into the town.
Nami and the rest of the crew let out a sigh, at the sight of their insensible captain.
About five minutes later, the crew had set off in all directions: Luffy went towards food, Robin headed towards somewhere quiet to read, Sanji went to buy food to cook, Usopp stayed at the ship, Nami went shopping (of course), Zoro just strode casually around the town.
As Zoro walked around, he saw many things that caught his eye. He saw a sword shop, another sword shop, and well, a sword shop. (Don't you ever think he is too involved?)
Nami also walked around, scanning the several shops. Some, she found to her own liking, such as a clothing store, a beauty supply stand, and even some map making shops.
Zoro looked through the clear-glass windows of some high quality sword shops. He repeated the same line that had been stated, earlier in the straw hat journey, in Roguetown,
"So many swords, so little money."
It was true, the swordsman was truly broke. He had not obtained a single berrie. Nami was the only one with the money. She was the one who handled all the crews' money, and managed the budget. Of course they had to entrust, her with the money. She was a thief.
If Zoro could just find Nami, he would be able to purchase anything. The straw hat crew had a lot of money, he knew, they just spent a lot of it on food for Luffy.
He turned his head from side to side, looking for the young navigator. Grr, where is that thief? he thought. She couldn't be far, she was always in vicinity of the stores, after they hit land. Damn it, where is she?
While Zoro was looking for Nami, Luffy was on a quest of his own, searching for meat. Luffy had been searching for a while now, and still couldn't find meat, and he had no money.
"Oi I know," He thought out loud, "The ship!" he yelled.
"GUM GUM ROCKET!" he declared lunged his stretchy arms towards the Merry Go.
After blasting himself, he landed on the ground, face first.
"ow…"
A few blocks away from the others, Sanji stood against a wall, with his hands in his pockets. Of course, he could take a break from the shopping, and flirt with a couple of girls…a couple of unlucky girls…
Zoro was still searching for Nami, and money. After looking for a few more minutes, he finally found her. But he did not find her where he expected her to be. She was alone, next to the side of a house, near the water line; he also thought she looked depressed. Taking a few steps closer, he knew there was something wrong with her…
/Flashback/
Nami, peacefully, walked down the street. In her hand, she held a shopping bag, full of colorful items.
As she walked, she felt the urge to have a snack. She stood in line at a snack kart, anxiously awaiting her food. She was almost to the front of the line when she saw a family of four. There was a mother, father, a baby, and a girl about nine years old.
The young girl reminded of herself, when she was that age. Courageous, adventurous, and defiant was all the characteristics when she was younger. The sight made her smile. But in a moment a light went off in her head, as…
"Rachel, get back here, you'll hurt yourself!" the mother shouted.
"Haha mommy, you can't catch me."
The mother with the infant in her hand, picked up the pace, but was stopped by the father. Then the child tripped, over her own feet.
The mother sighed and went towards her daughter, and bent down, allowing Rachel to climb onto her arm, sobbing.
"Oh, honey," the mother said, "See what happens when you run off."
"Sorry mommy."
When Nami saw the child and her mother, she winced painfully. It reminded her of the childhood she never had.
The mother pecked the girl on the cheek.
Nami began to get a tear in her eye, the tear slowly fell down her cheek. She truly wished she had a family. She never had a family to protect her and love her and care for her, to always be there for her. The closest thing she had to a family was her adoptive mother and sister, Bellemaire and Nojiko. But Bellemaire was killed by the devious saw-toothed Arlong when she was at the age of ten.
Nojiko was left back at her hometown, Cocoyasha Village. She missed them with all her heart.
Another tear began to stream down Nami's face, followed by many others. She clamped her hand over her mouth and ran off, alone…
/End Flashback/
Zoro slowly wandered over to where the navigator sat, forgetting his original idea, to ask for money. He stood before her, and asked, "Nami?" he started, "What's wrong?"
"Hmph…nothing," she whispered, another tear escaping from her cheerless eyes.
He put down his three swords. Zoro sat down, beside her. He leaned over, putting slight pressure onto her side. "No, it's not nothing…I'm trying to help," he said softly, as he put his hand up to her chin, and brought it towards him.
Nami looked at the swordsman, through terror driven eyes. Zoro found himdelf staring at her, the same way he did before…affectionately.
Nami jerked her head away, and turned to the other side.
"Well, you're not!"
He put his hand on her shoulder, gently. Nami lifted her head, and Zoro lowered his, the wall casting a shadow across his face.
"I know how you feel," he murmured, "I never had a family either."
How did he know that was why I was miserable? Nami thought.
She turned and looked at him with her eyes full.
"Zoro…,"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks," she spoke with a soft whisper, and through herself into his open arms. But this time she didn't run away.
After a few minutes, Nami cried herself dry, leaving Zoro with a damp shirt. Hesitantly, she pulled herself away, gazing into his eyes, and smiled.
Zoro inched in towards Nami's face, their noses practically touched. Their lips were only milliliters away, and both crew mates eyes slipped close. Zoro couldn't fight back the urge to brush his lips against hers.
All of the sudden the pair heard a loud and violent blast, causing them to jump.
"What the…"
Zoro rose to his feet, leaving Nami on the ground. He looked and found where the blast had come from…
"THE SHIP!" He yelled, and saw a mass of smock coming from the "Merry Go".
He shot forward, ready to take action. Swiftly he sped back to Nami, and offered her his hand.
"Come on," he said, as Nami took his hand, and planted her feet.
They ran off towards the ship. Their hands were interlocked.
When they reached the "Merry Go" they quickly let go of each other's hand, when the rest of the straw hat crew greeted them.
"What's going on?" Zoro asked.
"Why don't you ask Usopp," Sanji said mumbled.
"Usoooooopp…what did you do, you little weasel!" He barked.
Usopp sweat dropped, and lifted his hands in the air.
"I swear, I didn't do anything, I was just watching the ship when it burst with smoke."
Like anyone would believe that.
"Oh, would you be willing to stake your life on it?" Zoro replied with a smirk.
"Ahhhhhh!" Usopp screeched, and dashed across the sand, as Zoro unsheathed his katana. Zoro, however, stayed in the same spot.
"SHIP!" Luffy yelled.
"Yes, Luffy," said Chopper, "we know that the ship is smoking."
"NAVY SHIP!" he shouted, pointing.
"What…"
The entire crew, including Robin and Chopper, looked out to where the captain was pointing. He was right, there was a navy ship out at sea, and actually it was almost to shore. The ship docked next to the damaged Merry Go, and a leader stepped out, the darkness hiding his identity.
"So…" he began, "Which one of you is Roronoa Zoro?"
Hope this chapter was better then the last, if not, review & tell me what ya think.