To Lady Zoro, thank you for your wonderful review. I hope to not dissapoint. To the others who read my story, thanks a bunch! The rest of this may be a little slow going. I'm getting married in seven weeks, and things are getting a bit hectic. I will try to post as often as possible though. For those of you who are looking for a little romance and fluff...i thinks i'll put some in there somewhere ;) Also, give smoker a chance...you never know what HIS side of the story might be!
Chapter 2: Forbidden Fruit
She was sore. Oh, goodness was she sore. Her whole body felt like it had been battered against the sea floor by unforgiving waves. Slowly, Tashigi began to come to, and realized she was lying on the most uncomfortable bed she had ever slept on.
As she opened her eyes, she promptly shut them again. The sting of the sun's harsh rays was too much for her weary eyes. She shifted, and as she did she felt not sheets but sand beneath her fingertips. Fully awake now, Tashigi took in her surroundings as she tried to remember how she got to such a desolate stretch of beach.
The previous evening slowly crept back into her mind. In an amazing amount of pain, Tashigi fled the Armada on a small escape vessel. The ship had set a course for Autumn Haven Island, but first it had to pass two smaller ones. The spring island of Valley View and the summer island of Forrest Creek were parallel to each other on the grand line. Tashigi wasn't sure which one she landed on in the middle of the night.
Fresh tears sprung into her eyes as she realized that her life truly was over now. She was no longer in Captain Smoker's favor. She was a Navy deserter, and she had stolen the devil fruit. She didn't even know what the fruit did besides change her skin color. The more she thought about it, the more she felt she had made a big mistake.
The more he thought about it, the more he thought he had made a big mistake. Tashigi had always been his most loyal and just marine. He should have trusted her judgment. Yes, he was angry, but he shouldn't have let his emotions get a hold of himself like that.
He had always found the girl alluring, but he had never planned to act on it. She was a naïve child, always doing what she was told, when she was told to do it. Smoker liked his women more seasoned, spunkier, and more sensual.
The longer the Straw Hat Pirates sailed the Grand Line, the angrier Smoker became. They were the only pirates to escape his grasp, and their defiance fueled his rage. His rage turned his emotions into passionate and obsessive sensations that clouded his judgment. He called Tashigi to his chambers. She shared his hatred of these pirates, perhaps they could share in their rage.
Smoker sat on the side of his bed, mulling over his thoughts. The longer Tashigi took to arrive, the longer he had to think about ho similar they were. He needed her comfort, and that too made him angry. It was as if all his emotions were heightened, spinning out of control.
When she entered his cabin, he was on her in an instant. He didn't event think as he allowed his rage, his need for emotional release to take over. She was a beautiful, strong woman, and she felt good in his rough hands. She was devoted to him…he needed her.
His passion triggered his release, and with it his common sense came flooding back. He had taken his Sergeant Major to bed. He had taken her with no thought as to what she wanted, felt, or needed in a lover. He hadn't cared what she wanted, and he was disgusted in himself. He dismissed her after using her body for his own release.
Since the night he happened upon a seedy pirate ship in his port and found the helpless Tashigi lying unconscious on the deck, Smoker had had a soft spot for her. He caudled her when she was a teenager, and coveted her as a young woman. She was innocence, naiveté, and justice rolled into one, and no one was going to change that. She was his Tashigi…and he had broken her.
In the wee hours of the morning, he knew what he had to do. The Captain made his way to his Sergeant Major's quarters. He needed to talk to her, to apologize, and to make sure she was all right.
He knew he was unforgiving to her body the night before. He only hoped she would understand, to be the same eager to please Tashigi she had always been. He needed to make it right, but deep in his gut he knew…he would never be the one to make it right. It may never be right…
He knocked at her door, but there was no answer. It wasn't time for her to be up yet, so he knocked again, wanting to give her an opportunity to come to the door. Smoker waited, and still there was no Tashigi.
He was beginning to let his frustration and worry win out. He had to talk to her! How the hell was she going to tell him that everything was all right if she wouldn't answer the damn door? Smoker pounded on her door, splintering the wood and knocking it off its hinges. The dust cleared and Smoker squinted to adjust his vision to the darkened room. Tashigi wasn't in bed. Her room was untouched. Nothing was out of place. Perhaps she was already up.
The Captain used the glowing butt of one of his cigars to light an oil lamp on Tashigi's desk. He scanned the small room, wondering if he really knew the girl he had much-admired these past few years.
She had next to no personal belongings. Her bed was made perfectly to Navy regulation, complete with regulation sheets and blue blankets. Her desk had no pictures, only a clock, and the pen set she was awarded when she was raised in rank, a stapler, a paperweight, and the now glowing oil lamp.
There wasn't a speck of paper in the wastebasket, a sock peeking out from under the bed, or a dresser drawer ajar. Everything was Navy regulation perfect, right down to the bare wall and the empty rack that help Shigure, Tashigi's prized sword.
A lighting bolt went off in Smoker's head. If Shigure was gone…then so was Tashigi.
"ALL HANDS ON DECK!" He shouted loud enough to wake the dead sleeping in their sunken ships at the bottom of the ocean.
Quickly officers of the Naval Armada ran from their quarters to the deck in various forms of dress. Needless to say they were all disheveled due to the hour.
"Where is Sergeant Major Tashigi?" Smoker bellowed to his crew.
No one spoke up. Tashigi was nowhere in the crowd, and it was obvious that no one else knew where she was either.
"Well…FIND HER! I DON'T CARE IF YOU HAVE TO TEAR THE SHIP APART! FIND HER!" Smoker screamed, ominous smoke rising from his body like steam off hot pavement on a rainy day.
The men scurried to find Tashigi.
Tashigi struggled to her feet and looked around. This was defiantly a summer island on the Grand Line. It had to be Forrest Creek. The sun was warm and sand was cool and wet. The forest behind her was ripe with lush trees dotted with berry bushes and flowering plants.
In the distance Tashigi could hear the rushing of a small river and hoped it would lead her to drinking water. She grasped her sword and used it as a machete to cut back the thick growth. She was lucky to happen upon raspberry bushes on her journey towards the water, and eagerly ate the sweet red and black berries.
The vegetation grew denser the closer she got to the sound of water, and she struggled to get through the thorny bramble. With one final slash of her sword, Tashigi stumbled out of the forest and onto the banks of a burbling brook.
The water was cool, clear and refreshing, and the now ex-marine eagerly drank the sweet water. Gingerly, Tashigi washed her face and the cuts on her arms from the unforgiving berry bushes. She grumbled at the sight of the red slashes on her arm, and desperately wished for her creamy skin again.
Suddenly, her arms began to tingle, not unpleasant, but noticeable. Tashigi gasped as she watched the scrapes on her arms disappear, leaving only pale, creamy flesh behind. He mind raced as she thought of the possibility that the fruit she had eaten had given her the ability to heal herself. She sprung to her feet, eager to discover more about her body, but her muscles screamed in protest.
Focusing all her energies on her sore muscles, Tashigi wished to be limber again. Gently, she tried flexing her muscles, but to her despair, she was still sore. Grumbling, she sat back down and stared at her reflection in the brook. Obviously, it wasn't a healing fruit.
Being a somewhat intelligent girl, Tashigi put her mind to work. When she was trying to escape the ship, her skin had changed tone. When she was upset about her skin looking terrible from the bushes, her skin turned creamy white.
Experimentally, Tashigi imagined her scratches to be back on her body, and low and behold, they came back. Intrigued, she imagined her skin to be tanned, and her skin began to darken. Excitedly, Tashigi looked at her reflection in the brook. She stared back at herself; only with the best tan she had even gotten in her life.
Wondering what else she could do, Tashigi concentrated on her eyes, changing them from dark brown to a stunning blue. Next, she looked at her hair, and it became lighter and lighter until she reached blond.
Tashigi sat back on her heels for a moment and thought. She had heard tales of several different cursed devil fruits. The Smoke Smoke, Gum Gum, Chop Chop, and Slip Slip were just a few. There was the Rock Rock, the Pow Pow, the Mask Mask…
"That's it!" Tashigi shouted, scaring a flock of roosting birds from the tress into the sky.
The Mask Mask fruit. It allows the person to change his or her appearance at will, like putting on a mask whenever they wanted. Tashigi could hardly contain her excitement. She needed a way to blend into her surroundings, and this was just the gift from the gods she needed to do it.
For the next few hours, Tashigi sat on the banks of her brook, practicing her newfound talent. Her hair color, eye color, and body shape changed faster and faster until she had it down to second nature. It was remarkable how quickly she was able to pick up her new abilities.
The Sun was low in the sky before Tashigi had become set on a disguise. Never one to stand out, at first she entertained thoughts of lush lips, flowing locks, bright blue eyes and big breasts. However, the more she thought about it, the more she thought that it would be better to blend in.
With an audible sigh, Tashigi took one final look at herself before she decided to try to find a town. Her black hair had been changed to brown and had been lengthened to her shoulder blades. Her dark eyes were now a pale hazel, and her body was plain and common. Her only worry was her jacket, which bore the Navy emblem. If she found a town, she would be sure to ditch it. As far as she was concerned, Sergeant Major Tashigi of the Navy Armada disappeared last night, washed away by the waves.