Chapter 2: Discovering new friends

I winced as I saw the rest of the straw hat crew walk over the dune. Damnit. I had been sucked into the one piece universe. Oh now this was just getting freaky. I backed up as the crew stopped and stared at me.

"HIIII!" Luffy cried before jumping down the dune, tumbling and ending up face first in the sand. I whimpered and moved away a bit more. This was like some sort of sadistic dream.

"Luffy! You scared her you idiot!" Nami yelled from atop the camel. I looked up as the camel came down the dune and the two women came up to me. I looked up, rather apprehensive of what would happen.

"Hi. Who are you and what are you doing out in the desert by yourself?" Vivi asked.

"I…don't know. I'm kinda lost." I replied relaxing a little. I looked over and saw Usopp and Chopper pulling at Luffy's legs, trying to haul him out of the sand. I raised an eyebrow.

"Ignore them. They're just idiots." Nami said noticing where I was looking. "So, what's your name?"

"Uh, Stealthy. But you can call me S." I replied still not taking my eyes off of where Usopp and Chopper were. They had managed to get Luffy out of the sand and the three of them were now laughing.

"So. Where are you from S?" Vivi asked and then paused, "I don't remember seeing you anywhere before." I smiled and shook my head.

"I'm from out of town." I said. "Way…out of town." Vivi nodded.

"Are you a pirate or a sailor or something?" Nami asked. I looked up at her, tearing my eyes away from the laughing trio.

"Well…" I thought a moment. It would be easier to just feign that I had no memory of my past rather than make up answers. "I don't know." I said and then tilted my head, "I don't really have any memory. The last thing I remember was waking up here." Nami glanced at Vivi who gave me a sympathetic smile.

"So you don't know where you're going or where you've been. That's sad." Vivi said. I looked around again and then screamed as a straw hatted grinning face was shoved near to my own. I fell back onto the sand with a slight thump. Luffy laughed.

"You're funny!" he cried. Nami glared at her captain.

"Luffy! Grow up for heavens sake!" she cried. I chuckled.

"No, it's okay. He just shocked me." I waved my hand at Nami signalling for the orange haired woman to drop it.

"He shocks everyone." a gruff voice said from beside me. I looked up and saw my absolute, most favourite character in all of the One Piece era…mainly cos' he was cute. He he.

Roronoa Zolo. He was looking down at me with a rather suspicious stare and then his eyes fell on the sword at my side and his eyes narrowed.

"You a sword fighter?" he asked and I just couldn't resist being a smart arse.

"No, it's an ornament to increase the size of my hip." I responded and then Zolo smiled.

"Fair enough." he said. I stood and dusted myself off.

"We have to keep moving." Sanji said and Luffy turned away, revealing me to the one guy in One Piece, I really didn't like. Sanji.

"Ah, such a gorgeous flower in the middle of a barren wasteland! What is your name my sweet?" Sanji suddenly cried, his hands under his chin and a heart beating where his eye should have been.

"Oh great." Nami muttered, resting a hand against her forehead. I backed up and ended up back to chest against Zolo. I stiffened and took a step forward. Zolo laughed.

"So it's not just me, everyone is afraid of the magic eyebrow!" he said. I gave a weak smile and then jumped out of the way as Sanji struck at Zolo with one of his long legs.

"Guys! Don't waste your energy!" Vivi cried. Zolo and Sanji ignored her and Nami ended up slamming both fists onto both their heads. They stopped after that, and I sweat dropped.

Oh lovely, another quirk of being inside an anime. I shook my head and closed my eyes, a little annoyed. The crew looked at me and then Nami announced that it was late and that they should starting setting up ready to go to sleep.

I sidled away and sat down on the sand, watching as the group I had watched on the TV for so long, run around like ants in an anthill. I sighed and laced my fingers together under my chin. My stomach gave a ferocious growl and I placed a hand over it, a little self conscious. I spied the little reindeer looking over at me. He glanced up at his comrades and then hurried over.

"Hi." he said. I smiled.

"Hello."

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Stealthy. But, you can call me S." déjà vu much? Chopper sat down beside me.

"I'm Chopper." he said and I smiled. On TV he was cute but in real life, he was absolutely adorable! Like a fuzzy little teddy bear. "So, Nami said you don't remember anything about your past or where you were going or anything like that…is that true?" I nodded. "Wow. So, what are you going to do?" He asked.

That hit home and I frowned, and tears filled my eyes. I looked away and pulled my hat down over my eyes.

"I don't know." I sniffed. There was a crunch and my head snapped up to see Luffy grinning down at me.

"You can join my crew!" he said. I wiped my face and smiled.

"Are you sure? I mean…I don't really have any unique skills or anything." I replied. Luffy shrugged.

"Can you play a banjo? Or sing or something?" he asked. I brightened.

"I can sing." I said. Luffy tilted his head and grinned even wider if it was possible.

"Then you can be the ship's singer!" he yelled so loudly that the rest of the group looked over. "Hey guys! We have a singer!" and he ran over to them.

"Her voice probably sounds like that of an angel!" Sanji cried before going back to the food he was cooking over the stove. Chopper stood and placed a hoof on my shoulder.

"You're with us now, whether you like it or not." he said. I smiled. "Are you coming over?"

"No. I think I'll just sit here and gaze at the stars. They're so bright out here." I replied and lay back on the sand. The stars were bright and they sparkled amazingly in the sky. I heard Chopper's little steps fade and just stared at the sky. This certainly had been an interesting afternoon. Noises from the camp made me look up and then a hand grabbed my arm and dragged me…literally, through the sand. I was let go and I spat the sand out of my mouth as I sat up.

"LUFFY!" Nami's voice yelled and then Luffy's goofy laugh.

"Sorry about that." he said. I got up, scratching the sand from my eyes and rubbing at my face furiously. When I finally opened my eyes, I looked around and saw I had ended up between Zolo and Vivi. They both smiled at me and I shrank a little in my seat. Why had Luffy dragged me over here? Why did he want me near the group?

"Sing?" he asked. I winced. Oh, that's why.

"Luffy, you can't just demand her to-" Nami began but I cut her off.

"No, I'll sing but I have to think of a song first." I thought for a moment, trying to recall a song. "Hang on. I know a song I could sing." and then I remembered that I didn't know all their names…or I wasn't supposed to. "Umm, I need all your names though."

"Monkey DLuffy!" the captain cried.

"Nami." the orange haired woman reported.

"I don't want to be included in the song." Vivi asked politely and I nodded. It wasn't really nice, but she wasn't in the song I had in mind anyway.

"The great Usopp!" The long nose announced and I nodded at him.

"Chopper and I'm a doctor." he announcer pointing to his bag. I smiled. Still adorable!

"Mm, Zolo." Zolo said a little reluctantly.

"Sanji my gorgeous dove!" "Down Sanji." Nami said sarcastically. I nodded and then thought a moment, recalling the song in my head.(a/n, if you hate the opening wrap, skip past now please. Even I hate it.)

Dreamin', don't give it up Luffy.
Dreamin', don't give it up Zolo.
Dreamin', don't give it up Nami! Dreamin', don't give it, give it up, give it up, give it up, give it no! Here's how the story goes, we find out, Bout' a treasure in the grand line there's no doubt,
The pirate whose eye is on it, he'll sing "I'll be king of the pirates, I'm gonna be king!" Yi-yo, Yi-yo, yi-yooo, ho-ho His name is Luffy, at this I glanced at the Captain who seemed thoroughly entranced by the song.
That's Monkey D ,
Gonna be King of the pirates! He's made of rubber!
How did that happen?
Yo-ho-ho, he took a bite of gum gum.
Yi-yo, Yiiii-yo.
His name's Zolo, he's just like a samurai.
And a L-A-D-Y Nami's not shy,
Usopp's doin' that marksman thing Sanji's cookin,
Chopper's doctoring!
Yi-yo, yi-yo, yi-yo, ho ho.
Set sail for One Piece, it's the name of the treasure!
In the grand line,
Yi-yo, yi-yo.
Set sail for One Piece!

The rest of the crew gave me blank stares as I finished and then Luffy cheered, setting the rest of the crew off clapping and congratulating me. Zolo watched me carefully and I turned to him.

"How did you know I was a samurai?" he asked, "And how did you know Luffy was rubber?" I stumbled for a second and shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

"I, uh, well, I saw your swords and I just assumed…you know." I stuttered. Oh great, now I've really gotten myself into hot water now. "And when Luffy grabbed me, I noticed that his arm stretched when he grabbed me and I have heard of the gum gum fruit. And I mean, come on, everyone knows about One Piece. I spotted Usopp's slingshot lying next to him. Sanji was cooking so I assumed he was the cook and Chopper told me he was a doctor." I hurriedly explained, trying to sound off hand. Zolo nodded.

"You're observant, but how did you know Luffy wanted to be king of the pirates?" Zolo asked. I stiffened. Uh oh and then relaxed.

"Uh, when I was in the sand, I heard him yelling before I even saw him. He was yelling about becoming the King of the pirates." that was an all out lie, but Zolo nodded.

"Was I?" Luffy asked placing a finger on his chin in thought. I nodded and he shrugged. Zolo still watched me and I knew he was planning on watching me until I proved that I wasn't against them. After watching the crew avidly every afternoon after it had come out on TV, I knew practically what each of them was thinking.

Zolo thought I was some kind of spy and possibly an enemy. Nami yawned and stood up, stretching as she did so.

"I think I'm going to go to bed." she said and then looked over at Vivi, who also nodded and the two girls walked into the tent. I stayed in my spot and so did Zolo. Luffy grabbed onto Chopper, who screamed, and then wandered into his own tent mumbling about how Chopper was snugly and warm. Usopp followed and Sanji moved around, cleaning the plates and cups. Zolo was watching me out of the corner of his eye.

I sighed, got up and walked back to where I had been sitting before Luffy had dragged me over. The One Piece universe wasn't that cool now I was in it.
(Okay, now everyone hates me cos I included the rap. Please don't tell me that it's stupid, lame, unintelligent or anything because I already know. I have heard the original opening theme and I agree it is way better. But, i know the rap off by heart and it increases Zolo's suspicions which is exactly what I wanted to do.)