Chapter 3: Blankets and trust

I shivered and rolled over, wrapping the jacket around me as I did so. The sand was still warm from the sun and the heat was effectively staying under my body but I was still cold. I shivered again and pulled my hat down lower on my head. There was the crunch of sand and my eyes opened to see a black pants leg. I sat up with a start to see Sanji standing there.

"Sorry. You'll freeze and Nami asked me to ask you if you wanted to go into the tent with them. It will be warmer." he said squatting, his light blue robe pooling on the sand. I sighed.

"Thanks Sanji." I said and walked back with him to the tent. Zolo was still sitting there, staring into the fire. He glanced up, giving me a suspicious look and I stopped.

"Don't worry about sash boy. He's suspicious of anyone who knows anything about him." Sanji said laying a hand gently against my lower back. I straightened and raised an eyebrow at him and he quickly removed the hand. I walked back over to Zolo, squatted down and looked into his eyes.

"I'm not a spy. I did the song out of assumption, nothing more. I'm sorry if it threw you, but I promise I am not here to cause Luffy or the crew any grief." and then I made a split second decision. "If you want…I will give you my sword so you know I can't hurt anyone. Alright?" and with that, I untied the sword from around myself and let the black scabbard slide to the ground at Zolo's feet. Zolo looked up at me in disbelief before I walked away and went into the tent.

My night's sleep was off. Very off. Something weird was happening. I kept having weird dreams about things that had never happened to me in real life, but were happening like they were memories. It was so…strange is really the only way to describe it.

The next morning I awoke to find no one was in the tent and I sat straight up, forcing myself to stay calm. They wouldn't leave without me, would they? There was a rustle and then Sanji's face peeked in. I frowned.

"Yes?" I asked. He smiled.

"Breakfast is ready." he said. I nodded and rubbed my eyes. I guess I was stuck here. Not like any of the crew would believe me if I told them where I had really come from. I sighed, got up and walked out into the already scalding heat of the desert, taking my breakfast from Sanji and looking around at everyone as I ate.

Luffy and Usopp were fighting over a piece of meat, Nami and Vivi were looking at a map, Sanji was hovering around the fire and Zolo was sitting by himself. I made it a point to avoid him after his suspicions of the night before. Chopper was lying on the sand, his tongue lolling out in the heat. I sat down and pulled my knees to my chest. I missed home.

"I wonder if they miss me too." I muttered.

"Who?" a voice asked. Luffy was sitting beside me.

"I thought you were fighting with Usopp?" I said surprised.

"I was. I ate the meat already." Luffy replied with a smile. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh…" and I turned to look out at the sand again.

"So?"

"So what?"

"You said before that you wondered if someone missed you. Who?" he asked.

"Oh…no one. I was just thinking aloud." I replied and sighed, resting my chin on my drawn up knees.

"How do you do that?" the captain asked, squeezing his eyes shut like he was trying to expel the thoughts from his mind. I turned to him slowly.

"Never mind." I replied after a short pause. Luffy tilted his head and then shrugged.

"Come on! We have to pack up and leave otherwise it will be too hot to start!" Vivi called. Sanji, Zolo, Chopper, Luffy, Usopp and Nami all stood, ready to help when someone started something. I got up too, a little unsure of what to do. The tents were the first to be packed up and then the small objects were packed, like the food and water and such. Everyone was given a fair rationing of the bags to carry and we were off, hiking into the soft sands of the Alabasta desert.

sooooo, what do you think so far?