Never Had a Dream Come True
Book One:
Blind Ambition
Chapter 7
"From light to dark"
Rika leaned back against the side of the house. She was sitting in the grass looking up at the red and purple sky. The sun had turned the color of a giant tangerine and reflected a dim yellow light back to the hills. The wind was clam but still breathing slowly as a soft burst of air danced through her long orange hair. Rika had her legs flat out on the ground and her arms supporting her up behind her back. "I could stay like this forever" she thought staring up into the evening sky.
She began to slowly rock back and forth humming a tune she had heard countless times as a child. Her mother would sing it to her everyday before she went to sleep. Rika never thought of what the words meant because she was so young at the time but the melody of the song always seems to clam her down. Her lips began to move and the most beautiful sound traveled out of her mouth into the wind.
"I never had a dream come true
Till the day I found you
Even though I pretend that I've moved on
You'll always be my baby
I never found the words to say
You're the one I think about each day
And I know no matter where love takes me too
A part of me will always be with you"
She stopped realizing someone was behind her and wiped around.
"Mind if I join you?" a boy in a ratty old straw hat asked.
She blushed afraid he had heard her singing. She never liked singing for other people other than her mom. But her mom would always tell her she had the most wonderful voice she had ever heard. That was until she used it to destroy people. She shook that memory from her mind and raised her eyes to meet his.
"Sure" she smiled
Seconds passed as they both gazed into the sky, but it seemed like hours. "What can I say to him? The boy that I'm about to-" her thoughts were interrupted by Luffy's voice.
"You have a really good singing voice" he said closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall like he was going to sleep.
She felt her face turn a soft pink and her eyes fell to the ground. "Thank you, my mom used to tell me the same thing" she answered.
"You should join my crew after we save your people, I've been looking for a singer and from what I can tell when you beat up that guy chasing after you the other day you're pretty strong!" he told her without opening his eyes.
She felt her heart sink into her stomach.
When minutes passed without an answer Luffy finally opened his eyes.
Rika was now standing up at the top of the hill the house was sitting on.
The light hit her in a way that made her looking like an angel, only the light was fading and turning black as the sun set down over the village.
He got up and walked over to her. "Sky looks cool huh?" he asked.
She didn't even raise her head to look up only kept focused on the ground.
"I can't" she whispered.
"What?" he asked unable to hear her.
"I CAN'T JOIN YOUR CREW!" she screamed now looking directly at him.
His smile faded and quickly turned into a frown.
"Why not?" he asked crossing his arms with a confused look on his face.
Rika was now facing him and the sun had gone down so her blue-green eyes were twinkling like giant gems. Instead of the usual smile she wore, her face was now plastered with a feeling of hatred and sadness but most of all regret.
"Luffy how do you know you can even trust me?" she asked.
"Why shouldn't I trust you?" he said even more confused.
"How do you know I'm not going to hurt you?" Rika cried taking a hold of him by the collar.
"Why would you hurt me?" the boy asked without even flinching.
The wind stopped and so did her mind. Every thought of what she had planned to do to this boy was gone. He wasn't like the other pirates she had met but her father's words still rang clearly in her head.
"Go to that straw hat boy, pretend you need help and bring him here I'm sure he'll want to save your beloved country. But you can do that all by yourself can't you my dear? Bring him to me and I will free you and your worthless people."
She released her grasp on his collars and her hands slid down to his chest.
"Because…I don't know…what else I can do" she answered finally with tears flowing from her eyes and wrapping her arms around his waist.
Luffy pushed his hat down over his face in fear she might see him blush. He had never been hugged by a girl before except for his mom when he was very young. But he didn't pull away this time because this time was a real hug, not a bone shattering one but a person crying out for help and love.
Without noticing it he suddenly found his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. Rika stopped and looked up into two beautiful black pearl eyes.
"You sure do cry a lot" he said in a teasing way.
"And you sure do smile a lot" she answered back wiping the tears from her eyes.
"I guess we even each other out" he laughed still holding her.
Rika smiled and hugged him tightly. "Luffy thank you I'll join your crew on one condition" she told him.
"You have to promise now to get mad when I tell you the truth and you can't tell anyone else" she said.
"Promise" he answered finally letting her go.
She took a deep breath and started to explain.
Authors Note: Oh la la this chapter had a bit of fluff in it but it's so hard to make Luffy the kinda of guy that would fall in love with something other than his dream and a girl at that lol. And yes as you can tell by now Rika is tricking Luffy and his crew but she isn't lying to them she just isn't telling them the entire truth. Next chapter is where the battle begins!
