Chapter Two:
The young teal haired girl was running through a field of flowers toward a bush filled with light lavender blooms. "Daddy!" She called over her shoulder, her voice high pitched and excited in the way that only little girls could pull off. "LOOK! Are these the...the…" she floundered for the word.
"Hydrangeas" a deep voice stated.
"Yeah those!" the little girl spun, her faded and worn out blue dress floundering out from her abrupt spin, to look at the tall, muscular, taupe-haired, dark skinned man that was calmly following her through the field. "Mommy liked these, right?"
The man crouched down, carefully as if to not wrinkle the suit he was wearing, so his dark wenge colored eyes met the brightly colored, mismatched, violet- and lime-colored eyes. "Yes, those were your mothers preferred kind of flower." the man said in a voice that was not only toneless but emotionless as well. "Why don't you pick some and we will go and give them to her."
"Okay." the little girl said with a grin that split her face showing off her missing front tooth. She spun around to the flower bush and plunged her hands in feeling for the brachy stem. When she finally managed to grab a hold of one, she tried her hardest to pull it apart, but the flower wouldn't budge. After a few moments of trying, she turned her porcelain-colored face toward her dark-skinned father. "Help?" She asked him in a soft tentative voice, and when the man moved, she shrank back just a fraction.
"You are almost 6 you should be able to pick a fuc…" The man paused and took a deep breath "A flower by yourself." he scolded her; his voice still flat but hostility shown clearly in his eyes.
"But daddy," the young girl said in a voice that could barely be heard. "I tried. It won't come out."
The man rose to his feet, raised his hand and…
Zoro sat upright so fast he flipped his hammock upside down dropping him face first into Brook's bedding. "What the hell was that?" he groaned to himself. He had never had a dream that had felt so real, with people he didn't know, before.
He was glad that Luffy had sent the three older men off on a mission to check on some of the princess friends they had left behind on their adventure. He would not have wanted to explain that he had awoken with a start from a nightmare that he wasn't even in. Zoro slid out of his nakama's bedding and looked up at his own hammock, shook his head and headed out of the boy's room and onto the deck of the thousand sunny.
Stretching his sore muscles, he debated on working out again, or stealing some of the cooking shochu, the only alcohol left on the ship, from out under the cook's nose and drinking in peace, at least until the steamy blonde realized what he had done. With a grin, He had just started to make his way to the kitchen when a faint sound hit his ears.
The violin music was drifting up from below deck, which could only mean one thing, the older guys were back, hopefully with a lot more alcohol which Zoro was sure he was going to need.
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Heavy. That was the only thing in my mind as I slowly drifted back into my body. I felt so heavy, and my throat felt dry. What had happened last night? What had the Marines done this time, why couldn't I remember…suddenly everything came back, the fight on the marine ship, being "Saved" by the strange green haired man, the small blue nosed not mink animal doctor, the delicious food made by a blond man whose face I couldn't remember.
Shaking my head slightly, the heavy feeling slowly started leaving my body. What was I going to do now? They insisted that I wasn't their captive, but with how many bandages were covering my body I knew I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Taking stock, I realized that in addition to the hard rock like substance on my arm the small reindeer had also put some on my leg that started mid-thigh and ended mid-calf, which kept my knee bent in a weird 45-degree angle, and my chest was bound tightly. The binding on my chest was to the point that it should hurt to breath, but it made it easier.
Casting my senses out into the room I realized that I wasn't alone. There was a presence in the room with me, but not one I recognized, which meant that it wasn't the little animal doctor or either one of the two strange men I had met last night. The presence had a soft edge to it, almost maternal, and the faint sounds of a page of a book being turned reached my ears.
'Hello?' I asked, hoping against hope that this person would hear me. The only answer was another page turning. Guess they couldn't hear me. Sighing in my mind I slowly turned my head toward the sound. Once my eyelids felt like they were no longer being weighed down I opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw was the light, it hurt a little, but as soon as I was adjusted to the brightness, I saw the women.
Her long black hair was a little shiny in the light, her skin was about as pale as my own, but what drew my attention were the two disembodied arms that were sprouted from the arms of the chair to hold the book that the lady was calmly reading. My eyes would have bugged out of my head if I were in a cartoon, was she a devil fruit user too? Zoro had said that Chopper ate the human fruit, so it would stand to reason that the human arms sprouting out of the wood chair would be the result of a devil fruit as well, but which one?
Lost in my wondering I didn't realize that the woman had lifted her blue eyes from her book and was now studying me, until she spoke, her voice melodic. "Hello Dear," she said softly. "How are you feeling? Like waking up from the dead?" she chuckled in a darkly, light way. Before I could make a move to respond the lady went on "Doctor-San told me you couldn't speak so if you are in any pain just nod your head and I will get him." she smiled at me and waited a moment. When I didn't make any movement she just turned back to her book, like there was nothing else in the world of importance.
'Who are you?' I wanted to ask her so badly, but I knew she wouldn't hear me and I couldn't see Zoro anywhere to translate my thoughts into words.
For the second time since I woke up I sighed to myself. I was pretty sure Zoro was the captain on this ship, which meant that he would be busy most of the time and couldn't be by my side all the time. I had to figure out a way to communicate with these strangers without having to rely on him.
Maybe if I could make them relize I was human, like them, then maybe I wouldn't be forced into being a sex slave, I could just clean the ship, do their laundry, or another domestic like chore. If I could stear my imprisonment that way, my life would be more like it was when I was first captured, when I still believed that my father and I could work for our freedom.
I was once again lost in my own thoughts so when the door opened and the man at the door spoke, to say I was startled would be an understatement.
"Robin-Chwan," the blond haired man from last night was twirling in the doorway, I think he's eyes were even trying to shape themselves into hearts. "Snacks are ready my chérie." I watched as he reached over and pulled a small cup like bowl off the tray he carried and placed it next to the woman. "Is our lovely Echo awake yet?" He asked, turning to me.
The smile that lit his face was huge as his eye, that wasn't covered by his dull golden locks, met mine was way too cheery for my liking. 'Is he planning something?' I wondered to myself as he took the few steps from the dark haired lady.
"Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours, if you feel like getting up." he said as he set a bowl similar to the one he put down in front of the other lady. It looked like a pudding, or maybe a flan, but I didn't know much about food so I wasn't sure. "And if you don't feel like coming down then I will gladly bring you in a plate."
I looked away from the food, not really hungry since I was used to only eating once in a while the soup he had made me before was still filling me up. Focusing on my bandaged knee I silently asked him to just go away. I didn't like the care they were showing me. The more care they provided me the more in debt to them I would be, and the more debt I racked up with them meant the longer they would keep me here, to "work it off". I was already in deep enough with the doctor's care, I refused to get in even deeper. But of course I couldn't tell him this and I had no idea where my translator was. That was another thing, would relaying on the gruff green haired man really be to my benefit?
The cook's voice broke me out of my rambling thought line. "That's right, with you knee wrapped up tight you wouldn't be able to walk...Maybe Usopp…" He trailed off in thought.
'Usopp?' I asked without thinking. 'I don't think I've met Usopp. Sanji, Zoro chopper and this girl with a bird's name, Raven, I think it was.'
The deep chuckle that was heard from the door actually made my heart skip a beat, but not completely out of fear. "It's Robin, not Raven." Zoro told me walking into the small room. Now I am not one to mind small spaces, I had to learn to deal with places people wouldn't even stick a small rat dog, but it was getting kinda cramped in this tiny room.
'I knew it was a bird.' I snarked before thinking it through, and I could swear I saw the corner of his mouth quirk up in amusement. He turned to Sanji "Luffy is headed toward the kitchen saying something like 'if Sanji isn't going to feed me I'll do it myself.'"
The bright look that was on Sanji's face suddenly darkened and he growled and rushed past the other two and out the door. Once the door was shut Zoro turned to me. "Everyone is here so if you wanna meet the crew I can carry you out there."
No way in hell did I want any man touching me, but the thought of seeing the sky again, and maybe even the sea, had my heart leaping at the thought. It had been so long since I had last had a breath of fresh air, that I had almost forgotten what it tasted like. 'I would like to go outside, but I refused to be carried like a sack of potatoes or worse a baby.' I said hesitantly hoping the last bit was only to myself.
Zoro opened his mouth to speak when another voice cut in. "Yohoho. May I see your panties feisty lady?"
