Wishfull-star: Thanks!

Kae Membrana: I hope Luffy's hair doesn't go short, too. But Dragon's hair isn't exactly short lol. IchiRuki for life. I was rewatching Naruto (filler is terrible, first animation is awful) but with me being loving with gay relationships now, I'm like "I can see why people want NaruSasu." lol. I shipped NaruSaku. They've been through so much together. Even though I heavily dislike Sakura in the end for choosing Sasuke, who literally tried to kill her multiple times and ditched her to travel around. Dick. And Naruto didn't like Hinata. He never even responded about her sacrifice to try and fight Pain to save him. Only in the movie did that come up. Ugh!

After their break, they got up, they put their things back on their backs, giving Luffy a break, and tried to ride the camel. He thanked them, Chopper knowing what it was saying, but said he didn't let men ride on him. Zoro, Luffy and Sanji started yelling and kicking him. They were the ones to save him from that lizard!

"'Actually I let the scary one ride me' he says," Chopper translated.

"That doesn't count! I helped defeat him, too, y'know," Luffy complained. But in the end, he ended up only allowing the women. Vivi was nice enough to walk while Nami rode like a lazy person. Even a princess was walking. They ended up naming the camel Lashes, turning down the insulting names from the boys. Though Lashes wasn't that good, either.

When they were leaving, suddenly the world tipped. Everything went blurry and he saw monsters and many Crocodiles in front of him, only there was a huge wave of water coming at them. "Ahhh! Run! A tsunami! Hey, you get away!" he shouted at the Crocodile near Zoro. He could hear noises in his ears, but through cotton balls. Everyone turned into Crocodile, and Luffy went after the first one.

He jumped at him, mouth open and ready to drink him dry painfully so he was scared and paid for hurting Vivi. His teeth clamped around something before he was asleep.

Sanji looked at his ripped up robe's sleeve. "Well, that was close," he said casually. Luffy lunged at him going to attack, trying to bite, but only getting his sleeve, as he yanked out of the way. Vivi was shocked at this, and asked if Sanji was alright. Usopp said they were never letting him drink from cactus again. "Yeah, I'm fine. I would be worried if he actually bit me, though."

They were all nervous, but Luffy was asleep now. "He has a pretty strong jaw. Ripped off part of Arlong's arm with his teeth," Sanji commented. "Nobody tell him. He'll feel really guilty about it." The crew agreed to do this, while Chopper was scared and shaking.

"What's wrong?" Zoro asked, dragging Luffy now instead of Chopper in case he woke up and freaked again.

"His whole demeanor changed. Like, the feeling he gave off was murderous." Nami commented that this had happened twice. With Kuro and then Arlong. But Arlong's fight, he was in much more control. The cactus just made it worse, that was all. "He was shouting about Crocodile. He didn't mean to attack Sanji, he just saw him that way. There's no need to be scared."

They knew who Luffy was. He wouldn't ever hurt them on purpose. "Guys… don't ever let him drink animal blood," Zoro said quietly. They asked why, distracted from the heat into their conversation. "Ace just told me to not let him ever drink animal blood. Luffy did it before and got sick."

Hearing it came from Ace made it more serious, so they all vowed to never let that happen. Luffy woke up, kind of disoriented, but not hallucinating anymore. They walked until it became night time. At night, it was freezing cold. Luffy liked this much more, and took off his robe and shirt, not caring.

Vivi saw the markings for the first time, and asked where they came from. "Oh, these? I was born with them. They just stretched when I grew," he said casually. Vivi said his appearance was actually really interesting. Luffy smiled. But even if he was fine with his hair, he still wore his Straw Hat, of course.

Chopper climbed back onto his back, and Luffy didn't protest. He wasn't too heavy. And it was nice and cool now, not exhaustingly hot. When they finally got to Yuba, Luffy smelled only one person. "Vivi, how many people should be here?"

"Thousands, why?"

"...There's only one." Vivi's eyes widened and she started running over the dune blocking the sight of any buildings other than the tallest. They could feel the earth rumbling and saw the source was a sandstorm.

"A sand storm, Yuba's being attacked by a sand storm!" Vivi said in horror. It was huge! The wind was intense and the sand rubbed onto Luffy's skin in an annoying way. Like sandpaper. He moved Chopper off and put his protective clothes back on. It was nice and cool while it lasted. But when it cleared, they saw the place was sunken in sand and a ghost town. Luffy was right, there was one person, digging in the ground.

Luffy asked where the water was. It was an oasis right? "The sand has swallowed it up." They all looked at the nearly empty water barrel. They were out of water and were planning on refilling it here. But that looked unlikely now. Luffy was thirsty, and not for blood that he had to ration. He still had the packs sewn into patches on the inside of his robe. Nami made them for him.

The guy was digging when he addressed them. "Travelers, huh? You must be tired through your trip across the desert," the old man said in a friendly voice. "I'm afraid this town's a little dried up." He continued to dig. "But you can rest. There are plenty of empty inns. That's what we're known for, after all."

His face looked like a kind old man. He wasn't lying. Vivi hid her face, and said she thought the rebellion was based there. The guy's face changed in an instant. "Why do you want the rebellion?" he demanded. "Don't tell me you want to join those filthy rebels! Those fools are not here anymore!"

"WHAAATT?! We came all this way! Vi-" Zoro clamped his hand over Luffy's mouth. She just tried to move on and couldn't believe it. She was angry and worried, too. They'd gone all this way for what seemed like nothing. No water, no rebels. This sucked.

He looked down, his digging stopping again. "This place has been ravaged by sandstorm after sandstorm. They come so frequently that they'd turned the town into this husk of what it had been. Took away all the water the people depended on. I'm here, knowing water is still there. I want to bring this place back to life. Without anyone coming here, without the circulation of goods, the rebels no longer had any need to be here. They moved their base of operations to Katorea."

"Is that close, Vivi?!" Zoro slapped his hand to his face. He should have kept his mouth clamped shut longer. The old man stopped at hearing the name. "Oops."

"...It's the oasis near Nanohana."

"Hey, why did we come here then?!" Usopp demanded. All of them were angry they went through that hell of a desert only to not be where they needed to be. Now they had to walk even further. "Who knows if they're still there, either?!" They didn't. They could be trying to catch them and then they move every time.

"Vivi… did you just say Vivi?"

Luffy answered. "She's not a princess! I said Vicky," he lied, unable to lie to save his life, which basically confirmed he'd said Vivi's name.

"Are you really Vivi-chan? Are you really?!" the old man begged. "I'm so glad you're alive! It's me, don't you remember!? I guess not, I've lost some weight."

Vivi recognized him finally. "Mr. Toto…?!" She was horrified when it was confirmed. The old man did look skinny and very aged. Tired, too. He took hold of her shoulders as she fought off tears. Maybe of anger or sadness or hopelessness. Looking at Mr. Toto, it was clear this wasn't how he used to look.

"Listen to me Vivi, I believe in the king! He would never betray our country! Isn't that right?!" Mr, Toto asked, wearing a true smile, not a trace of a lie in his voice, chest or face. He was sincere. It was nice. "This rebellion is absurd! Please, I beg of you! Stop these fools! You're the only one who can do it!" Her face relaxed, and she handed the crying man a handkerchief.

"We can stop the rebellion!" she said confidently. Nobody smiled but Mr. Toto. Vivi sounded more like she wasn't saying "we" but "I", even though she didn't. The others went into an inn to sleep while Luffy went to talk to the old man. It was dry out there, so it must be hard for him to live there.

Mr. Toto was confident he could dig up the water. It was still there, just needed some help coming out. Luffy looked at him blankly before offering to help dig. He dug a hole, but threw the sand into the other's until he told him to stop. They dug for a really long time, even as his crew and Vivi sleeped.

Luffy wondered what Vivi was like when she was little. "Ah, she was quite the troublemaker. Would leave the palace grounds and her guards to play with the other kids. She was strong, dependable, even at a young age. Loving this kingdom deeply, wanting to help it as well as she could, even as a child," he said it with a smile.

"So, she really likes it here?" Luffy wondered.

"Yes, she loves her kingdom very much," Mr. Toto said with a smile. Luffy stood, a frown on his face, as he said he was going to sleep. He crawled into Zoro's bed, looking at Vivi sleeping close to Nami. Vivi… she wasn't going to stay, was she? They would miss her. Nami especially. Luffy wanted Vivi to stay, but would never bring somebody by true force. Zoro was different, he didn't count. He had nowhere to go next, nowhere to miss.

Vivi loved her country, and was doing anything and everything she could to heal it. Even though he could tell they all wanted her to stay, they all had to know, even deep down, she was too in love with her home country. Well, that was understandable. Luffy eventually fell asleep.

When they woke up, they would be heading the long trek back to the current base of the rebellion. They said goodbye to Mr. Toto, who gave Luffy a small container of water that his watering hole had created the night before! He was so happy with it. The man was happy to give it to him. The special water of Yuba. He took a small sip. It tasted a bit like sand, but not too bad. As they left, he dumped a blood pouch inside, filling it more. "Isn't it gross? All watered down?" Sanji asked.

"Nah, it just isn't as filling. But it's more liquid!" Zoro said he needed to conserve more. "I still have four bags. They'll last a long time." His lover asked if he'd noticed he was drinking more after the sickness. Luffy frowned. The others had noticed, too.

"Maybe it's a side effect?" Nami offered. Luffy nodded, and secured his bloody water barrel around his neck. He'd be fine. "You need enough to fill up before you fight Crocodile. Keep that in mind." Luffy nodded. They left Yuba, resuming their long journey.

While they walked, Luffy mulled about what to do to get his point across to Vivi. So, when he came across a small tree, Luffy sat down. His crew and Vivi demanded why he was stopping, Zoro watching curiously but saying nothing. "I quit," Luffy said simply, arms behind his head against the dried up tree.

"You quit?" demanded his crew.

"What do you mean, Luffy-san?" Vivi asked.

"We're going back," Luffy said flatly. No emotion on his face. Sanji said they were going back to stop the rebellion and save one million people! This was for Vivi, he had to stop being stupid. "Boooring," Luffy replied dismissively.

"What did you just say?!" Sanji exploded, but Luffy paid no attention to him, staring at Vivi. She looked confused and uncomfortable, not full out mad yet.

He looked straight at her with a serious, hard face on. "Vivi, I want to bring down Crocodile and kick his ass. If we stop those guys rebelling, will it stop Crocodile? We can't do anything, even if we go to that place, and try to stop it there. Besides, we're pirates. Your cause would be better off without us. Right?"

Sanji muttered that Luffy hit the bullseye. Sounding surprised. Vivi wasn't sure what to say. "Well…"

"You just don't want anyone to die in this war, the people of your country, even us! You're talking about going up against a Warlord, in which over one million people will battle, and all you want is for nobody to die! That's naive." Nami got angry at this, but Sanji stopped her from raging.

Vivi was angry now, too, and hurt. "What's wrong with not wanting people to die?!"

"People die." And she punched him in the face. It didn't hurt, he was made of rubber.

"Stop talking like that! Don't you say that! That's what we're here trying to stop! You can't blame the rebel army for this! Why should they have to die?! It's all Crocodile's fault!" Luffy got up and punched her back, though definitely not at full strength.

"Then why are you risking your life?!" Sanji and Usopp were furious that he went so far as to punch Vivi in the face, throwing her back a little ways. She pummeled him on the ground next as he spoke anyways. "Even I can tell what this country needs the most! Just by looking at the situation! You think risking one life is enough?!"

"Then what am I supposed to risk?! I have nothing else I have to!" Luffy slammed her back down.

He roared, "Then try risking our lives, too! We're friends, aren't we?!" Vvi started crying, and Luffy sat up fully. "Look at you, you're crying. You're the one that wants to kill him the most!" Everyone had a look of agreement and even relief. They were all feeling the same to some degree, but must not have known how to address it. Definitely wouldn't punch her to explain.

"Tell me where Crocodile is," he said darkly, seriously.

-x-

They made their way through the desert to the place Crocodile lived. It sucked, again, with it being so hot and no shade to help. Luffy was glad that his shoes weren't made of rubber or they'd melt on the hot sand. But he was also made of rubber and smelled like burning chemicals even if he wasn't actually melting. It was boring and hard, and he and Usopp were the most open about the difficulties of being in the sun so long.

Vivi looked like she felt a lot better after their fight. She was stressed still, but her entire body wasn't tense and her face tight. They all looked forward to the water of the oasis that the warlord lived in. Water! And nobody wanted Luffy's water because, of course, it had blood mixed in. He took a few sips. He would conserve his blood packs. Didn't know how long the fight with Crocodile would last, or how hard it would be.

Arlong was a bit difficult, and he wasn't a Warlord. But Luffy wasn't afraid, and was confident in himself. Zoro was as well, and wasn't worried about him. Well, he tried to look that way. Luffy let him fight a Warlord, it was his turn. Well, Zoro wouldn't have stopped even if Luffy ordered him to.

Because of that, Zoro would never try to have him back down in a fight or run away, even if he was worried like Luffy had been. At one point, Zoro wandered away, and Luffy grabbed him and snapped him over, both colliding. "North is this way, idiot," Nami snapped.

"Neehee, I won't let Zoro wander off," Luffy said and took his hand. Zoro snapped it was always the other way around. Luffy laughed again. Then he went back to dying with Usopp just a little after he took small sips of the blood water. Vivi promised Luffy she'd give him tons of food after his fight. "Now I have something good to look forward to!"

Sanji hit his head. "You should be excited about winning!"

"But good food after a win is better than the win itself, isn't it!"

"Or good booze."

"Ugh! You're both hopeless," Sanji said, and went back to the camel still carrying Nami. Chopper wasn't complaining today or being held or dragged by anybody else this time. Luffy gave him a thumbs up that made Chopper happy. He really was connected to Luffy well. With him getting more confident the more everyone accepted both of them.

He was the happiest when it was fine when Luffy drank the blood bags in front of everyone.

They made it hours later, and they were all so happy to be there! Finally! Water, shade! But a few were scared of finally meeting Crocodile, who Vivi made seem so strong. She hadn't told them why he was strong though, just that he was. Honestly, Luffy hoped to meet Miss All Sunday again. Just to try and figure her out more. But he didn't say this to anybody.

"Yesss! Crocodile, your ass is grass!" Luffy shouted, thrusting both fists in the air. He turned when he heard Usopp had made Nami a weapon. "Ooh, what is it?" Luffy asked, hurrying over to them.

"Look, this is your new weapon. A clima tact. At first it looks like your old one, but these are totally different! The attack changes based on how you put it together," Usopp explained proudly, handing Nami three blue tubes. Luffy wondered when Usopp had the time to make these without any of them seeing.

Sanji told Nami and Vivi not to fight, as he'd keep them safe. "Like last time? Where one was being chased by explosives and the other turning into a wax statue?" Zoro taunted darkly. Sanji went to attack them, and they had a fight until Nami kicked them in the heads from the camel's back. "Now is not the time, idiots!"

"Yes, Nami-san!"

"Bitch…"

"Ne, do you think they know we're here?" Luffy wondered, taking another sip of his blood spiked water. Vivi assumed so. Some of the agents were definitely there, two that knew them personally and others than might know their faces.

"At least, mine. The Unluckies might not have given any information on Luffy out of fear, though," Vivi explained. Usopp looked at Luffy's clueless face, and wondered who would be terrified of him. Luffy ignored it, taking Zoro's hand, though both were sweaty from the heat. Didn't matter much. "We should try to keep hidden. We don't want all of them attacking at the same time."

"Why? That would be fun."

"We want to take out Crocodile quickly. Having nobody else interfere would probably be the easiest. They are specialized in assassination, after all. We should be careful." They were all staring at Luffy.

"Crocodile, your ass is grass!"

"Were you even listening?!

"Yeah! Don't cause a scene and take out only Crocodile, right?" Sanji said he summed it up correctly, shockingly. Chopper was acting brave, maybe feeling brave, too, while Usopp was scared. Luffy didn't encourage them again. They had to be strong on their own this time.

They finally entered a thriving city: Rainbase. The city of dreams. They were going to go get barrels of water before Luffy stopped them at the doorway. "That's Smokey. And the Kuina look alike. Huh, she got new glasses." Luffy shoved Usopp inside to get water, his knees shaking. He pulled his hood up and deepened his voice.

"E'hem, I'd like five barrels of water," Usopp said. Smokey and Kuina look-alike looked at him, who clearly couldn't lift them all. The girl asked if he needed help. "Ah, no thank you. I have friends out there, I'll carry them out one by one! My friends don't like being in confined spaces and all. So annoying, am I right?"

Smoker looked at him in suspicion as he carried them all out one by one before they ditched, carrying them. Luffy heard the smoke noise. "No! Usopp, why'd you let him know?!"

"You're the one that ran past the open door laughing! Idiot! Damn it, why are the marines here! Let's get the hell outta here!" they both sprinted down the same streets, through alleyways.

Usopp tried to lead Luffy down a path not to their crew, but it was too late. "Guys, the marines are here!"

"Why'd you bring them to us again! Let's get outta here!"

Smoker shouted, "Make sure you get them this time! They're all fast little buggers!" he said in annoyance. Zoro pointed out they were probably already noticed by the enemy organization, making a fussy and commotion like this.

Luffy said seriously, "Tell me where Crocodile is, Vivi!" She pointed to the casino with an alligator on the top. It was his place of residence. Sanji suggested they scatter, and did so. Zoro went to the left, Sanji went to the right and Luffy jumped on the buildings to run. Vivi probably wouldn't be arrested if she got out of view fast enough. The marines didn't know her face personally.

They agreed to meet at the casino after losing the marines. "Come and get me, Smokey!" Luffy taunted on one of the buildings, laughing and running away in an annoying manner.

"That little punk! Don't think you can run away forever!" Smoker shouted, and used his devil fruit to go after him. Luffy said Ace's power was cooler. He wasn't trying to annoy Smoker, but it was doing so. "How do you know Firefist?!"

"He tried to kill me!" Luffy said truthfully, leaving everything out. But then he got caught and trapped in the smoke. He had no way out other than to use his gomu gomu balloon, widenly the smoke and drop down, though they lost the water. He landed on the ground hard, and felt and smelled all of the bags on his chest burst. He was dripping with blood now.

He was angry, and shouted at Smokey for being a jerk! Now all he had was the bloody water. Well, he had to rely on luck now, he guessed. He smelled his friends outside the hotel, though the stench of blood was very overwhelming. He had to focus on any smells other than the blood. Smoker thought he'd fatally wounded Luffy, and Zoro shouted his name in horror.

"Everyone, go inside!" he shouted. "Smokey's chasing me!"

"Get medical attention, you idiot!" Smoker shouted at the enemy who was drenched from chest to sandals with blood. He'd had many packets left. That was gone.

"Just you wait Crocodile!" When they entered the casino, Luffy called for Crocodile to come out so he could kick his ass. His mouth was covered, and they all knew they had no idea what Crocodile even looked like. "Maybe somebody strong looking."

"You are strong but don't look like it. That criteria might not be reliable," Usopp pointed out reasonably. Then they heard Smokey come in, only he was ushered back out, as marine officials were not welcome. Luffy stuck his tongue out at him, enraging him more, though he left as he was told to.

People looked at Luffy, and his nakama knew by now his blood packets had burst. "Yeah, I'm all out now but for this," he said, pointing to his water barrel. They were concerned. "Well, now it just gotta go with luck, right? I had one earlier, I should be fine," he assured them. Nami was the most concerned. Having seen what happened to him once he ran out of blood and was also exhausted. He'd gone out of control and drunk heavily from Kuro.

They didn't want a repeat of that. He smelled Miss All Sunday briefly. A carpet leading to the VIP room was opened for them. "Is he saying bring it on?" Nami asked.

"A clever guy," Zoro sneered.

"C'mon, let's go!" Luffy said, the four of them running inside, down the carpet and into the hall. Usopp wasn't happy but came, even though he claimed they were being led to their deaths. "What's VIP mean?" Luffy wondered as they ran. They came across a divergent hall, one side saying "VIP" and the other "pirates". They went to pirates, and the floor collapsed, leaving them in a cage made of seastone.