Chapter 25

The Memory of Friends! The Power of the Fue-Fue Fruit!

Zoro bursts through Robin's door exclaiming, "I knew she was alive! She almost killed Brooke!"

Robin springs up from her chair and drops her book back on her desk. "You saw her?"

"Well, no, I didn't."

"Then how do you know-"

"Brooke said that he saw a brown-haired flutist and when she played, he fainted. He said that he could feel his heart being pulled and his soul escaping," Zoro says in a rush.

Robin takes all of this in and her eyes open wide in realization as she affirms, "But he didn't die because he doesn't technically have a heart to slice…"

A grin surfaces on Zoro's face and he nods.

Robin smiles. "I think you're right. She's alive and well."

Zoro continues, "and right here on Amazon Lily."

"We should leave to look for that ripped-out page now. While the maids are busy cleaning up from lunch." Robin and Zoro step outside her room and notice the maid dusting right across from them.

"What if some of the maids are still down there, then what?" Zoro whispers.

Robin pauses. "We just tell them that you got lost." Robin shrugs and walks ahead to the stairs at the end of the hall.

Zoro frowns at her jab towards his directional skills, but follows her nonetheless.

Marguerite is rendered speechless at Ari's confession. Ari is… the Fluttering Swordswoman? I heard that the Fluttering Swordswoman died not long after Ari washed up here, but I never really saw the two events connected together. We only got the news coo detailing her death because the marine ship that took the Snake Princess for her summons had to return her back here. That's the only reason I even knew that the Fluttering Swordswoman existed. And here Ari is telling me that she's the Fluttering Swordswoman? Finally having gotten her thoughts together, Marguerite replies, "You're the Fluttering Swordswoman?"

Ari sniffles on the other side of the hardwood door. "Yes."

"You're the-" Marguerite repeats when she's interrupted by the sudden opening of Ari's door. Marguerite falls back and catches herself on her elbows, looking up at her roommate.

Ari stands over her, tears still streaming down her face. Their eyes lock and Marguerite can see that Ari isn't at all joking. In fact, she's dead serious. "Yes," Ari repeats, "I am the Fluttering Swordswoman."

XXX

Robin and Zoro make their way to the servant's quarters in the basement of the east wing. There's one long hallway that can be seen from where they stand at the bottom of the stairs. All of the doors are closed neatly and much like the doors of the guests' rooms upstairs, there are numbers on the doors down here too. Except these numbers are painted-on rather than embossed with gold.

"We should put a plan in place in case we get separated for whatever reason."

"Why do we need that?"

"I hate to bring up a certain someone's bad directional-"

"Okay, fine, whatever. Let's do it," he caves and blushes at the mention of his horrible directional skills once again.

"Let's meet up at your room if that were to happen. I'm assuming that you can find your way to your own room, yes?"

"I'm not a moron," he retorts.

Robin nods, satisfied that they have a plan in place. "So where do we start?" Robin asks.

"Look in them one by one, I guess."

Robin and Zoro open the doors one at a time and look through the rooms. Each room is identical to the last: each containing a small bed, dresser, and a table of some sort. Both pirates look under mattresses, in drawers, pillowcases, and anything else that might be able to hide a scrap of paper. They look through each and every room in the first hallway, then, having come up empty-handed, look through the second hallway. Finally, they both happen upon the last two rooms.

"This is our last shot."

Robin nods.

Zoro goes into one room and Robin into the other. All Zoro finds in the one room is a bunch of maid's shoes along with a pair of heels. He sighs in disappointment and combs over the room one last time when he hears a gasp from the room Robin's in. He rushes out to see if she's found anything when he sees the blue-haired maid, duster and all, coming around the corner. He freezes in place as the maid continues on her way down the hall. She steps quietly and can't even be heard in the small hallway. Her steps bring her closer and closer still to Zoro and where Robin is. Zoro can sense Robin about to come out of the room, but Zoro speaks up quickly to let her know that they're not alone, "Hey, I, um, got lost." He could smack himself for delivering such a stupid excuse, however clever it may be.

The maid stops walking when she's about a foot from him and gives him a devilish smile. "How cute," she purrs, dusting Zoro's chest as she pads around him. "You sure you just, how'd you put it? 'Got lost'?" she breathes into his ear from behind him.

Zoro rolls his eyes at this and frowns at the woman's poor attempt of seduction. Many men would go on their knees to have this happen to them, but Zoro is different. He's never really been into romance or anything of the like. Up until just recently, he hadn't even desired a woman before. But of course up until recently, he hadn't known Ari.

The maid ignores his dismissal, and continues murmuring to him, "So you somehow just ended up in my room, huh? That doesn't sound like coincidence to me." She moves herself a little too close to Zoro, and he fights to stay rooted in place, as to not encourage her.

So the room I was investigating was hers, huh? I didn't find anything there, but Robin found something in the other one. That and the fact that this maid isn't a brunette means she can't be the Fluttering Swordswoman.

"You remember me, dontcha?" the maid continues with her pointless banter. "I'm Marin in case you don't remember." She slides one of her hands around his torso.

Zoro can't put up with her pointless flirtation any longer. He moves away from her and her hand slides back down to her side, freeing him of her grasp. "Can you, uh, show me how to get to the foyer?"

The maid frowns and finally gives up, leading him away from her room and down the hall.

XXX

"So, the nightmares," Marguerite reasons, "were because of what happened in the Florian Triangle?" Marguerite had gotten off the floor and her and Ari now sit at the kitchen table across from one another.

Ari's eyes go wide with surprise, "How did you know about the Florian Triangle? Or any of it for that matter?"

Marguerite nods, understanding that it's strange for an isolated islander such as herself to be in cahoots with this. "When the Snake Princess returned from her summons from the world government, she brought a newspaper back with her. Almost everyone on the island read that paper since it might include information about Luffy and his raid on Impel Down. But anyway, I also read the paper and saw an article about the Fluttering Swordswoman being declared dead. I was intrigued so I kept reading."

Ari stays silent for a moment before continuing, "Can this… you know… stay between us?" Ari gnaws at her lip and twiddles her fingers, nervous of what telling Marguerite means. It means that her secret is no longer her own. "I just, the Fluttering Swordswoman was who I was before, but now…" Ari quickly gets lost in thought.

"I understand." Marguerite smiles.

Ari leans over the table to give her friend a hug, but decides that it's too awkward so she goes around the table to do so instead. The pair hold each other as Ari trusts another person with her secret. "Oh, and do you think you could grab my stuff from the palace? My room number is 8."

"I would be happy to," Marguerite says, smiling. "In fact, I'll go get them now, how's that sound?"

"That sounds perfect." Ari smiles back.

The two friends wave goodbye as Marguerite heads out the door to grab Ari's stuff.

Ari sits back down at the kitchen table, taking a moment to ponder her life. Over the years… Marguerite and I have sort of become best friends… just like Pheonix and I were all those years ago. Even further back, I was bestfriends with Kuina and Tansy. But all of my best friends are dead. I'm just glad that I have Marguerite. She's left. The thought of Zoro pops up in her head too, but she dismisses it. He's a pirate. He'll be leaving the island soon, so he's not even an option. And even if he was… I just don't know. Ari lets her thoughts wander away from the swordsman and back on her best friends of the past…

Ari bounces up and down from the thought of seeing her best friends again! She'd been off on tour for a whole year following her dreams and that was fun, but she misses her friends terribly. Right at this moment, she is on her way home! She goes up the stairs and on deck of the tour ship and gazes over the railing at the sea. Right at the horizon is her hometown: Shimotsuki Village. Ari'd be there by evening time! She could hardly wait!

Meanwhile, her instructor skitters to this person and that person on the boat, making sure that everything is in order. Finally, he takes a seat and sighs with relief. "Oh, good. We should get there right on schedule at six o'clock!" he says satisfactorily, checking his watch and nodding to himself.

Ari laughs at Mr. Hester's antics, an act that is greeted with a glare from her instructor. She ducks her head in apology, but can't help but keep a smile planted on her face. Mr. Hester shakes his head at the young girl and proclaims, "You, my dear, are lucky to have such a timely instructor! So, please, do not make fun!"

"Yes, Mr. Hester," Ari chuckles and this is again rewarded with a glare from the old man. This time, she does not bow her head and instead faces it towards her home.

Right as Mr. Hester predicted, they come into port at Shimotsuki Village right at six o'clock. As soon as the ramp is in place to deboard, Ari flies off the boat with her luggage and races through town. At that pace, it only takes minutes for her to return back home, but it feels like hours. She flings open the front door, not bothering to knock and announces, "I'm home!"

"Arianna's home!" her brothers both squeal together. The two little boys run to their sister and hug her legs. She drops her bags at her feet and embraces her little brothers.

"Liam, Sky, man it's so good to see you guys!" she cheers. Her mother comes down from upstairs and her father races from the kitchen. It smells like pancakes, Ari notes to herself with a big grin stretching her face. Both her parents wrap their arms around her and Ari is reminded of what it feels like to be encompassed in her family's warmth and care. She holds them all close both literally and metaphorically. It's then that she remembers who else she wanted to visit straight away upon her return. She had left without a chance to say goodbye to her family as well as her two best friends in the whole world: Kuina and Tansy. She often wondered on the tour how they were doing, but couldn't bring herself to write to them, especially since she was scarce on time during her travels. She pulls away from her family with a big smile lit up on her face and says, "Sorry, guys I want to visit a whole bunch more before my concert tomorrow, but there's some other people I want to see right away! I'll come home right after though, I promise! I'll only be ten minutes!" Ari starts out the door and is already down the walk within seconds when her dad calls after her, but she doesn't hear him.

She gets to Tansy's door and knocks. It seems to take forever for Tansy's dad to open the door, but when he does, his face lights up at the sight of Ari. "Arianna, it's so good to see you! I've heard that you've been off on tour the past year, is that right?"

"Uhuh, you got it!" she beams. "Is Tansy home?" Ari looks past Tansy's dad into the house, but there's no sign of her bestie.

Tansy's dad's face drops at the mention of her and he avoids making eye contact with the girl in front of him. Instead, he looks at the floor.

"Sir?" Ari asks again, "where's Tansy?"

His frown goes deeper at her repeated question and he stays silent.

"Did," Ari starts, "did something happen? Is-is she okay?"

The man sighs and utters, "It's-it's been almost a year now."

Ari shakes her head, in denial that anything could have happened to the girl she called 'friend'. Tansy was a dragon lover like me, she breathed fire as we swung on swings. There's no way… she couldn't have…

"She, uh, she was kidnapped."
Ari looks up at this. Oh, so she didn't die?

"She just ran from the house one day and she never came back that night. Her mother and I, we-we tried everything. We filed a missing person's report to the government and later that week, a marine vessel spotted her on a pirate ship."

"Well, what happened?!" Ari demands.

"The navy ship sunk right after they delivered the news to headquarters. A couple months later, that same pirate ship had wandered near the Florian Triangle and was stuck in a calm belt. But the navy, they-they were too late. A sea king had already devoured the ship along with the crew, and probably Tans-probably her too. The navy showed up only to see what little remains of the ship were left. Please, please excuse me," he hurriedly finishes and closes the door.

Pirates… Ari bites her lip and chokes down her tears. Ari runs as fast as her feet will carry her down the street to Kuina's father's dojo. Kuina will be there. And darn it all to hell and back if I cry in front of her! Ari arrives and swings open the sliding door to the dojo. She's about to walk into the classroom when she overhears Kuina's dad talking to someone. She presses herself up against a wall and listens in.

"Let me have… that sword…" a little boy whimpers with a hint of a sob.

Kuina's dad, Koshiro, answers, "Kuina's sword?"

The little boy proclaims, "I'm going to get stronger for her, too! I'm going to get strong enough that my name reaches to the heavens! I'm going to be the world's greatest swordsman!" He continues, his voice wavering, "I promised her… I…" The boy's sobbing pierces through the walls and into the hallway where Ari stands.

There's a pause before Kuina's dad answers again, "You can have it."

The boy's sobbing stops as he takes in those words.

"I leave Kuina's spirit and dreams… with you."

The boy cries out over and over both from his gratitude and his grief.

Ari slides down to the floor in a confused daze. What… do they mean? Why is her dad giving Kuina's sword away? Sh-she needs that in order to become the… world's greatest swordsman. Silent tears fall down Ari's face as she realizes what that conversation with the little boy means. It means… i-it means… Kuina is… she's… gone…

In the back of Ari's mind, she hears someone leave out the door on the other side of the classroom. Kuina's dad opens the door right next to Ari and starts at the sight of her. "Arianna, what are you doing here?"

Ari ignores his question and poses one of her own, "Where's Kuina?" She looks up at the old man, tears in her eyes. Her lip quivers.

Kuina's dad looks to his feet before looking back and making eye contact with the girl before him. "I'm sad to say, but my daughter is gone."

"B-but… how?"

He looks down again. "She fell, tripped."

Ari's grief turns to rage at his words and she stands, holding him by the folds of his robe, "What do you mean she TRIPPED? She can't die just like that!"

Koshiro stays silent.

"How? How does this happen?! This can't… this can't be happening! Please tell me it's not real!" she pleads with him and cries into his chest.

"I wish it wasn't real as much as you do," he answers, patting a hand on her back. "I really do."

XXX

By the time Ari leaves the dojo, it's nighttime. She hobbles along the dirt path, much like Kuina and her used to when Kuina would come by and walk her to their training together. On her way, Ari passes by the playground and small church school that her and Tansy went to together. The swingset is still there, but it looks like it's slouching and not as tall and proud as it was before. Ari passes right by it, unable to look at it a second longer.

Suddenly, Ari hears her: "Let's be dragons, mmkay?" Ari whips her head back around to the swing set, but Tansy is nowhere to be found. Of course she's not there, you idiot! She's… she's gone. Ari sucks in her bottom lip and keeps on walking. She shuffles along and happens across a restaurant. Granted, it's more of a bar, but there is food there too. Kuina and her would go there sometimes during the day with their families when there was less hoodlums. Though based on the fact that it is nighttime and the ruckus that is heard from outside, it looks like there is plenty of hoodlumming going on.

Despite Ari's better judgment, she tromps inside and takes a seat at the same table that she usually would. She stays put and just watches the scene before her. There are drunken men all around as well as women, though some are sober. She sits there in silence for quite a while, allowing the noise around her to drown out her grief.

Then she hears another noise that's a bit too close to her silence and next thing she knows, a hand claps over her mouth and a grubby arm squeezes around her waist. There's a crude and barbaric chuckle as she's carried outside. More chuckles and laughter by more people follow. Her eyes open wide as she tries to catch a glimpse of whoever is grabbing her, but all she sees are yellowed-fingers right under her nose. She gags at the smell of alcohol and grime. Ari brings her arms up to yank his hands off her mouth so she can cry out, scream or do something, but it's no use. She can't even manage to lift one of his dirty fingers off her. Her heartbeat pounds, bursting out her eardrums. Her eyes desperately seek someone to help her, but no one's there except the monsters surrounding her. She continues to kick and flail her arms about, desperately trying to spring herself free from her kidnapper, but remains captive. She looks forward and finds that she's at the port, about to board a pirate ship. NO! I will not end up like Tansy did! She jabs an elbow at her kidnapper's side, but he only grunts slightly. Ari's not as strong as she once was a year ago. She practically had to give up any sort of physical training whatsoever except for lung training due to her tour. She just didn't have the time back then. Boy, does she wish that she had made time for it now. Her abductor steps on a plank leading to the deck and she wiggles about, trying to get free double time. She even attempts kicking backwards in order to make a hit to the man's groin, but is unsuccessful.

As they heft her onto the ship with them, the one grabbing her, presumably the captain, announces, "So, men, how much do ya think this lass' parents would give to get their precious girl back?" He crudely pinches her cheeks with the same hand that's clapped over her mouth. She rips her face away to scream, but the man slaps his hand back over her mouth, more forcibly this time.

The men cheer in response, lifting their weapons as they do. All except one who keeps eyeing Ari carefully.

"You, there!" the captain hollers.

"Yes, sir?"

The captain maneuvers around his men, Ari in tow. The men shrink away. He stops as he comes to the one that didn't cheer. "What say ye to ma declaration?"

He, unlike the others, remains standing tall. The man has brown hair and looks much more refined than the rest. "I've seen her before sir," he answers the captain and continues to study Ari as he fiddles with his pocket watch.

"Nonsense! Whether we know this here girl or not, she be a givin us a ransom! Hopefully, a mighty good one, in fact!"

The men cheer again, but Ari hardly feels their joy at the prospect of treasure. Obviously because she is the treasure. The captain cackles once more, when a huge portal of some sort opens from a door above deck. The men shrink again, including the captain. A tall man emerges from the portal, wearing worn jeans and a t-shirt. His attire is casual, but his presence commanding. Slowly, he makes his way down the steps one at a time. The men cower further with each step. The man has fiery red hair that's been cut down to a buzz and a beard to match. A translucent blue adorns his eyes, piercing through the pirates' souls.

[Author's note: to see the illustration for this portion find me on Deviantart! Yes again my user name is Pheonixdino]

He carries no weapon and his hands swing causally at his sides. Finally, he makes it down the steps and moves through the crowd of men until he's face-to-face with the one that's taken Ari captive. The stumbling pirate bows his head in the presence of the red-haired man and it becomes clear to Ari that this man is the real captain. For several moments, the red-haired man stays silent, allowing for his authoritative presence to wash over the deck and onto his crew. Finally, he opens his mouth. "Tim, who do you believe this to be?"

The pirate that didn't cheer, Tim, speaks up right away, "Arianna Bendit, sir. The world-renowned flutist whose last concert of her tour is tomorrow night."

The red-haired man smiles a small smile and bows his head in thanks to his crewmember. "Well, it would certainly be rude to deny a musician her last concert, now wouldn't it, Nise?" The red-haired man brings his face up to his subordinate, until he's close enough that both the pirate and Ari can smell his minty breath. The red-haired man's lips curl into a smile, daring his crewmember to defy him. It goes without saying that Nise doesn't even dare. In fact, the pirate doesn't dare to even look the red-haired man in the eye. Instead he stands there, quivering and shaking uncontrollably as he replies, "Yussir."

Ari can feel herself slipping through the coarse man's grasp due to his fear of the captain and takes advantage of the situation. She bites down on the yellowed-fingers of the pirate and he rips his hand away from her mouth. In the process of taking his hand away, he also removes the other one from around her core, freeing her at last. She bolts from the men around her and heads for the side of the ship she came up on when a group of the pirates rush to block her. She scurries around the side of the ship and is met with more opposition, so she hurries up the stairs and in her rush, accidentally falls through the portal that remained open after the real captain emerged. She covers her head instinctively, not knowing where she'll end up, but it turns out that she's still on the ship. She's in the room that the portal emerged from. Frantically, she looks around for a way out, but there are no doors, only a small window right above a desk on the other side of the room. She races over to the desk and inspects the window, but finding that there's no latch to open it with, she takes a box on the desk and prepares to break it. Just then, the red-haired man comes through the portal and seeing the box in her hands, he lunges at her. She quickly turns back around with the box and slams it into the red-haired man's head.

"Don't worry," she says, "I didn't break it, I just bent it." The red-haired man is rendered temporarily shocked from her hit and Ari takes the moment to break the window and jump through, box still in her hand. She's surprised to see that the window doesn't lead to the deck, but directly down to the surf. She lands face-first in the sand and wastes no time in getting to her feet. She bolts across the sand until she reaches the cover of the forest, but even then continues at a hurried pace. Her legs ache and her blood boils. Finally, she makes her way back to town and then hurries home, keeping to the backstreets in case the pirates decide to go after her again. She bursts through the front door to the sight of her mother and father waiting up for her at the kitchen table. They stand as soon as she enters and try as she might, Ari isn't able to avoid them.

"Arianna, are you alright?" her dad asks.

"You've got scratches all over you and," her mother smells the air surrounding her, "is that… alcohol I smell on you?!"

"And what's the box in your hands?" her dad asks, curious.

Ari looks down and realizes that she never let go of the box. I… still have it? Ari quickly recovers and says, "It's just a… a… " Ari remembers the gift that Kuina's dad gave to that boy. "A gift from Koshiro, Kuina's dad." Ari frowns.

"Oh, sweetheart," her dad says, hugging her. "I called for you when you ran through the door, but I guess you didn't hear me. I wanted to be the one to tell you."

Ari pulls away from her dad. "Can I… go to my room please?"

Her parents nod and she rushes up the steps to her room, shutting her door behind her. Finally getting a chance to breathe and process all that's happened that day, she sets the box on her floor and curls up on her bed. She takes long, deep breaths, determined to calm herself down. Eventually, her curiosity sneaks in and she cautiously peeks over the edge of the bed at the box. The red-haired man seemed to be on my side, but when he saw me holding this box he didn't hesitate to attack me. Whatever is in that box… it must be valuable. Ari crawls out of her bed and inspects the box, trying to open it, but it's no use. It's locked tight. She grabs a safety pin from her desk and tries to pick at the lock. She's about to give it up, when suddenly the box springs open and Ari flinches backward out of surprise. The whole lid is flipped back, revealing the bright piece of fruit inside. It's then that she realizes why this box is so valuable to the red-haired man. It's a… devil fruit. Its magenta color and deep swirls call to her, tempting her to taste it. Kuina… Tansy… I can't believe I lost them. She chokes down her tears as a new conclusion comes upon her. I will never, ever let my friends die again. Maybe… maybe… this can help. And with that last thought, Ari swallows her doubts and carefully lifts the hefty fruit out of the box. She brings it closer and closer still to her mouth and in a flash of haste, gobbles the whole of it down. I am now… a devil fruit user. She grins.

If you can't already tell, I really love building on character's backstories and how they became who they are in the present timeline.

Until next time! Auf Wiedersehen!