The Remedy

by Tresdem

Luffy has been in a coma for five years and the group is nearing the end of their financial and emotional rope. Is the shared love of a single boy enough to keep them going-or will they go their separate ways, drifting apart for once and for all like they threatened to do all those years ago?

20. For Good, Weight of the World

A/N: Due to the overwhelming length of this chapter, I'll be splitting it into two parts.

Though to be clear, Chapter Twenty: Part II will all take place in the past. This is just so you aren't reading a NaNo Novel worth of fic at once. haha

---

For Good

Vivi reclined on the rose and gold patterned duvet, the pillows soft against her back, protecting her from the ornate wood of the headboard. The mid-morning sun streamed in and over the keyboard of her laptop which she balanced on her legs, as she went through some memos that Aswa had compiled for her. Really, her mother-in-law worked much too hard and Vivi wished she wouldn't. She honestly didn't mind if the woman did only half of what she did for the company and Vivi could never tell whether it was because she loved her career or the people in it. Well, her and Toto's anniversary was coming up wasn't it? Vivi slid the bluetooth in her ear and speed dialed Terracotta's number.

"Yes, dear?" the woman said after a single ring.

"Hello, Terracotta. Are you busy?" Vivi said.

"Of course not. I was just making the shopping list for next week. How is Miss Cindry working out for you?"

"Oh just fine." Vivi smiled fondly. The shopping list was more of an extravaganza. Though there was only Father in the house just now, there were always at least three or four guests, not to mention personal staff and frequent dinner parties. "I just wanted to check, Toto and Aswa's anniversary is soon, right?"

"Yes, Princess. Actually it's next month on the twenty-third. Were you thinking of sending them somewhere?"

Vivi felt a flush creep across her cheeks and put her fingers to them.

"Am I really that transparent?"

Terracotta chuckled.

"I have known you since you were a baby, you know," Terracotta said. "You have very few secrets from me, my dear. Tell me where and I'll make the arrangements."

"You really needn't!" Vivi held up her hands, even though Terracotta couldn't see them. "I know you have a lot on your plate so—"

"It's nothing. Please, allow me. I've been arranging the travel plans for the Nefertari family since your mother was your age. I know just who to call and what to set up. Won't take me but five minutes." Vivi somehow doubted that it would only be five minutes, but she smiled fondly, letting out a soft silent breath. It was partly a matter of personal pride, she knew, and because of that…

"Well you know, Aswa has always talked about returning to her homeland in style…"

"Perfect. One Cleopatra Cruise coming up! Maybe I can convince someone at the consulate to allow us to use a litter…"

"Make sure she's comfortable with it at least," Vivi said with a laugh. "Aswa is fairly shy."

"I know my Aswa. Don't you worry, my dear. Terracotta won't let you down."

"Thank you," Vivi said, telling herself that she would somehow plan a big trip for Terracotta and Igaram's anniversary this summer without that woman finding out like she did every year. Vivi stretched, lacing her fingers together and stretching her arms out in front of her, palms out and then got back to work, checking her email. There was another e-mail from Miss Keimi, thanking Vivi profusely for the opportunity for her and her master to come and work as a side branch of Empire Fashions, but ultimately refusing a face to face meeting. It was a pity. Crimin Fashions had such potential, but they were limited by a rather small shop on Etsy and hampered further by shipping and material costs.

She flexed her fingers and tried to channel Luffy as she wrote Keimi that she understood and that a face to face wasn't necessary but if the woman should change her mind, here are the details. Then she tackled a dozen more emails of varying degrees of frustration.

"Vivi Nefertari!"

The slamming door made her jump and she blinked, hands poised over the keyboard at Nami who was standing in what she'd slept in, but her hair nevertheless brushed and pulled back into a low ponytail. One hand was propped on her hip and the other carried a covered tray.

"Nami…?" Vivi said.

"Don't you Nami me in that tone of voice." Nami kicked the door closed with her foot and came closer, setting the tray on the bedside table before, flopping on the bed and scowling in Vivi's face so close Vivi could smell her breath.

"That doesn't look like resting," Nami said.

"But I am resting," Vivi said. "I'm practically lying down and— Nami…!" She protested as the woman pulled her laptop away.

"That's not resting and you forgot this." She reached over and put the tray on Vivi's lap. "I'll be right back." Nami swung off the bed. Vivi lifted the cover off the tray and smiled. There was a bowl of oatmeal, filled with fruit with blueberries in a heart shaped design over the surface, with a cut strawberry heart in the very center. There was toast to the side, also heart shaped and a little hardboiled egg in which someone had taken the time to paint a very tiny Sanji with a heart in his eye proclaiming: 'I 3 You, Vivi!'.

"I forgot this, did I?" Vivi said as Nami came back with her own tray and a plastic bottle of orange juice which she handed to Vivi. "Room service has become remarkably personal this morning."

"Right?" Nami said. "There was a tray out there, you know, but everything had gone cold because someone wasn't paying attention."

"Oh… I'd completely forgotten…" Vivi said, feeling a blush staining her cheeks. Nami waved a spoon at her before uncovering her own tray which had more in the way of bacon and eggs but with a fruit salad with more heart shaped fruit and Sanji swooning at her from a napkin.

"I noticed."

"I hope Mr. Sanji didn't go to any trouble."

"Of course he did." Nami pinched her cheek hard. "But he would anyway because it makes him feel good. Honestly, after this long you'd think you'd have gotten used to the idea that people care about you."

"Yes. Alright. I understand, I'm sorry," Vivi said, mostly so that Nami would let go. Nami did and Vivi rubbed the sore spot a moment before deciding that Nami was right. It would certainly cheer him up to be able to do something…and she couldn't push away such a thoughtful breakfast for later. She took a bite of the oatmeal and it was delicious as usual though a surprise every time. Just the right hint of cinnamon and it was even a little lumpy just how she liked it. She wasn't even aware Sanji knew that.

"Did he come along with it? I'd like to thank him."

"Nah, he sent it along with Usopp and the others," Nami waved her hand. "He and Chopper are taking everyone on a Christmas Tree tour. We're going to meet them at Raymond's when they're done… maybe around two or three I think."

"I see you have my entire day planned out for me," Vivi said, mildly amused.

"Damn right I do."

"Well then, Master Scheduler. After I eat, let me just check some emails and we can go down to the massage parlor."

"Parlor yes, emails no."

Vivi sighed lightly. She understood Nami's concern. Truly she did but…

"Just a few."

"Vivi… When is the last time you had a vacation?" Nami asked, giving her a hard look. Vivi opened her mouth. "Without checking your e-mail?" the woman added and Vivi shut it again, cracked the egg, picture side up, and focused on peeling it, trying to preserve as much as the picture as she could.

"The world is not going to end just because you don't check your email for one day, or even two," Nami said, bumping against her shoulder.

"But the massage parlor doesn't open until twelve…"

"That's alright. Oh I know!" Nami snapped her fingers. "You can help me pick out some of the pictures for the Christmas Party."

"Oh of course." It was sort of a tradition now. Nami cornered them all one by one to pick out pictures and videos that would be displayed on the projector. It was hard and sometimes painful but— Vivi sometimes suspected that everyone put themselves through it so they could ingrain the past into their minds. Ingrain Luffy there. So they would never forget what it had been like and they could carry on another year.

"Good. I have most of it on our shared drive." Nami put her own tray to the side and pulled Vivi's laptop onto her lap. Vivi was about to offer to tell Nami the passwords but realized with some bemusement that Nami already seemed to have them. Well then.

"Should I be worried?" Vivi said, sipping at her orange juice with an innocent air.

"I'd say so. You used the same ones you did six years ago. You really need to change it up, Vivi."

"I keep forgetting to get around to that."

"So I noticed." And then giving Vivi a side glance. "Eat."

"I'm eating." She set the eggshell aside and ate the boiled egg with a pinch of salt from the packet Sanji had provided. How he wasn't inundated with female attention… well she could sort of understand why. She allowed herself, somewhat meanly, to wonder if he would even know what to do with said attention if he got it.

"There we go," Nami said and right away, Vivi spotted the pictures she wanted.

"Oh Santo Domingo. We haven't had any of those yet have we?"

"No I don't think so. But we're going to have to limit the bathing suit shots. You know I give Sanji the camera for two hours…"

"Surely there can't be that many…" Vivi said. Nami gave her a look and opened a subfolder entitled SanjiCam and immediately pressed her lips together to keep from smiling too much. That was…women in bikinis were no strangers to Santo Domingo and Sanji seemed to have captured every one of them. And when had Vivi ever been in that pose?

"Who…who has seen these?"

"Oh don't worry, this is the admin account. I keep those kinds of thing under lock and key. I think maybe at most Robin has because she finds it fun to get around my security. But it helps…" Nami added quickly as if she thought Vivi was concerned. "The only person who could get in here would really have to want to."

"I see…" Vivi said, not particularly worried about Nico Robin seeing anything. She was a sensible woman if nothing else.

"Anyway, no, let's leave these poor women to their anonymity. Let's see…" There were so many pictures. Some of which Vivi hadn't seen in years. There were some of her family, too. Father reclining on an innertube. Igaram and Teracotta walking side by side in the sunset. Pell and Chaka struggling to push each other in the pool. And…her and Koza at a cabana. His hand over hers in a rare display of public affection. She could still remember the warmth of it and the shock of the gesture. But then the heat which had curled from the center of her chest. She always forgot about that one until she saw it again.

"You guys make a cute couple," Nami said as they gazed at the picture. Vivi drew her knees up and linked her arms around them.

"You think so? Sometimes we hardly seem to be in the same room together to justify that."

"Does that bother you?" Nami asked, tilting her head.

"No. Not really." And it didn't. Their lives were too big for it to be just the two of them frequently. And too separate. Koza had his projects, Vivi had hers. It would probably change once the baby was born but for now she was content with how things were.

"Is there anyone special in your life?" Vivi asked and Nami gave her a wry smile, mouth twisting to one side.

"About ten of them…"

"No, I mean special special."

"For right now they are as special special as I want."

"I see." It was expected, really. Nami had a lot to take care of. For all that she poked at Vivi for working too hard, she worked just as hard herself these days. Maybe harder than anyone was aware. But maybe that was why they got along so well.

In any case, she said no more about it, finishing her meal as they looked at more pictures. Some of which Vivi had seen many times before. Group shots were a favorite tradition and there were so many of those, but some more special than others. Vivi smiled as Nami selected the one of them outside Mr. Dalton's Rodeo. No matter how that had ended up, they had been together and some of it had been fun. Not that she would go back to those days.

"Let's do some videos, too," Nami murmured, seemingly half to herself and opened a different file.

"Champion?" Vivi said, spotting a file name she hadn't seen before. "What's that?"

"Oh my god, you haven't seen this yet?" Nami said. "Here, sit back. I have to show you."

Vivi grinned as Nami set it to full screen, watching in anticipation. For the moment it was just somewhere outside in the dark, the crowd murmuring in the background. At some distance was the glimmering lights of a ferris wheel and a few other rides.

"Some kind of carnivale?" Vivi asked.

"The state fair in Puyallup," Nami said. "This is the karaoke contest."
Now that she said it, Vivi could see the black outlines of what could be a stage. Her grin only widened as Usopp's voice filtered through the darkness, magnified by a microphone.

"Welcome to the last and best performance of the evening. Let me present to you, the Straw Hat Pirates. Dead-Eyes Brook…"

"Really with that name?" Nami in the video said in a hushed whisper.

"Shh," someone beside her said. A spotlight flicked on, revealing the tall, lanky man, dressed in flashy clothes, playing a riff on an electric guitar that rippled through the air. He was quite the talented musician.

"Cyborg Frrrranky!"

"Ow!" Another spotlight flicked on and there was Mr. Franky behind a keyboard and wearing…well…sequined speedos under a Hawaiian shirt.

"Doesn't that man ever wear pants?" Vivi asked.

"No one's ever caught him at it," Nami said dryly.

"Tony Tony 'the yeti'-"

"Reindeer!"

"-Chopper." Another light and there he was behind a drum set with a black vest, a spiked collar and his ever present pink hat. It looked a little ridiculous, honestly, but knowing everything that it meant—she couldn't help but admire his conviction.

"I didn't know he played drums," Vivi said.

"Just for this thing. He practiced for weeks." Nami smiled and leaned against Vivi's shoulder. "They all did. Dorks."

Vivi chuckled and the fondness in her voice.

"Lover of the ladies, Casanova of the Circuit, Blackleg Sanji!"

Another spotlight. Sanji was standing behind a microphone, wearing an open red shirt and black pants he must have poured himself into.

"Ladies…" He said, in his smooth voice, and seemed to be wiggling his visible eyebrow though it was hard to tell from this distance.

"Circuit champion, expert sniper, all around MC extraordinare, sub-captaaaain Usopp!" The spotlight flicked on and Usopp was clutching a microphone with his left hand, his right high in the air and finger gunning in an extended pose to which a few people clapped hesitantly. Though Usopp didn't seem to notice the lack of fanfare.

"And finally," Usopp said, shifting his weight. "You've heard about him, now see him in real life, the one, the only Future Pirate King of the World, Monkey! D! LUFFY?!" The last ended in a shriek and Vivi clapped a hand over her mouth as laughter rippled through the audience in the video. There was Luffy standing on stage in a monkey costume that left only his face exposed. He grinned widely at the audience.

"Eek eek!" he said. "Watch!" And he got on his hands and started handwalking across the stage. Nami from the video made an annoyed sound and Vivi heard the forehead slap, followed by a soft deep chuckle which took her a moment to place until she realized it was Robin.

"Luffy what the hell are you doing in that thing?!"

"The guy said I could. And look." He turned and lifted the tail. "It has a red butt! Shishishi"

"Don't just do whatever you want!" Usopp snapped. "Here, hurry up and take it off!"

"Waah! Wait stop!" Luffy cried as Usopp fairly tackled him, trying to tug the zipper down. "I can't take it off!"

"Why not?" Usopp said.

"I'm naked," Luffy said, pressing his lips together, and giving Usopp that big eyed blinky look. A collective sigh on stage except for Mr. Brook who twanged a note that sounded like an exclamation mark.

"A shocking development!" the tall man said. "Mr. Luffy, I assure you the nakedness wouldn't bother me one bit. Ah! But I can't see anyway. Blind jooke! Yohohoho."

"Well it would bother the shit out of me," Sanji said. "So don't even think it, pea brained idiot. Why the hell are you naked?!"

"Cuz the guy said it got really hot," Luffy said scratching his laugh rippled through the audience and Luffy grinned at the attention and began to dance again.

"Let's do a dance party!" he said.

"Not a shitty chance!" Sanji snapped.

Between Sanji and Usopp they somehow wrestled Luffy off stage to do a costume change, Usopp throwing over his shoulder to keep the audience entertained. For a moment there was awkward silence. Vivi cringed inwardly. She hated to see them get embarrassed like that. Only Nami's hand on her arm kept her from looking away.

"Well." Brook played a complex set of chords on his guitar. "I see there are a lot of single ladies present. To you, I ask, may I see your—"

"Hands!" Chopper yelped, bolting upright and knocking over a drum. He scrambled to pick it up and hurried to the front of the stage. "We uh…wanna see your hands. Because it's um…party time. Woop woop?" he said in a higher voice, pushing his hands into the air.

"Okay! Everyone do the Single Frranky dance!" Franky said, coming to stand beside Chopper.

"They're not," Vivi said, stifling a giggle. "Please tell me it's not going to happen."

"It always happens," Nami said with a laugh.

"Ready? To the rright! Right! Right! Right! Feel the superrr burn in your pelvis! Ow!" He began to hip thrust right and then: "Left! Left! Left! Left!" Chopper and Brook joined him at this point and Vivi couldn't stifle her laugh any more at the sight.

"Right! Left! Right! Left! Right! Left!"

Vivi managed to calm herself somewhat until Sanji, Usopp and Luffy came back on stage and joined the dance seemingly without thinking about it. It looked ridiculous. It looked wonderful. She almost wanted to join in.

"Rrrrooolll your arms annnd SUPERRRRR!" They all posed with their hands in the air and confetti popped from the foot of the stage, showering through the air. Vivi clapped and then laughed harder as Usopp bellowed.

"This isn't time for the finale!"

Vivi waved for a tissue so she could wipe at her eyes and nose. No matter how long she knew them, it would still amaze her how this group managed to get anything done ever.

Finally though they seemed to get things together. There was a hush of silence and then Usopp began to sing as Franky and Brook began to play.

"I've paid my dues… Time after time. I've done my sentence, but committed no crime. And bad mistakes-I've made a few" The music ramped up dramatically and suddenly Vivi recognized the song.

"Oh!"

"I've had my share of sand kicked in my face but I've come through!"

And then Usopp, Sanji and Luffy sang together:

"Weee are the champions, my friends…"

It wasn't exactly synched and Luffy was loud and slightly off key but Vivi felt her face burning as something like excitement welled in her. Sanji took the second verse. His voice controlled by no less passionate as he cradled the microphone, as the song ramped up again, he leaned in, his face red from exertion as his rings flashed in the light. This time everyone on the stage seemed to be singing the chorus. Even Vivi wanted to, but kept a hand over her mouth to stop herself.

After the chorus came the repeat of it, but this time it was just Luffy singing, a little off key and blisteringly loud, even the speakers on the laptop buzzed as if they couldn't quite handle it.

"Wee are the champions, my friennds! And we'll keep on fiighting til the end! We are the champions we are the champions! No time for losing cuz we are the championnns! Of the worlllld!"

And then they launched into the chorus again, everyone singing together again, this time the crowd singing, too. Nami and Robin joined in at the end and Vivi could hear their voices clear and passionate, lighters raised into the air in front of them like little stars.
But even when the song ended, the Brook, Franky and Chopper kept on playing as Usopp yelled:

"Who are the champions?!" and he held out the microphone to the crowd.

"We are!" And they clapped twice.

"Who are the champions?!"

"We are!" and this time Vivi joined them quietly, clapping her hands. Nami laughed.

"Who are the champions?!"

"WE ARE!" Luffy bellowed, blasting over everyone with the help of the microphone, a huge grin on his face as he punched his fist into the air. The moment he did the stage went dark and fireworks exploded in the air above, snapping bright colors and pinwheels. Vivi clapped. A drop of wet landed on her hands and she realized tears were streaming down her face. Nami's too. Vivi laughed, though she wasn't sure why and Nami laughed as well, knuckling the tears away with her right hand.

"That…that was amazing," Vivi said as the crowd cheered in the video.

"Wait… there's just a little more," Nami said, looping her arm around Vivi's. Vivi smiled and hugged Nami's arm tight against her, resting her other hand on the woman's and squeezing their fingers together.

"Encore!" the crowd began to chant. "Encore! Encore!"

But the stage remained dark even though she could just faintly make out them shifting. The twang of a guitar string. A whispered: "Luffy!"

And then right next to the camera:

"Hey, come on!" Luffy said.

"Luffy, what are you doing?" Nami said in the video. "Luf— I can't just leave the camera. Hey wait! Wait I said!" her voice going further as if she was struggling.

"Don't worry, Nami," Robin said, a laugh in her voice, fading as she followed them. "It'll be looked after. I've set bear traps around it."

"You better have," Nami said and then, just faintly below the crowd at some distance Nami said:

"There you are."

"…Yeah." There was no mistaking Zoro's voice, faint as it was.

"Come on!" Luffy said. "Come On!"

After a moment, the lights of the stage flicked back on and there they all were, standing arranged beside and behind Luffy. Vivi rested her fingers against her cheek and watched them all fondly. The crowd cheered and Brook played the intro to the chorus again. They sang it twice more. The first time, just Luffy and his crew, even Zoro singing after he was elbowed by Sanji. And then finally everyone together as the fireworks went off above them. After the last "world" there was a roar of clapping and Luffy lifted both arms in the air, beaming hugely.

It was there the video stopped and the world was silent once more. It was…somewhat difficult to recover from it, really. She stared at the image of Luffy's frozen face and wished— But the world didn't run on wishes. She squeezed Nami's hand again and reached over to at least minimize the video.

"We should play that at the end…" Nami said quietly, her gaze focused on the screen though Vivi doubted she was really watching.

"At the end of the party?" Vivi laughed lightly. "Everyone will be a mess!" It was…faintly funny but not really. Not if she thought about it too much and so she tried not to. Nami said nothing for a moment then straightened and smiled closing the laptop and hugging it against her legs.

"I heard there was this really great show on channel seven we should check out… as you finish your breakfast."

"Excuse me," Vivi said, not pointing out that seven was CNN which would certainly count as work if Vivi watched it and distressing besides. Instead she held up her tray. "I do believe this counts as finished."

"Mostly finished." Nami added her own fruit salad to Vivi's tray and stuck out her tongue.

"Cheater," Vivi said with a faint smile, shaking her head.

"Pirate!" Nami shot back cheerfully, climbing out of bed to grab the remote and stand in front of the tv, relentlessly flicking through channels. There was a Straw Hat emblem on the back of the shirt. Vivi took that motif for granted so much she was surprised she noticed it anymore, but there it was, cracked a little from so many washings but the grinning skull and yellow hat were there.

The sight of it disturbed her somehow and she looked away, nibbling on a strawberry and glancing at her laptop. Since Nami was distracted… She opened it, navigating away from the shared space, back to her email. No answering, just to see what was there. A message from her father and just below that, Mr. Coby…

Vivi stared at his name for a moment before shifting the laptop closer and opening the message from her father, blinking in surprise as he said he was coming down to see her. Tomorrow in fact, bringing Igaram and Terracotta with him, as well as Chaka no doubt. It was a little surprising… But perhaps not so much after all. They'd all heard about Vivi's incident after all and—well they cared for Luffy, too. Father and Igaram certainly and this would be…the final opportunity. She opened the e-mail and told him to meet her at the care center after he arrived.

"Vivi?" Nami said. Vivi waved a hand.

"Just replying to Father." As for Coby's message… it wasn't marked urgent and it could wait for now. She closed the laptop and set it aside and then leaned back and smiled at Nami who was watching her from in front of the TV. Some nameless soap opera was playing but that was fine. The point was the noise, not the plot.

"Care to join me?" Vivi said, patting the spot beside her. "I'll keep you warm." And she wiggled her eyebrows just to tease.

"Well who am I to deny a princess anything?" Nami said in an elaborate shrug, resuming her place on the bed and placing a hand on the center of her chest, bowing from the shoulders in a gesture reminiscent of Sanji.

"Mellorine, mellorine," Vivi said and giggled with Nami. It wasn't bad like this. If only it could stay this way. If only they could, lighthearted and happy. But, she wouldn't dwell on it. There was still plenty of time to enjoy her company before the end. Even today they were going to Raymond's in a few hours which was always something to look forward to. So she snuggled beside Nami and watched the soap opera, pushing the e-mail from her mind.

xXxXx

Vivi shuffled the cards and looked at her atrocious hand. Her luck had been absolutely hideous for a few rounds now and her pile of M&Ms used in place of money was dwindling, despite the fact that Sanji kept pushing some of his over when he thought no one was looking. Of course he did that to every lady at the little card table and, being the only man, it was a wonder he had any candy left at all. Really, this was a dominance battle between Nami and Robin and Vivi was glad to be on the fringes—though not quite as on the fringes as Mrs. Kokoro who was plugging her way straight through a bottle of whiskey.

"I fold," Vivi said, setting her cards face down on the table and leaning back in the chair, looking around the room with a smile. Raymond's had been closed for a party and so they'd all bundled back here until Usopp had the idea to have a party right here in Vivi's room. She hadn't minded the idea in the least and had been all set to order pizzas but of course Sanji wouldn't hear of it and had taken over a section of the kitchen to cook a huge buffet in a matter of hours which the other men had taken turns carting and setting up. As a treat, because he didn't do enough obviously, Sanji had made everyone their own customized hot chocolate, using the hotels more extravagant for the ladies and had somehow found one with a monogrammed V on it for her.

Most of the boys, and Chimney, and Karoo were on the gaming system, having some kind of fighting tournament. Right now it was Usopp vs Brook and Vivi pushed away from the table to watch the battle which, it seemed, was quite fierce.

"I'm gonna bring you down, just watch!" Usopp said. "No one defeats the great Usopp."

"We shall see," Brook said, chuckling darkly and then, she assumed, got hit because he lurched upright. "I am stabbed!"

"Punched," Chopper said.

"A wicked uppercut!" Chimney said, miming it with her hands.

"Kweh!" Karoo agreed, thrusting his wings into the air.

"Never mind! I shall rally my forces and fight on! I can see victory! Ah, though I really can't see at all! Yohohoho."

"Yeah well, don't see this! Ha!" Usopp said as his character went viciously for Brook's who nimbly avoided it. Below, at Brook's feet, she could see his dog, Laboon, watching attentively, occasionally tapping Brook's right or left foot with a paw. Telling him which direction Usopp was, Vivi realized, covering a laugh and shaking her head.

"You're quite good, Mr. Brook," Vivi said, leaning her arms on the back of the couch.

"Love drives me on," Brook said. "And a handy memory of the sequences that would be photographic only-well…" He sighed gustily. "By the way, may I see your-"

"NO," Sanji bellowed from across the room. Vivi laughed softly. He would be much more a white knight if he wasn't half the pervert himself. She watched for a while until Nami called:

"We're dealing another hand."

Vivi straightened and was about to join them when she caught a glimpse of Zoro out on the balcony, drinking. He hadn't said more than a few words to anyone the entire time, and not too long ago, Sanji had come from a smoke on the balcony looking livid—though he wouldn't say why.

"I'll tap out for a little, I think," Vivi said, glancing at the pile of coats draped on the chair and and picked up the first one, though it took a little thought to figure out who it belonged to.

"Usopp, may I borrow your coat?"

"Huh? Yeah sure."

"K.O.!" the game announced and Usopp groaned while Brook laughed. Vivi smiled and slipped outside into the cold. It was a clear night though difficult to tell from the city lights and from here she could see the Space Needle lit up like a beacon. They should go there one day. Wondered if Luffy had ever been.

"It's a beautiful view, isn't it?" she said, wrapping the coat around herself as she sat in the opposite chair. Zoro grunted. A truly masculine means of communication. Vivi watched him drink, the light glinting over the bottle. How many had he had? It was difficult to tell. It was hard to see his face, shadowed like it was. Vivi folded her fingers in her lap and looked out over the city once more.

"It's cold enough to make you sick if you stay too long," she said, rubbing her hands together.

"I'm fine," he said. She doubted that very much. Though what should she do? It was her business and it wasn't. The process of grief was rough and difficult and she hadn't experienced it enough in her life to really understand how others might deal with it. Mother had died so long ago and fortunately no one else. And certainly not like this. She rubbed her arms against the cold, which she felt even through the layered sleeves of Usopp's jacket. She really had no right to say anything. Doubtless the others had tried—

-but Luffy had fought on. Even after losing so often. He fought as hard as he could until he couldn't. And she was not going to give up either, not on his beloved nakama. Maybe she would fail in the attempt, but no one ever won a battle they'd never fought.

She sat and thought a moment, listening to the cars rush by below and the muffled sounds of the game through the glass behind them. Out here on the balcony it was like a place between two worlds. Between the warmth of friends and the cold beautiful city. Like the choice between going in and heading out.

As she watched Zoro's face in the half light, she couldn't help but wonder which he was trying to decide. It was strange. As attached as he'd been to Luffy when she'd first met them, and granted she hadn't met up with them every year but— he showed up less and less to whatever they had planned at the time. Perhaps she didn't know him as well as she'd thought—or perhaps he had changed. People did, she had found. Sometimes without much of a warning. But she couldn't let her self tangent. She had to focus on the task at hand. Right or wrong she had chosen her course and now she must sail it.

"Mr. Roronoa…" No… "Zoro…" She flexed her fingers in her lap. "I know…that this is a difficult time for you…" Though even as she spoke she hesitated. Then pushed on. "But…I don't think…isolating yourself like this will help."

He grunted. She waited for more. There was nothing. Inside the room, Usopp cheered— a sound muted through the glass and Vivi did her best to keep her hands still and patient on her lap. She wished he would say something. That she could see his face clearly to even guess what he might be thinking. She couldn't even tell if he agreed with her or not. So, she pressed further.

"He would want us to be together no matter what happened. That would make him happiest."

"He would want us to be with him…" Zoro's voice was quiet, barely above a murmur but they still felt like a cold wind had slapped her across the face. She was standing before she knew it, gripping the chair, wanting to surge forward and ask what he meant by that. She wanted to grab him by the lapels of his jacket and cry at him with hot angry tears that he had better not be thinking what she thought he was thinking. She she held herself back. Clamped down on the hot rush of emotion. Something inside her shifted uneasily and she pressed a hand lightly to her belly.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 'Kingdoms are won and lost in anger,' her father had told her once. 'Stop, breathe, and let it pass through you.' If only it was so easy. There was so much to be angry at. They were at the situation they were now because the world was cruel and people were ruthless. The people who had hurt Luffy. Crocodile who had ransacked her poor struggling kingdom, nearly driving it into poverty and ruin along with her father's name. Even deep ancestral anger that throbbed in her blood, thinking of the ransacking of her home, hundreds of years ago, because people wanted money. Land. Power. Further than that the whole world was suffering around them. The whole world was angry around them. Full of lost children. Gangs bubbling into violence. The truth of the world, whatever fool thing that was, still looming on the horizon, unknown and maybe even a myth! But still being reached for and fought over.

"You are not allowed to follow him," she said, her voice sounding cold and haughty, as she surprised even herself, her tongue tasted like iron. "We will be by his side at the end, but you made an obligation to protect his family." She had meant to say nakama, that almost magical word, but the other had slipped out instead. "Don't think you can shirk it, even for his sake."

It was like another person had spoken. It left her feeling shaken. Maybe this is what Laki had meant by the voice of the bell. Beautiful and clear but honest, harsh even, telling the truth and leaving reverberations even in the bones. He was watching her, seeming startled. She tried to come back to herself but she felt unmoored somehow. She would not apologize. She wouldn't soften. She had meant it just as she said. She should soften. She should reach out to him. But somehow she couldn't seem to move. He closed his eyes and looked back over the city, not breaking the spell so much as bringing her back. She was exhausted suddenly.

"I know," he said, and somehow it helped. She breathed out. Her eyes stung. She blinked rapidly and went to reach for him, wanting to put a hand on his shoulder, form a connection, but the door slid open and there was Nami peering out at them.

"Brrr it's freezing out here! Vivi, come inside already, Kokoro and Chimney are leaving."
The moment was gone. The world returned. Probably for the best. And she was cold.

"Yes, alright." Vivi offered Zoro a small smile she wasn't even sure he noticed before heading back into the warmth. She shed Usopp's coat, thanking him, and said her goodbyes to Kokoro and Chimney, dazed slightly and moving on instinct. She even tried to clear up some of the mess to busy her hands but Nami shooed her aggressively to the couch where she sat, gathered Karoo onto her lap, and watched Usopp pack up his gaming system, winding the cord around the controller.

She was tired. Her neck ached. She wanted Koza with a deep longing that surprised her. She wanted him to come up behind her, work her neck with his strong warm calloused fingers. Watch her with his quietness. She wanted to sit with him alone on the couch, the glass doors opened and watch the sun set out beyond the veranda and drinking sweet mellow wine. To just exist with him where nothing was falling apart. Where she could be however she wanted, due to a shared memory, shared experience and the fact that he'd seen her dirty kneed and booger flinging along with the rest of the pack they'd traveled with in days she can hardly remember now. The call of the birds. The sunlight on the water…

A cold wind made her shudder and she came back to reality, rubbing her arms. Usopp was just finishing carefully wedging the gaming system into a bag. Robin and Nami were chatting quietly, their voices low and just beyond her range of hearing unless she wanted to try. She saw that Chopper had returned from where Sanji had shanghai'd him into being a sort of busy boy and thought blearily that the cold wind had come from him when the rumble of Zoro's deep voice surprised her.

"Are we leaving?"

The room went still. Vivi glanced in his direction along with everyone else. Even Brook canted his head toward the sound. For a moment it didn't seem like anyone would say anything, but finally Usopp did.

"Uh… well, I guess so, unless you guys wanted to hang around a bit longer." More silence. As if they'd all forgotten what words were. Once again, Usopp came to the rescue. "I mean, we could probably watch a movie or something if you guys…wanted to um…keep going for a bit."

"Vivi?" Nami said. Vivi turned to blink at her, wondering why the woman was addressing her— and then understood.

"Oh, of course, a movie sounds wonderful," she said, and must not have sounded entirely convincing, given Nami's expression. Vivi tried to smile and then decided against it, sighing a little. "Please," she said, managing to find a faint smile anyway. "Just one movie wouldn't hurt."

"That's a great idea!" Chopper said. "Let's get popcorn!"

"You just ate a ton, shitty punk," Sanji said but fondly. "What are you turning into Luffy?"

"Oh, god no," Nami said with a soft laugh. "Stop the transformation right there. We can't afford tw… we can't afford it."

"I think popcorn sounds like a wonderful idea. I always enjoy it while watching a movie. Not that I can see it," Brook said and Vivi wondered if he ever got tired of that joke.

"Sounds great to me," Usopp said, taking out his system once more. "Let's see what's on Netflix." And then as Nami sat beside Vivi in the middle. "Oi that's my spot."

"You snooze, you lose," Nami said, slipping an arm around the back of the couch just behind Vivi's shoulders. Vivi felt warm from her core."

"What part of me looked like I was snoozing? Not that it matters, you know, because I have the hair trigger senses of a cat. No one can catch the great Usopp sleeping on the job. This one time I woke up just before a troupe of seventy ninja launched a surprise attack."

"What, really?" Chopper said, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Of course really," Usopp said, shaking his head with a smirk. "Would I lie?"

Zoro snorted and Robin came closer, gracefully pulling up a chair as she said:

"It's not the ninja you wake up to that you have to worry about."

"O…oi, don't say such scary things. A-anyway, like I said I can hear ninja from miles away." Vivi watched bemused as a hand blossomed from between Usopp's shoulder blades. "Nothing can sneak up on miaee!" he ended in a squeak as the fingers pinched the back of his neck. Laughter ran like a soft river through the room and Vivi shook her head.

She let her head list against Nami's shoulder as she watched Usopp fiddle with the console again, listening to the bursts of conversation around her. Coby's e-mail, whatever it was, still waited for her and tomorrow she would go to that place again to wait for her father. She would rather meet him anywhere else now. But being there was important and so there should would be. But tomorrow. Today… tonight… was a movie in the warmth of a small family that she was only really on the fringes of. But that was alright. For now she could afford to relax a little.

xXxXx

Vivi covered her yawn with a hand. It wasn't too early. The clock on the car radio read ten thirty, and yet she was tired despite having slept soundly through the movie last night, waking up only a little when Zoro carried her to the bed. Her face heated a little at the thought and she pressed her hand to her cheeks. It was a little embarrassing to be treated that way. Perhaps it was because she'd woken up at three for an hour or so, though hadn't left the bed that Nami had decided to share with her. She'd watched the woman, fast asleep, caught in a square of moonlight and had felt an odd dreamy peace. It reminded her of the old days. She sighed and looked out the window as Mr. Kaku pulled into the care center's parking lot. She was almost tired of seeing this old white building. The dull glass doors. The endlessly waving St. Nicholas. That dull ache in the center of her ribcage. The car stopped and she waited as Mr. Kaku held out a hand as always. She felt another small pang as she took it. Since Father was here, this was the last time she would use his services.

"Thank you," she said, giving him a warm smile. "I mean that. Your service has been exemplary." He was so professional but in a kind manner. She couldn't help but appreciate it and would definitely have to compliment him to the driving service. He touched the brim of his hat.

"Just part of the job, ma'am. Was a pleasure serving you. You take care of yourself, now, you hear? Keep your chin up!"

"I will." She gave him one last smile before starting toward the doors, smiling again as he held them open for her and nodding to him and pressing through to the sterile heat. Keep her chin up. Of course she did and she could. But at this point her chin had been up so often her neck was starting to hurt. She shook her head and signed in at the front desk while the new man watched her with a bland stare. She supposed she should ask his name but for the moment she was tired. Perhaps another day since, goodness knows, this wasn't going to be her last trip here by a long shot.

She tightened her ponytail absently as she walked down the hall and noticed with some surprise that Luffy's door was open, though the light was off. She walked far enough to see who it was in there with him and stilled. There was a man she didn't know, dressed in a black jacket and jeans. No one she knew or could recognize. Granted she didn't know all of Luffy's friends but there seemed to be something suspicious about it all. He reached down and picked up Luffy's wrist, galvanizing her into action.

"Excuse me, do I know you?" she said, coming into the room and turning on the light. The man turned to look back at her, his movements were quick but there was nothing guilty or startled about his lean face. He didn't even let go of Luffy.

"I'm Tony-ya's friend."

"Tony-ya?" What?

"Chopper," he said, shifting his grip Luffy's wrist and staring at the clock on the far wall. It took her a moment to realize he was taking Luffy's pulse. Why? Who was this man? She sat on the edge of the bed, trying to let him know without words that Luffy was under her protection should he try anything funny. He didn't seem to notice her. After a moment he clicked his tongue and tucked Luffy's hand back at his side before pulling a phone out of his pocket and tapping something on it one handed.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked, fighting back the faint surge of hope.

"I work for a research lab," he said, picking up a small penlight from the bedside table and leaning forward. Viv was distracted by him lifting Luffy's eyelids to shine the light on his eyes. God it had been so long since she'd seen them open in any capacity and she was struck by how much they made him seem alive. She'd forgotten how brown they were. Almost black. She took a deep quiet breath, filling her lungs and let it out, pushing the fresh wave of sorrow away.

"A research lab," she said. "It must be an interesting one." And she looked pointedly at his hands where life had been tattooed on the fingers of one hand and death on the other.

"We study coma patients." He straightened and tapped more into his phone.

"And you've been studying Luffy?" she said, absently resting a hand on her belly.

"On and off."

"I see…" It was unsettling somehow, to know that this man had been coming in and studying him as if…as if he…was just some object to further medical research. Important research probably. To help others. But he was more than just a patient. He was important. How could Chopper agree to such a thing? No… She closed her eyes, trying not to let her own personal bias override her sensibilities. Luffy would want this. To help others. Of course he would. And it wasn't as if being examined actually hurt him in any way. Maybe he was beyond hurting. Another wave of grief washed through her and she swallowed it back.

Instead she focused on this man, slipping his phone back in his pocket and packing up his instruments into a black messenger back with a heart design in silver and, oddly, a cute polar bear face keychain.

"Later," he said, walking out and Vivi watched him go before realizing she didn't even know his name to confirm with Chopper later. But…then she supposed it didn't matter really. She sat back and tried to resettle herself. She checked her own phone. Father would be here in about twenty minutes and had sent an email saying as much. She sent him a smiley face back, unable to think of anything more intelligent, then, struck with realization, sent a message to Chopper, telling him about the incident.

And then there was Coby's message.

Vivi took a deep breath and opened it. Though all he said was that Garp had decided to come in on the twenty-third. She wasn't… entirely sure what to do with the information now that she had it. It wasn't as if she could warn Nami and the others because then they would wonder how she knew and she really didn't want to open that particular can of worms. Best… just to it on it for now she supposed and let things come as they will. She was tired of thinking. It seemed she was tired of a lot of things lately.

After that there was nothing but the sterile silence. It drove her a little crazy, to hear nothing but her own breath rasping, quiet voices down the hall. No wonder people could sleep here forever. She sighed and pushed away the thought, determined to make some noise of her own. But what? She could speak to him, but there was nothing she wanted to say, could bring herself to say— so instead she flipped through the music list on her phone until inspiration struck.
A moment later she was watching the "Champion" video on the small screen of her phone. Somehow it seemed lonelier here, their voices unable to fill up the dimness. She scooted a little closer to Luffy and smiled down at him.

"Can you hear it? Do you remember?" She put the phone on the pillow beside him and she watched him. The curve of his sunken cheek, the the way his newly cut hair fell over his forehead, the faint rythmic breathing that lifted his hollow chest.

'Who are the champions?' tinny Usopp bellowed.

"We are," Vivi murmured, threading her fingers through his bangs lightly.

'Who are the champions?'

"We oh!" Vivi sat straight up, something had happened inside. A jolt. A tiny blunt pain punching upward against her ribs. What in the world? It happened again, a third time and she finally understood. Warmth rushed through her.

"Luffy!" She took his hand and pressed it to her belly. "Luffy can you feel it? The baby is kicking. Isn't it wonderful?!"

He said nothing. He didn't move. Didn't stir. His hand was faintly warm and she could feel the sharp bones under her fingers. These hands… His hands… His fierce eyes… His yell which could still an entire arena. An entire city. Her child. Her bright one. Would grow up and never know…

Vivi closed her eyes…

…and let go.

The tears fell freely as she watched him, letting the sadness sweep through her as she threaded her fingers through his over her belly. She let herself mourn. She indulged in feeling sorry for herself, and regret in not being able to save him. She let the injustice of it all well up like a tired, angry bubble under her heart. It shouldn't have happened to him. Why not one of those people who didn't care about the world? That actively sought to destroy it or curtail the freedom of others? It should be them lying in this bed, not him. He belonged to them alive and happy and ferocious.

Soon enough the tears stopped, and she felt achy and hollow, her eyes bruised and puffy, her nose a bit sore from the tissue she'd borrowed. There was always a box here because Sanji knew. Of course he did. She she heaved her shoulders in a sigh, oddly feeling a strange sort of peace. Luffy looked peaceful, too. She could see why Coby had said he seemed to be waiting. It was a horribly sad thing to say.

Footsteps in the hall caught her attention and she looked up to see her Father filling the doorway, with Igaram behind him. She felt she should be formal and say Father, glide across the room, take his hands, kiss both his cheeks as was prescribed for the daughter of the still proud former king of Yuraj nee Alabasta. But she wiped at her eyes and held out a hand for him instead.

"Papa…"

His face relaxed a little, a smile breaking through the worry. He came toward the bed and took her hand, settling down beside her. Igaram reached to close the door and she smiled at him and nodded a deep greeting, pleased to see him. He smiled back, bowing before closing the door behind him, probably to stand guard though it wasn't necessary.

"I hear you had a bit of an adventure here," Father said, smiling, the lines around his eyes— and there were so many more now— deepening. There was white in his hair, too, and lining his beard. She smiled and indulged herself again, leaning against his shoulder, remembering sleeping against it so many times when she was a little girl.

"I'm fine now," she said as he slipped a hand over her other shoulder, pulling her close. At his grunt and she breathed a laugh. "I'm better, then," she said, sticking out her tongue.

"And I'm glad to hear it. You nearly scared your old father half to death! Not to mention Igaram."

"I'm sorry." She tilted her head to look up at him. "How did you keep him off the plane."

"How did he keep me off the plane, you mean," Father said with a twist of his mouth. "But as it turned out, there was some sort of passport crises and by the time we got it sorted, the crises seemed to be over. By that point, of course, we flew out anyway."

"I'm sorry to have worried you," she said, squeezing his hand. He smiled and pet her hair gently.

"Your mother always worried me, too."

The unexpected compliment coupled with the fond look on his face made tears sting her eyes once more. She wiped at them with her fingers, laughing as she felt a little silly and then dabbed at them with the handkerchief Father offered, blinking until she could finally compose herself.

"I don't know about you," Father said after a moment. "But I'm a little hungry…"

"Mmm. We should go eat…" She was a little hungry, too, and she had to protect her little bright one. Vivi stood, settling Luffy's hand beside him and smoothing her fingers down his arm. He slept on. Looking so different…and so much the same.

"We owe that boy a great deal," Father said.

"I want to save him," Vivi said, suddenly, fiercely. "I want to use the Devil's Seed."

"Vivi…" Father said and she could feel his startled look. She clenched her hands into fists.

"I want to. No matter the risk. Even if there's a slim chance at hope. I want to defy the world and give it to him." It felt good to say. Cathartic. As if she could wash all the pain and waiting away in that single hope. To believe in it with all her heart. And for a single moment, she did. Allowed herself to. Then she let out a long breath and came back to reality along with it.

"Feel better?" Father said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She smiled and absently straightened some wrinkles from the blanket.

"Yes and no…" She smiled and absently straightened some wrinkles from the blanket. "You know, someone said he feels like he's waiting. I want to hope that that's true, as well. That one day we'll figure out how to say or do the right thing and he'll open his eyes… Even after five years of nothing…" She shook her head. "And still I can't tell if it's the easy way or the hard way."

"In these situations there is no easy way or hard way, it just is," Father said and she looked into his kind warm smile, taking comfort from it even as he watched Luffy. "But I'll tell you something— that boy seems to come out of nowhere when there is no hope left. He swoops in to save the day long after everyone has given up… So maybe…." But he didn't finish it. And maybe even he couldn't. Maybe, in reality, it was the easy way to let go and the hard way to keep pushing, keep hoping.

But she couldn't anymore.

And that was okay.

---

You've Got the Weight of the World, My Dear

Vivi's dreams are vivid and nonsensical. They blend into one another so she can't make sense of anything, other than knowing with a deep anxiety somewhere in the back of her mind that she needs to wake up. Friends and family traipse across her vision, acting in some play she can't understand. It's alternately hot and then cold and her back and arm stretch and pull as if scorched by some desert sun. And she is in the desert, asking Karoo to get her water as she wades through the shin deep sand, seeing Yuraj—Alabasta— just in the distance of green forests and the sparkling blue lake. Luffy is there. She can hear his laugh. And she has to get closer, has to push through while the dark eyed woman watches her and Dalton lopes away, a lonely old bull. After hours and hours of pulling through, sweat dripping down her face, she is close. So close. She can see Koza in the distance. Young like she remembers him best and she calls out—

But her voice is carried away by the wind and blinding sand whipping from behind,choking her and devouring all of the green and blue, hiding Koza. That man laughs softly. She turns in rage to do something. To bury her fist alongside his nose but he is nowhere to be found. The desert is all around her. Alabasta is choked in dust and sand. She is alone. She has failed. She falls to her knees—

—and wakes.

To an unfamiliar room and an unfamiliar bed. She blinks the haze from her eyes, noticing her right arm is bandaged. A soft summer light touches the wall and a rug someone is weaving, yellow and red in an old Alabastan design. Vivi sits up, putting a hand, and feeling stale sweat as she takes in the room. It's small. An attic room judging by the sloping roof. It is clean and well kept, and a window must be open at her back because she can feel a soft breeze. A noise by her elbow catches her attention and she notices a lump in the blankets. Peeling it away, she smiles and relaxes a little as she sees Karoo sleeping there, his bill tucked under a wing. She brushes a finger against his cheek, lightly so as not to wake him. This must be a safe place, wherever it is, or he would be standing guard.

Still—where is this? And what's happened? She takes a moment to assess herself. If you have the time, it is the most important, as Igaram has told her. That way, there will be no unpleasant surprises if you must escape. And she feels— fine. Her back and shoulder are bothering her a little, stinging unpleasantly, and somewhat more disturbingly, she is in different clothes than what she remembers wearing. She stands, a little dizzy but it soon passes, and runs her tongue along the roof of her dry mouth as she goes to the open window, soft white curtains moving in the breeze.

This is a house set in a forest. There are trees. A long gravel drive to an old wooden gate and a sun dappled road just beyond. Leaning out of the window, and shifting her weight to her good arm, she can see a carport to her far left and what looks like the bumper of Zoro's car next to a dented pickup. She hears the door open behind her and straightens, letting in the muted noise of the TV from somewhere below.

"So you're finally awake," Nami says and Vivi turns to see the young woman standing in the doorway, a tray propped on her hip. She's smiling but her eyes seem hooded. Nevertheless, Vivi is relieved to see her.

"Yes…" Vivi passes a hand over her forehead as another wave of faint dizziness washes over her. "How long have I been asleep…?" she trails off as the voice from the TV below becomes clear.

"Thirteen dead and dozens more wounded as—"

But whatever else the announcer had been going to say is cut off as Nami slips into the room and kicks the door behind her with her foot. Vivi wants to ask her what it's about and takes a breath to do so.

"Two days," Nami says and Vivi blinks, not following.

"Pardon?"

"Two days. That's how long you've been asleep. You had a pretty bad fever for a while. Laki said it was probably exhaustion" Nami comes around the bed and Vivi flinches a little as the woman pokes her a little too hard on the forehead. "You have to take better care of yourself."

"Yes…" Vivi says, rubbing the spot. "I'm sorry."

"I'm just glad you're awake," Nami says with a true smile this time and Vivi can't help but smile back. She really is a caring person. But, two days… She goes to sit on the edge of the bed, hands between her knees as she watches Nami pull down the blinds and shut the curtains, casting the room into dimness. Granted they hadn't been going anywhere, but even being out of commission that long seems like a waste of time.

"What happened?"

"First, take off your shirt so I can goop you up," Nami says, unscrewing a jar of what smells like some medicinal cream. "We have to apply this to keep you from scarring."

"Oh yes, of course."

It's somewhat embarrassing. It's been a long time since those young summer days when she grew angry when Igaram wouldn't let her swim with the boys. At least not just in a pair of shorts. True she shared a shower space with some of the girls from the boarding school, but that was all tucked away behind concrete stalls and thin plastic curtains. She remains still, glad for the dimness of the room as Nami unwinds the bandages, biting the inside of her lip a little as it pulls skin, and then pulls the blanket up to her chest when she is able— shivering and then sighing at the touch of the cold, soothing cream. She can hear Nami breathe on it before she applies, warming it, like mother used to do, Vivi remembers with a sudden soft fondness. She is almost lulled into a sense of peace by just the touch of caring hands, when Nami speaks again.

"As for what happened… It was pretty much chaos, you know?" she heaved a sigh. "I know that Zoro and one of the employees— Kamakiri maybe? Helped you guys out of the barn. But for the most part I was trying not to get killed. The most I saw was Luffy and Sanji stuffing unconscious Buggy Boys into that Volkswagen and then we heard the police and got out of there."

"Oh, I see…" It's understandable that Nami wouldn't know much. After all, it had been chaos. Vivi could barely remember it all. "It's too bad about the prize money," she says, knowing that must bother Nami the most. After all, she can hardly ask with the stadium in such disarray. Mr. Dalton will probably need everything he can just to repair it and— Vivi is stopped mid-thought by Nami's chuckle.

"Don't worry about that. I still have what we already won. Give me your arm," she says. Vivi does so and Nami begins to bandage up to her shoulder again. "And a little more besides," Nami continues. Vivi blinks and tugs her shirt back on.

"A little more?"

Nami just smiles and winks, holding a finger up to her lips. Vivi returns the smile but she doesn't think she understands. She decides not to worry about it as Nami crosses the room, opens the curtains and pulls up the blinds. She leans forward on the windowsill and takes a deep breath of the fresh breeze. Vivi can see her ribs move and spots two freckles on her tanned shoulder, and the faint blue inkings of a tattoo.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Nami says, turning and smiling mischievously. "Want to see a dino park?" Vivi can only blink again, having unbidden images of the screaming t-rex she'd seen in Jurassic Park. She remembers at first being afraid of the gigantic thing, as was expected, but then feeling a certain fondness of it when she realized it was a mother despite the odds. It was such such a strange thought.

"Toss on some clothes and come down," Nami says, patting Vivi's shoulder as she goes by. "It'll be fun. You'll see."

"Alright," Vivi says, feeling a bit out of sorts. She spots her suitcase, well, the one she is borrowing from Usopp, at the foot of the bed. She gathers up a t-shirt and some jean shorts, realizing and moving to close the blinds again—when she notices a picture on the wall. It's a child's drawing, well framed so they must be proud of it… and the name Aisa has been printed carefully in the corner. The drawing itself is of some sort of island in the clouds, complete with crude palm trees and vines and what looks like a giant snake. In the foreground is a red headed stick figure of indeterminate gender, standing beside a large yellow and black triangle and waving. It takes her a moment to realize the triangle is a bell and the black seems like some sort of decoration or writing. It reminds her a little of an ancient Alabastan fairy tale that the Shandian priest used to tell. How very strange to see it here.

"Uwaah! The vivacious Vivi is awake?!" Mr. Sanji's bellow from downstairs makes Vivi smile, pulling her attention from the picture. She closes the window and shuts the blinds so she can get changed and go down to meet her friends.

xXxXx

While upstairs it was breezy, down here in the gravel driveway it is hot and muggy. Crickets chirp in underbrush and something she's not sure what goes 'kee kee'. She sips from the water bottle that Mr. Sanji had given her and stays close to Nami's side, trying not to let the dizziness overwhelm her. She must not be quite recovered. A man who apparently, if not owns the house, lives in it… Mr… Boodle? Is tinkering with the engine of a golf cart, supposedly their ride through this park…whatever it is, while Sanji stands beside him and peers down at it, hand on his hip. Shushu and Karoo are resting just in the shade of it, the dog panting in the shimmering heat.

It occurs to Vivi that she's not quite sure where she is. Assumably Aisa lives here, perhaps the other employees of the rodeo as well. And Mr. Dalton? Perhaps. But she hasn't seen anything of him. The house certainly is too big for one person. Two stories and white with blue trim. Set behind it something that looks like a shed turned workshop and then a fence which borders another part of the forest.

Above the treeline, she can definitely see what looks like a brachiosaurus head made of painted wood. There seems to be a t-rex head as well, though they lived in vastly different time periods. Perhaps a kind of march of time. Further than that…she squints a little… it seems two odd triangles forming a "v" shape. Tilting her head back makes her dizzy though and she looks down too fast, having to lightly grip Nami's arm to steady herself.

"I'm tired," Nami says. "Come sit with me." And tugs at her sleeve. Vivi sits gratefully, fanning herself with her hand as Nami parks herself beside the driver's seat. It's hot. She's usually not so affected by it but she feels a little weak. Nami gives her a look and Vivi drinks more water.

"Well that should fix it," Mr. Boodle says. "If it doesn't I don't know what will. What do you think, young man?"

"Ain't got a clue," Sanji says, chewing on the end of an unlit cigarette. "Usopp might know and if we can find him out in the shitty wilderness." And he waves a hand vaguely at the forest."

"Well if it doesn't crank, kick it. S'what my father used to say," Mr. Boodle says. Vivi has a sudden recollection of one of Buggy's Boys getting kicked under the chin and spiraling up in the air and has a sudden image of the engine doing the same. The giggle fit is sudden and unexpected and she nearly chokes on her water, getting some out her nose and hurriedly covering it. Nami bursts out laughing and Vivi flushes, embarrassed and then laughs with her.

"Ah, mellorines laughing summertime love!" Sanji croons, wiggling his hips and she looks up at him, his limp hair curling at the very ends from the humidity and the giggles start all over again. Mr. Boodle stares at them from over the hood.

"Did I miss something?" he says and Vivi can only put a hand to her mouth and try to contain herself. "Er…well give it a turn, Miss," Mr. Boodle says, nodding at Nami. She clears her throat and turns the key in the ignition. The golf cart sputters a bit and starts to die until Mr. Boodle grips his cane with one hand, Sanji's offered arm in the other and gives it a good whack. The engine sputters to a low rumble and Vivi applauds, Nami joining her.

"Well then." Mr. Boodle claps his hands together. "We're off."

"Princess gets shotgun," Nami says with a wink, slipping to the back. Vivi feels somewhat bad that Sanji can't also ride but the other half of the seat is filled with picnic things and Nami's camera bag. Still, she supposes, he doesn't mind. Shushu hops up from floor to her lap, climbing imperiously over her to sit in the space between her and Mr. Boodle. Karoo is right behind him and she lifts the duck up on her lap, giving him good scratch and massage under the wings for being such a good guard.

"Kweh," he says, clacking his bill as if asking for water and she gives him some from her water bottle, watching him slurp it down.

"H'ooh that's interesting," Sanji says, leaning in. "How does he do that without lips?"

"Karoo is a very talented duck," Vivi says with some pride. Though the how is a mystery. Even as a child she used to give him all sorts of drinks to guess how he did it, though she did sort of regret giving him that burbon by mistake. Well—they had all regretted it for a while.

"Of course. Since he also has a very beautiful mistress," Sanji says with a grin and she can't help but smile at that.

"Mr. Sanji that makes absolutely no sense."

"It's absolutely true, mademoiselle," he says with a half bow and Vivi firmly tells herself not to be charmed. At least… not too charmed.

"Well then, are we ready?" Mr. Boodle asks. Vivi is about to say yes, but Sanji straightens, lifting a hand.

"Hold up," he says. Is something coming? Vivi twists to look over her shoulder, chewing on the inside of her lip as she listens hard for sounds of tires on the road or the twhup of a helicopter. There is non of that but she can see someone moving along the road, flashes of a navy blue shirt between the trees. She relaxes when she sees Zoro come to the roadside gate, eyes widening than narrowing as he pushes through. Vivi turns back around and fans herself again, taking another sip of water.

"Looks like a mossy tumbleweed has tumbled back home," Sanji says. "Where the hell did you go?"

"Where you told me to go, dartboard," Zoro grumbles. "Don't know why I expected you to give straight directions."

"The hell is that supposed to mean? I said toward the gate with the forest and the big shitty dinosaurs," Sanji says, making a broad sweeping gesture. "Did you forget to look above the trees or did you find a relative?"

"Maybe your big damn yellow head was blocking my way," Zoro says.

"Ahhh? You wanna repeat that?" Sanji says.

"We're ready," Nami says. "Drive on."

"Well if you're sure," Mr. Boodle says.

"Should I say it slower, curly cook?" Zoro says.

"We're sure," Nami says and Vivi can't help but feel somewhat relieved as they rumble toward the gate, the sound of the argument falling away. Vivi folds her hands over Karoo's back as they rattle toward the gate, lifting her head at a cool breeze and feeling it feather through her bangs.

"Is this your home, Mr. Boodle," she asks.

"Technically it's Shushu's," he says, nodding toward the dog who looks at her with dark eyes, tail wagging once. "I'm just the guy who looks after Shushu." He smiles though and the wrinkles deepen around his eyes. "Really, I'm just a permanent guest, though the owner was a good friend of mine— the place really belongs to Dalton."

"Mr. Dalton?" Vivi says, surprised. Mr. Boodle takes a breath and then shakes his head.

"It's a long story. We should start at the beginning." They come to the gate and Mr. Boodle puts the golf cart in park. Vivi starts to get out almost the same time he does but is stopped as Sanji strides past with a muttered:

"I'll get it." Puffing on his cigarette with his hands jammed in his pockets. Vivi sighs. Must they always snipe at each other?

"By the way, Poodle," Zoro says, leaning an arm on the top of the golf cart and peering down at them.

"Boodle," says Mr. Boodle.

"What's with the ghost town a few miles back? Another weird attraction?"

Mr. Boodle's expression closes a bit and Vivi feels her heart sink, knowing somehow it isn't anything of the sort.

"That was Little Garden," he says, putting the golf cart in drive as Sanji opens the gate. "My old home town." They trundle through onto a packed dirt path at an easy walking pace and Sanji and Zoro fall into step. Just to the right there is a wooden Iguanodon wearing sunglasses and holding up a sign that says Little Garden in palm leaf stenciled letters. Vivi blinks.

"Er…" she starts.

"Yes, I know," Mr. Boodle says. Sighs. Takes his hands off the wheel to light a pipe and puffs at it a bit. "There's supposed to be a whole spiel, but I lost the pamphlet so I'll tell you what I can remember. The people who settled that town about a hundred and fifty years ago named it after an old Scandinavian folktale.

Once, there were two giants who came down the great tree onto the earth as we know it. They were great friends. Great hunters. Of course, that was the time when dinosaurs roamed the earth."

Vivi notes a small pack of Agilisaur, watching them from a clearing around a small nest, light slipping over their glass eyes.

"Can't remember their names off the top of my head, but we'll call them Elmo and Scuzzy."

"Guess which one was Scuzzy," Sanji mutters.

"I don't want to hear it from you, Elmo," Zoro says, scratching his ear with a pinkie and Vivi faintly wonders what would happen if she got a little spray bottle like you did with rowdy cats.

"Anyway, one day after a long day of hunting, Elmo and Scuzzy are sitting around, celebrating their kills and about to haul their kills back up the great tree when a girl…"

"In the time of the dinosaurs?" Nami asks.

"…Cave girl then."

Vivi presses her lips together. Even if it's inaccurate, it's a story so she won't ruin it.

"Was she cute?" Sanji asks.

"Little cave girl…" Boodle says, sounding slightly annoyed. "Asks which one is bigger. Rulers weren't invented back then so Scuzzy and Elmo got into a little fight about whose was bigger…and then a bigger fight."

Nami snorts and Vivi can't help to agree with her.

"They fought this battle for a thousand years and fought so hard the blows of their weapons carved out this valley. Afterwards they annoyed some god or another or made a bet, well at any rate they died. But the valley itself became a haven for dinos long after most were gone from the earth."

"Oh, like in the Land Before Time," Sanji says. Vivi stares at him, not really getting the reference. There is a kind of silence and Sanji's face goes red for some reason and he seems to study a half finished Hagryphus, resting against a tree.

"Anyway," Mr. Boodle continues. "The locals of the town didn't know it then, but this area is rich with fossils. And about twenty years ago, we had a pretty fine museum of local fossils…" Boodle stares straight ahead, hand on the steering wheel. "And then the Red War came."

Another silence. The wind sifted like whispers through the leaves. Sanji lit a cigarette. Zoro rested an arm on his swords and Vivi felt her throat go dry and swallowed the last of her water. They came to a forked path and Mr. Boodle took a left where trees were thicker. To the right, a Spinosaurus lay on its side. Dying… No, sleeping, Vivi mentally corrected herself.

"I don't remember what they were calling themselves. The Red Bones or Red Dice or something or the other, but the gang sat in our town for months before razing it near to the ground after a firefight with some other bastards from down south. Guess you kids don't really know about this sort of thing but it was a pretty hard time. A lot of people fled or died. The fossil museum was lost. Library too. All our history gone just like that." He snaps his fingers.

"The guy who built this place, though, he stuck around. Brought up the land when it was cheap and decided to make a fantasy Little Garden all on his own. He had some help now and then. Couldn't get anyone to stay long. But took seven months just building that, mostly by himself. And he eased the golf cart to a stop. They were at the Brachiosaur. Vivi can see it's great blue trunked legs so she has to get out of the cart, gripping the side to look up and up its long neck, its chin so high above it's breathtaking. It has to be at least fifteen feet high, if not more. Sanji whistles.

"That's some impressive shitty work. Mostly by himself?"

"Yep," Boodle says. "Man was pretty crazy."

"Children must have loved to come here," Vivi says. She would have loved to. She can imagine herself and their little gang climbing all over trees and dinosaurs alike like a pack of monkeys. Maybe even playing king of the brachiosaur.

"What children came," Mr. Boodle said. "I wasn't around then, of course, but he'd brag about every school group or confused tourist who came by. Happened maybe once every few months. He was damned proud of it though."

"And Mr. Dalton?" Vivi asks, resuming her seat and settling Karoo back on her lap. They don't start the cart again right away. Nami has gotten her camera out and is taking pictures. Vivi listens to the clicking of the shutter and feels a faint tinge of anxiety as she always does around cameras. Though in this case, Nami is capturing a truly spectacular work of art, and not trying to pick out some unexpected flaw of Vivi's.

Boodle seems reluctant to answer and fiddles with the cap of a plastic water bottle for a moment. She considers telling him he doesn't have to say… But keeps her silence. Dalton is one of them. A Devil's Seed user. He might be reluctant to speak with her but perhaps Boodle will say something he'd rather not have heard. She keeps her hands still and doesn't clench them against her shorts, instead focusing on watching Zoro disappear down the path.

Does she really need to obtain the information this way? Is it the honest way? Is it the easy way?

"I don't know his story, Miss," Boodle says finally and she bites the inside of her lip, sensing there's more to it. "I wasn't here for it. But I do know that he's been here for three years. He helped my friend build this place and kept him and Shushu company when there was no one else." Boodle swallows down some water and Vivi looks away from him. She wonders who might be missing her right now. Who she might be abandoning.

Nami sits back in the cart and Boodle starts to drive resumes talking and Vivi pays enough attention to nod at the right parts and ask 'oh' and 'is that so?' She has enough awareness to know that he's speaking of enhancements they made together to the place and a terrible winter storm where they almost lost one of the giants.

But even as he speaks, her mind whirring. What could Mr. Dalton's secret be? Does it matter? Could she help him if she knew it? Or could she only make things worse for him? Why is he here? How did he come across a Devil's Seed and survive? Does he know the jaguar man that nearly mauled Kreig? Or are there more users out there? The golf cart stops again. Vivi looks up, and her heart sinks.

There is a square clearing off to the side, and on it a gravestone. A wooden triceratops, lovingly and well crafted,is resting its chin on the top of the gravestone, eyes closed. It should be ridiculous, but it looks solemn and bittersweet. Shushu hopes out of the golf cart and goes to rest at the head of the grave near the stone, careful not to disturb the fresh cut flowers that had been laid there. The last date on the stone is just this November and she imagines the red and orange leaves that must have scattered over fresh turned earth.

"And there he lies," Mr. Boodle says, crossing his fingers together over the wheel. "It may be a small place. Not much of an attraction, with the few statues we have. Maybe it didn't do all that he wanted, but in the end, a dream is still a dream, no matter how little." Vivi wishes she knew what to say. Something that would lift his spirits. But she can only stare at the cold of the gravestone.

"I don't know about that," Sanji says, shoving his hands in his pockets and pivoting on his heel, looking up as if taking the whole scene. "It looks like a pretty big dream to me. So what if you don't have a whole lot of shitty dinosaurs?" He blows out a stream of smoke and Vivi has to hide a smile as she hears the quiet click of a shutter behind her.

"In fact, with this kind of ambiance you could probably even theme a shitty restaurant around it. Maybe…" and he straightens and points the cigarette at them. "The Dino Diner?"

"You're really some kind of idiot." Zoro's sudden voice even makes Vivi jump as he emerges from the trees on the other side, a leaf stuck in his hair.

"What was that?!" Sanji snaps, immediately going rigid. "And where the hell did you come from anyway, you shitty moss?"

"I got bored and decided to back to the house," Zoro says, nodding to them and scratching his head, then discovering the leaf on it and flicking it away.

"It's nowhere near the shitty house and you—"

"Huh a grave." Zoro claps his hands and bows his head, like Vivi has seen some Buddhists do. Then he looks at them. "Are you guys going back to the house?"

"No, the lake…" Boodle says, seeming taken aback.

"Lake huh? Sounds good. I'll come with you."

"I'm surprised you didn't get lost at the bottom of the shitty thing and accidentally drown yourself," Sanji mutters.

"Ah? Speak up, Elmo."

"How about I crack a hole in your skull so you can hear better, Scuzz for brains?"

They begin to fight again and Mr. Boodle, without much preamble, puts the golf cart into drive and they amble on. Vivi sighs. Honestly.

"Energy is wasted on the young," Boodle says. Vivi can only agree even though she's fairly certain she's younger than they are. Three minutes later they arrive at the lake and the most impressive sight Vivi has seen yet. She gets out of the golf cart and stares up at the two wooden giants dominating the the skyline, great smiles on their faces their weapons, an ax and sword respectively crossed together to form the wooden triangles she had seen at the distance.

At their feet are large stones, proclaiming their names as Dorry and Broggy, and on one one of the stones is a painted statue of a wooden girl, looking charmingly Scandanavian as she smiles up at them. Her name is weathered away and Vivi can't help but smile a little sadly at that. Perched on the giants' head like strange birds are three very familiar figures. Usopp seems to spot them first, standing, flailing for balance, and then assuming a strong pose, hands on his hips.

"Hark!" he calls. "Intruders! Corporal Luffy! Corporal Aisa! Attention!"

"Aye, aye sir!" they call in more or less unison and scramble to their feet, snapping off salutes.

"Be careful! Aisa!" Mr. Boodle calls but strangely Vivi isn't afraid for her. She's in good company.

"Are the great snot cannon balls prepared?!" Usopp says.

"All ready!" Luffy says.

"And extra sticky!" Aisa says, balling one hand into a fist.

"Okay!" Usopp points down at them with a dramatic finger. "State your purpose or be stuck forever to the ground with our Cosmic Giant Nose Cannon!"

Vivi giggles and then gets an idea.

"Please!" she calls up to them, pressing her right fist to her heart. "I am Vivi, diplomat to Duke Karoo!"

"Kweh!" Karoo says in perfect timing. Vivi smiles and then goes to one knee, wincing a little at the pull on her shoulder.

"I am here to discuss terms of peace!"

"Well, gentlemen-" Usopp says.

"And lady," Asia says.

"And lady! Ambassador Vivi is suing for peace. Shall we begin negotiations?!"

"Yes!" Luffy says, pumping his fist in the air.

"No!" Aisa says, mimicking his pose. "War! Let's have war!" Vivi flinches inwardly at that, but reminds herself it's just a game.

"Mm well we don't have enough snot cannon balls for a war," Usopp says.

"Yeah and she can give us a big feast!" Luffy says.

"The biggest I can afford," Vivi intones solemnly.

"In that case, come on up!" Usopp calls. Vivi rises, wincing at her shoulder and watches Usopp scuffle a bit as if getting something. "Uh hold on!" After a moment a rope ladder drops, tied to the horn on the giant's helmet. Vivi approaches it, Karoo with her, and attempts to climb, but despite the bandages her arm is still pretty rough and she's not sure if she wants to traverse the distance. She looks up.

"I…I'm sorry. I'm not sure I—"

"Okay," Luffy calls down. "Just hold on." She wonders what he's talking about when he grabs both sides of the ladder and pulls. Vivi yelps and grips the rough rope of the rung. Karoo doing the same at her feet.

"O-oi, be careful," Usopp says, hands out. "If you drop her—"

"I'm not gonna drop her," Luffy says. Vivi takes a deep breath, and lets it out, shifting her feet more securely against the rope.

"I'm alright. Don't let me down, Mr. Luffy," she says, teasingly. He gives her a wide sunny grin that she can't help but match and continues pulling her up. And goodness, he's strong. She doesn't think she weighs too much, though she does have muscle, still he's pulling her up as if she's no more heavy than a pitcher of water. Vivi watches the landscape fall away. The direction she's facing she can only see the wide blue lake and the treeline beyond it. Despite trusting his strength, she doesn't dare twist to look back and Karoo kweh's nervously, despite his ability to fly, silly thing.

When she reaches the curved dome of the giant's helmet, Usopp reaches out, anchored to the horn by a rope around his waist, she notes, and, feeling much better, she takes his hands. He's no slouch himself, she realizes as he helps her to where she can stand. It's so high up. She turns carefully in place to take it all in. The lake, the trees, the t-rex and bracheosaur heads above the foliage, about eye level now, the thinning of trees by the road but everywhere else, forest.

"It's pretty, huh?" Aisa says, and Vivi smiles down at her, noticing a gold charm of some kind of some sort around her neck that flashes in the light until she tucks it under her shirt. She's dressed more like a kid today, and a kid that reminds Vivi of herself in a too big shirt and jeans torn from play. The biggest difference is the Chicago Bulls cap Aisa is wearing, twisted backwards. Vivi's never been fond of sports, or baseball caps in general.

"Welcome aboard," Usopp says, untying himself and sitting crosslegged on the helmet with Karoo perched on his shoulder. Vivi joins him carefully, Aisa at her side. Luffy jumps onto one of the horns and clings there with arms and legs. Vivi tries not to look at him too hard. As much as she knows how strong he is, they are very high up.

"Let the negotiations commence," he says. "Corporal Aisa, the peace offering."

"Okay!" She scrabbles in Usopp's backpack a moment before pulling out a lumpy napkin that she hands to Vivi. Unwrapping them, Vivi finds sugar cookies.

"Hey! You said we were out of them!" Luffy snaps.

"You had enough, you bottomless pit!" Usopp snaps back. Then waves a hand as Luffy pouts adorably. Vivi is tempted to toss one to him but then he may try to catch it and could fall so she nibbles on the edge of the cookie. Usopp rubs his chin and Karoo mimics him so well that Vivi can't help but giggle a little.

"Now—" he starts.

"Thanks a lot for helping," Aisa said, interrupting him. She has her knees drawn up to her chin and is hugging them but smiling. Vivi shakes her head.

"You don't need to thank me. Of course I would come help you. We're friends, right?" she says, canting her head to the side. Aisa giggles and smiles widely.

"Yep!"

"Great," Usopp says. "Spectacular. We're all friends. Now—"

"By the way, Aisa," Vivi says at more or less the same time, and mentally apologizes to Usopp as she decides to press on. "I saw that picture you drew. With the cloud and the trees."

"Oh the sky island?"

"Yes," Vivi says, surprised that Aisa would use that term. "It's very good."

"It's from a legend that my mama told me and her mama told her," Aisa says. What an interesting similarity.

"Legends are truly awesome," Usopp says. "It reminds me of this one time I—"

"Legend?" Luffy says, hopping to the helmet and flopping down beside them, clapping his sandaled feet together. "Does it have treasure in it?"

"Yep! The biggest treasure of all!"

"Hmm, yes," Usopp says. "Once I found a huge pile of gold right in—"

"Really? Tell me! I wanna know!" Luffy says with a grin.

"I'd like to hear as well," Vivi says, again, mentally apologizing to Usopp who seems to deflate a bit. She will listen to one of his stories later on, perhaps, to make up for it. Aisa clears her throat, and pulls the necklace out of her shirt, clutching the charm in her hand.

"A long long time ago before there was culture in the world, we— um, my people, lived in the clouds with the gods. Clouds then were a lot different. They had jungles and mountains and rivers and cities and stuff—"

"Sounds so coool," Luffy says, grinning.

"Yeah! It really was!" Aisa says, grinning back. "And everything was made of gold and jewels and really expensive stuff. Mama says there were even gold water slides because the gods could make anything."

"That's kind of a stretch," Usopp mutters and Vivi lightly whacks him on the shoulder with the back of her hand. Enough is enough. He stills, rubbing the back of his neck, and Aisa doesn't seem to notice as she goes on, tucking her hair behind her ear with her free hand.

"And we had it really great and were really peaceful. But then the Great Leader looked down and saw all the other people who were living hard on earth, trying to grow and hunt things. They didn't know how to write or make music or anything like that. So the Great Leader felt sad for them and asked the Gods if they could go down and help out. The Gods said they could, but they couldn't come back."

How sad… Though Vivi…somehow knows this story. How can it be so similar?

"At first the Great Leader didn't want to go if he couldn't come back, but then he saw how sad everyone was and decided to go himself if he had to. But because everyone liked him, they decided to follow him down to the earth and make home there. The gods felt proud but really sad so…" Aisa trials off and chews on her lip, clutching her hand over the charm. Vivi shifts a little closer and offers her a cookie, sensing this part of the story is somehow close to her. Aisa shakes her head and Vivi folds it gently, waiting patiently for her to continue. Luffy is watching, too, with his peculiar intensity, and even Usopp seems alert to this change.

"It's alright, Aisa," Vivi says after a while. "You don't—"

"No!" Aisa says. Then scrubs at her eyes with the back of her arm and straightens. "No." She clenches her hand around the charm and then uncurls her fingers. In the palm of her small hand is a small gold bell and Vivi's breath catches. "The gods didn't want to leave us all the way, so they gave us a bell so we could talk to them. We used to ring it every time there was a birth or…or…or if someone died… but…" she tucks the bell charm back in her shirt and wraps her arms around her legs again. "…but then we got so many people that we just rang it for new years to show them that we were still here and still listening."

That story… everything— Vivi can almost hear the bell ringing in her head from old childhood memories. There is no doubt to her now that everything she's seen— the old Alabastan designs, the picture that Aisa drew, the story— Even her look, the round face, the bright eyes… the strong yet sweet temperament.

"You are…Shandian," Vivi says to make absolutely sure. Aisa nods, seeming unsurprised. Perhaps…perhaps it is just because she is a child. Children often assume everyone knows things about them. Especially someone that could be regarded as an adult.

"I am… I am from Alabasta," she says and Aisa nods again, her mouth in a little solemn line.

"I know," she says. She knows? Is it because of Vivi's own looks? Her hair is not too unusual around the city of Alubarna, true, though only through a strain of the royal family— but surely it wasn't so uncommon elsewhere. She can't know Vivi's true nature, can she? But Aisa has been up here with Usopp and Luffy for quite a while, so perhaps one of them told her. Or perhaps even before.

"What's a Shandian?" Usopp asks.

"Ah—"

Vivi starts, and then looks down at Aisa who is watching her expectantly. The answer is a— complex one fraught with politics and culture. The Shandians tended to claim that they were the helpers of the poor uncultured Alabastans, sent down from the clouds with the Great Leader to give them knowledge and art. Calgara, they claimed traditionally, was a direct descendant of this great leader and not, in fact, Alabastan at all. The truth…or at least, what was the sanctioned history of the Alabastan government, was that the Shandians were a priest sect, dovetailed from the main branch of the people when they moved into the mountains that ringed the valley in order to protect the kingdoms most sacred objects.

The real truth was unknown and unknowable, but at least when she was a girl, Alabastans proper thought Shandians were narrow minded and pretentious, and Shandains thought that Alabastan's were uncultured and ungrateful. Father, in his last act as King had healed that rift —or at least had begun the process, encouraging the Shandians to bring the great golden bell— a heritage they all shared, to the capitol to ring in the New Year. The tensions didn't end there to be sure. Though she knew— or well had heard— that many Shandians had since integrated with the Alabastan population as the whole and vice versa, though there were staunch conservatives on both sides who believed the peoples were and should be separate. Aisa's charm seemed to indicate she was more on the conservative side, but Vivi did not wish to assume, nor offend, nor plant separatist ideas in the girl's head if there had been none before, so she merely tucks her hair over her ear and smiles as best she can.

"Aisa, why don't you explain?"

"We're the people of Calgara," Aisa says. "The Shandians of Alabasta."

"Oh, Vivi's people right?"

"Yes!" Vivi says brightly, clapping her hands together as she feels a rush of happiness. Shandians of Alabasta! She hadn't heard that phrase before! What a wonderful compromise! To know that the next generation thought this way! To know that they had come that much closer to becoming a true united people as they surged forward, forging their way to come head to head with the rest of the world. And—

Wait, what did Usopp say?

"No!" She holds out a hand. "I mean, of course I am Alabastan, but Usopp, you mustn't call me the princess!"

"I didn't," Usopp says blinking at her. "You did."

Oh! Vivi claps a hand to her mouth. How could she have let that slip? She glances tentatively at Aisa who just smiles, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"I knew that."

Oh… Vivi folds her hands in her lap, mind whirring as she wishes she knew how to translate that expression. Are the Shandians mad at Father as well? Did they fall for Crocodile's lies? She wishes to ask, but perhaps that is not appropriate to ask a child. Even if she did know, she may not know accurately, and it would not do to try and convince her of Crocodile's misdeeds if her parents believed otherwise. Even if she believed Vivi, it would only set them against one another. So instead she laces her fingers together around her legs and asks:

"What brought you and your family to this place?"

Aisa hunched her shoulders, her hand fisting over the charm so hard Vivi could see the white of her knuckles. Anxiety knotted in Vivi's throat and she fought to keep it from showing.

"Papa…Papa was one of the guardians of the bell," Aisa said and Vivi's fingers twitched against her legs as she braced herself for the story to come. "They were gonna take the bell to the capitol like usual but some bad guys took it."

"Yes, I remember," Vivi says, heart sinking. She should have guessed as much, but that had been three years ago, a short while after Vivi had entered the circuit. Igaram had been furious about the news, though he wouldn't tell her the full story— she honestly hadn't needed to hear it. There had been so much going back then it was hard to stop and think—even at the disappearance of a national treasure. Still— to think they had chased the bell that long.

"And we all snuck over here to get it back but… but…Papa… and some of the others…" Aisa trailed off, shoulders hunched and Vivi put a gentle hand on her back, wishing she could do something to take the pain away. Usopp had looked down, fiddling with the end of a rope while Luffy sat with his hat down, the brim shadowing his eyes. What could he be thinking, she wondered.

Karoo clambers from Usopp's shoulder, waddling closer and coming to nudge Aisa's hand with his bill until she takes the duck on her lap to pet him and give him scratches. It seems to soothe her a little, some of the tension goes out of her back at least. Aisa lets out a shaky breath, sniffs and then goes on.

"I don't know… I don't know what happened. They made me stay at the hotel… But one day Mama said we had to come here. To help Uncle Dalton with the animal people until we could get the bell back. She said it was our sacred duty."

"Yes, of course. Of course it is." Zoans are sacred guardians to the Alabastans and of course the Shandians as well! How they must hurt to have something so sacred so misused. But it is no wonder that they would come help Dalton and, indeed, hold him in such high regard!

"How are you helping the—" No, she should say guardians of Calgara. If Aisa hadn't used the old saying, neither should Vivi. "—the animal people," she finishes lamely. Aisa looks at her, opening her mouth but Sanji calls from below:

"Vivi-chwan! Aisa-chwan! You other shitheads! Food is ready!"

"Let's eat!" Luffy roars, surging to his feet and making them all jump.

"You scared the hell out of me!" Usopp says. "I think I lost three years of my li— hey, oi oi! Where are you going?" he says as Luffy charges past him, scrambling to his own feet. "Hey wait, don't go anywhere! You gotta lower Vivi!"

Vivi stands herself, very carefully, trying hard not to look down and making sure she is in a stable place before holding out a hand to help Aisa up. The girl looks at her a long moment, setting Karoo down before taking her hand and letting Vivi pull her to her feet. Aisa doesn't let go right away and instead squeezes Vivi's hand lightly.

"I like you a lot," Aisa says in a low voice. "You helped me a lot and I know you're good…"

"Thank you," Vivi says, even as she knows that there is more coming and braces herself for it. Aisa looks up at her.

"Your Dad is probably good, too. Sometimes everyone does bad things but… he's gotten really bad… so you should probably try to talk to him."

She feels as if she's gone numb. Been ducked in ice water. Even the tips of her fingers prickle and go cold. She knew the resentment of the people intellectually of course, but to hear it from Aisa's mouth. A girl so young. A Shandian of Alabasta. That she would so easily be fed on the hate that that man had caused— the one that slandered her father who had done no wrong.

But she had to move. She couldn't remain here. She must maintain the dignity of her position. She heard herself saying:

"I will."

And then turning automatically as Usopp called her name, gripping the ladder as Luffy lowered her down, not even feeling the rope. She felt the rage grow cold in her throat and shook with it. How dare he. How dare that man so turn her own people against the one that loved them the most! She wants to hit him. To even lay her hands on either side of his throat and shake him. She shouldn't hate him with such voracity. She knows this. Hate breeds hate and it is a bad example. But it is not a feeling she can stop.

"Vivi?" Nami asks and Vivi realizes she's on the ground and yet still holding the ladder. She smiles because it is second nature to do so and removes her hand, her palm a little raw from where the rope had bit.

"I'm fine," Vivi says automatically and then: "I think I'm going to take a walk."

Nami only nods and Vivi turns away, moving toward and along the glimmering lake shore, but seeing none of it.

By the time Vivi is ready to return, she is weary from the walk, her arm and shoulder dry and aching, throat parched, feeling slightly feverish. But mostly tired. The rage has ebbed away, taking everything with it and she just wants to curl up in bed with a good book. A bed that is all her own and no one elses. She wants to eat orange candy in a tiny glass bowl and have nothing more to worry about than math homework or memorizing the long, tedious sheets of German vocabulary and grammar. She sighs and pushes her sweat damp hair from her eyes.

Boarding school seems like so far away now, and it's strange, since she remembers feeling grown up when she chose to go there at eleven, to live in that place with virtual strangers and learn how to best serve her country. That is nothing like being a grown up. An adult. She realizes it now. An adult is alone—outside of the protection and guidance of teachers. An adult must face the world alone. Make the hard decisions. Face the truth that is bitter as ash without flinching. She wishes now she had appreciated her teachers more. Her situation more.

She comes to where the wooden giants stand guard over nothing and watches the others between the gap of their legs. It seems she's missed most of it, though she has no doubt that there will be food left for her. Luffy, Usopp and Aisa are sunning themselves on the nearby grass, Luffy's belly practically distended from eating so much. They all look content to be there, despite Aisa's earlier coldness and distress on top of the giant's head. Perhaps it is because Luffy is there. He does tend to have that effect on people. Zoro is resting with his back to the rock of the wooden, nameless, girl; and Nami is chatting amiably with Mr. Boodle while Shushu and Karoo resting between— seem to be conversing in whatever language animals posses. Sanji is nowhere to be seen.

A couple of the employees from the stadium… Shandians, too, they must be, Vivi realizes with a jolt, have their own blanket and are sitting around content and even seem happy. She can hear their rising voices, but they are too far away to understand. Mr. Dalton is among them and the difference is— quite marked.

They are all wearing jeans and t-shirts as this country was so fond of, but the Shandians are wearing touches of their heritage here and there. She can see it in Kamakiri's large disc earrings, the gemoetric designs on…the larger man's shirt. Every now and again, as one moves, she can see the glint of a thin gold chain against the duskyness of their necks, all wearing a charm no doubt. She rests a hand to the center of her chest absently. She used to wear one as a child on very special occasions. Perhaps she should have kept up the tradition.

Mr. Dalton, looks, frankly, quite normal. Moreso than they are. But apart. Where they are happy, he seems glum. While they chat with one another, he looks off in the middle distance and above at the towering figures. He's even sitting somewhat apart, perched on a lawn chair instead of the grass. Like the shadow of a tombstone. The image comes unbidden to her mind and she swallows and pushes it away. Surely Mr. Dalton's mood is because of his injuries. There is a crutch resting on the ground beside him and he may even be feverish himself. She's recovered from enough similar injuries herself to know.

He is such a curious man. A zoan. Not of Alabasta, certainly, but as sane as Chaka or Pell. Where is he from? Are there more like him? And how did he come to be here? Now is the perfect time to ask him, she realizes, but even so, hesitates. There is so much already. If she asks, she will be obligated to help. How could she not? Especially when it was her heritage responsible for his situation. So—she must speak with him and help if she can. To do otherwise will be irresponsible. Besides which she also has to ask about the Oklahoma tournament. But—first thing was first.

Vivi sucks in a soft breath, bolstering herself, and starts across the grass, only to stop as spots spots the dark-eyed woman…Laki, resting against the giant's leg. Even in the shadows as she is, the fondness in her expression as she looks out on her fellow Shandians is undeniable. Still she keeps herself apart from them. Almost as if she is waiting for something or someone. Laki spots her watching and the fond expression fades, her expression goes solemn for a moment until she smiles again (a practiced smile, Vivi notes) and puts her hands in her pockets, coming into the light.

"Have a nice walk, Princess?" Laki asks. Vivi is too taken aback by the sudden use of the title to do more than splutter.

"Y-yes it was perfectly fine. Thank you." Her heart is jackhammering against her ribs. How did she— Oh yes, of course, Aisa. No… no Aisa had known before then so how—?

"Your friend makes very good food," Laki says. "I was surprised. Where is he from?"

"Ah…thank you… I…" she really had no idea where Sanji might be from. She should ask and find out but… no, she was being distracted— because among other things… Vivi folds her hands in front of her and catches Laki's eyes. "I'm not sure… But I think we need to talk."

Laki looks away and for a moment Vivi isn't sure if she'll acquiesce, but finally her shoulders slump and she tucks a strand of hair over her ear.

"I guess we should."

tbc...