Title- Patience
Author- kawaiichiisaikitsune (pirate-kiari)
Rating- T
Pairings- LuffyxNami, NojikoxOC (may be more later on)
Summary- 'Balls weren't really what everyone said them to be. At least, to this young girl they weren't.' A story about a royal family, a farmer boy, a series of balls/dances, and everything in between. AU, LuNa
It's been nearly a month since Kiari-san's updated and she's really sorry. School was ending and finals were well on their way and then she also had a horrible writer's block. But once school ended, inspiration seemed to strike! So enjoy!
Disclaimer- No own. Sad, huh?
Patience
-Chapter Fourteen: Arlong-
Nami wobbled on her feet, toddling toward the small hut. Tears still tickled her skin as they rolled down her stained cheeks, one smeared with grime and the lingering touch of the one who smeared it. She dared not touch it. She didn't want the feeling to leave her.
Her body felt like lead and her legs jell-o; heavy and weak. She was rather surprised when she managed to reach the hut and enter without collapsing. She flopped on a table chair and gripped her shoulder wound that throbbed to the beat of her heart throughout her whole arm. She needed to stop the bleeding and wrap it, along with the other ones that littered her body.
The straw hat settled over her messy orange locks proved to be a source of trust and confidence. She'd been wearing it since the owner placed it upon her head and hadn't even thought of taking it off. It felt as though it represented a sort of bond between her and Luffy, and she didn't want to loose that.
Tears burned in the princess's eyes, streaming down her cheeks like tiny waterfalls. The pain that gripped at her shoulder was intense as she tried to wrap the serious wound. It was rather difficult, but she managed it at last and stood back upon her feet. She had to go after Luffy. She had to help him.
Upon reaching the village, she was surprised to see it nearly void of all villagers. She took a second to look around herself before starting for the castle. Again she was surprised as all the townsfolk had gathered around the splintered front door of the large castle. Pushing her way through to the front, ignoring the people calling out her name in their own surprise, she nearly entered the royal building. The scene before her was not one she particularly liked.
Before her was a mess of men conscious and not. The younger farmer was caught in a ring of members of Arlong's crew, breath slightly labored from the fighting but looking very much untouched. The other three in which he'd intruded with were busy with their own flock of members. It was painfully obvious they were outnumbered, yet it seemed as though they didn't really care. Overlooking all the fighting with a vicious smirk was the leader of the monsters himself, Arlong. He sat in the King's throne once again, a line of blood dribbling from his red nose due to Luffy's previous punch.
Nami turned her lip up in a scowl at the man lounging in the chair unrighteous to him. Without proper logic, she stormed pass the mass of battle and straight up to the sneering man untouched by the fightings. Nojiko rushed after her younger sister, desperately trying to stop her but to no avail. "Arlong," the princess hissed venomously.
"So you've returned," he jeered with a laugh, leaning his elbow on the armrest of the chair and resting his chin in his hand. He watched her through beady black eyes and a scornful look that would send shivers down any man's spine. Yet, she remained as strong and firmly planted as she could.
"Stop this," she demanded loudly, "Make this all stop now!" Her sister tugged at her arm and tried to drag her away, muttering that it was not worth it and dangerous. She did not budge in the slightest.
"And if I don't?" the large man boomed, turning heads. The artist swiped a bloody sword from a dead carcass and held it up with two tense hands, pointing its tip at the leader's nose. She glared heatedly.
"Then I'll have to kill you."
Arlong roared with laughter, gaining many looks of fear and curiosity. "Kill me, she says," he howled between hysterics, "What makes you think you can?"
"Try me!"
Nami charged at the hefty man, sword drawn back and releasing a murderous battle cry. He didn't move much to catch the weapon swung dangerously at him, shattering the strong metal between his hands. As the sword clattered to the marble floor unceremoniously, he stood to his feet, towering a good foot and a half above the princess. She knew she was in no position to run at that point, so she squeezed her brown eyes shut as tight as possible as she noticed him quickly winding back his hand, preparing for a harsh blow. When nothing hit her, she peeked open one eye before the other. Before her was the backside of a tan farmer with messy black hair, a red vest, and blue shorts. He'd caught the other's fist that had been rocketing for her, but his own fist was caught as well.
"Luffy..." she whispered in her surprise. He barely took the time to briefly look back at her. His obsidian eyes glittered with suppressed anger when he looked at her. She was shocked by how soft they could be when directed at her, even after screaming bloody murder at Arlong and his men.
"I'll take care of this," he muttered, turning back to the muscular man before him. She could only nod numbly as Nojiko quickly dragged her through the mess of men and back to the group of watching villagers.
Luffy, paying half attention to the leader in front of him, was unexpectedly picked off his feet and thrown against the closest wall. Fortunately, he seemed barely damaged by the great toss, sliding down and falling to his butt on the hard marble. He got back upon his feet easily enough, only to be surrounded by a new group of angry followers of Arlong.
The orange-haired princess watched the ebony haired boy from some yards away, fear evident in her brilliant brown eyes. "Nojiko, I have to do something," she breathed heavily, "I have to help him. I have to."
"There is nothing you can do but be here, watching over him," the queen returned, rubbing her sister's back in a soothing way, averting her eyes to watch her husband's fight, "He's doing this all for you, you know."
"I know," she wailed, clasping her hands tightly together, "That's why I have to do something."
"You can't, dear," she returned sadly, "You know just as well as I do, that he wouldn't want you interrupting and facing the danger of getting hurt."
Nami wiped at her eyes, rubbing away the start of hot tears. Between shaking fingers, she gripped the brim of the straw hat still upon her head and pulled it down, shadowing her face. "I hate this," she whispered hoarsely.
II
Niwa panted lightly, sword clutched tightly in his hands. Looking to either side of him, he noticed the two younger men he was fighting along side seemed untouched and still full of breath. Focusing back on the hefty man running at him, the king wondered if he was getting too old for excessive battle or if his precious wounds were just hindering him. He decided upon the latter as he swept the weapon in his hands upward, slashing his opponent's torso and cutting open his large chin.
Sanji absently wished he'd stocked up more on matches as he searched his pockets for the aforementioned item. Now the unlit cigarette between his teeth was a waste. He furrowed his brows at the thought of a useless cigarette and kicked his unfortunate victim a little harder than he'd originally meant to. Without removing his hands from his pant pockets, he performed a beautiful flip with outstretched legs, catching his next victim under the chin and sending him over his shoulder and into the wall a few short yards away from him.
Ace threw a man over his shoulder, sending him to the ground in a heap of broken bones. His next opponent was left in nearly the same condition after a quick minute. As his group of challengers begun to disperse, he glanced over at his younger brother in involuntary sibling concern. He looked to be doing well enough of his own.
The smaller farmer punched his opponent rapidly in the stomach, sending him stumbling back with a sputter and cough of blood. His next opposer received a fierce punch to the nose and a sharp elbow in his side, making him trip over his own feet and tumble to the ground barely conscious. However, his ring of opponents never seemed to disperse and he was becoming slightly tired. To make matters worse, he needed his energy to kick Arlong's ass and his stupid henchmen were wearing him out. He growled angrily as he sent another hefty man to the floor unconscious.
Eventually the followers of Arlong seemed to be lessening as a whole. Many of these men were spread about the floor of the large room wounded and out cold. The group of four against the monsters regrouped rather unintentionally to cover their backs and each other's.
"Go ahead, Luffy. Take care of the leader," Ace nudged his brother, giving a care-free smile, "I think we can handle the rest of them easily enough."
The other nodded in return, quickly making his way out of the group of men and toward their sneering leader. He slid to a stop before the sitting man, breathing heavily and glaring darkly. The other just laughed, slowly standing from the throne in which he had no right sitting in.
"Back again, are we, boy?" he roared with laughter. He received but a furious glare from the boy. "Let's make it a little more interesting this time, shall we?"
"Doesn't matter," he glowered, "I'm going to kick your ass."
"We'll see about that, boy!"
Arlong charged at the farmer, punch blocked and kick avoided. He defended against the other, shielding himself well against the onslaught of various punches shot at lightning speed. In the slight opening, he managed a perfect strike to the stomach, making the other stumble back a bit, but remain standing. He smirked as he growled and they were back at it.
Luffy was at something of a disadvantage, though, being much shorter than the hefty man and very lean in comparison to him. He seemed to ignore this, however, striking back at the large leader and landing the powerful blow on his cleft chin. He was unprepared for the following hit, a double fisted pound upon the top of his head that sent him instantly to the floor with a great headache and pain.
Oddly enough, the floor gave out underneath his body, that was on the border line of consciousness, and the raw force of the horrible blow. The marble cracked noisily, snapping and cracking the support underneath it and creating a gaping whole as the hard stone collapsed. Luffy fell with the material, fading in and out of the dark that blurred his already dark eyes. His head pounded mercilessly in immense pain. His skull was thick enough to have withstood the strike, but the nerves around his body tickled with red hot pain. The fall to the underground floor did not help.
"Holy shit," the blonde chef muttered as the trio watched the unfortunate turn of event. Ace's eyes merely went wide with surprise, staring at the dark hole made in the apparently weak marble floor. The king frowned angrily at the floor, cursing himself for not noticing previously that the support was getting weak. He could've gotten it fixed days ago before any of this happened.
The room shook with booming laughter of a certain large man standing just inches off of the hole. He fell back into his chair chuckling still. "Poor boy," he sneered, waving his hand forward. Three other large men that had been dormant during all the fighting stepped around their leader and in front of the trio who'd finished off the rest of the secondary followers. They paired up with one of the trio.
The large, sunburned man, Hatchan, stood before the shirtless farmer with an air of vengeful cockiness. Ace returned the look with a simple glare, hooking his thumbs on the belt loops of his slacks as the other crossed his arms over his chest.
The man with pasty skin and large pink lips, Chuu, stepped before the bandaged king, looking very emotionless as he stared down at him. Niwa gazed back up at him in return, his sword gripped tightly in his hand and prepared for when it would be needed.
Kuroobi, the hefty man with jet black hair pulled up into two tiny ponytails on the top of his head and one long ponytail at the base of his neck, glared down at the shorter cook with an air of impatience. Sanji frowned, chewing on his unlit cigarette and wishing more than ever that he had a match on him.
As the villagers watched in awe and surprise and anger, Nojiko tugged upon her younger sister's arm. Without looking away from the scene before them, she whispered hoarsely, "Now we can help him."
"What?" Nami turned to the other, "How?"
"Luffy fell into the basement, and by the looks of the force that blow had, probably unconscious. If we can get away from the rest while they're distracted, we can go down and wake him up and help him find his way back up here," she explained with a small smile. A much bigger smile bloomed upon the princess's face.
"Nojiko, you are the best!" she cried quietly, gripping her sister in a brief hug. Once released from each other, the siblings slipped back into the group of villagers and made their way unnoticed into a connected hallway. Out of view from everyone, they ran as fast as they could down the hall and toward the stairs that led to the basement.
The orange-haired artist's heart sped in her chest as they entered the dark basement. "Please, please, let him be okay," she whispered to no one, looking in the dark for the fallen farmer.
-TBC-
--Review Replies--
-Prologue-
kabata4life, thanks for your review. Glad you're enjoying.
-Chapter Five-
starpana, thanks for your review. Kiari-san is glad. : D
-Chapter Twelve-
Iwin Ulose, thanks for your review. Heehee, you're too sweet. XD
-Chapter Thirteen-
T.O.B., thanks for your review. Ah, yep, but not the final fight, apparently. Well, Niwa and Ace are there to help instead. : D
Iwin Ulose, thanks for your review. Heehee. That's pretty much Kiari-san's favorite part too. And she has both the anime to watch it and the manga to read it from. Ain't she lucky? XD
catho, thanks for your review. Good, remain pumped, 'cuz there's plenty more to go!
The Dragon Hollow Vizard, thanks for your review. You betcha he is! XD
lunalove101, thanks for your review. Well, the anime is the best place to take things from. XDD
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beamz, thanks for your review. Glad to not have to make you wait anymore, hm.
kabata4life, thanks for your review. Hee, no prob. Enjoy the following chapters. Fights galore!
Dbzgtfan2004, thanks for your review. You bet your ass they don't! Not without Luffy's approval, of course. XDD
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Flames are ignored, constructive criticism is highly appreciated, and praise is great for Kiari-san's ego.