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

Kiari-san has been in a slump recently. It's not because of the story though, no. It's life; her summer. She wonders if it's even possible to have a fantastic summer and a totally crappy summer at the same time... Ah Anyhow, she managed to get this chapter out thanks to her friend Mere who went to the mall with her. Made her day, serious. So, enjoy!

Disclaimer- You can't be serious. Kiari-san? Own? Puh-shaw! As if!

Patience

-Chapter Sixteen: Final Blow-

Princess Nami helped the scarred farmer to his feet, fearing his stability after his fall. However, he seemed just fine when she released her concerned hold upon him. He neither toddled, waddled, nor fell over. It was a relief, to say the least.

Luffy patted his pants, the clinging dust now flying in the air, and stretched himself a little. He groaned slightly as he arched his back, arms stretched above his head and reaching for the ceiling. He popped his neck and shook either leg to loosen any tight muscles and twisted his torso with a satisfying crack and touched his toes and swung his arms in circles. After a while he seemed satisfied with his stretching and grinned at the ladies, the grime and dust smeared all over his face moving with the gesture.

"Luffy, are you sure you're okay to fight?" the artist found herself worrying even more. Injuries still touched him in brown bruises and shallow cuts that showed no sign of bleeding. His physical condition, though not deadly in any way, concerned her dearly even though he seemed simply unaware it. And if he actually was aware of it, he didn't seem to care in the least. That wasn't what worried her most though. It was that despite possibly knowing his slight condition, he was still going out to battle against the long-nosed demon. And for what? For her. And she just wasn't worth it.

He turned to her with that ever famous childish grin of his, "I'm positive!"

"Please, don't do this," she whispered, tugging on the bottom of his vest as he turned back around. Tears tickled the corners of her eyes and she hurried to wipe them away before he faced her again. However, they just wouldn't go away.

His smile softened considerably as he looked at her, turning into something more warm and assuring. She almost cringed when a couple warm, grimy fingers touched her cheek, making her gaze into those amazing charcoal eyes. Her heart leapt into her throat and began beating fervently, breath and thought leaving her, as he seemed to lean down the two inches that separated their heights and closer. His smile was still present.

"I have to," he replied slowly, voice nearly as quiet as hers had been. Blood rushed rapidly to her face. "You asked me to help. And I want revenge for what he's done to you," a toothy grin resurfaced to his face, "I plan to kick his ass... hard."

He pulled back, leaving her in a state of flushing weakness. She tried to regain her voice, but it was lost in the sea of breathlessness much like the rest of herself. He didn't seem to notice her stupor, however, as he headed for the basement door up the stairs, ready to beat Arlong to a pulp. Only Nojiko remained to catch her sister before she crumpled to her knees.

The queen laughed as the other regained her balance. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was a tease," she mused around her laughter. Nami was not pleased with her sister's amusement.

"How does he do that?" she questioned herself as she watched the young farmer rush out of the door, "Make me so breathless and giddy at the same time...?"

"That's love for you, dear," the blue-haired woman answered anyways, smiling knowingly, "Confusing and wonderful at once. Grand, isn't it?"

"Oh, that's grand alright," she rolled her eyes at the older, "Does the confusion ever end?"

"It fades, but it never dies," Nojiko smirked, still highly amused, "It's a life lesson you'll learn later. Now, I think we should hurry up and catch up with Luffy before he gets himself lost in these halls."

The orange-haired artist nodded, "Good idea."

The siblings rushed out of the basement and down the hall, hoping to catch up to the scarred boy who went out well before they did. Luckily, they found him down a connected hallway that led away instead of toward the large room where everyone was. He was scratching his head in confusion, as if he'd just found himself lost in a maze. In truth, the hallways were probably a maze to him anyhow. He'd get used to them eventually though.

"Luffy!" Nami called, gaining his attention, "That's the wrong way. Come back here."

"Oh! Nami!" he cried, sounding happy to see her and quickly heading toward her and her older sister.

"Come on," she smiled weakly, "We'll show you back to Arlong."

II

Ace, already beaten and bruised, took up his defensive stance, form wracked with labored breath. Sanji stood somewhere to his side, hands stuffed deeply into his pockets and grinding his teeth together in a snarl. If it was possible to read each other's minds, they'd know they had similar plans in their heads on how to take their final opponent. Rushing at him would have been great, but both knew the farmer's energy needed to be recharged, so to speak. The chef was prepared to keep him off limits to the opponent as long as he could so that he could fuel up again.

Arlong cracked his knuckles noisily, glaring down at the men he seemed to tower over. He growled quietly to himself, annoyed about the garbage his best men had left him with. Of course, that meant these annoyances were considerably strong since they were able to defeat the two followers. He, however, was a lot stronger than those men trained themselves to be. He made sure to always stay on top, to always have the upper hand over them all, to always remain the strongest. It certainly paid off.

Despite the uncertainty welling in the pit of his stomach, the blond decided to start things by rushing at his hefty opposer with a well aimed kick and slight cry. His ankle was caught in the man's large hand and he was nearly lifted off his other steady foot as the other prepared to toss him across the room. He wasn't given the chance as the cook managed to shift his balance and lashed out with his other foot, hitting him in the neck hard enough for him to loose his grip.

Sanji hopped to his spot beside the farmer, just regaining his balance once again. He took a glance to his partner who gave an absent shake of his head, chest heaving with heavy breaths. He was starting to feel labored himself and the bruises from his previous fight started to burn with pain. His ankle was probably swelling due to the man's unusual grip as well. He wouldn't be surprised of that.

The leader didn't take long to recompose himself and charged at the ebony-haired man, knowing well he was in a weaker condition and would be simple to take care of first. The blond's reaction time seemed to be off as he missed their opponent's sudden direction. Ace, on the other hand, was prepared none-the-less.

He elbowed Arlong in the soft spot between his pecks and abdomen and back fisted his chin, hooking his leg behind the other's and tripping him as he stumbled backward from the impact. After the large man fell to the floor with a thump, he backed away from him just to create some good distance.

The chef sighed with relief. He was glad, yet stunned at how well the other could handle himself against another even in such a beaten condition. The relief didn't last too long as the opponent picked himself back up from his heavy fall. He was enraged at how easily he went down and glared heatedly at the one who was responsible for it. The other looked back at him evenly, sleepily even. This worried the blond.

He raced over to quickly kick away the punch aimed directly for the tipsy farmer. "Don't worry, I've got the rest of this handled," he muttered just loud enough for him to hear. Ace numbly nodded his head before slumping to the floor for some much needed recovery sleep.

Close to a minute later Sanji was also at his end, tired and beaten. Arlong didn't look in the least bit labored however, just irate at whoever was in his line of vision and dotted with slight bruises that he couldn't even seem to feel.

III

Luffy skidded to a halt, just an inch off from running into the crowd of villagers watching the scene before them. The princess and queen who had been directing him nearly ran into his back due to their momentum and the sudden stop. The oldest peered around the farmer and smiled at the crowd. "We're here," she informed, "Just get yourself through all these people and you should be right in the room. Good luck, Luffy!"

He turned to them, grinning toothily, "Thanks!" he chimed, patting his straw hat still settled neatly on Nami's head assuringly before pushing his way through the giant mess of villagers. Soon enough the two followed suit, wanting to be able to see the epic battle.

Sanji fell limply to the floor on the brink of unconsciousness. Darkness swam in the corners of his eyes and his teeth ground together in pain. Arlong loomed above him, grinning maniacally, blood coloring his large knuckles. Breath hitched in the scarred boy's throat and before anyone could comprehend what was going on, he raced over nearly as quick as lightening to block the finishing blow that was descending upon the chef.

"So you're back," the leader hissed, masking his surprise with annoyance, "Came prepared to die?"

"I'll kick your ass," the other growled in return, anger glowing in his eyes.

Luffy started things off, throwing rapid punches at his opponent who blocked most of them. He didn't even rest for a breath, kicking up his leg and striking the larger man directly under the ribs on his side. He stumbled slightly, letting the other quickly regain his balance. For a minute they stared each other down, eyes full of hatred for separate reasons. Then they charged, attacks canceling each other out and sending them back where they started.

Arlong gave a hoarse battle cry as he raced at the farmer and caught him under the chin with an uppercut, sending him flying back from the force. He continued after him, pounding him down on the chest with both hands. The other bounced slightly off the marble, breath lost and coughing up a bit of blood. His chest and lungs burned with hot pain as he gasped for needed oxygen. He stood up again soon enough, wincing slightly as he placed a hand to his heaving chest. There was no doubt that there was going to be a very nasty bruise forming there.

The scarred boy took his revenge upon the leader, pounding his stomach with the side of his fist, twirling around him so that his foot hooked around one of his legs, kicking the back of his other knee with his other foot so that he'd loose his balance while elbowing the small of his back, and pulling his other foot out from under him so that he fell forward. He tumbled easily, landing with a resounding thump upon the hard marble floor.

The hefty man growled as he picked himself up. He made his way back over to the throne, grasping the handle of the large weapon that was leaning against the royal chair. He held it up easily with a snarl, glaring heatedly at the other. "I've had enough of this game. Let's finish this now."

Luffy merely nodded with a glare of his own, not in the least bit unnerved when the larger ran at him with the giant weapon looming dangerously. However, the weapon was to be feared as it swung down at him at an alarming speed, cutting open the front of his red vest as he jumped back at just the right time. "Ah! That thing's dangerous!" he cried, his returning childishness clear in his scratchy voice. Arlong howled with laughter.

"Of course it's dangerous, boy!" he sneered loudly, swinging the large saw-like blade back into a ready position, "Ready to die?"

The battle resumed in a very similar manner, the ebony-haired boy jumping here and there to avoid being struck by the intimidating weapon, giving a little cry every time he dodged. He wasn't extremely lucky, however, as the sharp blade did cut through his tan skin every now and then. His vest was tattered badly and stained with his blood that dribbled down his torso from serious wounds. Eventually he removed the coarse material, revealing all the raw gashes and cuts it rubbed against and made sting with pain.

Arlong roared as he swung his saw-like weapon down at the battered and bruised one who, with some amazing skill, suddenly caught the blade between his hands. He snarled, having enough of the disadvantage hanging over him, and applied pressure upon the bloody steel. The blade broke, shattering to the floor unceremoniously. Everyone watching was surprised, to say the least.

Not waiting for the other, Luffy reeled back his tight fist and shot it back out, rocketing toward its target. It struck beautifully, cracking the other's nose with a loud crunch-like sound. Quickly he continued his attack as the man was distracted by the pain that numbed his face, hitting him with a variety of rapid punches.

The match was relatively even between the two, each having their advantages and disadvantages throughout the battle. Arlong was littered with bruises, his nose broken and his arm snapped. Luffy was in a rather similar condition, littered with bruises of his own plus cuts and gashes. A couple of his ribs were undoubtedly broken and one long gash that ran from the right armpit to the left hip oozed blood like nothing before. Even so, the fight was still unfinished.

The young farmer panted, black dots dancing before his eyes as he staggered away from unconsciousness that resulted from loosing so much blood. Despite this, he charged at his opponent with a roar and a heavy punch to the throat which briefly cut the other's breathing. As the other gasped for breath, he jumped, twisting his balance and striking his temple with a well-placed kick. This sent him sideways and to the floor. The younger remained balanced on his feet, wracked with heavy breathing.

It was a second or two before the hefty man's eyes finally rolled into the back of his head, unconscious. It was some seconds after that did their audience realize that he was down for good. And when they did realize it, they exploded with applause and cheers and swarmed their heroes.

The scarred boy smiled as toothily as he could in his position at the mini crowd congratulating and thanking him. He turned when he felt something touch his head and smiled slightly wider as he saw the orange-haired princess grinning at him, placing his straw hat back on his head. Then his eyes lolled into the back of his own head and he fell unconscious.

"Luffy!"

-TBC-

Ah! Only one chapter left! Can you believe it!?

--Review Replies--

-Chapter Eight-

the animaniac dude, thanks for your review! Ha, ha, you gots it indeed. Foreshadowing for sure. And thank you very much for your flattery. XD

-Chapter Fifteen-

T.O.B., thanks for your review! Kiari-san is glad you enjoy her battle scenes. They are fun to write, but very hard at the same time. Sorry to disappoint, but Usopp's in another country with Kaya and Zoro apparently is lost somewhere. XDD She meant to put him in, but just never seemed to get around to it. Too late now.

catho, thanks for your review! You betcha! Fun stuff, no? XD

Nuit Fleur, thanks for your review! Thank you, thank you. She had fun with that. :D

kage karasu, thanks for your review! Such a flatter-er you are. XD She plans on keeping her style of writing indeed!

beamz, thanks for your review! Thank you! Kiari-san is glad to hear that, seeing as the battles were tough to write, but oh-so fun. XDD