A/N: Sorry that it's been so long since my last update to this story, didn't plan on delaying it this long, heh. If you're wondering where I've been lately / what the status is, all of that is in my profile. In any case, I don't plan on taking another long period of time to work on this story, expect another update within a reasonable amount of time. Enjoy!
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Bonney wearily cracked her eyes open and was welcomed with a throbbing headache that made her want to pass out all over again. Reaching up and rubbing her forehead tenderly, the pink haired captain of the Bonney Pirates sat up in the bed she was resting on and inspected her surroundings. Her vision was blurred and it almost seemed to pulsate with each thump of pain in her head, however after a couple of seconds it started to clear up.
The first thing the female captain noticed was that her favorite hat was sitting on top of a table right next to her bed. Reaching over and placing the hat on her head, the second thing Bonney noticed was that all she was wearing was a hospital gown that loosely clung to her figure. The pink haired captain yelped to herself as she quickly grabbed the blankets covering her legs and clutched them to her chest, effectively concealing herself as best as she could.
Confused and worrying about the condition she'd woken up in, Bonney frantically looked around for Clyde, her first mate and most trusted crewmate. Failing to find the larger man, Bonney instead found an unnervingly familiar green haired man sitting at the end of the room, fast asleep in his chair. The three katana resting next to the man instinctively told the pink haired captain that it was Roronoa Zoro, the first mate of the Straw Hat crew and the yelp Bonney had uttered before paled in comparison to the shriek she now emitted.
Zoro bolted awake and instantly grabbed one of his katana, unhitching the blade and preparing to draw it if necessary. When he didn't see any immediate dangers or threats, the green haired swordsman looked peculiarly at the woman resting in the bed before shrugging to himself and leaning back in his chair, closing his eyes again.
Baffled, flustered, and extremely embarrassed, it was a wonder to Bonney why she didn't just simply turn the imbecile into an infant and be done with him. Despite herself, the pink haired devil fruit user collected herself before yelling at the swordsman across the room.
"HEY, IDIOT!"
Bonney waited until Zoro had opened his eyes again and uninterestedly returned her gaze and suddenly found herself more flustered than before, her lack of decent clothing to better conceal her features becoming apparent again.
"DON'T LOOK AT ME!" she yelled hastily and clung the blankets even closer to her chest.
Zoro looked perplexed at the pink haired woman across the room. "Well I wasn't before until you started yelling at me," he stated pointedly, stretching out his arms before yawning.
Bonney felt insulted at the swordsman's lack of interest in her body as well as a pang of… disappointment? Shaking her head the pink haired captain tossed out the thought before getting on a pressing matter.
"Where am I and what am I doing here?" she asked the pirate hunter across her, almost half expecting him to not have an answer.
The swordsman looked off into the distance and scratched his cheek with one finger as he recalled the events from before. "You were knocked out cold; hit your head on a rock I think. Anyways, I brought you here along with that other wounded guy and that's about it. You were brought in here and have been resting here since."
That other wounded guy? As Bonney began to think about the other wounded person, fearing that it was Clyde, she suddenly remembered the ordeal from before with the tenryuubito. Following the events from there the pink haired captain recalled the Straw Hat pirate hoisting a wounded man onto his shoulder before asking the pink haired captain and her first mate where the nearest hospital was. She'd told him and then…
"Wait!" Bonney glared at Zoro. "This is YOUR fault, you slammed into me and then I hit my head against a rock!" The mentioning of her impact caused her throbbing headache to return in full force and she clutched her head, strands of hair draping over her fingers.
The pink haired captain seethed through her teeth, "You bastard, how are you going to pay for this?!" all the while staring daggers at the swordsman across the room through her fingers.
The green haired swordsman opened his mouth to respond but before he could another thought occurred to the supernova and she interrupted him.
"Before that, how did you get lost?! All you had to do was walk in a straight line! Even the densest of dense people would have been able to find their way, are you mentally challenged?"
Zoro contemplated the question in deep thought, nodding to himself as he began to think of the reason.
"It was rhetorical," Bonney snapped, "there can't be a single reasonable answer to that question."
The green haired swordsman's incompetence only served to intensify the supernova's splitting headache and she clutched her head with both hands, dropping the blanket covering herself onto her lap. When the bout of pain ended, Bonney took off her hat, smoothing her hair down before readjusting the hat back to its most comfortable placement and looked at the swordsman whose gaze was resting a little under hers.
Puzzled by his stare and the red hue covering his face, the pink haired captain followed his look southward to see her curves barely being kept in check by the inadequate gown covering her body. Bonney immediately looked back to the swordsman and caught his gaze and the swordsman looked like he'd just been caught with his hand in a cookie jar.
"What are you looking at?!" Bonney yelped, feeling herself flush under the intense stare of the swordsman across the room.
Zoro jumped in his seat. "N-nothing!" He looked to the side and began rubbing the back of his head, muttering to himself, "It's not like I was looking at you or anything." Bonney couldn't tell if he was trying to convince her or himself.
"In any case," the supernova said, distracting attention from the highly awkward situation, "why am I even in this?" She gestured at her robe before continuing, "Even if I got a slight concussion, there's no need for me to be in… this."
Zoro pondered the question, rubbing his chin in thought. "Not really sure myself, although the doctor that oversaw you insisted on it. I'm not really too familiar with this kind of thing, so I didn't really have room to argue."
It suddenly made sense, but not in the way the supernova would have liked it to.
"Do you remember who it was?" she asked Zoro, eager to hear his response to find out the culprit.
The swordsman shuffled in his seat. "Yeah, real shaky looking kind of guy, sort of short too." Zoro stood up from his chair. "I'll go find him and get your clothes back."
Bonney was startled by the kind gesture from the person she hardly even knew. The fact alone that he'd brought her here was enough to impress the pink haired captain, but now he was going out of his way to help her? She couldn't help but admire the stubbornness of her potential enemy down the line. After all, even though pirates had a common enemy in the world government and marines, it certainly didn't make them allies with each other.
Zoro returned shortly after he'd left the room, the female pirate's clothes in tow. He wore a slight blush on his face and his apprehension to the whole situation started wending its way into Bonney as well and she couldn't help but lightly blush herself as the green haired swordsman awkwardly handed the scantily clad woman her clothes, trying feebly to keep his gaze from diverting to the rest of her body.
After the exchange was completed, Zoro stood where he was for a few moments waiting for the supernova to respond. When all he was met with was an expectant look slowly becoming an annoyed one, he realized what she was waiting for.
"Oh," the swordsman stammered before taking a few steps back and turning his back to the pink haired captain.
Bonney chuckled to herself, she couldn't believe that the 'demon cutter' was this ridiculous. "You really are dense, aren't you?" she asked the swordsman before sliding to the edge of her bed and kicking him in the back with the bottom of her foot towards the door.
"GET OUT OF THE ROOM!" she bellowed as her push caused the strawhat to stumble outside of the door and he closed it behind him.
Looking around, the supernova sighed in relief since the windows were covered by blinds to prevent any opportunist from getting a look at her mid-change. She also strangely trusted the swordsman not to try and peek inside.
Once dressed, the pink haired captain exited the room and found herself surprised yet again by the first mate of the Straw Hat Pirates. Rather than take his chance to ditch the woman after learning of her safety and skipping out on the bill, Bonney found him patiently waiting for her outside of the room. The supernova found herself wondering if he'd consider joining her crew, though she knew that a person like him would be eternally loyal to his current captain; such a shame.
"Nobility in a pirate, huh?" Bonney quipped as Zoro turned to her, "What a joke! What kind of a pirate sticks around to pay the bill for somebody else they hardly know?"
Zoro closed his eyes, leaning backwards against the wall and sighing in disinterest. "Like I care." He paused for a moment before opening one eye, lazily glancing at the pink haired supernova. "Besides, who said I was paying for the bill? I was just making sure you were ok, nothing more."
"Wait…" Bonney gaped, "you mean you aren't paying for the bill? The hell is that supposed to mean, huh?"
Zoro scoffed. "It means just that. I'm not paying for this, it's not my problem."
Bonney angrily and forcibly poked the green haired swordsman in the arm. "Of course it's your problem!" she yelled, "it's YOUR fault that I'm even here to begin with!"
The swordsman faced the supernova defensively. "My fault?" he asked incredulously, returning the pink haired captain's poking except on her forehead, "I'm not the one who got easily knocked out after falling down."
Exasperated by the continuous poking, Bonney snatched the swordsman's hand as he went for another poke. "And whose fault was it that I was knocked down in the first place?!"
"You shouldn't have been in my way!" Zoro retorted, "If you'd have actually been paying attention there's no way you would have walked into me!"
Bonney's grip on Zoro's hand tightened. "Me, walk into you? And what's this about paying attention?! If you had been doing that at all, you wouldn't have gotten lost going in a SINGLE DIRECTION!"
"I didn't get lost. The directions you gave me were wrong," Zoro frankly stated.
With her free hand, Bonney began to rub the bridge of her nose. "My god, the directions were fine. You just don't know your head from your ass."
"Is that any way to thank the person who brought you to the hospital?" the swordsman scowled.
That reminded Bonney of something that she'd been wondering ever since she had woken up with the Pirate Hunter in her room.
"If you brought me to the hospital, what happened to the guy that was with me earlier?" Bonney glanced around the hospital corridors to see if she could spot her first mate.
Zoro tilted his head to the side. "You mean the husky guy? He got pretty mad that I knocked you over, so I had to knock him out when he tried to fight me." The green haired swordsman caught the malicious glance cast in his direction from the woman now crushing his hand. "Relax; I didn't hurt him or anything. He should be resting against a building right now as we speak. I wouldn't worry if I were you; he seemed more than capable of handling himself."
The grip on the green haired swordsman's hand loosened but wasn't released. Zoro blankly looked at the feminine hand clasping his own before moving the gaze to the hand's owner.
The lackadaisical look Bonney was getting from the green haired swordsman confused her at first until he looked back at his hand again. The supernova had completely forgotten that she was holding the man's hand and she thrust it away from her upon realizing she still held it, apologizing with a deepening blush on her face.
"If that's all, I'll be going now." Zoro turned to walk away before a loud growl came from behind him. Turning back, the green hair swordsman saw the supernova looking dissonantly at her stomach with her hand against it. No stranger to the noise, Zoro immediately knew that the pink haired woman across from him was essentially starving. Why she was eluded the swordsman, but he'd been in her position far too often to just ignore it.
"You're a captain, right?" Zoro waited for Bonney to nod in confirmation to continue. "What's the deal, then? You should have supplies on your ship, or some money at the very least. It sounds like you haven't eaten in days."
The pink haired captain didn't reply, instead averting her eyes from that of the swordsman while awkwardly standing before him, her hunger knowing no bounds. It wasn't enough for him to help her, but now he had to see her in this pathetic state. The last thing she wanted from him was pity.
"Hmm…" Zoro crossed his arms and rested his chin on his up-stretched hand, thinking to himself. "You don't have any money, do you?"
Bonney hesitantly shook her head.
"I guess it can't be helped then," the green haired swordsman sighed to himself, "let's go get you something to eat. We'll call it even after that."
The supernova glared at the strawhat. "I don't need your sympathy!" she spat.
Zoro rolled his eyes. "It's not sympathy, believe me. The last thing I'm feeling for you right now is sympathy. If you'd have to call it something, call it empathy. I've been in your situation more times than I care to think about."
"Oh…" Bonney's face flushed. She understood what the man standing in front of her meant. "I'm fine, really," she lied.
"Oh, well alright then." Zoro shrugged to himself and began walking off to return to his ship.
Bonney stiffened. "Wait!" she called out after him, "You're just going to leave like that?!"
The swordsman turned back to her, highly confused. "What do you mean? You just said that you were fine."
"Yeah… well… I lied!"
"Why would you lie?" Zoro rubbed the bridge of his nose, his eyes squinting in jaded vexation. "You know what, never mind. So are you coming or not?"
Bonney opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by her own body language, her stomach audibly growling above any words she could have uttered.
"I'll take that as a yes." Zoro looked at the pink haired captain in fascination, surprised that anyone other than Luffy could have such a loud stomach. The supernova misinterpreted the meaningless look for something else.
"What is it?" Bonney looked up to the green haired swordsman sheepishly, not sure whether or not there was any significance behind the amber eyes looking at her.
Zoro jolted a little in his stance, almost as if he was getting woken from a trance. "Oh, it's nothing really; just that you sort of remind me of my captain is all."
"Is that so? In what way do I remind you of him?"
The swordsman rubbed the back of his head, it'd probably be better if he didn't tell her why. "No reason in particular. Come on, let's go." Zoro beckoned the pink haired supernova to follow him.
"Not yet, I have some business I need to attend to first. I'll meet you outside." Bonney waved off the green haired swordsman and he obliged the sentiment, making his way outside.
"Now then," Bonney muttered to herself, "time to find that wretched doctor."
It didn't take long for the pink haired supernova to find a person who fit the description Zoro had given her. As if in confirmation that he was indeed the one she was looking for, the jittery doctor's eyes lit up at the sight of the woman. Walking quickly over to Bonney, the skittish man eyed her body enthusiastically while rubbing his hands together.
"Ah, yes! Mrs. Pink. How are you feeling?" the man briskly asked, more interested in other parts of the woman in front of him rather than her condition.
Bonney smirked at the doctor. "I'll be feeling much better soon."
"Of course!" The man's eyes briefly darted to Bonney's own before continuing their rigorous inspection of her body. "My apologies for your clothes; even though you were brought in with a simple head injury, I wanted to… make sure that there wasn't anything else. Now… about the payment…" The supernova found herself disgusted and slightly disturbed by the lecherous looks she was now receiving from the doctor.
"You know…" Bonney began, waving her arm upwards to bring the doctor's attention back to her face, "you remind me of one of those old, perverted men." The supernova began concentrating on her devil's fruit power, focusing on the man in front of her as its target.
The middle-aged doctor began to feel himself change and looked at his hands in wild bewilderment. His youthful hands began aging and weakening, the toughness and durability of them waning quickly at a more than alarming rate. The ragged and cracking hands slowly and arduously made their way upwards as the doctor began touching his morphing face in panic.
"It's only fitting that you should look the part."
Impossible contortions was all the doctor could feel from his face as the firm countenance he once bore now dwindled into loose wrinkles and hanging skin. Eyes once perky and bright now dimmed from the exposure of time and drooped lower than ever before. With nowhere else to go, the loosening skin draped off the bottom of the doctor's chin and he felt all of his joints stiffen.
The once jittering, now shaking and trembling man hobbled over to a window to find out what was happening to him. As he watched his new body come into view, the doctor screamed out in horror, turning back to his tormenter as swiftly as his new, decrepit body would allow only to find her gone.
Feeling much better about everything and glad to have punished the one to shamelessly take advantage of an unconscious woman, Bonney strutted outside the hospital in a prideful manner. Zoro, patiently waiting outside, couldn't help but chuckle at the pink haired supernova's boisterous appearance.
"Something good happen?"
Bonney walked past the green haired swordsman without slowing her pace. "You could say that."
Zoro followed the supernova in a laid back manner, his hands clasped against the back of his hands with his elbows sticking out.
"So, you know any good places to eat?"
Bonney smiled. "I might."
Ending Note: Glad to finally be getting back to this story, been wanting to do so for a while now. Will probably be only one more chapter before the story is done. I know it might seem kind of random, but the doctor transformation thing kind of needed to be there for two reasons. One, since I introduced that it was a perverted doctor that put Bonney into the gown, I doubt she'd the kind of person that would simply let it slide without repercussions. Secondly, I wanted to explore her devil fruit power more since there isn't much to go on and I wanted to get my thoughts out about it. The way I see her power isn't necessarily controlling a person's age, but their body's age. This would explain why she has to eat so much since she's not just sustaining her current form, but any one that she can turn herself into. I'm also under the impression that in order to change the body structure of one person, she needs to borrow it from another (excluding herself). I.E: when she's attacking the marines, there's something of an even amount of old people and babies (haven't counted), so I'm thinking she steals years off of one person's body and adds it to another. I didn't put it into the story since it didn't seem necessary. I have no guesses on its permanency, though.
